About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 2019)
THE ^ISLANDER Published by Permar Publications www.theislanderonline.com ssislander@bellsouth.net March 11, 2019 Established in 1972 Vol 47 Issue 10 Police officers testify in drug squad case By Pamela Permar Shierling During the second hearing last Tuesday (March 5) for de fendant Gary Whittle in Glynn County Superior Court, sever al current and former GBNET (Glynn-Brunswick Narcotics Enforcement Team), officers were called to answer ques tions regarding allegations made against former Glynn County Police officer and GB NET member James Cassada. Superior Court Judge Rog er Lane is presiding in the case, and the GBNET officers were questioned about what they knew and when they first knew about allegations that have been made against former Glynn County Police officer and GBNET member James Cassada. Cassada recently resigned while under an internal inves tigation of the allegations, that he had sexual relations with two confidential informants. The allegations also were being investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investiga tion (GBI). After Cassada’s alleged misconduct arose, the county public defender’s office sought a hearing to have Whittle’s original guilty plea set aside. Whittle pled guilty last No vember to the sale of a con trolled substance. The first Glynn County Po lice Officer to be questioned last week was Lt. David Haney who is also a former GBNET member. Lt. Haney said he served on the narcotics squad from April 2016 until May 2017. Haney maintained that Cassada only said he had a drinking problem and asked Haney about going to rehab. “This was after I was out of GBNET,” Haney said. Glynn County Turn to Page 10 GBNET Park project in progress Falling limbs in the hugely popular Neptune Park picnic area on St. Simons have Glynn County officials concerned about public safety. The county commission is currently working on a solution to the issue and has hired an arborist and a consultant to assist with a plan. Islander Staff Photo - Permar Some residents concerned about Neptune Park picnic area; County has plan underway After several large oak tree limbs fell in Neptune Park breaking a concrete picnic table in half, the Glynn Coun ty Board of Commissioners (BOC), concerned about pub lic safety, blocked the area off with temporary fencing and started working on a plan to deal with the situation. In the meantime local resi dents have taken to social me dia to complain and criticize the county. Some seem to think the temporary fencing is a per manent solution, while oth ers have suggested the county simply put up a “Use at your own risk” sign and allow the public to continue using the tables under trees. This is not going to happen because the BOC is primarily concerned about public safety. By Matthew J. Permar What is being done is... Working with the Golden Isles Fund for Trees (GIFT), the BOC brought in an arbor ist and got recommendations on how to save the trees. One recommendation was to move the picnic tables away from the critical root zone. If prop erly maintained and allowed to recover, the trees should live for many more years, ac cording to the arborist. The BOC them employed EMC Engineering Services, Inc. to formulate a landscape plan to include a permanent barrier around the trees and find a suitable place to relo cated the picnic tables. County Commissioners Peter Murphy (Dist. 2) and David O’Quinn (At Large #1) met about two weeks ago with EMC and county staff to discuss the situation. Murphy said, “We met at the Casino and the priorities we agreed on were safety first, then the need for an attractive appearance for a fence around the trees, and finally, where is the best, most appropriate place to relocate the picnic tables.” There is a possibility the tables could be placed near the outer edges of the tree limbs where there would still be shade, but away from where large limbs might fall. Murphy said at the meeting they reviewed different possi ble scenarios for the park with the landscape architect. On Friday (March 8) Public Works Director Dave Austin Turn to Page 10 Neptune Park Glynn officially opposes law prohibiting design rules By Matthew J. Permar Georgia House Bill 302, which would prohibit local governments from regulating “building design elements” in single or double family dwell ings, currently sits in the House Agriculture and Con sumer Affairs Committee. It was recommitted there from the Rules Committee on Thursday, March 7. The Glynn County Board of Commissioners (BOC) oppos es the bill and made their op position official last Thursday night when they unanimously approved a resolution to that effect. According to the reso lution, the BOC believes HB 302 “could negatively Turn to Page 6 County commission City votes down 'pour tax' • Public asks for Mary Ross Park master plan By Pamela Permar Shierling At their meeting last week (Wednesday, March 6), Bruns wick City Commissioners unanimously voted not to cre ate an excise tax that would have cost restaurant patrons an additional 3% by the drink on distilled spirits. Several downtown business owners spoke against the ex cise tax at the previous city commission meeting and re turned to do so at last week’s meeting. Lance Sabee, a city resi dent, told the commission he felt the pour tax was a step in the wrong direction. “It’s coun ter-productive,” he said. “The city is in a growth and redevelopment phase,” Turn to Page 12 City commission County-Wide News - Read County-Wide Page 2 - 4H Youth Day ~ Ernie Andrus Page 4 - Letters to the Editor Page 5 - jekyll Creek dredging to begin Page 8 - Relay for Life and Peggy Tuten Page 11 - BOE Page 13 - NEW-Dave Jordan's column Page 16- Back Talk 0 94922 29970 3
