About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2019)
THE ^ISLANDER Published by Permar Publications www.theislanderonline.com ssislander@bellsouth.net July 1, 2019 Established in 1972 Joy! The third production of the Golden Isles Penguin Project - Shrek, The Musical, JR - played to sold out crowds and ended successfully June 16 as evidenced by the sheer joy on the children’s and adults’ faces. 30 Artists ages 10-25 took on all the roles and were supported on stage by mentors and young people without disabilities, who assisted them as needed and participated in the performance. The Penguin Project is the brainchild of Dr. Andrew Morgan, a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and the former Head of the Division of Child Development at the University College of Medicine at Peoria, Illinois. By creating unrestricted access to the performing arts,The Penguin Project® demonstrates that the special challenges of a disability need not handicap a child’s ability to participate in life’s experiences. Allyson Jackson, top left, introduced the Penguin Project to Brunswick several years ago and her son Daniel has participated in each production. Heather Heath, top center, contributes her mammoth talents to directing each Penguin production at the Ritz Theatre. Photo by and courtesy of - Luck Flanders DNR receives $3 million for coastal land acquisition in the Golden Isles URA okays revised plan for Mary Ross Park • Commission review & approval is next By Matthew J. Permar At one point Brunswick’s Urban Redevelopment Agency hoped to have a good portion of the Mary Ross Park (MRP) renovations ready for this summer. In particular they wanted to have the splash pad and playground ready. After last week’s URA meeting, it seems the project is on tract to be ready by next summer, if not sooner. While the playground has been installed for a few months, the splash pad equip ment is here, but is in storage. Last year the URA hired Roger Steffens to create a master plan for the park. After it was presented and approved, the URA made some changes to the plan and moved some things around be fore the Brunswick City Com mission had the chance to ap prove it. It turned out that the URA’s proposed changes used up a large portion of the park’s open space, and organizations that have used the park for public events would have been severely limited in their abil ity to continue using the park. The Kiwanis Club of Bruns wick has hosted the Bruns wick Stewbilee in the park for years, and more recently the Dept, of Natural Resources’ Coastal Resource Division had their annual CoastFest there last year. Both groups spoke to the city commission and ex pressed their concerns that if too much of the park’s open space is lost, it will make it difficult for them to have their events there. Also, Mary Ross Park is the location of the Downtown Development Authority’s Rhythm on the River events Turn to Page 8 Mary Ross Park The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the recipient of three 2019 National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to purchase more than 4,730 acres in Glynn and Camden counties. Announced by the U.S. De partment of the Interior Sec retary in May, the Georgia grants were among $20 mil lion allocated to 22 projects by the federal agency. Grants range from $125,000 to a maximum of $1 million each. The 2019 grants will be matched by nearly $27 million from state and local governments, private land- owners, conservation groups and tribes in 11 coastal states. According to the grant guidelines, the National Coastal Wetlands Conserva tion Grant Program was es tablished “to acquire, restore, and enhance wetlands in coastal areas through com petitive matching grants to eligible State agencies.” The 2019 grants were awarded to projects that “pro tect, restore or enhance more than 7,000 acres of coastal wetlands and adjacent upland habitats.” Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said the selected grants were for “boosting coastal resilience, reducing flood risk, stabilizing shore lines and protecting natural ecosystems.” The three Georgia DNR Turn to Page 11 DNR County-Wide News - Read County-Wide Page 2 - Family friendly Shakespeare Page 11 - Pilot Club honors Page 3 - Trupp back in real estate business Girls Softball Team Page 4 - Letters; Legislative update Page 13 - Sports with Dave Jordan Page 6 - Troy student honored Page 16- Back Talk Vol 47 Issue 26 Coleman indicted on additional insurance fraud charges • Coleman declares innocence in statement By Pamela Permar Shierling Last Wednesday, June 26, the Glynn County Grand Jury, handed down six more insurance fraud indictments against Glynn County Com missioner Bob Coleman (At Large Post 2) and owner of Coleman Insurance Agency, Inc. Earlier in 2019 after a year long investigation conducted by the State Board of Work ers’ Compensation’s Enforce ment Division, Coleman and his wife Sherry Coleman were charged in a 15 count felony violation of the Georgia Insur ance Code. Turn to Page 11 Coleman City approves FY 2020 budget By Pamela Permar Shierling After an hour and a half of questions and discussion by the Brunswick City Com missioners, the Commission voted unanimously to approve the fiscal year 2020 budget at a special called meeting Wednesday, June 26. The $23.5 million general fund budget includes the fol lowing items: • $600,000 income from the property sale of the Perry School site on Altama Avenue •$300,000 expense to fund the URA •$300,000 expense for un named property purchase • $5 million in revenue from loan for Oglethorpe Con ference Center - Note: On Wednesday, December 19, during their regular meeting, Turn to Page 5 City budget 0 9492229970 3
