About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 2019)
THE Islander www.theislanderonline.com • Published by Permar Publications ssislander@bellsouth.net November 11, 2019 Established in 1972 Vol 47 Issue 45 County responds to Grand Jury GBNET findings By Matthew J. Permar Last week the Glynn County Board of Commission ers (BOC) issued, by way of County Manager Alan Ours, an eight-page press release responding to the recent pre sentments by a Glynn County Grand Jury regarding prob lems in the now-defunct Glynn Brunwick Narcotics Enforce ment Team (GBNET). Last February information about misconduct on the GB NET was made public that included information that a GBNET officer had been in volved with one the agency’s confidential informants. A court order naming the allegations against the joint drug agency was then issued by Glynn County Superior Court Judge Roger Lane. The case brought a number of con victions by the Glynn District Attorney’s office into question. The Grand Jury present ments, from the March 2019 Term, were filed and recorded on September 9, 2019. In his response, Ours cov ers and comments on each Grand Jury finding. Ours opens by saying, “My response outlined below is based on my conversations with (County Police) Chief (John) Powell, other police of ficers, and the supporting doc uments he provided. In response to the first finding, Ours said, “The deci sion to suspend GBNET op erations was made by Chief Powell and (City Police) Chief (Kevin) Jones due to the al legations involving a GBNET Officer and to provide time to determine the extent of the complaint. Additionally, as spelled out below, Chief Pow ell requested the GBI investi gation as soon as he learned about the allegations.” The Grand Jury found Turn to Page 8 County response City to start on Fire Station # 1 expansion Using $327,000 of their SPLOST 2016 funds, Brunswick will soon begin construction to add a new truck bay to the east side of Fire Station #1 on Gloucester St. Taking part in the ground breaking last Thursday (Nov. 7) were, left to right: City Clerk Naomi Atkinson, City Commissioner Julie Martin, Mayor Pro-Tern Vincent Williams, Assistant Fire Chief Tim White and City Manager Jim Drumm. The existing building was built in 1939 and the city wants to maintain the historic nature, so architect Liane Brock of Wiregrass Studios, designed it to match the rest of the facility and mirror an earlier expansion on the west side of the building. According to Drumm, the new bay is necessary to house the city’s new fire truck. Drumm said today’s fire equipment is larger than it was back when the station was built, so the new bay will be large enough to accommodate the new truck. Altamaha Building Systems of Baxley is the contractor and will be starting this week or next. Islander Staff Photo - Permar County takes next step toward impact fees Impact fees on new develop ment, an idea that was reject ed by the Glynn County Board of Commissioners (BOC) sev eral years ago, are now one step from becoming a reality for local builders, developers and business people. During their meeting last week (Thursday, Nov. 7), the BOC voted 5 - 2 to approve spending $76,450 to hire the Ross Associates consulting firm to develop a development impact fee (DIF) program. Ross Associates will also draft the ordinance amendment that is required for the county to enact the fee. By Matthew J. Permar Commissioners Bill Brunson (Dist. 4), Chairman Mike Browning (Dist. 1), Al len Booker (Dist. 5), David O’Quinn (At Large #1) and Pe ter Murphy (Dist. 2) all voted in favor of the motion to hire Ross. Commissioners Wayne Neal (Dist. 4) and Bob Cole man (At Large #2) voted against the motion. By definition, an impact fee is a fee is imposed by a local government on a new or pro posed development project to pay for all or a portion of the costs of providing public ser vices to the new development. Impact fees are considered to be a charge on new devel opment to help fund and pay for the construction or needed expansion of off-site capital improvements. These fees are usually im plemented to help reduce the economic burden on local ju risdictions and taxpayers that are trying to deal with popula tion growth within the area. Impact fees may help to assist in the development of needed parks, schools, roads, sewer, water treatment, Turn to Page 5 Impact fees Injunction filed against Land Trust • POA files separate action against County By Pamela Permar- Shierling Two separate actions re garding the German Village German Village property own ers were filed last week. Susan Blount filed a complaint for injunctive relief and damages against the St. Simons Land Trust (SSLT). Also the Village Bluff (more commonly known as German Village) Property Owners Association (POA) and Ms. Blount, plaintiffs in a civil action against Glynn County and the Board of Com missioners, filed a motion for a temporary injunction and / or a restraining order against Glynn County. The German Village prop erty owners have been try ing to prevent public traffic Turn to Page 10 Injunction EPA's 'no further action' on LCP site not enough for city By Pamela Permar- Shierling ‘We can’t let them off the hook. That’s not the way to go.” Brunswick City Commis sioner Johnny Cason re sponded to the information presented to the city in a work session last week by Glynn Environmental Coalition’s (GEC) Executive Director Ra chael Thompson on the LCP Superfund Site. According to Ms. Thompson two federal agencies, the En vironmental Protection Agen cy (EPA) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) are at odds with each other’s opinions on the LCP site. Turn to Page 13 EPA: no action County-Wide News - Read County-Wide Page 2 - Burroughs named JWSC Exec Dir • Delta adds flight to BQK Page 3 - ESPLOST 4 Page 4 - Bennett resigns from URA Page 6 - Judge rules in Scarlett Williams law suit Page 10 - City moves forward with grant Page 12 - Dr. Cole will not seek new contract Page 16- Back Talk 0 94922 29970 3
