Blythe town hall
Continued from Page 1
buses that are stopped to pick up or
drop off school kids. We need more
police along that highway. Some ar
rests have been made in the past, but
recently people have been speeding
more and more.”
He said the police were also need
ed due to a rash of home burglaries
and car break-ins.
“I moved to Blythe Island from St.
Simons,” he said, “and there’s police
all over the place over there.”
The same man also noted that
there are a lot of dogs that are al
lowed to run loose on Blythe that
cause problems. He mentioned an in
cident in which a loose dog knocked
down a bicycle rider and the person
has since had several operations as a
result his injuries from the fall.
The man finished his comments
pointing out that some overgrown
drainage ditches along Blythe Island
Dr. and South Rd. needed cleaning.
The next speaker, Richard Willis,
agreed with the need for more police
patrolling the island. He said that
they had asked for more patrols and
they were told they would be sent.
He said they came one time but not
again.
“People drive by my house at 70
and 80 miles an hour,” he said, “You
would not allow that in Brunswick or
on St. Simons.”
He said graffiti was also a problem,
along with there not being anything
for kids to do. “We’ve been on the list
to get new playground equipment at
the park,” said Willis, “but we keep
getting bumped off. You find money
for pickle ball courts on St. Simons,
but can’t find money to maintain our
park.”
Calling Blythe Island a tight knit
community, Willis said they use the
ball field park a lot, and it doesn’t
even have bathrooms. Right now we
take care of the ball field, he said.
“We call it ‘Poorman’s Island,” he
said, “and we love it here, but we’d
love a little attention.
Addressing the police situation,
Commissioner O’Quinn said at one
time the county was down to 98 cer
tified police officers. However, the
police department is budgeted for
122 officers and currently has 112
on staff. In addition, the county re
ceived a grant that will allow them to
hire 8 more, bringing the total to 130
officers.
O’Quinn said there are currently
15 officers in various stages of the
hiring process, which if they all make
the cut will bring the department up
to 127 officers.
“So once they’re on board,” said
O’Quinn “we should be able to get
more patrols out here.”
Based on the county’s move to
community-based policing, O’Quinn
also suggested the possibility of a po
lice precinct on Blythe Island.
Blythe Island Baptist Church Pas
tor Tim Brown suggested the county
could use the church as a precinct
building if necessary.
Tostensen agreed with O’Quinn
saying, more police was a common is
sue at all his town hall meetings and
it was something on which he was go
ing to focus.
When Nancy O’Conner also spoke
about speeders on Hwy. 303, O’Quinn
said it was a state road and said the
commission could talk to the local
legislative delegation about getting
the speed limit reduced.
The traffic complaints also includ
ed speeding log trucks and the use of
‘jake brakes.’
The ballfield park on Blythe Island
Dr. was also a area of concern for a
number of residents.
One person said it hadn’t been
cleared in a long time. He said mulch
gets put out once a year, but it takes
three months to get it spread. “Ev
eryone in the neighborhood uses the
park,” he said.
The same person asked about Spe
cial Purpose Local Option Sales Tax
(SPLOST) money for Blythe Island.
Tostensen said the proposed
SPLOST 2021 has a substantial
amount for upgrades at Blythe Island
Regional Park.
Resident Danny Hickey said fire
protection needed to be considered by
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for fires was 10 minutes and in some
areas there is no access to water. He
suggested maybe more fire hydrants
needed to be installed.
Hickey was also concerned that
county staff was top heavy and sug
gested an employee audit, saying pri
vate industry does it.
He said he followed a county pick
up truck with two employees in it
with some weed-eaters and other
equipment in it for 25 minutes one
day. He said they rode around the
whole time before finally stopping at
a convenience store.
He also cautioned the commission
ers with becoming friends with the
employees because they would not be
able to discipline them like they need
to. He said he had seen that in the
past.
Another resident wanted to know
why the power on Blythe Island had
been out for so long after the last two
hurricanes?
She said Blythe Island tends to get
forgotten and maybe it was because it
is all residential.
Commissioner Walter Rafolski
said he lives in Dist. 1 off Hwy. 341
in River Ridge and his power was out
for seven days after both hurricanes.
A representative from Georgia
Power Company (GPC) was at the
meeting and addressed the issue say
ing trees down on power lines was the
number one problem with power dur
ing hurricanes. There’s also issues
with substations too.
He said the power was out for
February 8, 2021, The Islander, Page 9
seven days in his neighborhood after
Hurricane Matthew.
He said Hurricane Irma came
right up through the middle of the
state and that the 8,310 GPC employ
ees were out working day and night
to get power restored. He said they do
the best they can to get it restored.
“We are not intentionally going other
places to work,” he said.
Another person said that even dur
ing a rainstorm Blythe loses power.
He said there were wires hanging
off of poles all over Blythe and asked
what could be done to make their
power more stable.
The GPC agent said inspections
are done state wide and he would fol
low up and see what he could find out
about Blythe Island.
In response to a complaint about
drainage ditches not being cleaned,
Tostensen said he had ridden around
with a Public Works employee the
week before looking that type of
thing.
He said in some cases Public Works
has to cross private property to get to
the ditch to clean it. He said there are
times when the property owner won’t
give the county permission to cross
their property.
“It’s better to be proactive than
reactive,” said Tostensen, “So maybe
some of us commissioners can contact
these people first and talk to them
about what needs to be done to get
the ditches clean.”
He also urged people to call him if
they had concerns saying his number
is on the county website.
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