theislanderonline.com
Published by
Permar Publications
ssislander@bellsouth.net
May 6, 2024
Established in 1972
Pavilion at Demere Park
The new pavilion and restroom building at Demere Park on St. Simons Island is a SPLOST 2022
project. It is 90 percent finished and it came in under budget.
Photo Courtesy Glynn County Recreation and Parks Dept.
County holds quarterly review focused on SPLOST projects
Powell, Scott
vindicated
By Pamela Permar-
Shierling
Last Tuesday, April 30,
in a unanimous ruling, the
Supreme Court of Georgia
reversed the Glynn Coun
ty grand jury indictments
against former Glynn County
Police Chief John Powell and
his former Chief of Staff Brian
Scott.
The ruling stated, “For the
reasons that follow, we con
clude that the indictment at
issue is not sufficient to with
stand the general demurrers
and violates federal constitu
tional due process, and thus,
the trial court’s order deny
ing the general demurrers
to the indictment should be
reversed.”
A demurrer is when the
defense claims that the alle
gations in an accusation are
not sufficient enough to make
a case against an individual,
even though the allegations
may be factually accurate.
On August 20, 2021, a
Glynn County grand jury re
turned the indictment against
Powell and Scott, charging
Powell with four counts of vio
lation of oath by a public offi
cer and Scott with one count
of violation of oath by a public
officer.
Similar allegations against
Powell and Scott were dropped
by Judge Anthony Harrison in
September 2020.
The August 2021 charges
were brought by District At
torney Pro Tempore Joseph
Mulholland who was assigned
to this case after former Dis
trict Attorney Jackie John
son, who brought the original
charges, recused herself in
June 2020.
Noted in the Supreme
Court decision: “The State re
indicted Powell and Scott after
the trial court granted special
demurrers on the first indict
ment for a lack of sufficient
underlying facts, resulting in
Turn to Page 10
Powell, Scott
Last Wednesday (May 1)
Glynn County Manager Bill
Fallon, Glynn County Assis
tant Manager John Gentry
and all county department
heads held a public review for
all current SPLOST and capi
tal projects.
The county has set up a
website, glynncounty.org
(click on SPLOST / Capital
projects) that shows the prog
ress of each project including
the original SPLOST budget,
the revised budget, actuals,
and any remaining budget.
Also shown are how far
along the project is, if the
timeline is not being met, if
the project has not started
and if the project has been
finished.
There is also an interactive
map that you can click on an
By Pamela Permar-Shierling
individual project, see a pic
ture and get an update on the
project’s progress.
• The fiber network to
county facilities on St. Simons
Island is 56% complete. Dur
ing Phase I, which is finished,
Live Oak Fiber installed cable
across the causeway at no cost
to the county. In return Glynn
County provided unused
space throughout the County
for Live Oak Fiber to install
their hubs.
Phase II, budgeted at $1
million, will connect to the
Phase 1 Hub on Saint Simons
Island at Fire Station 2.
In addition, Fire Station 7,
Fire Station 4, East Beach,
Massengale Beach, and the
Casino will be connected to
the hub. Potential sites in
clude the Skate Park on
Demere Road and Gascoigne
Bluff. The estimated timeline
for connectivity is August 15,
2024.
• The Community Develop
ment Department’s software
upgrades are 90% complete.
Phase one of Opengov is com
plete and gives the develop
ment community and public
more access and transparen
cy, improves efficiencies and
citizen experience, stream
lines permitting history.
Once Phase Two is complet
ed users will be able to inter
face with the program through
See-Click-Fix technology. If a
citizen “SEE”s a problem they
will “CLICK” their phones to
snap a picture to upload to the
Turn to Page 2
Quarterly update
County-Wide News - Read County-Wide
Page 4 - D.A. King - Looking for a Better Life
Page 6 - Volunteers needed for Causeway Cleanup -SGHS launches podcast
Page 10 - Pew News
Page 12 - Back Talk
Vol 52 Issue 19
City’s proposed
FY 2025 budget up
12.3% from 2024
By Pamela Permar-
Shierling
Brunswick City Manager
Regina McDuffie presented
the proposed fiscal year 2025
budget to the City Commis
sion last week (May 1).
The city’s general fund rev
enue budget totaling $22,773
million includes property tax
es budgeted at $7,884 million
based on an 8% increase in the
digest. Sales tax revenues are
budgeted at $10 million which
is a $1 million increase over
FY 2024 approved budget.
Property tax and sales tax
revenues make up 79% of the
budget.
Municipal Court Fines are
budgeted at $350,000 which is
$100,000 over the FY 2024 ap
proved budget. McDuffie said
court activities are expected
Turn to Page 11
Proposed budget
BOC confirms
zoning denial
By Matthew J. Permar
In what turned into a some
what confusing litany of the
history of previous owners,
unpermitted house renova
tions and a medical hardship,
the Glynn County Board of
Commissioners (BOC) upheld
the denial of a variance re
quest during last week’s meet
ing (Thursday, May 2).
The County’s Board of Ap
peals’ (BOA) denied the vari
ance during their meeting on
March 14.
The original variance heard
by the BOA was for the resi
dence at 327 Butler Ave. on
St. Simons Island. At 5,227
sq. ft. the lot is a substandard
lot of record in the R6 zoning
district (6,000 sq. ft. minimum
lot size).
The attorney for the prop
erty owners, Kori McGraw,
told the BOC last week that
Turn to Page 5
BOC zoning denial
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