About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2024)
Published by Permar Publications ssislander@bellsouth.net May 13, 2025 Established in 1972 Vol 52 Issue 20 Park is first of it's kind in Glynn Above: Cutting the ribbon last week at the Grand Opening of Glynn County’s new, All-Inclusive playground at the Blythe Island Regional Park (BIRP) were: (rear, from left to right) BIRP board member Danny Hickey, BIRP board member Danny Harvey, County Commission chairman Wayne Neal (Dist. 3), County Commissioner Sammy Tostensen (Dist. 1), BIRP board member Gary Altman, County Commissioner Walter Rafolski (At Large #2), and BIRP board vice-chairman Dane Hutchison. Right: County Recreation and Parks Director Lisa Gurganus spoke to the crowd about the new park, thanking the County Commission for their support. Islander Staff Photos - Permar All-inclusive playground opens at Blythe Island Regional Park BOE takes second look at FY budget By Pamela Permar- Shierling The Glynn County Board of Education (BOE) took a sec ond look at the tentative fis cal year 2025 budget at last week’s work session (Thurs day, May 9.) Avery Coty, Executive Di rector for Finance, told the board that based on the pre liminary growth and infla tion report received from the Glynn County tax assessor, she reduced the property tax revenue increase by $1.2 million. Coty said she recalculated the FY 2025 property tax rev enues using a 4.5 percent di gest increase instead of the 7% digest increase used in the first budget estimate. However the state funds increased more than expect ed and that increase of $1.8 Turn to Page 10 Board of Education County Finance committee okays all agenda items By Matthew J. Permar With nothing controversial on their last agenda (Thurs day, May 2) Glynn County’s Finance Committee recom mended approval of all 22 items during their regular meeting. Their recommendations included: • Accepting funding assis tance for the roundabout on Canal Road at Glynco Park way from the Georgia De partment of Transportation (DOT). According to a letter from Bill Wright, the DOT’s Local Grants Administrator, the state highway agency has agreed to fund up to $3.2 mil lion or 70% of the project cost, whichever is less. Turn to Page 12 Finance committee Last week (Tuesday, May 7) Glynn County commission ers, county employees, Blythe Island Regional Park board members, and a ton of chil dren turned out for the official opening of the county’s All-In clusive playground at Blythe Island Regional Park. The playground is the first of its kind in Glynn County which means it is for all chil dren of all abilities. Prior to the By Pamela Permar-Shierling creation of this playground, parents with handicapped children had to take them out of Glynn County to find an all inclusive playground. Glynn County Board of Commissioners Chairman Wayne Neal said, “I look for ward to the laughter and smiles from children using this playground.” District 1 Commissioner Sammy Tostensen, proud to have the playground in Blythe Island Regional Park which is also in his district, called it ‘spectacular.’ The playground, which was paid for with Bed Tax funds, cost $450,000 plus $7,000 for the fencing. “We saw a need in Glynn County for this type of Turn to Page 4 BIRP County meets with media By Matthew J. Permar Glynn County Police Chief Scott Ebner batted leadoff during last week’s (Wednes day, May 8) Media Roundta ble meeting. The County and the Board of Commissioners (BOC) hold the monthly meetings to give local reporters a chance to get information and ask questions about a variety of topics. Chief Ebner opened with an update on the bicycle patrol that he and his department are currently organizing. The original announcement about the bike patrol was made last fall when the coun ty announced they had been approved for a $23,925 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to purchase four bicy cles for the new patrol. Ebner said at about $4,000 per bike, the grant covered the Turn to Page 5 Media roundtable BOC asks for state help with Little Buffalo bridge By Matthew J. Permar During their May 2 meet ing the Glynn County Board of Commissioners (BOC) unani mously approved a resolution asking for state assistance with the Georgia Dept, of Transportation’s (DOT) Little Buffalo Creek Bridge replace ment project. The resolution, which will be sent to the Georgia Gen eral Assembly, asks that the DOT “consider and include a bypass or temporary bridge in its plans as an alternative to a full bridge closure and detour.” The bridge, built in the 1960s, is located on Ga. Hwy. 32 / 99 a short distance from where the two roads split with Hwy. 32 going to the right and Turn to Page 4 Buffalo Creek Surfin’ the News County-Wide News - Read County-Wide Page 2 - Kratom HB 181 now law Page 6 - Brunswick Kiwanis celebrates 100 years Page 7 - Ga Pacific Inti Business of Year award Page 8- How CASA serves Glynn County Page 11 - Local upcoming events Page 13 - Port City Page Page 14 - CCGA partners with Caribbean school Page 16- Back Talk I 0 94922 29970 3
