The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current, September 23, 2024, Image 1

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The Islander., September 23, 2024, Image 1

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Newspaper Page Texttheislanderonline.com Published by Permar Publications ssislander@bellsouth.net September 23, 2024 Established in 1972 Vol 52 Issue 39 Planners hear from public Above: Oglethorpe Point Elementary School 5th grader Eleanor Towson expressed her concerns about sea turtles during the county’s joint planning commission meeting last week. Her mother Gina Towson stood proudly by. Right: Speaking about the need to restrict beach front lighting due to its impact on sea turtle hatchlings, Catherine Ridley, the Vice President of Education and Communications for the non profit environmental organization 100 Miles, used photographs to make her point. Islander Staff Photos - Permar Sea turtles get top billing from public at zoning ordinance meeting By Pamela Permar-Shierling IPC defers another sticky situation By Matthew J. Permar At their June meeting Glynn County’s Island Plan ning Commission (IPC) de ferred action on a difficult Mallery St. zoning issue to their August meeting in order to give the applicant guidance regarding revisions to the project. At the August meeting they deferred the same application again in order for the appli cant to submit a request for a Conditional Use Permit that was required by the Zoning Ordinance for his project. The zoning request includ ed three separate issues: a de sign review under the Village Preservation District, a site plan and a conditional use per mit (CUP) for the residential Turn to Page 8 IPC BOC cancels Juvenile Center contract • County to purchase armored police vehicle with seized funds By Matthew J. Permar During their regular meet ing last week (Thursday, Sept. 19) the Glynn County Board of Commissioners (BOC) termi nated their contract with Ajax Building company of Atlanta for the Juvenile Justice Cen ter (JJC). A year ago, during their October 19, 2023 meeting the BOC hired Ajax as their ‘Con struction Manger At Risk’ for the JJC at a ‘cost not to ex ceed’ $1,774,436. According to the county’s Director of Capital Devel opment Resdan Talbert, Ajax was under a two-phase agreement. The first part was to pro vide pre-construction services, Turn to Page 6 BOC cancels contract Of the 14 people who spoke at last week’s (Sept. 18) Glynn County Joint Planning Com mission meeting, only four spoke about anything other than sea turtles and the ef fect of the lighting ordinance on the turtles and their hatchlings. Many who spoke were sea turtle volunteers and are concerned that the draft ordi nance lighting does not favor sea turtles. Mark Dodd who works with the Georgia Dept, of Natural Resources (DNR) asked that beach activities using artifi cial lights and all beach front lighting be prohibited from May through October; that permitted beach vehicles must use longer wave length lights; prohibit decorative lights on beach front homes; and prohibit fixtures not com pletely shielded by an opaque material. According to Dodd, sea turtles are attracted to short wave length lights. Jeff Kilgore did not discuss sea turtles. Kilgore said, “I was hoping you would have the good sense to terminate this exercise. I can’t imagine whose idea it was to have citizens write (zoning) code.” Note: After both the Islands and Mainland Planning Com missions asked the Glynn County Board of Commission ers (BOC) to throw out the TSW-written draft ordinance Turn to Page 3 Joint planning meeting City transit expected up by February 2025 By Pamela Permar- Shierling Brunswick’s “micro-tran sit” system should be up and running by February of next year, Planning, Zoning, Build ing and Codes Director John Hunter told the City Commis sion during last week’s meet ing (Sept. 18). Seven companies respond ed to the Request for Propos als for providers to run the system. Proposals are due back to the city by October 8. Hunter said he hoped to have them to the city commission at the Nov. 6 meeting. The transit system will be similar to Uber, Hunter said. It will be vans or small buses depending on the vendor. It will be an app or phone Turn to Page 2 City transit JIA wildlife corridor in planning stages By Pamela Permar- Shierling Last week during their regular meeting (Sept. 17) the Jekyll Island Authority (JIA) received an update from Yank Moore, Director of Conserva tion, about the Oleander Cor ridor Concept. Nine holes of the Oleander Golf course are being com bined with the nine hole Great Dunes course to become a clas sic 18 hole course as Walter Travis originally designed it. The wetter nine holes of Oleander will be turned into a wildlife corridor which is in the planning stages. According to Moore it will include ecological green space and act as a hub to connect golf, the amphitheater pond, Turn to Page 4 Wildlife corridor Surfin’ the News County-Wide News - Read County-Wide Page 2 - College to honor Dr. Wickersham ~ Eagles Experience at Ritz Page 4 - D.A. King - Looking for a Better Life Page 5 - 1st Tuesday Gallery Showcase Page 5 - Cinema Gourmet returns with Rebecca Page 10 - Covington obituary; Hind obituary Page 11 - Jacob Elam M.D. joins SPGA Urology Page 12 - Back Talk