The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current, December 10, 2018, Image 1

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The Islander., December 10, 2018, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextTHE ^ISLANDER Published by Permar Publications www.theislanderonline.com ssislander@bellsouth.net December 10, 2018 Established in 1972 Vol 46 Issue 50 Home Front Museum Grand Opening *!»■ E ■ i'.'i iiiSifai i I COASTAL GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY WORLD WAR IJ HOME FRONT HOSfUM ■ COASTAL SIORGW Ai Above: A large SRO crowd gathered in the lawn area between the main museum and the 'Boat House’ Saturday morning to celebrate the Grand Opening the Coastal Georgia Historical Society’s (CGHS) 'World War II Home Front Museum.’ Below: With an assist from former Brunswick Shipyard worker Ida Mae Lawson (center), CGHS Curator Mimi Rogers (right) “launches” the new museum breaking a bottle of champagne across a support beam of the historic liMV 1 ' ik ’ ' * Coast Guard Station flag tower. Islander Staff Photos - Permar Coastal Georgia Historical Society opens WW II Museum City defers Oglethorpe Conference Center vote By Pamela Permar Shierling The public filled Old City last Wednesday (Dec. 5), most of them interested in the vote on the Oglethorpe Conference Center, but the Brunswick City Commission deferred vot ing on a construction contract with Elkins Construction, LLC for pre-construction ser vices and construction of the Conference Center. No reason was stated for the deferral. The vote was de ferred until the next meeting which is scheduled for Dec. 19. During the public comment portion of the meeting, three Brunswick residents spoke in opposition to the conference center. Janis Schnellman dis cussed the $325,000 esti mated annual debt service. “The burden of the excesses of this project, the $4 to $5 mil lion you plan to borrow, falls directly upon our taxpayers,” she said. “You claim that the city has enough funds to tackle the huge debt service on this proj ect,” she continued. “If that is true, it would be much better spent by giv ing our police department the strength it needs to be prop erly staffed.” “For years the city has bud geted a full staff of 70 officers. But, because you won’t budget a decent salary commensurate with the risk and sacrifice re quired, we flunk at recruiting and retention,” she said. Schnellman pointed out the current 14 officer shortage and that the police department’s low salaries fail to support recruitment and retention of good officers. Sandy Colhard said, “The Turn to Page 2 City Commission The Jekyll Island Big Band played the music of the era. Veterans sat on the front row. Ida Mae Lawson, a former Brunswick Liberty Ship Yard worker, and Mimi Rogers, Cu rator for the Coastal Georgia Historical Society, cracked a bottle of champagne on the flag tower, and the Coastal Geor gia Historical Society’s four year effort, the World War II By Pamela Permar Shierling Home Front Museum opened its doors to the public for the first time last Saturday. The Museum is housed in the St. Simons Island Coast Guard Station built in 1937 for the Coast Guard and then transferred to the Navy in 1941 for the war effort. The Station was decommis sioned in 1995, when Coast Guard operations moved to a new location near the Sidney Lanier Bridge in Brunswick. Ownership of the Station was transferred to Glynn County. The Coastal Landmark Preservation Society (CLPS), a local non-profit organiza tion, was formed to protect and manage the site, under a license agreement with the County. Turn to Page 5 World War II Museum County-Wide News - Read County-Wide Page 3 - Tradewinds Industrial Park moves Page 11 - CGCA to hold annual gala closer to GRAD certification Brunswick Library partially reopens Page 9 - County hires temps to catch up Page 12 - School system enrollment Page 10 - Pew projectons flat for next 10 years JSWS votes to spend $1.5 million SPLOST V dollars on Academy Creek • Vote divided By Pamela Permar Shierling The Brunswick Glynn County Joint Water and Sew er Commission (JWSC) vot ed last Thursday (Dec. 6) to spend $1.5 million in SPLOST V dollars on the Academy Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. However three JWSC mem bers did not like the wording in the SPLOST V intergovern mental agreement between the JWSC and Glynn County and voted no to that agree ment as well as to the seventh addendum to the operational agreement with the City of Turn to Page 6 JWSC Fishing group opposes docks on SSI & JI piers By Matthew J. Permar ‘We are not against a ferry,” Tony Burch told the Glynn County Board of Com missioners (BOC) last week. “The challenges and ben efits of it must be weighed by those paying for it,” Burch con tinued, “Parking, hurricanes, ticket pricing and many other concerns are for the investors. We are simply against locat ing it at the piers.” Speaking during the public comment period of the BOC meeting Thursday night De cember 6, Burch said he was representing “the fishing com munity of St. Simons and Je kyll piers.” Burch was talking about a proposal by a local company, Anchor Shipping Group, LLC (ASG), to operate a ferry and Turn to Page 8 Fishermen 0 9492229970 3