Big game can be big boost

by Keith Laing, The Brunswick News

September 15, 2005

Brunswick could soon be on the same playing field as cities more than 10 times its size.

That is, Brunswick City Commissioner Cornell Harvey says, if the community embraces Saturday’s Lomax Gold Coast Football Classic at Glynn County Stadium.

Harvey said the annual contest between Clark Atlanta and Fort Valley State universities, which is being held in Brunswick for the second time in three years, could grow to rival similar classics held every year in places like Atlanta and Jacksonville.

“When (Florida A &M University) and Tennessee State play in Atlanta or when the University of Georgia and the University of Florida play in Jacksonville every year, people come from all over,” he said. “We could have that here with this game.”

Harvey said the game’s presence – which drew 7,215 people when it was last played here in 2003 – is great for the city and should be something people work to see continue.

“It’s an opportunity to showcase our city,” he said. “We can get people from middle Georgia and Atlanta to come down and spend some time and money here. We can bring in revenue and put Brunswick on a higher level.”

Mayor Brad Brown said that he, too, would like to see the game join the junior college Sea Island Co. Golden Isles Bowl Classic as an annual Brunswick sporting event.

“This community is traditionally very supportive of football, and this will add another avenue for that,” he said. “It would be a good attraction for us if we could get it here every year.”

And doing so makes perfect sense, said Woody Woodside, president of the Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce.

“We have a strong core of Fort Valley State alumni here, and they know that we have one of the nicest stadiums in the state,” he said.

Woodside said a successful classic would be a financial, as well as a social, boon to Brunswick.

“Getting those schools and their followers here is good for the tax base,” he said. “Anyone that comes down to watch this game will be spending money. Merchants ought to be very grateful if they pull it off.”

Some merchants, like Bruce Dixon, already are grateful. Dixon, who owns two local hotels, said he would love to see the game become a tradition.

“We’re hosting the Fort Valley State football team at one hotel and the alumni group at another,” said Dixon, who owns the Marriot Fairfield Inn and the Holiday Inn on Interstate 95. “It’s a win-win.”

Dixon said this year’s game could just be the beginning.

“There would be a significant amount of tourism money coming into the community, and if they have it every year, it is likely to grow and get bigger,” he said.

Harvey said the game could also have an even more meaningful impact on the community.

“It’s an opportunity for the high school kids to see the college level a little bit,” he said. “Maybe it will inspire some of (them).”

County eyes speed plan

‘Speed humps’ on roads would try to slow down traffic

by Keith Laing, The Brunswick News

September 14, 2005

The dead-end street where Harrison Aiken lives on the backside of St. Clair subdivision on St. Simons Island hardly seems like a spot for high-speed driving.

But looks can be deceiving.

“We have people running up and down here like you would not believe,” said Aiken, who resides on Dunbar Creek Point. “I just can’t understand why some folks want to get wide open like that before they get to the end of the street.”

Aiken said speedsters have become quite a problem in his residential neighborhood, and that something should be done about it.

“We have children and pets on this street,” he said. “The speed limit is 25, but it should be 15.”

In an attempt to slow down lead-footed drivers like those Aiken sees, the Glynn County Commission will consider a proposal Thursday to allow citizens to ask the county to install speed humps - broad, gradual rises and falls – across certain roads.

Roads people use as bypasses to primary streets are particularly susceptible to speedsters, said Glynn County Public Works Director Joe Pereles.

Among popular cutoffs on St. Simons Island, for example, are streets such as Broadway Street, to avoid parts of Demere and Frederica roads, and Leake Street, to avoid parts of Mallery Street and Kings Way.

County Commission Chair Cap Fendig said the county receives complaints about residential speeding all the time.

“We consistently get calls about speeding through neighborhoods,” he said. “They call and ask us to do something about it.”

If the commission approves the speed hump proposal by the public works department, citizens would be able to ask the county to install humps on a street at least 1,000 feet long with a posted speed limit of 25 mph or less.

If those requirements are met, the county would do a traffic study to determine the severity of the problem, Pereles said. For the problem to be serious enough for possible installation of speed humps, at least 85 percent of traffic on the street on a given day would have to travel at more than 10 mph above the posted limit, regardless of volume.

The actual installation of humps would then have to be approved by 70 percent of the property owners residing on the street. Neighborhoods that want speed humps, but do not meet the requirement of 85 percent of traffic speeding through, would need the approval of 90 percent of the owners for humps.

Pereles said he made the recommendation because he thinks speed humps are the most effective deterrent to speeding.

“Some people want to put up stop signs, but that doesn’t always solve the problem,” he said. “Speed humps are the best method that doesn’t cause havoc or damage vehicles.”

The humps Pereles proposes are gradual rises over several feet, as opposed to speed bumps, which are short and more jarring to the bottoms of cars. Each hump would cost about $2,000 to install, Pereles said.

“I don’t foresee (the number of requests) being rampant,” he said. “This is not the public works department saying we need to put these in. It will only be done if the citizens (bring it to our attention).”

Fendig said the move gives residents that opportunity.

“We would be providing a procedure for neighborhoods to do what they feel like they have to do,” he said.

Fleeing could be problem in Glynn

Lack of public transportation may leave some behind during evacuations

by Keith Laing, The Brunswick News

September 8, 2005

Willie Perry understands the plight of New Orleans residents who were left behind when others fled the city before the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina.

He is unsure what he would do if he is ever told to flee Brunswick because of a hurricane.

Perry, who lives alone at Morning Tide Apartments on Altama Avenue, has no car and no way out.

“I don’t have any transportation, and I have no family here,” he said. “I guess I’d be right there at home.”

While Perry would be home alone, he wouldn’t be alone in Brunswick in the event of a mandatory evacuation.

Wayne Rogers, pastor of Grace United Methodist Church on Albany Street, said several members of his congregation would face similar hardship in a community that is without public transportation.

“There are a lot of low-income people who would have no choice but to stay in this area and accept what comes,” he said.

As along the Gulf Coast, where thousands of people had no transportation in which to flee Katrina and no money or credit for housing if they could have escaped, getting people who are without transportation from the path of an Atlantic storm would be a difficult, if not impossible, task, said Glynn County Emergency Management Director Richard Strickland.

Strickland said those with no personal means by which to leave would be the ones who may be left behind.

“How do you provide transportation to thousands (of people) … all over the city?” he asked.

“That’s the problem with something like this. (Doing) that would require some form of public transportation, and we don’t have that.”

Strickland said the county has an emergency shelter 53 miles away in Waycross and an agreement with the Glynn County Board of Education to provide buses for those with special medical needs, but that’s all. Everyone else would be on their own, including residents without transportation.

“It’s just like in New Orleans,” he said. “They had the Superdome, but I don’t believe the city provided transportation there. (People) had to get there pretty much on their own.”

Strickland said people without transportation should begin planning now for a quick exit from the community in the event they are ever told to leave.

“We really try to impress on people to plan during the hurricane season,” he said. “Don’t wait until the storm’s here to make evacuation plans.”

Nor would there much help, if any, in the city of Brunswick itself, where a large part of the population lives below the federal poverty line. Mayor Brad Brown said he would like to do more, but financial realities make that impossible.

“The resources it would take to have things ready make it prohibitive,” he said.

Brown said it is vital that the community be involved in assisting those who do not have the means to assist themselves in leaving.

“During (Hurricane) Floyd, we relied on churches and other civic organizations,” he said. “Churches are more cognizant of who has transportation and who doesn’t.

Government doesn’t keep track of that.”

Besides, Brown said, “there’s probably (only) a small number of people here who are without transportation.”

Other officials said even if it is just a small number of people, plans should be made to get them out, if necessary.

“It is a concern,” said Glynn County Commissioner Jerome Clark, whose district takes in the city. “I know we have (plans) to transport the handicap and the elderly, but we need to go back to the table and discuss those without transportation. This area is very different from New Orleans because there’s no public transportation system.”

Luckily for resident Perry and others like him, Clark is not alone in feeling that a more comprehensive plan is necessary.

Darlene Wymes, director of the Brunswick Multi-Purpose Center for the elderly, said the Coastal Georgia Regional Development Center, which manages the agencies that provide elderly care, is exploring its options.

“Most of our people have relatives they could call, but they’re looking at this very closely because of what happened in New Orleans,” said Wymes, who sits on a steering committee created by the regional center. “They realize now that they need additional means to get people out.”

Public service pulls double duty

Elected officials must learn to split time with careers to pay their bills

by Keith Laing, The Brunswick News

September 6, 2005

When the employees of the local branch of BB&T bank end a day’s work, most head home for relaxation and family time.

But not Brad Brown, mayor of Brunswick. For him, another work day is often just beginning.

On at least two Wednesdays each month, Brown goes straight from the office to Old City Hall for city commission meetings, which he chairs. Other days, he tends to whatever city business he could not get to during the workday.

Brown, BB&T’s vice-president of business banking, is not alone. He is one of several officials in Glynn County who have jobs outside their elected positions and who must balance meeting the needs of constituents with satisfying employers.

On average, Brown works 40 hours a week at his job and anywhere between five and 20 hours on city business. He said walking that tight rope is a daily challenge.

“It’s definitely a balancing act,” he said. “It requires a lot of extra hours. I can’t say this time is dedicated to city business and this time is for bank business. It just kind of ebbs and flows based on what time’s required at the time.”

Brown said that though he is paid to serve as mayor, the reality is that for financial security he has to keep his day job.

“The city pays, but not well,” he said. “I would like to have more time to devote to the city, but I have to provide for my family. In order to do this and not work, you’d have be independently wealthy or retired, and I’m neither.”

Cornell Harvey, who balances working as the Jekyll Island Authority’s human resources director with serving on the Brunswick City Commission, said his burden is lessened by having understanding superiors.

“I have very good bosses,” Harvey said. “They let me make appearances for the city, but I know that I have to continue to do a good job here as well as on the commission. I can’t have the people here feeling like I’m taking care of the city’s needs, but not taking care of theirs.”

He said that type of understanding has allowed him to fulfill one of his campaign promises.

“I told people in the beginning that I would never let my day job interfere with my city job,” Harvey said. “It’s a delicate balance, but you have to give 100 percent to both entities.”

Glynn County Commission Chair Cap Fendig said he tries to do just that.

But Fendig, who co-owns both St. Simons Transit and Marina with partner Woody Shelnutt, said serving on the commission has doubled his workload.

“I put in about 40 to 50 hours a week on my business, and it seems that I put in about that much on county business as well,” he said.

Fendig said his service on the commission has hampered his ability to efficiently manage his companies.

“You definitely don’t do as good a job when you’re attention is divided,” he said. “I’m just thankful for the support of an understanding wife, business partner and employees who all help shoulder the load and answer calls when I’m not there.”

One of those Fendig counts on to pitch in when county business calls in Phillip Kempton. Kempton, manager of Jekyll Wharf Marina, said that since Fendig joined the commission in 2001, there have been plenty of changes in the company.

“It completely changed the way he operates,” Kempton said. “Before, he was 100 percent hands-on. Nobody did anything or made any moves without his approval. Now, he just has to trust us and check what we’ve done at the end of the day.”

Kempton said that after seeing the strain on Fendig, he would never consider holding an elected position while working.

“I wouldn’t try to do it unless I was retired or didn’t have anything else to do,” he said. “I don’t know how he does it. He obviously has a dedication to both.”

Now serving a second term, Fendig is not complaining. He said he has adapted to the rigors of the balancing act.

“Any stress I carry I alleviate by having a deep faith in God, a large family to lean on and the ability to go out and see dolphins play, he said.

Fendig said he has no regrets about working while holding an office.

“I’m a very blessed guy,” he said. “I have a job I love owning a company that provides fun and recreation to the people and brings me in contact with most of our visitors. It invigorates me to do a conscientious job for the community.