NEWS - Local Breaking News

Senator Lester Jackson has decided that he will not support HB1495 during this year’s session of the Georgia General Assembly. The bill would have allowed a major expansion of the city limits of Garden City within Chatham County, including the annexation of Southbridge.

Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson applauded his decision, sending the Senator a thank you letter, according to Jackson’s Atlanta staff.

Jackson issued a press release on Tuesday stating that the bill was not introduced until April 12, the 34th day of the current session, and did not reach the Senate until April 20, the 37th day of the 40-day session. “With such a short time to consider its full ramifications on the various communities represented in Chatham County as a whole and Senate District 2 in particular, I cannot support the legislation at this time.

Without Jackson’ support, the legislation is dead this year.

“Within Senate District 2, I represent most of the City of Savannah. Not one official of the City of Savannah has indicated to me his or her support for this proposal. On the contrary, they are very concerned about the negative impact that Garden City’s annexation of the Southbridge community would have on the City of Savannah. On April 14, 2010, I received a letter from Savannah City Manager Michael B. Brown, which reads in part:

- Garden City is continuing to pursue its annexation of Southbridge, which … could cause harm to the residents of Savannah, Garden City and the unincorporated areas because of serious errors, miscommunications, and failures to properly plan for the future. Erroneous information is being provided throughout the community, and this needs to be rectified before any action is taken in the proposed Southbridge annexation.

- State law and governments recognize that municipalities who are seeking to annex areas carefully consider the infrastructure and service delivery consequences of such annexation. This has not been properly considered in the proposed Southbridge annexation by Garden City.

- In the critical area of water, Garden City is incorrectly assuming that the City of Savannah is obligated and will continue to provide water and sewer services to the residents of Southbridge over the present terms and conditions. The citizens of Savannah have a major investment in this area after having installed wells, major trunk lines, and a new waste water treatment plant in partial support of this area. The water and sewer service must be carefully considered prior to any annexation. By State constitution, two municipalities involved must come to agreement on water and sewer service. Garden City, to date, has had no dialogue with the City of Savannah concerning this future agreement.

- The Southbridge area residents and leaders have expressed concerns about the drainage and storm water systems within Southbridge. Savannah has had extensive experience in remediating storm water and drainage in infrastructure problems. The conditions of the Southbridge system and the necessary infrastructure improvements should be analyzed and carefully reviewed prior to any annexation action. Savannah has extensive experience in this area, which could be of real help to that area.

- Garden City officials have rightly expressed concerns about Public Safety confusion that currently exists along the Dean Forest Road corridor. This confusion will only be magnified unless there is careful consideration of the Fire, Police, EMS, and other emergency responders. The annexation of Southbridge into Garden City while retaining the name “Savannah” will only worsen the Public Safety confusion along the Dean Forest Road corridor.

- Recent newspaper articles about Fire Service in West Chatham show the consequences of inadequate Public Service infrastructure and service planning. The Fire Service in this area should be carefully reviewed to ensure that full inspection capabilities exist to avoid the heart breaking damages and losses that have already occurred in Southbridge, Pooler and elsewhere in West Chatham.

- Once again, the City of Savannah has extensive experience and capabilities with the Fire Service, which could have real value in planning for service to the Southbridge area. For example, Savannah Fire’s normal response to a house fire is with four pieces of equipment and 14 Firefighters. This is not the case for Garden City or Southside Fire Department.

- The State of Georgia recognized this when it adopted the Service Delivery Strategy Act, which requires local governments to plan and sort out service delivery responsibilities. Rushing forward with an ill-conceived annex would be imprudent and would be a disservice to the residents of Garden City, Southbridge, and the City of Savannah.

- The annexation of any particular area compels the annexing municipality to plan for and then provide to the area that it has annexed. Unfortunately, Garden city lacks the resources to upgrade infrastructure and services such that residents and businesses within the area that it has annexed have been unable to get needed services and infrastructure. This has occurred in the Salt Creek and Dean Forest Road annexation. Before annexing Southbridge, Garden City must carefully consider how they will finance infrastructure issues. …”

Jackson added that , “it is clear to me that supporters of the proposed annexation of the Southbridge community by Garden City have other options at their disposal before asking the state government to rush into action. According to state law, annexation can take place pursuant to application by 100 percent of the landowners in the area being annexed or pursuant to application by owners of 60 percent of the land and 60 percent of the electors. I encourage them to exhaust other means, which would allow local citizens to participate in the process if they so desire.”

And, the Senator added that he is concerned about the potential dilution of the minority population of Garden City and whether this action would be in compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.

He is proposing that the Savannah-Chatham County Legislative Delegation “engage in a comprehensive study of the issue between now and the 2011 session of the General Assembly – including a series of public hearings to gauge citizens’ opinions – and carefully consider all of the impacts this proposed annexation would have on Garden City, the residents of Southbridge, the City of Savannah and the entire county.”