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Interchange takes next step, county talks cluster subdivisions
New interchange
Proposed I-95 interchange at Belfast Keller Road. - photo by Photo provided.

Bryan County commissioners Tuesday voted to accept right-of-way agreements with TerraPointe and Belfast Commerce Centre, both subsidiaries of Rayonier, for property needed to move forward with an interchange on I-95 at Belfast Keller Road.

The exit, at mile marker 82, has been discussed at least since 2008. It is estimated to cost about $18 million and is primarily dependent on the availability of federal dollars. County officials have said in the past that bids could be sought as early as March 2017.

A clause in the right-of-way agreement says the county will “commence or cause to be commenced construction on the interchange by Dec. 8, 2017.”

County Administrator Ben Taylor said the clause is to ensure that the county is performing its due diligence to pursue the project, but ultimately the timing is up to GDOT and the availability of funds.

Commissioners Tuesday also had a first reading of a proposed new ordinance that would allow for “cluster” subdivisions.

Planning Director Eric Greenway said the option, if approved, would be available to builders but not a requirement.

“The goal here is to protect conservation areas and keep from building homes in flood plains,” he said. “That helps buyers avoid needing flood insurance and helps the county’s overall rating.”

Further stipulations for a cluster subdivision would include a requirement for an active recreation area. At least 20 percent of a development would have to be open space and 60 percent of that would need to be “usable, accessible and connected,” according to the ordinance.

In exchange, minimum lot sizes are reduced to between 5,000 and 6,000 square feet. The result allows builders to put an average of 3.5 homes per acre as opposed to 2.5. Only developments of 10 acres or more would be eligible.

Commissioners will revisit the ordinance at their December meeting.

Finally, commissioners approved two preliminary plats, on in Waterways Township and one in Pembroke. The first, off Oak Level Road, would allow 48 lots on roughly 29 acres. The second, on Wilma Edwards Road, would allow 34 lots plus an amenities area on 25 acres.

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Later yall, its been fun
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This is among the last pieces I’ll ever write for the Bryan County News.

Friday is my last day with the paper, and come June 1 I’m headed back to my native Michigan.

I moved here in 2015 from the Great Lake State due to my wife’s job. It’s amicable, but she has since moved on to a different life in a different state, and it’s time for me to do the same.

My son Thomas, an RHHS grad as of Saturday, also is headed back to Michigan to play basketball for a small school near Ann Arbor called Concordia University. My daughter, Erin, is in law school at University of Toledo. She had already begun her college volleyball career at Lourdes University in Ohio when we moved down here and had no desire to leave the Midwest.

With both of them and the rest of my family up north, there’s no reason for me to stay here. I haven’t missed winter one bit, but I’m sure I won’t miss the sand gnats, either.

Shortly after we arrived here in 2015, I got a job in communications with a certain art school in Savannah for a few short months. It was both personally and professionally toxic and I’ll leave it at that.

In March 2016 I signed on with the Bryan County News as assistant editor and I’ve loved every minute of it. My “first” newspaper career, in the late 80s and early 90s, was great. But when I left it to work in politics and later with a free-market think tank, I never pictured myself as an ink-stained wretch again.

Like they say, never say never.

During my time here at the News, I’ve covered everything that came along. That’s one big difference between working for a weekly as opposed to a daily paper. Reporters at a daily paper have a “beat” to cover. At a weekly paper like this, you cover … life. Sports, features, government meetings, crime, fundraisers, parades, festivals, successes, failures and everything in between. Oh, and hurricanes. Two of them. I’ll take a winter blizzard over that any day.

Along the way I’ve met a lot of great people. Volunteers, business owners, pastors, students, athletes, teachers, coaches, co-workers, first responders, veterans, soldiers and yes, even some politicians.

And I learned that the same adrenalin rush from covering “breaking news” that I experienced right out of college is still just as exciting nearly 30 years later.

With as much as I’ve written about the population increase and traffic problems, at least for a few short minutes my departure means there will be one less vehicle clogging up local roads. At least until I pass three or four moving vans headed this way as I get on northbound I-95.

The hub-bub over growth here can be humorous, unintentional and ironic all at once. We often get comments on our Facebook page that go something like this: “I’ve lived here for (usually less than five years) and the growth is out of control! We need a moratorium on new construction.”

It’s like people who move into phase I of “Walden Woods” subdivision after all the trees are cleared out and then complain about trees being cut down for phase II.

Bryan County will always hold a special place in my heart and I definitely plan on visiting again someday. My hope is that my boss, Jeff Whitten (one of the best I’ve ever had), will let me continue to be part of the Pembroke Mafia Football League from afar. If the Corleone family could expand to Vegas, there’s no reason the PMFL can’t expand to Michigan.

But the main reason I want to return someday is about that traffic issue. After all, I’ll need to see it with my own eyes before I’ll believe that Highway 144 actually got widened.

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