County to consider banning alcohol from Selden Park events

Mar. 22—Alcohol may be banned from events at Selden Park.

The Glynn County Commission discussed the matter at a work session on Tuesday, where they also considered imposing an 11 p.m. end time for events at the park.

Lisa Gurganus, recreation and parks director, explained the proposal, which was brought forward by District 5 Commissioner Allen Booker.

Gurganus said she's been working with county attorneys to update and modernize the county's recreation and parks ordinance. During that process, Booker suggested removing Selden from the list of parks at which alcohol can be sold.

Each event must get a special permit to serve alcohol.

Other parks on the list are Gascoigne Park, Neptune Park, the Glynn County Casino pool, Postell Park, Kings Park, Coast Guard Beach Park and Blythe Island Regional Park. Events with alcohol are prohibited at any other park, said County Attorney Aaron Mumford.

It's only really an issue at Selden, Gurganus explained. Events at most other county parks end at around 10 or 11 p.m. Currently, the county allows events to go on until 1 a.m., Gurganus said, and they frequently do.

"I'm in complete support of removing alcohol permits from (Selden Park)," Booker said. "Also reducing hours. I didn't realize it went until that late."

Activities at the park are more family friendly than in the past, she said. A lot of recreational activities, family events, the youth basketball season, picnics and the like occur at the Newcastle Street facility. Fields also are being used more for sports than in the past.

"It's kind of a different park than some that are on the list for alcohol," Gurganus said.

Several incidents have occurred in relation to events where alcohol was available and sometimes parties go on past midnight, she said.

Interim Glynn County Police Chief O'Neal Jackson supports the change.

Commissioners will vote on the measure at a future meeting.

In other business, commissioners declared April 6 to be George Rose Day in Glynn County.

Rose was a running back at Glynn Academy, earning many accolades, including high school all-American. He went on to play football for Auburn University, the Minnesota Vikings and the San Francisco 49ers.

He returned to Brunswick to be the head coach at Glynn Academy in 1970 before leaving again to work as a defensive coach at Auburn in 1972. In 2009, he was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and named an inaugural member of the Glynn County Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.

Commissioners also heard a presentation from Amy Vintner with First Tryon Advisors, a Charlotte, North Carolina, based municipal finance advisory firm, on SPLOST 2022 cash flow predictions. County Manager Bill Fallon said his office is also working on a schedule of SPLOST projects geared toward making the quickest impact.

The process will save the county millions in interest that it would otherwise incur by issuing bonds or taking loans, Fallon said.

Design, land and right of way acquisition, permits, environmental issues and frivolous lawsuits can cause substantial delays in SPLOST projects, said Commissioner Cap Fendig, but fellow Commissioner Sammy Tostensen noted the county has a project manager this time, along with more advance planning than in previous SPLOST initiatives.