Emma Griffin, correspondent.
February’s City Council meeting began with a moment of silence for pilot Samuel Lilley, who tragically lost his life aboard the American Airlines jet that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter near Washington D.C. on January 30th. The midair collision killed all 67 people aboard both aircrafts, as reported in Associated Press, and marked the deadliest U.S. air crash since 2001.
Lilley was a graduate of Richmond Hill High School and Georgia Southern University, and a member of Coastal Community Christian Church.
Pastor Hubert Quiller, of Restoration Worship Center in Richmond Hill, led the moment with a prayer asking the Lord to “strengthen every member of this organization and just bless all of the leadership of this city.” Quiller remarked that it is God “who brought us through storms” and asked Him to “now to continue to lead and direct us in all truth.”
Mayor Russ Carpenter next made a proclamation recognizing February 2025 as Black History Month. “We celebrate the many achievements and contributions made by African Americans to our economic, cultural, spiritual and political development,” Carpenter said. He acknowledged the noted Black scholar and son of former slaves, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, for initiating Black History Week in 1926, and presented the proclamation to Pastor Quiller, on behalf of the Bryan County NAACP.
“Richmond Hill continues to work toward becoming an inclusive community in which all the citizens past, present and future, are respected and recognized for their contributions and potential contributions to our community, the state, the country and the world,” said Carpenter.
Zoning requests, water tank contracts, denied claims The council approved a variance request for a reduction of the buffer at 2658 US Highway 17 for the Southern Shores Medical Office. Planning and Zoning Director Brian Crooks clarified that the reduction would allow for more parking spaces for the medical facility, but that adequate landscaping with more trees would appropriately screen the commercial use.
A Conditional Use request to establish a golf cart sales and repair facility at 276 Mulberry Commercial Park and an acceptance of a Sidewalk Performance Bond in the amount of $261,072 for the Heartwood neighborhood were both approved as well.
The council then approved a change order to increase the contract with Phoenix Fabricators and Erectors, LLC by $136,350.00 to ensure the timely and cost-effective completion of the elevated water tank project at Exit 82.
Finally, the council approved the denial of the $100,000.00 claim submitted by Lauren McDonald due to the automobile accident with RHPD Officer Robert Smith at the intersection of Eunice Road and Brett Drive on July 28, 2023.
A K-9 says good-bye
Police Chief Raymond Shores presented a resolution to retire RHPD K9 Officer Milan, a German Shepherd.
“He served very well, and it’s time for him now, with his medical issues he was handling, to retire,” Shores stated. Shores noted that they would follow tradition in which a K9 would be retired and go to the ownership of its handler, saying “Obviously they have a very close attachment.”
Emma Griffin is a freelance correspondent with the Bryan County News.
