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City council recognizes those who stepped up after hurricane
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Richmond Hill Councilman Russ Carpenter opened Tuesday's city council meeting by recounting how, even in the worst of times, people rise to the occasion and help their friends and neighbors in need.

Carpenter was referring to the actions of locals after the recent devastating effects associated with the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

“Just a month ago Hurricane Matthew hit the coast with devastating effects. But something positive came in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew,” he said. “During and immediately after the storm, and even now, neighbors, friends and sometimes strangers, sprang into action to help others. Sometimes even when they themselves had experienced loss. This ignited a profound sense of community which Richmond Hill, Pembroke and Bryan County are known for.”

Mayor Harold Fowler added his “heartfelt thanks” to everyone who went above and beyond during the recent crisis as the council passed a proclamation thanking businesses and individuals who contributed.

Charles Heino, of Enviroworx told the council that the public works department had removed 217 truckloads of yard debris not counting The Ford Plantation, which could account for another 75 to 100 loads. Approximately 6,900 cubic yards of debris have been removed.

“We have made the first round through town and as of Monday have started the second round,” he said. “We completed Mulberry today and have a team moving into Richmond Place and Richmond Heights. Once the debris removal is complete we will start straightening signs that fell or were moved by the winds of the storm.”

In planning and zoning actions, council approved the final plat of Creek Valley Townhomes at 1743 Harris Trail Road, which will include 59 units.

The city also approved a lighting assistance agreement with GDOT for the roundabout lighting at the future I-95 and Belfast Keller Road interchange. The city passed a resolution that said, in part, the city would be responsible for providing the lighting and its ongoing maintenance.

Several residents of the White Oak Subdivision spoke to the council regarding their concerns about the way their homeowner dues are being spent and appropriated by the their homeowner's association. They were dissatisfied and said her attempts to resolve the matter had not been successful and asked the council to step in see if they could assist them. 

Mayor Fowler explained that while the city had no legal authority over the homeowners association, they would look into the matter.

The council also passed a resolution recognizing the contributions made by retired educators and named Nov. 6 as “Retired Educator Day” in Richmond Hill. 

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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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