Dear Editor:

What a wonderful gift. Bryan County’s Development Authority has given us yet another wonderful surprise. A 335 acre industrial park next to the existing park and just across from the Hyundai complex. All this hard work took two years of closed door “executive session” work to make sure us kids didn’t spoil the Christmas present.

This may include nearly four million square feet of warehouse, distribution, and logistics customers. For the cherry on top, possibly even some light manufacturing to help support HMGMA.

All of this has the potential to bring jobs, tax revenue, and additional economic activity. Unfortunately, those poor folks trying to build more warehouses and fill the one’s already in place on US Hwy 80 will just have to wait a little longer.

The builder, Scannell Properties Inc., says “The combination of Hyundai, the port of Savannah, significant public infrastructure investment, and continued population and economic growth continue to make this one of the premier industrial locations in the southeast”. Lucky us! This will bring more stores, more restaurants, lots more traffic, higher inflation and all those other things associated with rapid, untethered growth. Better start ordering those portable classrooms, more buses, police cars, and ambulances. All of the existing medical facilities should kickstart plans for expansion in Pooler, Pembroke, and Richmond Hill. Traffic might be a little worse for a short while, but the extra lanes on I-16 and US Rte. 280 will ease those worries in no time.

I was a bit worried about additional tax abatements, but I’m sure our county development folks have seen the light and will make sure any additional growth pays their fair share from day one. Some of the other bright spots includes not having those pesky deer, turkeys, and rabbits bothering us. They will either become road kill or migrate to quieter counties west or south of us. This also helps reduce speeding on our roads and the deadly accidents that go with it. When you’re crawling along at 20 MPH it’s a lot safer.

Overall, a pretty steep price for progress, but 10 years from now we’ll all agree it was worth it.

Ken Copi, Pembroke, Georgia