Editor

Mr. Lamar Smith, seems to be the "Owner" of the Richmond Hill zoning board, city council members and Mayor Richard Davis.

He is at it again, having been one of several developers that messed up Hwy. 144 traffic due to excessive building, he is now going after Hwy. 17 South. Traffic on Hwy. 17 is bad enough now, it's backed up every morning for approximately a mile from I-95 South, due to traffic from Liberty County coming through.

Smith is planning on building many new homes on the Sparkman tract of land, several miles south of Richmond Hill city limits. This alone will add to our traffic problem, Mr. Smith said he is planning on building a large community off Daniel Siding Road. Again, more traffic. Daniel Siding is too small a road to handle more traffic. This will create a traffic problem even getting on to Hwy. 17 for the residents living on Daniel Siding, then even more traffic on Hwy 17.

EMS has a time maneuvering through the traffic maze now, what will it be like next year if Smith can go through with his plans? The city council gave Smith the OK to build on the Sparkman Tract. I'm wondering who will pay for added firemen and police needed to protect that tract of houses, The county can't handle the extra load, and if the city firemen and police are used, Richmond Hill taxpayers will be footing the bill. I feel that the city shouldn’t get involved with County affairs, at our expense. Must be a "good ole boy thing in Richmond Hill."

I moved to Richmond Hill in 1981 because of its beauty and now it's turning into a "concrete jungle" because of "greed." Richmond Hill calls it "growth".

The "dreams" of Richmond Hill officials are now costing taxpayers dollars, more police and more firemen is only one item. Sure PUBLIXs came in, but we need another grocery store like a hole in the head.

Have our city officials ever thought about installing an alarm system in case of a tornado coming? Look at Americus Ga, do we want that here? The city and county needs those alarm systems. Maybe some of the SPLOST dollars can be used.

Our traffic congestion and our displacing of wildlife must end. It's up to the taxpayers of RH & South Bryan County to take a stand, Go to the commissioners monthly meetings, get involved with their decisions, I know several of the commissioners and the Mayor, I know they will listen to what you have to say. Then go from there,

But Mr. Smith must be stopped. He only is creating traffic congestions, causing tax dollars to rise and destroying wildlife habitat.

Also, our county commissioners should change their meeting time so the working class taxpayers may attend.