Wednesday night Glynn County Commission chairman Wayne Neal, Joint Water and Sewer commission Executive Director Andrew Burroughs, County Commissioner David O’Quinn and Jekyll Island Authority Chief Operations Officer Noel Jenson got together to give a virtual update on the proposed SPLOST 2021 project list.

The update was a breakdown of each entity’s projects and costs. Neal recognized that a number of projects on the previous SPLOST 2016 list are not complete and the county has been criticized for it. However, corrective action is being taken he said.

Of those 46 projects, 31 are complete,, 5 have right-of-way or land issues that are being dealt with, 4 are out for bid, 3 are under construction and 3 are awaiting final approval. He said the county is hiring a project manager to not only manage SPLOST 2021 projects, but to take charge of any unfinished previous SPLOST projects.

In addition, Public Works Director Dave Austin and County Engineer Paul Andrews will make monthly SPLOST progress reports to the commission. Neal said the focus of the proposed SPLOST was critical infrastructure, job creation and tourism. During the discussion of the Coast Guard Station parking lot project, he announced the county would not impose a parking fee. He said a fee was originally considered but a two-fee structure, with one fee for locals and another for visitors, did not work, so they were dropping the fee altogether. He added the Coast Guard Station parking lot, for which $2.5 million has been designated, would be a $4.9 million, two phase project for which private donations and grant funding would be sought.

Photo: Getty Images

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