Savannah River Landing

Homeowners on Savannah River had to move buoys

Some residents in Campbell Town Landing got fed up with all those passing boats rocking their docks -- and decided to do something about it.

Last weekend, a zig-zagging line of "no wake" buoys appeared in the river, not far from the center channel. They were more than simple floats, and some were anchored with chains and concrete.

The intent, one neighbor told me, was to keep boat traffic away from their homes and docks and route them closer to the Georgia side.

The problem, though, is that the river is a public waterway and owning a house overlooking that water doesn't come with the right to block any portion of it, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, which ordered the barriers removed or relocated.

"I could sympathize with people who just got tired of boats rocking because of the wake, but you can't take that into your own hands and just willy nilly start putting markers out there," said John VanOsdol, an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Under maritime law, the river channel from Clarks Hill Dam to the coast is a navigable waterway under Coast Guard jurisdiction, even if there is no permanent station or patrol boat in this area.

Although the markers might slow or discourage boat traffic near the houses, they could also contribute to accidents if a boat or skier collided with or became entangled in one. Neighbors who did not want the markers also voiced concerns that rowing teams typically face backwards and might hit the markers, or would have to zig-zag around them.

Chief Boatswain's Mate Eric Dieckmann, the officer in charge of the Tybee Island Aids to Navigation Team, said in an e-mail Friday that the buoys were in the process of being removed.

"I have talked to the people responsible for putting out the no wake buoys," he said. "They promised me they would move the buoys out of the channel and put them closer to boat docks."

By Friday evening, most of the markers had been removed.

BAURLE RAMP: There might have been some delays in the long awaited expansion of the Bob Baurle boat ramp below New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam, but Richmond County officials say it is almost finished -- and could reopen by Aug. 12 if all goes well.

Ron Houck, the planning and development manager for Richmond County's Recreation, Parks & Facilities Department, said final paving will begin this coming week, with placement of grass and The Baurle ramp is one of few places offering access to the lower Savannah River. It was closed last winter to allow workers to expand the site, using a 2007 matching grant from then-Gov. Sonny Perdue's "Go Fish Georgia" initiative.

Savannah River Landing in 20 years 'will be transformed,' mayor ...

Savannah City Council and city staff offered multiple assurances Thursday that, even in a worst-case scenario, Savannah River Landing isn’t an undue tax burden and someday will reshape the eastern edge of the city.

“In 20 years we won’t know that area,” Mayor Otis Johnson said. “It will be totally different. It will be transformed.”

Mayor Pro Tem Edna Jackson and aldermen Tony Thomas and Larry Stuber pitched in with their own evaluations that, eventually, the failed development and its supporting tax allocation district will create retail development and become a bridge to the city’s Historic District.

Alderman Jeff Felser, however, continued to question the city’s assessment after the workshop presentation and is asking City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney to schedule another session to specifically address reports that the site has infrastructure problems other than the riverwalk and that, because of those concerns, the city may be called on to immediately pay back

Asked what additional information he wanted from the city, Felser replied, “The truth.”

City officials later confirmed that after examining water and sewer lines at portions of the 54-acre site, they have called on the owner to make improvements. Settling of fill at the site caused shifting in the lines. Corrective work is in progress, said Bret Bell, the city’s director of public information.

The problems were only in a few isolated areas, Bell said, and because there is no development in place, the city has no pressing need to accept maintenance responsibility for the utilities.

City officials said there was no update on the riverwalk. A consultants’ report said even after the engineering firm Thomas & Hutton stabilized portions of the walkway, some areas remained structurally unsound.

Most of the session focused on the city’s debt service for the tax allocation district. Created in 2007, the district reaches beyond the Savannah River Landing site to include businesses such as Georgia Power and the Savannah Riverfront Marriott to the west and properties to the south such as Spencer Elementary. Under the plan, taxes levied on new development are devoted to capital improvements, including road and drainage projects.

After private development at the site collapsed in the national real estate meltdown, the city in 2009 floated $20 million in bonds to fast-track plans to elevate the President Street Extension to end street flooding and to widen the Bilbo Canal to improve drainage.

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