Editor, The letter in Sunday's Courier referencing the county's marina was very timely to say the least.  It appears in your paper approximately one week before the primary election and gives one side of the story about a very controversial and hot topic in the commission race.
The Liberty County Citizens Advisory Committee has attempted to get the commission to have a public hearing on the subject since May, but they have not had the time or inclination to do this. A public hearing with the commission and DNR would allow everything concerning the planning and purchase of the property to become open information to the public.  If everything is above board, why not do this?
A letter to the editor gives one side of the story and only addresses the areas that the writer wishes to address. A letter allows no opportunity for questions.  I am disappointed that the chairman chose this path to address this issue.  I don't have a side on this issue nor does the citizens advisory committee.  We just want our governing authority to address the concerns of its citizens in an open forum.  I think a request for a public hearing was fair and valid.
Another item that puzzled me about this purchase and is stated in the chairman's letter is that the commissioners reviewed two independent appraisals of the subject property, but they did not find it highly unusual that the two appraisers (one from Statesboro and the other from Chatham County would come up with the exact same appraised value of the property ($1,540,000).  The odds of this happening are extremely remote.
I wonder why the information in this letter was not presented at the regular monthly or mid-month commission Meeting?