Why Would The Shepherd Center Agree To Pay $60,000 For Something They Can Only Use For 2 Years?

What is the Shepherd Center Up To?


Feds stop Cumberland project for disabled,
Permission to build on island disputed

By Ken Foskett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/03/07
Wading into a thicket of local intrigue and controversy, the National Park Service on Thursday halted work on an apartment building for paraplegics on Cumberland Island, a federally protected national seashore off Georgia's coast.The Shepherd Center of Atlanta, one of the nation's premier hospitals for catastrophic spinal cord injuries and other conditions, is building the two-bedroom structure on federal parkland occupied by Dr. Ben Jenkins, 85, and governed by an agreement negotiated when Cumberland became a national seashore in 1972.The Park Service concluded that Jenkins, who enlisted Shepherd's backing more than a year ago, had "no legal authority" to initiate construction, said Patricia Hooks, the southeast regional director in Atlanta.As the Park Service investigates whether officials followed proper procedures, it has temporarily reassigned Cumberland's superintendent, Jerre Brumbelow, to Atlanta.Hooks said the stop-work order will remain in effect until the park service can decide the fate of the 2,110-square-foot building, which sits next to Jenkins' existing house and is already more than halfway complete."As stewards of this property for the American public, we have a responsibility to make sure that the activities and construction are in accordance with the bargain that was struck on behalf of the American people," Hooks said.Shepherd officials said they envisioned a place where patients with disabilities might enjoy Cumberland's legendary natural beauty. But they now find themselves embroiled in a controversy that has become a major embarrassment to the Park Service.All parties agree that neither Jenkins nor Shepherd officials obtained Park Service permission before they began work, and the island superintendent wound up approving the project months after it had begun.Reached on the island, Jenkins said he was surprised to receive the Park Service's letter ordering the work stoppage because Brumbelow had given him permission to proceed on May 23."That's the kind of stupidity one runs up against with the U.S. government," said Jenkins. "I don't know exactly what I'm going to do, but I'm going to do something."Details of the construction project, first reported by the Georgia Times-Union in June, have ignited a storm of controversy in Camden County and among conservationists who monitor the island.Separate from the Park Service probe, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the Camden County Sheriff's Office and allegations that Sheriff William E. Smith improperly detailed jail inmates to help with the construction.Smith, whose adult son was treated at the Shepherd Center for a paralyzing injury after a horrific car accident four years ago, said he believes Shepherd's project was an appropriate use of inmate labor.Camden County officials were also upset to learn that Jenkins and Shepherd did not seek a county building permit before they started work six months ago.The county issued its own stop-work order two weeks ago.County officials have since learned that the Shepherd apartment building was built over the existing drain field serving Jenkins' septic system —- and that the new drain field does not meet code.Conservationists, meanwhile, are angry with park officials for allowing new construction on parkland that soon will come under park service control.The park service is scheduled to take control of Jenkins' house and any buildings on the land on Oct. 8, 2010, the termination date of the 40-year agreement that the original property owner, Andrew Carnegie III, entered into with the National Park Foundation in 1970.Jenkins, a former member of the Composite State Board of Medical Examiners, acquired Carnegie's interest in the property in 1978 under a sublease agreement and began living on the island full-time about 18 years ago. Several years ago, he began contributing money to the Shepherd Center Foundation and began talking to Shepherd officials about building a handicap accessible apartment next to his home.James Shepherd Jr., son of Shepherd's founders and a Shepherd trustee, said the Shepherd Center embraced the idea as a way to provide rehabilitative therapy to Shepherd patients who use wheelchairs.As part of the deal, Shepherd not only agreed to pay for the building, estimated to cost $75,000, but took over the sublease Jenkins acquired in 1978.Terms of the agreement permit Jenkins to remain in his home until his death.Shepherd said the hospital was fully aware that the new building and all others on the property would revert to the Park Service under the terms of the 1970 agreement.But Shepherd said he hoped the Park Service would consider keeping the building and maintaining it for handicapped visitors.That goal may now in doubt. In issuing the stop work order, Hooks said continued construction of the apartments may "further endanger resources and adversely affect the property's fitness to become part of the Seashore."


The Real School Police question the actions of the Shepherd Center and yes I do wonder if they are planning to engage in illegal activity on the island.

It would be a great place for a meth lab, Wouldn't it Sheriff. And as luck would have it we have a professional meth maker in Camden County.

Well if the Sheriff is not going to explain his actions I will.