Pooler discusses CAT tax in community meeting

CHATHAM CO., GA (WTOC) - A series of public meetings will discuss whether legislation should be passed to bring a Chatham Area Transit tax to Pooler and other West Chatham cities.

CAT wants to expand to municipalities including Pooler, but Pooler city council cried foul, citing taxation without representation. CAT and the Center for Urban Transportation Research will host two public workshops at 6 p.m., one workshop in Pooler on Wednesday at City Hall, and another on Thursday at Garden City City Hall, also at 6 p.m.

Pooler Mayor Mike Lamb, along with the mayor of Garden City, have voiced opposition to CAT expanding westward without residents in their respective communities having a chance to vote on this, since property tax would go up to fund the service.

Traffic concerns stemming from proposed services were also addressed at Wednesday's meeting.

"It just seems that we're trying to make public transportation available for this new mall that's coming out. And we're going to be paying for it," said one audience member at the Pooler meeting.

"I'd be glad to turn it into the hands of the citizens here in Pooler. I'll do what the citizens tell me to do," said Lamb at Wednesday's meeting.

But with areas like Pooler continuing to grow with more and more business opportunities, so are the numbers of people that would likely benefit from public transportation expanding further into the county.

The four services proposed were fixed-routes, paratransit, zonal service and commuter assistance.

"CAT has an intention, as their board has adopted this plan, to be more than a bus system, to look at vans, to look at car-pooling, to look at technology to provide information. The world is changing, behaviors are changing. So CAT is right up with it with their strategic plan," said Rob Gregg, with the Center for Urban Transportation Research out of the University of South Florida.