Criminal Defense Attorney in Pooler, GA.

POOLER, Ga. (WSAV) — Two business owners we spoke with today, who need water to do their jobs, both agree that the water is not only clean here in Pooler, but it smells bad too and that something needs to be done.

“The water here has some kind of smell to it.”

Poor water quality—that’s what some Pooler business owners say they deal with every day.

Camilo Herida owns The Barber Post and he refuses to use the city’s water.

“I just started using Figi water or any type of water for the water bottles to spray on the customers, because when we spray the customers with water,” said Herida. “It actually has a smell to it, and I started noticing that off the customers.”

And for the past month, he’s been taking a financial hit for the sake of his customers.

Herida explained, “Water you could go anywhere from $3 all the way to $15 for a pack from Sam’s Club or something. But we have to do what we have to do to satisfy the customers.”

The water quality caught the attention of other business owners too.

Jessica Sauls, Owner of Jessica & Co. Beauty Lounge said, “I think the smell comes from a ditch. You can smell a little bit of a fungus.”

Jessica owns a beauty salon, her shop just up the road from The Barber Post.

“The water quality is not great,” said Sauls “It’s not great, especially when it rains. It will sometimes back up in the toilets and stuff.”

We’ve requested comments from the city and water superintendent Mark Williams responded to me saying that if a pooler resident has an issue with the water, they’ll need to contact the city where they’ll then sample the water for disinfection levels.

POOLER, Ga. —

The wait is over.

The popular Dave & Buster’s has finally made its way to Southeast Georgia, opening a brand-new location in Pooler.

And it’s just in time for the holiday season.

It’s just after 11:00 on a Monday morning, the first day of the work week, and a big crowd is already filing into the Dave & Buster’s at the Tanger Outlets.

That in itself just tells you how anticipated its arrival was.

“We are beyond excited," said P.J. Jones, the general manager of Dave & Buster's Pooler. "We had a line out the door waiting to come in at 10-10:30. We opened before 11 just because they were all patiently waiting.”

One of those patiently waiting was Latifah Johnson who made the trip from her home in Ridgeland, South Carolina.

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“I knew they were opening," said Johnson. "I’m very familiar with Dave & Buster’s. I love them, I found out they were having one come this close to my home, and of course, I had to come out and be here for the grand opening.”

Dave & Buster’s setting up shop at the Tanger Outlets and in Pooler is also a big deal for the city.

“One of the chamber’s jobs is to market Pooler," said Courtney Johnson, the president and CEO of Pooler Chamber of Commerce. "We’re a visitors bureau, we want to bring people in. We want to expose them to all the wonderful things that we have. Dave & Buster’s is a welcome addition to this.”

The timing of the opening of Dave & Buster’s at Tanger Outlets is no small coincidence; in fact, they said they wanted to be open in time for the holiday shopping season.

“We know Tanger Outlets is going to be extremely busy for shopping," said Jones. "The kids will be out of school right before Christmas, so we wanted to capture that and get into the community right from go.”

Dave & Buster’s is also bringing jobs to Pooler; they currently have 160 employees.

POOLER, Ga. (WSAV) — We have heard for years now that development in Pooler is booming. It was a major concern for residents at the polls in November. This was the forefront of a public hearing Monday night for multiple new developments in the city.

Those who live in the Somersby subdivision off of Pine Barren Road were worried about a new container storage yard to be developed there, but it was denied by the council — the development of a container storage yard.

The facility was planned for 1485 Pine Barren Road. Michael Maher, a resident there, says this would have caused problems for those who live in the area.

“It’s going a mile west of [Somersby], but that’s measured in Google Maps. Our neighborhood actually curves around to the west a little bit, and it’s much, much closer to where that will be,” Maher says.

He and his neighbors had four major concerns: traffic, road damage, noise, and how the containers could be an eyesore.

“The road actually has kind of crumbled a little bit where they’re planning a senior center or senior apartments… the road cannot handle more truck traffic and more employee truck traffic. The funny thing is… our road is marked as no trucks and trucks prohibited, but that’s widely ignored. If this goes on, there’ll just be a lot more traffic, which the road can’t handle right now,” Maher says.

Councilwoman Shirlenia Daniel mentioned that this could also impact traffic at two churches on the road Gateway Church and Pooler Church.

There are wetlands in the area as well, which the developers say they were prepared to preserve.

Maher says he is happy with the outcome and is looking forward to development conversations with the new council.

“The Pooler City Council and Karen Williams, who’s going to be the new mayor, are very responsive. They took this very seriously. In talking to them, I found that they are desperate to hear from the citizens. If they don’t hear from the citizens, they can’t really deny development,” Maher says.

This was Rebecca Benton’s last official appearance in the council chambers as mayor. Mayor-elect Karen Williams told News 3 that she looks forward to hearing more from the public about development.

POOLER, Ga. (WSAV) — It’s no secret that Pooler is one of the fastest-growing cities in Chatham County.

That’s why it’s no surprise that another restaurant and entertainment center is opening its doors soon.

In the last decade, Pooler has seen a significant amount of growth – more people and businesses built from the bottom up.

“With Pooler, you can live here work here play here you don’t really have to go anywhere else so you still get that small hometown fee,” said Courtney Rawlins President of the Pooler Chamber of Commerce.

The city’s constant state of growth means residents don’t have to go to Savannah as often because everything is right here.

Rawlins added, “You can get the shopping and the dining and all that good stuff.”

Since Pooler is considered a desirable area, Rawlins told News 3 that it will only go up from here.

“The growth and the things that are happening I find them very exciting it’s a privilege to be a part of a history of a city that’s growing around you,” she said.

The chamber runs in two lanes, working for members of the business community and their Visit Pooler lane which is all about bringing in tourists to Pooler.

Rawlins explained, “The chamber’s job is to marry our businesses and our residents to really give you that community feel so we’re always really excited when new experiences come in both for our residents and our visitors”

And one of those newest attractions is Dave & Buster’s, bringing entertainment to the constantly growing area.

Dave & Buster’s general manager PJ Jones told News 3, “People stop me and they’re just so excited were coming to the community i mean it’s such a small town feel.”

Jones found himself at Dave & Busters in the early 90s.

“It was by far the most fun place to go with my roommate we would have a couple of beers and play all the games”

This new location marks the chain’s sixth restaurant in Georgia.

And if you’re looking for a job, this could be the place with 160 jobs waiting to be filled.

“I just love the rush, I love the staff, I love the culture. They’re very about fam and not just coming into work just clocking in and then clocking out they really make you feel included,” kitchen manager Jasmine Webb stated.

It’s the ultimate entertainment center to eat drink play and watch sports with unique food and bar options.

Yamile Bueno, Dave & Buster’s area operation manager said, “We have our special Dave & Buster’s cocktails so we have things like our Caribbean Long Island this is our dangerous waters island punch, this is our Strawberry Watermelon Margarita.”

“We actually have a kitchen where they actually come up with all these different recipes just trying to figure out the best of the best type of things to offer to all of our guests that come in.”

Dave & Buster’s will be officially open to the public on Monday, December 4.

Population, employment growth and traffic were among the topics discussed on Wednesday at the annual economic outlook luncheon hosted by the Greater Pooler Area Chamber of Commerce. The event featured Michael Toma, professor of economics at Georgia Southern University, as the keynote.

Attendees included people like Pooler Mayor Rebecca Benton, City Councilmembers Stevie Wall, Karen Williams and Shirlenia Daniel, and representatives from locally and nationally-owned businesses.

Toma started out the luncheon discussing the wider economy before focusing on the Pooler area with its rapid population growth. The population grew 17% between 2000-2010, before slowing to 8% from 2010 to 2015. Since 2015 it has grown 3% each year.

"The interesting thing is that employment growth is now surpassing population growth," Roma said. "This is good, this is a deepening of job opportunities in the Pooler area, and the economy is providing more space for entrepreneurs and businesses to grow."

Toma said the rate of growth in employment in Pooler far exceeds what it is in Georgia and in Chatham County, with a 50% growth in employment base since 2010 compared to the 20% in Chatham County overall.

"Again, there's this deepening of economic opportunities, business opportunities in Pooler that I cannot see diminishing, and it's going to keep on going up."

Toma also had a slide about commute time in his presentation, with traffic being a big topic of discussion among residents in the city.

"Commute time has come down in the last couple of years," Toma said. "Again, this is a five-year rolling average, that evolves over time, but that's good in conjunction with increased median income, because there's less time that you're spending in traffic when you could be doing other economically productive stuff."

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Toma said it reflects a couple of things and that it's likely it reflects an investment in infrastructure for roads and highways, as well as a deepening in opportunities in Pooler. More business and more opportunities to work in Pooler will be reflected in the commuter wait time in the long run.

Overall, Toma said the future for Pooler is bright.

"Pooler is a nice sweet spot within the context of the regional economy that's growing well," Toma said. "And in the context of the U.S., the economy seems to be doing much better than folks originally thought."

Chamber of Commerce President Courtney Rawlins said the hope for informational sessions like this was for businesses to leave with the information that Pooler is growing and to prepare for it.

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"We take bringing informative sessions like this very seriously," Rawlins said. "We know that Pooler and West Chatham is growing and changing, and sometimes that growth can be a little scary, but there is power in knowledge. And information sessions like these empower our businesses to make really powerful decisions moving forward."

Since Rawlins became president in May 2022, the chamber has grown from 230 members to for 463. The chamber will continue to host events for its members like this through October and November.

It will also be hosting a candidates forum on Tuesday that is open to the public. It will feature those running for Pooler mayor and city council.

Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for Chatham County municipalities for Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at dambus@gannett.com