Grovetown Councilwoman Sylvia Martin has work to do and aims to keep on doing it.
Martin is running for reelection for her seat on the Grovetown City Council with aims of completing several projects she started and starting some to finish.
She worked with fellow councilwoman Deborah Fisher, city administrator Elaine Matthews and finance director Bradley Smith to secure a minimum wage increase the minimum wage for city workers.
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She was also appointed by Mayor Gary Jones for a committee to reestablish a senior citizens center and is currently working with leisure and recreation staff toward this goal.
The rapid growth of Columbia County in general and of Grovetown particularly have stirred Martin to consider what way this development would be that would prove the most comfortable and beneficial for the town.
While she supports this growth, Martin said that the best thing for the city might entail the city slowing down so that it and the county could catch up and get a better handle on the infrastructure of the roads.
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“Grovetown is the fastest growing city in Columbia County,” said Martin. “It puts us in a bad light as to why would we keep allowing this growth when the roads can’t handle the traffic. I’d really like to see us make some headway in that area.”
A major project that Martin says is dear to her heart, however, is building a replica of the railroad depot, which was demolished in 1973.
“That was one of the biggest mistakes Grovetown ever made,” she said. “The railroad played such a vital road in the history of Grovetown. The town was started around the railroad.”
Martin envisions that a rebuilt railroad depot could serve has a communal focal point for the city, a downtown meeting center, a venue for major local events and a facility for education on the history of the railroad and the town.
“That is one of the things I really want to see done,” said Martin. “I hope that I can be on board to help that come to fruition.”
That Martin would be passionate about enabling Grovetown to educate its residents is fitting. She has been a teacher for 45 years total, 33 of them in the Columbia County school system retiring in 2010. She then went on to teach part-time at University of South Carolina Aiken and Augusta University.
Martin was born in Augusta and raised by her grandparents in Grovetown. She says that her love for her hometown coupled with her years-long experience of dedication to students, both children and adults, makes her community involvement particularly apt.
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Martin was first elected to the council in 2014. Before serving on the council, she was president of the Museum Board and worked on the city’s comprehensive plan. Her affection for the town where she has resided all her life has inspired an eagerness to see it flourish, hence her drive to participate in its current progress.
“It was a natural step to run for city council because I wanted to help the city,” said Martin. “I want to see the continue to be able to offer more for our citizens.”
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Martin recalls when most of the roads in Grovetown were dirt. Now she nurses hope for a bustling city with opportunity. Part of her reason for supporting a replica of the depot was so that it could serve as an effective drawing piece for newcomers and residents alike, complete with a downtown coffee shop.
“I would like to see in my lifetime a downtown area in Grovetown,” said Martin. “Where people want to come and want to sit, where people could go and gather. Something where our citizens can say, ‘we have this, where he can go, and we can enjoy.'”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering Columbia County with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
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