Residents of North Augusta will have an opportunity next week to tell the city council where they want the new building for the city’s Department of Public Safety and court activities.
A citizen feedback forum will be Thursday, August 12. It will be in the Palmetto Terrace room of the municipal building beginning at 6 p.m.
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“We’ll put that information out on our social media and set up a new webpage on the city’s site,” City Administrator Jim Clifford said. “We have a page for fire station one updates and now setting up a public safety information as well. So, we’ll post updates and information about the public safety headquarters on that site.”
That webpage is located here.
The issue is the best place to build the new public safety building.
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Originally, the plan was to build on East Buena Vista Avenue near the current headquarters, but since the plan was presented to the council in September 2020, site and construction costs have increased by about $850,000 more than a location on Georgia Avenue known as the Seven Gables property.
Clifford said another concern is there is no room for future expansions at the East Buena Vista site, but extra room is available at Georgia Avenue.
When he presented the sketch plan to the Planning Commission at its last meeting, three residents, two from Butler Avenue, one from Georgia Avenue, expressed concerns about using the Georgia Avenue location including the historic nature of the site, the impact the traffic will have on the residential streets of Butler Avenue and Observatory Avenue and traffic danger because it is near the blind curve on Georgia Avenue.
During the council meeting, Mayor Briton Williams also praised Animal Control Officer Mike Strauss and others who dealt with a fox in Hammond Hill.
Last Wednesday, Hammond Hill resident Allie Bentley posted a warning to the North Augusta 20/20 Facebook page that a fox in her back yard had attacked her dog and bit him on the tail.
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Officers cornered the animal and euthanized it. The carcass was sent to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control for testing. The fox did test positive for rabies and Bentley’s dog, although current on a rabies vaccination, is currently in quarantine for 45 days.
Officer Strauss said there was a second incident in Hammond Hill involving a racoon that was acting suspiciously, or ill.
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“The raccoon did not have an encounter with any person or domestic animal, therefore was not tested. The states policy on testing indicates one of those two criteria have to be met to test a specimen,” he said
Strauss said another fox was found on July 27 after apparently being hit by a car on Five Notch Road. The fox was euthanized to prevent further suffering. It was not related to a rabies investigation.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
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