Work is underway to prepare property on Georgia Avenue to be North Augusta’s new public safety headquarters. Council members received an update during their Oct. 25 study session.
Crews from the city’s public service department will be on-site starting Nov. 1 to begin clearing the underbrush and hauling debris from on the property. It should take seven or eight days to finish the work.
MORE: Georgia Avenue Site is a Done Deal for North Augusta Public Safety
City Administrator Jim Clifford said he has walked the property with crews from public safety, public services and the contractor, Capstone. They discovered some Dominion Energy power poles still inside the property line.
“They’ve now since removed the items that were on that property, including the wiring and the cabling that went out to the poles, along with the poles themselves,” he said. “We are in the process right now of contracting for an asbestos survey for the old hotel and waiting to see what the results of that are to have that abated.”
Clifford said they continue to update Historic North Augusta on the process of preparing the site. He said they will also work to preserve mature trees that are on the site.
The decision to build the new public safety headquarters and court offices on the site, known as the Flythe/Seven Gables property, was met with resistance from residents who live near the property. Many were concerned about preserving the historic nature of the property.
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The site was part of a hunting lodge built by North Augusta’s founder, James U. Jackson. The lodge supported visitors to another Jackson property, the Hampton Terrace Hotel, that was lost in a 1916 fire. Historic North Augusta and the Punch and Judy Theater have both expressed interest in restoring and using the structures.
Originally, the plan was to build on East Buena Vista Avenue near the current headquarters, but since the plan was presented to council in September 2020, site and construction cost estimates increased by about $850,000 more than the location on Georgia Avenue. Council voted Oct. 4 to move forward with that site.
North Augusta is also looking at changes for city business licenses. An ordinance prepared by the South Carolina Municipal Association is designed to standardize how cities and towns across the state issue business licenses. The ordinance will reduce the base for business licenses in categories one through seven by $5.00.
Finance Director Cammie Hayes also explained a new category that will impact large events like Jack-O-Lantern Jubilee and Fall Fest in the city. It is called Special Event Promoters and will allow the organizer to purchase one business license to cover all the vendors who participate. Currently, each individual vendor must purchase its own license.
“There was another city that had been through the language with this with their city attorney and had also worked with the municipal association,” she explained. “So, we waited until they published their adopted language. Their city council heard it last week, so we have mimicked their language but adjusted the rates to make sense in our community.”
This year’s Fall Fest will be held Oct. 30 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Georgia Ave. in downtown North Augusta.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
