North Augusta residents have had a wish fulfilled. The tattered and torn flag on top of the municipal building is no more.
Assistant Administrator Rachelle Moody updated council members during the April 4 meeting of the impending removal.
“The tattered flag that’s currently flying atop the building will be removed this week. We don’t have an exact date. Hopefully, the impending bad weather will not forestall that, but we do have that planned,” she said.
The crew with the special skills and climbing equipment needed to reach the flag was at the building Tuesday morning. It was removed by the time severe weather moved into the area.
The condition of the flag had been garnering criticism on social media, and Angela Burns, who lives near the intersection of W. Main Street and West Avenue, addressed her concerns about the flag at the March 21 meeting. She said it is the first thing she and her son see each morning.
“When my son asked me, ‘Mother, was that flag like that,’ I could not wait another minute,” she said. “And all I could tell my son was ‘Well, I think they’re trying to work on it. The building was not designed properly.’”
Long-time City Attorney Kelly Zier said the original design of the building did not include the flagpole on top of the building.
“When the iron workers finished the work on this building, and as their tradition, placed a United States flag on the top of the building, there was a citizen push at that time calling for a flagpole to be put on the roof. And that’s how it got changed from out front of the building here, to up there. And we’ve struggled with it all these years,” he said.
City Administrator Jim Clifford told council members the staff is working on a plan to have flagpoles installed at ground level, similar to the display at the Aiken County complex.
In other action during the April 4 meeting, council approved spending about $30,000 to install new equipment inside public safety vehicles.
The modifications are in response to the December 2021 shootout on Georgia Avenue that injured one officer.
During the March 28 study session, Clifford said the need for the mounts inside the vehicle became known when officers tried to stop a suspicious vehicle but the driver, Thomas Airington, forty-two of Clarks Hill, S.C., fled, first causing an accident at Martintown Road and Georgia Avenue then continuing down Georgia Avenue. He stopped near the intersection with Buena Vista Avenue, exited his truck and opened fire.
“Ultimately, the officer involved had to exit his vehicle under fire, move to the back of the Chevy Tahoe, open up the back of the Chevy Tahoe and get into a lock compartment for him to get his long gun out in order to be able to have an effective rate of return fire with the suspect. Those seconds matter,” Clifford said.
Lt. Aaron Fittery, a 15-year veteran with North Augusta Public Safety, was injured in the shootout. Fittery was shot in the leg during the incident, and his vehicle received extensive damage, including bullet holes in the driver’s seat headrest.
Clifford said the system is similar to how police cars were outfitted in the 1980s, with a locked gun rack beside the officer inside the car.
He said the department has 66 vehicles that need the modification. Installing the rack will be done by city employees.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a general assignment reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
