The group formed to track population growth connected with Fort Gordon is having its third virtual meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 15.
The regional growth management plan, coordinated by the CSRA Regional Commission, is trying to gauge the impact the population growth will have on the area. There are seven counties in the study: Augusta-Richmond County, Columbia, Burke, Lincoln and McDuffie Counties in Georgia; Aiken and Edgefield Counties in South Carolina.
The commission has released three more chapters of reports detailing current and anticipated changes. The latest segments are Chapter Five: Economic Development, Workforce Development, and Employment Draft; Chapter Six: Education Draft; Chapter Seven: Health Care Report Draft. Three earlier chapters covered population projections, transportation analysis and public safety, including police and fire protection.
All six segments are available for review and comment on the project website:
https://www.fortgordongmp.com/documents
The commission is working with Canada based Stantec Inc. to build the Fort Gordon Regional Management Plan.
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The goals are to help local communities prepare and plan for the growth, as well as ensure the quality of life for both civilian and military communities. The work began with an advisory group meeting in April 2021. The first three chapters of the study were released during a virtual public meeting on Oct. 19.
Research found Fort Gordon added about 9,000 service members between 2010 and 2019. Adding in family members, civilian contractors and associated support personnel that brought the total population increase to more than 60,000 residents. Based on Department of Defense projections it is anticipated there will be 2,000 more by the end of this year. Columbia County saw the highest number of new residents followed by Augusta-Richmond County and Aiken County.
MORE: Fort Gordon’s Growth to Bring About Change in the Future
The Dec. 15 meeting will be available via Zoom or by telephone.
Phone: 1 301 715 8592; Meeting ID: 995 6880 5688; Passcode: 271799
Members of the public unable to participate can watch a recording of the virtual public meeting which will be posted to the project site- https://www.fortgordongmp.com/public-meetings Videos of previous meetings are also available.
Comments can also be submitted through the project public input form or by email to cpappis@csrarc.ga.gov
The study will present a total of nine chapters.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
