North Augusta City Council votes on annexation off of Exit 1

Samantha Winn, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·3 min read

Dec. 7—North Augusta City Council voted unanimously to add almost 44 acres of land to the city.

The parcel of land, located in Edgefield County off of Exit 1, will be annexed in to have access to city services during the first reading of the ordinance. It is owned by Adams Brothers Properties LLC, and will be zoned R-10 Medium Lot, Single Family residential and R-7 Small Lot Single Family Residential upon the second and final vote.

"This is a developer requested annexation," North Augusta Finance Director Cammie Hayes said. "This property is right past Gregory Lake Road on Martintown and it's on the right, and it actually surrounds part of Brown Construction. I was talking to Tommy (Paradise) earlier and Brown Construction was actually subdivided out of the parent parcel previously."

The property went before the North Augusta planning commission in November to change the zoning, which passed with an unanimous recommendation. Vice Chair JoAnn McKie and Commissioner Larry Watts recused themselves during the discussions.

The city also voted unanimously to receive financing and funding for public safety radios. The funding, coming from an intergovernmental agreement with Aiken County will allow North Augusta Public Safety to update their equipment.

"Aiken County would pay for 75 percent of the radios through their E911 funds and the city will be responsible for 25 percent," Hayes said.

The current radios used by the city are over 11 years old and receiving new equipment would solve connectivity issues with surrounding cities and counties. A lease purchasing arrangement was also unanimously passed, with the funding coming from landlines.

"The total cost is expected to not exceed $1 million. Aiken County currently on hand has about $300,000 dollars, so we were going to utilize that as a down payment and borrow the remaining balance," Hayes said. "That $300,000 counts as part of Aiken County's 75 percent. The city's 25 percent will come from the Capital Projects fund."

Other business:

* North Augusta City Council voted to amend Chapter 14, Article V, Division 3 of the city code. The code, which goes over stormwater definitions, was updated at the request of city staff.

* North Augusta high school seniors in government classes attended the meeting for extra credit. "I think that it's great that all of y'all came," Council Member Eric Presnell said. "...Y'all are our future leaders. Some of y'all may be sitting up here in 15 to 20 years, so I think that it's great that y'all are getting involved in your community and know that your voice matters too and I would encourage y'all to come back and catch a study session so that you understand some of the stuff that we are doing."

* Starting in 2022, the public power hours, hosted by the mayor on the first Monday of each month, will start at 5:30 p.m.

Samantha Winn covers the city of North Augusta, with a focus on government and community oriented business. Follow her on Twitter: @samanthamwinn and on Facebook and Instagram: @swinnnews.