City Council - Regular Meeting

I'm going to call the public power hour to order.

And first up is Mr. Aaron Henson. Aaron, I'm going to have you come on up and state your name and address for the record. And although there's not a ton of people here, we are live streaming this. So there are a lot of people watching.

No pressure. Okay.

I can hear you, but speak into the microphone.

Yes, sir. Yeah, good. My name's Aaron Henson. I live at 933 Mitchell Lane in Evans, Georgia. And I'm here to pitch a business idea to you. So imagine you're walking in North Augusta on a beautiful Saturday morning. You see families headed toward the Greenway, people hanging out on the riverfront, couples looking for something fun to do together. Now imagine there's a row of electric bikes on the sidewalk just waiting to be rented. 30 seconds later, you scan a QR code, and 30 seconds later, you're writing, no storefront, no paperwork, no hassle. Just another reason to spend the day in North Augusta. My name's Aaron Henson, and I'd like to turn that vision into a reality for North Augusta. This idea actually began nearly eight years ago when my wife and I were driving through Pennsylvania to watch the Ohio State Buckeyes whoop up on Penn State. Go Bucs! We had some time to kill, so we stopped in Harrisburg for lunch. It was certainly not a destination city, but they had one feature that stuck with us, electric bikes that were available right on the sidewalk. So we scanned the QR code and rented a couple of bikes. For about an hour, we explored the city in a way we never would have been able to on foot or in a car. It wasn't just transportation. It became part of the experience. The following weekend, we came home, and we were visiting the Greenway here in North Augusta. And I remember telling my wife, It would be great if we had something like that right here where, you know, people like us who don't have the space to necessarily own bikes and don't want to transport them over here. We could just kind of park our car, rent a bike and go. So at that time, it was just an idea, an idea that we kind of dismissed as too expensive. We researched a little bit. Too expensive, too time-consuming, or just too difficult to get approved. Life moved on, and since that day, we've welcomed two beautiful daughters into our family. And just like our family, North Augusta has grown in huge ways and is now, I think, one of the most attractive communities in the Southeast and certainly in the CSRA. Today, I believe our e-bike rental business makes more sense than ever before for North Augusta. All the growth that you've seen around the Greenway and the riverfront, apartment communities, hotels, lots of tourism. I think it just makes a lot more sense now than it did even eight years ago. So my vision is simple. We want to strategically place smart bike racks throughout the city that would allow residents and visitors to unlock an e-bike from their phone, ride anywhere along the Greenway and connecting trail systems all over the city into Augusta as well, and eventually return it to the same station or another station that we could expand into later as the venture is successful and proves itself. So whether somebody wants to spend an afternoon exploring, ride to dinner, attend an event at SRP Park, or even commute to work, this system would give them another way to enjoy our city. And because the system is automated, it operates without a storefront, without on-site employees, keeping costs low while providing a convenient public amenity. So why am I the right person to build it? I've called the CSRA home since 2014. When I moved here from Ohio, a coworker lovingly told me that Northerners are like hemorrhoids. They come down, they're a pain in the butt, and then they go back up. Well, I'm one that never went back up. I've made this community my home, and in 2024, I founded College Hunks Hauling, Junking, and Moving here in Augusta. Since then, we've grown into a seven-figure business with multiple trucks, a talented team, and systems that allow us to operate professionally every day. Those same trucks, employees, and operational experience give me the resources to maintain an e-bike system the way North Augusta deserves with excellence. My goal isn't simply to start another business. It's to create something that makes people smile, something that encourages family to spend more time together, something to get them off their screens, and something that gives visitors one more reason to stay a little longer. And I think this will be something that reflects the innovative welcoming spirit that has made North Augusta one of the best places to live. Years ago, my wife and I rented two bikes in a city we barely remember. Today, I don't remember where we ate or what we ordered, but I still remember riding those bikes together and the good time that we had. I'd love to give thousands of families the opportunity to create memories like that right here in North Augusta. Thank you for your time, and I appreciate your consideration.

All right. Aaron, I'll start first, and these folks can jump into afterwards. Well, first of all, I think it's a great idea. I love e-bikes. You know, my adult kids, whether it's in Charlotte or Greenville, I mean, they're so used to it. You go to any town, big town has it, right? And I've actually e-biked the Central Park and the New York. So I think it's a great idea. I'm very supportive of that. I will tell you this is very timely because the only negative that I'm going to tell you is right now, and this I think brings up an opportunity for us to have this conversation, we are not supposed to, we don't allow any electrical vehicles on the Greenway. So there's been debate over the last few years about that because the reality is there are people using it, right? I mean, I see them with e-bikes all the time. So I don't know that it doesn't merit that conversation for us. Because I think the Greenway would need to be a piece of that that you would want besides just the city of North Augusta, I would guess. Yes, sir. But I know how people are. And we already have citizens, which is rightly so, they're folks who just ride their regular bicycles, who train on our Greenway. And they whiz past you. And that's an issue that we hear about. So e-bikes, again, you got to be careful because you go off the road, whatever. So I like the idea. I'm very open to it. And if council is, I think it'd warrant us to maybe have a study session and have the conversation and figure out, does it make sense? Does Greenway need to be that way? So I don't know what your thoughts are. Who wants to go first? Yeah.

I'll go first. I don't know much about e-bikes. I've never been on one, but I know there are different grades of them.

Is that correct?

Someone had asked me about what level bike would be acceptable for them. Can you educate me on those levels?

Right. So what I would do, what I would propose to alleviate some of the safety concern, there's always going to be a safety concern. You can ride a manual bike really fast too. But I think one of the beauties of having a set vendor in place is that I can govern all the bikes across the whole fleet. I can set a maximum speed at 15 miles an hour or whatever we feel is appropriate. So then you're getting a lot more control than you have currently where people can ride people are riding e-bikes on the trail with with no governing governor on it and i think that currently you don't have any enforcement on the trails so you know right now it's kind of could be the wild wild west depending on who's out there but um we can definitely put some controls in place that'll tighten all that up that's great how much of the city would you say is bike friendly Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, certainly the whole Greenway, obviously, and then being able to cross the bridge over into Augusta opens up another world, you know, and then connecting to the canal trail over there. And then I was reading and haven't been able to confirm this, but I think it was a news report about a new. Pedestrian connector that's going to be down around top golf the top golf area So I think you know you're going to get to a point where there's a nice loop That people can enjoy and then you know over in over in Evans and Columbia County There's trail systems that are starting to spring up, too So I think you could easily within the next you know five to ten years probably have a hundred miles of trails that you could That you could connect You know with these bike stations

Does your concept of an e-bike include a helmet?

So we would have to figure out a way to provide that. If we were going to do that, that changes the simplicity of it.

It's not required for someone to wear a helmet, correct?

Well, I mean, it's not a requirement.

No, it's advisable.

Right. It would definitely advise that they wear a helmet, and my thought is they could just have their own helmet that they bring or they don't wear one. I don't know if currently most people are wearing helmets on manual bikes or not, but it wouldn't really be any different in concept of what people are doing now as far as that goes.

Just like softball, I tell my children, you have your own helmet. And I'm not being ugly, but headlights. You don't want to put on a helmet if somebody else is used.

Yes, ma'am.

Yeah, I think it's, I don't, Pat, do you have a question? Yeah.

I think it's a great idea, too.

I mean, I think anything, and I love the idea of being able to access the Greenway on it, but I really like the idea of being able to access maybe other parts of the city, anything that can pull cars off the road I think is great. And this is my own ignorance, so just for clarification, I know I've been to cities, and I think it's more the scooters than the bikes, but you see them just laying everywhere. I'm assuming these would have to be docked for it to work, right? Yes, sir. Can people just decide it? wherever place they want to go, this is where I'm done with the bike, and they drop it there, and they're just bikes laying all over the city?

Yeah, so I started with kind of the more conservative approach, which I thought would be more likely to get approved. We could, you know, if we see it being successful and we like it, we could go to that model where you leave bikes. But to me, that just doesn't fit the aesthetic of North Augusta or, you know, even Columbia County for that matter. So my thought was, you know... start with the docking stations. They're smart docking stations, so they'll unlock with a QR code. They can be solar powered or powered off of a nearby building or electrical infrastructure. And they can be, there's a couple of different models. They can be bolted to the sidewalk or they can have base plates where they're weighted and they just sit on the sidewalk, so there's no harm to the sidewalk. But, yeah, they can be – it could be like that if, you know, if that's the direction we wanted to go with it eventually.

But if somebody did that, you would have the way to track them. I mean, if somebody decided for whatever reason I'm going here and I'm just leaving it and walking off, because they bought it with their app or whatever, would you be able to track that?

Yes, sir. There'll be GPS on each bike, and I'll have a dashboard that allows me to have visibility over the whole fleet, where the bikes are located, how much battery power is left in each one, and I'll have the trucks and the staff to support any battery swaps or whole bike swaps that need to be done throughout the day. We can do that with our existing fleet of trucks and staff.

My concern wasn't so much about... tracking the bikes that's his problem it's just bikes land on the sidewalk all over the place because people get riding them and just drop them there so case they've already paid for it you know and I've been to cities to where that you have to put a minute you know they have to end up at a place on a deposit back and you don't get it refunded unless you put it in a designated space yes and I've been to cities where their scooters and bikes not laying all over the place but yeah we would just want to think that through but again I totally support it I think it's great ideas

Yeah, I agree. I think it's a great idea. I have a son that lives in Denver, and they're everywhere. I mean, they leave him everywhere. So I would like to see maybe that not be the case here. But I think it would be really cool to maybe partner with Augusta as well and maybe have some stations over there where you can go back and forth and –

Yeah, that is my long-term plan. I've already kind of mapped out where I would want additional stations. But to me, the most lucrative place to start would be right here at the Greenway, where people are running into the same scenario that my wife and I had. And then another vision is have a monthly subscription where people that live in these apartments or commuting maybe to the hospitals could pay a monthly subscription and access the bikes anytime they want. and then have bike racks in those areas as well.

So you have the ability to have the stations at different locations, right?

Yes, sir. Yeah, they range in size of as small as like five bikes all the way up to 20 bikes. So we would probably start with 15 to 20 bikes. My ideal location would be basically right at the exit of the parking garage that's located right here. I don't know if I'm pointing in the right direction. I think it's there. to where people could just park their car and hop on one and go ride wherever they want. Right on.

I think this is real timely, and I think this will spur us to, I'll get with our administration, we'll get a study session set up and have our folks do some homework in preparation for that, because we've got to go down that road first. Yes, sir. But I think what I'd like to hear from everybody is I think we're all open to it. It's a good idea. You're the first one that really kind of brought it to our attention like this. I know somebody at one point was talking about renting space out there next to, Highlander at one time. But anyway, this is very impressive. I love the idea of controlling the speed. That's huge.

One more question.

E-bikes, I understand, are there e-scooters?

There are. And those are just like a two-wheeled scooter that you get on? I see people riding those all over the place as well. Is that part of your plan?

I really was interested in the e-bikes for whatever reason, but maybe it's just because I've never been into scooters personally. But, I mean, I'm open to anything that you guys are willing to allow me to do, even if it ends up not being e-bikes, if it has to be manual bikes. I'm open to that as well. So please don't take this as rigid from me.

My guess is I think the e-bikes is going to – Allow you to reach out to a larger population here in North Augusta. Scooters are, you've got to be coordinated.

I mean, I'd be happy with bikes. Let John do the scooter. Not me. All right.

Aaron, very good, sir. We'll be in touch if you will. You've got all his information. All right. We'll keep you posted. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for the opportunity. I really appreciate your time. You all have a great night.

That's good stuff.

Anybody else? He sent an email, so that's why he gets to go first. So anybody else interested in saying anything? You good, young lady? I have a scooter story.

I do, right? I did a wall in Nashville.

I hope you had your helmet on. I hope you had your scooters to make me nervous. Scooters are more dangerous. No, no, it was my own fault.

It had nothing to do with it. I was trying to keep up with my son. Of course, we don't do that.

There you go.

That's right.

we'll keep it open just for a few minutes in case somebody shows up and then we'll shut it down

Okay.

I want to give one last chance. Anybody in the audience need to talk to us the public power hour before I shut us down?

All right.

We are closing the public power hour, and we'll start back our city council meeting at 6 o'clock sharp.

Thanks. All right, good evening.

Welcome to the call to order of the City of North Dakota City Council meeting for July the 6th, 2026. Good to see everybody. Thank you all for being here. You are welcome to join me in prayer. Dear God, I ask for a discernment for this council. I ask that we have a servant heart as we do the work of the city. I ask that we are purposeful in our actions. that we listen to our citizens and each other, and that we strive to honor you in our decisions. Amen. If you're able, please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Roll call from my left. John Felike.

Pat Carpenter.

Britton Williams. Kevin Toole. David Buck. All right. Item four, approval of minutes. Are there any corrections, deletions, or additions to the regular city council meeting minutes of June the 15th, 2026, or the study session minutes of June the 29th, 2026? All right. Hearing none, they stand approved as distributed. So I'm going to read a proclamation. This is pretty amazing. This year we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Nike Peach Jam. and we will be having the Nike, we'll have Mayor Garnett Johnson from Augusta, we'll have the Sports Council and a lot of folks, probably about 150 people, and our fourth floor of our building on Thursday night to kind of kick off the start of the Nike Peaks Jam, and we'll read a proclamation, this proclamation at that point, and we'll give to them. But anyway, I wanted to read this proclamation on the 30th anniversary of the Nike Peaks Jam. Whereas Nike Grassroots Basketball requested the rental of the Riverview Park Activity Center in 1996 for the inaugural Nike Peach Basket Classic, featuring Nike's top 24, 17 and under summer basketball teams. And whereas in 1997, the tournament name was changed to the Nike Peach Jam, and whereas the success of the Nike Peach Jam has been a collaboration effort from the City of North Augusta Parks and Recreation Department, First Baptist Church of North Augusta, True North Church of North Augusta, and the Augusta Sports Council. And whereas the Nike Peach Jam event has brought numerous out-of-state visitors to our community and contributed to the economic well-being of the community and region, And whereas the Nike Peach Jam's 30th anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on the impact that the tournament has brought in putting North Augusta and Augusta in the national spotlight. And now, therefore, I, Britton S. Williams, Mayor of the City of North Augusta, South Carolina, do hereby proclaim July 2026 as the month to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Nike Peach Jam at the Riverview Park Activity Center in the City of North Augusta, recognizing the tournament's lasting value and contribution to our community. Witness whereof I have unto set my hand and cause the official seal of the City of North Augusta, South Carolina to be affixed the sixth day of July 2026. And I don't know how many of y'all follow professional basketball, but the New York Knickerbockers won the NBA championship. And I didn't know this until Clint Bryan, who was the retired former coach at Augusta State, told us. But the MVP this year, an MVP, was a gentleman, last name was Brunson. He was here at Nike Peach Jam 10 years ago. And the number one player for the San Antonio Spurs, I think that's who they played, I think it was his first year, he was also here in 2016 with Brunson. So, pretty amazing. So anyway, big, and our Parks and Rec folks, whether it's Jeremy, Jonas, Dan, and Rick, and the whole team, everybody comes together to make this a very successful event.

And can I say one thing? You sure can. And really, Nike Peaks Jam, they say these boys travel all over the United States all summer long. They're never home. And one thing I love, you walk in back with a racquetball, they have a barber shop set up for them. And I walked in one day, I said, what in the world? That looks like barber chairs. And they said, it is, because these boys cannot stop long enough to get a haircut. So they do that. But they love North Augusta because, and this has been said over and over, the hospitality that our city shows, and the young boys will say, because the food is good southern food, chicken strips, mac and cheese. And they comment, we don't go to another city that we're treated like we are in North Augusta.

And that's why I'm glad they recognize First Baptist and True North, because those folks take time to talk to the student, the kids.

So anyway, good stuff.

All right, we're going to jump now into old business item six. Parks and Recreation Ordinance Number 2026-12, granting an easement on city property that includes Somerville Park to Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc. for placement facilities to serve North Augusta Middle School. Do I have a motion to approve this ordinance on second reading? So moved. Seconded.

Okay, I think that was Mr. Buck was first, and I think Mayor Pro Tem Toole was second.

Kevin. Anything you want to share about this? I mean, I feel like this has been on the agenda for about a month now.

Mr. Mayor and Council, really just for the citizens that are watching this for the first time, whether here in chambers or online, this is, even though it's listed as a parks and rec and affects Summerfield Park, this is really a request from the Aiken County School District, and this is in support of the North Augusta Middle School Rehabilitation Project. And so in order to do the work they need to do, they have to remove some utility lines, and that affects their placement in Summerfield Park. And so that's what really the root of this request is. We've had engineers from the Aiden County School District come and give a presentation to council previously to lay out what the ask is. And that's all laid out here in the packet as far as the easement requirements. And so that is what's up for consideration. And the city council had obviously voted affirmatively the first reading to let this pass. And it's now up to you for a second reading. And I'll pause for any questions.

OK, are there any citizen comments? All right, I hear none. Are there any council discussion?

All right, I'll ask for a vote all in favor.

And that's unanimous. Thank you. All right, now we're in new business. Item seven, planning development ordinance number 2026-13, to change the corporate limits of the city of North Augusta by accepting the petition requesting annexation by the landowners and annexing plus or minus 0.16 acres of property located off Lake Greenwood Drive and owned by the Lakes LLC. We have a motion to approve this ordinance in the first reading. So moved. All right. Mayor Pro Tem Toole first. Is there a second? Second. All right, Ms. Carpenter, thank you. Anything you'd like to share about this, Ms. Clifford?

Yes, Mr. Mayor and Council, I know this is something also that we discussed at length in the study session, but just as a reminder for council members, this really is to incorporate a road connection between Lake Greenwood Drive and another street that's going in for a new townhome subdivision. This is a bit of an odd situation because you have two units of government involved because some of the land involved is in Aiken County, and this is to be annexed into the city of North Augusta. And at the end of the day, the road is still going to be going in there. This access road is going to be accomplished one way or the other. The question really for the council is, do we want that to fall into the city's inventory for a road maintenance perspective? And our The staff recommendation is that you would accept that petition for annexation because then we can add that to the road maintenance program. When you have a private road, what you see sometimes is those roads are not maintained well until they get to a point of complete disrepair. And then a landowner will try to then punt it on to the city or the county to take care of. So ultimately, I think we can maintain the road network in a positive way to our standards. And so this would allow us to do so. And I brought Tommy Paradise, our planning director, here again. So if you have specific questions about this development and understand that Lakes and Streams, as a neighborhood, is largely in Aiken County, although there are small portions of Lakes and Stream that are actually in the city limits of North Augusta.

And I know one of the questions that got asked was the Lake Greenwood piece will be handled, maintenance, all that's going to be covered by EMS and all that through the county, and then our section that we're annexing, that will be all done within our code and our folks, right? Right.

Anything that's inside the settlements, Mr. Mayor, has to conform to our code from a building and development perspective, so that affects the road. But from an emergency service perspective, if there was a law enforcement required call out, that would then fall to Public Safety and Chief Johnson's purview.

Any questions for Mr. Clifford? Are there any citizen comments? All right, any council discussion? All right, hearing none, I'll ask for a vote. All in favor? And that's unanimous, thank you. Item eight, planning and development. Ordinance number 2026-14, amending ordinance number 2004-14, which approved the general development plan for North Augusta Golf Venture Plan development to modify the use of a plus or minus 0.30 acre parcel located on Landing Drive, tax parcel number 007-18-02-002. Do you have a motion to approve this ordinance on first reading? Ms. Carpenter, thank you. Is there a second? Second. All right. Thank you. Anything you'd like to share about this, Mr. Clifford?

Mr. Mayor, Council, obviously this is discussed at length in the study session, but again, for our folks who are just watching for the first time, there's a very small, undeveloped piece of land that's in between the landings, condominium, which are those three-story buildings that you see when you first enter North Augusta from the 13th Street Bridge on the right-hand side of the bridge. There's a small piece of property between those three-story buildings and the river, essentially. And so there was some existing rules with the PD, the plan development there, that said that the ratio within that lot had to be a certain way and it had to be more commercial than residential. And the applicant has requested to basically switch the ratios, I think 75-25, in favor of residential over commercial. And so that was the ask from the applicant. And so that's what's before you for consideration decision this evening.

This did come in front of the Planning Commission.

It did, and my understanding is that the Planning Commission did not recommend approval of this action.

All right. Any questions for Ms. Clifford?

Yep. What kind of residential will it be? Because I remember when those apartment or those townhomes were built, there was a big mess back in those days because there wasn't I think they were too close to the bridge. You know, people were talking about that. So what kind of residential will be put there?

The city has not received plans for what the residential could or would be, nor is that, I think, a requirement for the PD changes. The applicant could certainly speak to that if you wish to hear what their plan for the facility is. They are.

We'll get to that.

Oh, we're going to get, hold on. Yeah, you're jumping ahead. Okay, because in the rest, of course, I don't go to planning commission meetings, but what about the residents right where it's going to be? What is their thoughts? Were they there?

don't have any feedback from the direct residents i know there was concern from the homeowners association and the river club they were active in this particular engagement and i think the initial concern that we had from the whole is that the ordinance was actually mislabeled as this is showing his landing drive which is the correct uh address and it was originally listed as shoreline drive And so I think the whole I had some concerns that this was going to be in a different location And so as this is now properly been labeled on landing drive I've not heard any more feedback from the homeowners association on that defer to Tommy to see if we've had any citizen feedback and the answer is no

So, and I guess this young man, when he speaks, I just don't want it to be so crowded.

You need to go down and look at it. The space is the size of the, the space is enough for 1,400 square foot. Yeah, but I just remember what we had when this was not. You need to go look at it before our second vote, I'm telling you. So you can just get a, you need a visual.

Okay.

That's all I'll ever tell you.

My only question, Tommy, is we had a pretty vigorous discussion about it, I think, last time. Has your input, changed based on that discussion and the questions answered, or basically your concerns, any changes in that since our last discussion?

No, sir. It is, from my point of view, it's a council decision of what that ratio should be. And Mr. Zier may correct me, but I don't know anything in state law that says it has the X percentage of commercial. But we do need to maintain that mix there to comply with the PD.

OK. Thank you.

But it's going from PD to residential.

It's still in the PD, Councilwoman. You're just changing the ratios of that one piece of land. It's not the overall ratio of the development. You're talking about on that particular parcel, it was meant to be 75% commercial, 25% residential, and they're asking for the flip. So it sounds like they want to be able to put more residential on that property as opposed to a commercial.

And then why did the Planning Commission turn it down?

Well, they didn't turn down. They're just making a recommendation. And I believe the recommendation was unanimous for non-concurrents. And I believe it had to do with the density of residential.

Yeah, I am turning my microphone on. I was about to say, if it helps you, I'll turn my microphone on first. If you would, say your name and address for the record and speak into the microphone, please.

Thank you for allowing us to be here tonight. My name is Lance Cheely. My address is 1104 Campbellton Drive, North Augusta, South Carolina. I am representing the owner, which is Savannah Construction.

I'm not sure if I have a minute to just summarize.

So we did go before the Planning Commission a couple weeks ago. Prior to that, we met with Tommy to discuss the parcel. Upon immediately or originally being engaged, we pulled all the PD ordinances going back to 2004, I believe.

Lance, let me help you. Don't worry about looking there or around. Just speak into the microphone and look straight, because we live stream it. And it sounds like I can hear you, but people watching it. Understood. I'll speak straight ahead and talk directly into the mic. Go ahead, sir.

Yeah, so we did that. We understand that there's been some previous changes in the ordinance, more having to do with the whole area than this site specifically. But on a meeting with Tommy, Understood that our owner had potentially wanted to just do residential, but upon review of the code and Tommy's interpretation and clarification of the law, we understood that we had to have some commercial component. At that point, we started discussing what would satisfy the intent of the law and meet the owner's request, as well as an underlying feeling, myself as a citizen and others, that residential might be a better fit in that area as opposed to commercial. And so doing that, we came up with a 25-75 split that seemed to be fair, not seem like something that was skirting the law. And we landed there. And so when I'm coming to you today, we don't have plans for a building. We don't have even a site plan because so much is dependent on the building types that we would use. There are a lot of Site related questions that I would love to have a little bit better answer for, such as parking and things like that, that are really, you can't even start until you understand what the mix is and what this board would allow. I would like to say that we, as my owner, is prepared to develop in whatever circumstances there are. Since the acquisition, they've come to learn a little bit more about what the partial, they've had it since 2009, but never really turned the pages on it. So we are looking to develop. We will obviously concur with all the requirements, whichever we go, of the North Augusta ordinance and the PD that was passed long ago. but we do continue one thing we do continue to desire residential fully or as much residential as we can um one thing i would like to just say on my behalf just speaking from my perspective um my initial interpretation my initial thought having done this a time or two was that we would get some significant pushback from the residences on a commercial use in that area the intensity the things that brings along usually I've seen these seats full and and lots of people but it hasn't been it wasn't the case that planning you know I won't speak for anybody here tonight but that doesn't seem to be the case what I would really hate was to see, whichever way it goes, for us to come in with something that is compliant is what the letter of the law says is what we've gone through this and landed on. And then the community come out and say, well, that's not really what we wanted. So I don't know what the, I guess this is everybody's time tonight, but I would just want to say we are comfortable and happy to develop whichever way that the ordinance goes, but I do think it's an important decision for the council to really deliberate on what we think the citizens would want and what also meets the requirements of the law. um we'll leave that obviously with you guys tonight but thank you again for the opportunity oh mr carpenter i would like to just address if we do residential the the general thought would be to match the character of what is there now nothing extremely taller nothing you know nothing that would be out of character with that and in addition to that as you know there are some units there within that development some are under parking, so garage parking. So that gives us some parking flexibility to meet demands as far as needing on street parking versus that. And then there are some units that are served by on street parking, so you don't have parking underneath. Again, I would love to have come in with a lot more fully formed plan. I think people can get their mind around something they can see on paper a little bit more sometimes. But we do think there are some viable and some ways that will fit really nicely with the character of North Augusta and the character of that area specifically if we're allowed to swing more on the residential side. If we're required to do more on the commercial side, it does tie our hands a little bit more as to not going to park under our restaurant, et cetera, et cetera. So we will kind of, with that added parking requirement, need some space that we do have some accommodations for, both within the PD that was passed under the bridge, as well as some conversations that we've had with DOT due to some requests they have for our property. So again, we have thought through, we respect, you know, I'm a citizen, you know, and so we definitely do want what's best for the community, but we do want to go ahead and, you know, exercise our right to develop on the parcel, so we leave that in you guys' hands tonight. Thank you.

I just have one suggestion, maybe. I know you said you did not have a lot of talk from the people who live there. Yes, ma'am. Did they specifically know? I mean, a lot of our citizens don't know. Even though it's published, is it, I presume, a zoning sign down there that says consider rezoning?

Yes.

Tommy?

Yes, ma'am. Sorry.

that those residents knew this was coming before council. If not.

Councilwoman, there was a public notice that was posted for this particular action for the planning commission. So I think there was, you know, people don't go door to door knocking to let people know there's a planning action occurred, but there were notices that were placed for them to be notified.

Well, I would, maybe this is too much to ask, but maybe y'all could speak with some of them. You know, just don't put something up and say, wow, Okay and they're happy? Okay but that I'm wanting to say just when you're right up under the nose of somebody they need to know a little bit about it other than it happening then we're gonna tell you.

Sure no I understand that and I did have the opportunity to meet with the I believe it was four different constituents after the planning meeting and Their major concern was parking to be frank one of that mainly came from Mr.. Butler who I believe is the POA okay, and then there were a couple of other Landowners who really didn't understand what the request was and having having a brief conversation with them and it was very clear that they didn't understand the meeting, but they had a better understanding after a conversation of, you know, this is currently slated to be commercial. We actually really want it to be residential.

You know, we're not allowed.

And so having a brief conversation, there were, I do, you know, this is, I guess, off the record, nothing we can put in the books, but we did have that experience. So we're open to whatever.

Well, I just know people want to know what front versus behind. And that'll make everything run a lot smoother.

Agreed.

Thank you.

Questions for him? All right. Are there any other citizen comments? Thank you. Thank you, Lance. Any other citizen comments?

Okay.

Council discussion. Yeah, I have a comment. Go ahead.

Yeah, I have a tendency in these meetings positions to side with the property owner of what he wants to do with the property and how he wants to develop it. The change in zoning, to me, I don't completely understand. I think there's more of a commercial effort that's needed, which to me would require more parking versus their desire to put in residential, which I think would require less on-street parking. So I've heard a couple objections to the project. And I'm uncomfortable in saying yes or no, actually, in either way, until I can get some more information on it. So I have a tendency to side with the developer if that's what he wants to do. And he can do it in the zoning that's there. The change in zoning is something be concerned about. To me, it sounds like it's better to have it in residential if parking is the big issue.

Possibly, if I can. Tommy, speak up if I'm incorrect. This is not a zoning change. This is solely a change to the development agreement that they negotiated, and they wanted to be able to develop this 75% commercial, 25% residential.

The remaining, that's the remaining lot.

Of that piece of property that they own. This piece of property, that was what it was provided to, it was agreed to. What they're asking is to change that. Doesn't change zoning. It just says we can develop 75% residential and 25% commercial, and we will not be violating the development agreement. And that's what they're asking for. And it doesn't change really anything else. And I think I mentioned last week, Council has the authority to deal with this either way you choose to. And I think we're getting way ahead asking what kind of houses, what kind of commercial or whatever, because they can't even plan that until they determine whether you're going to be able to do it which way, 75-25. And then any actual development would have to come back through the of Planning Commission and site plans and all that. But this is not a zoning change.

So I'd piggyback just on what John said, and I understand that, Kelly, and thanks for the clarification. I think where I'm torn is I tend to agree that residential makes the most sense there. I agree from a traffic standpoint. I think the concern that the few people that have spoken to me, the concern's been traffic. I think you have that regardless of what goes in there, but there's probably more pressure just because of what can go there and how it would be constructed there. commercials so I feel like residential alleviates that as well and I also understand you know they negotiated the original PD and that was years ago and that was well before sort of what ultimately became Riverside Village became so the market changed the areas changed a lot of those things have changed so I'm relatively comfortable making the change I think we're I'm uncomfortable, based on the feedback we got last week, is there seems like there could potentially be legal barriers based on what the expectation of a PD is. And I know there's no minimum requirement for commercial in there. So I think the only thing that gives me any hesitation and approving it is just not having some assurance that we don't change it. We've not conformed to what the intent of a PD is by minimizing the commercial. I think John asked a good question. And I don't know. And I've looked and done what research I can. I mean, it's located on a very large commercial development. And I realize that's a private club, although you can eat there. And there's some other things like that. But it's still commercial. And I can't find anywhere where it differentiates that. But I'm also not an attorney. So, again, I'm not sure I added any clarity to the conversation with those comments. But I think it makes more sense across the board for that to be primarily residential. It's a small footprint regardless. So I'm inclined to support it. I'd like to have some assurance that in doing so is not going to put the city in any sort of legal jeopardy.

One more comment, Mayor. I read somewhere, there's a lot of information, but I read somewhere where the commercial development, it was trying to make that particular development the customer. It wasn't generally a commercial space that is going to draw outside people in. It was more of a service to the people that are living in that community. Is that relevant and is that true?

Well, I'm not sure. And again, something else I think that you would ask about what the PD was required. We are following the procedure for amending a plan of development for the PD. And so you're totally within your authority. I'm not concerned beyond that. This is the way you do it if you choose to do it.

I mean, I've had a couple. I met one of the property owners. I had to go down there and see it myself. And I mean, I'll be real frank. I mean, space is so small. I think it's ridiculous that I guess they just crammed that in there for the plant to say mixed use at some point because I don't even think it's attractive for even a little bit of residential. It definitely is commercial. I mean, it's a beautiful green space. I've talked to one of the people that live in the house on the far left. um so i don't see how anybody lives on that front part would want to have that green space destroyed with a residential i just don't see it my concern is the parking that's what i heard from mr butler who sent me an email The gentleman here, the other thing that was brought up was there was a gentleman who got turned down at the BZA because they wanted to put a legal, a law office in one of the home-based, they wanted the house to be a home-based business for a legal purpose. office in the city to busy a turn them down for that because that did not fit the plan code as far as with parking the concern there so again people are saying well gee y'all turn this down for this but you're gonna override this so I think there's just some of that but anyway to me I don't think the piece of property is attractive enough I think it's attractive for me personally as it is and I mean I've If I'm the developer, I'm trying to make money. I get it. I'm 100% with you on that. I just don't see that property. I know we aren't. If he wants to build 75% commercial, he can do that. And that's fantastic. But I don't see any need. I don't see why we need to add a little bit more residential. That's what we've been hit about. Residential, residential, residential. And to take this last little bit of green space there, Laying right now, 75 commercial, we can't stop that. But to turn that into residential, for me, I'm not going to vote for it.

I agree with you.

Any other council discussion?

OK.

Yeah, keep asking.

So if he gets turned down tonight.

It's the first reading, so we've got one more reading.

One more, OK. Yeah, because maybe we could get in more information. Yeah, that's what I'm saying, yeah. But then how long would it be for they could, a year before they could come back?

I don't know whether, on a regular rezoning, it's a year. I don't know whether to modify PD, whether it be different. I'd have to.

Do we know? So you don't know yet. So my thing would be to vote on it tonight, and then we got the second reading, because I know once we say no, it's over.

You're allowed to vote how you want.

Oh, I know I can. I can do anything I want to.

Yeah, I know.

So I'm going to vote tonight for it. And then that'll give us a week if there's something else Tommy or Jim or JD could add to the pot for us. That way we're not knocking them out altogether.

Well, any more council discussion? All right, I'm going to ask for a vote. All in favor, raise your hand. All right, that is two. All opposed is three. So it's turned down three to two. All right, item nine, administration. Ordinance number 2026-15, amending article 15, section 2-286 through 2-290 of the code of ordinance to reclassify the position of tourism manager as tourism director.

We have a motion to approve this ordinance on first reading. So moved.

All right, Mr. Buck, thank you. Is there a second?

Second. Second.

Mr. Felak, thank you, sir. Anything you'd like to share about this? Mr. Clifford or J.D.?

Mr. Mayor, I'll turn this over to J.D. in a moment, but just for the council members and for the folks that are watching for the first time, items 9 and 10, ordinance number 202615 and number 2026-16 are linked. Those are two separate actions but are encompassing the whole thing that the staff is requesting. So the first Item there, 2026-15, the one you're voting on currently, which amends Article 15, essentially establishes the tourism department as being led by a tourism director. We had made a decision when tourism was pulled out of Parks and Rec at the time to maintain it at the manager level based on the number of personnel managed and responsibilities of that billet. But as the next item that's for consideration 20 2016 26-16 which is removing the Greenway team from parks and rec and putting into tourism That we believe elevates that position responsibilities to a director level here within The city staff. So the first thing you have before you is to reclassify that position and then the second item you have which is the line of block chart chain of moving the three person Greenway team out from the parks and rec into the tourism newly established tourism director to have the managerial aspects there. So I'll pause for any questions or if JD wants to weigh in from that particular

So you're talking about 9 and 10, basically?

Yeah, we can talk each of those separately, but 9 is essentially elevating the position of the tourism manager to the tourism director, and then the follow-on action is moving the personnel over from parks to tourism.

Now, Jim, will the people you're moving from park and recreation over, be with the tourism. Does that mean you have to have three more people to clean the Greenway?

This is a managerial change to... Yeah, but I mean number 10.

Is it 10?

All TEN is doing is moving the three personnel that currently work in Parks and Rec and are managed by Parks and Rec to be managed by tourism.

But they'll still do their regular job.

Yes.

Those three that sweep the Greenway, blow the Greenway, that will not change.

That's their primary focus.

And I presume that was discussed with these three employees.

Well, not every single employee, but when you talk to the manager of the employees.

I mean, but wouldn't you think it's a person you would want to be talked to?

No, it's not an employee decision.

Well, it's not an employee, but just say.

We're going to make the decision that we think is best for the city of North Augusta. I mean, I don't think we ask their approval.

Well, you don't have to have their approval, but I just think out of respect, I mean, I just, I'd hate for my boss to come up and say, well, Pat, you're going to do this from now on, not what you're doing.

No, you're missing, they aren't changing their job.

No, I know they're not changing, but I like, I'm telling you, like I told somebody a minute ago, people like to be informed.

Councilman, I think this is well.

I'm sorry, I just think that's what you call R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

I've managed a number of large organizations throughout my career, Councilwoman. I can tell you that these employees are aware that this discussion is ongoing. I can't tell you whether every single person thinks this is the best idea in the whole wide world or not.

There's only three of them, isn't it?

That's right. But I can also tell you that we're not running a union shop either, so we didn't do a Democratic vote on whether they want to work for Parks and Rec or Trojans.

is a boss you have that right but i'm telling you a lot of teams are not spoken up front then like we see we hear it on facebook and fussing and whether there's no just put up front it's okay i mean i'm gonna vote for it i have no nothing yes but i'm sorry i'm a people person and i want people to know what's happening

I think they're well informed that this decision was going to be staffed and was discussed with the employees long before this came to council. All right.

Well, so if I ask them, they're going to say, yeah, we knew about it.

They will. I'm not sure if they'll tell you they like the idea or not, but I could definitely tell you that they were informed that it was happening. Yeah.

Mr. Clifford, does the Greenway team have a home? Where do they keep their equipment?

So currently they have their equipment in Parks and Rec and we're gonna move them out to a different location so there's a physical separation and they'll be occupying one of the, their equipment's gonna occupy one of the bays in the old public safety headquarters for a period of time and then the long-term plan, regardless of whether this sat in tourism or Parks and Rec, was to convert or bulldoze and replace the old Johnson Electric building there on the Greenway. We think that's the better location for Greenway support vehicles and personnel to be there at that location. So that was part of the discussion we had at the Greenwood offsite about CPST-4 funding for the Greenway. And JD and his crew were working through some potential different options of what that would look like in the long term. But in the near term, we do want to have a physical separation, if you will, to show that they've moved, they're under the purview of tourism, if the council approves that action.

Any other questions for JD or Mr. Cliff? Are there any citizen comments? Yes, ma'am. You got to come up. Tell the microphone now. Say your name and address.

My name is Sandy Taylor. I live at 1702 Georgia Avenue. They're not going to be, when they're doing this, these guys are not going to be taking a deduction and pay or lose their benefits or anything, correct? I mean, it's a lateral move for these employees.

They just have a different supervisor.

Right. Okay, so what is the difference? Why would they go to tourism?

Well, that's a good question because we feel like Parks and Recreation is about recreational programs for our youth, right? And our adults.

I understand.

And our parks.

Correct.

The Greenway is almost a separate entity because it's not a park.

Right.

It's not necessarily a program that's managed by the Parks and Rec. It really is a tourism. We have people who travel from Aiken, Greenville, Waynesboro to come to the Greenway. And as we continue to talk about trying to move the Greenway into the downtown, the idea is we want it to be recreational, but we want it to be kind of economic catalyst. Where, like, for example, we've had businesses move here because of the Greenway.

Okay, well, that makes sense. I was just wondering why there would be a difference in the two. But if it's a lateral move.

We want the parks and rec folk to focus on what's most important, which is our recreation program and our parks.

And I live right next door to a park, and I do commend them. Because I live right next door to Bunting.

Yes, I love to have my grandchild there. That's a great question, Sandy. Thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate it.

Sandy's becoming a regular. Nice to have you with us, Sandy.

All right, any council discussion? OK.

Hearing none, I'll ask for a vote. All in favor?

All right. That's unanimous. Thank you.

I don't.

For item number nine?

For nine.

I don't have, oh, I do have.

Yeah, Councilman Buck and Councilman, yeah, thank you. All right, and item 10 is pretty much, we already talked about this, but I'm going to go through it. Tourism ordinance number 2026-16, authorizing and restructuring the tourism department to incorporate greenway operations staff, facilities, and programs. Do I have a motion to approve this ordinance on first reading?

So moved. All right. Mayor Pro Tem Toole, second. Mr. Buck, thank you.

Ms. Clifford's already shared, talked about that. We've had citizen comments. So unless there's any particular council discussion, I'm going to ask for a vote. All in favor? And that's unanimous. Very good. Thank you.

All right.

Item 11, resolution number 2026-35, designating the valet service areas within Riverside Village. Do I have a motion to approve this resolution? I move. All right. Mayor Fortem. Toole is a second.

Is there a second?

All right, Ms. Carpenter? Anything you'd like to share about Mrs. Clifford or Mr. McCollough?

So I'll start and then turn it over to JD. He's got the most depth on the bench on this one. For the council members that were not here during the study session, we had the valet vendor that actually came and made a presentation to the council that showed what kind of their rates were, how the program has been successful, how many folks on an average night are using the valet service. And then there were some specific asks from the valet to be able to increase serviceability for the Riverside Village. And that's what is before you this evening as far as the resolution. But I'll turn it over to JD for the further discussion.

Sure. Good evening, Mayor and Council. This resolution comes along with the ask from the valet presentation you heard last week. And for the council members that weren't there, Mr. Clifford encapsulated that perfectly. They're kind of giving us an update on what they're doing, how it operates, and their success rates. don't say they're a victim of their own success but they have done really well and one thing that has come into into play because they're also parking consultants as well so one thing that has come into play is the area that they operate in has become kind of a bottleneck and in their recommendation they'd like to expand their operations to include the circle that is right there by the Sharon Jones amphitheater when they operate because they have run into issues of you know folks that are not part of the valet service trying to come in there and it creates kind of a bottleneck And this resolution would also delineate where they use in the hotel parking deck, which is what they're currently doing, for where they store the cars that are checked into the valet service. Kind of the so what if you're not using the valet service, if you're a citizen that goes down to Riverside Village and you're not gonna pay for valet parking, the so what of this is it helps with congestion. So what we're trying to do with everything we're bringing to you in Riverside Village when it relates to parking is we're trying to bring order to chaos down there. And every single accident we bring to you is one step closer to getting it – we'll never get it perfect, but we're going to move in that direction. And so what this does is it kind of brings more order to that area. And also one thing of note that they mentioned was this would include a door dash area as well, which is very popular for the businesses and citizens that want to use these restaurants on an order basis. So that would include an area for that to be designated as well.

Any questions for them?

Actually, Mr. Mayor, if you wouldn't mind, one of the other economic development discussions we've had involves a potential restaurateur going into what we know as Parcels G&H, which is the large space that overlooks the Sharon Jones Amphitheater. And one of their original hang-ups in talking to the developer was kind of the parking plans. But I would tell you that the valet, the centralized valet, has really moved the ball as far as the restaurant moving forward with the developer to potentially move into that space. So I think we're seeing that the restaurants in particular and to a lesser extent the hotel is benefiting from the valet service that's down there.

Yeah, I thought the number that really kind of struck me besides the number of their average in on Saturday and Sunday is part of why this is important is the fact that they do groups of three. So the first three cars are coming out pretty fast, like five minutes. Groups, the seconds, four, five, and six, a little longer. But by your seventh and eighth, ninth car who wants to use it, the weights have been up to 25 minutes, which is pretty long. And they feel like with this, they're going to allow those seven spaces where the number is, it frees that up. So if we're going to continue to go with a valet program like that, to me it makes sense.

I'm not sure I agree with that. I mean, to me, the valet service is designed to take cars out of that. So they have a space in the parking garage. So to limit the general public three less spaces for them to have, I'm not sure I agree with that.

Councilman, I would tell you the feedback we've gotten, and we spent a fair amount of time looking at Riverside Village, is that the parking spaces we're talking about are largely encumbered by employees. They're not encumbered by the normal folks that are coming in to go to a restaurant. We have long-term employees and managers and owners that typically are filling those spaces. So those are the folks who are going to be most impacted by the loss to the valet.

Well, the parking should be for the customers. I would think that if I was running a business there, I want space for my customers. So I think that's the business owner's issue there.

I personally think that the

The valet parking should be as far away from the area that it's needed. That's the whole idea of the valet parking is to reduce traffic where everybody wants to be.

The parking is away.

Yeah, but they're going to take three more spaces away from it.

Well, they're just going to put the, you just now have, there aren't going to be parking cars there while you're at restaurants. They're just going to have a line so they can get those out faster. I understand that. But it's just flowing. It's a flow process. It's not like they're going to use those apart. You're not going to go use valet, and they're going to park your car at one of those seven for the next hour and a half. Those are going to be designed the way you call them. They're going to have your car coming up. They're going to have Pat's car, my car. It's going to be like that. That's all that's for.

They refer to that as a staging area is what they're referring it to. Yeah, it's a flow. It wouldn't be parking there.

And that's my only concern is parking. We all know it's an issue. And we're taking away spots. That's my only concern.

I think the valet parking is outstanding. I just struggle with taking more spaces away. And if the employees are parking there, that shouldn't be allowed either. They should move somewhere else. That's my opinion.

But you can't legislate that.

You can tell your employees where to park. You certainly can. We do.

I mean, I do.

If I have an event, my employees don't park in the guest slot.

They park somewhere else. A little bit more to it, I think.

All right.

Any other council discussion?

All right.

Hearing none, I'm going to ask for a vote. All in favor?

OK. That's four and one. OK.

Thank you. Item 12, information technology, resolution number 236-36, authorizing a professional service contract for the CPST-4 safety and security improvements for the municipal building. Do we have a motion to approve this resolution? So moved.

Was that Mr. Buck? Yeah, Ms. Phelan first. Oh, Ms. Phelan. Second. All right, you and David sound alike. I'll second.

Second, Mr. Buck. Thank you, sir. All right. Anything you'd like to share about this, Ms. Clifford?

Okay.

This is a reminder for the council. This is also one of the projects that we discussed during the Greenwood off-site. That was to add badging access to certain areas here in the municipal building. That includes building standards, public works, the planning and development section specifically to deal with code enforcement and also for HR. It also retrofits and improves the existing cameras that are here in the parking lot and into the MED-AC parking deck. And so the vast majority of these items are available via state contract. The only thing we'd have to go out to bid for is for some lobby improvements over planning and development to put the kind of the glass enclosure up, much like you see in the finance department. But because it's curved, you can't just buy a piece of glass. It's got to be custom done. So that we'll have to go out to bid for. But all the badging systems and cameras are all on state contract. And that's how we would go through with the procurement there.

Any questions for Mr. Clifford? All right. Any citizen comments?

Cancel discussion.

All right.

Hearing none, I'll ask for a vote. All in favor?

Nationals.

OK.

Very good. Thank you.

Administrative report, sir.

Mr. Mayor, I've done it this time.

OK.

Item 14, presentations, communications, recognition of visitors. At this time, citizens may speak to mayor and city council regarding matters not listed on the agenda. So if you're interested, I ask you to raise your hand and come on down. Miss Sandy, come on down. No?

I like it.

You have a nice smile.

OK. Now, my name is Sandy Taylor.

I live at 1702 Georgia Avenue. I am here kind of in, can I talk about tourism as it applies to something else? Okay, perfect. Good evening, Mayor.

This can't talk about as far as what we voted on. No, no, no. This is totally opposite.

Yes. It says, good evening, mayors and the council members. My name is Sandy Taylor, and I want to speak tonight about litter, tourism, and community pride. I understand that one of the topics, of course, tonight was about the tourism, and that's exactly why this fits in right now. Before moving here, I lived in Clearwater, Florida, and I lived on Gulf to Bay. And Gulf to Bay is the corridor from Tampa Airport to the beach. You could not get to the beach from Tampa without going past my front door. So that is a gateway. And I know what gateways are, how beautiful they should be. And I'd like to say that because I have lived in a gateway area, that tourism doesn't start when we get to the hotel or we go to our festival or we go to our relatives. It starts on that gateway when you're driving from the airport, from the train station, wherever, Or you're just driving off of the expressway and you're coming into town. And you know what? Our initial one mile, we got a great gateway for one mile. But it's when you get further into our community that litter becomes very obvious. And we cannot prevent people from saying, you can only stay in the first one mile of our town. And so I'd like to know, I had a personal experience with some litter the other day. I was coming down Clay Pit Road, because you all know I volunteer at the shelter. And a city employee threw a Chick-fil-A bag out of the city truck. And not picking on him or anything like that. But it's funny how we normalize littering. And I see it in this community a lot. I see it even more across the river. But we... share that problem. And I live on a corner that people just think it's great to throw your 5 o'clock beer can on. But so I think what I would like to offer is, you know, this is a problem, but I don't come to you with just problems. I come to you with a slight solution possibly. I've noticed one sign for an Adopt-A-Highway down the street from where I live, and actually it's ironic because it's the dirtiest corner in this county, I think, and it has the Adopt-A-Highway sign. So are we actively using that program?

Yeah, well, you're talking about you live in the actual county, right?

I live in the city. Oh, you live in the city. The corner I'm talking about.

Because Clay Pit is, that's what's throwing me. I didn't know that was in the city.

There's a Dr. Highway sign in the city. Yeah. Right down the street from where I live.

Dr. Highway, I can't answer that question.

It's right there, and it's like literally the worst corner I've ever seen for littering.

Now, we work with, what's the group out of Aiken? Aiken Beautiful. What is it, Jamie? What is that group? Aiken. Keep Aiken Beautiful.

Right. Okay. Well, I don't know. Maybe somebody just stuck that sign there out of the sheer irony. Maybe someone found it on the side of the street and stuck it there.

Let me tell you a couple things. So we all are big concerned about litter. Right. So before you moved here, you know, for three years in a row, we actually had a contest with Augusta called the border bash, trash bash. Right. and who could pick up the most trash. And we went throughout the city. And I will tell you, in September, and I don't have the date in front of me, but one of our local churches, Victory Baptist, is going to be doing a service project. So they're going to be coming throughout there picking up trash. So I will tell you, we have another citizen, Michelle. I can't think of Michelle's last name, but she has spearheaded her own group to pick up trash. So we actually had a day we went to Carsville and did it. So, yes, we've been talking about needing citizens to spearhead those type of projects. So we would totally support you in doing that because we have focused on that.

Because one of my solutions is, for example, I walk my dogs. I live on Georgia Avenue, so I take a trash bag and a picker with me, and in like a two-block, I can almost fill that 13 gallons in two blocks when I'm walking my dogs. That's not right. And another solution would be, you know, we always catch people doing stuff wrong. You know, you're doing this wrong, you're doing that wrong. Well, as city council members and as our leaders in our community, including like the police and the fire force, public safety, If you catch someone doing something right, like picking up litter, you know how much it would mean to that person if, you know, Dave Buck said, hey, that's great. Thanks a lot. I caught you doing something great. Because the reward is there, you know. And it's all, like I said, it's normalized that we litter. Mm-hmm. And I do want this community to succeed. I chose to live here. I wasn't born here. I came here with my own two. I don't know why.

We thank you. We thank you for that.

But I'm just saying. And so I am very willing, and I will look into, I'll get that number from you in the future with the Michelle person, and maybe we can, because it's simple as picking up a trash bag when you walk your dog and walking out with them, you know, because it is a beautiful community, but it starts the further out you go, the worse it gets. And we can't control where our tourists go.

When you start looking at trash, you find it.

Oh, I know. But that's all I have is tourism and trash.

Well, thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Yes, ma'am. All right.

All right. I got a couple comments. So, council, any?

I just want to piggyback on what she was talking about. We have committees for all types of things. Why can't we have, like, a litter committee?

That's not a bad idea. I need somebody to run it. Anything good for the order? Ms. Pat, you got anything good for the order? You sure? All right. I also want to let folks know, in your water bill, you should be getting this week's, has it gone out the first? Everybody would have it by now. Hometown highlights is a lot of good stuff. And in the Mayor's Matters, I just want to let folks know, As a reminder, council will begin budgeting discussions in September. You'll have an opportunity to share with council the public hearing as well as a public comment period at each ordinance reading once those dates are confirmed. And again, remember, You can pull up on the city website the Friday before our study session and the Friday before city council to see the agenda item so you know what it is. So there's a lot of good information on here. So we continue to try to communicate because transparency is important. So we're striving to do that. So I just want to make people be aware of that. The last thing is, Nike Peach Jam. This is interesting. Nike Peach Jam is 30 years. Our country, 250 years. Guess what this year is for the city of North Augusta, Ms. Pat? 120 years anniversary. What do you think about that? So anyway, good stuff. Thank you all for being here. We stand adjourned.