City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I'd like to call the public power out to order. Uh it's good to see everybody. Thank you for being here. Um as you can see the the instructions on the uh on the screen. Basically, this is just a listening opportunity for us and we have got two folks who have who emailed us, Miss Maryanne Bigger and Mr. Bill Jackson, they will be allowed to go first. They emailed us in advance. Um, if I would think probably depending on how long they go within their five minutes and if there was a question from our council, we might have room for one or two more people to to speak if they would like before we move into our city six o'clock city council meeting. Uh, very important. This anything that is on our agenda item is not fair game at the public power hour. This is about anything but what's on our agenda item. So, with that, I'm gonna start off with Miss Maryanne Bigger, who is uh arts and heritage director. Miss Beth Francis, you're going to help her. I think

we're going to tag team tonight. Y'all just state your name and address for the record, please. Okay. Uh, Maryanne Bigger, 5 Green Forest Court, North Augusta, 29841. Francis Fox. All right. And Marian, when you finish talking, you got to let her get there so she can speak into the microphone. I'll move out of the way. Yeah, you're good. Okay. Are we good now? Can y'all hear me? Yeah, we're ready.

Well, great. Well, thank y'all for having us tonight. Um, my name is Maryanne Bigger and I'm the executive director of the Arts and Heritage Center, which is located on the first floor of this beautiful building. I want to thank you for your interest in the celebration of the American Revolution and the part that the arts and heritage center and other groups in the area uh will be playing this year. We began we began planning in 2024 for this uh monumental um celebration and of course um this will be celebrated all this year and several years afterwards. So far we have already had three historical lectures in this room and we had one tea party that was held in the Palmeta Terrace in conjunction with the Daughters of the American Revolution Martintown Road chapter. We have added a web page to our website arts andheritagecenter.com and this site showcases revolutionary events in our area. And we've also developed a br a brochure that highlights the skirmishes that took place in our area. All of y'all have uh several pieces of paper um and a few little giveaway items there that um highlight some of the things that that we have um going on um in the um CSR. One of the things that we're very excited about is the painting of our community mural which will be under the direction of local artist Adena Barry and that will take place on Thursday, May 21st from 5 to 8 down in our art room. This community mural is comprised of 49 different squares that will be painted with a patriotic theme that will then be on display for the next couple of years. So, that's free and the community is invited um to do that. You also have that um in your packet there.

In June and July, we're excited because our art exhibit for those two months is entitled The American Dream and What It Means to You. And this exhibit is open to all artists in the area. We will have two receptions, one on June 18th and one on July 16th. These are the third Thursdays where we're always open until um 8 o'clock. During these receptions, we will have patriotic themed food and other activities um that the community can participate in as well as the unveiling of our of our mural. We've also added a new exhibit in our permanent museum. Um and I hope you'll take a time take your chance to come down there and view this. Um we've been working on it now um almost six months to get it um where we want it and with all the um pertinent information. Um, and it there's some more information in this brochure. Um, but it highlights um the local families that were involved in the American Revolution at the time. We're also working with the Living History Park. They will have their big celebration on the 4th of July and there's a a flyer in there for you there. Um there's also um several other things that are happening across the river that will be on our website. Um and then things are happening um in Aken. will also highlight those. Um, we've also going to add some more historical lectures that will take place um throughout this year and that information will be on our website and on our social media pages. We have a pretty active um social media following. So, we hope you'll um see, you know, get involved and and follow us on those. The North Augusta Cultural Arts Council will be having patriotic themed music planned for their July 2nd Music in the Park concert series. So, we're trying to get as many people involved to um help promote the celebration. Um back in 2024, we partner we partnered

with the South Carolina 250th Commission. Um and this is a group out of Colombia that we uh work closely with on um different initiatives that we have and um also for grants to do the um things that we want to do. We've also partnered with the Green Jackets and on several Sundays um this summer we will have tables that you'll have um information at about the different things that are going on in areas. The quill pins that I gave you up there, those were a giveaway item um at the Green Jackets for the first 250 people um coming through. On June 30th is Carolina Day at the Green Jackets and they'll have some more um they're giving away um patriotic themed jerseys to the first I think 250 kids that that come through the door. So um the South Carolina Commission has actually partnered with all of the minor league uh baseball teams in the whole state. Um we have heard that um South Carolina is doing a lot more than some of our neighboring states and as we all know that's because the war was won here. So, you know, come come downstairs. Come downstairs. Um, and also we're um uh involved with the um as I said, giving away items at the um green jackets game and we'll also have people at several of the games uh dressed in period costumes for that. Um at this time, I'm going to turn it over to Beth Francis who represents the local D chapter.

Hi. Uh I am in the local DAR chapter and I'm also a member of the uh committee for the 250th celebration here in Aken County. What I'd like to speak to you about is the Leroy Hammond Park which is located at the intersection of Knob Cone and Curtis Drive.

And that park has been there for a number of years. It was majorly impacted by the hurricane when it came through. We lost a lot of trees in there. So, I understand that it's up for looking at how we will restore it again. Um, a couple of organizations are interested in it. One is the 250 committee here in Aken County. And we're interested because Colonel Leroy Hammond who came to South Carolina uh first moving to Georgia in 1760 uh 177 uh sorry, 1765. came to Georgia and then in 1771 he moved across the river and he had a a home on the Savannah River on the South Carolina side. Um he was a successful entrepreneur. He operated a trading post on the Savannah River. He cultivated tobacco. He helped promote the Edgeville district which it was known as at the time. He also served as a justice of the feast and was a contractor for his historic first courthouse in 1787. His leadership extended to surveying uh militia command. He was on local committees. He made a central figure of himself in the development of the entire region here. Uh the Hammond family had continued to be influential in South Carolina and Georgia over the years and one of his descendants Samuel Hammond also held prominent positions in the area and in the United States as it became. Um, while the park itself is a modern public space, it name commemorates Colonel Leroy Hammond's contributions to South Carolina's early history, honoring his military service, his civic leadership, and his role in the economic development of the Savannah River region. Visitors to the park are

thus connected to a legacy of patriots, entrepreneurship, and community building that dates back to the 18th century. Um we are looking at the park as a place where a historical marker could be played placed which would give that history and uh also it could be there for the children who visit the park as well as adults and anyone else who's there to know something about our history right here locally and some of the people who were patriots in the revolution.

That's fantastic. I hate to cut you off but we're at nine minutes. I want to give Bill the same amount of time. So, basically what I'm hearing from y'all is if you can't get into the the spirit for the 250th, that means you're probably dead because there's a lot of stuff happening. A lot of stuff.

Okay. And if anything they need to find, then go to the Arts and Heritage Center. And yes, Somerville Park and Leroy Hammond Park are the two prioritized parks off our capital project sales tax 5. And I would think uh hearing this now from you that uh we'll probably do like we did similar with the Kraton Park form a committee, you know, to have some input. So when we get to that point, we will definitely reach out to y'all. Millie Murray has is on a a quest to put a lot of markers and we've been doing that with him. So I think it fits in perfect. So ladies, thank you both very much for all you do for our community. And if you've never been to their gift shop at Living History Park, you need to go by. It is good, good stuff. So anyway, thank you all very much. Appreciate it.

Thank you. All right, come on down, Mr. Bill Jackson. I'll give you the same amount of time since I'll let those those ladies are a little prettier than you, but uh you deserve to at least get the same amount of time. So come take long. Okay, I'll yield my time back to them. You're tall, so speak in the microphone. Bill,

yes. Let me get my glasses, my reading glasses out. My name is Bill Jackson. I live at 444 Crossroads Drive in North Augusta. I'd like to speak for a couple minutes on possible alternative funding for parcels D and B. Funding that would not require DO DOE funds or a cyber building on parcel D. In particular, the possibility of purchasing both parcels using money from the Riverfront Central Court redevelopment fund. the December 31st, 2024 balance. The 25 totals aren't public yet. Uh the December 31st, 2024 balance in that fund was 5.2 million. Given its estimated rate of growth since then, I believe it to be over 7.5 million dollars today. Would it be able to purchase parcels D and B from that fund without breaking the bank? And we could use the DOE funds for cyber center elsewhere. If that fund needed to be augmented with additional monies, could the interest growth from other city monies be redirected for help? Thank you. Can I ask Can I ask Bill a question, Bill? Uh, I talked to Representative Hixon today and it was something that I wanted to make clear before I even got to put this into a question, but you're right that that money is available. In

fact, I asked last week and there's $7.8 million in the Riverside fund and it's probably not a good idea to take it all the way down, right? So, I don't know if we could do what you're asking, but there is at least, I believe, an additional $2 million of interest in the DOE account itself. And I talked to Representative Hixon today. And that money can be spent anywhere the city of North Augusta wants to spend it. So, so maybe the combination of those two and then we might even have enough to put up for to contribute towards an animal shelter in the future. We need to start putting that to the side as well. Now, my question is, do you think that is something the citizens of North Augusta would like if we could work both those things

like redirect um funding? Yes. Um Yes. Thank you, Bill. All right. Um I'll can I respond to uh Dennis? It won't take long. So, you're saying um for example, the DOE funds, the 15 million, the interest off of those funds can be redirected. They do not have to stay in the DOE fund. No. I talked to Representative Hixon today. I reached out to Senator Tom Young. Anything the council votes on, that money can go towards just the interest now. Right. We're not talking principal. No. Right. Okay.

You cannot spend the principal, but but whatever the state and the governor has given us guidance on, but that interest can go towards anything we want.

All right. Got a few minutes. Does anybody else would like to come forward? All right, we'll we'll keep the mic open for about five minutes in case somebody walks in or changes their mind. Uh they want something they want to say, this is their chance. So, we'll just keep it open for a few more minutes before we close out the power hour. It's 5:46. I'm gonna give you five

minutes. Okay. You have to y'all you got to get right in front of the microphone and speak into My name is Mity Hawkins. How you doing, Miss Hawkins? I'm good. I live at 128 Haley Drive in North Augusta. 29860.

And I'm Brenda Clark and I live well I have 132 Haley Drive in North. Nice to see you Brenda. And why I'm here my water bill and this that's why we the lady said we needed to come here. Okay. My water bill was 451 and then I had surgery December 1st and was not able to live at home by myself. So my home was empty January, February, and March.

So I didn't have any water usage. So they rounded it off to 5,200 gallons where mine was 900. So, my bill went up to $71 and she said we had to come before you to see about

Let me tell you what I need. Uh, is Brenda, do you have the same? Okay. So, do me a favor. I'm g if you would I'm gonna have you because I won't be able to answer. So, I need you to give that young lady Jamie Paul right there your address. Okay? And what we'll do is first thing tomorrow we'll have them look at that. Okay? Okay. And they'll get that information to me and then if you'll leave your phone number and then I'll follow up with you. Okay. So, I can't explain. I know we do our winter billing during that time and that also adjusts with sewer, but in your own particular specific situation, I can't answer it, but at least want to give you a a you need to hear from me exactly what what situation is. Is that fair?

All right. So, if you don't mind, give her both your addresses and a best and a cell number for me to reach out to both of you. Thank y'all. Appreciate you being here. All right, 5:48. I'm I have one last chance. Anybody else? One more and then we got time for one more person. All right, we are going to We're going to close out the public power hour and we'll be starting our city council meeting back in just a few minutes. Thank y'all.

Good evening. Uh, welcome to the city of North Augusta City Council meeting for May the 4th, 2026. Great to see everybody. Thank you all for being here. Um, you are welcome to join me in prayer. Dear God, as spring has begun to bloom in our community, I ask that you'll be with us counsel as we do the work of the city. I ask that you will give council the guidance and discernment we need to ensure our actions are in the best interest of our citizens as well as honoring you. Continue to open our hearts, minds, and ears to what's being said and discuss as we work to improve North Augusta. Amen. If you're able, please stand for the pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America to the stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all.

All right, we're going to start roll call from my left. John Felac, Robert Freighus, Pat Carpenter, Britain Williams, Kevin Tulle, David Buck, Dennis Briatico.

Okay. Item four, approval of minutes. Uh, are there any corrections, deletions, or additions to the regular city council meeting minutes of April the 20th, 2026, or the study session minutes of April the 27th, 2026? Okay. Hearing none, they stand approved as distributed. Thank you. Okay. We uh this is a fun part of the night. We've got some proclamations. Uh the first one I'm going to read from the dis which is I'm changing the order here uh because the first one I'm going to read is on public works week. So whereas public works professionals focus on infrastructure facilities and services that are of vital importance to sustainable and resilient communities to the public health, high quality of life and well-being of the people of North Augusta. And whereas these infrastructure facilities and services could not be provided without the dedicated efforts of public works professionals who are engineers, managers, employees at all levels of government and the private sector who are responsible for rebuilding, improving and protecting our city's transportation, water supply, water treatment, sanitary and storm water sewage and solid waste systems, public buildings and other structures and facilities essential for our citizens. And whereas it is a public interest for the citizens, civic leaders and children in North Augusta to gain knowledge of and maintain an ongoing interest and understanding of the importance of public works and public works programs in the community. And whereas the year 2026 marks the 67th annual National Public Works Week sponsored by the American Public Works Association. Now therefore, I Britain S. Williams, mayor of the city of North Augusta, South Carolina, do hereby proclaim the week May the 17th through the 23rd, 2026 as public works week. And the city of North Augustine urge all citizens to pay tribute to our public works professionals and to recognize the

substantial contributions they make protecting our health, safety, comfort, and quality of life. Uh I'm reading this from DAS, our director, Tom Zeser. We sent him to another C funds, another meeting where we have the ability to get funds to repay roads. So, we decided we'd work him tonight versus give him this proclamation. Uh, but it was real funny, interesting. I don't know how many y'all were here a couple weeks ago when we had the youth appreciation night, but y'all remember there were, I'd say at least two, maybe three of the students, they said their favorite tour of the day was a waterworks treatment. And I can't remember who it was. One girl said, "I've been drinking this water my whole life. Had no idea how it works." So, anyway, we do amazing public works. And as I shared a while back, um, this council's put over $26 million in infrastructure over the last five years. A lot of the stuff you don't see because it's underground, but it's important. So, commend our public works folks. Okay. All right. I'm going to come to the front here and I'm going to do the next four. We're going we're going to stay up. I'm gonna say in front of the DAS. So, I'm gonna put I'm gonna ask one of uh a champion. I love to have champions in the house. And I'm gonna ask first of all, Miss Lydia Hill is she will meet me in dice. Coach Franklin, come on up. How are you? So good to see you. All right. Now, we here we have had a lot to celebrate. North Ka North High School was a lot to celebrate. And when we think about sports, we think of what I call the big ones. Football, basketball, baseball, softball. But North Augusta High School has a wide

breath of activities and programs for our youth. I mean from cyber team, RTC, you know how many of y'all know we have a wrestling team and we have two of our outstanding state wrestlers here. And I'm going to read about this young lady right here. Whereas Lydia Hill, a junior with North Augusta High School Lady Jacket wrestling team, earned first place at the lower state championship at South Florence in the 190B weight class. And whereas Lyd Hill pinned all three of her opponents for the championship and whereas Lydia Hill is a twotime state qualifier in a 2020 record 26 record was 16-6. And whereas the team was led by head coach Matt Franklin and the wrestling team finished fifth in the lower state championship. Whereas Ly has served as an ambassador for the city of North Augusta, she has wrestled throughout her season. Now therefore, I Britain S. Williams, mayor of the city of North Augusta, do hereby respectfully request that the citizens of North Augusta join me in celebrating and honoring North Augusta High School Lady Jacket wrestler Litty Hill as a 2026 South Carolina lower state golf CHAMPION

and we have fixed the seal. So this is official. Okay, for you all right? Thanks, guys. Okay, I want to know what got you interested about wrestling. Where did that come from?

Well, he came to our middle school and he kind of just talked about it for forever. Um, and I was kind of scared to go up um up to him and asked for a paper to see what it was all about. So, I kind of got pushed into it by my home room teacher in middle school. And then I started wrestling and all the people that I went to practice with, they were just so welcoming. It was it was just a lot of fun to be around them. And as the as I've grown with all of these people, it's just it's kind of like the best thing you could do in high school because the family that you form with all those people. I mean, you're very personal with them because you're so close all the time. It's like you can't help.

Well, if you're pinning everybody, you wrestle. Yeah, I think you do. But I don't know. It was just cool. I don't know. Well, that's awesome. You don't hear about the family piece very often, so that's very good. Thank you. Congratulations. Stay up here, coach. Stay up here. All right. Where's Nathan? Come on down here, young man. Nathan Cight.

How you doing, sir? Nice to see you.

All right. Let me tell you about this young man. Whereas Nathan Seight, a sophomore with North Coast High School Jackets wrestling team, earned first place at the lower state championship at Hartsville in 144 pound weight class. And whereas Nathan Seight finished third at the state championship and his 2026 record was, now catch this, record was 58 and six. That's wrong. Whereas the team was led by head coach Matt Franklin, the wrestling team finished fifth in lower state championship. And whereas Nathan Seight has served as an ambassador for the city of North Augusta as he wrestled throughout his season. Now therefore, I have Britain S. Williams, mayor of the city of North Augusta, do hereby respectfully request that the citizens of North Augusta join me in celebrating and honoring North Augusta High School wrestler Nathan Seight as a 2026 South Carolina law state WRESTLING CHAMPION. SO, YOU know what my question is? Why do you get into wrestling? Same thing as

I really got into wrestling from a Facebook post that I saw like in seventh grade. I was like, this seems like an interesting sport and I just came to a practice and I got hooked onto it. Okay. Now, but the wrestling didn't start till high school. We don't have in the middle school yet, do we? We do have in the middle school now. Oh, wow. Okay. Okay. Did you start at the middle school the same time as the high school? Okay. So, how many years is that now? 10 years. It's been 10 years. Wow. You're at the middle school. Okay. Okay. And y'all y'all had the y'all had some big events right here at the activity center.

We do a Rumble on the River uh tournament every week before Christmas and we've gotten we started out with 12 teams the very first year we did it. This is our 10th year coming up on the tournament and we've had teams from Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina come to the to the rec center to the activity center and this year alone I've already gotten 40 teams for next tournaments um in December.

Coach, you're you're planting seeds in our young people at an early age and we thank you, sir, for that commitment. God bless you. And let's give both Lydia and Nathan one more big round of applause. Thank you. Chief, come on up here, sir. All right. It's a proclamation night for our public departments. All right, sir. Whereas in 1962, President Kennedy proclaimed May the 15th as national peace. That's P Ace C, Officers Memorial Day, and the calendar week in which May 15th falls as National Police Week. And whereas established by a joint resolution of Congress in 1962, National Police Week pay special recognition those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others. And whereas a members of law enforcement agencies in the city of North Augusta played a central role in safeguarding the rights and freedoms of citizens of North Augusta. And whereas it's important that all citizens know and understand the duties, responsibilities, hazards, and sacrifices their law enforcement officers and that law enforcement officers recognize their duty to serve the people of this community by protecting them against violence and disorder. And whereas a law enforcement officer of the city of North Augusta incently provide a public service. Now therefore, I Britain S. Williams, mayor of the city of North Augusta, South Carolina, proclaim the week of May 10th through 16th as National Law Enforcement Week. I call upon all citizens in this community, especially honor and show our sincere appreciation for the officers of the city by our thanking the men and women who make it possible for us to leave our home safely each day, return knowing we are protected by men and women willing to sacrifice their lives if necessary to guard our loved ones, property, and government against all who would violate the law. And I will tell

you, chief, um, the city of North Augusta, the community of North Augusta supports and loves their public safety. And there are communities in the country that are defunding the police. We are not defunding anything like that in North Augusta. We are investing in our men and women. They are sacrificing their lives. And we have a safe, safe community. And chief, on behalf of this city council, as far as the citizens of North Augusta, we thank you what you, your captains, do uh for us and your entire staff. Thank you very much, SIR.

OKAY. All right. So, Chief, how do we want you want me to call them down or how you want to do? Do you want me to read on this? How you going to do? You want to talk about it? Who you got coming in? Officer.

So, Officer Cunningham will be coming in first with his dog, River. Uh, I just want to talk a little bit about that. Go ahead and let them come up here so that you can see them. So, all right. And if we can go ahead and let officer dabs come in and just stand off to the side. We can keep a little separation from the two dogs. Uh, this is up on the stage with me is PSO Jason Cunningham and his Labrador River. Coming in the door over there is PSO Ryan Dabs uh and his German Shepherd Raven. Uh about a year ago, I was approached by a citizen uh that said, "What can I do to help out uh North Augusta public safety?" And one of the things that I wanted to do was expand our canine program. These are extensions of officers. They can smell uh and see things that the officers can't, and it just uh is a force multiplier for us. Uh, and so she said she was on board and wanted to do that. Uh, and so I got her in touch with the North Augusta Public Safety Foundation, uh, who also solicited funds in order to reach our goal. Uh, but I can't thank Miss Deborah Sibi enough for her contribution helping out and the public safety foundation for what they did and getting the rest of the contributions. Uh, like the mayor said just a few minutes ago, the community supports us and they showed it by going the distance so that we could get these two dogs, get them trained and get them all the way up.

That's awesome. So, great job. Um, we had a chance to see this last week, they they did a test for us and think were amazing. But I got to ride down in elevator with with uh PSO uh Dabs's grandmother and parents and they were just talking about how excited he was about being able to have uh this role and I think officer Cunningham I bet would agree. Right.

So real quick what I wanted to let you know why this happened is a couple years ago our city council we formed two foundations. One was called the beautifification foundation. Other one's called the public safety foundation. And there was two goals with the foundation. We want it to be citizen-led, driven by citizens. I want to introduce now all of them are here. I think only maybe Becky is, but the folks who run the public safety foundations are all citizens. Becky Dearen, if you're here, Becky, raise your hand. There she is. Karen Sanders, Lisa um Isard, Butch Fagan, Jennifer Macaulay, Jasonlair, and we have two representative from city council, uh Dennis Brado and David Buck. Um the second thing the foundation the objective of why we formed it is we wanted citizens to have a vehicle that they could philanthropically give dollars to that was not part of a general fund that the city controls but that the citizen group could decide what is the best use of those dollars that belongs they fit with the goal of public safety and because of that Deborah Sibi Deborah stand up this is important Deborah Sibi had a um has a relative in the K-9 area I think in the county but was very passionate about that and because of her philanthropic uh mindset she very much said hey I want to do that and reached out so again this to me is what win-win's all about citizens are driving it not our citizens not our city citizens driving it citizens are funding it uh through the foundation so Becky thank you for your leadership all your team thank you for what you do and chief and officer Thank you for very much. Let's give him one more round of applause.

must have been your clone, John. All right. All right. We are moving into um old business. Going to start working now. Planning Development Ordinance number 202609-09 to approve the general development plan for 201.8 plus acres of the high plan development on the east side of West Martintown Road between Knob Cone Avenue and Interstate 20. Do I have a motion to approve this ordinance on second reading? Motion Carpenter. Was a second of Mr. Baratico? Okay. Uh, anything you like to share about this, Miss Clifford or Miss Paradise?

So, there's no new information, Mr. mayor and council, but for the citizens that are watching tonight, this is a update to the Hive project, and the Hive really consists of three separate and distinct areas. You have a commercial component, which is fronting Martintown Road over by where the Waffle House is. And you can see when you come off Interstate 20. You have a multif family component, which are the apartments that are currently under construction that you can also uh see from both uh Martintown and from Interstate 20. And then further into the development behind the North Augusta High School is a single family residential uh component being developed by Stanley Martin Homes. And based on the topography of the land, uh they felt it was better to uh shrink some of the sizes of the lots and the total number of homes going into that space. Uh that was positively viewed by the planning commission and you all voted affirmatively for the first uh ordinance reading and this is the second ordinance reading. So if this passes on this vote, this will be the effect uh of cottifying this general valent plan.

Okay. Are any questions from council to Mr. Clifford? All right. Are there any citizen comments? Okay. Hearing none. Uh any council discussion? All right. Hearing none, I'm going to ask for a vote. All in favor? And that is unanimous. Very good. Thank you. All right. We are now in new business. Planning development resolution number 2026-26 to approve signage for Hammond's Ferry. Do I have a motion to approve this resolution? So moved. Uh Mr. Freighus. Okay. Second and second with Mr. Buck. Thank you. Anything you like to share about this, Mr. Clifford?

Uh Mr. Mayor and Council, as discussed in the study session last week, this is only coming to council because the sign rests on city property. This is an entrance sign. the Hammonds Ferry uh development. This is getting paid for by their homeowners association uh but they need permission to update the sign uh because it sits on on city property. I believe the visuals of the sign were presented last week are also in your packet and this is a resolution. So this is a one vote item for you all to consider this evening. Any questions from ML?

Are there any citizen comments? Excuse me. All right, hearing none. Any council discussion? All right, I'm on hearing none. I'm going ask for a vote. All in favor? And that is unanimous. Thank you very much. All right. Item nine. Let's see. Okay. Public safety resolution number 2026-27 authorizing the city of North Augusta make improvements at the animal control shelter facility. Do I have a motion to approve this resolution? Second. Okay, that was Mr. Buck second. All right. Uh, anything you'd like to share about this, Miss Clifford or maybe Chief Johnson?

So, I'll defer to the chief on the technical details of the improvements that are going to be made to the shelter, but the staff received guidance from the city council uh at a previous meeting to uh do research on projects in conjunction with uh citizen groups. And so, ultimately, three projects were directed or a total number of three projects uh for them to select. And uh those are listed here and chief will probably talk those a little more in depth. And those are set with a ceiling of $40,000 out of the capital projects fund and doctrinally that's what the capital projects fund is for is for improvements on uh existing city properties or refurbishment roof replacements uh those kinds of things. So this is the appropriate fund to use for this particular item. Uh and I have uh I'll defer to chief on the technical aspects of what those projects are but that's all I have from my chair. Okay. So, the three projects that we're looking to take on, we want to put additional drains in the kennels in order to improve efficiency and cleaning and decrease the chances of crosscontamination of pet waste. We also want to make additional runs on the exterior so that we can have more than one dog outside at the time enjoying the sunshine while also improving the drainage of the area. And the third one is to create a separate exterior space for puppies so that they can go outside and have some sunshine as well. uh and we want to do it in such a manner so that they don't cross-contaminate with the adult dogs uh is the three projects that we've chosen.

Okay. Any uh questions from council for chief Johnson or Mr. Clifford I wanted to make a statement now be that feels the council. Yeah. Thank you. U okay no questions for them. All right. Uh at this time citizen comments. Yes, ma'am. Uh Tabitha, if you would just state your name and address for the record, please. Ma'am,

Tabitha Wald, 193 Village Parkway, I want to say thank you to the council, the public safety, and the especially volunteers for pulling together the plans to make this happen. There's one more thing that our city can do that won't cost one more dime that will help our dogs and help our shelter be more humane. And that would be to allow a public safety officer to come out to the shelter over the weekend late in the afternoon to break up the time that the dogs are in those kennels. They're in those kennels nearly 22 hours at a time. I think we can do better as a city. I think we're more humane to that and I just ask you to just please consider that as a one more thing.

Thank you. Thank you, Tabith. Who else?

Anybody else? Yes, sir. Come on now, Tyler. Um, good evening, uh, mayor and council members. My name is Tyler Gallas, 71 Center Street North Augusta. Um, and again, first and foremost, thank you. Um, I am the president of Friends of North Augusta Animals, and I want to thank you for considering these investments to North Augusta Animal Control Facility. These improvements are not small. their meaningful tangible changes that once implemented will significantly improve the quality of and care of life for the quality of the dogs there. Um from these facility upgrades on today's agenda to increase funding in the 2026 budget for veterary care and supplies to addition of a new staff member starting July of 2026. These are significant step forwards and I do want to publicly recognize that no other city council has made this level investment since we founded Phone in 2017. So, it just deserves a round of thank you. Um, a North Augusta Animal Control facility in 2026 looks very different than it did even a year ago. The improvements in veterary care, sanitation, and overall quality of life have been dramatic. Um, and as Tabitha mentioned, there's much more left to do, but this progress needs to be stated. And I did want to take a moment, this is this is very significant. I mean, $40,000 is is significant investment. So, I wanted to take a moment to thank you several individuals that have played a key role in making this progress possible. Um, Councilman Tulle, Kevin Tulle, thank you for being willing to listen and advocate for these changes. Sorry to hear you're not continuing your term, but your service to this community and this effort are greatly appreciated. Um, Councilman Robert Fredus, thank you for your reason involvement and reaching out directly. This open communication is not only pre appreciated, but it's essential to the success. Um, Councilman's Pat, Council members Pat and John, thank you

for always being willing to meet and listen. And and David Buck, you've been the go-to person for years at the pound, and your continued support of the at the pound does not go unnoticed. Um, to Captain Hayes, Chief Johnson, and Officer Bride, and there's many other public safety officers who get involved, get called to the pound to help. Um, thank you for your support. And a special thank you to Captain Hayes in particular. Um just last week he was over there with our officer kind of like an IKEA project assembling these new kennels. Um so that level of hands-on leadership and direct communication has made a tre tremendous difference in moving things forward quickly and conser addressing concerns real time. And just just as a personal note I used to have to call David out of the blue but with we've had such great communication with public safety. I can't even remember last time I called David and and it's just it's just nice having the direct communication that's been a tremendous improvement itself. Um and I do want to recognize the heart of this effort our volunteers. Um didn't mention Dave uh Dennis. He's both a volunteer and a council members for keeping this issue visible and for the hundreds of hours you put into the pound. And also to our volunteer team. And this is this is kind of crazy. It just there's a lot of names to list. It feels like the Oscars. I'm going to miss somebody. But AJ, John, and Lily Marsh, Amanda A, Amanda H, Brianna, Kim, David, Dean, and Sharon, Sharon, J, Shana, Anna, Tasha, Terry, Sandy, Rose, Joe and Bobby Dixon, and then all those work behind the scenes like Jamie, Angie, Georgia, and Gabby, and I'm sure there's others I'm missing, but the fact that it's a mouthful, that's that's a huge difference than it was even a year ago. We we got community out there. Um, Rose has been counting volunteer hours, something like 500, 600 hours already spent there at the pound this year. So, it's a team effort and we're

incredibly grateful for every single person who stepped up. And while we're appreciated these improvements, we also recognize these are short-term fixes. They're important fixes necessary, but we still need a long-term plan. So, we do want to begin identifying a land and location for the future shelter. We want to be part of that conversation. We want to work directly with the city with to build a solution that serves both the animals and the community. We also want to recognize the city is not responsible for the existence of homeless and abandoned animals. But together we can res be be responsible how we respond to that challenge. And that means continuing to prove care today, but also working towards best practices, including responsible ownerships, spayneuter efforts, and also ordinances that help create accountability and reduce overpopulation. And when I talk about a future shel shelter, I want to think about bigger than just another animal control facility. I want to envision a space that's communitydriven and recre recreational in its purpose and mission. A place where youth and can engage and learn. I mean, we had these wonderful youth come up here, but if I've had to turn away 10-year-olds and even teenagers from coming out to the pound. It's just it just we want to get the youth involved. We're proud of them of all the wonderful things we're doing, but we can't do that at our existing pound. It's it's just a shame. And seniors can volunteer. Like I just visit a shelter last week and half their volunteer re um resources are seniors in their 60s plus who come out there and walk and dog. So, we talk about senior activities all the time, it really can be a center for senior activities. So, in a space that could include things like a small thrift store, affordable vet clinic, or even a tourist and tourist welcoming point for pet friendly visitors, Asheville has a great example of that. Um, so highlighting all that North Augusta has to offer with family and pets, this city has prioritized tourism and recreational activities, and this facility can totally be part of

that vision, too. Let's make education activities for all ages a cornerstone of the plan. I do not want to tell another child or teenager there's no place for them to volunteer and learn about animals here in our city and that these are ways to make and these are also ways to make the facility cost effective too that supports itself. Um lastly I just want to mention our rock for rescue fundraiser. It is tenatively scheduled for this uh year Friday October 16th. Um, last year we reinvested nearly 20, sorry, nearly 12,000 directly back to the pound. Some of these projects we got to take off the city's list because we funded them. Um, and we'd love to continue partnering with the city both in promoting the event. We would definitely like your help in promoting that and in minimizing the cost so even more of these funds can go directly back to the animals. So again, thank you. Thank you for the progress that's been made. Thank you for these investments you've prioritized and working with us to come up with the list together. And we look forward to continuing to work together, not just on proven care today, but building a stronger long-term future for the animals in the community of North Augusta. And thank you. And for any fellow nerds, may the fourth be with you. Thank you, Tyler. And to your point, uh, thank Phona. $11,475 because of Phona. We have a new security door, new exhaust system. Um, professional kennel pods for puppy care and quarantine. Uh, that's on the inside. So, uh, thank you very much, Tyler. Appreciate what phone is doing with their investments. That's great. Anybody else? Okay. Uh, any council discussion now?

Yes, now you can. Yeah, council discussion. Okay. And Tyler, Tyler, I've always say such a good person and thank you Tyler. You're true to what you believe. Okay. But I just want to say something about the dog kennel. Um, just like and I've said this way back and I'm going to repeat it. Just like now we have our police foundation. The committee or the person donated the money. Correct. Uh for the dogs or the committee fundraised? Yeah.

Okay. Number two, Cheryl sitting right up there. She she is part of the beautifification committee. All the stuff you see that is so pretty in downtown was not put there by the city of North Augusta. It was put there because she and her husband and that committee raised that money and put it there. No one. We handed her a little bit of money at the beginning to get them rolling, but they have done that. I look at the Miracle League field, which I just left over at Riverview Park. We had a vision, the wrecking crew. We wanted everybody in North Augusta to be able to play ball and do, not just your children who are normal.

Who gave you that land for the miracle field? Okay, we're not having any uh conversation. I'm sorry.

Hey, Tyler. All right. And so we the city said, "All right, we've got that." We looked at different places at Riverview Park. The city said, "Okay, the soccer field is probably the best facility for your miracle league." Now, they let us use it. It still belongs to the city of North Augusta, but we as private people raised $1.2 million to build that field. It did not come out of the budget. It did not come anywhere other than y'all can use the field. Now, we did it in phase one and then all of a sudden the next time we got our big bill, I mean score boys. Now, phase three, well, they call it two, but it's really three. We going to put up our uh shelter, picnic shelter, and bathrooms so people don't have to go clean the tower three. But my point to this, everybody who's here for the dog kennel, get yourself out too like we did and raised money.

I know you did. I know. We're not having a conversation with you. You're not good. All right. You're making mistakes, Tyler. I know Tyler has raised money. I know I donated to his fundraiser last year. All right. Shh. All right. But I'm saying if you want this big nice facility, then you get out and it's on city property, but you raise the money to build it as a group of people. Then number two, I don't agree with Tabitha. We do not need another police officer off the streets of North Augusta doing that. Okay. Uh we're hiring a new man mayor in July. Yeah.

That will be there. Ask the people in North Augusta if their house was burning, would they rather be at the dog pound doing something or that policeman and fireman there? We need our people are telling me, Junior, that we need more vision of police on the streets. Okay? And if we're doing things like that, stay focused on this. I know, I know, but I'm just trying to say, okay, but I'm just voicing my opinion about this that instead of putting extra police at the dog kennel, they need to be on the streets protecting people. But like I said, if you want a nice facility,

raise your money is we've already got a group. So let me let me Sorry, I've just got to speak up. So So here's the thing. Let me just let me let me just kind of bring everybody up to speed because a lot of stuff gets lost in translation.

Into last year when we put this together, we said we do three things. One was in the budget. We codified by hiring a a part-time person to work the weekends. and that person will start July 1. But we did say that if just like any nonprofit, if y'all if we'd have no problem if y'all if anybody wanted to pay an offduty officer to come for the weekend when Officer McBride cannot do that, there's not a problem doing that. We said from Kelly, our city attorney and the city administrator, we would work with that. But we will have that July one. The second thing is we said we'd agree on these three projects which we have which we voted on which we all agree is fantastic. And the third thing is because of what this report said in 2019. We formed a committee and a couple things about this committee I think is important. One is we did it just like the report said representative citizens veterinarian. We had a phone representative. So what has happened is we I know Tabitha had to drop off because she's running for city council. It's not my responsibility that committee does not work for the city of North Augusta. If that committee wants to hire bring in 10 phon represent they want to add 20 to their group that is up to that committee and I think they're going to probably be doing that but we said this we are that committee is what's going to determine bring the community together for shelter. Okay. And if the timing is right, will we have a will we be glad to sit down and say, "Hey, you know, is there some land that we can use for a shelter?" We never said we would not have that conversation, but it's not going to come from Dennis. It's not going to come from phone. It's not come from citizens. It's going to come from this non this committee because they're the entity that we are going to be working with. We just have to let them do their job. They're putting things in

place to where we're going to have a community support to be able to do this. So, it is going to Okay. So, let's just let let things fall in place. Okay. So, I don't want to have any more conversation about this at this point. Is any council discussion about the three projects we're about to vote on? Okay. All in favor?

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. We had a lot of discussion. I feel like, you know, I totally agree with the three projects, but as far as the state of the shelter, if y'all think it's so great, grab your pajamas, get a sleeping bag, and come spend 22 hours in there with me. I'll throw down the challenge right now, the council challenge. Y'all spend 22 hours consecutively in the shelter with me like the dogs do.

I'll lay in the floor. It don't bother me. They know that. Now, as far as how things work, it occurs to me that it ain't going to come from Dennis. It ain't going to come from you. It ain't going to come from the committee. The taxpayer dollars is the taxpayer dollars and what we do with them should come from the taxpayers. As far as interest in the DOE fund, perhaps it could be put aside towards a public private partnership, we should take that money if we can, if there's money left over after we do other things and put money to the side. City of Florence, City of Myrtle Beach, City of Charleston, and City of Aken all have public private partnerships and it did not happen without a major contribution from the city. It is the civilized thing to do. It is the right thing to do. The people have demanded been demanding it now for 25 years. You're right, mayor. We formed a shelter committee in 2025 because of a report we got in 2019. They were we are six years behind on giving those people what they want and what they've been asking for. We paid for that. We paid for that study. We didn't do nothing with it till 2025. Come on now.

Well, I I can't control that because I weren't part of that. But what I'm saying, yes, I'm in favor of the stream. I said we would have the conversation if there's land that makes sense. Okay. I just said we would have that conversation. But it does no good to have that conversation today because there's nobody ready to be able to do anything if that was there. There's a it's not just it's not land it's not just building it's running a shelter it's a lot of things let the committee build do what they need to do so all of this private part can happen that's how we're going to do it

in most of the cases where the private partnerships take off the city says here we're going to go ahead and tell you this is what we have that we can contribute and that gives the committee what they need to work with to go out to the public and start to be able to raise funds and build upon that well I The committee is who will will be addressing that. So the committee meeting yes Don Porter is a chair. She the committee meets on a regular basis liaison of it. The committee is not at a point where they can accept any funding at this point. They are still working on their 501c3 status and once they have that they will begin to start taking donations and moving in that direction.

Thank you Robert. But there's nothing set stopping the city from setting something aside and saying this is what we're going to do with this in the future. Well, we're not doing that. We're not I don't mean to get people stewed up. I love my little dog, but listen, what you're saying then the money will start. Y'all can start doing fundraiser and then take that money and do what you want to do. You're you're the city is letting you use the land. I mean, that land is city. Oh, we haven't seen They're talking about the current one. Let's talk about No, but let me say this, but the pound is sitting on property. Yes, that's a current one. Yes. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. We're talking about a new shelter. Yeah. Not in that location.

No. Yeah. But I think that'd be a good location. Well, it may be, but we're not at that point to do it. So, anyway. All right. So, I'm going ask for a vote. We've done more than All in favor. Okay. Of these 40,000. That is unanimous. That was the important thing we're trying to accomplish tonight. Very good. All right. Item know where my item 10 is.

All right. Uh item 10 is engineering public works resolution number 2026-28 amending the previously authorized budget for the Willow Creek Drive stream bank stabilization project. Do I have a motion to approve this resolution? So moved. Second. That is Mayor Pro Tim Tulle and the second was a second.

Mr. Baratico. Thank you Dennis. Um okay. Um anything you want to share about this Mr. Clifford? So for mayor and council, as a reminder from our study session, this is in regards to the NRCS grant that we have. This is the NRCS grant covers two separate projects. So there's a uh stream cleanup project that is ongoing. The vast majority of this work is up in the Walnut Creek area up by exit 5 over by where the boardwalk is. Uh work there is continuing and then they're going to move to uh Moatine to finish some of the waterways there. But the other uh component of this project has to do with the area right by uh formerly known as the the Willowick Apartments. Uh and the stream stream bed there eroded the roadway and the parking lot and moved the entire course of the uh the creek. Uh and so as the contractors been there working on that uh determined some additional work was needed. So we've asked for an additional project budget of $55,000. So the total project for that aspect does not exceed $370. It's also important to note by even by moving up the uh funding wedge of $55,000. We're still below the cap for the NRCS. So this is still a 100% uh grant by the federal government through this agency. So there's no general fund uh or other kinds of FEMA funds associated with uh this project. So our recommendation from the staff is to approve this so we can finish out the uh work there for the NRCS grant. And if that is approved tonight, then we're probably within about a 45day window from completing that work.

Okay. Any questions from council to Mr. Clifford? Any citizen comments? Okay. Any council discussion hearing? None. I'm going ask for a vote. All in favor? And that is unanimous. Very good. Thank you. All right. Uh any administrative report, sir? None this evening, Mr. Mayor.

Okay. Um All right. We had the public power hour, but in case um somebody came in um citizen comment period, this time the citizens may speak to mayor and council regarding matters not listed on the agenda. All I would ask you to do is raise your hand and then I'll call you and you come down, give your name and address for the record. So, is anybody uh Yes, ma'am. Come on down. Good evening. Laura Garner, 706 Edgewood Avenue.

Um, we were talking about the land and the building possibilities for the um, animal shelter and I had inquired and asked starting about eight months ago what the status is of the old law enforcement building on Buenav Vista. And um I've never gotten any kind of update or confirmation of what the status is there. I'm assuming that the city is taking care of maintenance and uh upkeep of our property there, but I can't get any confirmation of what the status is there for that property.

Okay, Laura, thank you for asking that. A couple things. So, as I stated when we talked on the email, at this point, uh the status hasn't changed. I do expect that probably in and I'm speaking ahead of the uh Jim Clifford but I would think in the next couple month or so we will probably be having a steady session that sound about right for to talk about what we want to do with that property. Um as far as I also did uh we did ask the city administrator I think we're in May and June we will be pressure washing that building. Uh there were a number of citizens that reached out to me about that. So uh we did uh Jim found money to do that. So we'll be pressure washing it. So my guess is June time frame early July we will be having study session so we can talk. We've had a lot of groups, whether it's the Aken Center, whether it's um citizens about public safety headquarters, whether the city wants to keep that land, sell the land, whatever, that all that will come out in the study session. And there will be opportunity for citizens, you know, as we as we talk through that scenario, not in the study session, but if we move forward with whatever that looks like, citizen input. Okay. I guess my main concern though is not what we're going to do, clean up the outside of it, but what's going on inside.

Well, because I mean, like any homeowner or property owner, I was just in the facility a week and a half ago with some of our maintenance folks and it's still in workable condition. That's excellent. That's that's exactly what I wanted to know. So, I appreciate it. As far as the committee goes, the committee that's working on um uh it's called the shelter committee, I guess, something like that. Can you all provide us with comm community uh committee updates occasionally? I'm just out of curiosity so we have an idea of what's going on. And uh about how long ago, you know, did we apply for the 501c3 and or about how long do you expect it to take um in the future for it to be processed?

Um Don, would you like to speak to that? But it started it. All right. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Yeah. So, if you wanted if you couldn't hear that, basically um they have applied for that designation and it's they're probably a one month or so to into a 3 to four month process. I would think within the next couple months. So, thank you all for that,

Miss Garner. We do give regular updates. We try to. There just hasn't been a lot going on as they've been working on bylaws and things like that. So, there hasn't hasn't been a whole lot to report over the last few weeks.

And just to let you know, we will be getting um I thought I said this last time, but I don't think I did. Uh, our city attorney, Kelly Zir, has reviewed the ordinance of recommendations from I guess that came from the committee uh through feedback from phona and different folks and um he will be giving that to our administration in the near future um to see what that looks like and then I would think that would definitely be coming to council for us to decide on that. So I would think all that's going to happen easily in the next 30 days tops. So hopefully that will clear all that. So any other questions besides that at this time? Yes, sir. In the red, he was first. Come on down, sir. David, you can be next. Antonio Henderson, 246 Gustaf Court here in the North Augusta.

How you doing, sir? Um, I was told, um, this is the place to come to with concerns about my water bill. Sure. And, um, I mean, it's a personal thing, but, you know, I feel it's something that deals with everyone. All right. So, what if if I can, if you don't mind, we're going to need to pull that. So, if you would give Jamie your name, your address, that's Jamie, and your cell number, and then we will get our uh team to look at that tomorrow, right? So, I can have that information, and I will call you back and go over that with you.

Okay. Because the reason that I'm here because they told me to be here. No, no, no. You did the right thing, which is the to let us know. So, you you're hear from us about it, right? So, I need to find out what that is. So, if there's an issue on our end, I want to tell you that. Yes, sir. But I but I need Well, we need to know it. So, you did the right thing. Okay. Okay. I'll be calling you.

All right. Anybody else? Oh, yeah. David, I'm sorry. Come on down, sir. I'm sorry. You had your hand up earlier. My bad.

My name is David Dean. I live at 132 High Drive, north of South Carolina. Yes, sir.

I've lived there all my life, 67 years. And we still got people in the city, in the county, that don't know where the animal control is. This past week, we've able to get three dogs adopted. And we had to coach every one of them in how to get inside the parking lot. I thought we talked about a sign probably three meetings ago or maybe four meetings ago, we was going to look into it. We still ain't got a sign up there. And they call they call captain uh the captain or they calling Craig or they calling me they calling somebody that's and we sit at the top of the hill up there so they can know how to come through the gates on on Saturdays and Sundays and we time limited because Craig will tell them, "Hey, I'm going to be here at 12:00. You want to come get your dog? Come on." So, you know, we need a sign up there, man. Come on.

Okay. David, thank you very much. I appreciate I will look into it, sir.

Thank you, David. Who else we got? Come on now. We're having fun tonight. Okay. Um, only thing I'm going to say then, um, only I want to just remind everybody, May the 7th, which is Thursday, uh, Fair View is hosting the North Augustine National Day of Prayer event. If you uh have the Explore North Augusta app, you can go down there to the calendar on May the 7th. There's a QR code if you want to register. There's no cost. They're going to provide breakfast for everybody. If you don't aren't comfortable downloading an app or doing that, just show up. I'm sure they'll have room for you. Uh that'll be this Thursday. And I know there'll be a prayer walking throughout the community. If your church, if you want to participate, I'd reach out to your church, wherever you go to church, and they are aware of it. and I'm sure they're coordinating exactly what they're going to do there. But u thank you all for coming here. I really appreciate your involvement and your passion. And at this time um I'm going to read item 12 which is in request for our city attorney and compliance with section 30-470 A2. The city attorney request an executive session with the purpose of discussion negotiations incident for proposed contractual arrangements and proposed sale or purchase of property the receive legal advice with legal advice relates to a pending threaten or potential claim or other matters covered by the attorney client privilege settlement of legal claims or the position of the public agency and other adversary situations involved in theation against agency of a claim. Basically discussion specifically related to Riverside Village. We will not be returning after this. Do I have a motion to go into executive session?

So moved. That's Mar Pro Tim Tulle. Was there a second? That was Mr. Freigherus. Okay. All in favor? Uh that's unanimous. Thank you all. Appreciate you being Have a safe evening. We stand a journ.