Wrinkles
In last week's Wrinkles, five questions were sent to two members of City Council, Jason Whinghter and Ken McDowell. Here are their answers:
Jason Whinghter -- "City council and staff has been for some time now looking to expand our current parks and recreational facilities as we are totally out of space at Riverview Park. This is in large part due to the tremendous success of our parks and rec system so I view it as a good problem to have. Based on North Augusta's recent growth patterns being heavily concentrated between Martintown Road and Hwy 25, we have generally focused on that area for the addition of a second regional park. The result of this time consuming search was the purchase of the approximately 150 acres between Five Notch and Murrah Road which was found to fit the needs we were looking for in terms of topography, acreage, location and accessibility. As I remember, the vote was unanimous with Lark abstaining due to some previous legal work he had done for the seller. Council had much discussion on this purchase, with the worries expressed that families may be split up due to one child playing at Riverview and another child playing at this new regional park, etc. However, in my opinion, all on council agreed that we had to have the ability to expand our recreational facilities, and this new 150 acres was a good location. The money used to purchase this property came from sales tax money allocated for this purpose. We did slightly adjust the timeframe for this purchase since the land was available and the longer we waited, the harder it would be to find the right location at the right price. I imagine this would be similar to Augusta purchasing land in Columbia County for use as a park. However, this regional park will be used by both Aiken and Edgefield County residents, both inside and outside the city limits since it will be the most convenient park in Southern Edgefield County in terms of accessibility. Our overall future projects scope for allocation of sales tax money has remained unchanged; however some of the time frames have been adjusted such as the purchase of this property because of its sudden availability. I think council felt that land prices will only continue to increase and land availability will only continue to decrease, so this purchase was well justified. I did hear from and talk to people in the community about this property, and in general, everyone, especially those who have families active in sports, agree that we as a City need to expand our facilities because we are currently out of space.
Ken McDowell -- 1. Sales tax does indeed come from taxpayers. In this case, the City voted to purchase land for recreation purposes, i.e., the establishment of a park. We are in Edgefield County because that is where the available land was located. We sincerely tried to find something inside the current City limits, but there was nothing appropriate available. The area in Edgefield was chosen due to its proximity to the major growth area of North Augusta.
2. The money came from the Aiken County Capital Projects Sales Tax II. This was adopted by the voters in Aiken County via a referendum in November 2004. In this referendum was a project to purchase land for another regional park similar to Riverview Park. Even before that time we knew we needed another park, but this Capital Projects Sales tax provided a source of funding. It was also voted on by the citizens, thereby making it their choice.
3. Let me say that North Augusta is within Edgefield County because many of the people there wanted City services. North Augusta has continued to expand into Edgefield because people choose to obtain city services from North Augusta. It should be said also that it is common for different cities, counties and even states to share public amenities. This would include the North Augusta Greeneway, the Riverwatch in Augusta, the lock and dam, the recreation facilities on both sides of the Lake and many others.
4. I do not know of any such promises made by City Council. A senior center has been discussed a couple of times at NA Forward planning sessions and it has been listed as a potential project for a future sales tax priority.
5. If you are referring to the issue of buying land, then yes. The citizens voted to pay the tax and buying the land for a park was one of the priorities. Additionally all Council meetings and study sessions are open to the public and this was discussed there and with the press present.
Although not requested, we received Mayor Lark Jones' voluntary answers to the questions which we are happy to print.
1: We are purchasing land in Edgefield County because the City is growing in that direction and we need the land. Yes I know it's taxpayer money. Every dime we spend in the City is taxpayer money in one way or another. Riverview Park is great but it is no longer big enough to handle all our needs. We spent over two years searching for land. Everything was done in open meetings with the press present. We did have an executive session when needed to discuss contractual negotiations. You may recall we took an option of land at I-20 and Martintown Road(mostly in Edgefield County) but we passed because the land was too hilly and rocky to use for park purposes. The current land was decided on based upon availability, topography, location and cost. While it is in Edgefield County (the City of North Augusta as you know is already in Edgefield County) it is much closer to the growing areas of our town. We decided that the new park had to be above or close to I-20. We searched parcels around the frontage road above I-20. Land in Aiken County was commanding a minimum of $20,000 per acre. The land we have purchased averages around $13,000 per acre and is sandy and much more level. This will save significant dollars in the grading and development process.
2. If my memory served me correctly, the land purchase was funded through Sales Tax revenues which were voted on by public referendum. I'm thinking the council vote was unanimous but we'd have to check the minutes to be sure.
3. To me this is not the same as Augusta purchasing land in Columbia County because the City of Augusta does not extend into Columbia County. North Augusta is a part of Edgefield County or, as I'd rather say, Edgefield County is a part of North Augusta.
4. I do not recall any promises to build a senior center. We have discussed it and put it down as possibility on long range plans with many other projects. Even though I'm now getting some senior citizen discounts (You know exactly how old I am), I'm inclined to be against a separate senior center. I am more in favor of multi-purpose facilities that are more cost efficient and can be used by differed groups. The Community Center and Activities Center are both examples of multipurpose buildings. The park purchases are to fulfill the mandates set out by the voters in the Sales Tax Referendums.
5. I am open to discussion on all issues with all citizens. Again the whole issue of buying park property was discussed in many meetings and at least two North Augusta Forward sessions.
Wrinkles hopes this clarifies all aspects of the land purchase in Edgefield County and we thanks those who took the time to answer the questions.
E-mail mradacj@aol.com or call 803-279-8704
