NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (WFXG) - As North Augusta’s population increases, the city continues to put forth more initiatives and projects to balance this growth.

From the city finding ways to fund major developments to law enforcement pushing initiatives to engage with the public, North Augusta officials and departments have been at work to address the growing city.

North Augusta Mayor Briton Williams says he wants to see North Augusta be a place where locals love to hang out and visitors can’t wait to come back.

“I want North Augusta to be a place that you want to hang out, you want to live at and we want to have those amenities on quality of live and I believe we are on the right path to live on,” said Mayor Williams.

He says that starts with downtown.

“Our downtown, we have to make it the heartbeat of our community. You go to Greenville, you go to Camden all the downtowns you love, no matter their size they all have a place where you can hang out and feel small town,” said Mayor Williams. “And that’s what we’re trying to do, put money into things like our Greeneway, our Riverview park activities, Riverside Village, our downtown.”

Along with the new Greeneway bridge, Fire Station 1, and the Greeneway Connector, North Augusta has seen some major progress towards Mayor Williams’ vision.

But they aren’t stopping there, coming soon is the new Public Safety Headquarters, projected to be in operation no later than the 2025 Masters Tournament.

And as the city grows, local law enforcement wants in on the action.

Chief Junior Johnson says, “So one of the things we want to do is make sure the community knows the police department is part of them, we work for them. We want to make sure everyone is safe and at the same time interacting with everybody and the community action team allows us to have those interactions other than making arrests.”

With the new Community Action Team, North Augusta Public Safety staff hopes to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the public.

 “What can I do to give back to the community. I felt like as a police department instead of just responding to calls we need to get out there and form these relationships,” said CAT commander.

Chief Johnson says he looks forward to the team expanding as the city continues to grow.

If you missed this community update meeting and have something you want the council to know, Mayor Williams wants to remind you about the public power hours, a formal way to informally tell the city council what’s on your mind.

Power hour takes place every first Monday at 5:30 pm in the Municipal Building.

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