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Augusta, GA

501 trees cleared to open just one 3-mile trail in Augusta, GA after Hurricane Helene

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501 trees cleared to open just one 3-mile trail in Augusta, GA after Hurricane Helene


By now everyone is aware of the damage Hurricane Helene brought to the mountain communities in and around Asheville, North Carolina and the surrounding Pisgah National Forest. Augusta, GA was hit hard by the storm too, and while flooding wasn’t as widespread or catastrophic there as it was in western North Carolina, thousands of trees rooted in rain-soaked soil were toppled by the strong winds that whipped through the area.

“We had over 100 miles of trail here, but unfortunately hurricane Helene took us down to none,” Angela Allen told me. Allen is the Communications Chair and work party coordinator for the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) Southern Off Road Biking Association (SORBA) chapter. The volunteer group is responsible for maintaining more than 100 miles of singletrack, and had just finished their annual three-month-long foliage maintenance work cleaning every inch of those trails the weekend before the storm hit. Their celebration of a job well done was short lived.

Two individuals are engaged in outdoor volunteer work, clearing brush and debris from a wooded area. One person, wearing a hard hat and an orange volunteer shirt, is pulling on a branch, while the other, dressed in a gray shirt, assists nearby. The scene is set in a natural environment with sparse foliage and trees in the background under a clear sky.

Just this week, Augusta Mayor Garnett L. Johnson held a press conference with representatives from FEMA to give an update on recovery efforts following the record-breaking storm. Nearly a month after Helene, which initially left the entire city without power, communications remain limited. “More than 95% of our residents still may remain without internet, and cell service to this date still remains to be spotty in some areas. Thousands of homes and properties sustained significant damage, and tragically, some of our fellow Augustans lost their lives,” he said. In the press conference, City Administrator Tameka Allen noted that the city had only recently been able to restore all traffic signals to full functionality.

Jake Veriato, SORBA CSRA President, said that local mountain bikers got to work immediately, clearing trees off their own homes, driveways, and roadways, and helping neighbors do the same. After some time, there was a desire to get at least a small sliver of singletrack open for mountain biking again.

“A lot of them just wanted a break from helping the community and wanted to help the community in another way, which is to get back out into the forest.” For many area riders, a quick mountain bike ride was exactly what they needed to recharge.

SORBA CSRA rallied 186 volunteers, including 26 certified Sawyer teams, to focus on getting the Canal singletrack trail re-opened. The flowy singletrack trail, located between the Augusta canal and Savannah river, is the only mountain bike trail within the city limits, which made it a good trail for volunteers to focus on. Allen and Canal trail champion John Pilcher “went out there two separate days to literally climb under and over logs [tying flags] so you can see where the trail went,” Allen said. All told, 501 trees were cleared and 746 volunteer hours were logged.

“We thought that would be the best for the trail community to get at least one trail system open and we achieved that,” Veriato said.

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Looking beyond the Canal trail, most Augusta-area singletrack lies on land that’s under state and federal land management. “We still don’t have access to the Forest Service trails in the Long Cane Ranger District, which is okay, they are working through it,” said Veriato.

SORBA CSRA is still in triage mode, assessing which trails are even accessible at this point, and whether infrastructure like bridges and signage will need to be repaired. No doubt there are many more trees that need to be cleared.

“It’s easy to see the long road we have ahead of us. I mean, you’re talking thousands upon thousands of trees, thousands of man hours, thousands of days out there,” Veriato said. “So yeah, it’s going to be tough.”

To volunteer, or donate funds to SORBA CSRA to help offset the cost of fuel and equipment, visit sorbacsra.org.

 

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Augusta, GA

2 troubled Augusta apartment buildings are back in the spotlight

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2 troubled Augusta apartment buildings are back in the spotlight


AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The company that owns Bon Air Apartments and Richmond Summit Apartments has an important meeting coming up Tuesday.

The Augusta Commission could revoke Redwood Housing’s business license at the public hearing.

Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, neighbors at Richmond Summit were dealing with another issue – no power. It came back on around 6 p.m. Wednesday.

One neighbor said they were notified a couple of days ago that the power would be out from 9 p.m. Tuesday until noon Wednesday for electrical work.

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However, when that timeline passed and there weren’t any updates, neighbors started asking questions about why it took so long without any other notifications.

“People on walkers and wheelchairs trying to get outside, maybe try to get somewhere where there is AC, but it’s a bad situation for everybody involved,” said Earl Cason, resident at Richmond Summit. “I’m pouring some tap water over my head, and I’ve been using a cardboard paper to fan with all day.”

Cason has lived at Richmond Summit for five years, and he said these types of issues aren’t new, saying back in March, neighbors were also left without power.

“The claim was made that Georgia Power had shut the power off, but in calling them, they told me they had nothing to do with it. They don’t schedule outages,” said Cason.

Cason said he would like to move, but it’s hard to afford it.

“I haven’t had the option to just move out. Being under, as everyone is here under Section 8 housing, nobody can afford to just pack up and make a move on their own,” said Cason.

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We asked an employee at Richmond Summit if they could provide any information or provide a statement, and they said no to both.

The public hearing will be on Tuesday at 1 p.m. on the second floor of the Augusta Municipal Building in the Lee Beard Commission Chamber.

This newest development comes after years of violence and complaints of poor living conditions at Bon Air.

These stories have drawn the attention of commissioners and U.S. Rep. Rick Allen.



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Augusta, GA

Cleanup top of mind as Augusta leaders finalize SPLOST projects

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Cleanup top of mind as Augusta leaders finalize SPLOST projects


AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Poor infrastructure and lack of maintenance are complaints we hear every year in Augusta, and city leaders agree.

While leaders narrow down the list of projects you could see on your ballot in November, neighbors say there’s an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed, and that’s years of alleged neglect.

Neighbors say, if money is going to go anywhere, it should go towards trash, overgrown weeds and blighted properties.

Some are taking it upon themselves to enact change, but they say they can’t do it by themselves.

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Some roads crumble with cracked sidewalks and grass so tall it looks as if it could swallow you.

“You can see where basically the hillside is washing away, and it’s falling down here onto the embankment here,” said Eric Gaines, an Augusta resident. ”It just gets worse as we go further down here, and then, not to mention, this street has been a dumping ground.”

There is a story on Railroad Street, and Gaines is helping to find a better ending.

“ My grandparents grew up over here on Nicholas Street, and I remember coming down here as a kid; there used to be houses all up and down railroad street,” said Gaines.

Now he’s building a house in the neighborhood that built him.

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“That’s the only way that we’re gonna be able to get some of these neighborhoods cleaned up, is that some of us are gonna personally have to come in and put our own dollars into these communities in order to kind of jumpstart some type of progress,” he said.

And he is already getting the attention of those in charge.

“ I’ve been working with them as well as Commissioner Pulliam and Commissioner Scott, and they’ve been very instrumental with getting some of these things done,” said Gaines.

Gaines, however, wants to see the talk turn into something bigger

“The folks here also deserve nice, safe and clean neighborhoods to take a part in, and I know that there are many constraints, but this right here is years of not being paid any attention to,” he said.

Gaines tells us he’s met with commissioners and the engineering department as well.

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He says they are working together to hopefully start a site survey at the start of next year.

As for the SPLOST 9 list, as they work to finalize the list of projects that you can vote on, infrastructure was one of their top priorities as they finalize that list.



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Augusta, GA

Knights Templar Eye Foundation awards $90,000 grant to Augusta University researcher

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Knights Templar Eye Foundation awards ,000 grant to Augusta University researcher




















Knights Templar Eye Foundation awards $90,000 grant to Augusta University researcher | Community | wfxg.com

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