Commission - Regular Meeting

All right. Madam Clerk, it appears that we have a quorum, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Augusta-Richmond County Commission meeting. Today is June 18th. Madam Clerk, we have a quorum. Before we get started, we're going to take a point of personal privilege and state that we live in the greatest country on earth. Throughout democracy, it allows us to vote and elect the people that we feel best represents us. On Tuesday, we had a runoff election, and I wanna congratulate those winners, Mayor-elect Stephen Kendrick, as well as Commissioner-elect Yvette Davis. I think Mayor-elect Stephen Kendrick is in the audience. Our best goal and our best wishes is for Augusta to move forward, and this democracy allows us to do that. So that has been done. Now we have to move on to people's business. With that, Madam Clerk, let's go to work.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We will have our invocation shared with us today by Reverend Siobhan Williams, Associate Minister of the Live River Baptist Church, after which we would like to ask one of our community leaders, Mr. Dan Funch, if he would please stand and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for having me here today. I am Reverend Siobhan Williams. I'm associate minister at Live River, as well as the executive director of Partners for Faith and Justice. I've quoted as a statement many times one of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King's statements, but it bears repeating today as I stand to pray. He said, the church is not the master or servant of the state, but rather the conscious of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state and never its tool. So as my faith leads me to do the work that I do in the community, to stand here and pray as we seek a just society in our beloved community, I keep this principle in mind. And as we are a county that welcomes people of all faiths and people of no faiths, I invite everyone to personalize this prayer according to their own tradition and beliefs. And though I'll pray according to my Christian faith. I honor everyone here in person and those listening remotely. Let us pray. Gracious God, guide us all assembled here today as we come seeking to do our part as good neighbors, community members, and elected officials. Thank you for those elected and appointed to lead, as well as the residents of this great community. We recognize meetings of officials are necessary to carry on the people's work, and active civic engagement and informed citizens are the utmost importance. As we come together, grant us wisdom, courage, the ability to dream dreams, and visions of a community where we all thrive. Your word says you require us to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with you, God. Increase our capacity to extend grace to each other, just as you do to us daily. Help us with differing ideas and ideals to disagree without becoming disagreeable. Open our minds as we seek information and understanding so we can become more informed citizens and elected officials alike. Help us to remain peaceful and respectful. Heavenly Father, there are times when we allow our humanity to blame, divide, and sow discord. We retreat to our corners with those who think like us or look like us. We ask you right now for forgiveness. We ask you to create in each of us a clean heart and renew in us the right spirit so that as we speak out of the abundance of our heart, may our words reflect purity of thought and intent. Help each of us to remember that we are all neighbors and let our words and actions reflect your commandment to love our neighbor. We ask you to bless each one of us today. Transform all neighbors. By renewing our minds, those who govern with dignity and respect, reflecting your principles, we ask that we all work together for the well-being of your people in this city that we love. Help us to keep this in mind, that what we do to the least of these, we do unto you. And grant us the moral integrity to rise above selfish intent and greed. Increase our capacity to love each other. And if any today are tired, weary, or have fears or doubts, grant them the strength to not become weary and well doing. Erase those fears and doubts as reminded numerous times your word says fear not. And help us to remember you're here with us even here in this meeting. You journey with us and are here to help us during our mountain and our valley experience. Spirit of living God, be with us today during this meeting. Help us to be instruments of your peace and your love, so a seeds of hope and a future for this city that you have ordained. Help us to further your kingdom agenda and not simply man's agenda. May we be servants of your will, mindful that we are blessed to be a blessing. And it's in the name of Jesus we come and we pray. Amen.

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I have to use my outside voice.

Will you please stand, please?

First, thanking you for putting us in remembrance of what it is that God wants us to do in light of the fact that he ordained government. Thank you for reminding us how He had all of us in mind when he did establish the government for the people. By these presence be it known that Reverend Siobhan Williams, associate minister of Live River Baptist Church is our chaplain of the day. May your spiritual guidance and unwavering leadership continues to bring strength and blessings to the citizens of Augusta. Given under my hand this 18th day of June, 2026, Garnett L. Johnson, Mayor. And again, thank you.

Reverend Williams, thank you for being here today. Thank you so much for that prayer. Thank you. It's needed. Madam Clerk, I think that takes us to the delegation portion of this meeting.

Yes, sir. Our first delegation, item A, Ms. Angela Burnett, urgent Bernie Ward Community Center, outstanding upgrades and immediate action required.

Ms. Burnett, are you present?

All right.

Welcome, ma'am. Good afternoon, ma'am. If you will, for the record, please state your name and address.

Okay. Hello, my name is Angela Burnett, and I'm here this afternoon to respectfully request your consideration of allocating any available funds to complete the outstanding renovations and necessary repairs of the Bernie Ward Community Center.

Thank you, ma'am. You may begin.

In 2018, a tragic incident occurred with which Melquam Kwame Robinson Jr. was electrocuted at the baseball field due to unsafe conditions. This serves as a lasting reminder of the importance of properly maintaining and addressing facility needs in a timely manner to help prevent future incidents. While it is acknowledged and appreciated that some improvements have been made since that time, including installation of the gym HVAC system new gym equipment for a wellness center, updated playground equipment, and painting of the existing pool and partial restrooms upgrades. There are still several critical issues that remain unresolved. The following concerns require immediate attention. The new gym HVAC system is not functioning properly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The playground area retains standing water after rainfall. They put the new playground on the existing land and it still retains water, so the children are not able to use the playground until the sun comes out. Restroom facilities remain outdated and insufficient. They're just antiquated and embarrassing. Meeting rooms need upgrades and properly functioning HVAC. Other than the gym, there are additional rooms that do not have HVAC at all. A fully operational maintained kitchen is needed and remodel the pool and add a splash pad. Last time they painted the pool. Additionally, ongoing maintenance must be consistently addressed. When you have your own home, when something needs maintained, you have it serviced. If your acquisition is serviced quarterly, I know mine is, if I see a pest in my home, I call Orkin or Terminex and I need them to come out and do something because I don't want that in my house. Same thing. When you have your own home, you maintain and you service your home. Regular gym floor maintenance needs to be done. The gym in the schools, they're done every year. Once a year, the gym floors are done. Routine pest control needs to happen. Scheduled HVAC servicing and the grounds need to be kept. Recent events have further exasperated these conditions. Following Hurricane Helene, the Bernie Ward Community Center baseball field was used to stage debris. As a result, significant damage was done to the facility's driveways. One driveway is now completely closed. We're not able to use it because it's a hazard. The other driveway is deteriorating constantly. They keep putting... dirt instead of concrete or asphalt in these holes. They're tearing up our cars. My husband complains every time I go through there, he has to wash my car. The current state of the facility raises serious concerns about safety accessibility. The overall community use, residents in South Augusta rely on this center as a vital resource, and it's critical that it be restored to a safe and functional condition. I respectfully urge you to prioritize the completion of these renovations and repairs. The community deserves a self-well-maintained facility that reflects its importance and value.

Thank you, Ms. Burnett. You sit tight. We're going to get the recreation director up. But first, I want to recognize the commissioner from the second. She's in the queue. Commissioner Stacey Pulliam, you have the floor, ma'am.

Thank you so much, Mayor Johnson, and thank you, Ms. Burnett, for bringing this to light. There are things that we are definitely working on as far as Burning Ward is concerned. I like to tell people every facility in District 2, I am on top of it. And when I say on top of it, I am having regular meetings with our Parks and Recreation Director, talking about what needs to be done and what needs to happen. everything that you named except the splash pad but everything else that you named Director Williams can tell you that we have been discussing that and I'm going to let her talk because this is her area but there I do know that there's three phases that we're working in to do the field to do the facility as well as the pool but I'll let Director Williams take over from here and thank you so much for bringing this to light.

Director Williams.

Thank you, Commissioners and Mayor and Ms. Burnett. We actually spoke about everything that was going to take place out at Burnie Ward and at Fleming Park. We are working with our consultants to get this project underway. We are working on our final plans for which we're about finished. We probably have at least another month to finalize that and that will be coming to the Commission. AS I STATED, IT IS A THREE-PART. WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING UPGRADES TO THE POOL, DOING UPGRADES TO THE FLEMING PARK COMPLEX AREA, AND THEN ALSO THE FACILITY ITSELF. WE KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF IMPROVEMENTS THAT NEED TO BE DONE FOR THE RENOVATIONS OF THE BUILDING. THE PARKING LOT, YES, IT IS IN It's not in good shape because of the Hurricane Helene debris site. But with this project, all of that will be taken care of. The parking lot, upgrades to our pool and our facility, and then also the complex.

Thank you. Thank you.

I appreciate it. Sit tight for a second. Director Williams, do you have a timeline on any of those improvements?

I don't have one narrowed down, but we're in our final design for the construction plans. And that'll be maybe about another month. We're about 90% just about done on that. And we're working with ISM as well.

Yeah, as far as the plans, we're 95% completed with the plans. As a matter of fact, those plans, I actually have them back here. We're in the process of reviewing them. The QAQC was done by the consultant, and then we're also doing the QAQC by us and by Parks and Rec. So once that's done, then the consultant would go back and whatever comments that are on there, which shouldn't take no longer than about two weeks, those plans would be like 100%. At that point, the plans will be submitted to the city for permitting and for bidding. So at that point, You know, we would like to push it, but I think that has to be done by you guys once it gets into your system. I think you all can control, you know, within your system from the beginning to the end on where we can actually award the bid. and actually start construction. So at that point, it's actually pretty much out of somewhat Park's hand, and it's definitely out of our hands at that point. It's in your hands at that point.

Gotcha.

All right, sit tight. I read a script because I know how emotional I get, and so I didn't want to go off course and forget something. But when you say renovations will be done and it's almost there, the baseball field is a big... field of mulch. What's happening? Is something going there? Is it another baseball field? Is it a kickball something? What's going, you know, what's going to be in that huge space?

So what we were looking at initially is when the project was initially approved, it was in conjunction with the school requesting to have additional baseball spaces. But the school that's next door, they're actually moving forward with doing their own. And so with that, we are looking to do more of a passive part and multi-use fields at that location. And so that is the ideal space for that because then you wouldn't want to do multiple things right there when we're serving the same, trying to serve the school. They're doing their own now.

Is there a plan that's available that can be made available to the public?

I think we are.

I have one right back there.

You have one right back there? Yep. All right, yeah.

Same plane.

Yeah.

All right, we need to get that on the website if possible for people to review it. Yes.

Yes, as DC Clark and Ms. Francine said yesterday, transparency. That's what we need, transparency. We need to know these things because we're just sitting out there looking and thinking that we're forgotten about.

All right. Chair recognizes Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Guilfoyle. Just sit tight, there's a few colleagues in the queue.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ms. Burnett, thank you for coming before us. We actually got another delegation on the agenda about a different parks recreational center that we have, and I believe it's in Ms. Pulliam's district as well, or close to it. This is for the administrator. Madam Administrator, I had lunch with AB and one of his partners with ISM talking about discussion of how can we move the process forward because I know that in six weeks the final plan would be done after it goes through the consultant, then it comes before the commission, and then it goes through the permitting process. Over a year ago, we had met about McBean Community Center, Blythe Community Center, and the holdup, I believe, is within this building. We need to figure out a way to get the fire department, the engineer, the finance, planning, zoning, we get all on the same page. So with all these projects that we hired ISM in four years ago, five years ago? I'm sorry, A.B. ? Okay, how long?

We've been here about three, three and a half, when we actually first started.

Okay, so when I came on the floor, y'all came on the floor.

When we came on the, we came in at the latter part of 2023.

Okay, so what we need to do is find an expedited way to get the process moving quicker, because AB and them are presenting the plans to bring forth, and then it gets into stall mode. And how long have we been waiting on the Black Community Center to move forward, or even the tennis courts?

Yeah, because we actually have the on-call engineering. doing that.

But is the holdup within our government, A.B.?

It is. It's out of our hands on that.

Okay, so it does lie within this building on how we can move the process forward, and that's where I need your help, Madam Administrator, to where we can get these directors together and come up with a plan, a process to make it go forward, including developers and builders that comes before us. I've always been trying to make it a streamlined process. That way we don't, Ms. Burnett could actually see progress happen within a year. if that's possible, and have ISM at the table too.

Yes, sir.

When the hurricane came through my home, I filed insurance, and insurance paid for what they could pay for. And what they couldn't pay for, I paid for myself. So like McDuffie Woods, they don't have a marquee sign. The floor is buckled. Is there insurance that we didn't file?

With us being self-insured, Ms. Burnett, what we do have is a supplementary policy where anything, I believe, anything over either $250,000 or $500,000 occurrence, that's where the insurance pick up. And we actually utilize that insurance at the boathouse when that happened. But it's got to be one building, a lot of damage. Thank you.

All right. Chair recognizes. Commissioner from the second. Commissioner Stacey.

Thank you, Mayor Johnson. There's one thing that I wanted to mention and I didn't. Ms. Burnett, you did mention that the HVAC is currently not working, correct?

It works off and on. Sometimes it's a gym, so they have two or three in the gym. So one half may work. And the manager will say, don't use that side today. Go on this. Y'all use this side today. But when you play basketball, you have to use the whole floor. You can't just use one side of the gym. So, yeah. Okay.

So, Director Williams, do we have a work order in for the HVAC that's not working? I think we do. Okay. So, if we don't.

We talked about HVAC last week.

Okay. Yes, ma'am. All right. So if we don't, if we could make sure that's a top priority to make sure the HVAC is working. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Director Williams.

All right. Chair recognizes Commissioner Tina Slanek from the 7th.

Thank you, Mayor. I actually was thinking about the same thing Commissioner Pulliam was, is can we do something to get these people some relief on this air conditioning? Because I understand the process of having to send everything through and permitting and all that, but I mean, just getting your air fixed would be a first step in making that gym more usable. So that's what I wanted to ask. Could we get something going that we could at least get them some relief on their air conditioning in the gym right now? So thank you.

And we work with central services to get all that taken care of.

But is that in the works?

That's what I'm saying. We were actually talking about HVACs last week. And so, obviously, Bernie Ward was one of our sites that we had discussed and got to work on the end for.

Okay. I just didn't, you know, want it to get swept under anything because, I mean, that right there, just fixing the air would help a lot right now until the other stuff moves through the system. But, okay, thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Slendak. Chair, I recognize Commissioner Francine Scott from the night.

Thank you, Mayor Johnson. And I just would like to comment. My colleague, Wayne Guilford, mentioned McDuffie Wood and Blight. We were talking about Bernie Ward. Bernie Ward is a very old building. And I'm sure it takes time to... order parts, no excuses, but I don't want the public to think that we're neglecting Bernie Ward and because McDuffie and Blight are very new facilities as well. So we're going to do what we can to expedite what we need to do to get Burning Ward back on track so you can have some relief. And I appreciate you coming here today. Thank you for the phone calls. Thank you for the texts. Thank you for Facebook.

Thank you. Madam Administrator, you're in the queue.

Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, if I can address Ms. Burnett's concerns. Ms. Burnett has legitimate concerns in regards to the maintenance and the upkeep of not only Bernie Ward, but a number of our facilities. That is something that we have been discussing for quite some time. These buildings have I hate to say it, have suffered neglect when it comes to maintenance. I think Commissioner Pulliam and I corresponded on the situation today with one of the parks, and it's in just terrible shape that we've received again complaint from a citizen. And nobody deserves to be going to facilities that look like that. But of course we have to know, and Ms. Burnett, thank you for bringing that to our attention, as well as the constituent that contacted Ms. Pulliam about the other. once we know we can do something about it but it shouldn't have to be the citizen bringing it to our attention we should have maintenance being done and monitoring of these facilities being done and making sure that we adequately provide the funding to get it done that's been another problem is making sure we have enough funding to maintain all of these facilities so it's a number of things that we need to do internally i will say i was not aware of any internal stock that was happening in regards to getting these projects done. I wish we, this is the first I heard about that, but we have to be able to say, what's the priority? Let's get the priority done and bring it to the governing body so that we are all aware of the situation. So Commissioner Guilford, yes, I would definitely get with those respective directors as well as, I think I sent an email back today, in regards to Ms. Pulliam's concern, asking the recreation director to make sure that she provides us priorities, what needs to be done at every one of these parks so that we can make sure that we assess what funding is necessary to get them all in good shape so that people can go to these parks and enjoy them and not look at equipment that's failing. So we do have a plan. We started that communication again today. So yes, sir, we will make sure that we are involved.

Thank you, Madam Administrator. Ms. Burnett, thank you so much for being here today.

Thank you. I appreciate you all listening.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, the panel takes us to the next delegation item, please.

Delegation B, Mr. Stephen Kaufman, introduce Patton's Pals, a veterans-owned nonprofit organization assisting homeless veterans. Thank you.

Good day, Mr. Patton. Good to see you again. If you will, for the record, please state your name and address.

Yes, sir. My name is Steven Kaufman, 4080 Spencer Street. Thank you, sir. Before I begin, I'd like to recognize Mr. Brandon Clark, who passed away last week. He was a homeless veteran who passed away in a random lot of heat stroke. My immediate thought was I wish we were already here to help. So with that, I'll begin.

Please, thank you.

Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name is Stephen Kaufman. I'm an Army veteran and the founder of Patton's Pals. Since March 19th, 2023, Patton and I have served side by side throughout my alcohol recovery journey. Patton stood with me through some of the most difficult moments of my life, providing steadfast companionship, unwavering loyalty, and the quiet strength we needed the most. Today, we stand before you 39 months sober. What began as a personal fight for sobriety became renewed commitments of purpose and service. Throughout that journey, I learned that recovery begins when the crisis ends. Lasting success requires structure, accountability, support, and a pathway forward. That lesson became Patton's Files and ultimately the vision behind Battle Born's Veteran Village. Commissioners, the slide represents where we are today. Augusta already has strong organizations serving veterans in times of crisis, the VA domiciliary, emergency services, shelters, and community organizations that all play a critical role. The challenge isn't lack of resources, the challenge is what happens next. When a veteran leaves treatment, they are often no longer in crisis, but they are not yet ready for complete independence. That space between the crisis and independence is where many veterans struggle, not because of their lack of strength or desire to succeed, but because rebuilding a life and recovery takes time, structure, accountability, and support. It is our mission to fill that gap. This is Battle Born Barracks, a bridge between crisis and independence. Veterans would come to us via referrals from the VA and other community avenues. Once admitted, the focus is stability. Residents will participate in recovery services, life skill development, employment readiness, benefit navigation, and community engagement. They are connected to existing resources throughout Augusta while living in a structured environment that promotes accountability and growth. All veterans participating in the program will be subject to random drug testing and alcohol testing, ensuring their commitment to their program. This is not emergency housing, nor is it a permanent destination. It is a place where veterans can rebuild healthy routines, regain confidence, and prepare for the next chapter of their lives. Once a veteran has built a foundation for their success, the next step will be independent structured living. Patton's pals will then move them from the barracks to their very own tiny home on the Battle Born campus. Still, the standards of drug and alcohol, the free lifestyle are required. Throughout the next year, while living in their tiny home, veterans will receive continued support throughout their IOP community programs, as well as additional support and benefits, such as securing employment, educational opportunities, ensuring that the veteran is prepared for life outside of Battle Born. Our goal is to create a pathway where veterans could successfully transition back into the community with confidence, skills, and the stability necessary to remain independent. Excuse me. After spending a year in the tiny home, eligible veterans will then receive a HUD-VASH voucher working side by side with this community government to finally find a place that is theirs. Veterans are highly trained individuals who bring a wealth of knowledge to this community. Many of them have simply lost their way while trying to adapt to civilian life after serving. As you can see, we've already begun Looking for property in Augusta. This is the Walton Way Hickman Tract. This is located close to the VA and the Vet Center, making an ideal spot for our operation. Here are the properties individually. In the next slide, you'll see how we plan to combine them to create Baliborne Campus. We replaced the barracks facing Walton Way with the tiny home village behind it. We have been in contact with the property owners. They love our vision, are excited to work with us, but we can't do this alone. The strength of our vision lies in community partnership. Augusta already has so many pieces in place necessary to bring it alive. We want to connect those pieces and create something greater, bigger than any one organization can create. We are here today asking for your guidance and leadership. We are not here asking for donations or money. We are here simply to create a pathway forward that moves our veterans out of crisis and into long-term stability and independence. We thank you for your time today. Thank you.

Mr. Coffman, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for your services to this country, and thank you for what you're trying to do for our veterans in this community. It's noted. Chair recognizes Commissioner from the second, Commissioner Stacey Pulliam.

Thank you, Mayor Johnson. Thank you so much for your presentation. Yes, ma'am. This is very much needed. My question is, is it similar to the coves at Dundee in Savannah? Is it kind of a similar model to that? That's also veteran housing?

Yes, ma'am. I'm actually visiting them next week to have a one-on-one in Brunswick and in Savannah. Okay. We're also partnering with Dr. Jackson Jungle. He's been my mentor through this with his tiny home process. Awesome. I wish I could paint you a picture today, I can't. Together we could figure that out. I don't know exactly how it's run in the Cove. I heard Dundee is a great place. They have a huge community. We are starting off with Augusta. We're residents here. We're a veteran, we're a military town. And I believe that people like Mr. Clark fell through the crack. My time at the domiciliary was 67 days. I stayed sober. When I got out, thankfully, I had a home to come home to. There were people there, excuse me, that had been there nine and 12 times because they had nowhere to go afterwards. We offer them the shelters, which we do great work here in Augusta, but there's nowhere for them to go to remain structured. But the last thing I wanted as a combat veteran was after 90 days to think I knew everything, to think I knew how to handle my own recovery, how to handle my own temptations. I was wrong, I relapsed. I stand here today 39 months sober because I put God first and I focused on my priorities and made sure I focused on my work, my day-to-day work. So if I can gain that knowledge from Dundee and present it to you guys, more than happy to.

Absolutely. Thank you so much. I'm positive you're going to enjoy the tour. Me and my colleague, Commissioner Lewis, we had the opportunity to go and it was, I'm speaking for him, but it was just so eye-opening and I love what they're doing out there. So I'm excited to see what your thoughts are. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Commissioner Pulliam. Chair recognizes Commissioner from the First, Commissioner Jordan Johnson.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Kaufman, thank you for being here. Mrs. Kaufman, thank you for being here. Where's Patton? Patton, thank you for being here, Patton. I didn't bring any treats, but I do have some peanut butter cookies in my pocket. I'll get it to him after. He'll dig it. He'll dig it. You said that you weren't asking for anything from the commission, but in a perfect world, what would be the ideal partnership that you would be looking for us? How could the commission support your vision? The Cove was the impetus for our idea for a tiny home village. When Willie Walker, he was also a homeless veteran, he died of hypothermia. Which was special. A couple years ago. Yeah, maybe five, maybe four years ago. We went down to the cove at Dundee and said we can do this in Augusta. And so it's absolutely doable. But I guess what my question is, what is it that we can do to support you? Is it just being aware right now? I mean, certainly I would support any letters of support to you if you look for like any federal funding or grant funding. But what would that support look like?

Well, as we stand here today, thank you for your question. As we stand here today, we are a nonprofit recognized by the state. OUR 501C3 PROCESS HAS STARTED. UNFORTUNATELY THE STATE IS THREE TO SIX MONTHS BEHIND. RIGHT NOW MY WIFE HAS BROUGHT US FORTH A WHAT IS IT CALLED? A FISCAL SPONSOR. ALL THEY DO IS HELP NONPROFITS LIKE OURS WHO CAN'T YET GET STARTED. allows us to get grants and funding through the federal government, through local government. They do take a percentage, but if it means that we can get started earlier, 4% I'd give up all day. So right now, I think it would be your support behind the mission. TO SUPPORT BEHIND THE PROPERTY THAT WE'RE SEEKING. THE WALTON WAY HICKMAN EXTENSION HAS BEEN EMPTY SINCE 2007. IN 2013, THE BUILDING THAT WAS ON THERE WAS DEMOLISHED. THE OWNER OF THE PROPERTY, CLAY BOARDMAN, and I and his nephew have been in contact, and they are in full support of the project. In fact, they asked that we do not stop our partnership at the purchase of the property. They want to continue pushing our mission forward. So your prayers for us, for guidance. If you know of funding that we can work together on, that would be outstanding. But right now, a handshake and a commitment is what we're looking for today. Anything you guys can pull out of your repertoire that you know that obviously we don't as non-government officials, we'd be more than happy to and open to.

All right, when the time comes, just let me know and I'll make sure to get you a letter of support. Of course, I appreciate that. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner, from the first. Chair recognizes Commissioner Don Clark from the fifth.

Hey, thank you, first of all, for your service. Congratulations to you for your 39 months of sobriety as well. Amazing step. Having served in combat zones just like you, you and I share some of the same kind of scars and some of the same things that we consistently go through on a daily basis. So you answered a couple of my questions that I did have as far as your nonprofit status and your sponsor piece of it. I think the sponsor piece is important. Seeking out the community support and the partnerships is essential as well. But I'm going to tell you, after working in the nonprofit sector, specifically with veterans, you're on the right path. Looking for partnerships, looking for as many levels of support towards, because the thing about it is, with a lot of this, somebody knows something, another person knows something else, and it kind of continues to build upon it. I'll give you my contact information, probably some other things I'd like to talk to you about to make sure that you consider with everything. But keep doing what you're doing. Thank you both. And thank you for standing by him. I can't tell you how many veterans that I've assisted over the years that didn't have what he has in you and in Patton towards continuing to keep him strong and continue to keep him with a purpose. So thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Clark. Chair recognizes Commissioner Catherine Smith-Rice in the third.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Kaufman, thank you for being here today. This actually is in my district, so I am excited, as everyone else is, to hear. this it is something that definitely is needed in the community and I do I feel like once this gets out that you'd have a lot of people in the community willing to support and help you out along with us commissioners but no it there needs to be a place that I don't know of another place there's not we have we have shelters we have emergency services but But it's needed and it's something that would be a great asset to this community. So please, I'd love for you to reach out to me as well. Thank you, ma'am. Mr. Boardman and his nephew. So good people.

Excellent. We're in the right place.

Thank you. Look forward to seeing you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Rice. Mr. Coffin, again, thank you so much for your dedication and your work to help those who desperately need it. We love your idea and we're here to support you. Ms. Coffin, Patton, thank you all so much for being here. Thank you. Thank you. Item C, please.

Item C, Ms. Amanda Harmon, members of the CSRA Tennis Association would like to discuss improvements to the Newman Tennis Center.

I am not Amanda Harmon. Okay. If it pleases the commission, I was voluntold I'll be doing the speaking.

Voluntold, what is your name, sir? Please state your name and address.

My name is Trevor Adkins. I'm the president of the CSRA Tennis Association. We don't have a physical address. We service all of the CSRA. Of course, Richmond County is a big part of it.

Thank you, sir. You have five minutes.

Yeah, so I'm also here today with our VP, other board members, members of the tennis community at large, as well as we have Darren Potkey, the executive director of USCA Georgia down from Atlanta today. And so we run our leagues primarily on public courts, and we very much appreciate the relationship we have with Augusta-Richmond County. We simply could not run our programs without these partnerships. So we come as a friend and stand here today just to better understand the status of the approved 2021 SPLOST 8 funds to restore Newman Tennis Center. Just some brief background. In February of 2024, a group of local tennis players and members from Newman came and spoke to the commission. I think it was former Commissioner Alvin Mason asked that the work be expedited then, but the project did not move forward at that time, in part due to a change in parks and rec director. Then in May of 2025, after meeting with commissioners and the new parks and rec director, we received an email stating the first phase of the project, which would be court resurfacing in lights. We're hopefully going to start that summer with other improvements beginning later in phase two. Our organization was then told that the work would begin by the second quarter of 2026. So all follow-ups indicated progress, although with each update, the date of when the work would actually begin had progressively slipped. Just another important consideration we wanted to bring up is the substantial economic impact of Newman's current conditions. According to Destination Augusta, in prior years, Newman generated $2.6 million in economic impact per year for the city, but it's now unable to host tennis tournaments due to its court conditions. So three years down the road, that loss is now over $7 million. That loss of economic impact is directly attributable to the court conditions. So we, in essence, are simply asking that the courts be resurfaced and have the lighting situation fast-tracked. so that tournaments may resume and economic impact losses be halted. We, of course, would like to see all the improvements completed, but getting the courts in shape is vital. If it pleases the Commission at this time, I'd like to yield a minute of our time to USDA Georgia Executive Director Darren Pottke to share about the importance of Augusta tennis to the state and region.

Thank you, sir. Pottke. Come on up, sir.

Good afternoon, commission. Darren Paki, 3513 Wellesley Drive, Powder Springs, Georgia.

Powder Springs, all right, come on. It's Cobb County, Georgia.

Just a little bit west here and drove through a lot of weather, so it's coming. That being said, thank you so much for allowing me to spend a short amount of time with you this afternoon. You know, Augusta, I'm the executive director of both UST Georgia and the Georgia Tennis Foundation. Augusta is a huge part of our state's history, our culture, and the great sport of tennis all over the Peach State. We've had so many events out here over all these years. So many of our great volunteers, people like Dick Hatfield might be a name you've known from the past. And it's really been a difficult four or five years for our organization with the condition of Newman. And we would strongly ask if there's any way that this can be done as fast as possible, that would be preferred. Our mission is to inspire, use tennis to inspire healthier communities. around. Our sport is by far the world's healthiest sport. That's been confirmed by independent parties, independent high-level medical parties. It's a very important sport for our youth and also for our adults to be able to play. And like I said, the last few years, being a couple hours west here, it's been It's been difficult to see what's happened, but that's been in the past. We're going to look forward in the future, and we hope to definitely bring all of our events that we have some sort of say over back into Augusta because it's a great community for not just our players here, but all of our players around the state to visit. And when they come here, as you know, they spend money. And so those economic figures that Mr. Atkins presented are accurate, and we would love to get back to where we were before. And thank you for your time.

Thank you, sir. Chair recognizes Commissioner from the Third, Commissioner Catherine Smith-Rice. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Actually, this is in my district, District 3, as well.

And I've been getting calls from residents and people that play tennis over there. I used to play tennis on a tennis team years ago, and we'd play over there, and it was in tip-top shape. I mean, one of the... one of the best places to go play in Augusta was at Newman. And I know I hear about the loss of revenue. This has been going on now for a couple of years. A couple of years of constituents are complaining about it. And when I tell them that, yes, it's going to be done, it was supposed to have been done last year, and then they call, well, Commissioner, you said it was supposed to be done last year. That's really frustrating. But I do want to say that... the facility the court and lighting it it looks it doesn't look good over there I've ridden by there and it's disappointing also the maintenance needs to be better taken care of but I'm gonna ask our parks and recs to come up and let us know actually when what's going on so that we can find out have a time frame because last year is coming on and I don't want this year to come and go and nothing be done and y'all keep losing revenue.

And you have been in touch with us and we appreciate you being forthcoming with information to us as much as you can and you say you played tennis. We want to get you back in the leagues as soon as possible.

Well, that was 20 years ago. I don't move like I used to, but I'll try.

All right, Director Williams, welcome back.

So with the plans, we are about 90% finished. We got about maybe about another month to kind of get that squared away with the consultants. But we are moving forward with Newman. I think I had a question to me about the lady who is not here for it, who put in the request. I spoke to her on yesterday to let her know that the monies is not going anywhere. I think that was put out there that the monies was moved from Newman to be towards another project, but that's not true. We are moving forward and the money is there with Newman. So after we finish the plans, then we'll be moving forward with putting it out for bid. So that will happen this year.

Mr. Latson, you got anything additional to add?

Yeah, let me just. Y'all probably get tired of hearing from me. Let me just add that the plans, the final plans are actually completed We just have to do a QAQC on them. And so they pretty much have the same timeline as Fleming. So again, I ask that once we submit the plans for permitting and putting that out for bid, that's in your queue. And we ask that if we can push it, push it on through.

Is there any design changes that are planned for Newman that we can share with the public? Is it just primarily court resurfacing?

We do have plans. It's more than court resurfacing. There's drainage. There's lighting. There's a number of things. There's some sewer improvements as well. So there's a whole slew of things that's going to improve at Newman. And like I said, these projects are getting ready to bid within the next month. I'm sending it for bid within the next month.

Can you make sure that we also get this online for the public to see any plans?

All right. Let me just mention, you got a lot more coming right behind that.

Okay. Commissioner Rice, you still have the floor.

Just, again, what is that time frame of when these courts are going to be resurfaced? I like to kind of have an idea so I can, like I say, tell people.

Once you get everything approved, once you get your permits, and you have a contract, for Newman it would probably take about, I mean, it's on the conservative side, about five to six months. And it also depends on the weather as well.

Thank you so much.

I think that's it, Director. Sir, thank y'all for being here. Is there anything additional you need to add?

Just a clarification. So we do not have dates for any improvements to begin, is that correct? So it's now a bidding process over the next 30 days? a bidding process over the next 30 days, and then as quickly as those bids and permits, then five or six months from that period is when we'd expect the improvements.

Yes, sir.

Okay. Yeah, I just needed that information to pass along to our, and thank you again for our partnership. You know, without being able to utilize your courts, we just don't have a program. So thank you very much for the time.

Thank you for being here. All right, Madam Clerk. Our next Delegation D, Ms. Ikea Murray, Institutional Risk Assessment of Large Scale Development Decisions.

Thank you so much, Ms. Mabry, welcome back. Ms. Mabry, for the record, please state your name, please.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Zakia Mabry, and I'm glad to be here today. I know that we keep hearing the thunder, so I'm glad there's so many people that are still here. Recent events across Georgia has reminded us about the important principle of governance. When communities feel they're not adequately informed, heard, or engaged in public, trust can erode. I've said that multiple times over the last six months. and decisions are also faced with scrutiny We've heard about transparency here today, accountability. I do have notes because they help me stay on track, but one of the questions that came to my mind as someone who practiced governance is when you keep saying 90 to 95 days complete, what does that mean? Do you not have anyone who is a project PMP certified? Because most people go off of, you know, days. So that wasn't very clear. And that's what I'm finding the more I dig and dig into information regarding Richmond County. When I look at documents, I'm left with a lot of questions. As Augusta evolves large-scale development projects and make appointments to boards, authorities, commissions, committees, advisory bodies, I encourage this body to please consider not only the immediate decisions that are before you, but also institutional risks, what was listed right here on the agenda. When projects involve significant land usage, substantial infrastructure demands, environmental concerns, public incentives, or impacts to the surrounding community, I think it's best that we use best practices and comparative to other counties and cities, especially within Georgia. We talked about that before when I gave about the people stating their addresses, which you're still continuing to ask, although I thought we settled it that people did not have to state their address publicly before speaking. So this leads me to a simple question, and I will wait before I begin with the rest for an answer. It's gonna be more conversational. What was the institutional assessment risk conducted for the Eisenhower Data Center project? Was there one completed? And could planning come up and answer that question?

Ms. Mabry, that's probably a question for the Economic Development Authority. I would imagine that's where the project began.

Yes, sir. Could someone answer, was an institutional risk assessment conducted for the Eisenhower Data Center project?

Any colleagues? No response from this governing body.

So you don't know is the answer? Can I ask, can the attorney answer the question?

Certainly.

Or the administrator?

As an initial response, the delegations are supposed to present information. This is not an inquiry of the commission. You could certainly inquire of any particular individual or the administrator. I do not know the history of that data center because I was not involved at the time. But if you would like to, you know, I'll sign, and I think we had an email earlier today, I'd be more than happy to try to assist you with that information. But this is not a venue for interrogating commissioners as to issues you should present either to the administrator or your commissioner, and this is not... If you look at the rules and procedure, this is not an opportunity to just come inquire of this body. You can make rhetorical questions and ask that they may direct the administrator or someone else to respond to you. So I think that's important for you to think in terms of that. But if you have particular questions and you have actual information that you would like me to try to find, I or the administrator, I'm sure, would be happy to assist you.

So it sounds like before me, there were questions and there were also answers. So I'm not being afforded the same opportunity. It's on public record. Thank you for your answer. As I go to the next. I will also like the answer answered, if there was, can you talk about what was performed and what recommendations were provided to the decision makers? No answer. My concern is not limited to a single project. It's whether Augusta-Richmond County has a formal framework for assessing institutional risk before major development decisions are made, not after, before. Good governance also exceeds beyond development projects. It also includes how boards, authorities, commissions, committees, non-compete contracts, and advisory boards are populated and overseen. We certainly do not want another charter review debacle, do we? We all remember that. Many residents may not understand how these opportunities are communicated, how candidates are identified, the KSA's knowledge, skills and abilities of qualifications are considered, or how recommendations are ultimately made. I have a few questions to help residents better understand the process and encourage broader civic participation. I asked a question. We'll see if we are afforded an answer. Is anyone in the competition willing to answer how vacancies are publicly communicated to the residents?

Ms. Mabry, we're now at the six-minute mark. I don't know if there's anyone that's interested in answering the question, but I don't see anybody in the queue.

Okay, because I see most people got up, but I haven't been speaking for, I timed myself. I'm a professional speaker. So I paused waiting for an answer. And other people had opportunity to answer questions. But I see there's only one, two, three, four, five, six people up there now. So it sounds like my delegate.

As a matter of fact, we have lost a quorum.

Yes, that's what it looks like, sir. That's what I was saying. Yeah, that's what I was saying, sir.

We just lost a quorum.

Yeah.

Okay.

So do we wait for it to come back or can I continue so it could be on the record what I was saying?

Parliamentarian?

The meeting would be suspended till there's a quorum. Usually wait up to 30 minutes to see if it resumes.

We do have a quorum. Ma'am, I'll give you another minute. How much more do you have? Not much, sir. Okay, continue.

As an organizational culture strategist with federal and private sector experience, I've seen firsthand that organizations often focus on the low-hanging fruit, immediate opportunities, while underestimating long-term risk. Effective governance requires evaluating both. Therefore, I have several questions which I can email so it can be on the record with this. And I'll go down to growth and economic development are very important. However, sustainable growth depends on transparency, due diligence, public confidence, and sound governance. When governments consistently evaluate risk, engage with the public early, document their decision-making processes and maintain transparent appointment practices, they strengthen the trust in the public. Organizations should periodically assess whether the systems, processes, and governance structures still align or work, which is one of the questions when you're talking about the facilities is confusing how come staff that work there are not reporting to whoever it is, the office that fix things. It sounds like there will be a daily or at least weekly where they submit what's not working in their facility. That's a gap. So thank you for your consideration and allowing me to speak.

Thank you, ma'am, for being here. Madam Clerk, let's move on to the next item, please.

Our next Delegation E, Mr. Keith Wells, regarding Zoning Appeals Z2617.

Mr. Wells, good day, sir. If you will, for the record, please state your name and address.

Good day. My name is Keith Wells. My address is 2929 Deansbridge Road. obviously Augusta, Georgia. You have the floor, sir. Thank you very much. I want to say good afternoon, Mr. Mayor and all the commissioners here. My name is Keith Wells. I have resided at 2929 Deansburg Road since 1990. I also stand here today representing other residents of the 2900 block and adjacent properties of the concerned property, including Homer Epps, Naoka Wells, Randall Keyes, Greg Norman, Adam Scott of the 2900 block, in addition to Stacy Boudre and Lisa Collier of adjacent property boarders. We have multiple concerns with the petition to rezone 2933 Deans Ridge Road, which is also known as Z-26-07, from an R1A to a B1 for the purpose of a childcare facility with a minimum of 24 children. I want to make it clear that there's none of us that have anything against childcare facilities. Only concern with this site is the appropriate and safe for its use. At the Planning Commission meeting, there was significant discussion regarding this application, but unfortunately, the microphone, oh, there's something else, I'm sorry. Should have done this first. I wanted to give these. Not well versed at this. I'm just a normal citizen. Should I wait till y'all get one? There's two things there. There's a picture of wintertime looking down southbound Deansbridge Road, and then there is a copy of what I'm saying to y'all.

All right, Mr. Wells, continue.

So our concern is whether this site is appropriate and safe for this use. At the Planning Commission, Meaning there was a significant discussion regarding this application, but unfortunately the microphone system was inoperative. And a good portion was inaudible to the public, including the four residents who spoke in opposition. We could not hear most of the presentation or stated studies and requirements. None of us could hear the petitioner statements. and none of us could clearly understand what traffic reviews, safety analysis, or other studies had been performed or completed for this site. We also believe a good portion of the Board cannot hear us clearly. In addition, the Commission vote was very closely divided, which required the Chairman to cast a deciding vote. This alone was seen to suggest that there were some legitimate questions and concerns about this application. One of the primary concerns is access to the site. Both the steep narrow entrance and the likewise exit can only be accessed from the southbound lane of Dean's Bridge. Based on the short distance to the signalized intersection of Ruby Drive, which is approximately 400 feet from the exit Most vehicles entering or leaving will have to make a U-turn and cross multiple high traffic lanes. This is whether you're dropping off your kids or you're picking up one or the other, you're gonna have to make a U-turn on Deansbridge Road. Drop off and pick up is concentrating during hours when traffic values are already elevated, basically the rush hour times because that's when you're dropping your kids off or picking them up is before work or after work. We do not know if any traffic studies, access issues, and or all safety concerns have been adequately addressed. I did go to the planning zoning office and requested these, but was denied and told that I had to file an open records request, which would not have provided me the information before this commission meeting. This was by Mr. Kevin Boyd, I believe his name was. We all believe that parents transporting young children should not be placed in situations requiring difficult or potentially hazardous traffic maneuvering. We also are afraid of the queuing lines for trying to get, there's not much of a queue going up and around and when you're going to exit and you're gonna try to make that across three lanes to get to the turn lane, it's gonna be a pile up. It will probably back up in front of my driveway, I expect. We ask that this petition be denied or at the very least be postponed or rescheduled to the Planning Commission with working microphones and the release of all studies, recommendations, and requirements for this site to the public and us. I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND CONSIDERATION AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL. I HAVE ONE MORE THING TO ADD.

YES, SIR.

AND THIS IS NOT PARTICULARLY WITH THIS. I FIND THE WEBSITE not intuitive at all, very hard to navigate. And if there's anything that we could please do to make this easier for the public to find what they're looking for, or to at least have the directions pointed to where they're looking for, it is, I'll be honest with you, even though I'm the grandpa and everything, everybody comes to me for computer help. And I have trouble navigating the site. I mean, I'm including my grandchildren that are 16, 17 years old, come to me for computer advice. And I feel dumb when I get on the Augusta site. I feel like I'm lost. That was the only other thing that I had to add to it.

Mr. Wells, thank you so much. If you sit tight, there's a couple of colleagues in the queue. Chair recognizes Commissioner from the 9th, Commissioner Francine Scott.

Thank you, Mayor Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Wells. I got your message. I got your text messages and several other constituent call. I thought my colleague, Commissioner Clark, was not here. So I'll yield to him because it is on our consent agenda and we are planning to pull it. But just hold tight. I'll yield to Commissioner Clark. Commissioner from the Fifth.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Commissioner Scott. Mr. Wills, thank you for coming up, sir. Thanks for bringing your concerns. We just did a revision on the website. But as you know, anything and everything can be continuously improved. So your feedback and others as well is greatly appreciated. Our IT team is somewhere in the house. If not, they're listening. And we'll take that consideration in. We'd like to get more feedback specifically about how we can help make a little bit more, a lot more easier navigation of it. And I issue that challenge to all the constituents for sure. This website is for everyone. It's not just for the city to know. If you all don't know how to navigate for the services, then we got some work to do. And we'll make sure that we continue to do that. Thanks for bringing up your concerns and considerations about this. We are going to have a discussion here shortly when we finish the delegation portion, specifically about this one. There's some more things we're going to have to research and get clear on. So more discussion will go on with this. But your feedback is appreciated for sure.

Okay, is that discussion going to be today?

Yeah, once we go into the consent agenda portion, we'll pull that one because there are some more things that the team is actually working to research and bring back to us. All right, but again, I appreciate you bringing it up. And again, we work together so that we can get things right, okay?

Very much.

Thank you.

Ms. Wells, thank you for being here today, sir. Thank you so much.

Oh, okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Have a good day. Mr. Mayor, can we make sure somebody from IT connects? There he is. Mr. Wells, right there in the back, that gentleman in the back waving his hand, he is our IT director. Take all of your grandpa understanding and knowledge of IT and pour it on to Reggie so that we can get this a better product, okay? Thank you so much.

All right. Madam Clerk, we have one more delegation item.

Item F, Ms. Tanya Bonetatibus, are you here? Yes. She will be speaking, representing the Savannah River Keeper Healthy Community Coordinator regarding data center zoning.

Hey, how's it going?

Ms. Bonetatibus, thank you so much for being here.

Thank you for having me.

If you will, for the record, please state your name and address.

Tanya Bonitatibus, 2837 Tobacco Road.

Thank you, ma'am. You have the floor in five minutes.

Okay, thank you for allowing me to speak. One thing most people might not know about Savannah River Cooper is we operate in 42 different counties. So I guess there's only one of those counties. And for about seven months now, we've been working with many different municipalities on their data center ordinances and rules. So we have a policy paper. Many of you might remember Terry Turner that worked for the planning department. She's been working for me for about a year now. And we've worked on a number of different ordinances and other policy papers. So I would like to share, if you don't mind, kind of our policy paper we have, our suggestions, and give you just a quick rundown of kind of what we think is most important. Number one, there is not a community so far that we've engaged with that is not dealing with the prospective of data centers across the board. There is a lot of, I think it's a lot of hedge fund investing still continuing to happen where people, the same as if you've driven to Savannah lately, if you've been to Port Wentworth, Richmond Hill, you have seen how it has turned into warehouses It's the same kind of thing with data centers. So unfortunately, Savannah was a little bit behind, and now they're looking at over 500 of these that have been built in just the last couple of years just around Savannah. You cannot travel. Recognizing that we need industry, we need folks to have jobs, we need people to be here, we think that they're gonna continue to grow, we'll have more data centers, but it is going to be very important if you're going to allow them to move into your community that you're setting up the right rules from the beginning so that you can have good neighbors. Number one is we believe that most, if not every site should be retaining the first 1.8 inches at least of rain on site. The reason that you do that is so that you do not prevent flooding downstream. Now that is more restrictive than what the state says, but the fact is that there is not anybody I think that sits in here and thinks, well at least I don't, that the state standards actually create a situation that doesn't exacerbate flooding often. You can look at Butler Creek right now, actually, and look at some of the stuff that's happening at the top part of Butler Creek. So number one is keeping that first 1.8 inches on site. The other is your cooling itself. It needs to not be evaporative cooling. We don't even need to consider evaporative cooling. The other is you're in an emergency. We know we had a hurricane here. You need to be really careful about where they fit in the criteria. So a data center, depending on what tier they are, that tier will mean 72 hours, however long. Like if you're a tier one, you can be offline for a certain amount of time. It's not much, but it's a little bit. That means that your Facebook's not going to run as often, that latency. As you move up in the tiers, you then have to be able to maintain 72 hours, however long, without electricity when you have a cutoff. The other thing that happens is they move up in tier in terms of priority getting energy turned back on. So when you have a hurricane, if you've got them at the same tier as hospitals, that means that your communities are going to have to wait before they get hooked up to the electricity because these guys are top. So that's just things you need to be thinking of. The other one that I think is huge is that the average data center we are looking at right now has to keep enough gasoline or diesel on site that's equal to two Bucky gas stations just for their diesel generators. So that's something, again, you need to be thinking about. This isn't just a building with a warehouse and a big amount of concrete. You also have to keep a lot of diesel on site. If you're running natural gas, that's eminent domain. because you're going to have to run that gas line. Again, something you need to think about. Are you going to set a policy that allows for the use of these transmission lines coming through? What do you want to do for that? Because if you're going to put a data center in the middle of the forest, you've got to be able to turn it on. The other is heat islands. So if you walk through downtown right now, you know what a heat island is. And that is a place where there is no way for the sun to do anything but to reflect back. It is ridiculous that all of our roofs are black. You look at most corporate structures and they're white. There's a reason for that. It is much, much cooler. The same thing, you need to require that these data centers have very light coloring. You need to make sure that they have permeable pavement pieces in place to make sure that they are not heating up the entire neighborhood. That they have those trees planted back and most, my goodness, please, leave your wetlands on site, leave your streams so that they have buffers for no other reason. If you don't care about water, I'll give you a good reason so you don't run over turtles. If you actually maintain a buffer on your creeks that is wider, you make your culverts wider, your animals will naturally go through those culverts. Anybody who's gone down 520 and run over or seen all the dead turtles, that's exactly what's happening. Look at where it is. So if you actually just make a little bit wider culvert Make it so that those animals can get underneath. You won't have to run over them. There's multiple reasons you might not want to do that.

In about a minute, ma'am.

OK. And then the other one is noise and light pollution and thermal pollution across the board. You're going to have hot water coming off of these. You need to make sure. that that hot water is not affecting your people negatively downstream. And then the noise and light pollution, I mean, retain these buffers. You know, buffers are only as good as how much you hold them. Everybody wants a variance as soon as you put them in place. But at the very least, make sure that you're putting appropriate vegetative buffers, appropriate berms, and maintaining a noise level that is appropriate. I worked on a site outside of Elberton a couple years ago where it was a biomass facility, and the reverberation was like being in a concert hall the entire time that these people are trying to live next door to. That will start driving you crazy. But there's ways you can prevent that, right? Again, with the proper kinds of berms, making sure that you're putting the right stuff in place. And then I guess the very, very last one I should have started with is please use existing land, like Columbia Nitrogen Road, all of these contaminated pieces of land that have high transmission lines. They have gas lines already. There's brownfield money you could remediate toxic land, if you're going to attract these things, let's do it in a way that actually cleans up the neighborhood from some places that we have a lot of relic contamination. So we'd love to work with you.

Thank you so much. Chair recognizes Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Guilfoyle.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Tonya, great to see you. And I thank you for coming before us because what you are giving us is a lot of good information that I did give it to the director. because she is working on the new ordinance. And a lot of thought is put into this, your information that you had given to us. And I like the idea about the turtles, especially because when I go down Bobby Jones and I have to cross the brick yards, I'm always seeing either dead animals, beavers, turtles, and it kills me. So good thought on that. Thank you for your proactive. Thank you very much.

All right. Don't see any other colleagues in the queue. Ms. Bonatatibus, again, thank you for being here and thank you for all your advocacy for our community.

Thank you.

All right, Madam Clerk. Time is now 322. I think that ends the delegation portion that takes us to the consent portion of this agenda. Do we have any... Any addendum items to address?

Yes, sir. We have one request from the court system regarding acceptance of a fiscal year 27 criminal grant award they received. The deadline for accepting this is Tuesday, so they're asking you to consider this request today to accept the grant award.

All right. Colleagues, I know there's probably not any objection to adding this today. Second. There's a motion and there's a second. Do we need to vote or can we just receive this without objection?

Yes, sir, if you're gonna add it to your regular agenda.

I don't hear any objection, so it's received, Madam Clerk. Okay. All right. All right. Consent portion of our agenda. Do we have any planning petitions that need to be read before we go?

Yes.

Sir. Alcohol petitions.

Yes, sir. I'm going to read the planning petitions as well to see if there are any objectives. Okay. Item number one is a request for a rezoning from a zone R1A1 family residential to a zone B1 neighborhood business affecting property at 2933 Deansbridge Road. Are there any... Objectors, yes, sir, we have you. We have you, got it. There's two. Two? Okay.

Where's the second one?

Item number two is a request to establish a church on property located at 3759 Peach Orchard Road. Are there any objectors? 3759 Peach Orchard, any objectors?

Madam Clerk, I don't see any.

Okay. Item number three is requesting a special exception for property located at 3853 and 3863 Bath-Eady Road to establish a passive recreational facility. Are there any objectors?

It's 3853 and 3863 Bath-Eady Road. Any objectors? Seeing or hearing none, let's continue.

Okay. Call your attention to the public service portion of our agenda, starting with item number 8. If there are any objectors to our alcohol petitions, would you please signify your objections once the petition is read. Item number 8 is a request for an on-premise consumption liquor, beer, and wine license and Sunday sales to be used in connection with the location at 1524 Gordon Highway. Are there any objectors?

1524 Gordon Highway. Hearing or seeing none. Let's continue.

Item number nine is a request for nano distillery license to be used at a location at 2227 North Lake Road. Are there any objectors?

Any objectors? North Lake Road. Don't see any, Madam Clerk. Let's continue.

Item number 10 is a request to be used in connection, a retail package beer and wine license to be used in connection with 2658 Barton Chapel Road, Suite A. Are there any objectors?

2658 Barton Chapel Road? Don't see or hear any, Madam Clerk.

Item number 11 is for retail package beer and wine license to be used in connection with the location at number 2 Green Street.

Number 2 Green Street, IGA, any objectors? Seeing or hearing none, let's continue.

Item number 12, a request for consumption on premise liquor, beer and wine license with Sunday sales to be used in connection with the location at 718 Broad Street. Are there any objectors? 718 Broad Street. Don't see or hear any, Madam Clerk. Okay. Let's move on. Our consent agenda consists of items 1 through 27 with two objectors on our planning petition number 1. Thank you so much, Madam Clerk.

Chair recognizes Commissioner Don Clark from the 5th.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Consent item number 1, I'd like to pull that one until next commission. Give the... uh department director an opportunity to do some more additional research on that one you'd like to defer that sir yes ma'am can we just add it well it's on the consent agenda to defer this matter right that would be your well it's on here for approval yeah but you're asking that it be deferred yes ma'am yes sir let's do the next commission meeting next commission meeting next commission meeting um let me let me verify uh director camera will that be enough time for next commission meeting

That will be on the 30th, the 30th.

This next one. You've been requested to come forward.

Good afternoon, honorable mayor and commissioners. Yes, sir. I believe that that will be enough time for me to do a full analysis of the issues that we're having with this particular case.

Madam Clerk, you said the next commission meeting is the 30th? Yes, sir. Okay, so.

It's two Tuesdays. Two Tuesdays. Two weeks.

Next week's the 23rd. So the case would have to go before, it also would have to go before the BZA because they're requesting variances as well.

Yeah.

There's a couple of issues with this.

Let's defer pending follow-up from the director and the BZA. Yeah, date to be determined. All right.

Thank you. All right. Chair recognizes Commissioner from the first, Commissioner Jordan Johnson.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll let the consent items 28 and 30.

Take a look at that, colleagues, 28 and 30. Thank you, Commissioner Johnson. Chair recognizes Commissioner Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Guilford.

Yes, sir, I had a question on that agenda item one, if I could have Ms., I was in the queue for that, Mr. Mayor, if I could have Ms. Cameron come back up. Mr. Cameron, when this came before the Planning and Zoning Committee, the intercom system was not working, number one. The residents around that area, I even received a phone call from a Mr. Jim Epps that lives three doors down, and I wrote down what he was worried about. His concerns was about the daycare being put right there, and then we had received emails along the way to with the same basically the same concerns. With that being, have you looked at this property? Has planning and zoning staff looked at this property because it's on an incline. Yes. It's one driveway in, one driveway out onto a main highway. It doesn't have any decel lane or axle lane. And if a If somebody's picking up their child, it's going to be done at designated times, 7.30 in the morning, pick up your child at 3.30, 4.30 in the afternoon. So you're going to have 25, 30 cars coming out at one time or going in at one time, but it's got to be intermediate to where somebody has to come in, somebody has to go out for it to work that way. Then you're going to have people being stopped on Dean's Bridge Road which the speed limit's 55 miles an hour, I believe. So have y'all looked at it from the safety factor?

So that's a great question. One of the comments were from engineering and they actually recommended to investigate that area.

Yes, ma'am.

And unfortunately, I did not go over this particular case before it was presented because when I looked at it, I had questions. And one of the things that we don't move forward with, there were other issues. There were things that had happened before. There were cases from code enforcement. And not to go into the details, but it shouldn't have went any further. Or it should have been a denial from the planning commission.

Right, actually, my appointment had called me. He said, why ain't I'm concerned about this? He said, because it went five to five and the chairman actually broke the tie for it to come before us. But he said, you know, with the support from the people who signed the document that supports this daycare, it's not even from around the area.

Right. Point of order, Mr. Mayor? Point of order? Oh, absolutely.

All right, state your point, sir.

If we're deferring this matter to another meeting, is it in the order for us to discuss the details here?

It's probably more appropriate to discuss that.

Right, I appreciate that from a commissioner from District 1. I just want you to be aware of what I'm hearing, and I'd rather tell it now than afterwards. Absolutely. And I do appreciate my colleague from District 1. Thank you. Thank you.

Madam Clerk, that item one has been deferred pending BZA outcome for item one. All right. I don't see any other colleagues in the queue. The addendum item. Let's see. Agenda item number 28. Yes, sir, you can. All right, agenda item commissioner from the first, commissioner from the 10th has asked number 28 not be added to the consent agenda. He's asked that we discuss it. Number 28. 28. 28 to discuss it. I'm gonna request that this addendum, item that it be added to the consent agenda. Have we done that? The addendum item? No, sir.

You're requesting that?

Yep. We're requesting that the addendum item be added to the consent agenda. Madam Clerk, there are no other colleagues in the queue. We're prepared to vote for this agenda once we get it up on the screen, please. All right, colleagues. Time to vote. All right. I'm sorry. I do need a motion. There's a motion by the Mayor Pro Tem. Is there a second? Second. Second by Commissioner from the 5th. Madam Clerk, we have a motion and a proper second. Now we're prepared to vote. Let's vote.

That motion...

Your mic was off. Your mic went off. All right. All right, Madam Clerk. Tied to the bottom. I think that takes us to item number 28.

Okay. Item 28, host working meeting with commission, administration, law enforcement, judicial partners to develop a plan of action for additional courthouse safety. Report should be presented to the commission within 120 days.

Requested by Commissioner Jordan Johnson. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Mayor Pro Tem requests this item be pulled. You have the floor, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This... Agenda item number 28, you know, it should be between the law enforcement and the judicial. And I don't know how the commission would have a stake in this besides just putting a workshop together. I guess this would be a workshop. But the maker of the motion, can he go into more detail what, I mean, I think we had two incidents, maybe three, at the judicial. But we do have employees that works here at this municipal building after hours, and you'll have the administrator work late hours after everybody has gone as well. So please tell me... the path forward on this. Why would the commission be involved when it could be handled between the sheriff's department and the judges and the DA?

Thank you, Commissioner Guilfoyle, Commissioner Johnson.

Thank you, Mayor Johnson and Mayor Pro Tem. So the emails that were circulating about the safety issues at the courthouse were presented to us because what you said should be happening is not happening. And anything that happens outside of increased patrol or anything to that nature, if I'm not mistaken, we were told that there had to be some conversations with the railroad companies, some land acquisitions and things like that. Well, that's gonna fall into the hands of the commission at some point, not simply just our law enforcement agencies. And ultimately we're the fiduciary stakeholder, the main fiduciary stakeholder, where anything to this magnitude is concerned. And so I think instead of just passing it, and I wouldn't say passing it, I say instead of just giving the entire responsibility to our law enforcement partners to just kind of quote, figure it out, I think that the commission, or at least the administration, should be involved in this conversation to help shape the outcome. Because even if the conversation just ends at, well, we're going to do more patrolling, we still have a parking issue. We still have safety concerns. And what I would hate to happen is for us to finally start to do something once someone gets hurt, once someone gets injured or, God forbid, killed in that parking lot. or or anything to that nature so i think that in a good faith effort between the legislative branch of this government and the judicial branch of this government i think we should have a report presented back to the commission with how we plan to address the safety at the courthouse and if we want to add city hall let's do that as well it should be presented to us so that we'll know what's on our plate or what we'll have to address um if money is involved. Because I'm sure even in those departments, they're going to say that they can do X, Y, and Z, but they're going to need more money. So instead of us being blindsided by it, I believe that we should be at the table and we should help guide that conversation.

I agree with that, Mr. Johnson. But the Again, the responsibility, I mean, if somebody decides to work late, I believe that was the issue. What's causing all this discussion is you have a couple people that work late. One had his bumper kicked in or whatever happened. But we also have that in private parking lots. We have that in our parking lot here as well. So if we could expand that. But as far as the funding, I've never seen, I don't believe I've never seen an elected official come before us that didn't ask for more funding. So we could expect that. We control the budget, which is a good thing. So if you'd like to make a motion, I'd be happy to second it.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. I make the motion to host a working meeting with the commission, administration, law enforcement, and judicial partners to develop a plan of action for additional courthouse safety, with the report being presented to the commission within 120 days.

Thank you, Commissioner. From the first, Madam Clerk, there's been a proper motion and seconded it by the Mayor Pro Tem. Seeing no colleagues in the queue, we're prepared to vote.

That motion carries. With Mr. Wembley, Mr. Clark, and Mr. Garrett out. Madam Clerk, that takes us to, I think, the last item for today. Item 29, please. Yes, sir. Item number 29, appoint Vice Chair of the Engineering Services Committee. Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Guilfoyle.

Thank you. I appreciate Commissioner Jordan Johnson bringing this forth and it's actually been out of sight out of mind because Commissioner Clark doesn't miss meetings so he's never had a need for advice but I'd be happy to Wimberly has taken Alvin Mason's seat. He wanted fair and outright, and I think it would be good for me to nominate Commissioner Wimberly as the Vice Chair of the Engineering Committee.

Second. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Of course, you and I discussed this, and I would approve of Commissioner Wimberly as the Vice Chair of Engineering. Madam Clerk, there's a motion and there's also a second. See no colleagues in the queue. We're prepared to vote.

The motion carries with Mr. Wimbley, Mr. Clark, and Mr. Garrett out.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. I think that ends our business for today. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here for the Thursday edition of the Augusta-Richmond County Commission meeting. Please stay dry and safe as you go home. Thank you all for being here. Have a great afternoon.