Commission - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Happy Tuesday. I'm going to ask my colleagues to make their way to the dais as we can get started, as we have a pretty full day. Welcome to the August 4th version of the Augusta Richmond County Commission. Let's see how many we have here. Three. Madam Clerk, it appears we have a quorum. I call this meeting to order. Thank everybody for being here. The time is now 2.02 p.m. Madam Clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Call your attention to the invocation portion of our agenda, which will be shared with us today by Pastor Roger A. Swartz, our Redeemer Lutheran Church, after which we would like to ask one of our esteemed community leaders if he would please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thank you. Mr. J.R. Ralph.

Everyone, please stand.

Thank you, everyone. On behalf of our Redeemer Lutheran Church, celebrating 89 years of existence here in the fine city of Augusta, we are glad to be here and to lift up prayers for this proceeding. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we come before you today mindful of the love for neighbor that you have asked. Lord, you've not just asked, but commanded. Lord, we ask that you would help us to reach out with compassion, and Lord, to always put the best construction on things as we see them and as we understand them. Lord, we ask your blessing upon this commission, upon Mayor Johnson, and Lord, for all the staff that work so diligently behind the scenes. Lord, we ask that you would help them with all wisdom, Lord, to fulfill their duties. Lord, we pray for our community and ask, Lord, that you would enable it to flourish even more. Lord, help us to work together for the betterment of all. And Lord, we also give you thanks for those who are willing to stand up and put their lives on the line for our freedoms. Lord, we thank you for our first responders, and Lord, for all who help us keep the peace. Lord, for all these things, we pray in the name of Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Reverend Swartz, would you please stand? Thank you again so much for always putting us in remembrance of what it is that God wants for his creation. Thank you for reminding us that we only need to ask. Thank you. By these presence be it known that Pastor Roger A. Swartz, lead pastor of the Our Redeemer Lutheran Church is our chaplain of the day. May your spiritual guidance and unwavering leadership continue to bring strength and blessings to the citizens of Augusta. Given under my hand this fourth day of August, 2026, Garnett L. Johnson, Mayor. And again, thank you, sir.

Pastor Swartz, thank you so much for your presence here today. Thank you for that prayer. We appreciate everything you do throughout the community. Madam Clerk, let's move on to the recognition portion of our meeting, please. Let's go with the employee recognitions.

Yes, sir. Call your attention to item number A. We'd like to offer our congratulations to Augusta, Georgia's employees that celebrate 25 to 50 years of service during the second quarter of 2026. Ms. Rueckert.

Afternoon, Mayor Johnson, commissioners, administrator. It is a great joy today that I recognize our years of service recipients. This feels really loud. For the second quarter of 2026. During the second quarter, we had 93 employees celebrating five to 50 years of service with Augusta. The total years of service and institutional knowledge being celebrated is 1,000 185 years. That's amazing. This afternoon, we're looking to recognize our 25 to 50 years of service recipients. So I'm going to start with the Sheriff's Office. Bryce Bruce Williams, Sheriff's Office, 30 years. Chris Kennedy, Sheriff's Office, 30 years. Miss Anita Bamberg, Sheriff's Office, 35 years. Benjamin Brock, utilities, 25 years. Fadden, Utilities, 25 years. I don't see him. I don't see him. Weston Waltherp, Engineering, 25 years. Sandra Tyler, utilities, 25 years. Christopher Langford, coroner's office, 30 years. Matt Reeves, Utilities, 30 years. James May, Fire Department, 30 years. Holiday Fire Department, 30 years. Peace, fire department, 35 years. Nicholas Wright, fire department, 35 years. Barbara West, Fire Department, 35 years. And finally, Mr. Gary Hewitt, Information Technology, 40 years. Congratulations again to our years of service recipients.

Madam Clerk. 1,185 years. I think that's a record, Madam Clerk. That's a lot of years. Ladies and gentlemen, let's give another round of applause. A whole lot of time committed. Serving the community. Serving the community. So many first responses. So great to see so many of those who commit so much. Serving our community. To their careers and to this community. Time away from their homes. All the dangers that they are faced with. Madam Clerk, but we got another recognition for a young man that's truly special. And as I understand, he's a product of this great community. Most importantly, he recently was at the 30th edition, 30th edition of the Elite Youth Basketball League. We better know it as the Nike Peach Jam. And he's a champion with the Florida Rebels. His name is Mr. N.J. Curry Jr. He's in the audience. Mr. Curry, stand up. I'm coming. Mr. Curry, we got something we're going to read on your behalf, but most importantly, we're going to ask you to come down to the center, right down here up front. Come to the front. And I'm going to ask all the colleagues on the Augusta-Richmond County Commission to come down because Mr. Curry is truly a representative of Augusta in this region, and we want to show him a few accolades as he goes on to bigger and better things. And Mr. Curry, on your behalf, today is the M.J. Curry Day in Augusta, Georgia. Nice.

I'm waiting on your colleagues to come join you.

Thank you.

The City of Augusta Proclamation in recognition of Marcus M.J. Curry, Jr. Whereas Marcus was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia, where he lived until his freshman year of high school, attended Grovetown High School, has distinguished himself through exceptional achievement in academics and athletics, exemplifying discipline, perseverance, and character. And whereas Marcus has maintained an outstanding grade point average of 3.7 while competing at the highest level. of amateur basketball, demonstrating a strong commitment to success, both in the classroom and on the court. And whereas Marcus has earned national recognition as one of the top 100 basketball players in the United States for the class of 2027, establishing himself among the nation's elite basketball prospects. Whereas Marcus' exceptional accomplishments have earned him 21 NCAA Division I basketball scholarship offers. reflecting the confidence that collegiate programs across the country have placed in his athletic ability, character, and future potential. And whereas Marcus made history as the first and the only athlete from the city of Augusta to ever win the Nike Elite Youth Basketball Youth Peace Jam, 17 Under National Championship, one of the most prestigious and competitive championships in amateur basketball. And whereas members of the Florida Rebels, Marcus helped lead this team to the 2026 Nike Youth League Basketball League Peach Jam National Championship, bringing national recognition, honor, and historic distinction to the city of Augusta. And whereas Marcus MJ Curry Jr. has represented the city of Augusta with humility, integrity, sportsmanship, and excellence, inspiring young people throughout the community while creating a lasting legacy for future generations of student athletes. And now, therefore, I, Garnett L. Johnson, Mayor of the City of Augusta, do hereby proclaim August 4th, 2026, as Marcus M. J. Curry Day in the City of Augusta. and encourage all citizens to join in recognizing this extraordinary accomplishment and to wish him continued success.

God bless.

Thank you.

We'd like to thank everyone who's come out, the city of Augusta, of course, where I'm born and raised as well, all of his friends and loved ones. I do want to let you know that he is emotional for various reasons, but his father did just get into a car accident on the way here. So we are on the way to the hospital to check on his dad. So his dad is everything to him, everything. So we thank you again, and we will be leaving as soon as this is over. Thank you.

I think that's what Karen... That's what Karen... Pastor, you still here? Can you come say another prayer for Mr. Curry's father, if you don't mind? Ladies and gentlemen, can you just...

Please stand. Heavenly Father, Lord, you know all things. And Lord, you know the needs of this man, Mr. Curry. Lord, we ask that you would be with him, strengthen him, help him to receive the medical care necessary for his health. Lord, also provide stability for his family while they wait and as they gather at his side. Lord, we just ask for your hand of healing and help. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

All right. It's not a special, ladies and gentlemen, to have a local product to be performing at that level, to be in the top 100 of prospects in the entire country. Another round of applause for Mr. MJ Curry. All right. Madam Clerk, I think that takes us to the delegation portion of our meeting.

Delegation C, Ms. Karen Gordon, regarding proclamation declaring August as Agricultural Month in Augusta. Presentation of the 2026 Adderson Legacy in Agriculture Award to Veteran Farmers, WB and Lynn Brown. Thank you.

Ms. Gordon?

Ms. Gordon? Oh, she's coming.

Ms. Gordon, thank you so much for being here. Just as a record, please state your name and your place of residence, please.

Thank you. Karen Gordon, McMurray Road, Hepstead, Georgia.

Thank you, ma'am. The floor is yours in five minutes.

Good afternoon, Mayor Johnson, members of the commission, and neighbors. Today we celebrate Augusta Agriculture Month under the theme Rooted in Resilience. We also recognize the International Year of the Woman Farmer and present the Addison Legacy in Agriculture Award. Agriculture remains Georgia's largest industry, contributing more than $100 billion annually to our state's economy and supporting more than 370,000 jobs. It is not simply a part of our past, it is essential to our future. This year, we are especially proud to recognize WB and Lynn Brown for this award. Their story is one of resilience. WB was raised by a sharecropper father who believed that education was a pathway to opportunity. Ms. Lynn grew up on her grandmother's 200 acre farm in Quincy, Florida, where she learned firsthand the discipline and stewardship required to work the land. Mr. WB later served our country for 23 years, including overseas in Ethiopia, Even after years spent working in secure windowless military intelligence facilities, he found ways to grow vegetables wherever he was. His love for the land never left him. In 1983, Mr. WB and Ms. Lynn purchased 20 acres and built Brown's Place Farm, a place that produces healthy food, but more importantly, produces knowledge. They've spent decades mentoring others because they understand that teaching someone to grow food creates independence, resilience, and opportunity. Their story reminds us that resilience doesn't happen by accident. It happens because someone protects the land and shares knowledge and invests in the next generation. That brings me to Augusta's zoning rewrite. Most people think zoning is about maps and regulations. It's about choices. It determines what we preserve, what we encourage and what we make possible for future generations. Today, we have an opportunity to intentionally create space for community gardens, teaching farms, neighborhood orchards, school gardens, farm stands, and urban agriculture, not as temporary projects but as permanent community assets. If we get this right, families will have places to learn where food comes from. Children will grow up understanding how to cultivate the land. Neighborhoods will become healthier and more resilient because they have places to gather and learn and grow together. Momentum is already building. The Greater Augusta Black Chamber of Commerce recently received a grant to strengthen rural businesses, agriculture businesses, and the newly formed CSRA Food Policy Council is bringing agriculture, health, education, business, and local government to one table. As a new administration prepares to take office in January, my hope is that this commission leaves one lasting gift, a zoning framework that recognizes agriculture as an investment in neighborhoods, education, public health, and economic opportunity. Because the greatest way we can honor Mr. WB and Ms. Lynn Brown isn't simply by presenting an award, it's by making sure that the next generation has the opportunity to write a story like theirs. Thank you so much. Yes, sir.

Yes, please.

Thank you.

Yes, sir. City of Augusta, proclamation and recognition of Agriculture Month and honoring WB and Lynn Brown. Whereas Augusta, Richmond County proudly celebrates August as Agricultural Month, recognizing the essential role agriculture plays in the health, economy, culture, and future of our community. And whereas the Addison Legacy in Agriculture Award established in 2025 by Growing Augusta Arts, Agriculture and Agency in partnership with Mayor Garnett L. Johnson recognizes individuals whose lifetime of leadership, stewardship and mentorship has strengthened agriculture and inspired future generations. And whereas W.B. Brown and Lynn Brown have devoted their lives to serving others, first through distinguished military and professional careers, and later through their shared commitment to agriculture, land stewardship, and community education. And whereas following more than 23 years of honorable military service, W.B. Brown returned to his lifelong passion for farming, applying the discipline, perseverance, and leadership developed through military service to the cultivation of Brown's Place Farm in Augusta, Georgia. And whereas Lynn Brown, whose agricultural roots began on her family's farm in Quincy, Florida, has been an equal partner in building and sustaining Brown's Place Farm, demonstrating the knowledge, resilience, and quiet leadership that have long characterized the indispensable contribution of women in agriculture. And whereas together they have transformed Brown's Place into a model of sustainable agriculture, producing healthy food, practicing responsible stewardship of the land, mentoring beginning growers, and demonstrating that agriculture is both a livelihood and a lifelong commitment to serving the community. And whereas during the United States International Year of the Woman Farmer, the recognition of Lynn Brown celebrates the critical role that women have always played in agriculture as producers, educators, caregivers, business leaders, and stewards of family farms. and whereas through their integrity, generosity, and unwavering commitment to preserving agricultural traditions while investing in future generations. WB and Lynn Brown embody the very values upon which the Addison Legacy and Agricultural Award was found. and now therefore garnell johnson mayor of the city of augusta do hereby proclaim august 2026 as agriculture month in augusta georgia and do hereby recognize w.b brown and lynn brown as the two thousand 26 recipients of the Addison Legacy in Agriculture Award and commend them for their extraordinary contributions to agriculture, community leadership, mentorship, and stewardship of the land. Given under my hand this fourth day of August, 2026, Garnett L. Johnson, Mayor. Congratulations. Thank you.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, another round of applause for the Browns. It is always great to see Karen and the Addisons and all the other great farmers that are essentially feeding our community. And August is Agricultural Month, and agriculture is Georgia's number one industry. You know, Georgia used to be known as the Peach State, but now, did you know blueberries are growing, more blueberries are growing in Georgia than peaches now. Isn't that something? Pecans. So thank you so much for all the great fruits and vegetables and all the healthy food. Item clerk. Yes, sir. Let's move on to the next delegation item.

It takes us to item delegation D, Andra Thomas, non-governmental organization, non-profit organization. Ms. Thomas. Ms. Thomas, are you here in the chambers? Yes, she is.

Come on down, ma'am. Ms. Thomas, thank you so much for being here. You can stop right there if you want to do it. That one right there. That podium right there. And if you will, for the right part, are they with you? They're with you. Yes. All right, come on up. They're going to be speaking or they're just here to... Yes. All right, so I need your name and where you live for each of you. Okay. Your name?

My name is Andrea Thomas. I am a resident of Heffsburg, Georgia.

That's all you need. Any others?

And...

Jacob Joseph, I live in Augusta, Georgia.

All right, yes, ma'am. My name is Erin Thomas and I'm from Hepstead, Georgia. All right, one more.

My name is Alana Thomas and I'm from Hepstead, Georgia. All right, Thomas, you have five minutes in the floor starting now, thank you. Thank you.

We stand before you today, pleading to the commission to reinstate the budget to include Mock Academy. We are a family that have been with Mock Academy for at least about 14 years. My girls started at Mock Academy when they were four and five years old and Not many people know about Mock Academy, but Mock Academy has been a tremendous help for us. I have two of my oldest daughters up here with me, and if it was not for Mock Academy, a lot of the success for my daughters, they would not have made it. Mock Academy is producing great products in the community. They are not only helping with producing great tennis players, but they're also helping with education. So they have taught them different things as far as the financial aspect. They're giving them mentorship. They're giving them leadership values and everything. And We just want to plead to you to make sure or to ask that y'all put them back in the budget for funding because if this wasn't for the funding, then we wouldn't be where we are today. So we are asking that the commissioners please put Mock Academy back into the budget and I will allow the kids to come and speak to you.

All right. I've been attending Mock Academy since I was about five years old and I met people that became my family. And since the budget has been cut, it's become a lot harder for our program to continue providing those same opportunities that I was provided. So I hope that you guys consider changing, giving our funding back so future generations can have the same chance to grow and chase after their dreams like I did.

Thank you, Ms. Thomas.

I've been attending Mock Academy since I was also five, and it has given me a lot of opportunities, like being able to travel all across the country. I've got a four-ride scholarship to play at Florida A&M. and to also play high-level tournaments. But now that the funding has been cut, I haven't been really able to practice many days. I haven't been able to travel a lot to different tournaments. And, yeah.

Thank you, ma'am.

Good evening, commissioners. My name is Jacob and I want to sincerely thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak today. This year marks my 12th year playing tennis and it all began at Mock Academy. I started when I was very, very young and I've come to know a lot of players and a lot of people who I've grown up with who have pushed me to compete at the highest level. The coaches at Mock Academy have invested a lot into me, ATHLETICALLY AND PHYSICALLY, BUT THEY'VE PUSHED ME TO BE A BETTER YOUNG ADULT AND ARE CONSTANTLY ENCOURAGING ME TO DO MY BEST EACH AND EVERY DAY. I'LL BE AT AUGUSTA UNIVERSITY THIS YEAR STUDYING CYBERSECURITY AND ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS THAT PUSHED ME TO CHOOSE THAT WAS THE CODING AND COMPUTER PROGRAMS THAT MOCK ACADEMY OFFERED WITH THE HELP OF THE FUNDING. I've done, I've achieved my Security Plus certification. I've had two more technical credits through Augusta Tech through that. And I completed my pathway at Richmond County Technical Career Magnet School with the highest score on the security exam for cybersecurity. Independence has opened up so many doors for me. It's given me lifelong friendships, incredible mentors, and opportunities to compete, and experiences that have helped shape my future. More importantly, it has shown me that success comes from consistency and determination and never giving up. I also want to recognize the impact Mock Academy has had on our community. It provides young people with a positive environment where they can stay active, build confidence, learn valuable life skills, and be surrounded by mentors who genuinely care about their future. Programs like this make a lasting impact and difference on the lives of many children and families. And I want to thank my academy for having these programs that will invest in the next generation. And your support helps create the opportunities that extend far beyond the tennis court. And I'm grateful to be one of the many lives that's been changed by it.

Thank you, Mr. Thomas. Thank you guys for being here. And the four of you did that in four minutes and about 52 seconds. So thank you all so much. Madam Clerk, I don't see any colleagues in the queue. We're prepared to move forward with the next delegation item, please.

Fabulous. Henderson Senior Non-Governmental Organization Nonprofit Reinstatement.

Mr. Henderson, are you here, sir? Ms. Henderson? Mr. Henderson, how are you, sir? Either side, it doesn't matter. Yes, sir. Mr. Henderson, for the record, please state your name and your place of residence.

Flavius Henderson, the second, Dozen Drive.

All right, in Richmond County?

County, yeah.

All right, sir, you have the floor and you have five minutes.

All right, so I'm also a alumni from Mock Academy. I'm a rising sophomore at Cobb State University, D1 College. I just came here to pretty much do the same thing, plead for the funding and just talk about my experience at Mock Academy. So I came to Mock Academy around seven. So I've been in the program for about 12 years. I would say definitely this experience has definitely changed my life. I definitely will not be the person I am today in the positions that I am in today without Mock Academy. I would definitely say that program, like I said, it's not just about tennis and growing in your skills on the court, but growing you in the classroom, in academics, and also as a person. I'VE LEARNED MANY SKILLS, DISCIPLINES, LEADERSHIP SKILLS, LEARNED MANY ACADEMIC SKILLS AND SKILLS NOT ON COURT BUT ALSO IN THE CLASSROOM. My academy has gave me many opportunities, like I said, to travel. I've been pretty much across all over the states. I've been to California, I've been to New York, been to the US Open twice, been to Miami, Orlando at the national campus. And just like I said, many opportunities to go out and experience new things and There's opportunities not only on tennis court but in the work field to being able to go to the Meta headquarters, being able to go to Goldman Sachs and all these things provided through mock academy and the USA foundation. And also like I said, it's not just a community where you're just learning tennis and academics, you're also building lifelong friendships and honestly a family there. The people I grew up with, I wouldn't just call them friends, they're more so brothers and sisters. And these people are gonna be my life for the rest of my life. Like I said, they've also provided me with a D1 scholarship at Covent State University, where I'm studying biology and health science to become a physical therapist. They've also provided me with coaching programs, so I can also do coaching on the side or also take that as my main job. Like I said, also a full scholarship to be able to go there for free and get education for free. I would say my goal now is to, well, this summer I came back to coach in the program, and this is my first year coaching summer camp in the program. Being able to give back to the community, the same program that I grew up in, and being able to now be one of the coaches and pour into the kids is very fulfilling, in my opinion, and I enjoyed it a lot. And so I would just say my goal is now just to give back as much as possible. To end it, I would just say we would like you all to continue funding the program because many people have had the same story as me, been able to go to college for free, getting skills that can help them in life. And we just ask that you just continue to fund my academy for many more people in the future. Thank you for your time.

Mr. Parks, thank you so much. Thank you for giving back to this community. Thank you for providing us with insight regarding your involvement in Mock Academy. Thank you so much. Madam Clerk, seeing no colleagues in the queue, next delegation item, please.

Next delegation F, Pastor Henry Parks, St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, requesting exemption from the excessive streetlight fees assessed in 2026 and scheduled to be assessed in 2027.

Pastor Parks, thank you for being here, sir. If you will, for the record, please state your name and your place of residence.

Yes, my name is Pastor Henry Parks. I'm the pastor of the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, located at 11 Telfair Street. That is the capacity in which I am here to represent today.

You have a gentleman with you. Is he intending on speaking as well?

Yes, this is one of my deacons from the church. All right.

Deacon, if you will state your name and your place of residence, please.

My name is Anthony Thompson, Richmond County.

Thank you, sir. Pastor, you have the floor in five minutes, sir.

Yes, sir. I just want to thank everyone today for giving us the opportunity to come and state our case. Primarily, we're coming to request exemption from what we feel were excessive fees that were imposed in 2026, and they're scheduled to be imposed again in 2027, even though the number of lots that we have has been reduced from four lots down to two lots. The number of lots matter because the commission passed a law in 2025 in order to address a $700,000 deficit in streetlight fees in order to charge businesses as well as nonprofits and churches $295 per lot. So for our small church, which is right down the street, I enjoyed the pastor's prayer. They're talking about neighbors. We're neighbors. Neighbors understand the challenges that other neighbors face in their community. So that equated for our small church, little small St. Paul, with a small congregation to over $1,180 in streetlight fees. even though in many cases our lots use the same street light. So in essence, we thought that was a little bit excessive in 2026. We also think that, my initial thought was we should not impose that on the churches specifically because the churches provide such a value add to this community. We provide services, not only religious services and teaching services, but We do once a month feeding of the poor. You know we have a large number of those that are not privileged to have the capacity to buy food as much as they need. We also provide the ability to provide clothing and other services. So that $1180 streetlight fee It represents 1,700th of that total deficit in 2025. We paid over $1,000. The deficit was $700,000. You know, just a quick math, 1,700th. Even though we do not represent 1,700th of the tax base, we think that the commission should probably – consider going back to take a look at that fee and then take into consideration the size of smaller churches and the value add that they provide. The net effect of that tax is that we're paying more now than many larger businesses, much, much larger businesses. So I don't think it was the intent. for the commission to overtax those critical resources to Augusta. And we know that it's your desire to partner with the religious services, because we, along with you, help make a difference in the lives of the people that are here. So we're coming today in order to try to reduce that fee. Now, attempts to reduce that fee in 2027 down to a reasonable number, I think $500,000, 80 or so dollars have failed, even though we took action once we found out how much we were being charged in order to consolidate lots. And now we only have two lots for tax purposes for 2027. However, I spoke with the tax commissioner And he explained that he did not have the power to reduce the fees for 2027. And we are once again going to be charged $1,180. That $1,180 represents 50% of the food budget that we use to feed the communities in our area in partnership with Golden Harvest. So it's a substantial impact. on our ability to do the work that we feel is valuable. And I think that the committee feel is valuable to this community. And I'm sure it wasn't the intent when they did that, when the commission passed that law to overtax our small, small churches, but I'm sure you were trying to accomplish a purpose.

Have a minute.

I got a minute. I'll be able to finish in a minute. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And so it's our request today that those fees for 2027 be reduced down to represent the number of consolidated lots that we have. And it's also our request that you go back and relook at that law to see if there are other ways in which you can apply it so that it doesn't cause our churches to be able to stop ministry work altogether. That's my request. Thank you.

Thank you, Pastor. Sit tight. I see the Mayor Pro Tem is in the queue. Mayor Pro Tem, Wayne Yule, the floor is yours, sir.

Pastor Parks, thank you for coming before us. We do need to look at that. If your lots was reduced from four down to two, yes, we should be able to reduce that exposure for the other two lots of $590. Madam Administrator, do you mind if I do, Mr. Mayor, speak with the Administrator? Yes, sir, you may. Madam Administrator, can we get our interim finance to look and address this because it would be generated out of that department or the tax assessor's office and make, you know, I believe you should have verification that you reduced four lots down to two. Yes, sir. I didn't bring it with me, but the tax assessor's office is right.

Mr. Johnson. Yes, it's... It's right next door. I'll be happy to provide that to whoever I need to provide it to.

That's no problem. And I do appreciate you coming before us. The way I was looking at when it comes to commercial property, they should be all treated the same because one thing that we do provide churches is, one, it's the service. We put down the infrastructure and roads. We provide police protection, fire protection at no cost. where the rest of us do have to pay for it. And with several commercial properties, I have to pay the same street lights even though none of the buildings have street lights where I'm at. Yes, sir. But I do agree that we do need to reduce the exposure for you, Mr. Parks. Thank you, sir. Thank you for coming before us.

Thank you, Mr. Reverend Parks. Deacon, thank you so much for being here. There are no other colleagues in the queue. Thank you so much.

Madam Clerk. And next Delegation G, Ms. Patricia Jeter, regarding a request to establish a small business emergency stabilization fund.

Ms. Jeter, good day, thank you for being here. For the record, please state your name and your residence, please.

Tricia A. Jeter with West Augusta Six and West Augusta Six Jeter Foundation at 4102 Elders Drive.

Thank you, Ms. Jeter. You have the floor in five minutes.

Well, good afternoon, commissioners and honorable mayor. My name is Patricia Jeter, founder of West Augusta Six and West Augusta Six Jeter Foundation. I'm here today representing organizations regarding the establishment of an emergency small business stabilization fund. Before I begin, I would like to request a correction to the record. When I appear before this commission on behalf of West Augusta Sixth, as well as West Augusta Sixth Jeter Foundation, I respectfully request that future agendas and minutes and official records accurately identify the organization affiliation to ensure transparency and properly reflect the organization I represent.

All right, Ms. Jeter, I'm gonna pause the clock right there. Madam Clerk, just for the record, when she puts in a request for a delegation item, does it need to be in the name of the organization that she represents? Is that what she's standing? Patricia Jeter on behalf of the West Augusta Six Alliance. Is that what you wanted to read?

West Augusta Six Jeter Foundation and West Augusta Six.

But your name and also those two entities? Correct. All right. Madam Clerk, is that permissible? All right. Thank you, Ms. Jeter. I'm going to restart the clock. That's noted. Thank you.

Yes. If I do come on my personal aspect, I'll just on the agenda item, I'll just say Patricia Jeter. But I'm a community organization, and I do want to note it, what we do.

For the record. All right. Thank you. Continue.

I would also like to clarify that the WA6 and West Augusta 6 Jeter Foundation are founder-led organizations. Community participation is welcomed. However, official representation comes from the founders and the authorized representatives. Through our work, West Augusta Six has supported local engagement, revitalization efforts, and advocacy for small businesses. WA6 assisted Ms. Sheila Jones in bringing the attention to business financial hardship and helped bring her concerns before the Commission. Her experience highlights the challenges that small businesses can face when unexpected circumstances create financial instability. While we support Augusta-Richmond County's continued growth and revitalization, we must also protect small businesses that are the backbone of our local and national economy. I respectfully request that the Commission consider establishing an Emergency Small Business Stabilization Fund through an ordinance or amendment to the County Code. This fund would provide a one-time stabilization grant of up to $2,500 for eligible small businesses experiencing documented hardships caused by a qualifying event, such as Hurricane Helene, COVID, and the revitalization efforts taking place as we speak. The purpose of this assistance is not to replace lost revenue, but to provide temporary support that helps viable businesses remain operational during periods of financial hardship. Suggested eligibility requirements could include operating within Augusta Richmond County, maintaining required business licenses and registration, demonstrating the business was financially viable before the hardship occurred, providing documentation that the hardship was directly related to the qualifying event, and explaining how the assistance will help stabilize business operations the funding sources a dedicated annual budget allocation the commission could appropriately allocate a modest amount for example 25 000 to 40 000 for a pilot program economic development funds if the county already has funds allocated or dedicated to business development or revitalization a portion could potentially support emergency stabilization Disaster recovery funds. When a federally or state declared disaster occurs, such as COVID, Hurricane Helene, certain recovery funds may become available for local governments to administer and subject program rules. And as time goes, we may experience more natural disasters. Miscellaneous residual funds that can be redirected to keep the fund program funded. Applications should have an expedited review process with a goal of making eligibility decisions within 14 calendar days of receiving a complete application and providing a one-time payment disbursement shortly thereafter to approved eligible business owners. One minute, ma'am.

One minute.

I respectfully request that the commission direct the county attorney and the county administrator to research and develop recommendations for this fund, including proposed ordinance language, eligibility requirements, application procedures, and oversight measures, and potential local and state, federal, and private funding sources. Thank you.

Ms. Jeter, thank you so much. If you sit tight, I see Commissioner from the first in the queue. Commissioner Jordan-Johnson, the floor is yours, sir.

Hey, Ms. Jeter, how you doing?

Fine, how are you, sir?

I'm well, thank you. Just wanted to tell you that I agree with you in that last week at our committee meeting, we did ask the administrator and legal and finance to come together on a program as such. And so we should be getting some type of response back within the, you know, within a decent time so that we can report back on what we can do as a city. But you're absolutely right, and we appreciate you for your advocacy.

Thank you so much. And how would this information be communicated? Would you communicate to me? Because I have been interfacing with the small business owners, quite a few of them downtown. Some of them have already had to adjust their business processes just to be able to survive. And I do want to commend Commissioner Gifford for his heart. He knows what I'm talking about. And we're all human. But small business, like I said, 99% of the businesses in the country are the backbone Our small business, they're the backbone of our local economy. And so once you finish with these revitalization efforts, it's going to look beautiful. But we want those businesses, especially minority businesses, to survive. We don't want them to go away or they lose their livelihoods, such as Ms. Jones. She's put quite a bit of money into revitalizing that building that she's in. And it's going to look fabulous downtown. I can already see it. But what I'm asking is if this could be expedited because these businesses are suffering. And I do see where you did pave some of the street, but it's still not enough. It's still impeding customers in regular business processes.

Yeah, I absolutely get you. I live, work, and play downtown. And the construction is at my front door right now. And I completely understand and I stand with you and all the business owners in downtown as well. I know that we've been working with the construction team to expedite this process. I believe we are looking at an end date by the end of the year. I hope I'm not misspeaking, but I do know we've been working to expedite that. In regards to the fund conversation, that conversation will be held on the floor and whatever process comes of that, I'm sure we'll be able to work together to disseminate that information to the community. Again, we're at the table trying to figure out how best to help the businesses downtown. I believe we had this conversation sometime last year at Fat Man's. But I just I really want folks to know that, you know, it's easier said than done to ask folks to be patient. I know it's easier said than done, but I believe that we can get we can get to a good place. But but thank you for your advocacy. And I just want to make sure that you knew that we are we are working on that.

Yes, we got to get that cheese to them as soon as possible. That's right. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Jeter. Appreciate it. Commissioner Johnson, thank you. All right. Madam Clerk, I think that takes us to the next delegation item.

Yes, sir. Item H, Mr. Brian Green, Project 2883, Let Light Shine in Richmond County.

Thank you so much, Mr. Green. Welcome, sir. Good day. Thank you for being here. So you have some illustrations that you need the clerk to put these up for you?

I'm going to slide it on here and see.

You're going to slide it on there and see?

No, I can't.

I had to zoom out a little bit. All right, we're gonna get you set up and then we're gonna start the clock, okay? Mr. Green, for the record, please state your name and your place of residence, please.

Brian Green, Augusta, Georgia.

Thank you, sir. That's this already as far as it's gonna zoom out. All right, Mr. Green, you may have to move that around a little bit, okay? To illustrate, but sir, you have a floor in five minutes.

And Mr. Mayor, because I have this display up, could you please let me know when I'm at halfway point?

I can certainly do that, sir. I'll let you know when you're at two and a half, two and a half minutes. All right. You got it. You got the floor and I'm starting to clock.

Basically why I'm here today is for a couple of reasons. And one, I'm going to be respectful, bite my tongue a little bit, is on lack of follow-up. I just believe that we all have time. Everybody should appreciate other people's times. I'm from the old school that if you call me, I'll call you back. You know, I call you, you call me back. Just real simple. If you're in this room and you're employed by Richmond County, if you don't understand that constituents comes first, then maybe there's an issue there. I'll leave that where it's at. The other thing to this commission and to this audience, I have a real concern about where we're going, not just Richmond County, in this country with this AI. I'm going to speak to it directly. I hear all the great stuff about it. And of course, and just so you know, Project 2883 refers to 2883 Gordon Highway, where I'm hearing they're going to build something pretty big over there. a pretty big structure. But anyway, not here now, I'm hearing all the great things, and there's windfall of property taxes, and we just, life's gonna be, and certainly after 30 years of our consolidation track record, I think we definitely need a big shout in the arms. But I'm looking down the road, and I see when all this is over, when these things are obsolete, all this AI, that we're going to have a mess on our hands. And with that note, I'd just like us to be very diligent here in Richmond County before we just sell out, maybe that's the lack of a better word, sell out our community, the integrity of our community. As somebody said to me recently, let's pump the brakes a little bit on that. You know, if I was... Going to put up a structure along 2883 Gordon Highway, I would say that out of Augusta Economic Development, License Inspection, Planning and Development, and even its commission, I would figure that somebody would have noticed all those beautiful homes over there on Gordon Highway. So at the end of the day, my main thing, I don't want to talk around the bush and come up here for show. I really, really think there could have been a better location. I have relatives over there. Other than that, it's not my business.

You have points, sir.

But I had to get this off my chest. And somebody in school meet up with a very important person in the community who had a very lively discussion, and they were making all these great points. And at the end of the day, I asked them, I said, How are you with that location? I'm going highway. He said, well, I got to agree. I'm not crazy about that. That's my main thing right there. I have all this process. I know how great data centers are, right? Couldn't have gotten a better location. And a few things here just for the audience, in case you're wondering, I've put this together. It just shows you all the different areas. You see to the right, that symbol right there, that's Georgia Power. Of course, Georgia Power has a substation, supposedly, on this property. It's just a lot to this. And the worst part that we do in the United States, not just here in the United States with AI, we use it to improve the profit, a bottom line. We don't use it to improve our communities. If you don't believe me, remember that next time you're in Walmart or Lowe's or Kroger. Every time I'm in Kroger, I'm reminded, AI don't get too many points. So that's just my little two cents there on that. And yeah, it was also pointed we already have pollution issues and I read about it I'm just not up here talking inside of my neck. I read up about this. I've made calls I call the EPD I've done some serious homework serious up late at night because I wanted to know we already have a pollution issue and Right. So with that said, that's the main thing. Augusta is rated at a top 20% and most polluted metropolitan areas, but that's right now. And there's no data centers in there, right? So that's where I'm coming from. It's just out of real concern. We need to develop, but I wish you all, I wish in the end that we could be, we could pump some brakes here. And it sounds like what we're doing is making up on the possible future of data centers in Augusta, what we should have done on this one. We should have done that. We should have been more diligent on this one right here. I think we missed the ball. And like I said, for the audience. Go ahead, Ms. Mayor.

10 seconds.

Just to display how everything is taking place with the zoning changes, non-disclosure agreement and everything else.

Ms. Green, thank you for being here, sir.

My pleasure.

Have a good day.

Madam Clerk. Yes, sir. Our last delegation, I, Gayla Kesey, next steps. Thank you so much, Ms. Kesey.

If you will, for the record, please state your name and place of residence. And before you get started, Ms. Kesey, your reason for the delegation is vague in description with next steps. If it pertains to any matter that you had discussed in the last two or three meetings as it relates to data centers or the zoning ordinance, you will be asked to discontinue your delegation.

My name is Gayla Kesey. I am co-president of the League of Women Voters of the CSRA Association. I am a resident of Richmond County and I have a right to speak on whatever I speak on.

Thank you. That is not correct, ma'am. I am gonna.

I am, I would like to speak before you and then you can decide whether I am speaking on something that's already been spoken on.

If it's your main two data centers or something that you have spoke.

I am wanting to speak about the Augusta Planning Development scheduling three meetings. That's not something I have scheduled before and not talked about.

For the future, can you please state that clearly in your reason for the delegation in the next step? Because it makes it easier and clearer. Please. We're asking.

Then what you need to do is to let things know so that I can do this. When we have to say what we're wanting to speak on on Thursday before the meeting, then that makes it difficult to know what is going to be discussed and what is happening. We did not even learn about these meetings until just recently after I had to figure out what to say so that I could register to speak today. So that's the reason I wasn't sure whether we would have meetings or whether I would be talking on the fact that we didn't have meetings. That's why.

To be fair and equitable to everybody who's here in the chambers and online and to this process, could you be clear as to what you're speaking to? Because the process says 90 days per topic. So it has, every 90 days, you're allowed to speak if it's germane to a specific topic that you've spoken in the past. Topic. Okay, all right. You have the floor and you have five minutes.

We appreciate the Augusta Planning and Development has scheduled the three public meetings requested as part of the data center moratorium extension. But announcing meeting dates is only one part of public engagement. The city still has not explained how this process will work or how public input will shape the revised ordinance. First, who will plan and conduct these meetings? Planning and development staff or the outside consultants? The consultant budget discussed by the public service committee included funding to plan and conduct public meetings. At that meeting, I asked Augusta, I asked why Augusta would pay consultants approximately $250 an hour to plan and conduct meetings when the city already had its own professional planning and development department. That question was never answered. We also need to know what kind of meetings these will be. Will they simply present the draft ordinance and collect comments, or will staff explain how it was developed? The public deserves to understand why certain standards were included, why others were admitted, what alternatives were considered, and how those decisions were made. These meetings should explain and not simply provide a presentation. Because planning and development did not provide a plain language explanation of the draft ordinance, the League has developed its own plain language analysis and recommendations based on research into data center ordinances, planning guidance, and best practices from Georgia and communities across the country. That document has been provided to every commissioner and is available online for anyone who would like to review it. The timeline for these meetings also raises important questions. The public meetings are scheduled for August 10, August 31, and September 3. Because Labor Day falls on the first Monday in September, the Planning Commission has moved its regular meeting to Wednesday, September 2, one day before the final public meeting. How does that process work? Will the Planning Commission consider the ordinance before the public engagement process is complete? If not, when will it return? Then, assuming the current moratorium expires in mid-September, there are only a few days before the the Public Service Committee and the Augusta Commission meetings. During that time, staff would have to review public comments, revise the ordinance, and prepare it for consideration. When will the public see that revised draft? Will there be an opportunity to review and comment on those changes before another vote? Finally, I'd like to remind both the Commission and the public that the League and our community partners are hosting Watts Water and Wetlands Town Hall this Saturday at Williams Memorial CME Church at 10 a.m. The event is free and open to everyone. Our first panel will discuss how data centers affect energy demand, water resources, wetlands, and local communities. Our second panel will focus on the Georgia Public Service Commission and the role it plays in energy planning and electric rates. Every commissioner has been invited, and with the QTS site visit postponed, we hope you'll join us for a broader discussion of these issues and not just one that the industry is telling you. Today, I've raised several questions about the process and procedures surrounding this ordinance. I respectfully ask that they be answered, not simply acknowledged as public comments. One minute. A transparent process requires more than public meetings. It requires explaining how decisions are made and how public participation will influence that final ordinance. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Casey, for being here. I don't see any colleagues in the queue. Madam Clerk, I think that takes us to the consent portion of our agenda. Before we get to that, do we have any additions or addendum items? Yes, sir, we do. Okay.

We have two addendum requests, Mayor Johnson. First is a motion to approve the Georgia Rehouse Collaborative Partnership Memorandum of Agreement between Augusta, Georgia and United Way of the CSRA. The parties involved propose a collaborative partnership as co-applicants for grant funding through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. This was requested by Commissioner Stacy Pulliam and Commissioner Francine Scott. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Item number two, a motion to approve MOU, Memorandum of Understanding between Payne College and Richmond County Sheriff's Office, requested by Commissioner Jordan Johnson.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Colleagues, are there any objections to adding these items to today's agenda? I see Attorney Plunkett, you're an accuser. Is there something you need to add?

Just on item two, Augusta is also party to that MOU, just to clarify that it's not just between the Sheriff's Department.

Okay, so it's the City of Augusta, Sheriff's Department, and Painkop. All right. All right. Madam Clerk, I don't hear any objection. So those items will be added to today's agenda. All right, let's go through the consent agenda and address any items.

Our consent agenda consists of items one through 13. Items one through 13, for the benefit of any objectors to our alcohol petition, would you please signify your objection once the petition is read. Call your attention to item number two. It's a motion to approve Alcohol number 2636, existing location, new ownership, retail package, B&Y applicant for location to be used with 3333 Mike Padgett Highway. Are there any objectors?

3333 Mike Padgett Highway. Madam Clerk, I see one objector.

One objector.

Are there any others? I only see one, Madam Clerk.

Okay. Okay. Consent agenda consists of items one through 13 with one objector to item number two.

One objector to item number two. All right, colleagues, you have had an opportunity to look through this agenda. Let's get to it. Chair recognizes Commissioner Jordan Johnson from the first.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd like the request that we add addendum item two to the consent agenda.

All right, colleagues, it's been requested that we add addendum item two to the consent agenda. Any objection? Hearing none, it's added. Commissioner Johnson regarding item two, have you been in contact with the Sheriff's Office? Is he using it? Okay, all right. Chair recognizes from the 8th, Commissioner Brandon Garrett.

Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to add item 16 from the regular agenda, and if it's okay with our deputy commissioners, I'd like to add number one as well to the consent agenda from the addendum.

That's item number 16 from the regular agenda, item one from the addendum. Madam Clerk? Yes, sir. I hear no objection. All right. Anyone else? Are we ready to go? All right. Chair recognizes, may approve. Chair recognizes Commissioner from the 8th, Commissioner Brandon Garrett.

I was going to make a motion to approve the agenda as stated.

So moved. There's a motion to approve by Commissioner Brandon Garrett, seconded by Commissioner from the 4th, Commissioner Lonnie Wimberley. Madam Clerk, can you get it on the screen before we vote, please? Yes, sir. It's coming. Number two.

Yeah, we're pulling item two, Mr. Mayor. That is correct because we have an objection.

You're exactly right. All right, colleagues. On the screen is correct. We're prepared to vote.

That motion carries with Mr. Don Clark absent. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Let's go to item number two, please. Item number 2, the motion to approve an existing location new ownership retail package, Ben Wine license to be used in connection with the location at 3333 Mike Padgett Highway.

3333 Mike Padgett Highway. Who do we have from the planning department to read this in for record? We do have one objective. All right.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Commissioners. You want me to reread what she had stated?

You don't mind.

Just for the record, please. Not a problem. Motion to approve alcohol number 26-36. This is an existing location new ownership. Retail package beer and wine. Anil Kasturi, applicant for Himadri Investments 2026 LLC to be used in connection with 3333 Mike Padgett Highway, Augusta, Georgia 30906. This is actually on Mike Padgett, close to 520, right beside Flipping Egg, for those that might not know exactly where it's located.

You got it. I'm going to ask the petitioner to come forward and also the objector. Come forward, sir. For the record, please state your name and address.

Anil Kasturi, Groton, Georgia.

Thank you, sir. All right. Mr. Objector, you have the floor for the name. For the record, please state your name and place of residence.

Brian Green, Augusta, Georgia.

All right, so we've got to state your reason for the objection, if you don't mind.

Simply put, Mr. Mayor and this commission, I'd like you to consider it. And with respect to the business owner, I'm sure they're well capable of running the business and whatnot. I'm not here to contest that aspect. I have respect for small businesses. However, I think here in Richmond County, we just have a slew of businesses retail liquor stores, whatever you want to call them. And I'd just like us to start taking another approach to that. Maybe they can start being incorporated with the restaurant. I just think we just have enough. If you can't find a liquor store right now in Richmond County, maybe there's a problem. And I noticed that a lot of time on these requests, these folks are from out of Richmond County. That's like, I can buy my house, that's your business, and I can live here in Grove Town or whatever, but I want Richmond County's money. I'll sell liquor to Richmond County. I'm saying, why don't you go to Grove Town, sell your liquor there. I'm not trying to be confrontational. I'm sure the people there can appreciate it. You open up a store right down the street from your house, maybe. You can walk down and sell your liquor, you know, walk back home. But I'm just saying that, and I wanted to get that off my chest because I think we are on the path of just anything that's considered, I don't know, more revenue or whatever the case is. I'd just like us to stop. rubber stamping these package stores. And when I was in school, a professor said this. He said on any given weekend night on Augusta, one out of three drivers, I wish I knew what was funny, one out of three drivers is supposed to be as drunk. It's supposedly DUI. I just wanted to throw that out there. I don't want to be extreme in whatever case. I want to get that. No disrespect to that business owner at all.

Thank you, Mr. Green. All right, the chair recognizes Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Guilfoyle.

Thank you. Mr. Green, thank you for your concerns about Richmond County. I worried about new liquor stores coming into the area. They're only going to survive based on demand, which we all know that. That's on any kind of business that's out there. But what we have here is not a liquor store. It's a gas station that only sells beer and wine. And they're asking this already existing, and so... I know where you're coming from, but this is not the same battle here, but my motion is to approve. Respectfully.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Madam Clerk, there's a proper motion in the second by Commissioner Brandon Garrett from the 8th. I don't see any colleagues in the queue. We're prepared to vote.

Thanks.

Mr. Johnson, seat. It's unanimous. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Let's move to number 14, please. Item number 14, Planning and Development Department is requesting approval for additional funding to the zoning ordinance update to include but not limited to two additional public engagement meetings, workshops for input from all commissioners, stakeholders, This request is to be extended of performance to November, December 2026 with an addition not to exceed the amount of 68,368 for the adoption of the new zoning ordinance through White and Smith LLC. In addition, approved to carry forward the encumbrance of $127,493 from the 2025 budget to the 2026 for existing contract. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Director Cameron.

Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor and commissioners. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Again, I stand before you to request additional funding. And I wanted to make sure that I address the public's concerns. I wanted to make sure that we clarify the three meetings that was directed by this board. And those three meetings that we have scheduled and have confirmed September the 10th, excuse me, August the 10th, August the 31st, and September the 3rd. Those are for the data center ordinance. And the reason for that is because of the concerns and the commission, this commission wanted to make sure that the public had their input and that this document reflects the public input. So I wanted to make that clear. There's also a place where that document is on the website and also they can make comments and we just received comments today from IT. So I just want to make sure that our community understand that this commission wants them to be a part of it. We want the transparency. We're providing the transparency and we want our community to know that we hear and not only hear them, but we also they are a part of this document. Because at the end of the day, we want to make sure it's a good product. And when we need to improve this document, it would be based on as the community grows. And of course, we want that document to reflect that. So I wanted to get that out of the way first. Secondly, this request that we're asking for, the reason that we're asking for this again is because The first, the existing contract only allowed for X amount of public meetings. During that time, something happened here, something dramatic happened, and probably is the reason why a lot of individuals did not get a chance to participate in those meetings. And so in order to get all the commission's input and your concerns and your desires and aspiration in this zoning ordinance update, and in order to get the public's input, we asked for two additional meetings from this company because there was already four. And from going back and looking at the original contract, there was originally eight. that was scheduled for. However, remember I talked about the renegotiation of the cost. Four of those meetings were actually negotiated out. Okay, and so these meetings of course would be to allow the commissioners to give input to this document, the public to give input to this document, and then also for the consultants to have sessions, work sessions with the Planning Commission and the Augusta Commission before the adoption. And so those are the reason why we're asking for the four additional meetings. we are also including information in the document that was not previously in this current and existing zoning ordinance. And those are some modern day practices that will provide more transparency, that will provide more input from the public. You will have things like giving notification to surrounding homeowners within a certain radius so that they will know about some of the rezonings and amendments to the zoning code that we don't currently have. And that information was not carried over because it was never in there. And one of the things that the consultants, when I asked the consultants why, it's because they were told that it wasn't necessary. And it is necessary. So we wanted to make sure that we are giving clear definition and a scope of work to the consultants. And then this would be additional work. Now, will they need the whole 68,000? Probably not. But I'm asking up to that point because we do have them doing additional surveys. They did a survey early on, from what I understand. Got input. We have that information. That information was presented to the public. And then also, when I came on board, we also had a community meeting at Diamonds Lake, a great turnout, and we want that kind of input again. So just to be clear, this request is for the zoning ordinance update. We are asking for those additional meetings so that we can get the public input again. I think we got a good dose at that first meeting. We want another dose like that. We want an even greater attendance. And then not only that, we are adding information into this document that our developers will be able to utilize along with the new implementation of our new system that we are looking to bring on soon. And with this tool and with the new IT system, we will have a great product. We'll have a product where, and I also always like to say that your 90-year-old auntie, uncle will be able to go in and permit a shed, a house, but it would be very user-friendly, very easy to understand.

Thank you, Director Cameron. I don't see any colleagues in the queue, so I'm going to ask for approval on this item. All right, Commissioner from the 9th, Commissioner Francine Scott.

Thank you, Mayor Johnson. May I address the Director, please? Yes, ma'am. Director Cameron, you said we had old information that the consultant gathered last time. Yes, ma'am. Is this information still relevant in what we are trying to do?

they will be able to utilize some of that information, but they have to gather more information. And the reason why I say that, Commissioner Scott, is there was a document that was created some while ago that was called the cultural, it's called the cultural district. And believe it or not, it was from the Americans for the Arts. And one of the communities that I found in this document, very awesome document, talks about downtown and the revitalization of downtown. And when I found this document, guess who's in it? One of the leading communities, Augusta. So I wanted to make sure that the consultants had this document. It was very exciting when I found it, and I'm not really sure if that was taken into consideration, but I want to make sure that the information in this document is implemented in this new ordinance.

Okay. One final question, Mayor Johnson. In your document, you're saying you're asking for 68 and change. Yes, ma'am. And then at the bottom, you're asking to carry over the 127,000. Is that where you're going to get the 68?

No, ma'am. And finance could probably better explain that. The balance of what's left in that 127 is probably less than $47,000. I actually sent that information. I got that information from what's left. So let me just back up and say this. On the existing contract, the task that's left will end in September. So by September, the balance of that 127 will be consumed, and that's under the existing contract. So that is money that was carried over to make sure that those tax on the existing contract are taken care of.

Mayor Johnson, can I hear from Finance, please?

Yes, ma'am, you may. Good afternoon, everyone. When finance was reviewing this item for the new request, we recognized that some of the invoices for this purchase order are going to hit the 2026 budget. But because this purchase order is actually from 2024, that money did not carry forward. Items in the operating budget don't roll over year to year. So we needed to roll over the money so that it's available to pay the invoices for work that has already been done. So the $127,000 is separate. That's for the existing money. It's what was allocated in the 25 budget and we're asking to roll it forward to 26 so we can pay those outstanding invoices. The 68,000 amount is a separate new request that would come from 2026 capital.

Okay, I'll understand that, but I'll get with you when we finish because that's, you just lost me, but I don't want to prolong. I'll get with you. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Johnson.

Thank you, Commissioner. From the 9th, there's nobody else in the queue. If you're good with it, I will entertain a motion to approve. All right, there's a motion by the Mayor Pro Tem. Second. Second by the Commissioner from the 3rd, Catherine Smith-Rice. Madam Clerk, I don't see any colleagues in the queue for further discussion. We're voting.

That motion carries 7-3 with Mr. Tony Lewis, Ms. Tina Slendike, and Mr. Brandon Garrett. Voting no. And Mr. Clark absent. Thank you, Madam Clerk. That takes us to item 15, please. Item 15 is to provide a comprehensive status update that presents the commission with a complete and accurate picture of the current state of grounds maintenance department as its readiness for implementation.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Mr. Wimbley, while the administrator gets prepared, is there anything you want to start us off with?

Yes, Mr. Mayor, if I may.

Yes, sir.

I just want to remind the administrator her and I are still friends.

Always, always, Commissioner Wimbley.

But I do have an opening statement. All right, proceed forward, sir. First, I'd like to express that... I appreciate the work that's going to develop this briefing you're about to do. However, from an operational and government standpoint, I do not believe this briefing provide the commissioner with a complete picture of how this department will function. For example, I still don't have a clear understanding of the department administrative operations. Where's the department physical location? What is the chain of command from the director to the field supervisor? How does the department integrate with the administrative organization in coordination with engineers, stormwater, parks, recreation, central service, and other departments? Likewise, I do not see a map clearly defining the department geographic functional area of responsibility. Without understanding exactly what property, right-of-ways, medium, facility, drainage corridors, and other assets falls under this department responsibility, it is difficult to evaluate staffing level, equipment need, workload, and budget requirement. An effective operational briefing should clearly define the department mission, organization structure, reporting relationship, operational boundaries, set workload, staff, equipment, budget, and professional expectation. Those elements provide the Commission with the information necessary to determine whether the Department has been professionally designed and adequately resourced. My comment is not intended to delay the process, but to ensure the Commission has sufficient information to exercise its oversight responsibility and make information, inform the city, rather, regarding the long-term success of this department. I don't want us to get down the road and hand the citizen a product that we have to continue to build on because we're not sure what we're doing right now. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Wimberley. Madam Administrator, the floor is yours.

All right, good afternoon, Mr. Mayor, members of the governing body, and of course, Commissioner Wimbledon. We will always be friends, and hopefully this presentation will address some of your concerns. We're on the same page. You're exactly right. There are a number of things that we need to be able to present, but that's what you consider when you're working through a transition plan. That transition plan should spawn concerns the information that you're referring to to make sure that the governing body has made a good decision in forming this respective department and or making any decisions. So I'm just gonna go over just a couple of the things that we originally discussed. You'll notice that I dated this August 4th because the last time when we spoke about the Grounds Management Department transition plan, it was actually March 18th. I want to remind you of the motions that were approved by the governing body previously. On February 17th, of course, it was approved to move forward with option two, which established a new department for vegetation and ground maintenance, with the administrator returning with the transition plan prior to any implementation. So we did that. We came back. And on March 18, 2026, the governing body approved to receive as information an update on the vegetation and maintenance plan implementation and approved the naming of the department as the Augusta Grounds Management Department. If I recall, both of these passed unanimously. Then it was asked for us to actually look at the transition plan, in which we did. Just a brief overview of that transition plan. We identified four phases. The items that you're referring to are included as part of this transition plan and would have been brought forward and will be brought forward if we continue to proceed to you so that you will have the necessary information. I've also sent you, as well, some information on the draft budget, some other draft documents, the equipment listing, all the respective items that need to be considered as it relates to building a department. along with the actual contract names, the schedules, all the respective data that we have gathered, we have made sure that we provide it to the governing body as well. So, of course, as part of our transparency and our effort to make sure that you had just the same information that we have in making these decisions, we made sure that we re-sent that information to you again. Step one was talking about the preparation And that kind of covers what I was just speaking on. We gathered the information. This whole preparation has been completed, step one, which was getting the current budget, the personnel and contractors information, the current equipment, the in-house and contract maintenance schedules. And we met with the respective department heads that would be affected by this. We also looked at the draft job descriptions for the new positions. With the approval of the governing body to name it grounds management, we even brought the grounds management director position job description to the governing body for review and approval. We have actually advertised that. We had virtual interviews, recommendation was given to the governing body with the candidates. And as I understand it, the governing body interviewed the candidates for this position. Again, we did compile and develop a draft budget, which was based on the current expenditures and that was provided as well. I think we have done everything that we can do through desk reviews and information gathering at the department director level. We developed the job descriptions, as I stated. We also developed that draft budget being approximately $8.1 million, which included about $2.1 million in existing staff, because the staff are going to be coming over into this one department. and the 5.8 million in current contracts that we currently have. Again, the majority of the funding for this department, as previously stated, is already available and accounted for in the various departments. So then we moved into step two, which was model development. Of course, a transition lead has been identified for a temporary assignment. That was one of the things that we stated we want to get done. Someone that is an existing employee who has significant experience with our current vegetation operations. This transition lead will be responsible for confirming all of the respective data that we have received on paper with our crews and contractors to observe them at work and inspecting some of our current equipment. They will also review the citizen request to identify the needs and any gaps that they found in the services. And based on this field observation, they will start actually mapping out, and I think we spoke about the mapping of the needed changes to our service delivery model in contracting. So while we were seeking to put these people in place, of course, I did have a meeting And you'll see that I've noted that it's complete with all the operational staff, supervisors involved, making sure that everybody was on the same page, understood what the governing body had approved and how we were proceeding. Met with all department heads that would be affected, had numerous emails, documentation, I met with the actual contractors, every one of the respective contractors. I met with them to let them know how the governing body, I didn't want anybody to have any questions on how this governing body was proceeding with this project. Also various community stakeholders that are involved in making sure that we take care of our grounds. And finally, we would have been working on the organization chart and getting prepared for our 2027 budget. If everything that had been scheduled with the new department director on board as well as the transition lead, we would have been working on a 2027 budget. We would have been working on that org chart that you're referencing. It is no need for me to develop an org chart without the subject matter expert sitting to the table with me. That's exactly why you do not have an organizational chart. I can tell you the various functions that I see that are necessary for that department, but I would like to have the input of those people that are going to be actually responsible for doing that. Then we looked at the transition, which would have been from August to November. We'd have been looking at the new procurement process for existing contracts. We had already spoken to our procurement director, looking at updating the contract specifications, rebidding any respective contracts and awarding contracts, making sure that we would have them in place by January the 1st. Again, part of that transition would have been to finalize those job descriptions for the transitioning staff. Each of the transitioning staff members have been made aware that job descriptions will change because we need to make sure that their current job descriptions that will be utilized reflect what they will be actually doing. We're going to finalize locations and equipment transfers. I will be honest with you. We found out by doing all of this that a number of our equipment was not in place. We have identified a lot of fallacies that need to be addressed. So those are some of the things that we need to put in place. And that's what happens when we have things all over and no one's really being unfortunately held accountable to monitoring and keeping up our assets and making sure that we are out there and someone's being accountable for meeting the customer's needs. We also need to make sure we do identify those locations. I know you're saying where are they going to be located, the department. I can assure you, you're not going to be able to locate an entire department that functions out in a community like that in one location. It just would not be feasible. So that is something that we would look at. You might have your administrative team located in a specific location. But you will, it benefits you to have your other areas out there so that they can be close to where they're going to be actually serving in the community. We also need to develop a public education campaign, which was part of this transition plan. Some of our constituents do not realize that some of these roads are not city-owned roads. They're state-owned roads. So we need to make sure that everybody understands when we complain about Highway 25 overgrown and Deansbridge Road, some of that is state roads. And so we have to do a better job of coordinating with our partners at the state to make sure that we take care of our grounds. So that is something else we need to look at. So our goal was actually to have the transition lead on board as well as hopefully have our director on board, start sitting down with them while we still see the grass out there, because this is the best time to get it done so they can identify some of these issues and start working on the final plans to continuously bring to the governing body for review. and acceptance so that's where we um started at um that's kind of what we that is exactly what we presented to the governing body um to make sure that we had an opportunity to roll out some of these changes and some of this transition and making sure that we kept our public abreast of what we're doing as well by presenting this information to you um so this is what we finally come up with uh commissioner wemberly um the transition of course, is outlined to make sure that we have better oversight of all of our assets and we have better accountability in what we are doing as an organization. With that being said, I will address any other questions that you have, Commissioner Wimbley, or anybody else, I'm sorry.

Thank you, Madam Administrator. Commissioner Wimbley, you were in the queue first. This was your item. Is there anything you want to address directly with the Administrator or you want me to go through the other colleagues that are in the queue?

Well, I'll continue to address the administrator, Mr. Matthews, if allowed. All you said is really, really some good flavoring words, but I still have deep concerns. You yourself have said that we want to get some outside agency to come into the department so that agency could help those departments determine what is the proper manning level that they should have. I would think that that would include professions and so forth. You stated that yourself. Now there's a lead that we're talking about we're going to have to transition. Is that a department head director right now? No, sir. So we're going to take somebody that's not a department head and we can say that that person can set up a department where we're talking about the department heads need to have assistance to set up their departments. Am I understanding that correctly?

So what we've identified is an employee that is very knowledgeable in the vegetation and maintenance. We have communicated with the respective department, and that was after meeting with various employees. So it wasn't like someone went and just handpicked anybody to do anything. We wanted to make sure that it was somebody who was knowledgeable. That does not discontinue them from doing their current position. We also spoke with the department director several times about this. Now, whether the department director agrees or not is another concern, but we spoke with the employee, we met with the employee, the deputy administrator and I, And we've had conversation. This is not a 37 and a half hour job that we're asking this person to do. We're just asking this person to verify some of the information. That person would, like anybody else, it would be considered an additional duty that that person would be considered to do. That was explained to the department director. That was explained, and it's a temporary assignment that was explained to the potential employee that could be doing this, and we've also stated to that department director, if there is anything that causes any conflict in what you're doing and or he's not meeting the needs of the department in his respective position, then we would make sure that we take that into consideration and make the necessary change. So there's been... a lot of discussion going back and forth in regards to doing that.

And I won't be long, Mr. Mayor, until tomorrow. But anyway, I'm still a little puzzled. I'm not asking about this in the video. I'm asking about the process. I think my long history of operational readiness say to me that what I'm looking at right now is not ready. And I understand you say there's more information to come, and I appreciate that. But when we roll something out here to the public, based on you saying that department heads, right now, $100,000 plus individuals, need to have somebody come to their department and help them determine what is the proper organization structure they should have to meet the needs of their department. But then I turn around and I hear that now, I don't care what's the coordination between this lead person and that department. I'm not interested in that. But you're taking someone that is not a director and you said this person has set up, I could tell you about grass cutting if you want to know that. What does it take? Anybody should be able to tell you that. But I want to know how much are you cutting? And yes, I have did such a math to determine what equipment is needed, what personnel is needed, and how long it takes to do the maintenance in an area. So that's what I'm asking is, do you think we're going a little, we're putting the cart before the horse rather than not getting a professional understanding of what the department should look like? And Mr. Mayor, I yield after this.

I think you're just talking about the operational efficiency assessment. Is that what we're talking about, Commissioner? Yes, that's what you called it. In this case, I don't think so because we're building it from the ground up. So I'm not necessarily sure of what their role would be at this time. Yes, the current operations and the current departments and having them come in and look at what we're actually doing to provide better efficiency in our organization, of course, 100%. And that's why we've already submitted that information and are looking at the draft on that now. But as it relates to the grounds management, I'm not sure that it's necessary to have that person from the operational assessment come in to do that part. What we need is somebody knowledgeable out there in our community and knows how to utilize our systems, which this person does, know how to monitor, develop maps and things of that nature, which is what we're looking at that person doing. And somebody from the outside, it would take them some time to get familiar with our city work system, how our work order system works, and things of that nature. So they would not benefit us in this particular situation.

All right, thank you, Commissioner Wembley. Let's get through the queue. Chair recognizes Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Guilfoyle.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, this whole department here that we're trying to develop We did not want to rush it. It was passed, started back in March because the challenges that we face as commissioners, so which department do we call on to get anything cut? There was numerous departments. I can imagine that there's some departments that's challenging anything moving forward. But if you look at what's best for this organization, it's to be organized. I know that central service, was voted on, and within 30 days, that place was up in operation. We should have took our time on that one, but we didn't. But at least on this, we got nine months to plan out. We still got four months in the queue to finish getting things organized. And Mr. Wimbley, that's one thing we did not want to do is rush anything. We wanted to make sure we got this right the first time, not the second, but the first time. And one thing that I could say about the administrator, everything, it wasn't a play of words that she was using, it was actually everything that she, every department that she spoke to, every contractor that she spoke with, every employee that she had dealings with, spoke with individually. This is how things are put together. I don't know, to me, THIS IS PROBABLY MORE IN DEPTH THAN A BUSINESS PLAN WOULD BE. NORMALLY FROM US BUSINESS PEOPLE WE WOULD DO A FIVE-YEAR BUSINESS PLAN, BUT GOVERNMENT DOESN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT PROFIT, UNFORTUNATELY. THEY GOT TO WORRY ABOUT MAKING SURE THAT THE DEPARTMENT'S EFFICIENT, THAT IT'S OPERATIONAL, THAT EVERY DAY THAT SOMEBODY KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE GOING TO DO TODAY, NEXT WEEK, AND THE FOLLOWING WEEK, AND THE CONTRACTORS THAT'S OUT THERE KNOWING WHERE THEY'RE GOING TO CUT, HOW THEY'RE GOING TO CUT IT, AND WHAT THEY'RE GOING TO GET PAID. I would like to, you know, we still got another four months. We still got to get past this budget session as well. But I do want to thank you for what you had, Mr. Wimberly. Thank you for bringing this forth because it rehashed of all the work that was involved by the administrator's office and her staff as well as the other departments that's been involved. So I thank you, Ms. Administrator, for putting this together. Thank you, Mr. Wimberly, for bringing this up.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Chair recognizes Commissioner from the First. Commissioner Jordan Johnson.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Administrator Allen, a couple questions for you. I think that you answered majority of the questions that I had, but I have a few more. I know in our last budget cycle, we discussed engaging in some contract renegotiations. You said that we have $5.8 million in contracts that we are going to assign to this department. Does that include what we're discussing regarding renegotiating contracts and scope of works and services and things of that nature?

Yes. So what we are planning on doing is actually, and I've told the contractors as well, we would actually go through the process with legal counsel. to do what is necessary to re-bid the actual projects. So hopefully we will save money. To your point, I think you were saying we needed to go back and look at some of our contracts we negotiate because some of that may change based on the places or the areas that they would like to bid on. So some of that may change. Yes, sir.

Are those contracts paid? I guess, are they paid? monthly, are they paid by the hour, are they paid by the project, or do they vary the way that those services are paid?

So they have an annual contracted service. So they're paid monthly. Yes, sir. Toward a purchase order that may have already been established for each of the respective years.

Okay. And you mentioned stakeholders came to the table. Are you at liberty to share with community stakeholders you engage?

Oh, no, no. We're going to be, I'm sorry if I misstated that. We will be meeting with various stakeholders. I'm sorry.

Okay. Where does ACE fall into all of this? Because we had a conversation about putting that back on the street.

That would be one of our stakeholders. Yes, sir.

Has that bid gone back out on the street? For ACE, no, it has not. Okay. Are we still talking about putting it on the street?

Yes. Well, we're almost at the end of the year, in all honesty, Commissioner Johnson. And they've been a great partner, so that's not been a problem.

Okay. All right. You know, I have a real concern about the sustainability of the department long-term. Are you confident that this department could... could still be in existence over the next, you know, three to four years, or we're just talking like right now, just for the next fiscal year. I mean, I guess my biggest concern about the whole thing is just the sustainability of it, is are we going to be able to sustain the department long-term?

You know, that's a tricky question, Commissioner Johnson, and I'm just going to be very transparent and very open with you. I don't know if we would have had to form this department if, resources were allocated properly and people were held accountable. I'm just going to be very honest. So anything that's going to be sustainable will, even this department, will require people to be held accountable and the funding to be provided, the resources necessary to be successful. So I hope that answers the question. I don't want to say I'm confident in it because if the people are not held accountable, the leadership that are in that department are not held accountable to do what they're what they need to do. The employees are not held accountable to do what they need to do. You can't guarantee it's going to be successful.

Yeah. I guess when I mentioned the sustainability, I'm speaking more so financially. Yes. If we're faced with approving this department now with the dollars that we have now, what I don't want to happen is what happened last budget cycle when you told us the house was on fire and we had to figure out how to put the fire out. If we create this department with dollars that we have now and then a couple of years from now or next year we come back and realize we can't afford it, what are we gonna do? And I think that is where I think that we should spend majority of our time talking about this department is how do we sustain it long-term? If this is the will of the body to take this direction, we better have known what is it gonna cost us long-term to keep this operation going. I don't think we want to have any kind of room for any addendums, any type of adjustments to how we operate this department because, yes, right-of-ways and grass and all this stuff is on the line, but people's livelihoods will also be on the line, moving their jobs, moving these contracts, moving all this other stuff around. If we're not confident about how we're gonna fund this thing in the future, I'm not sure that I can be confident in voting to create the department. And I think that is, again, one of the places that every time we discuss it, we don't really get anywhere on it. And that's not your fault. I mean, we just don't get anywhere on it. We don't know. And I think that's gonna be an area that I need some more clarity on. Another question that I wanna make sure that I'm clear on as well is whether or not this department is gonna cause any unintended consequences in operations in any of the other departments that's involved. So I know we're moving people from parks, we're moving people from central services, we're moving folks from engineering. Will that create any types of unintended consequences in those departments operations?

Each department provided us a list of the positions that would be utilized just for grounds. So that is the list. We didn't develop that list. They provided us that list. So I would imagine that does not cause any problems in their operation.

Okay. Do we know that to be And I'm going to ask it this way. And please just hear me out. I know that when we ask departments to do things, they do it just because they've been asked to do it. Right. They do it because that was the truth. Well, I mean, even kicking and screaming, they still do it. and they may not actually give us a full snapshot of how it's going to impact the department, right? So I don't know how to ask you whether or not this is, if they've shared that information, but I would like to get some clarity on that. You know, it could be email in your update. Just what impact would moving two or three people from parks to this new department have on whatever they were doing in that department currently? Is that gonna create any type of hole or something in that department? So I just wanna be absolutely certain on that. So the two areas that I really need us to dig into Ms. Allen is the long-term sustainability of this department financially. How are we going to fund it long-term, not just from one fiscal to another? How are we going to look at this thing long-term? And then looking at any types of gaps that might present themselves once we move folks from one department to another.

Okay?

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Johnson. Chair recognizes. Commissioner Stacy pulling from the second.

Thank you, Mayor Johnson. Administrator Allen, thank you for the work you've put into this presentation, and I know we've been having these discussions for a while, so thank you and everyone involved in getting this information together. I have a few questions. My first question is in regards to the five point, I'm just going to use like round numbers, in regards to the 5.8 million, is that, how much of that is allocated to contractors? All of that is all of that. Okay, awesome. So that means that these numbers that we've created, we've used our current contract pricing. Right? Because these are real numbers.

We used our current data that we have that's being expended on contracts, whether it was a contract that was just established last year, or a contract that might have been an existing contract for three years. because those prices would probably differ because one would be more recent than the other.

Okay. So once we stand this department up, are we going to then put the contracts out for rebids?

Yes, ma'am. That's what we said. We'll be working with our legal team to determine how we can proceed with putting out things for rebid, the actual contract and agreements.

Okay. So with that, I know we've had some discussions. I've mentioned it on the floor before as it pertains to having... THE WAY WE PUT THEM OUT. SO I RECENTLY AND MAYOR JOHNSON, MAY I ADDRESS ATTORNEY PLUNKETT? YES, MA'AM. ATTORNEY PLUNKETT, I HAD RECENTLY ASKED SOME QUESTIONS SOME MONTHS AGO REGARDING RFIs. and sources sought so request for information that way when we're putting this out there before we actually do our RFQ are we getting just a gauge as to how much these contractors would charge for these services? Do you have an answer as to whether or not we have in the past practice doing RFIs or sources sought?

I specifically don't have personal knowledge of that. I did mention after you and I had a conversation not too long ago about an RFI with the law department and the attorneys were familiar with us having done those. I think what we need to do is get the list of contracts, see which ones are for a term certain, as opposed to the ones that may have a termination for convenience. And then we could just basically advise the folks, this is what we're doing while you're seeing this go out on the street and work through it that way. It's how I would do the RFI is let them know that we're doing it so that they would be responding as well.

Okay. And it's not just to gauge who's going to respond, but also as we start to talk about pricing. And I don't know whether or not it's common practice for us to do firm fixed pricing in any of our contracts versus allowing the contractors just to submit their proposals in their dollar amounts.

I HAVE NOT REVIEWED THE CONTRACTS. I CAN'T REALLY TELL YOU. POSSIBLY THE DEPARTMENT HEADS THAT HAVE NEGOTIATED THE AGREEMENTS IN THE PAST COULD TELL YOU. BUT WE CAN CERTAINLY If you'd like that information, we can get with the administrator and give you a matrix of the contracts and the nature of, you know, if they're fixed fee or per unit or however. I mean, we're happy to provide that data for you. I just don't know off the top of my head that information.

Thank you, Attorney Plunkett. Administrator Allen, yes. That information is pertinent to making this decision because if we don't have a gauge, the $5.8 million is what we're currently paying, but we're saying that we're putting these contracts back out for bid. And so in doing that, we don't know what's going to come back to us. I would like answers to the questions that I just posed to Attorney Plunkett, and I know you'll be working with him on answers to those questions. My next question is regarding Everything that I'm looking at in the draft budget allocation is what we are currently paying for services that are currently rendered. Let's see. I've been here for almost four complete years, and I've been having ground maintenance discussions probably since my second week in office because those are the calls and the text messages and the emails that I get as I'm sure my colleagues do as well. But with that, we haven't taken into account the areas that are not being maintained and are not on a proactive schedule. So do we have those numbers available? And if you don't have those numbers, is that something that our engineering director could possibly provide?

So that is part of this whole transition to make sure that what we bring to you will clearly identify what's going to be the responsibility of this department, what will actually flow or continue to operate in the respective other departments. So that is, you know, we have, with all due respect to the governing body, we've addressed every question that I could think about in regards to this project. The governing body, This governing body approved for us to proceed with this. Grounds Management Department was not a direct request from administration or any of the respective staff. It came as a directive that was voted on by the governing body. Our goal is to carry out what the governing body has directed us to do. That's what we're doing. That's what we've been trying to do since this was initiated and voted on. Again, I will refer back. My concerns are no different than any of your concerns. Our goal is to make sure that we develop or present to you, because that's what we're responsible for, a budget and a department that's going to be successful. We're going to do what we can to establish something that could be successful, because our constituents deserve that. However, I cannot say this contract is going to be this cost because we have not been able to continue this process to get to that point, to bring that information to you. But I know I keep hearing that we want to do some of these other things. This has already been approved. If the governing body wants to disapprove it, then that could be a whole different ballgame. But right now, we just need to be able to... I was bringing this back as information to address some of the questions that Commissioner Wembley had. to hopefully give him the information that's necessary and let him know the path we're going. That was basically what we were trying to do today.

Okay, and thank you for that response. The RFI question was actually a question that I asked the very first presentation and I was told that I was putting the cart before the horse and I was moving ahead of things. When in fact, if we're wanting to get a clearer picture of what the budget would be, that is a tool that we could use to do that. Because when you're doing requests for information and sources sought, you're actually going out and you're saying about how much would these services cost. And then we can decide if we want to offer firm fixed pricing, if that is industry standard or within a government. And That is why I have those questions. I had them in the beginning, and I still have them. Because we can't come up with an accurate budget until we know those things. Because right now, where I'm standing, it's looking like the $5.8 million... It's the number that's out there and it's what was put in this budget. However, we don't even know if that's going to be the number when we put it back out for bid. In addition to that, we still don't have the areas that have not been maintained, the areas that I've been speaking about and asking about to get a schedule for for the past almost four years. And so in my estimate, if we're looking at millions more being added to that 5.8 million plus, we're nowhere close to being able to make a decision because we don't have a budget or an estimated budget that is realistic. And so I still have those questions. I would like answers to those questions. And I'd also like for Dr. Malik, I believe he did a presentation about a month ago because I was talking about we had to come up with a plan and so I would like for to hear those numbers as to the right-of-ways and the ditches and things like that like all those areas I know that we also have vacant lots not sure we're going to go with those but I'd like to hear those numbers as well that way maybe that 5.8 million at this point would actually be I don't know, $9 million. And so then we have to guess from there what that $9 million would look like. So I would like answers to those questions. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Johnson. Thank you, Administrator Allen.

Thank you, Commissioner Pulliam. Commissioner Lerner-Whimley, you're back in the queue, sir. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

I'm gonna address the administrator. All right, continue. I'm still, I've listened to all of this and I still don't have a good feeling. I want you to be successful. I want Augusta to be successful. I want the citizens to have a successful outcome with this new department. I am not against it, okay? What I am against is how I see it coming forward. what I was thinking that we will be doing is trying to set a budget and then determine what it is, how we gonna get that to make that work. And the budget should drive how many people we gonna have, how much equipment we gonna have, and then see if we could actually create that budget. I'm looking at the information you have here and all I see is numbers. I don't see any workability. I see numbers. When you talk about more equipment and what personnel is gonna be at, I'm not understanding that. I know what it's saying, but I'm still not understanding how that gonna work. So, As far as what we have right now, I mean, I will vote yes for a well planned out and not an absolute project, but one that is well planned out and the failure rate is actually low. I think the failure rate for what we're doing right now is extremely high.

Thank you, Commissioner Wembley. You know, I'm going to chime in in that, you know, it was said that we spent over $8 million cutting the grass and yet we still get complaints about the condition of our city. As you know, economic development is a driver that helps us to create jobs and opportunities. It shows those that are interested in investing in Augusta that we care. It should look no different rather you travel across the 13th Street Bridge, through the Rossner Road corridor, or through Highway 1 corridor, we have a responsibility to this community and to our economic developers of maintaining a city that's picking up the litter and cutting the grass in areas in which we are responsible. And I'm gonna go on the record and say that our responsibility to that is only gonna grow As we continue to redo the downtown corridor, we're already getting complaints about how we're maintaining the right of ways. How we're cutting the grass down in the Green Street corridor where right now it's still under the control of a contractor. The ornamental plants that are planted on 13th Street. Yet we have a responsibility as people visit, whether it be for the Peach Jam or for that great tournament or for TechNet that's coming to town today. it shows how much we care and how we maintain our communities. Whether it be on Windsor Spring Road as you travel to Hepzibah, we have a responsibility, folks, to at least cut the grass and maintain the beautification of this city. Now, we've been doing it, but yet we've also had some partners to do it with us. We have some great, great champions for Augusta. That's not included in these numbers, but Four, five, or six are our most important gateways that are not included in here. And there are a lot of people that care, and we have to continue to seek out partnerships. But right now, we have to maintain the beautification of the city. The grass is going to grow unless we decide to put down some artificial turf and some fake plantings. That's unfortunately a cost that the city is going to bear probably throughout eternity. So I think having the accountability of having a single department to do that, I think it's pertinent. I think it's important. As the administrator noted that, you know, we have equipment that's unaccounted for. We have several people throughout right now in the old way that were responsible for cutting grass. And when we got calls as elected officials, we often ourselves had to call two or three departments to find out who was responsible for cutting the grass. You look at our cemeteries.

Hmm.

it's still an atrocious condition. So if we don't get out of the grass cutting business, we either contract it all out or you plant artificial grass, but we do it to the city as we grow, that we maintain it. So Commissioner Brandon Garrett, the floor is yours, sir.

Thank you, Mayor. Just listening to this discussion, I'm really confused in regards to whether the actions that took place earlier this year in February 2020 to move forward with creating this department to create a better product is where this commission body is still wanting to go. I will say that During my tenure up here, Dr. Malik has been able to renegotiate contracts and has drastically lowered the price per mile that we were paying just four or five years ago. So I will say that if we do put these RFQs or RFIs out on the street to take a look to see what the price would be. We're not going to know that. I mean, we're up here talking about how much money we're already spending. So how can you feasibly say we're going to put an RFI out there because these contractors are all sitting here listening to us and they're like, well, we already know what they're going to pay because it's already in the budget. So of course, that's what it's going to come back out. So, you know, I'm going to make a motion that we stop this whole process, that we just keep everything right where it is, stick with the status quo, make sure all the contractors get paid exactly what they're getting paid right now. That's my motion.

Thank you, Commissioner Garrett. There's a motion to stop the process. Is there a second? There's a second by Commissioner Tina Slendak. Madam Clerk, I don't see any colleagues in the queue who are prepared to vote.

Thank you. That motion fails 5-5 with Mr. Jordan Johnson voting yes, Ms. Stacy Pulliam voting yes, Ms. Catherine Rice voting yes, Mr. Tony Lewis voting yes, Ms. Francine Scott voting yes. Voting no, Mr. Lonnie Wembley. Ms. Tina Slendak, Mr. Brandon Garrett, Mr. Wayne Guilfoyle, and Mayor Johnson.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Chair, recognize Commissioner from the first, Commissioner Jordan Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

What I'll say is that we have been having conversation for quite some time, and I will agree with the administrator that She can only do what we ask her to do. which is what we're doing, asking for more information, asking for the kinks to be ironed out. And I don't think that's too much, right? I don't think that's too much. I don't think that is too much at all. I've said it every budget cycle and I have a feeling I'm gonna be saying it again. This budget cycle is that if we are not funding our expectation, what we expect to happen just simply won't happen. Cemeteries aren't getting cut because we're not funding cemeteries. Right-of-ways aren't getting cut because we're not funding those things adequately. And so I don't think that is too much to be asking for questions about how we're gonna sustain something financially or anything else when we're gonna be stuck with the decision. We're gonna be here stuck with the decision. So I mean, yes, let's take our time to figure it out, but let's also get some of these questions that's been asked over the course of a few months answered instead of just kind of brushed off and disregarded. That's the least that we can do is make sure that whatever concerns that we have on the floor that they get addressed, especially if you expect somebody to vote on it. So that's my two cents on it. I think the last motion was cute, but thank you. It was cute, but we don't need cute right now. What we need is real answers. We need substance. And I hope that we'll get to that before we vote on this again. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Johnson. Madam Clerk, I don't see any other colleagues in the queue, so if it's all right with this body, there are no objections. We're going to receive this information without objection. I don't hear any objections, Madam Clerk. Madam Clerk, Mayor Pro Tem has requested a personal privilege. Mayor Pro Tem Guilfoyle, you have the floor, sir.

Madam Clerk, last week we spoke about the three air conditioners for the parts and wrecks and the safety device to keep from it is still in it. Did somebody pull it? Because it's not on the agenda this week. Are we just going to put it on the next commission agenda? Okay. Thank you so much. Committee only.

Is that something that's important to get the air conditioner fixed in parts and wreck that we need to approve that? Director, do we need that to... Has the work been done or do we need that in order to get air conditioning back in Jamestown, as I remember?

Good afternoon, commissioners. That was to receive as information. That was an emergency that we needed done, so that's why.

Okay, so it's already been done, all right?

Can I ask the director a question?

No, it's done.

Okay. Director, Mayor Pro Tem has a question.

Director Williams, my question wasn't going to be, I don't want to catch you off guard next time this comes up. I would like for you to do some homework on how we got to this point. We're spending right at $25,000 on three air conditioners, but we're spending $27,000 on a fence or some kind of contraption to protect these three air conditioners. So one, I will be asking who come up with that solution. Two, was there any other solutions such as cameras, et cetera? So that will be coming up.

Okay. That will be coming up. Thank you, Commissioner, Mayor Pro Tem, Wayne Gifford. Madam Clerk, is there any other business before this body? No, sir. There's not. This meeting is hereby adjourned. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for being here. Have a great afternoon.