Augusta says repairing the 5th Street Marina could cost up to $5 million

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The city of Augusta says it could take $3-5 million to fix the 5th Street Marina.

While operators agree they need the repairs, they say a total overhaul could force docked boats to leave and the marina to close.

Operators want to have repairs made gradually and keep business running through it all, but the city says that would waste money.

“It was essentially band-aiding a matter. Once you replace something, it goes out again, you replace it, it goes out again,” said Interim Administrator Takiyah Douse.

While Francis Christian, manager of the 5th Street Marina, says he agrees with the work needed, it’s how they got to this point that has him frustrated.

“Ongoing repairs have been going on at that facility for quite some time,” said Douse.

Christian responded: “In over seven years, we haven’t had an inspection of the docks by the city. We walk the docks on a daily basis and make sure things, electrical cords aren’t in the water and things look normal. That’s on us. Now, once a month, we turn in a safety report that goes to Parks and Rec. What do they do with it? I don’t know.”

It’s now up to Central Services and voting commissioners on how they should fix the riverfront spot.

“While Mr. Christian thinks that the repairs are minor in nature, because they are safety related and involve water over electrical or electrical over water, in this particular case we want to make certain that this particular facility is safe for all parties involved,” said Douse.

Christian said: “If they do a major overhaul and disconnect all of the electricity, all of the boats will have to go. As long as they do it in phases, everything would be ok.”

Central Services is now going to figure out the scope of work, while the city of Augusta starts the procurement process to get things fixed.

The marina is leased out and owned by the city, and taxpayers will foot the bill to make those repairs through the city budget.

Other things in committee meetings:

• Flooding victims from June of 2023 spoke before the commission and now Risk Management is coming back out to do assessments after the threat of taking action against the city.
• HR director will come back next week on how to proceed forward on finding a new Parks and Rec Director.

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