Augusta, GA

Check out the first wish list for projects to include in the next penny sales tax

Published

3 days ago

June 25, 2024

Check out the first wish list for projects to include in the next penny sales tax

Jennifer Miller
| Special to The Augusta Chronicle

Augusta Commissioners this month started reviewing the “wish list” projects recommended for funding by the next Special Local Option Sales Tax, or SPLOST, that will be voted on later this year.

If approved, this would be the ninth SPLOST for Augusta, Hephzibah, and Blythe. Before the vote, public hearings will be held to get residents input about items proposed to receive funding.

Interim County Administrator Taliyah Douse recently told commissioners she estimates the next round of SPLOST revenues will generate $300 million. That is $50 million more than SPLOST 8, which was approved in 2021.

A SPLOST is an optional penny sales tax used to fund capital outlay projects proposed by the county government and participating qualified municipal governments. Voters in each county decide if the tax will be levied.

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Central Services Interim Director Ron Lampkin last week presented the requests for facility projects. The requests for infrastructure projects will be presented by Director of Engineering Hameed Malik later.

Douse cautioned the commissioners that the facility requests already exceeded the $300 million she projects the next SPLOST will generate.

Projects proposed in Lampkin’s request for sales tax funding include:

New Richmond County Correctional Institute: That project was approved for $11 million in SPLOST 8, but more funds are needed to complete the project, Lampkin said. The actual cost was much more than the allocation, so the plans were scaled down to accommodate fewer inmates, he said. The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office agreed with the plan. Another $14 million from SPLOST 9 is needed to build the new facility.
New fleet service center: The current Fleet Service Center on Broad Street will be moved to the 10-acre site on Old Louisville Road on land owned by the city’s fire department. The project is expected to cost $40.5 million, with $6 million already allocated from SPLOST 8.
New juvenile court center on the site of Craig-Houghton Elementary School: The $46.1 million project presented includes renovations and new construction that can be done in phases. Commissioner Sean Frantom asked Lampkin why this project had grown from 40,000-square-feet to 100,000-square-feet and from $8 million to $46.1 million. Lampkin explained that the staff met with the retiring Chief Judge Danny Craig and other judges who made changes to the original plan that increased costs. Frantom asked Lampkin to go to the incoming judges to determine their vision. “I’m presenting it to you guys now so you can decide what we’re going to do,” Lampkin said. The project can be done in phases, he said.
New Pod and Renovations at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center: The estimate for this project has increased from $50 million to $67 million. Lampkin said there are problems with the existing pods at the detention center and it would not be prudent to build the new pods like the others, Lampkin said. For example, he said, stronger glass is needed for windows in the facility.
Augusta Convention Center – Project Get Up & Expand: The Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau is asking for $31.5 million to add another 53,000 square feet to the front and back of the existing 83,000 square feet building, and another $10.5 million to add 300 additional parking spaces to its parking garage. Between 2013 and 2023, the estimated financial impact the center has had on the local economy is $176 million, Lampkin said. The commissioners were supportive of the program but asked if the project could be scaled back since there are so many requests.
Renovations at Richmond County Animal Services: The requested $5.5 million would go to renovating the aging shelter. But Commissioner Tony Lewis stressed that the board needed to be looking at replacing the building rather than fixing it up. “I don’t want to see us spend $5 million and have the same footprint,” he said. “I don’t think I need to pay somebody $5 million to tell me this building needs to be replaced.”
Housing and Community Development Renovations: $3.5 million for renovations of the department’s offices on Fenwick Street.
New Coroner’s Office: $6.6 million for design and construction of a new facility. There may be city-owned available, Lampkin said. The cost estimated was based on a smaller, but similar coroner’s office recently constructed in Aiken County.
Facility Improvements/On-Call Services: $10 million for projects such as roof replacements, electrical and lighting replacements, HVAC parts and unit replacements

New Recreation and Parks Department building design: $1.5 million for a new building at the same site on Lumpkin Road.
5^th Street Bridge Zip Line Family Outdoor Adventure: $3 million to being construction of a large zip line that will cross the river and back. This is part of a bigger project that will include activities around the 5^th Street Bridge area.
Total for new and renovated facilities: $194,879,907

Additional requests

New Boathouse: $20 million.
Marina: $6 million.
WT. Johnson Community Center: $20 million.
Diamond Lakes Regional Park: $15 million.
Maintenance and capital replacement for city swimming pools: $5 million.
May Park Community Center Upgrades: $2.5 million
Multi-gym athletic complex: $30 million
City cemeteries: $10 million

Total for additional requests: $108.5 million.

Grand total for SPLOST 9 facility requests: $303 million.

Commissioners were concerned that a splash park that was approved by the voters in the 2021 SPLOST wasn’t mentioned in these recommendations and no action has been taken on the project. There was $5 million set aside for the project.

“I’m disappointed there hasn’t been more effort put into making it happen. Let’s go find a company that wants to work with this,” said Commissioner Brandon Garrett said. The commission wants to find a company to operate the facility rather than the city operating it.

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Augusta, GA

Augusta Names Ember Holloway Head Women’s Golf Coach – Augusta University

Published

2 hours ago

June 28, 2024

Press Room

Augusta Names Ember Holloway Head Women’s Golf Coach – Augusta University

AUGUSTA, Ga – Ember Holloway has been named the Head Coach of Augusta University Women’s Golf.

Holloway joins Augusta after serving as an assistant coach for the Georgia women’s golf program. Before her tenure at Georgia, she was an assistant coach at Purdue University, working under legendary head coach Devin Brouse.

“It became abundantly clear early in our search that Ember was not only a great coach but would be a perfect fit for our campus and community,” said Director of Athletics Ryan Erlacher. “Our women’s golf vacancy was highly sought after and produced a tremendous candidate pool. Ember embodied everything we were looking for in our next coach and we have no doubt she will continue the commitment to excellence Coach Caroline Hegg established.”

During her time at the University of Georgia, Holloway coached three All-Americans, three All-SEC performers, and four individual title winners. The 2023 Bulldog team won the NCAA Athens Regional championship and finished 14^thoverall at the NCAA National Championship. The 2023-24 UGA recruiting class was ranked the No. 1 recruiting class in the country by the Golf Channel. The team was ranked inside the top-25 nationally by GolfStat and Clippd Golf for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.

“I feel truly honored to be the next head women’s golf coach at Augusta University,” said Holloway. “I want to thank Ryan Erlacher and the rest of the search committee for their belief in me to build upon the success Augusta Golf is known for. My family and I look forward to being a part of such a storied and passionate community. Augusta is truly a special place and I cannot wait to compete for championships.”

Holloway had a distinguished collegiate golf career at Illinois from 2010-14, competing under her maiden name, Ember Schuldt, and later played professionally for three seasons. In 2020, she was the assistant and interim head golf professional at Urbana Country Club in Illinois. Prior to that, she worked as the senior assistant golf professional at Boot Ranch Golf Club in Fredericksburg, Texas.

A native of Sterling, Illinois, Holloway recorded the second-lowest career stroke average in the University of Illinois program history. Playing in over 50 career tournaments, she achieved ten topz10 and 20 top-20 finishes.

Holloway was the first Illinois golfer to participate in three NCAA Regionals and held the Illini’s lowest stroke average in 2013 and 2014. In her senior year, she was named second-team All-Big Ten after leading Illinois individually in six out of 11 tournaments, including a sixth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships. Academically, she earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honors as both a junior and a senior.

During her three seasons as a professional golfer, Holloway competed in 21 Symetra Tour events and 18 Cactus Tour events. She also qualified for two U.S. Women’s Amateurs and three U.S. Public Links Amateurs.

Fans of Jaguar Athletics can subscribe to the email listserv by clicking here. Fans can follow Augusta University at www.AugustaJags.com and receive short updates on Facebook at Augusta University Athletics and on Instagram at @AugustaJags

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Augusta, GA

Augusta voters gather, share thoughts on presidential debate

Published

9 hours ago

June 28, 2024

Press Room

Augusta voters gather, share thoughts on presidential debate

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – As President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump squared off in Thursday’s debate in Atlanta, some locals held watch parties around the CSRA.

The Republican party gathered at the Columbia County Party Headquarters, while the Democratic party gathered at the Augusta Municipal Golf Course.

The watch party is about showing up and standing up to watch what some consider a real debate.

“I think they’re having a real debate between two people and they’re the only two people in the room. It’s a real debate,” Democrat Franklin Williams.

It was the first time since 2020 that Biden and Trump faced each other on the same stage, and there were new rules in place to keep the candidates from interrupting each other.

“Necessary, very necessary. If you go back at those debates in 2020, those rules were necessary,” said Williams.

But others were curious about how the rule would work.

“It could be very interesting and might even have an impact on the way the results of the debate may go,” said Republican Trey Allen.

New rules or not, local supporters believe their respected candidate would perform well.

Viewers on both sides were watching Biden’s stama and Trump’s rhetoric.

“I ain’t worried about his age,” said Williams. “Age today ain’t what it used to be because we have better health care.”

Allen said: “I think Trump is gonna probably perform well but, again, I’m very curious to see what Trump shows up.”

Aside from the candidate’s personal performance, both sides were focused on different issues.

Williams said: “Why do we have a convicted person running for president?”

Allen said: “I’m looking forward to hearing that the plans are about the economy. I think inflation is something we are all concerned about but the standard topics are affecting us all.”

Ahead of the debate, we spoke with local voters on what they wanted to hear as Trump and Biden went head-to-head.

From overseas to here at home, it will be a heavily watched debate with a new set of rules.

It could be a pivotal night in the race for the White House.

With polls showing this to be a very close race, the stakes Thursday night are high with one in five voters telling Forbes they will be watching to decide who they will vote for in November.

What are voters from both parties listening for in Thursday’s debate?

People in Augusta have a lot to say about what they want to change but to sum it all up, people we spoke with want a cohesive plan to solve the financial squeeze many people in Augusta are feeling right now.

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No matter the age, race or gender, people in Augusta seem to want the same thing — a better economy.

And on Thursday night, people want to hear genuine words from the candidates.

“Are they standing firm on their faith, or is it being more swayed by politics?” asked one Augusta resident.

Another resident said: “All candidates seem to sound very repetitive and robotic.”

It’s a debate that local political parties say is going to turn that tide for many people undecided.

“For those who are watching, it’s going to be very impactful because not only are you going to have die-hard Biden and Trump supporters you have a pretty good amount of people who are undecided,” Richmond County Democratic Party Chairman Jordan Johnson.

Columbia County Republican Party Public Relations Chair Ashley Lee said: “I think a lot of people’s minds are made up but there are still a lot of independents that go either way.”

In the end, everyone just says they want stability in the economy and direction, and they want it now.

“I am looking forward to hearing a plan for both sides because the plan right now is not working,” said a CSRA resident.

Other big issues people shared are control of immigration and the federal government using funds for the country first and not other countries.

Certainly, there are a lot of issues on the table that are on people’s minds, and they are waiting to hear what both candidates have to say.

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Augusta, GA

Augusta University basketball star lives out lifelong dream

Published

17 hours ago

June 27, 2024

Press Room

Augusta University basketball star lives out lifelong dream

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – For some athletes, having success can have a lot to do with their fit on the team they play for.

Making the trip across the Atlantic and landing in Augusta was the best thing for one Augusta University basketball star.

At 16 years old, Maximillian Amadasun moved from Dublin, Ireland to New York City with hopes of following his dreams on the basketball court.

“I’m thankful to have a lot of friends that care for me, and told me, you know, you’re tall so you should play basketball, and I said, ‘Okay let’s do it,’” said Amadasun.

The 6 foot 10 inch center spent time at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of St. Bonaventure before finding his home away from home at Augusta University.

Head Coach Dip Metress said: “He had a great line on his visit. I said something about working hard, he goes I continue to work hard because I must not have been good enough to play at the places I was before. Didn’t blame a coach, didn’t blame the meal plan, didn’t blame anything. So, I knew then he was made of something.”

Amadasun said: “With Dip, he’ll always give you some form of freedom in a way to be yourself and that’s one thing I love about this system, the environment.”

His work ethic and attention to detail make him a perfect fit for Metress and the Jags.

“He averaged the most rebounds of anybody I’ve coached in my 20 years, and I would say this, I’ve had a lot of bigger guys he’s the hardest working guy over 6 foot 8 inch that I’ve had,” said Metress.

Amadasun said: “Sticking to it just, you know, chopping wood, carrying water each and every day doing the same stuff and good results will come out of it.”

Being an international player living in Augusta is something Amadasun takes a lot of pride in.

“The number is slowly growing, but I’m one of few that play basketball in the States let alone live in America for sports or anything. It is you know, good to share different cultures and share different experiences with people because some people might never ever get to go to Ireland. So, it’s good to tell people about where I’m from,” he said.

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