Commission approves $25K pay hike for Augusta’s fire chief

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Augusta Commission on Tuesday approved a $25,000 annual pay increase for the fire chief.

The raise for Fire Chief Antonio Burden were approved at a meeting held under the cloud of an ongoing cyberattack that’s brought some city services to a crawl.

At the meeting, the council also got an update on a new storage structure for the Rowing Club as the mold-infested Augusta Boathouse moves closer to demolition.

Ron Lampkin with the Augusta Central Services Department says city workers will not be able to have a new storage structure up by November when the club hosts a regional regatta.

Another option was to occupy an empty building owned by Augusta at Prep Phillips Drive, but everyone is leaning toward construction of a temporary building.

Also at the meeting, the commission approved a motion to accept state grant money for improvements at Boykin Road Park.

A $1.7 million grant will be used to revitalize it from an athletic park to a passive park. Features will include comfort stations, picnic shelters, a walking track, a sustainable playground with an interactive water feature, new lighting and a community garden with outdoor fitness equipment for seniors.

The commission got an update regarding assessment of properties on Ellis Street that homeowners say have been damaged by roadway water runoff.

Cranston Engineering is claiming the damage is not due to the city drainage system, despite proven inefficiencies of the current drain being unable to handle runoff from the Calhoun Expressway and a new engineering plan being approved to fix the drainage system. Suggestions of looking to an outside expert were laid out in Cranston’s evaluation.

“From Eve Street going up, behind those homes, from Eve Street on back, it’s impossible for water to flow to the storm drain. I’m not an engineer, but I’m using just a little common sense,” said Jordan Johnson, commissioner for district one.

AUGUSTA CYBERATTACK:

On Tuesday, the commission met at 2 p.m. and quickly went behind closed doors in an executive session, presumably for an update on recovery from the cyberattack.

The commission is allowed to hold closed meetings for legal and certain sensitive matters, and has done so often and for hours at a time since the cyberattack was discovered May 20.

After Tuesday’s executive session, commissioners signaled there would be no updates on the cyber-crisis.

Also on the agenda

• A sole-source procurement from Downtown Decorations, Inc in the amount of $99,876 for Christmas décor.
• Task the administrator with bringing back a status update on the $82.3 million in American Rescue Plan spending plan in a line-itemized breakdown.
• Motion to approve development of a plan regarding the reduction of the $1.3 million budget deficit of the Augusta Library.
• Motion to approve agreement for state inmates to be housed at the Richmond County Correctional Institution.
• Motion to approve an ordinance amendment to reduce cat euthanasia with the help of Best Friends Animal Society.

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