Augusta waterpark study moves forward as commissioners weigh parks bill, meter tester

ShareAdd Us On GoogleAdd as a preferred source on GoogleAUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - An Augusta Commission committee on Tuesday sent three spending requests to the full commission for a final vote next week: $79,020 for a waterpark study, $379,795.19 to pay a parks consultant and $458,901 for equipment that tests water meters.The committee also took up three items from its legal session.The committee sent the waterpark study forward without discussion. The contract would go to CPL Architects, Engineers and Landscape Architects, D.P.C., and would allow the mayor to sign the paperwork. The $79,020 covers the full project.The study would look at whether a waterpark in Augusta makes financial and practical sense. It would examine possible locations, public demand, construction and operating costs, and whether a waterpark could earn enough money to pay for itself.The consultant also would collect public input through surveys, focus groups and community meetings before presenting findings to commissioners.The study would take about six months. It would be paid for with SPLOST 8, the city’s voter-approved sales tax program.Voters approved $5 million in seed money for a South Augusta waterpark in 2021. Augusta commissioners weigh hotel-motel tax spending amid short-term rental restrictionsA provision in the draft of the city’s zoning rewrite could reduce the revenue the city is budgeting for.Five years later, the project has no confirmed location or construction timeline.The vote does not approve building a waterpark. The study would help commissioners decide whether to pursue the project and what it could look like.Three motions came out of Tuesday’s legal session:Allow the mayor and administrator to sign cybersecurity contracts and documents.Settle Allen Crispin Fuentes’ claims against Augusta for $150,000.Settle all claims from Tammy Simpkins over the demolition of buildings at 1345 ½ 11th St. for $60,000.The committee voted unanimously to recommend that Augusta pay Infrastructure Systems Management, or ISM, $379,795.19 for extra consulting and subcontractor work for the Recreation and Parks Department. The work goes back to 2022.Commissioners spent about 25 minutes on the item. They asked why ISM waited several years to ask for the money, why the work was outside its original contract, where the money would come from and where several parks projects stand.Parks Director Tameka Williams said the request covers about four and a half years of work that was outside ISM’s original contract. She said that work included design plans, assessments, special inspections, testing and appraisals.Williams said ISM paid subcontractors to do the work so projects could keep moving. She said it was separate from the SPLOST project management work ISM was already hired to do.She said she talked with Finance about funding, and the payment would come from recaptured federal American Rescue Plan Act money.Commissioner Brandon Garrett asked why the city was being billed for several years of work at once instead of getting invoices as costs came up.He asked if that was normal and why the costs weren’t covered in the right budget years. Garrett said he has been on the commission for eight years and had never seen anything like it.ISM representative Abie Ladson said the company started working with the city in 2022 and began the extra work in 2023.He used Henry Brigham park as an example. He said the project needed concrete testing, soil testing and other services, and the city had no testing company in place. He said ISM talked with the department head and other Recreation and Parks staff and agreed to pay subcontractors up front while the city set up its on-call engineering contracts. He said that took longer than expected.Garrett asked if the subcontractors had gone unpaid for four years. Ladson said ISM had already paid them and now wants Augusta to pay ISM back. He said ISM did not add a markup or make a profit, and is asking only for the amounts it paid.Garrett asked why ISM didn’t send invoices along the way. Ladson said the company was asked to keep projects moving until the city’s on-call engineering firms were available.Garrett asked why the city didn’t use emergency purchase orders or other approvals. He noted that commissioners often get requests to pay for work that’s already done. SRS security contractor mismanaged weapons stockpileThe private paramilitary force that guards the Savannah River Site failed to properly track, classify and dispose of thousands of weapons, ammunition, explosives and body armor.He also asked if the department had enough money in its current budget and which projects could be affected.Ladson said the city would have had to pay for the work no matter when ISM sent the bills. He said ISM saved the city money by lining up the work and covering the costs up front. He called it a zero-percent-interest loan to Augusta, since ISM charged no interest or extra fees.Garrett said his concern was how the billing was handled, not necessarily whether the city owes money for legitimate work. Ladson said he understood the concern and that ISM would not handle a similar situation that way again.Ladson said ISM’s original contract was for project management, not early or final design. He said the company could not be both project manager and designer under that deal.He said the city asked ISM to help move design work forward on Big Oak and Newman Tennis Center. ISM hired subcontractors to finish those designs and paid them directly, with no markup, Ladson said.Commissioner Guilfoyle asked which projects have actually broken ground.He raised concerns about Jamestown Community Center, saying it had been in development for years, and asked if construction was finished. Ladson said he believed it was in a final walkthrough, or punch-list, stage.Ladson said most of ISM’s projects have reached final design, and many plans are 100% complete. He said they are moving through review, permitting and bidding