Augusta’s Engineering and Environmental Services director brought another $178.7 million in 1% Sales Tax 9 requests to the Augusta Commission Thursday.
The infrastructure projects add to the more than $300 million in building requests presented to the commission in June.
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The commission is expected to tailor the total package to about $300 million in projects to go for voter approval to follow Special Purpose, Local Option Sales Tax 8 when it ends in early 2027.
Infrastructure needs
Engineering and Environmental Services Director Hameed Malik said among the largest infrastructure needs is $25 million to support the stormwater program.
Augusta’s stormwater utility fee charges most homeowners $6.40 a month, but $5 million per year in sales taxes to repair aging storm structures is needed to keep the rate at $6.40, he said.
Also included in the request is $30 million for resurfacing various roads, and $8 million to “get us to the finish line” on multiphase road and drainage work in east Augusta, he said.
The request includes $8 million to widen and improve Willis Foreman Road, a $40 million project that has 80% federal funding as an access route to Fort Eisenhower, he said.
It has $2.5 million for dredging four bodies of water, $3 million for Walton Way upgrades and $7.5 million for improvements to Ellis Street between Fifth and 11th streets, he said.
The Walton Way upgrades include a new roundabout in the 2100 block by the Partridge Inn, he said.
The request includes funding for on-call infrastructure repairs to address routine stormwater system failures.
“The city has aging infrastructure and has stormwater failures all over the place,” Malik said.
Commissioners voice their thoughts
Thursday’s work session was attended by commissioners Stacy Pulliam, Catherine Smith McKnight, Francine Scott and Wayne Guilfoyle and Mayor Garnett Johnson.
Guilfoyle and Pulliam said the chief complaint they get from constituents is about potholes.
Malik said the number averages about 100-110 per month. While potholes are generally an easy fix, many reflect a larger underground infrastructure failure, he said.
“It’s really not a pothole and it’s going to take a lot more work,” Malik said.
West Augusta homeowner Patricia Geter commented that rapid growth in the Jimmie Dyess Parkway area is requiring sidewalks for the inevitable foot traffic to schools and industry.
