The Augusta Commission is no closer to hiring an auditor and got an earful Tuesday about why a burned-out former thrift store on Broad remains at a city gateway.
The commission also tapped the brakes Tuesday on Mayor Garnett Johnson’s request to create a charter review committee. This followed Commissioner Alvin Mason’s announcement he’s taking a leave of absence for weeks or months to have spinal surgery.
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On the thrift store item, Commissioner Sean Frantom told city staff, if anyone says Augusta only cleans up for the Masters Tournament, “this place is an eyesore we didn’t touch.”
The city attempted to address the former Catholic Social Services building in the 2100 block of Broad a day after it burned Nov. 3, Planning and Development Director Carla Delaney told commissioners.
The fire destroyed the store, which collapsed, sending bricks tumbling. Planning doesn’t have a right-of-way crew to remove hazards, but Engineering does, Delaney said.
Missed deadline blamed on outside counsel
The city got a December date in nuisance abatement court but then “third-party legal counsel” missed a deadline to run an ad in the legal organ, Delaney said. A judge “kicked it back” to the city, Delaney said.
Legal ads show the property was advertised with dozens of other derelict sites on Nov. 30, Feb. 22 and Feb. 29 as a public nuisance that owners were expected to clean up.
The ads say the owner is Coordinated Health Services, a dissolved LLC last registered to Kimberly Blanchard.
Parties with interest in the site include Georgia Bank and Trust, the Housing Trust Fund for the Georgia Homeless commission, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, the IRS and the Georgia Department of Revenue, according to the ads, which were run by attorney John Manton on behalf of the planning department.
Taking the property back to court in March, the city secured a judge’s order on May 3 that it be demolished, and awaits the document to proceed with demolition, Delaney said.
But action will be further delayed because the city’s on-call demolition companies specialize in residential, not commercial sites, according to Delaney.
Commissioners want representatives in charter review
Johnson, who promised to create a charter review committee after voters approved giving him a vote on all commission items July 1, added seeking guidance from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government to the agenda Tuesday.
“It has been 28 years (since consolidation), and I think it’s time,” he said.
Commissioners including Francine Scott, Frantom and Tony Lewis said they wanted to see it discussed in committee first. There is “work we need to engage in as a body” prior to seeking help from the University of Georgia-based institute, Lewis said.
Lewis said he wants to see “representation” on the committee, such as commission appointees, while Frantom mentioned restraint.
The city should ask the institute to conduct a study, but “the people need to be driving this train, not the commission,” Frantom said. “We need to slow-walk this one. Eventually it’s going to be voted on, down the road in a few years.”
Recreation audit rejected as too pricey or too cheap
In other action, the commission voted unanimously, with Commissioner Bobby Williams out Tuesday, to refer the award of an audit contract for Augusta Parks and Recreation back to committee for further discussion.
The vote followed failed votes to deny an award to one firm, UHY Advisors at an estimated cost of $71,664 for 308 hours of work, and for the city to rebid the contract.
Lewis abstained on that vote and it failed 5-3-1 with Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Garrett and commissioners Catherine Smith McKnight, Wayne Guilfoyle, Frantom and Mason in favor.
A vote to hire accounting firm Marcum LLP, which has an estimated price tag of $141,000 for 720 hours, also failed, 4-3-2 with Lewis and Mason abstaining and Garrett, McKnight, Guilfoyle and Frantom opposed.
Garrett, Frantom, Guilfoyle and McKnight have raised questions about the lower bid since it appeared after the commission’s May 14 agenda was published.
Interim Administrator Takiyah Douse repeated the city’s explanation – that a UPS driver arrived prior to business hours May 7 and attempted delivery but was unsuccessful.
When UPS returned with the package May 8, city officials determined the effort was sufficient and included UHY’s bid in its ranking of three firms, she said.
UHY, which has an Atlanta office, was a committee’s choice for internal auditor last year, to audit all city departments over four years. The commission determined in December its annual price tag of $290,000 for 1,500 hours was too high.
Marcum, which also has an Atlanta office, calls for the city to designate a project manager to the effort and make office space available for its personnel in Augusta Municipal Building.
UHY’s fee ranges from $176 per hour to $420 per hour depending on level of expertise. Marcum’s fee ranges from $125 to $440 per hour.
Guilfoyle said Marcum presented a “more in-depth scope of work,” and made the motion to hire the firm and provide it with an office.
Both firms have thousands of employees, but at least one Marcum director has an Augusta connection. She is Lisa Miller, who is based in Atlanta but obtained a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from Augusta State University. Miller formerly worked for Augusta external auditing firm Cherry Bekaert and Holland.
