Augusta’s reopening date for outside events on public property remains in limbo, awaiting a draft proposal for commissioners to vote on that would allow the downtown fresh food market to open in March.
Commissioner Sean Frantom made a case at Tuesday’s meeting to let the market open using CDC guidelines that allow outside events.
“If you go to Decatur, Georgia, their Farmer’s Market is starting in March,” he said. “East Atlanta Village, their market is starting in March. And frankly we’re going to lose that market if we don’t have a proactive stance in trying to start it. The market would like to start on the 19th of March.”
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The owner of the market has submitted a plan of how to have a safe market outside to city Administrator Odie Donald who formed a committee to make recommendations on such matters during Covid 19.
Frantom said he was told that downtown Augusta is down a million visits over the past year because of the pandemic.
“And we need to start to look at ways to bring businesses back downtown, allow people to come and go to the market and let people shop downtown while they’re down there,” he said. “And frankly, in November, December and January there was an event that happened on city property outdoors, and the fact we want to come back in April is a little late when we’ve been closed for business.”
Frantom continued, “I’m going to speak to the market because if we don’t open this market in March, they’re going to go to a neighboring county, and they’re probably not going to come back, which is very concerning that in a sense we weren’t open for business or willing to have that conversation as a commission to try to help.”
Frantom said he appreciated Donald putting a committee together to make recommendations about how the city should open up in coming months, but to wait until April, almost two months away, is too late.
Commissioner Sammie Sias said he supported the effort but thought Frantom’s item and several others on the agenda should go back through the committee process so they could be discussed.
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“I moved we sent this back to the Public Services Committee,” he said.
Commissioner Brandon Garrett said he fully supported Frantom’s request, and his only concern was if it was sent through the committee cycle they might not have a decision in place by March.
“I would really hate to lose this market and the access to fresh food as well as an avenue for people to have revenue each Saturday, which it provides, and I would really hate for it to go to neighboring counties,” Garrett said.
“So I would challenge the administrator to help us through this and help us come up with a way to come to a decision today as well as work towards a better understanding of how we can used county property, especially when it’s outdoors in light of this pandemic,” he added.
Donald then made it clear that the authority to make any decision rests with the mayor and commission and that with an affirmative vote of a majority, they could move any way they deemed appropriate. He makes recommendations only, he said.
Commissioner Catherine McKnight made a substitute motion for commissioners vote on the matter so the market could open in March.
After that, things got a little confusing as they tried to figure out how to phrase a motion that would accomplish the desired goal and have it ready to vote on next week. They finally did and voted on it unanimously.
Sylvia Cooper is a Correspondent with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com
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