Augusta officials are seeking approval to buy up to $2.4 million in heavy equipment to safety manage and reuse more than one million cubic yards of wood mulch generated after Hurricane Helene.
The city plans to use FEMA reimbursement funds received for receiving the wood chips at the landfill to buy the equipment, according to the agenda item going before the Augusta Commission Tuesday.
The vote and a handful of other items go before the commission at its 2 p.m. meeting, after the commission re-convenes at 9 a.m. to resume efforts to balance the 2026 budget, which has a $21 million shortfall. Landfill revenue, like many city funds, is restricted to being spent where it originates.
Hurricane Helene created more than four million cubic yards of downed trees on city rights-of-way 14 months ago. The debris was reduced to approximately one million cubic yards of mulch, which Augusta is now storing in a sandy borrow area at the landfill, according to the item.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division allows the city to temporarily store the mulch, but ultimately requires it to go toward “beneficial reuse,” such as improving soil quality and stabilizing landfill slopes.
Storing so much mulch, however, carries a fire risk because the material can spontaneously combust as it breaks down, officials said. The hazard increases when the mulch is moved and oxygen reaches buried material, and fire suppression equipment must be available during its handling, they said.
Officials initially leased some of the equipment, but the work is expected to take years, prompting the agenda item being presented by Engineering and Environmental Services Director Hameed Malik.
The equipment, some already leased and other pieces to be purchased, ranges from excavators, ATVs and water trucks to tractors, trailers and fire suppression tools. Some of the purchase is called “lease-to-own” under a four-year term.
Grant, contract pay for sheriff’s deputies
Two other agenda items going before the commission Tuesday relate to personnel costs borne by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office. The commission approved significant funding increases last year for incoming Sheriff Gino Brantley that contribute to the deficit. The items include:
- Transferring $313,340 from sheriff’s office personnel funding to operations to cover certain staff members. These contract personnel are “seasoned law enforcement officers who are working on a contract basis.”
- Approve acceptance of an $8.7 million COPS grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. COPS stands for community oriented policing services and the funds will be used to hire 40 additional sworn officers to be paid annual salaries of $55,369 plus benefits over a three-year period. The grant requires a $3.7 million local match. The officers replace some 52 vacant positions the sheriff eliminated to increase pay to competitive levels.
NGO criteria proposed
With several Augusta non-government agencies facing 30% reduction, or more, in city funding as commissioners finalize the budget, going for discussion is a new application process for the groups.
With Commissioner Stacy Pulliam calling for the discussion, the process includes the following:
- The NGO defines how services meet a measurable need
- Metrics are used to determine impact and results
- Transparency and accountability in use of funds required
- A competitive, data-driven process used to allocate funds
- Applications are scored by a committee
