AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Augusta has a lot of ball fields to maintain, but some city leaders are calling foul on the request for a new mower.
“That’s a lot for one lawnmower. I understand it will cut 11 feet of whatever, that’s still a lot of money,” said Commissioner Tanya Barnhill Turnley.Rec Department officials told commissioners the current big mower is spending too much time in the shop and a new one needs to be on the fields.“This is like a bat wing it has double it has a deck on this side and a deck on this side,” an official said. The mower is a Toro Groundsmaster 4000-D, and it’s being offered to the city for a little more than $103,000 taxpayer dollars. “That much for a riding lawn mower is too much, to me is too much,” said James Tention of Augusta.Harry’s Equipment Center sells Toro products but not the Groundsmaster. They are not surprised at the cost.“Some might argue that ‘oh you can get multiple mowers for the same price’ but then you have to think about the payroll perspective. You have to have multiple manpower to run multiple mowers, and while it’s kind of pricy it’s an effective mower and very efficient,” said Robert Lamaestra.Commissioners are scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to spend big or start over.“Hopefully, they’re going to go back and find maybe, I hate to say it, a cheaper version or a much more economical version would be my recommendation,” said Turnley.With the city facing a major budget shortfall, a $100,000 dollar-mower seems a likely cut…