AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Augusta commissioners looked at two options on Tuesday: keep city maintenance as is, or create a new department.
“It’s worth spending the money to have a new department to take care of maintenance. We want to be called the Garden City, then let’s act like the Garden City,” said Commissioner Catherine Smith Rice.Right now, 41 fulltime employees are cutting grass for the city with 18 contractors spread over five departments, but the administrator said creating a new department would be a challenge.“There is not a lot of rocket science to cutting grass. I believe strongly that it’s one of our most simplest deliverables that we can deliver to the citizens of Augusta-Richmond County,” said Mayor Garnett Johnson.But some worried creating a new Vegetation Maintenance Department now could backfire with the growing season on the way. “I have doubt that we are going to be able to get to this by the peak of grass cutting season. So even if we approve this right now, I have very little confidence that we’re going to have this stood up by the peak of grass cutting season,” said Commissioner Jordan Johnson.A motion to create the new department failed on a five to three vote with three members out. Critics have said that creating the department would be growing the government.“It is not growing the size of government at all. It’s just a reassignment of assets that are in other departments to one department. It is not growing the size of government. These are just a reallocation of resources to one department,” said Mayor Johnson. But for now, maintaining the city will not be the focus of a single department…