Augusta will get the land beneath its $12 million parking deck.
In a surprising vote, Tuesday, Augusta Commissioners approved an agreement with the Marriott Hotel to manage the new Reynolds Street parking deck.
The parking deal has been in doubt for months after WJBF News Channel 6 first reported the city did not own the land where the deck sits and only has air rights to the top five levels.
Then, two weeks ago, the city admitted the land also has a bank lien on it.
That created a whirlwind of criticism.
But under a deal worked out just hours before the vote, Commissioners agreed to contract with the Marriott Hotel to operate the Reynolds Street deck and the city-owned deck at the hotel, but only after the new deck property is deeded over to the city land bank, and the bank releases the parking deck property from the lien.
Mayor Pro-Tem Joe Bowles says the agreement needed changes because of the air rights and liens.
“With the liens on it, was absolutely a bad deal. You know, if we get it clear and free, it's our property and we still reap the benefits of tax exempt financing,” says Bowles who says the city saved more than $1.5 million using tax exempt bonds.
The vote was 6-3 in favor of the agreement with 1 abstention, with those voting against the deal saying they had no knowledge of the new agreement before the vote.
“There are ten Commissioners up here that represent the city and to leave four of them out of the loop and not know what's going on, is a slap in the face to 40 percent of the people who live in Richmond County, so this is nothing but a farce. This is very unfortunate,” says Commissioner Alvin Mason.
Marriott Hotel owner Paul Simon says the company has no problem deeding the parking deck land over to the city land bank.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement