Going high tech at the old Chamber of Commerce Building in downtown Augusta is Mayor Copenhaver's economic development vision
He’s looking to create a high tech business incubator to work in collaboration with area businesses to create jobs.
But city leaders didn't know that when they approved the $100 thousand dollars in this year’s budget for the mayor’s plan back in November.
“My first question to him before I voted for it was does this have anything to do with the stadium he said no,” said Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle.
“I was told the economic development person, I assumed it was for a salary I had no idea it was for construction, says Mayor Pro-Tem Joe Bowles.
In his State of the City speech last week Mayor Copenhaver said as soon as the commission approved the $100 thousand dollars for the high tech economic development, private industry matched it, the mayor says it's to get the tech buzz going.
“Develop new strategic partnerships, develop new business models, also develop new businesses, that's what the incubator is about,” said Copenhaver.
“I'm not particularly in favor of it because we need to streamline the government and get it clean up,” said Commissioner Joe Jackson, who voted for it last November.
Commissioners are still cleaning up the budget, voting last week to take three million dollars in cuts off the table by going two and a half million dollars deeper into the reserves.
So if the city is still looking to balance the budget should the mayor's economic development money be on the table now to be cut?
“I could possibly see that yeah, if you've already got a $100 grand from the private sector what does the government need to throw in more,” said Jackson.
“I'm not going to figure ways to take back the 100 thousand we've got more to look at then just that,” said Guilfoyle.
But the city still needs to look at cuts; the plan approved last week still leaves the city $700,000 dollars out of balance, meaning additional cuts are still needed.
City leaders are scheduled to discuss what needs to stay in the budget and what should go at a retreat the middle of next month.
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