Augusta committee advances $79k waterpark feasibility study

Augusta Advances $79K Waterpark Study as Commission Weighs Delayed Projects and Meter Upgrades

Five years after Augusta voters signed off on a $5 million financial seed for a South Augusta waterpark, the project still lacks a confirmed location or construction timeline. On Tuesday, an Augusta Commission committee pushed a $79,020 feasibility study forward to the full commission for a final vote next week, according to WRDW/WAGT.

The contract, slated for CPL Architects, Engineers and Landscape Architects, D.P.C., would task the firm with answering basic financial and practical questions. Commissioners are trying to figure out if a waterpark actually makes sense, where it might go, what it would cost to build and run, and whether a waterpark could earn enough money to pay for itself.

The study will take roughly six months, leaning entirely on SPLOST 8 funds—the city’s voter-approved sales tax program. Right now, this vote doesn’t greenlight construction. It just buys a roadmap.

Augusta waterpark study moves forward as commissioners weigh parks bill, meter tester

Commission Grills ISM over $379,795 Invoice

While the waterpark study looks ahead, the commission spent a good chunk of Tuesday wrestling with the past. Committee members spent 25 minutes grilling representatives from Infrastructure Systems Management, or ISM, over a $379,795.19 invoice covering four and a half years of extra consulting and subcontractor work dating back to 2022.

Parks Director Tameka Williams told commissioners that the unscheduled work—including design plans, assessments, special inspections, and appraisals—was necessary to keep recreation projects moving while the city finalized its on-call engineering contracts. ISM covered those subcontractor bills upfront, waiting years to ask for reimbursement.

ISM representative Abie Ladson told the committee that the city had no testing company in place, explaining that the company acted as a zero-percent-interest loan to Augusta since ISM charged no interest or extra fees and did not add a markup.

Commissioner Brandon Garrett, an eight-year veteran of the commission, pressed the firm on why invoices weren’t submitted incrementally as costs stacked up, noting he had never encountered such a billing structure during his tenure. Finance officials plan to cover the payout using recaptured federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Augusta weighs $79K study years after voters backed waterpark project

Upgrading 75,000 Meters Facing Decades of Wear

The committee also advanced a separate expenditure to purchase water meter testing equipment from Mars Company for $458,901, which includes a five-year software and maintenance agreement.

This purchase feeds into Augusta’s wider $35 million overhaul replacing all 75,000 water meters across the county. Municipal officials note the new testing apparatus is critical to ensure modern ultrasonic meters accurately track consumption, protecting customers from erratic billing.

A June report revealed that some active city meters are more than 90 years old, with roughly 11,000 meters registering zero usage every single month. Maintenance fees for the new testing gear will start at $77,065 in 2027 and climb annually through 2030, totaling $785,192 over five years.

The full commission will take up all three spending items next week.