Augusta Commission balks at housing director’s loan request | The Augusta Chronicle

Augusta Commission members put the brakes on a $2.5 million loan sought by the city’s Housing and Community Development director to continue an ongoing redevelopment effort in two historic black districts.

They also voted, with Mayor Deke Copen­haver breaking a 5-5 tie, to seek more proposals for the management or sale of Augusta Municipal Golf Course.

Housing and Community Development Director Chester Wheeler defended his department’s spending of $8 million on Laney-Walker redevelopment, despite its resulting in only 19 new homes over the project’s first three years. Wheeler sought the loan to cover a shortfall until the city is able to issue additional bonds based on future collections of a hotel bed tax, of which $750,000 a year is guaranteed to the Laney-Walker and Bethlehem efforts for 50 years.

Wheeler said while only a handful of houses were built and occupied, 275 lots had been obtained and 97 dilapidated properties had been demolished.

via Augusta Commission balks at housing director’s loan request | The Augusta Chronicle.