Biofuel firm still drawing foes to Augusta leaders’ meetings

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A company that wants to convert biomass into fuel says south Augustans have been “unfair and egregious” in fighting its efforts to open a new plant.

That’s what came out ahead of Tuesday’s committee meetings of the Augusta Commission.

We last checked in with Renovatio Solutions’ project in August when dozens of south Augustans came to the Augusta-Richmond County Municipal Building to voice their distaste over the plant that’s proposed for Dixon Airline Road.

Twenty-three protesters and two ers showed up at Tuesday’s committee meetings.

Some opponents say there’s been a lack of transparency about the project.

This includes the company promising 126 jobs for south Augusta; opponents say only 22 would be permanent, and the other 104 would be temporary construction jobs.

Others say they also weren’t notified about the project until it was almost approved at the committee level of the Augusta Commission.

Now, the company is rejecting a request from the city of Augusta for a consistency letter to address south Augustans’ concerns, citing “unfair and egregious” efforts from people at Spirit Creek Baptist Church. The company claims the opponents are posting misinformation on its website about the plant.

“I think this was a rush,” said Pastor Ellis Godbee of Spirit Baptist Creek Church. “We would have stated opposition immediately out front.”

On top of a south Augusta community meeting in August that failed to convince nearly 100 people that a biofuel facility was the best plan near a church, questions around the project go back to the beginning.

Emails between Renovatio Solutions and city engineers claim they held a public hearing back in May. In June, they noted there was no negative .

Spirit Creek Baptist says they were unaware of that meeting and now more than half a year later Renovatio is calling the churchgoers ‘unfair and egregious’ because of their opposition.

Attorney Ben McElreath said: “Obviously you’ve got to meet standards wherever you are, whether it’s California, whether it’s Georgia, but obviously if it meets California, it’ll meet Georgia’s standards.”

Savannah Riverkeeper, Tonya Bonitatibus, weighed in: “You’re talking about taking a bunch of municipal waste in trucks to a facility, separating it out with recyclables, and then doing a bunch of stuff inside of a building; that would make much more sense at a landfill, not in the middle of Dixon Airline Road.”

But Renovatio Solutions maintains they have the best intentions.

“There are some concerns by the church and the community, which I can understand, it’s not something that’s done every day. But it is a green energy project, and it has been operating elsewhere,” said McElreath.

Augusta leadership is now calling for both parties to come to the table again before anything moves forward.

“I would say unless their attitude changes they might want to pack it up,” said Bontitatibus.

Also Tuesday

Tuesday’s meetings consisted of Augusta Commission meeting at the committee level. That means items decided at that level generally need to go before the full commission for final approval.

Among the items before the committees were community projects and grant funding to improve:

• May Park ($2 million plus $200,000 in contingency funding) and connectivity between adjacent Magnolia and Cedar Grove cemeteries.
• Boykin Road Park.
• Dyess Park, including finalizing plans to add two basketball courts, six pickleball courts, a new walking trail, a picnic pavilion with restrooms, an outdoor fitness area, a new parking lot, a community center, a splash pad, a picnic shelter and a new bandstand. Preparation of the demolition is necessary to start construction once the final design is approved. Work would start in the second quarter of 2024 and will would take nine months to a year.

As the Public Safety Committee, commission accepted a grant with funding of $74,902 from the Criminal Justice Coordination Council of Georgia to provide services to crime victims for Oct. 1, 2023, through Sept. 30, 2024.

The committee also moved to accept $58,500 from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency to enhance the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office bomb K9 unit.

The istrative Services Committee voted to accept a more than $25,000 contract for inmate uniforms and accessories.

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