Augusta Riverfront LLC asking Commission to honor bridge agreeme - WFXG FOX54 Augusta - Your News One Hour Earlier

Augusta Commissioners and the Augusta Riverfront LLC agreed to build a pedestrian bridge between the Reynolds Street parking deck and the Augusta Convention Center five months ago; but they are still waiting for a green light to start construction.

"It's disappointing because we've worked on this for 7, 8 years," said Paul Simon the president of the Augusta Riverfront LLC.

His disappointment follows the Commissions Tuesday night decision to deny funding for the sky bridge.

"Right now, to spend a million plus dollars to construct a walkway across there, it's not the right time," said District Nine Commissioner Marion Williams.

The bridge would cost close to $900,000 to build and would be paid for by SPLOST dollars.

"The money is there, we saved the money by the deck so the sales tax dollars are there to do the work," said Simon.   

Simon says money isn't the issue here, instead it's upholding their agreement, "It's about if you as a commissioner are willing to uphold your end of the bargain and live up to the commitments that the city has made?"

But Commissioner Williams says the city isn't obligated to do anything right now.

"I don't think we're obligated to build that. I think that the taxpayers have spent a lot of money on the building, have spent a lot of money on the parking deck; right now it's just not a good time," Williams, said.

Williams says he wants to wait and see how the Convention Center performs before he revisits the issue.

Commissioners such as Bill Lockett say they would vote again on the bridge in a year; but Simon says in order to honor their agreement they should reach a decision within two to three months.