2026-08-20 - City Council

Summary

Built from the official minutes. No video is posted to this page, so there is no transcript or timing.

Business meeting in Council Chambers at 7:00 PM, after a 6:30 PM pre-meeting; Mayor O'Brien presiding. All councilors present except Gary-Allen. Adjourned 8:29 PM.
Every recorded vote was 7-0.
Three borrowing orders passed and go to voters on November 3, 2026: $750,000 for Quimby Business Park roads, $7,370,000 for general capital items, and $53,571,590 (amended up from $53,525,590) for the Farrington Elementary School project.
A $500,000 fixed-route transit appropriation was tabled indefinitely.
A proposal to defer property tax interest on the September 24 installment died for lack of a motion.
Second-read ordinances passed on subdivision definitions, accessory dwelling units and Water Street storefronts; a day care zoning ordinance had its first read.
Consent agenda passed: July 2026 roll of accounts of $9,718,184.11 and the August 6 minutes.
A liquor license for a Water Street venue was approved after a public hearing; a $350 donation for the public pools was accepted.

Order 26-131 authorizes borrowing up to $750,000 for roads and infrastructure in the Quimby Business Park TIF District and for Worchester Street.
Passed 7-0 on a motion by Lind, seconded by Judkins.

Order 26-132 authorizes borrowing up to $7,370,000 for Civic Center equipment and a mechanical study, work on the Calumet Park pool, the Hartford Fire Station and the Public Works garage, a replacement rescue vehicle, and streets and sidewalks.
Passed 7-0 (Lind, Judkins), with the ratification question set for the November 3, 2026 election.

Order 26-133 authorizes borrowing up to $53,571,590 for roughly 48,000 square feet of renovations and a roughly 33,000 square foot expansion.
The amount was amended 7-0 from $53,525,590 to $53,571,590, then the amended order passed 7-0 (both on Lind, seconded by Judkins).
The ballot text estimates $28,100 in annual operating savings for each of the first two years, notes the project includes closing the Lillian P. Hussey Elementary School, and lists a $1,000,000 School Department fundraising goal for equipment.

The three borrowing questions above are the referendum items placed before voters on November 3, 2026.

Order 26-134 would appropriate $500,000 of the proceeds from the sale of 33 Union Street for fixed-route transportation and let the City Manager negotiate with GreenLight Rides LLC.
Tabled indefinitely 7-0 on a motion by Lind, seconded by Judkins.

Order 26-136 would start interest on the September 24, 2026 installment on December 1, 2026 instead of the day after the due date.
It failed for lack of a motion.

Order 26-123 (second read) passed 7-0 on Lind, seconded by Judkins; it lowers the dwelling-unit threshold in the subdivision definition from five to three and updates related district, groundwater and public hearing notice sections.

Order 26-124 (second read) passed 7-0 (Lind, Judkins): one accessory unit allowed per lot with a one- or two-family dwelling, minimum 190 square feet, exempt from density, lot size and parking standards, and not allowed in the 100-year flood zone.

Order 26-125 (second read) passed 7-0 on Lind, seconded by Austin: no residential use within 30 feet of the street-level face of buildings on Water Street south of Commercial Street; the April 2, 2026 moratorium on residential development in Kennebec Business District 1 is repealed.

Order 26-137, first read, no vote required: redefines day-care center and small day-care, makes both permitted in all zoning districts except IA and GS, and sets parking at 1 per staff plus 1 per 6 children for centers and none for small day-care.

Order 26-139 accepts an in-kind donation valued at about $50,000 from a group of Augusta residents: a sensory regulation building at Fuller Field, to be built by the Capital Area Technical Center Building Construction Program with Lajoie Brothers Construction.
Passed 7-0 (Lind, Judkins) after an executive session on a real estate matter (8:15 to 8:26 PM).

Spirit of America Award presentation.
Public hearing and approval of a new liquor license for The Kennebec Room at 300 Water Street (order 26-130, 7-0).
Order 26-135 accepting a $350 donation for the Recreation Bureau's public pools passed 7-0.
Minutes certified by City Clerk Gooldrup on August 24, 2026.