AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Renaming the Utilities Department building for former Director Tom Wiedmeier is proving to be easier said than done.  

“It’s just tough. From our cyber-attack, the administrator search, new colleagues, and a new mayor, there’s a lot of changes this year. It’s like we can’t get on the same sheet of music,” said Commissioner Sean Frantom.  

At last week’s meeting, commissioners were scheduled to hold the final vote on renaming the building for Tom Wiedmeier, nearly three years after they first voted to begin the process, but no vote was held. 

“The clerk of commission informed us that before we can do any public naming, it has to go through a public notice. The public has to be notified before we can move forward with any public naming,” said Mayor Garnett Johnson.  

Augusta has a building naming ordinance, and it states the city administrator shall cause a public hearing to be held beforehand.  

City leaders realized that with no public hearing for the building renaming, no vote could be held. 

“We have to have a public hearing and give the public notice for any kind of naming of buildings, so that is why we tasked it to the administrator to get that done. Again, I’m not sure why it wasn’t done beforehand,” said Frantom.  

The public hearing is now scheduled for September 6th. After that, city officials will make a recommendation for commissioners to consider, but some are not in favor of considering a building renaming. 

“From my standpoint of view, I just don’t see where we need to do it at this particular point,” said Commissioner Alvin Mason.  

But most commissioners say they approve of the renaming, and they will get the chance now that the city code is being followed.