Augusta council renews Flatwater Fitness permit, asks staff to add backup-lake language

Augusta City Council on Feb. 2 approved a renewed facility-use agreement with Flatwater Fitness and Fun to provide recreational programming at Santa Fe Lake and asked staff to draft a future amendment that would allow the operator to use City Lake as a temporary backup.

City staff told the council the partnership with Flatwater dates to 2014 and that the proposed action was a routine renewal of the existing agreement. An unidentified staff member said, "We've had an ongoing partnership with Flatwater Fitness and Fun, going back to 2014." The Flatwater representative asked the council to add language allowing the company to move activities to City Lake when Santa Fe Lake is closed for reasons such as blue-green algae, drought or flooding, stressing the request was for occasional backup use, not continuous operations.

Council and staff discussed environmental and operational concerns. Staff cautioned that a planned repair to the dam and the OG Weir could at some point affect lake operations; staff stated they are conducting studies and seeking permits and did not expect construction this year unless funding and approvals aligned. On algae transmission, staff and the Flatwater representative said blue-green algae is driven by weather and stagnant conditions and is not transferred between lakes the same way invasive plants are.

The council approved the agreement by voice vote. Staff said it will return at a future meeting with amendment language allowing limited use of City Lake as a backup site if the council wants to adopt that contingency.