Augusta farm at odds with city over weeds, flooding

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Weeds and overgrowth in Augusta are now threatening a local community farm.

Black Farm Street, located just down the road from Josey High School, has been experiencing issues ranging from clogged storm drains to damaging overgrowth for over a year.

The owner of the farm, LaShawndra Robinson, said the city is not doing all it can to fix the issues.

Dating back to 2021, there have been 311 complaints filed regarding the city’s creek that’s near Black Farm Street.

Robinson claims the overgrowth from the creek is killing her crops.

In August 2023, Robinson filed a property damage claim, and the city paid her $2,590 for damages.

Emails explain that inmate crews were supposed to clean the ditch four times a year, but hadn’t been doing so.

In May 2024, the same issue arises; Robinson pays $850 out of pocket to clean it, and the city reimburses her.

In June 2024, she filed another claim after the overgrowth damaged her fence and killed her watermelon crops.

Risk management denied the claim, and an email explains that risk management, following the advice of the city’s law department, decided to deny all future claims as well.

Robinson emailed her commissioners, Scott and Johnson.

In her email, she makes the following points: Who is responsible when city overgrowth crosses onto private or nonprofit property, and if the city won’t take care of it, she asks if they will provide her with equipment or funding to protect the farm from losing more crops.

“This morning glory is so viny, it chokes out your plants, said Robinson. ”If this overgrowth comes over the field, we’re gonna lose a good amount of crops this year, and people are depending on this produce in November and December to go to their homes to feed their families.”

She doesn’t have a background in farming, but Robinson saw the communal need for fresh produce.

Before the farm was built, the land was paved with concrete.

“We broke it up and now we’ve got rich soil, so just because it doesn’t look like what you want it to look like in your end picture, that you can work your way to,” said Robinson.

For Robinson, it isn’t about losing the crops; it’s about what the community loses, and the faith she keeps.

“That’s like the happiness of the community when they walk by,” said Robinson. “If God leaves me and I know I’m where I’m supposed to be, I follow.”

Last week, she spoke at the commission about these issues and proposed her own maintenance proposal. Robinson is offering to maintain the creek herself, saying, “If they accept our maintenance proposal, this wouldn’t be an issue anymore – it’s a win for them, a win for us, a win for the community.”

So, after years of denied claims and crop loss, Robinson has put a maintenance proposal on the table – putting it in the city’s hands for next steps.

“I may not know exactly the totality of why I am here and why we started this, but for right now, I see the purpose, I see the need,” she said.

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