Columbus, Georgia

COUNCIL BRIEFING



February 5, 2002





A Council Briefing was held on Tuesday, February 5, 2002, in the Council

Chambers Conference Room, on the Plaza Level, of the Government Center,

Columbus, Georgia. Mayor Pro Tem John J. Rodgers, presiding.



** CALL TO ORDER

(5:17 p.m.)



PRESENT: Present other than Mayor Pro Tem John J. Rodgers were Councilors R.

Gary Allen, Berry "Skip" Henderson, Julius Hunter, Charles "Red" McDaniel Jr.,

Robert Poydasheff, Evelyn Turner Pugh, Richard Smith, Nathan Suber and Evelyn

Woodson. Also present were Mayor Bobby G. Peters (arrived at 5:25 p.m.), City

Manager Carmen Cavezza, City Attorney Clifton Fay and Finance Director Kay Love.



ABSENT: No one was absent.





SHIRLEY WINSTON PARK (WEIGHT ROOM):



City Manager Cavezza reported that the Council approved a fee schedule and

the City was charging $50.00 for the use of the weight room on an annual basis

at the Shirley Winston Super Center. He advised that we had six people to

sign-up to use the weight room, and as a result, the weight room is closed 90%

of the time. He decided to go ahead and open it up for other people to use

rather than allow it to sit idle. He advised that he did not come back to

Council to change the fee schedule or address that issue, and he should have

done that. He said that the issue is that if we are not getting any use of the

weight room, do we want to hold to the $50.00 fee and shut the weight room

down; it should be applicable around the city where we have super centers. He

then asked do we want to lower those rates or allow it to be free to use the

weight room. He advised that for ceramics and aerobics we have to charge,

because we have to pay the instructors.



He said that the weight room equipment was not cheap; although, it was

funded out of sales tax money. He then asked for some thoughts from the

members of Council, at which time, the following suggestions were made:



- Allow the citizens to use the weight room for free. (Councilor

McDaniel?s suggestion and Parks & Recreation?s recommendation)



- Allow the citizens to use the weight room for no charge, but once we

see a lot of usage; then, start charging $5.00 or $10.00 just to cover the cost

of having someone available to make sure that there is no abuse of the

equipment. (Councilor Poydasheff)



City Manager Cavezza recommended that we go ahead and not charge to use

the weight room for a six month?s period, measure the usage to see how well the

equipment is being taken care of; then, he would come back to the Council with

a firm recommendation.



??? ??? ???



SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY BILL:



City Manager Cavezza announced that HB 1128 (formerly HB 669), the bill

dealing with sovereign immunity, is now before the House Rules Committee. He

explained that it was passed fourteen (14) to two (2) by the Judiciary

Committee, and it is now before the House Rules Committee; therefore, we would

need to wait and see what happens with it from there.



City Manager Cavezza advised that there is a gentleman present at the

meeting to speak in favor of the Council not opposing that bill; he has spoken

to Councilor Poydasheff in his regard.



??? ??? ???



CAR COMMITTEE:



City Manager Cavezza asked that the members of the car committee meet with

him after the regularly scheduled night meeting, if the Council Meeting does

not last too long tonight.





There being no further business to discuss, this meeting adjourned at

5:26 p.m.





Sandra T. Davis, Deputy Clerk of Council

Council of Columbus, Georgia