Columbus, Georgia

COLUMBUS CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT

COUNCIL MEMORANDUM







TO: Mayor and Councilors DATE: November 8, 2005



FROM: Isaiah Hugley, City Manager SUBJECT: 2006 Proposed

Legislative Agenda



________________________________________________________________________________

__



Attached for your review are the 2006 Proposed Legislative Agenda

items. We will schedule a pre-council meeting for Tuesday, November 15, 2005

to discuss the list. The luncheon with the Legislative Delegation and others

is scheduled for Tuesday, November 22, 2005.



Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions and/or

comments regarding any of the items.



/ekt



Attachment









Columbus Consolidated Government

Proposed 2006 Legislative Agenda



November 8, 2005









1. HB265 - Municipal Clerk/Marshal?s Salary:



Introduce/support legislation to change HB 265 in respect to Municipal Clerk

and Marshal?s pay increase to say ?base salary only?. (Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers)





2. Hazardous/Solid Waste Funding:



Introduce legislation to mandate that funds collected for waste tire removal be

placed in the Hazardous Waste Fund and the Solid Waste Fund instead of being

diverted elsewhere. (Carry over from 2004) (Carmen Cavezza 8/20/05)





3. Greenspace Funding:



Introduce/support legislation to fund the Greenspace Program. (Carry over from

2004) (Carmen Cavezza 8/20/05)





4. Clerk?s Offices Indexing:



Introduce/support legislation to eliminate the requirement that the Clerk?s

offices provide a paper index for documents that are filed and indexed on

computer if they provide computers for public access. (Linda Pierce)



Explanation: To continue preparing and making available a paper copy of what is

already available on the computerized represents substantial costs in paper,

staff resources and office space. Since the computerized index is always more

current, it also creates confusion if someone examines only a paper index.



If there are counties without public access terminals, then the legislation

could be applicable to only those counties that have provided such terminals

for public access to computerized index.





5. LARP Funding:



Introduce/support legislation to increase transportation funding for Local Area

Road Projects (LARP) and for County Contracts. (Rick Jones)





6. Eminent Domain:



Oppose Legislation that limits existing authority for Eminent Domain. (Rick

Jones)





8. Inverse Condemnation:



Oppose legislation that expands the definition of Inverse Condemnation to

include any impact a state or local regulation would have on the value of

property and to require local governments (the taxpayer) to pay for the impact

of these regulations. (Rick Jones)





9. Zoning Appeals



Oppose new legislation on Zoning Appeals - Currently, property owners may seek

appellate review of county decisions by application to the Georgia Supreme

Court. Legislation, however, has been proposed that would greatly complicate

administration of county zoning ordinances by giving landowners a right of

direct appeal in all zoning decisions adverse to the property owner. Given that

direct appeal would delay zoning decisions, lend uncertainty to the process,

cost substantial taxpayer dollars, and overburden the appellate courts. (Rick

Jones)





10. Comprehensive Regional or Statewide Water Management Plan:



Introduce/support legislation to authorize a Comprehensive Regional or

Statewide Water Management Plan - Columbus and the region need a plan of action

on how water will be protected and allocated to insure future water needs for

our area. (Rick Jones)





11. 911 Surcharge ? Increase:



Introduce/support legislation to increase 911 fees from $1.50 to $2.50 for

telephone landlines. (Angela Cole)





12. Wireless Phones:



Introduce/support legislation for change in technology for wireless phones.

(Angela Cole)



Explanation ? We can not capture cost of pre paid phones





13. Public Defender?s Program:



Introduce/support legislation to allocate full funding for the Public

Defender?s Program. (Angela Cole)





14. Trade Center Funding:



Urge the funding previously committed to renovate/expand the Trade Center in

the amount of $11,000,000. (Carry over from 2004) (Angela Cole/Larry Campbell)





15. Family Connection:



Support Legislation to continue funding for Family Connection. (Carry over

from 2004)





16. UGA Cooperative Extension Services:



Support continued funding for the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension

Service and its county delivery system. Future success in extension

programming is threatened by continuing budget reductions. (Carry over from

2004)











17. Health Department ? Grant-in-Aid Funding:



Oppose proposed changes in Grant-in-Aid (GIA) funding to local health

departments. These changes will affect the daily provision of services to

communities as well as the ability to respond when communities need assistance

in a disaster.





18. Federal/State Grants:



Introduce/support legislation that would change federal/state grants to cover

salary as well as operations for programs. (Councilor Woodson)





























Columbus Consolidated Government

Proposed

2006 Federal Legislative Agenda









1 DARE/GREAT Programs:



Introduce/support legislation for the DARE/GREAT Grant funds to cover personnel

costs as well as operating costs and to allow retired public safety officers to

work these programs. (Councilors Allen, Woodson & Pugh)



2. Federal/State Grants:



Introduce/support legislation that would change federal/state grants to cover

salary as well as operations for programs. (Councilor Woodson)