Columbus, Georgia

MINUTES

COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

WORK SESSION



JULY 27, 2004



The regular monthly Work Session of the Council of Columbus, Georgia was

called to order at 9:00 A.M., Tuesday, July 27, 2004, in the Council Chambers,

on the Plaza Level of the Government Center, Columbus, Georgia. Honorable Mayor

Robert S. Poydasheff and Honorable John J. Rodgers, Mayor Pro Tem, presiding.



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PRESENT: Present other than Mayor Robert S. Poydasheff and Mayor Pro Tem John

J. Rodgers was Councilors R. Gary Allen, Berry Henderson, Glenn Davis, Julius

H. Hunter, Jr., Charles E. McDaniel, Jr., and Nathan Suber. City Manager Carmen

Cavezza, Assistant City Attorney Jamie Deloach and Clerk of Council Tiny B.

Washington were also present.



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ABSENT: Councilors Wayne Anthony, Evelyn Turner Pugh and Evelyn Woodson were

absent, but were officially excused upon the adoption of Resolution Numbers

319-04, 320-04 and 321-04, respectively. City Attorney Clifton Fay and Deputy

Clerk Sandra Davis were also absent.



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INVOCATION: Led by Mayor Pro Tem John J. Rodgers.



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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Led by Mayor Robert S. Poydasheff.

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INTRODUCTION OF STUDENTS FROM KIRYU, JAPAN:



Mayor Poydasheff asked Dr. Tom Dolan of the Columbus State University

Political Science Department to come forward to introduce the students who are

visiting Columbus from Kiryu, Japan.



Dr. Dolan said he has with him today, the 2004 delegation for the Columbus

State University English Language Institute, which is a group of twelve

students, high school and college students from our Sister City in Kiryu,

Japan. He said they are here in Columbus for two weeks of intensive language

training at Columbus State University; whereby, we have a faculty of teachers

from our public school systems, as well as student assistance from Columbus

State University and a group of high school students who assists him with this

training.



Dr. Dolan then introduced Mr. Akira Kishimoto, of the Korean International

Exchange Association to make some brief comments.



Mr. Kishimoto said he would like to extend his sincere thanks to the

members of the Council for their understanding and cooperation to their Sister

City?s Exchange Program in their 25-year Sister City history. He said they have

sent students to Columbus every summer to study English as well as experiencing

different cultures. He said since they have arrived, they have enjoyed their

stay here and are now beginning to feel at home. He said he is sure that

Columbus is going to be a second home for many of the students.



He said they are greatly honored to be here and hope that many more

Columbus citizens come to Kiryu. He said they are looking forward to sharing a

wonderful time with everyone here in Columbus and would like to thank you for

your hospitality and are proud that Columbus is their Sister City.





Mayor Poydasheff said he would like to thank Mr. Ed Wilson of his staff

and the members of the CIRCLE for what they have been doing for our visiting

delegation.



The Kiryu students then stood and introduced themselves.



Mayor Poydasheff said everyone is invited to the Rivercenter at 5:30 p.m.

on Friday.

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MINUTES: Minutes of the July 20, 2004 meeting of the Council of the

Consolidated Government of Columbus, Georgia were submitted and approved by the

Council upon the adoption of a motion made by Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers and

seconded by Councilor Allen, which carried unanimously by those seven members

of Council present for this meeting.

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CONSENT AGENDA:



THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WERE SUBMITTED AND APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL PURSUANT TO

THE ADOPTION OF A MOTION MADE BY MAYOR PRO TEM RODGERS AND SECONDED BY

COUNCILOR ALLEN, WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE SEVEN MEMBERS OF COUNCIL

PRESENT FOR THIS MEETING:

An Ordinance (04-64) - Amending the Public Safety Position Classification

Plan and Pay Plan of the Columbus Consolidated Government by changing position

titles for Fire Lieutenants; and changing pay practices for Fire Lieutenants

and Fire Captains to comply with new Fair Labor Standards Act rules.



A Resolution (317-04) - Authorizing the City Manager to apply for and if

approved, accept a grant of $26,667 from the Georgia Secretary of State to

correct accessibility issues for disabled voters at polling location in

Columbus, Georgia and amend the multi-governmental fund 216 by $26,667.



A Resolution (318-04) - Authorizing the acceptance of a deed to Zander

Court and the portion of Leaf Brook Drive located in Section Three, Grandtree

on behalf of Columbus, Georgia.



A Resolution (319-04) - Excusing Councilor Wayne Anthony from the July 27,

2004 Council Meeting.



A Resolution (320-04) - Excusing Councilor Evelyn Turner Pugh from the July

27, 2004 Council Meeting.



A Resolution (321-04) - Excusing Councilor Evelyn Woodson from the July 27,

2004 Council Meeting.



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THE FOLLOWING TWO TEMPORARY STREET CLOSING APPLICATIONS WERE SUBMITTED AND

APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL UPON THE ADOPTION OF A SINGLE MOTION MADE BY MAYOR PRO

TEM RODGERS AND SECONDED BY CONCILOR ALLEN, WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE

SEVEN MEMBERS OF COUNCIL PRESENT FOR THIS

MEETING:



Application of Pauline Brown to temporarily close Playa Delray between

Meadowlark Drive & Califon Drive on Tuesday, August 3, 2004, from 3:00 p.m. to

8:00 p.m., for a Street affair for National Night Out.



Application of William Lyde, Jr., to temporarily close 6001 - 6020 Walters

Loop on Tuesday, August 3, 2004, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., for National

Night Out Participation.



*** *** ***



Mayor Poydasheff said he is going to be asking the Council to approve a

resolution that the City Attorney is going to be drawing up. He said it

concerns the outstanding training that we are doing here for public safety and

homeland security; which is based on Presidential Executive Order HSPD-5 & 8

that we are implanting and probably is the only City in Georgia and the

southeast that is doing that. He said we have been requested to present a

resolution that will be used by the other cities in Georgia and said that Chief

Waters will be here on this morning to fully explain the matter.



He said that we have been having the NIMS Training that he and the city

manager have sponsored, which is being held at Chattahoochee Valley Community

College this time, but the next session of training will be done here in

Columbus. He said this is to support the President?s Executive Orders and

support the training of our first responders and others that may be involved in

serious incidents, whether terrorism or hazardous materials.



Fire Chief Roy Waters then entered the Council Chambers at the time while

Mayor Poydasheff was explaining this resolution he is asking the Council to

adopt.



At the request of Mayor Poydasheff, Chief Waters then went into further

details in explaining what the NIMS (National Incident Management System)

training. He said this is an order from the President through Homeland Security

that all states and municipalities adopt a standardize Incident Management

System by October 1st. He said if the systems were not adopted by this date,

you would not be eligible for Federal Disaster Relief or Federal grants.



Chief Waters said prior to him coming to the Council this morning, he was

briefed by one of the instructors that are providing the NIMS training, that a

copy of the resolution will have to be included in the local emergency

operation plan, which they are in the process of revising. He said they are in

the process of revising that plan and it is now going to be mandatory. He said

this will state that all departments within the City or municipality will have

to operate off the same standardize incident command policy.



Mayor Poydasheff said we started that under the authority of the Mayor?s

Public Safety Director; however, we wanted the Council to be fully and

completely involved in everything that we do. He said we also have a series of

Memorandum of Understanding and Mutual Agreements with all of the counties, as

well as Fort Benning, which are being signed on today.



He said he would like for the Council to support the oral resolution,

which will be prepared by our Assistant City Attorney and put in writing and

ask the Council to adopt the resolution.





Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers then moved the adoption of the resolution. Seconded

by Councilor Allen, which carried unanimously by those seven members of Council

present for this meeting.



The following resolution has been prepared by the City Attorney?s Office

and processed with those other items approved by the Council above:



A Resolution (322-04) - Adopting the National Incident Management System

(NIMS) so as to become compliant with the Homeland Security Presidential

Directive/HSPD-5 and Georgia Senate Bill 243 that will strengthen the

preparedness of the United States to prevent and respond to threaten or actual

domestic terrorist attacks.



THE FOLLOWING TWO NEW ZONING PETITIONS, RECOMMENDED FOR APROVAL BY BOTH

THE PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION AND THE PLANNING DIVISION WERE SUBMITTED AND

AN ORDINANCE AND PUBLIC PRO TEM RODGERS:

Petition of the Planning Division to amend the text of the Zoning

ordinance to change the Off-street parking requirements for shopping centers

and developments.

(39-A-04-Planning Division)



Petition of the Planning Division to rezone properties along the south

side of Cusseta Road between Alpine Drive and CSU property from a C-2 District

to a R-2 and R-4 District. (40-A-04-Planning Division)

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WORK SESSION AGENDA:



PUBLIC SAFETY ADVISORY COMMISSION:



City Manager Cavezza said Councilor Hunter; a member of the Public Safety

Committee has a brief report on behalf of Councilor Anthony, Chairperson of the

Committee that he would like to give on today.



Councilor Hunter said at their last meeting of their committee, they

discussed the makeup of the Public Safety Advisory Commission and tossed around

a few ideas, which they decided to bring to the Council on today. He said they

thought that each Council member would nominate someone for a position of the

Advisory Commission. He said one of the questions was whether or not they would

have any special requirements for those nominees.



He said they would nominate them just as they nominate members for any of

our advisory commissions that we have throughout the City. He said there was

another line of thought that we should perhaps conduct some type of background

check, but in our final analysis, it was decided to bring it back to the

Council to allow them to discuss those ideas.



Councilor Henderson said that Councilor Hunter has explained it completely

and said there has been some input from people in the community with everyone

offering advice and suggestions on how this Advisory Commission should be

composed and how the selection process should take place. He said ultimately

the Public Safety Committee under the direction of Councilor Anthony and this

particular piece that Councilor Hunter has spent so much time working on; what

they have decided on as a group is that although the recommendation for some

background checks came out of certain areas, their feelings was that this might

act as an inhibitor to people who might otherwise be willing to serve. He said

it could open up some other problems as to where do you draw the line, whether

an individual has been charged or convicted. He said in their minds it would

create more conflict than if we just relied on the good judgment of the members

of Council and who they placed on the Commission.



Mayor Poydasheff said he absolutely agrees with the Public Safety

Committee because these meetings are not going to be classified; therefore,

there will be no type of security clearance required.

He said he trusts the Council as he has often told you before.



He said he feels that this Council has the capability, as they have shown

on numerous occasions when they have staffed commissions and he doesn?t think

that a background investigation is needed. However, the one question that he

has, is normally in most cases on the Advisory Commissions that we have a

Council member appoint someone from his or her Council District and then asked,

should the Council pick anyone that he or she wants or should it be limited to

their particular Council district.



Councilor Hunter said it was his understanding with regards to selecting

members on the other Commissions and Committee, generally speaking, it has been

customary that the Council select someone from their Council District, but they

were not necessarily prohibited from doing that. He said he plans to nominate

someone from his district and probably most of the Council members are going to

do that; but he is not aware that we have some type of prohibitive band that

requires they must come from their Council district.



Mayor Poydasheff said we don?t have any type of band and said we would

just leave it to the discretion of the Council members.



Councilor Davis said given the nature of this board and who and what they

are going to be involved with, he thinks there needs to be some form of

understanding of background; maybe not an extensive background study. He said

he thinks it might be important to look into possibly prior offenses or nature

and maybe leave it up to the discretion of the Council. He said he thinks those

questions need to be asked in some sort of form or fashion.



Mayor Poydasheff said he is sure that the members of Council will do that.



Councilor Henderson said that was some of the concerns that came up and

had been expressed throughout the community, but the Committee decided it could

be handled with some type of questionnaire that we created through the bio or

adding some additional question or trying to do a little bit more information

seeking on the front end; so that it would be between the member of Council and

the person that they are thinking about nominating.



He said the concern was that there might have been people in their youth

that had been charged with something, and then cleared that would cause them

some embarrassment now, if they were to go through a background check and it

was divulged that they were charged with something. He said we talked about,

but didn?t debate it because we all recognized some sound reasons for

suggesting a background check, and then staying away from it as well. He said

ultimately after weighing those things we are talking about, we decided to

leave it up to the Council as a whole, but the recommendation of the Public

Safety Committee was to forego it.



Councilor Allen said his concern is that a background check would lead to

a precedent for other Authorities, Boards or Commissions where we might want to

start doing background checks and then you would have fewer people who might

want to serve. He said he would think that if a Council member received more

than one request for consideration to be appointed to this Commission, if they

want to narrow it down to two, three or four; then they could call the Police

Department and ascertain for themselves, which would be the appropriate

nominee. He said they could screen them themselves.



He then asked Assistant City Attorney Deloach, if the ordinance is worded

such that a nominee shall be from each district, or does it say that a Council

member shall appoint. He said he didn?t think that it was worded that way, but

he wanted to make sure.



Mayor Poydasheff said it is left up to the Council member. He said it

doesn?t have to be from the Council District and the ordinance doesn't state

that.



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LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN:



City Manager Cavezza said he thinks everyone is familiar with the

Columbus-Phenix City Metropolitan Planning Organization, which the Mayor chairs

and Rick Jones of the Transportation Planning Division coordinates and are now

in the process of developing a long-range transportation plan for the Year 2030

and then called forward Mr. Rick Jones to introduce the program.



Mr. Rick Jones said the MPO is the planning arm of the region, not

necessarily just Columbus, but also deals with Phenix and other sections of

Alabama as well, in terms of transportation needs. He said their ultimate

responsibility is to make sure that they have planned thoroughly, not only with

local officials but also with State and Federal officials as well in terms of

making sure that we have our transportation needs met.



He said transportation needs in the past have exclusively dealt with

automobiles; however, today, it deals with freight movement, bicycling,

pedestrian traffic or any type of motor transportation we have to address the

needs, which must be incorporated in terms of the plan itself.



Mr. Jones said he has provided the Council members with two brochures,

one, that designs MPO and how it actually works, and where our boundary areas

really covers. He said what they want to come to talk with you about this

morning is the Long Range Transportation Plan. He said this is the 20/30-plan

and the importance of this plan is two-fold:



(1) In order for any project in this region to be considered for State and

Federal funding, it must first be identified in this Long Range Transportation

Plan.



(2) If we fail to adopt a Long Range Transportation Plan we are no longer

eligible for Federal funding



He said their deadline for getting this plan accomplished is December

2004. He said they are currently on target now and are working diligently to

make sure that they meet all of the objections and deal with the issues that

they have to deal with to make this plan work for the community as a whole. He

said to make sure that this does happen, they have hired consultants to help

them work with this plan.



Mr. Jones said they have hired Wilbur Smith & Associates out of Atlanta,

Georgia and Mr. Harry Straight, who is the consultant in charge of the project

is present here this morning and he will make a presentation on what work that

will be doing on the Long Range Transportation Plan.



Mr. Harry Straight, of Wilbur Smith & Associates said there are two areas

of input that the Council could assist them in this process of putting together

a plan is by giving them suggestions of people and organizations within the

community within your constituency that you feel that we need to bring in the

input, which could have valuable input about the future of the region. He said

also, if there are any topics that you feel we need to address in the planning

process, which are relative to you and helps you with the decisions that you

will have to make in terms of funding and funding allocation.

Mr. Straight said the process is a complex process and probably the most

critical step is to get a clear understanding of what?s happening in the

community today and what are the transportation needs within the community. He

said then to conduct studies, like the study done on the Revitalization of

Columbus South and understand what documents such as this means for the future

of transportation and the future of the community. He said probably one of the

most difficult things to do is to analyze what 30-years in the future means to

the community. He said the Georgia Department of Transportation is developing a

Long Range Transportation Model that takes 30-year projections of population

and employment and helps us understand what that means to transportation demand

and that is a very difficult task because there are a lot of variables that are

in the future; however, that is a part of their technical process.



Mr. Straight then gave a fifteen minute presentation on the Long Range

Transportation Plan and highlighted the following areas as outlined below:



Columbus?Phenix City MPO

Briefing



? Project Overview



? Preliminary Findings



? Next Steps





Overview of LRTP Process



? Regional Visions & Goals

? Identification of Needs & Opportunities

? Development & Evaluation of Alternatives

? Development of Long Range Transportation

? Transportation Improvement Project Implementation





PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT:



Steering Committee

12 Public Meetings

Stakeholder Interviews

Bilingual Brochure

Project Newsletter

Project Website

Televised Meeting

Special School Program

Transportation Issues Survey





FIVE MAJOR FOCUS AREAS:



? Congestion on key arterial corridors

? Crashes and conflicts with autos, trucks, pedestrians, and cyclists

? Public transit service and connectivity

? Pedestrian/bicycle facilities

? Economic development/jobs/tax base





Congestion Monitoring Network



Congestion Monitoring Network



Prioritized Facilities



? Short Term

? Medium

? Long Term





Mr. Straight showed a map of the Columbus-Phenix City Congestion

Monitoring Network and how that works.





Traffic Safety



Mr. Straight showed data of the number of accidents in Columbus and

Phenix City, as well as the number of accident locations by frequency. He also

outlined the top 20 accident locations, which was based on 2003 Severity Rates.

He said one of the things they are doing is trying to understand where those

accidents take place and then showed a diagram which summaries the top 50

locations over the last three years. He said they are also looking to

determine if there are any areas or corridors where there are safety problems

chronically and can we address those; which is something they will be looking

at in the Long Range Transportation Plan.





PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION:



Metra Routes

PEX Transit Routes

Public Transportation Needs





PRELIMINARY FINDINGS:



1) Ridership does not support dedicated weekend service. Lack of Sunday

transit service, however, can pose problems for industrial plant workers and

for Fort Benning?s civilian workforce;



2) Disabled population cannot always meet paratransit service criteria, and

more specialized service may be needed by some;



3) METRA operates from 4:30am to 8:30pm Mon-Sat -3rd shift workers l lack

service;



4) Urban League suggests special program for adults and children on

Welfare (e.g. reduced fare);



5) PEX ?service limitations ? currently 2 routes and few buses.





Public Transportation Opportunities



1) Feeder service for Harris County and fixed route service for Phenix City;



2) Feeder service or demand response services in Taylor and Chattahoochee

County; and

3) Transfer center in North/Central Columbus.

BICYCLE/PEDESTRAIN ANALYSIS:



Needs & Opportunities



1) Improvements in Areas Without Sidewalks (e.g. EJ Areas)

2) Accessibility Improvements (e.g. walk to school)

3) Identification of needed linkages to Major Activity Centers and Bus Transit

4) Connectivity to Riverwalk and other existing multi-use trails/paths



Accessibility to Schools



1) State of GA Criteria ? children walk to school if they reside within

1.5 miles radius





ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:



Opportunities/Transportation Related Elements



? Improving linkages between Fort Benning and the urban core

? Protecting accessibility on arterials

? Improved circulation within Columbus/Phenix City

? Evaluating means for air service

? Relocation of the NS rail yard

? Enhancing Quality of Life





NEXT STEPS:



? Travel Demand Modeling Analysis

? Address Identified Deficiencies

? Prioritize Improvement Strategies

? Identify Available Funding

? Future Challenges/Opportunities



1) PM 2.5 non-attainment status

2) Coordination with Future Growth

3) Land use/Transportation Connection

4) Context Sensitive Design

5) Highway Safety - Hazardous Waste Management

6) Intelligent Transportation Systems



After the conclusion of the presentation, Mr. Straight and Mr. Rick Jones

then responded to questions of Mayor Poydasheff and members of the Council.



Mayor Poydasheff asked the staff to provide a comparison of fatalities

among Savannah, Augusta, Macon and Columbus.



City Manager Cavezza said in Mr. Straight?s conclusion, he talked about

concept sensitive design and 30 year out plans and said what we are finding out

is that there are no easy road projects. He said when the project does get into

the TIP and then we go out to the public, then we start talking about concept

sensitive design and then said it is almost too late. He said he is hopeful

that it is being considered well out in this timeframe. He said when you talk

about safety on roads, you are talking about divided highways and divided roads

with raised medians, which is what DOT considers safe roads. He said that comes

in conflict with the neighborhoods. He then cited an example, which is Forrest

Road, where people live right on the major road. He said if you do something

to that road, you would disrupt a lot of people?s lives. He said what we need,

is to catch that very early on.



After further discussions on this matter, Mr. Straight then responded to

further concerns of City Manager and members of the Council. City Manager

Cavezza also responded to further concerns of the Council as well.

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WARM SPRINGS ROAD:



Councilor McDaniel said he has received some telephone calls as it relates

to Warm Springs Road from 17th Avenue to Hilton Avenue and said they have

resurfaced that road and they asked City Manager Cavezza, why did they

resurface the road because it is suppose to be widened.



City Manager Cavezza said the road is so bad and said it is going to be a

couple of years before we do the major construction on that road and we were

getting a lot of complaints about that road. He said the pot holes are real bad

and said it was really hard to drive in the right lane sometimes; so, we felt

it was necessary to go ahead and resurface that road.



Councilor McDaniel asked if the residents out there know how long it is

going to take for this road to be widened; especially around the doctors

offices; because it is a highly controversial issue.



City Manager Cavezza said on August 12th, there would be a public meeting

on widening that road, and hopefully, we will have some answers at that time.

He said we wrestled with that for a long time because we didn?t want to waste

money, but said it could be 2 - 3 years before that road is fixed.



*** *** ***



TAXICAB ORDINANCE:



Mr. Wallace Archie, Chairperson of the Taxicab Commission said he is here

this morning to present to you and ask for your approval for the ordinance

amending Chapter 21 of the Columbus Code, which are the proposed changes that

the Taxicab Commission has worked on for the last year or so.



He said the need for this revision is due to changes in technology,

equipment, new laws, city growth and the cost of living. He said based on these

facts, the Taxicab Commission, after reviewing ordinances from other cities,

both smaller and larger than Columbus, and speaking with individuals in Taxi

Administration positions in some of those cities, they have tried to make this

revision a revision that is up-to-date and geared toward the passengers with

more emphasis on safety, comfort and for the taxicab owners, making them more

responsible drivers, making them more courteous and knowledgeable about the

streets of Columbus. He said also the law enforcement officers.



Mr. Archie said the reasons many of the proposed revisions are made so

that the Code sections will be more understandable, and definitive. He said

after numerous regular meetings, called meetings and work sessions, and

individual group discussions, they have finally completed and voted unanimously

for this revision and would ask the Council to do the same.



Mayor Poydasheff said the City Attorney?s office has reviewed the

ordinance and said we don?t have a problem with the ordinance.



Councilor Henderson said he remembers that there was one major point in

contention which was the dispatch issue and then asked Mr. Archie how did they

settle this issue. He said he remembers there was one individual who appeared

before this Council that was questioning the need for the dispatch. He said you

had indicated that there were a number of people who were using cellular

telephones instead of radios.

Mr. Archie said within this ordinance revision is a responsibility of the

company owners to maintain a log, a complete log of all calls that are taken,

either by the company or cellular calls by the drivers. He said if he gets a

call on his cellular phone to make a pickup, it is up to him to keep a log of

that call and to be determined by the company owner, he or she will let him

know when he has to turn his log in; whether at the end of that day or the end

of that week. He said his log would be incorporated into the log that the

company receives on their telephone. He said every call that is taken by

telephone by the company or by individual drivers on their cellular telephones

would be recorded at the company.



After continued discussion on this issue, Mr. Archie then responded to

further questions of members of the Council.



Assistant City Attorney Deloach responded to those concerns of members of

the Council as it relates to the keeping of a log as well.



Lt. Julius Ross of the Columbus Police Department in response to Councilor

Davis as to the proposed amendments, said he is appointed to the Taxicab

Commission and said as a member of the Commission, he has worked closely with

the members and have represented the Police Department?s concerns very much

during the proposing of this new revision. He said they do feel comfortable

with the ordinance and said it does put a responsibility on the owner to help

them enforce the controls on the taxicab industry in Columbus. He said it does

limit, by the way they define the rules, regulations and definitions, which is

the biggest change that we really had. He said mostly everything that has been

discussed were issues of concerns, but they were in the old ordinance; however,

there was just questions as to the interpretation of those things. He said they

have spelled those things and now have a 17-page document rather than a 5-page

one.



After ten minutes or more of discussion on these proposed amendments, City

Manager Cavezza said we would bring this ordinance back on next week on first

reading.



Assistant City Attorney Deloach said she would like to point out that the

Taxicab Commission is also recommending a rate increase in this proposed

amendment.



Mr. Archie said the old rates were $1.50 when you enter the taxicab and

.50 cents for each additional third of a mile, as well as .50 cent for each

additional passenger. He said under the new rates, it will be $2.00 when you

enter the taxicab and .60 cents for each additional third of a mile, making a

mile $1.80 and an additional .50 cents for each additional passenger.



*** *** ***



ANIMAL CONTROL ORDINANCE:



City Manager Cavezza said on the Animal Control Ordinance, we will bring

that back on next week with some additional changes, which means that it will

probably have to go back to first reading. He said on that particular ordinance

we had a series of public meetings; where we had one that was televised live,

and said we only had two people to show up. He said they thought it wasn?t

strong enough and wanted it to be stronger; however, the staff hasn?t heard

anything on this, but the Council members have.



He said if it does go back on first reading, he would encourage those

individuals who have a real strong feeling about this, to please participate in

that process and let?s get it out so that we can come up with the best possible

ordinance that is fair to everyone.



CONTINENTAL CARBON CASE:



City Manager Cavezza said the Continental Carbon case is going to court on

August 9th in Opelika; which is the one that the citizens of Columbus South has

been waiting for a long time to see go to trial. He said Mr. Riley Land,

Emergency Management Officer will sit in on all those hearings, since he is the

most knowledgeable on that case.



*** *** ***



COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM:



City Manager Cavezza said in late August or early September, we are going

to kickoff a community improvement program in the Winterfield area; which is

part of the Columbus South Initiative. He said what we are going to do is to

put together a Neighborhood Leadership Academy and meet with the community and

get them involved by organizing community organizations to take care of their

neighborhood. He said these are things we have done in the past in other areas.



He said they were in the Winterfield area once before; however, it didn?t

take hold like it should have, but we feel that we can make that happen this

time.



*** *** ***



COLUMBUS SOUTH TASK FORCE:



City Manager Cavezza said during the August Work Session, we would have

Mr. Karl Douglass to come to the Council and give a report on the Columbus

South Task Force.



*** *** ***



CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS:



City Manager Cavezza said what he has asked the Department Directors to do

is to send him quarterly critical success factors for each of their departments

and said he has a few of those this morning that he would like to share with

the Council.



He then showed graphs from the various departments as listed below from

July 2003 - June 2004; which outlines the critical success factors review for

each of those departments as outlined below:



City Attorney?s Office

Citizens Service Center



City Manager Cavezza then highlighted several of the complaints that are

called into the Citizens Services Center, which he said the number one

complaints are garbage pickup and the cutting and cleaning of the

rights-of-way. He said the second highest is garbage pickup.



Councilor McDaniel asked if there is any rule that we go by; because he

had a lady who is 85 years old who called him because she had bought a new

garbage can with wheels on it, and the first time she put it out, they tore off

the wheels and the next time, they knocked a hole in it. He said this is

irresponsible for them to do that and then asked, if there is any method that

we have to replace this.



City Manager Cavezza then informed him that if she would call 311, we

would replace her garbage can. He said when we go out and look at it, and it

looks like it was legitimately damaged, we will replace it.



Councilor Henderson said some of the home improvement stores, i.e.

Wal-mart, K-Mart and some of the other places are selling trash cans that are

over the size that we will pickup and said the consumers don?t know this until

after they have gotten the trash can and put it out. He said he didn?t know if

there was some way that we could contact some of these stores and ask them to

be aware that we can?t pick them up or post some kind of sign if we give it to

them.



City Manager Cavezza said we would work with them on this issue.



City Manager Cavezza then highlighted the Top 5 complaints of the Council

Districts pointing out that the number one complaint for the districts is

mostly the cutting and cleaning of the rights-of-way and garbage pickup.



District 1 Top 5 complaints

District 2 Top 5 complaints

District 3 Top 5 complaints

District 4 Top 5 complaints

District 5 Top 5 complaints

District 6 Top 5 complaints

District 7 Top 5 complaints

District 8 Top 5 complaints



City Manager Cavezza also showed graphs on the following departments as

well:



Columbus Police Dept

Community Reinvestment

Inspections & Code Enforcement

224 Houses Under Notice



Traffic Engineering

Human Resources

METRA

Public Services

Trade Center



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NEW HOTEL:



Mayor Poydasheff congratulated Councilor Davis on the opening of his new

hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn.



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CLEANUP OF STORM:



Councilor Henderson said on this past Saturday night, we had a big heavy

storm in the middle part of town and said that he just wanted to congratulate

our City employees who were out there early Sunday morning assisting with the

cleanup.



City Manager Cavezza said they worked most of Saturday night and said the

cost of overtime for that cleanup was approximately $5,000.00.



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OXBOW LEARNING CENTER:



Councilor Henderson said he spoke with someone who said there was a new

feature added to the Oxbow Learning Center, the Canopy Trail, where they have a

bridge network up through the treetops. He said he has been told that this is

a very exciting addition to the Center.





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NORTHERN LITTLE LEAGUE:



Councilor Allen said Northern Little League has represented the City of

Columbus well as we have had six teams that went to the State Championship and

three of the teams won those championships. He said he has asked the City

Attorney?s office to prepare a resolution to congratulate those teams. He said

there is a team that is heading to St. Petersburg this week, where their first

game will be held on Sunday and said if there were someone who would like to

donate to the team, they certainly would appreciate any assistance they can

get. He said they have also asked him to thank the City Manager and his staff

for what they have done with the fields out at the Northern fields.



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EXECUTIVE SESSION:



City Manager Cavezza said he would like to go into a brief executive

session after the adjournment of the Council meeting to discuss a real estate

matter. Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers so moved. Seconded by Councilor McDaniel and

carried unanimously by those seven members of Council present for this meeting.



At 10:40 a.m. the Council adjourned its regular session to allow the

Council to go into an executive session.



At 10:58 a.m. the meeting was called back to order, at which time Mayor

Poydasheff pointed out that we met in executive session, but there was no votes

taken.



*** *** ***



With there being no other business to come before the Council, Mayor Pro

Tem Rodgers then made a motion for adjournment. Seconded by Councilor Suber and

carried unanimously by those seven members of Council present for this meeting,

with the time being 10:59 a.m.



*** *** ***







Tiny B. Washington, CMC

Clerk of Council

The Council of Columbus, Georgia