Columbus, Georgia

MINUTES

COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

WORK SESSION

APRIL 22, 2003





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

called to order at 9:02 A.M., Tuesday, April 22, 2003, in the Council Chambers

Conference Room, Government Center, Columbus, Georgia. Honorable Robert S.

Poydasheff, Mayor, presiding.



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PRESENT: Present other than Mayor Poydasheff was Mayor Pro Tem John J. Rodgers

and Councilors R. Gary Allen, Wayne Anthony, Glenn Davis, Berry H. Henderson,

Julius H. Hunter, Jr., Charles E. McDaniel, Jr., Evelyn Turner Pugh, Nathan

Suber and Evelyn Woodson. City Manager Carmen Cavezza, City Attorney Clifton

Fay, and Deputy Clerk of Council Sandra Davis were also present.



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ABSENT: Clerk of Council Tiny B. Washington was absent.



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INVOCATION: Led by Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers.



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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Led by Mayor Poydasheff.

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PROCLAMATIONS:



?GEORGIA CITIES WEEK?:



With Deputy City Manager Isaiah Hugley standing at the Council table,

Councilor Turner Pugh read the proclamation of Mayor Poydasheff, proclaiming

April 20- 26, 2003, as ?Georgia Cities Week?, in Columbus, Georgia.



Deputy City Manager Hugley said that we are happy to be one of more than

200 cities celebrating this week. He said that we are proud of our leadership,

employees and what we do for the City of Columbus. He mentioned that on

Thursday, April 24, 2003, we would have ?Bring Your Child To Work Day?. He

explained this is for employees to bring their children from Pre-K through 12th

grades to work for four hours so the children can see what their parents do to

help shape this City to make for a good quality of life for all of us, and we

are doing it together. The following city employees that were present were

given the opportunity to introduce themselves and are as follows: Affirmative

Action Officer Reather Hollowell, Cemeteries Division Manager Michelle Brown,

Christi Chapman from the Convention and Trade Center and Craig Strain from the

Central Collection Division.

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?NATIONAL HEALTHCARE VOLUNTEER DAY?



With Ms. Dorothy Duggins, President of Columbus Regional Medical Center

Auxiliary and Ms. Nancy Williams, Director of Volunteer Services, Columbus

Regional Hospital standing at the Council table, Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers read the

proclamation of Mayor Poydasheff, proclaiming April 29, 2003, as ?National

Healthcare Volunteer Day?, in Columbus, Georgia.



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RIVERFEST:



Mayor Poydasheff recognized Ms. Virginia Peebles, Ms. Frances Quick and

Melissa Pinney who were present in the audience to remind everyone that this

weekend April 25 ? 27, 2003 is Riverfest Weekend.



Ms. Virginia Peebles said that we too could not do without volunteers and

Melissa Pinney has been a wonderful community chairperson this year and we are

fortunate to have her. She said that the Riverfest weekend has an approximate

$2 million impact on the City of Columbus. She pointed out that last year we

did not make any money, but we had a great time. She then spoke about the

location of the Riverfest event.



Ms. Melissa Pinney spoke of her great joy in serving on the volunteer

committee. She mentioned the entertainment that would be provided this year,

which include the Sugar Hill Gang and the Ohio Players on Friday, April 25,

2003. She said that Trick Pony would be present on Saturday, April 26, 2003

plus the fireworks display. She also mentioned some of the new events during

the festival and provided gift bags that included tickets for the Riverfest

Event.



Mrs. Frances Quick also appeared and projected that we are going to have a

gorgeous weekend, but if we do have some showers, we have the advantage of

using the Columbus Civic Center this year. She also reminded everyone that Mr.

Charles Huff use to play with the Ohio Players.



Councilor Suber said that there are a number of vendors that are concerned

about not being able to participate in the Riverfest. He then asked Ms. Quick

to speak with those individuals to let them know the reasons why they could not

participate, because they did not understand. Mrs. Quick maintained that they

have not excluded anyone that stepped up to the plate and wanted to be a part

of this event.



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CONSENT AGENDA:



THE FOLLOWING TWO ORDINANCES WERE SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY ATTORNEY

FAY AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL UPON THE ADOPTION OF A SINGLE MOTION MADE BY

MAYOR PRO TEM RODGERS AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ALLEN, WHICH CARRIED

UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE TEN MEMBERS OF COUNCIL PRESENT FORTHIS

MEETING:





An Ordinance (03-23) ? Rezoning approximately 0.36 acres of property

located at 1423 ? 54th Street from an R-2 District to a C-2 District.

(5-CA-03-George)



An Ordinance (03-24) ? Amending Section 19-47 of the Columbus Code so as

to impose an occupation tax for revenue purposes upon attorneys regulated by

the Georgia Supreme Court based upon business transacted during the previous

calendar year.



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WORKSESSION:



PARADIGM FOR HEALTH CARE:



Councilor Anthony provided an update for the members of Council regarding

two national projects that we, in Columbus, are involved in as the alpha sites,

one of the first places in the country this is being done, with the first being

the Community Healthcare Cooperatives. He said that as we make a transition to

defined contribution health care plans, and we were briefed on this concept by

Mercer University, many would say this is the most significant transition in

healthcare in the last sixty years. He said that this transition begin in the

pension programs in the late 70?s and early 80?s as we are moving from defined

contribution benefit pension programs where people were guaranteed a benefit

over a period of time for the number of years that they worked in a work place;

their pension was based on the years of service. He pointed out that we

shifted to define contribution pension programs with the 401k and all of those

similar instruments by which persons make defined contributions into their

pensions, and that is the huge shift that is being made right now in

healthcare. He explained that we are moving from a defined benefit plan where

a person would ?use it or loose it? to one in which a person or organization

puts money into a plan that would ultimately roll over if the person does not

use it and keep it; therefore, the healthier the person stays over a longer

period of time; then, there would be more that is being accumulated for the

times in a person life when they actually are sick and need a significant

amount of healthcare.



Councilor Anthony informed the members of Council that he is involved at

the national level and has been for the last six years. He explained that he

has only giving a brief executive summary of that. A copy of a document

entitled ?Community Healthcare Cooperatives? was passed around the table. (A

copy of this document is on file in the Clerk?s Office.)



Councilor Anthony then responded to various questions from Mayor

Poydasheff and the members of Council.



In response to a question of Councilor Turner Pugh, Councilor Anthony

responded by saying that the ?use it or loose it? concept is one of two changes

that have to be made in the national legislation. He said that the change has

not occurred, but has been requested of Congress. He said the legislation

requires a person to have the same employment bond; therefore, we are asking

Congress to drop the phrase ?same employer or same employment bond? to just

have it read ?anyone?. He pointed out that these are the two pieces of

legislation amendments to ERISA that are being requested.



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HOUSE OF HEROES:



Councilor Anthony pointed out that most of the members of Council are

familiar with the House of Heroes program, which began here in Columbus. He

advised that we did our first house in Columbus in May of 2000. He said that

in 2001 we did 12 houses and 56 houses in 2002. He pointed out that at least

14 cities around the country have already asked for something like this to be

done in their community.



He explained the upcoming plans to do the House up Heroes in Columbus

again, this September beginning on the 12th through the 26th. He said p of

that either on September 19 or the 26th, prominent national persons have been

invited to come here and we will know this summer what dates they have chosen

to be here, and that would be the date that we would do the ceremony.

Councilor Davis challenged every member of Council to get involved and become a

part of one of these projects.



Councilor Woodson expressed her gratitude for the House of Heroes Program,

because one of the first houses was done in Oakland Park. She added that we

need to remind everyone that this is not just for the retired Veterans but also

for the widows and people on a fixed income.



Councilor Anthony pointed out that we have already received over 120

request, which is way ahead of last year. He said that the two things w would

need for this year are volunteers to help us with the houses and finding the

resources to be able to work on the houses.



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PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE ?PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION? ORDINANCE:



City Attorney Fay said everyone should have a copy of the draft ordinance

to amend the public demonstration ordinance; this is mainly a housekeeping

measure. He stated that this has been discussed for several months by the

public safety heads in connection with the homeland security measures that have

taken place; Councilor Hunter has agreed to sponsor the amendment on next week.



Mayor Poydasheff explained that this started last year with several

members of Council is expressing dissatisfaction about damages that are done by

large groups come into the city. He said that we started with three

ordinances, but some of them were complicated; therefore, we decided the simply

was the best, and this applies to everybody.



City Manager Cavezza added that this amendment toughens up a lot of areas

where we were weak, and since we are being contested in court so much, this

would provide us the basis for the decisions. He explained that we would be

more in control from a public safety point of view than we were before. City

Attorney Fay pointed out that the main point is that it has an insurance

requirement for events that are going to have 10,000 or more persons attending

and there are some additional reasons in here as to why the Chief of Police

could deny a permit for safety reasons.



There was some discussion regarding the number of participants having to

be 10,000 or more. Several members of Council expressed concerns in that the

number should be lower for insurance purposes. The following request were made

as a result of this discussion:



? Councilor Turner Pugh requested a statistical count on the number of

participants for the SOA watch from the previous years.



? Councilor Woodson said that she would request the statistical count on the

number of participants for all of the public demonstrations and events from the

previous years.



? Councilor Hunter requested a list of all of the activities that we have in

Columbus and put participant numbers to each of them.



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UPCOMING EVENTS:



City Manager Cavezza highlighted several dates for upcoming events

throughout the next week:



- Mayor?s Press Conference: Mayor Poydasheff would hold a press conference

this morning on the new emergency warning siren system. We would actually

sound the system at 11:30 a.m. This is one of our 99? SPLOST Projects. This

system does not have to be tested every Saturday at noon, but there is a test

without actually using the siren.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers requested that we make sure to invite the young boy,

Ryder Wilson, to the ceremony regarding the new emergency warning system.



- Proposed Fee Increases: There would be a public meeting to talk about

proposed fee increases for the fiscal year 04 budget that is being prepared at

this time. There are some proposed Parks and Recreation fee increases only for

out-of-town usage, some fees that pertain to the Fire Department hazardous

material and public service fees that have an impact on burial fees and tipping

fees.



- Budget Presentation: Mayor Poydasheff would be presenting the FY-04 budget

to the Council on Tuesday, April 29, 2003. The following week the budget

sessions would began after the Council Meetings.



- Tour De Georgia: The Tour De Georgia would be coming into this area at an

estimated time of 5:00 p.m., on April 24, 2003. This is the first time for

this event in Georgia.



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With there being no other business to come before this Work Session, Mayor

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

Woodson and carried unanimously by those ten members of Council present for

this meeting with the time being 9:53 a.m.



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Sandra T. Davis

Deputy Clerk of Council

Council of Columbus, Georgia