Columbus, Georgia

MINUTES

COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

WORK SESSION

DECEMBER 23, 2003





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

to order at 9:00 A.M., Tuesday, December 23, 2003, on the Plaza Level of the

Government Center, Columbus, Georgia. Honorable Robert S. Poydasheff, Mayor,

presiding.



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PRESENT: Present other than Mayor Poydasheff and Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers were

Councilors R. Gary Allen, Wayne S. 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, Clerk of Council Tiny B. Washington and Deputy Clerk of Council Sandra

Davis were also present.



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ABSENT: No one was absent.



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

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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Led by Mayor Poydasheff.



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SUPPORT OF MILITARY :



Mayor Poydasheff said in following the prayer of Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers

during this holiday season, he would like to encourage everyone when you see

some soldiers that are still here; to welcome them, and thank them for what

they are doing, as well as pray for them. He said to pray for all of military

personnel; whether deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq or here. He said this

tri-community is well-known for supporting the soldiers, because it is the

right thing to do. .

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SUPPORT OUR SOLDIER AWARD:



Mr. Bill Wischnewky and Mr. Troy Thomas were present this morning to

present the first ?SOS? Support our Soldier Award.



Mr. Wischnewsky said they have come up with a program to try to show our

soldiers that we appreciate what they are doing for us overseas, and to include

their families.

He said they have come up with a plaque so that business owners throughout the

community; and, hopefully throughout the United States will put these plaques

up in their establishments to show their appreciation to the soldiers. He said

they are hopeful that these yellow ribbons will be put in these establishments

and are kept there for a long time; so the soldiers will know that the

community does stand behind them and support them.



He said they have been selected by the Sergeant Major of the Army to

design the NCO and Soldier of the Year Award for their Annual Award Program at

the Pentagon. He said this year they have been invited to attend the event in

Washington.



Mr. Wischnewsky said what they are going to do with some of the money from

the sale of the plaques, they will present a gift to the NCO & Solider of the

Year from AAW, the City of Columbus and everyone who is involved by name, will

be presenting that gift. He said they hope to set the standards for cities all

around America to get involved with programs locally and throughout the Country

to show the support to the soldiers in their area.



He then presented to Mayor Poydasheff, the first ?SOS? Award in the City

of Columbus.



Mayor Poydasheff said he was delighted and proud to support our soldiers

and said he accepts this on behalf of the City Council and the City of Columbus.



In response to Councilor Woodson, Mr. Wischnewsky said that if anyone

wants to purchase one of these plaques they can contact his business, which is

currently located at 5111 Armour Road; however, effective January 2, 2004 they

will be moving to the Torch Hill and Fort Benning area in the new shopping

center. He said they have a couple of different versions of the plaques and

said the cost starts from $65 - $75.00.

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MINUTES: Minutes of the December 16, 2003 Meeting of the Council of the

Consolidated Government of Columbus, Georgia were submitted and approved upon

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

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

present for this meeting.

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CONSENT AGENDA:



THE FOLLOWING FOUR ITEMS WERE SUBMITTED AND APPROVED BY THE

COUNCIL, PURSUANT TO THE ADOPTION OF A SINGLE MOTION MADE BY

MAYOR PRO TEM RODGERS AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR SUBER AND

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE TEN MEMBERS OF COUNCIL PRESENT

FOR THIS

MEETING:





An Ordinance (03-102) - Rezoning property located at 7515 Cooper Creek

Road from an R-1A District to a C-3 District. (46-CA-03-Developers-Investors,

Inc.)



An Ordinance (03-103) - Rezoning property located at 6210 Crystal Drive

from an R-1A District to an A-0 District. (47-CA-03-Mordic Builders, Inc.)



A Resolution (571-03) - Authorizing the acceptance of a deed to Streater

Drive,

located in Section Three of Mt. Vernon Estates Subdivision, on behalf of

Columbus,

Georgia. .



A Resolution (572-03) - Excusing Councilor Mimi Woodson from the December

16,

2003 Council Meeting.



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THE FOLLOWING TEMPORARY STREET CLOSING APPLICATON WAS

APPROVED UPON THE ADOPTION OF A MOTION MADE BY MAYOR PRO TEM

RODGERS AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR SUBER, WHICH CARRIED

UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE TEN MEMBERS OF COUNCIL PRESENT FOR THIS

MEETING:





Application of Mr. Milton Hodges to temporarily close Norris Circle from

Carden

Drive to Avon Drive on Wednesday, December 31, 2003 from 10:30 p.m. to 1:00

a.m., (January 1, 2004) for the New Birth Outreach Ministries New Years

celebration.

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INFANTRY MUSEUM:



City Manager Cavezza said we have a very important topic for Columbus and

Fort Benning that we want to discuss today, which is the Infantry Museum and

then called

upon Retired General Jerry White to make that presentation.



General Jerry White appeared and introduced Mr. Ben Williams, Executive

Director of the National Infantry Foundation, Mr. Greg Camp, Executive

Vice-President and

Ms. Cindy Servant of Marketing & Communication.



He said they are here this morning to update the Mayor and Council on

where they are with this project. He said about five years ago, they started

thinking about this project and at that time, the thought was that they would

raise some money and try to improve the existing museum. He said some guidance

here in town told them they might want to think a little bigger than that and

do something more for the Army, Fort Benning, the community and maybe even our

nation. He said they started thinking about that and then hired a first class

museum consultant to do a master plan for them.

He said they then put together a first-class master plan, which they talked

about the last time they were before this Council.



General White then showed on the screen, a site plan which is the result

of that master plan. He said this piece of land is on Benning Drive as you

enter the main gate at Fort Benning, which is the area just beyond the stone

gate, the entire right side and is 200 acres as you move onto Fort Benning and

the Welcome Center. He said that entire stretch of land is the site for this

museum. He said the southern 100 acres of that belongs to Fort Benning and the

northern 100 acres belongs to the City of Columbus.



He said they settled on this piece of land several years ago and started

to refine their plan and moved into the fundraising phase. He said it took

about a year to get the Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of the Army

because it is such an unusual project. He said we are going to build a museum

on City property and then lease it back to the Military.



Mayor Poydasheff then asked where are we on the City property, to which

City Manager Cavezza said it is in the Department of Interior and right now it

is in the Solicitor?s Office and they told him it was going to be done by the

end of this year.

He said they checked on it yesterday and the Solicitor is on vacation;

therefore, we probably won?t see it until after the first of the year.



General White said they feel good about the land issues; however, we have

a number of environmental issues and other things that we have to deal with,

but we are working on those with Fort Benning every day. He said they don?t see

any serious roadblocks to what they are trying to accomplish.



Showing the area on the screen, General White said as you look from south

to north, there will be a large parade field and a number of other venues

through this area, and, of course, the main museum complex of about 170,000

square feet. He said with this master plan in mind, they started fund raising

seriously in January. He said this entire project is estimated to cost $70

million; however, they don?t have the architectural plans yet; therefore, we

know it will probably change. He said they have raised about one-third of those

funds, but as you know this is a national campaign and said they hope to raise

a large portion of that locally, but they are working nationally. He said

defense contractors, like Ross Perot and a number of other citizens in the

nation who have some contact and some allegiance to the Infantry are involved

in this project. He said they are on the road a great deal doing fundraising

and have been successful in those efforts. He said as they travel across the

nation and briefing this plan, they have not had one person turn them down, nor

have there been anyone to say that it is not a good idea. He said everybody

says that it is time that we do something for the Infantry soldier and that is

what this is all about. He said this is not an effort to build a building, as

we are not involved in building a building, but said we are using 200 acres of

sacred ground to honor those soldiers who have defended our freedom for 228

years and that is what this project is about.





Mayor Poydasheff said it is one of the most unique projects that he has

ever encountered; and said it is also history. He said it is one of the best

educational tools that any organization in the United States has, as you will

see American history, from Colonial days up through the eyes of the Infantry

soldier.



General White said one of the areas that they continue to discuss as they

make their trips to brief this project, is that this is an educational

facility. He said as they go about talking to Corporate America, they tell us

we have a great opportunity with this facility, to teach the military values to

Corporate America, and if we do that, and do that in some organized way; they

said we would get all of their support. He said that has already happened in

Atlanta with companies coming back and making sizeable pledges to us.



He said this will not be a static project or static museum, but will be

alive and a moving project and we are hopeful that we will bring at least 300

visitors a year to our City. He then showed a 12-minute video highlighting

this project, and the vision of the proposed Infantry Museum.



After the video, General White pointed out that they have hired a Project

Manager for this project and are now preparing to hire an architect and hope to

break ground in September 2004, which will be during the Infantry Conference

and is an ideal time to do that. He said they are planning on making this a

major national event with national media. He said if they stay on their

schedule; then in late 2006, they will open the doors.



Mayor Poydasheff asked City Manager Cavezza if we could air this on CCG-TV.

City Manager Cavezza said we could play it as many times as they would like for

us to.



City Manager Cavezza said that he has gone on some of these trips with

General White and his staff and said this project will be great for Columbus.

He said it is the most thorough fund-raising effort that he has ever seen and

they are doing a great job.



General White said they have raised in the vicinity of $25 million and

said they are looking at raising about $30 million here locally and said that

is not going to be a problem, as they are well into that. He said they are

hoping to raise about $10 million from defense contractors and the rest of it

from a national campaign. He said all phases of it seems to be on track and

they feel it is very doable and we can make it happen.



Mayor Poydasheff said the Congress has provided $8.5 million with some

assistance from our Congressional delegation.



General White then responded to several questions of Mayor Poydasheff and

members of the Council. Councilor Davis said when we air the presentation on

CCG-TV, to also include the address and telephone number for individuals to

contact, if they would like to give donations to this project.

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WITH THE FAMILY OF MS. JANICE DICKENS STANDING AT THE COUNCIL TABLE, THE

FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS READ IN TS ENTIRETY BY COUNCILOR ALLEN AND ADOPTED BY

THE

COUNCIL:





A Resolution (573-03) - Expressing condolences and deepest sympathy to the

family of Janice Bland Dickens, Chairperson of the Muscogee County Board of

Elections and Registration who passed away November 20, 2003. Councilor Allen

moved the adoption of the resolution. Seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers and

carried unanimously by those ten members of Council present, standing to cast

their affirmative vote.

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CCG-TV MANAGER:



City Manager Cavezza introduced Mr. Michael Cain, the new CCG-TV Manager

that

was hired recently . He said he has 20 years experience in this business and

has a

Bachelor of Arts in Broadcasting/Journalism from the University of North

Alabama and

has worked for Cable TV of East Alabama as the Production Manager. He said he

has

also produced Council Meetings for Smith Station, Russell County and Phenix

City.

He said he impressed our Selection Committee just by his knowledge and the

equipment that we have and what we needed; and he has a lot of good ideas and

he

thinks that he will continue to move us forward.



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ENVIRONMENT COURT:



City Manager Cavezza said currently we have an Environment Court that

meets four

times a week in half day sessions and said he intends to change that to two

one day

sessions as opposed to breaking it up for a number of reasons. He said one

reason is

for continuity and rather than having two judges, we will probably go to one

Judge for

continuity purposes. He said that is an administrative matter, but he wanted

the Council

to be aware of that.



Councilor Woodson said when you go to the one Judge, is there a provision

for the

future to have more than one Judge when necessary. She asked if this Judge

would be

full time.



City Manager Cavezza said it would be the same and there would be no

additional

costs and no full-time benefits; however, instead of there being two Judges

working four half days, we would have one Judge working two full days.



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UPCOMING EVENTS:



City Manager Cavezza highlighted the following upcoming events:





Fri Jan 2 7:00p.m. 29th Annual Freedom Fund Banquet Trade Center

Tues Jan 13 6:00p.m.-

9:00p.m. Columbus South Revitalization Task Force Meeting Baker Middle School

Mon Jan 19 7:15 a.m. 18th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Award Breakfast Trade Center

Tues Jan 27 Chamber of Commerce Annual Board Mtg. TBD

Tues Jan 27 6:00p.m.-

9:00p.m. Columbus South Revitalization Task Force Meeting Baker Middle School

Thurs Jan 29 11:30 am -

2:00 pm Economic Development Outlook Luncheon Trade Center



City Manager Cavezza said in addition to that, we have some other

activities that are coming up in the Civic Center. He said there are plenty of

things for people to do over the holidays this year. He said the Cottonmouths

have a game on December 26th & 27th, 7:30 p.m. He said the Riverdragons would

be having a game on December 28th 4:00 p.m.,



Concert - 3 Doors Down ? at the Civic Center, on New Year?s Eve, Dec. 31st,

9:00 p.m.



Dec. 22nd & 23rd Recreational Ice Skating at the Civic Center.



MUSEUM:



Mayor Poydasheff asked if the Columbus South Task Force has been briefed

on this project, to which City Manager Cavezza said they have not. He said he

discussed that with Greg Camp just the other day and said when the committees

are completed with their report; then they would bring it back to the Task

Force, which they felt this was a good time to work with them and get them

involved in that.



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EXECUTIVE SESSION:



City Manager Cavezza said he would like to request a brief executive

session after the adjournment of today?s Council meeting.



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ENTRANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT CENTER:



Councilor Henderson said he was talking with some of the bailiffs

downstairs the other day and said every time he comes into the building they

are really bundled up and said we are expecting a hard winter. He said he knows

that we have looked at trying to construct some kind of way to block the wind

down there, and said we are going to have to find some kind of way to do that.



City Manager Cavezza said what the bailiffs wants cost about $18,000 and

said we can?t afford that; however, we have located a lighting system, a

heat-lamp system that is used in some of the larger hotels that seems to work

very effectively and said we are looking into putting that in. He said last

year, we put the heaters overhead and they seemed to work fine.



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MUSEUM:



Councilor Turner Pugh said one of the sub-committees of Columbus South

task Force has seen the briefing.



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EXECUTIVE SESSION:



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers then made a motion to allow the Council to go into

an executive session, to discuss a personnel matter. Seconded by Councilor

McDaniel.



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MARSHAL?S OFFICE:



Councilor Suber said in looking at the letter that was sent to the Mayor

from the Marshal and his concerns and said what disturbs him about this letter

is that the Marshal is intermitting that the City Manager is the one that

initiated this investigation and said that is not true. He said he is the one

that asked for the investigation and he takes a personal offense in the fact

that in the first paragraph, the Marshal says that he felt that he should have

been given a courtesy and had a heads up. He said he has some concerns that if

the Marshal wanted a heads up, he should have come to this Council and then

asked for whatever he is requesting from the private citizens in this

community, to pay additional funds for his department. He said based upon

information that we have, in 2001 ? 2004, sums of money that should be able to

clothe his individual deputies with their uniforms, if he had expended the

money properly; and whether he has or not, he doesn?t know, but said that

should be something that we can discuss.



Councilor Suber said he thinks that we should let it be known to all of

our Department Heads or Constitutional officers that it is imperative that if

they are going out into the public and soliciting funds for their particular

departments; then, they need to give the Mayor and Council an opportunity to

provide those funds for them, if we can find it in the budget process.



He said he takes a personal offense to a number of these statements made

and said he just wants the Marshal?s Department and his legal team to

understand that the City Manager had nothing to do with this, that he is the

culprit, if there is a culprit.



Mayor Poydasheff said in the event the viewing audience does not

understand those remarks just made by Councilor Suber, he wants to explain the

situation and pointed out that the Marshal sent letters to various businesses

in the community, soliciting funds. He pointed out that there is a budget

process and all the directors are invited to submit their budget and needs to

the Council. He said as he understands it, the Marshal has done that. He said

this year, no one was sent to argue the case for the Marshal?s Department and

said there were some remarks made with respect to vests that are deteriorating

and said that is just not true, as he verified his answers with members of the

military.



After continued discussion on this matter, with Mayor Poydasheff

responding to those concerns expressed by Councilor Suber, after which

Councilor McDaniel also expressed his views on the matter.



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Mayor Poydasheff then called the question on Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers?

earlier motion to allow the Council to go into an executive session to discuss

personnel issues.



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At 9:50 A.M., the regular session was adjourned to allow the Council to go

into an executive session. At 10:12 A.M., the meeting was called back to order,

at which time Mayor Poydasheff pointed out that the Council met in executive

session and discussed personnel issues, but there were no votes taken.



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

Poydasheff wished the citizens of Columbus a Blessed Christmas and Happy

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

Councilor Woodson and carried unanimously by those ten members of Council

present, with the time being 10:15 A.M.







Tiny B. Washington, CMC

Clerk of Council

The Council of Columbus, Georgia