Columbus, Georgia

MINUTES

COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

WORK SESSION



JANUARY 27, 2004





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

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

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

Mayor, and Honorable John J. Rodgers, Mayor Pro Tem presiding.



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

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

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

Suber. City Manager Carmen Cavezza, City Attorney Clifton Fay, and Deputy

Clerk of Council Sandra Davis were also present. Councilor Evelyn Woodson took

her seat at 9:02 a.m.



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



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INVOCATION: Offered by Councilor Wayne Anthony.



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

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MINUTES: Minutes of the January 20, 2004 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 nine members present for

this vote with Councilor Woodson having not yet arrived to the meeting.

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CONSENT AGENDA:



THE FOLLOWING THREE RESOLUTIONS AS SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY MANAGER

CAVEZZA WERE ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL PURSUANT TO A SINGLE MOTION MADE BY MAYOR

PRO TEM RODGERS AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR TURNER PUGH AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

BY THOSE NINE MEMBERS PRESENT FOR THIS MEETING WITH COUNCILOR WOODSON HAVING

NOT YET

ARRIVED:





A Resolution (50-04) - Authorizing a request to accept a deed to the

portion of Orchard Hill Drive and the portion of Glen Valley Drive located in

Orchard Phase Six, Garrett Creek Subdivision.



A Resolution (51-04) - Authorizing a request to accept a deed to the

portion of Meadow Valley Court located in Highlands Phase Seven, Garrett Creek

Subdivision.



A Resolution (52-04) - Authorizing a request to accept a deed to Sonoma

Pointe Drive Located in Section One, Sonoma Pointe Subdivision.



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BOARD APPOINTMENT:



MEDICAL CENTER HOSPITAL AUTHORITY:



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers submitted the following two additional nominees for

the position of Dr. Ashok Kumar: Mr. Rick McKnight and Mr. Ted Edgar. (Dr.

Ashok Kumar name was previously submitted for this position as well). Mayor

Pro Tem Rodgers made a motion that these three names be forwarded to the

authority. Seconded by Councilor Turner Pugh and carried unanimously by those

nine members present for this meeting with Councilor Woodson having not yet

arrived. Deputy Clerk of Council advised that the names of the three nominees

would be submitted to the Medical Center Hospital Authority for them to choose

a successor.



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COUNCIL RETREAT:



City Manager Cavezza reminded everyone that on February 12 and 13, 2004

the Council would have their retreat where we would put a lot of emphasis on

development planning. He said that we want to cover two updates today.



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REVENUE BOND:



Mayor Poydasheff advised that he finished early this morning signing the

bond issue for the Trade Center and the money is coming in tomorrow. City

Manager Cavezza added that with the $2.2 million that we saved on the 1993

SPLOST, we were able to lower that principle accordingly to 1.3.



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WORK SESSION AGENDA:



MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROJECT- CCG MARKETING PLAN



Deputy City Manager Isaiah Hugley expressed his appreciation for the

continued support and funding of training programs for the Columbus

Consolidated Government. He pointed out that Management Development Program I

focused on interpersonal skills of management, MDP II focused on group

leadership skills and MDP III focused on project implementation skills.



He advised that in MDP III, we had to do a team project and his team

decided to focus on marketing the Columbus Consolidated Government. He said

that the private sector promotes their organization, and we have observed their

employees proudly wearing their t-shirts, caps, etc. He said that we would

like to see our employees wearing CCG paraphernalia proudly. He maintained

that the focus of the team became the marketing of CCG. He said that his team

consists of the following: Police Chief Willie Dozier, Department of

Transportation Director Lisa Goodwin, Management/Research Analysis

Administrator Larry Love and Citizen Service Center Director Liz Turner. He

highlighted the following marketing tools that were discussed by the team and

are listed as follows:



? Speaker?s Bureau

? Career Opportunities in the CCG

? Intern Job Training Program

? Volunteer Program

? CCG Weekly Newscast

? Annual Report

? School Tours

? Advertising on Metra buses

? Adopt-A-School Program

? Resource Booklet

? Ongoing commercials with the Mayor, Council, City Manager, Department Heads

and employees

? Highlight Unsung Heroes



He then continued to highlight and explain each one of the above listed

items in great details with some items being outlined below.



Speakers Bureau:



He said that our mission with the Speakers Bureaus is to speak with one

voice, which would serve as a link to the community in promoting programs. He

advised that we have had our first meeting where we have come together to get

organized. He pointed out that on a bi-monthly basis, we would be coming

together to identify all of the Social Civic Organizations that we believe that

we need to take the CCG message to.



Volunteer Programs:



He mentioned that we are involved in the Downtown Elementary School

Breakfast every second and fourth Thursday. He pointed out that there are

about ten employees that go to Downtown Elementary School to have breakfast

with our mentees for about thirty-five minutes.



He mentioned several other internal volunteer programs that are carried

out by the CCG employees for the enhancement of the community. He said that we

also have some external programs, such as: Retired Senior Volunteer Program,

Citizen Law Enforcement, Seniors and Law Enforcement Together (S.A.L.T), etc.



School Tours:



He stated that we have an educational coloring book for the students. (A

copy of the CCG School Program Student Handbook has been filed for the record).

He said the booklet has a lot of good information regarding the various City

departments. He added that school tours are already being done at Metra.



Advertising on Metra buses:



He said that we want to advertise the 653-4000 Citizen Service Number. He

said that we are pursuing the 311 number. He said that he has made a request

to the State Public Service Commission for authorization to use the

311-telephone number; therefore, a citizen would have the option of dialing

653-4000 or 311.



After the presentation, the members of Council requested the following

referrals.



Check into expanding the integrity of the school program by taking time to

assist the students by becoming reading mentors to them or something of that

nature. (Request of Councilor Allen)



Include as a part of the CCG Broadcasting news some interviews with the

departments and the employees so the citizens can understand the

responsibilities of each of the departments. (Request of Councilor Woodson)



Let?s reach out into the community and highlight some stories that did not

receive a lot of media attention, i.e. little league successes. (Request of

Councilor Allen)



Also let?s look into interviewing each of the youth that found the purse

with the money and play it on the CCG Broadcasting News and provide it as a

video to other schools. (Request of Councilor Allen)



Check into making the Youth Advisory Council a part of this whole CCG News

Broadcasting Program. (Request of Councilor Turner Pugh)



Also have the City employees come up with some designs that they would

like to see on the City?s paraphernalia. (Request of Councilor Turner Pugh)



Check into updating the Department/Employee Booklet that has the

information on the departments, as well as, all of the employees in the City

Government. (Request of Councilor Henderson)



Councilor Woodson advised that one program that was not mentioned, but

deserves a lot of credit is the Law Enforcement Academy at Spencer High

School. She said that the Police Officers and the City Government work really

well with this program.





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PROJECTS - UPDATE:



Deputy City Manager Richard Bishop, came forward to mention a number of

construction projects that are in progress or near completion and are listed as

follows:



? North Riverwalk just south of Bibb Mill is scheduled for completion in late

spring or early summer.



? The construction progress has been slowed down on the section behind

Pillowtex Mills until we can get the White Water issue resolved.



? The only piece of the Riverwalk that would be disconnected is the piece

around Bibb Mill. We do have a T21 Grant that?s being reviewed to assist with

funding around the Mill.



He said that once we get those two pieces completed, we would have a

Riverwalk basically from North Columbus at Oliver Dam all the way to the

Infantry Museum at Fort Benning.



? Renovation of Johnson Mills, which they wanted a connection to the

Riverwalk. This should be completed within the next month or month in a half.



In response to a question from Mayor Poydasheff regarding the grant for

Veterans Parkway, City Manager Cavezza pointed out that the Mayor is referring

to the ISTEA Grant, but we have not heard anything on that; it is still

pending. He advised that this is a Trees Columbus initiative.



? Streetscape- There are two phases of streetscape that has been completed,

which includes the section around Sol Loeb and the section from 9th to 10th

Street. We are preparing to begin the next phase, which would start at 14th

Street and work south.



? Bay Avenue Parking Deck is completed, and Metra would take over the parking

deck on February 2, 2004, at which time, it would be open to the public.



? Relocation of Bay Avenue as a part of the Parking Deck Project.



? Construction of Fire Stations ? The location at Buena Vista Road was the

first one to be opened, but we have McKee Road, Veterans Parkway and Cargo

locations that are close to completion. The Fire Stations at River Road and

Benning Road would begin construction some time in late spring.



? The City has ownership of the abandoned rail line, which basically runs from

Uptown all the way out to the County line. The engineering portion has been

completed, and we are close to calling for public hearings or public

information regarding the trail.



He pointed out that we have worked in conjunction with Uptown and the

merchants there to try to minimize the impact on the merchants. He advised

that we would continue to do coordination with them and keep them updated on

the progress



In regards to the rail line, Deputy City Manager Bishop pointed out that

we would end up with, in addition to the fourteen miles on the Riverwalk, we

would have up to 10 - 15 along the trail of the abandoned rail line. He said

the engineering piece of it is being conducted now.

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UPCOMING EVENTS:



City Manager Cavezza provided a listing of upcoming events and are listed

as follows:



? Chamber of Commerce Annual Board Meeting: January 27, 2004, at the River

Center, at 5:45 p.m.



? Columbus South Revitalization Task Force Meeting: January 27, 2004, at Baker

Middle School, at 6:00 p.m.



? Economic Development Outlook Luncheon: January 29, 2004, at the Trade Center.



? Public Information Open House: On the proposed Veterans Parkway improvement

in the area of Williams Road to Hancock, which is in relation to the Northside

High School, and would be held at the Northside High School.



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ABANDONED HOMES OR APARTMENTS:



Councilor Woodson advised that there are some abandoned homes and

apartments in the Winterfield area that we need to check on and the addresses

are listed as follows: 2427 Dawson Street, 348 Alford Street, 320 Andrew Road,

2629 Dawson Street and 326 - 29th Avenue. She said that all of these

properties are open and usable for unwanted elements.



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BID PROCESS:



Councilor Turner Pugh advised that she attended the Georgia Municipal

Association and went to a session that dealt with web-based bidding. She

explained that the city determines the vendors that they want to bid on the

product or services, but they may set up for a specific date and time to open

the bid. She stated that the city sets up all of the specifications. She

pointed out they have been able to save cities a lot of money by doing it this

way, because the vendors that are bidding, they would know whether they are in

first place, second place, etc. She explained that they would not know the

dollar amount that the other vendors are bidding, but they can adjust their

bids as long as they do it within that time frame. She then presented the

packet of information to City Manager Cavezza and requested that he get with

the staff to check on the bid process that is conducted through web-based

bidding. She said that we would need to have the vendors come to Columbus

through the Georgia Municipal Association to provide us with a presentation

during a work session. She added that the City does not pay the fees

associated with the company; therefore, there would be no cost to us and if we

don?t like the bids received through the web-base; then, we could always do it

the way it is being done now.



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HEALTHCARE PLANS:



Councilor Woodson said that she was also present at the Georgia Municipal

Association?s Mayors? Day Conference. She stated that she received some

information on healthcare. She pointed out that there is a group out there

that would come to the government and city to talk about how to evaluate your

employees to determine what benefits are better suited for them. She requested

that the staff review the presentation that would be forwarded at a later date

regarding information on healthcare plans and discuss the information with the

group to see if they would come to Columbus to speak with the employees about

the best benefits for their needs.





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

McDaniel then made a motion for adjournment. Seconded by Councilor Woodson and

carried unanimously by those ten members of Council present, with the time

being 10:00 A.M.



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Sandra T. Davis

Deputy Clerk of Council

The Council of Columbus, Georgia