Columbus, Georgia

MINUTES

COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

REGULAR SESSION

AUGUST 16, 2005



The regular weekly meeting of the Council of Columbus, Georgia was called

to order at 9:04 A.M., Tuesday, August 16, 2005, on the Plaza Level of the

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 Rodgers were

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

Julius H. Hunter, Jr., Evelyn Turner Pugh, Nathan Suber and Evelyn Woodson.

City Manager Isaiah Hugley, 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: Councilor Charles E. McDaniel, Jr., was absent, but was excused upon

the adoption of Resolution Number 398-05.



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INVOCATION: Offered by Reverend James Donahue ? Sonshine Acres Church of God.

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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Led by students from the Anne Elizabeth Shepherd Home.

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PROCLAMATIONS:



?OPEN DOOR COMMUNITY HOUSE DAY?:



With Ms. Kin Jenkins, Executive Director standing at the Council table,

Councilor Anthony read the proclamation of Mayor Poydasheff, proclaiming

Saturday, August 27, 2005 as ?Open Door Community House Day? in Columbus,

Georgia.

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CITY ATTORNEY?S AGENDA:



THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS READ IN ITS

ENTIRETY BY MAYOR PRO TEM RODGERS AND ADOPTED BY

THE COUNCIL: _____________________________________________



A Resolution (390-05) ? Adopting the National Incident Management

System (NIMS) as established under HSPD 5 and the Unified Command System as

established under O.C.G.A. 38-3-57 as its system of preparing for and

responding to disaster incidents. Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers moved the adoption of

the resolution. Seconded by Councilor Allen and carried unanimously by those

nine members of Council present for this meeting.



Mayor Poydasheff said this City has been the lead City in creating a

Regional Homeland Security Task Force; which has now changed into the Columbus

Regional Homeland Security Board. He said we are the lead City in the

southeast; probably the lead City in every place except New York that created

this type of regional agency that includes the Federal Bureau of

Investigations, Fort Benning, the Secret Security, as well as our own law

enforcement agencies; including Sheriff, Marshal, Police, Fire & EMS who are in

close contact with Mr. Sureberger who heads the Georgia Homeland Security

Office. He said we are now on the cuff of being recognized by the National

Homeland Security organization as the urban area security initiative.



He said this resolution is one of the necessary tools that we have to have

and said there have been over 150 people trained by our NIMS personnel, taught

by the Sheriff, Fire & EMS Service.

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ZONING PUBLIC HEARING:



THE FOLLOWING ZONING ORDINANCE WAS SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY

ATTORNEY FAY AND A PUBLIC HEARING WAS HELD AS ADVERTISED AND RETURNED BACK TO

THE PLANNING ADVISORY

COMMISSION:





An Ordinance ?Rezoning approximately 112.73 acres of property located at

the north side of St. Mary?s Road, bordering Fort Benning from an R-1A (Low

Density Residential) to an R-3A (Medium Density Residential).

(27-D-05-Kimbrough Properties, L.P.)



City Attorney Fay said this is the current petition that?s on the table;

however, there has been some discussion of reconfiguring this petition to

request all single-family.



At the request of City Attorney Fay, the petitioner, Mr. Alan Kamensky

came forward to respond to questions of the Council.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers said after looking at this petition on yesterday and

having had some conversation this morning, said the entire scope of this

petition has changed. Therefore, as a body, we think it would be appropriate if

this petition went back before the Planning Advisory Commission for a

recommendation.



Mr. Kamensky said they would honor this request. Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers

then made a motion that this petition be returned back to the Planning Advisory

Commission. Seconded by Councilor Woodson and carried unanimously by those

nine members of Council present for this meeting.



Councilor Suber said he sees some individuals present in the audience that

probably would be opposing this proposed rezoning and then asked if they would

have an opportunity to be heard on this morning.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers said it might come back under a different umbrella.



Councilor Suber said he understands that, but this is the second time that

the citizens have come back with the same rezoning and have not had an

opportunity to be heard. At the request of Mayor Poydasheff, he then made a

motion to allow those citizens to be heard on this morning. Seconded by

Councilor Woodson and carried unanimously by those nine members of Council

present for this meeting.



Mayor Poydasheff said we would hear those citizens, but said he wants them

to know that the Council has voted to return this petition back to the Planning

Advisory Commission. He said the scope of the petition doesn?t embrace

everything that?s in the ordinance and said it changes the complexity of the

zoning as being presented and after consultation with the City Attorney during

their Pre-Agenda meeting, we agreed that the change was so great that it needed

to go back to the Planning Advisory Commission.



He said if there is anyone who is present this morning and wishes to

address the issue, they can be heard now, but must understand that this is

going to be changed.



City Attorney Fay then asked Mr. Kamensky to comment on how this petition

might be reconfigured.



Mr. Alan Kamensky said the reason for the reconfiguration is that they met

with some of the Council members and discussed what would work. He said the

idea originally was to do all single family with some multi-family units. He

said one of the main concerns was the multi-family; thereby, they have removed

the multi-family and have gone strictly to single family with different

districts to allow different density and different size homes.

He said Mr. Will Johnson have asked them to go back to the Planning Advisory

Commission to allow them an adequate amount of time to look at this petition.

He said they feel that the plan before the Council is a compromise of what they

would like to do versus what the City would like to see.



He said according to Mr. Johnson, they would be back before the Planning

Advisory Commission the first week of September and hopefully back before the

Council the first week in October for a public hearing.



Councilor Turner Pugh said when this petition comes back before the

Council she would like for Mr. Kamensky to make certain that the proposed

drawings that he has, which states what size the lots will be, is a part of the

ordinance.



City Attorney Fay then asked if there was anyone who wanted to be heard

for or against this proposed rezoning, they could be heard at this time.



Mr. W. T. Marrell said he lives within 200 feet of this proposal and he

understands the position that the Council stated in asking that this matter be

returned back to the Planning Advisory Commission; however, this is a continual

hardship for those individuals who work and have to miss work to come to these

meetings and now with them being held over again and again. He said they had

previously requested that a meeting be held in the evening in order for them to

have more representatives who live in the community to voice their opinions.



Mayor Poydasheff then asked that we look at setting the public hearing for

the first night meeting in October. City Attorney Fay said we can do that, but

Mr. Johnson would have to coordinate the advertisement for that.



Mr. Dwight Copeland, 5708 St. Mary?s Road said his property is directly

across the street from where the property is going to be rezoned. He said he

knows that the ordinance states that those residents who live within 300 feet

of the proposed property to be rezoned would be notified, but he wanted to know

if there is any way the other residents could be notified. He said this is a

very large subdivision and community and said some of the people that they have

talked with are not aware of this. He then asked if there is any way that the

notification that is sent to those residents within 300 feet, could it be

expanded to cover the majority of the neighborhood in that area, south of St.

Mary?s Road.



Mayor Poydasheff said this would be extremely costly for us to do, and

said that they are already doing more than what the ordinance requires. He

said the Council meetings are publicized and available for anyone to see, as

well as the Councilor who has made many strides to get the word out to the

citizens. He said he would defer to whatever the Council wants to do.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers said we have accommodated people who are in a

situation that you referred to. He said our formal notification requirement is

300 feet, but said we have also made it a practice internally that if someone

makes us aware after the notices go out that they want to be put on a

notification list for any future public hearings; then we will notify them.



Councilor Hunter said he would like to thank those citizens from that area

who took time off from work to come out to this meeting. He said he is grateful

that we will be having a night meeting when we do have the public hearing,

because there is a great deal of concern in the community that is going to be

affected by this rezoning.



He said some months ago a number of citizens came to one of our meetings

and asked that we do something to alleviate the problems with traffic on St.

Mary?s Road down on that particular end. He said at that time, Moye Road had

been closed off to them and they asked that we consider opening it back up. He

said we told them we would check with Fort Benning about opening that back up

but said in the final analysis, it appears

that it?s not going to happen.





Councilor Hunter said the neighbors came at that particular time because

there was some kind of accident that had happened and everyone at that end of

the road was blocked off. He said they had no other way to get out and their

chance to have egress from that neighborhood was blocked off because of that

situation. He said they asked us to do whatever we can to alleviate the

problems on that end of St. Mary?s Road.



He said we told them that we would look at it, but we really weren?t

offering them much in the way of hope. He said people who are not necessarily

within 300-feet are affected by any further development down there, because the

matter is already bad when it comes to traffic. He said it would be further

exacerbated by any further development.



Councilor Hunter said he has opposed this plan from the beginning and any

modifications to this area that would add development. He said he will not

support, aide or give comfort, will not give sucker to any attempt to add more

congestion to that area of St. Mary?s Road until we can do something to

alleviate that traffic in this area.



Mayor Poydasheff said Councilor Hunter did ask that we reopen the issue

with Fort Benning about opening up Moye Road and said he personally discussed

the matter with General Freakley, the then commanding general of Fort Benning,

and he assured him that it is not necessarily a dead issue. He said with the

BRAC Commission and the armored school moving here, they will revisit that. He

said he had not had an opportunity to discuss it with the new general, but he

will be talking with Col. Rearer again this afternoon about opening up that end

of St. Mary?s Road. He said it is absolutely a Fort Benning decision that will

be driven by their security concerns.



Councilor Turner Pugh said Congress is in recess right now and said we

have had Congressmen Bishop and Westmoreland both in Columbus recently and she

thinks that we need to have a meeting setup with them, as well as our Homeland

Security personnel to sit down and discuss the issue as it relates to Moye Road

being opened up again for public use. She said she feels that maybe the Mayor

needs to take them out there to see it.



Mayor Poydasheff said he would try to set up a meeting with Congressmen

Bishop and Westmoreland, but ultimately it will be the decision of Fort Benning

and their security concerns and issues will determine their decision.



Councilor Suber said he thinks that we need to bring this situation a

little further; therefore, he is going to ask City Manager Hugley to bring St.

Mary?s Road back on the Transportation Improvement Plan because it has been

somewhat moved further away versus closer to the front end of this scale. He

said he recalls seeing the presentation made by the Chamber of Commerce

concerning BRAC. He said one of the areas that they said needed to have the

growth to justify to the Federal Government the need to have all these new

troops coming in would be St. Mary?s Road and the same area would be deserving

of schools in that particular area.



He said if we want to look at economic development, then we need to look

at the entire situation as part of the Transportation Improvement Plan. He said

he feels that this needs to come forward as soon as possible.



Mr. Willie Johnson, 5716 St. Mary?s Road said even if you open the area

back up to Moye Road, you are still talking about a lot of traffic. He said

prior to them closing Moye Road people were using those streets as a cut

through. He said many would come from Moye Road to go down St. Mary?s Road to

get to I-185. He said there are many residents that will be trying to go on

Fort Benning and said it would cause a lot of traffic problems. He said with

the new development that is being developed, it is hard to see coming out of

that development, so it will be an accident waiting to happen. He said if you

put more houses there, it would cause a lot more problems.



City Attorney Fay then asked if there was anyone else who wanted to be

heard on this matter, but there was no one. He then said that this petition

would be sent back to the Planning Advisory Commission and rescheduled for

public hearing, the night meeting in October.

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CITY ATTORNEY?S AGENDA CONTINUED:



THE FOLLOWING THREE ZONING ORDINANCES WERE SUBMITTED AND THEIR CAPTIONS

READ BY CITY ATTORNEY FAY AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL ON SECOND

READING:



An Ordinance (05-65) - Rezoning 49.9 acres of property located at the

northeast intersection of River Road and Heiferhorn Creek from an RE1

(Residential Estate 1) District to a SFR1 (Single Family Residential 1)

District. (33-CA-05-Mize) Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers moved the adoption of the

ordinance. Seconded by Councilor Allen and carried unanimously by those eight

members of Council present at the time, with Councilor Woodson being absent for

this vote.



An Ordinance (05-66) - Rezoning 0.978 acres of property located at 3831

Armour Avenue from an SFR2 (Single Family Residential 2) District to an RMF2

(Residential Multi-Family 2) District. (34-A-05-Hecht, Burdeshaw, Johnson,

Kidd & Clark, Inc.) Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers moved the adoption of the ordinance.

Seconded by Councilor Henderson and carried unanimously by those seven members

of Council present at the time, with Councilors Suber and Woodson being absent

for this vote.



An Ordinance (05-67) - Rezoning 11.5 acres of property located at Columbus

Park Crossing-Tract I (north of Weems Road and south of Whittlesey Boulevard)

and Tract F (running adjacent and parallel to the west property line of

Greystone at Columbus Park Apartments); Tract I is proposed for rezoning from

RO (Residential-Office) District to GC (General Commercial) District; and Tract

F is proposed for rezoning from GC (General Commercial) to RO

(Residential-Office) District. (36-CA-05 Cadranel) Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers

moved the adoption of the ordinance. Seconded by Councilor Allen.



Councilor Davis said he has received a number of telephone calls of people

concerned about the Council decreasing the number of TDUs in the tree ordinance

and said that?s not true. He said it was misquoted in the newspaper. He said

the current TDU requirement in the Tree ordinance is 10 TDUs; however, there

was a request for 20 TDUs for this specific rezoning petition. He said the

petitioner has agreed to 15 TDUs.



He said on last week, he stated many of his concerns, which was the

traffic issues, the traffic at different intersections. He said it would be a

lack of a better judgment for us to have an understanding that traffic will not

increase, and said traffic is going to increase. He said he has several

concerns that he would like for the staff to look into for him. He said we are

still looking at some of the numbers, as far as traffic is concerned.



Councilor Davis said being that the petitioner has agreed to several

conditions that he thinks is in the best interest as far as a community

oriented development, he is willing to support the rezoning, even though he has

strong feelings towards the traffic in the area.



He said he knows that there is a certain amount of money that is

designated for road projects and we get a lot of our support and funding from

the State and the Federal level. He said we are growing and said he thinks that

maybe we need to include this on the City?s Legislative Agenda, and request

some State assistance, to assist us in speeding up some of the road projects

that we need to do.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers and Mayor Poydasheff also made comments regarding

this matter, after which the question was then called on the motion to adopt

the ordinance, which carried unanimously by those nine members of Council

present for this meeting.



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HOUSE OF HEROES:



Councilor Anthony said he would like to thank the Mayor who willingly took

the heat during the fundraising event for the House of Heroes on last night

during the Roast. He said he would like to publicly thank him for his support.



Mayor Poydasheff thanked Councilor Anthony for all he does and said it was

for a very good cause. He said what he has done when he started the concept has

now taken hold throughout the United States. He said it honors those heroes who

can no longer do work in their own homes, widows, as well as those in public

safety.



Councilor Suber said he would like to commend Channel 9 for the candid

views that were shown concerning the Mayor and whoever filmed those particular

clips did a magnificent job.



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KOREAN COMMUNITY:



Councilor Davis said he just wanted to let the Korean community know that

we really appreciate them and that we celebrate along with them their

independence. He said they celebrated their 60th Anniversary Independence

Sunday and he had an opportunity to be there and represented the City of

Columbus. He said it was a very touching effort and said there are a lot of

young people there; who recognizes that freedom comes with a price and is

precious.



He said the Korean community has been very good to our City and said we

love and appreciate them, and we celebrate along with them, their 60th

Anniversary of freedom and being liberated.

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PUBLIC AGENDA:



MR. JIM RHODES, COMMUNITY SERVICE CENTER, SUPER

WAL-MART STORE AND TRAFFIC ON MOON ROAD:



Mr. Rhodes, One North Whisper Court came forward and expressed some

concerns about the proposed Community Service Center and the great need for

that Center. He said he is hoping that there might be some way that you can

jumpstart this project soon.



He also made comments encouraging the Wal-mart development. He said he

would like for the Chamber of Commerce to get busy and help promote this

development and let?s go ahead and get it going and get the dirt turned. He

said the Columbus Ledger should also consider putting these articles in the

newspaper about what all the people want.



Mr. Rhodes also expressed more concerns about Moon Road and the tremendous

amount of traffic that goes on and off this street. He said he talked with Mr.

Jones about this road this morning. He said the Mayor had assigned Mr. Richard

Bishop to keep them apprised of what?s going on with this project on Moon Road

and said now he is gone and then asked, who?s going to keep them enlightened on

this project.



Mayor Poydasheff advised that the City Manager would keep them apprised of

this project.



Mr. Rhodes said there is an overload of trucks that seem to use Moon Road

everyday as a shortcut. He then made comments about the statement made by Mr.

Ken Henson on last week, when he stated that we adopt ordinances that we think

have teeth, but said we don?t enforce the ordinance. He said if they had

enforcement on Moon Road, their road wouldn?t be torn up with these overloaded

trucks.



Mayor Poydasheff asked Mr. Rhodes to provide the list that he had to Clerk

of Council Washington. (No list was provided to the Clerk of Council)



Mr. Rhodes then introduced Mr. Bill McDonald, his next-door neighbor, who

has moved here from California and are glad to have them here.



He said in 1991 when he ran for elected office, he received 6,763 votes

and said he is still trying to do some of the things that he promised those

people he would do at that time and said he hopes that he will be able to make

it one of these days.



Councilor Allen said Mr. Rhodes has done a great job being an advocate for

the citizens in the area where he lives and trying to keep Moon Road cleaned

and straightened up. He said Mr. Richard Bishop also did a great job in

responding very quickly to whatever concerns he relayed to him to address. He

said it might take some time to get someone in that position to respond to the

requests as quickly as Mr. Bishop did, but asked Mr. Rhodes to be patient with

us while we adjust through this transition of personnel, it would be

appreciated.



Mr. Rhodes said on the hearings that you will have regarding the Moon Road

project, asked that Blanchard School be the place where you hold your public

hearings.



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MS. EFFIE HOPKINS, RE: FLOODING OF PROPERTY:



Ms. Effie Hopkins, 3334 Flintrock Drive said she has lived at this property

for the last 17 years and said within the last three years a new developer has

come in and built a new subdivision in the back of her home. She said since

they have been working there, her home has been flooded three times. She said

on July 29, 2005 her home was completely flooded.

She said in 2002, her backyard was flooded and she called 911. She said Mr.

Jessie Gamble of the Engineering Department came out and investigated; however,

there was no report made of it.



She said in 2004 her backyard, her breakfast area, kitchen, part of the

dining room and her family room was all flooded and a Mr. Jim Berry came out

and investigated it, and again there was never a report made.



Ms. Hopkins said the only report of her home being damaged was the one made

July 29, 2005. She said she found out that there is a big ditch behind her home

and she is inclined to believe that when the debris stop this ditch up, it will

not hold the rainwater and all of this water comes into her home. She said her

home has been destroyed. She said she and her three grandchildren are walking

on concrete floors and said her furniture has been destroyed.



She said she wants to know how these developers can come in and disturb

this land and nothing is done about it. She said she had filed a claim here and

was told that her claim was denied because it was an act of nature. She said

she has been around 64 years and she has never seen any red water falling from

the sky, she said this is totally red mud water and debris.

Mayor Poydasheff asked City Manager Hugley to have the Rainwater Division,

as well as the Engineer to sit down and determine where the problem lies with

the concerns expressed by Ms. Hopkins to see what we can do to alleviate the

situation, if we can; and, if not, direct Ms. Hopkins to the appropriate people

who can do something about that situation.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers said right now we have a drainage ordinance that

holds only the major developer responsible for meeting our requirements,

drainage and runoff requirements at the time that the property is rezoned. He

said we have talked about it for almost two years now and said if we are ever

going to deal with this issue, we are going to have to draft some sort of an

ordinance that is going to require individual lot development; not to disturb

or impair the original runoff and drainage design that was approved at the time

the development was approved. He said that?s the only way we will be able to

correct it. He said right now we are pushing it off on the neighbors and the

individual developers and etc., and right now that?s true, but said we can do

something about it. He said we could draft the ordinance that we have been

talking about for two years now.



Mayor Poydasheff asked City Attorney Fay to move forward in the drafting

of this ordinance.



City Manager Hugley said the Engineer has just told him that we are

working on that ordinance. He said we have just not brought it forward, but

said he will have them to fine tune it and proceed forward with it.



He said he spoke with Ms. Hopkins about this matter late yesterday evening

and said it sounded like a detention pond and said that he did speak with the

staff on this morning. He said the staff has advised him that it is a detention

pond that is still owned by the developer and they are in contact with him and

are working with him to resolve any issues relating to the water traveling and

flooding Ms. Hopkins? home. He said he would like to have Ms. Hopkins to talk

with our Engineer, Donna Newman and we will let her know what we are doing in

working with that developer, as well as we will stay in contact with her to try

to resolve this issue.



City Manager Hugley said the City has not accepted the detention pond

because normally the developer maintains it with the standards for two years

and then they will bring it forward to ask the City to accept it and then we

will maintain it from that day forward.



Several minutes of discussion continued on this subject, with several

members of the Council expressing their views regarding this subject matter,

with City Attorney Fay responding to questions of members of the Council.



Councilor Turner Pugh said once the staff makes it findings on this

matter, not only give a report to Ms. Hopkins, but make sure that they submit a

report to the Mayor and Council as well.





Councilor Woodson said we are having a lot of individuals coming forth

with issues relating to flooding; therefore, she feels that we need to put some

information on CCG-TV in order to educate the public on the responsibility of

property owners and the City as it relates to flooding, drainage ditches and

detention ponds. She said she is working on three cases right now, all dealing

with the same thing, and she understands that we have been having a lot of

rain. She said maybe we could also consult with Channel 9 and the Columbus

Ledger to consider doing something on this subject.



Councilor Suber said he thinks that we need to sit down at the table with

the Homebuilders Association and address this concern with them. He said we

need to bring them to the table and advise them that we cannot continue to

allow our citizens to be used in this situation. He said its time that the

Columbus Homebuilders Association, or their representative come to this Council

and tell us how they are going to correct this situation.



In response to Councilor Davis, City Manager Hugley then outlined the

process of accepting and approving detention ponds. He said that the developer

would build and maintain the detention pond to our standards for a period of

two years. He said after two years, they can petition the City to accept the

detention pond and when we do, the City from that day forward would maintain

the detention pond.



He said Ms. Newman; our Engineer is saying that we accept it up front at

the time the street is accepted. He then asked Ms. Newman to come forward and

advise the Council of the procedures.



Ms. Donna Newman said the ponds are reviewed and constructed at the time

the streets are typically. She said they do accept them at the same time we

accept the streets, but there is a two-year maintenance required by the

developer to maintain those ponds.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers said this may be something else that we want to look

at because if we allow a developer to locate on his plat, where the detention

basin is going to be and every individual builder in that subdivision alters

the flow of the water he don?t know what benefit that detention pond is going

to be. He said, in fact, we wouldn?t know how effective it is until the

subdivision is completed, so at the very least, he would think that any

acceptance by the City of a detention basin should be at the completion of the

subdivision.



City Manager Hugley said that is the way he thought it was and the way it

should be and said he agrees with Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers. He said he thought

that we accepted it after the two-year period and said he has concerns with

accepting it upfront because as Ms. Hopkins came to us today, that puts us in a

position that we have already accepted the detention pond, although we require

the developer to maintain it for two years. He said this is something that he

would like to revisit and consider making some changes on.



Mayor Poydasheff said he appreciates Ms. Hopkins coming before the Council

and raising this issue to us.

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CITY MANAGER?S AGENDA:



THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY MANAGER

HUGLEY AND DELAYED FOR ONE WEEK AT THE REQUEST OF THE

COUNCIL:



A Resolution ? Authorizing the execution of the Amended and Restated

Hockey Agreement between the City of Columbus and QB, L.L.C., a Georgia limited

liability company.



Councilor Allen said due to the appearance of a conflict, he is going to

ask to be excused from voting on the contract with the Hockey team. He

said one of the owners of the team is on the Board of Directors of the

company that he works for; therefore, he would ask for the Council?s

indulgence in this matter.



Mayor Poydasheff then asked for a motion to allow Councilor Allen to

abstain from voting on this resolution. Councilor Woodson so moved.

Seconded by Councilor Henderson and carried unanimously by those eight

members of Council present at the time, with Councilor Suber being absent

for this vote.



Councilor Turner Pugh said that she would like to delay this matter until

such time as the Council members have had an opportunity to go through

the amended version to see what impact it is going to have on us. She said if

we could hold off for another week or two on this matter.



City Manager Hugley said he doesn?t have a problem with that, he will

just request a one week delay to allow time for the Council to review the

matter.



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THE FOLLOWING THREE RESOLUTIONS WERE SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY

MANAGER HUGLEY AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL PURSUANT TO THE ADOPTION OF A SINGLE

MOTION MADE BY MAYOR PRO TEM RODGERS AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR HENDERSON, WHICH

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE EIGHT MEMBERS OF COUNCIL PRESENT AT THE TIME, WITH

COUNCILOR SUBER BEING ABSENT FOR THIS

VOTE:



A Resolution (391-05) ?Authoring the submission of an application and if

approved, accept a $5,000 grant from the Cal Ripkin Foundation for a Community

Baseball Program, the ?Ripkin Way? to purchase equipment and provide field

supplies to implement the "Quickball" Program.



A Resolution (392-05) ? Authorizing the submission of an application and

if approved, accept a $10,000 grant from The National Eye Institute in

conjunction with The Step Up To Health Initiative for the health and well-being

of our citizens? eyesight.



A Resolution (393-05) ? Authorizing the submission of an application and

if approved, accept a grant of $5,000 from the Council of Juvenile Court Judges

of Georgia from funds allocated by Congress from the Juvenile Justice

Accountability Block Grant.



*** *** ***



THE FOLLOWING FOUR PURCHASING RESOLUTIONS, WITH DETAILED INFORMATION

HAVING BEEN INCLUDED IN THE CITY MANAGER?S AGENDA PACKET, WERE SUBMITTED AND

EXPLAINED BY CITY MANAGER HUGLEY AND THEN ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL PURSUANT TO

THE ADOPTION OF A SINGLE MOTION MADE BY COUNCILOR WOODSON AND SECONDED BY

COUNCILOR SUBER, WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE NINE MEMBERS OF COUNCIL

PRESENT FOR THIS MEETING:_



A Resolution (394-05) ? Authorizing the purchase of a landfill compactor

from Al-Jon, Inc., (Ottumwa, IA) in the amount of $425,000.00, less buy-back

trade-in allowance of $110,000.00, for a grand total purchase cost of

$315,000.00. The landfill compactor will be used at the Pine Grove Landfill

for waste management. In November 2000 Council approved the purchase of a

landfill compactor from Al-Jon, Inc., per Resolution No. 532-00 (Bid No.

01-0033). The bid specifications required vendors to submit a guaranteed

buy-back trade-in allowance toward the purchase of a new compactor within five

years or at 10,000 hours of use, whichever came first. Al-Jon has agreed to

honor their bid of a guaranteed buy back trade-in allowance, for the unit

purchased in 2000, in the amount of $110,000.00 to be deducted from the

purchase amount for a new landfill compactor.



A Resolution (395-05) ? Authorizing the purchase of two (2) street

sweepers from Tractor & Equipment Company (Columbus, GA), in the amount of

$232,988.00 ($116,494.00 each). These replacement units will be used by the

Public Services Department to clean the interstate, streets and City owned

parking lots throughout the City, as well as, help rainwater flow by removing

leaves and debris from curbs and gutters. On April 5, 2005 Council approved

the purchase of a street sweeper from Tractor & Equipment Company, per

Resolution No. 211-05, Bid No.05-0053. The bid specifications required vendors

to submit a bid price for future purchases during the FY06 Budget year. The

vendor submitted a bid price of $119,577.00, per unit, for future FY06

purchases. However, rather than charge $119,577.00 per unit, the vendor has

offered to sell the two units to the City at the FY05 bid price, plus the

actual cost increase for the cab and chassis ($114,740.00 each, plus the price

increase of $1,754.00); which equals a total unit cost of $116,494.00.





A Resolution (396-05) ? Authorizing the execution of the annual

contract for laboratory services from Columbus Water Works. The laboratory

services will be utilized by the Storm Water Management Division to test water

samples. CCG has a Municipal Storm Water Discharge permit issued by Georgia

EPD. As a condition of that permit, the City is required to collect and

analyze wet and dry weather samples in our creeks and at storm sewer outfalls.

This sampling is a federal and state mandate. The term of the contract period

shall be for three years, with the option to renew for two (2) additional

twelve (12) month periods; with the contract renewal being contingent upon the

mutual agreement of the contractor and the City.



A Resolution (397-05) ? Authorizing the execution of Change Order

Number 7 with Batson Cook Company, in the amount of $66,738.68, for the

library construction project. Per Resolution No. 72-03, dated February 11,

2003, Council authorized a contract with Batson Cook Company for construction

of the Library.



Change Order Number 7 consists of acoustical panels, allowance closeouts,

and an allowance addition. The allowances are used to cover a particular scope

of work that is difficult to define until the work is completed. The

Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment (FF&E), Dedicatory Plaque, and Lighting

Allowances are items that were either designed for the project or essential to

its operation. Since all work related to these allowances is now completed,

the allowances are being "closed," and adjustments are being made to

Batson-Cook's contract based on verification and finalization of the costs.

For the FF&E and Dedicatory Plaque Allowances, the amounts expended exceeded

the amounts allocated for the items; therefore the balance is owed to

Batson-Cook. For the Lighting Allowance, the amount expended is less than the

amount allocated for the item, which resulted in a credit to the project

contract.



The Rotunda Handrail Allowance is being opened in response to a

life-safety issue that was discovered after the Library opened. Although the

handrail around the 2nd floor rotunda opening was built to satisfy all

applicable codes, and although all inspections of the handrail were

satisfactory, the design presented an unforeseeable condition that allowed

children to climb up the handrail, necessitating a modification to the handrail

to alleviate the condition. This is a critical life-safety issue, and the

design for the modification is currently underway.



*** *** ***



TDUs REQUIREMENTS:



City Manager Hugley said he would like to mention the newspaper article

that was reported on last week as it relates to the TDUs on the Columbus Park

Crossing project. He said the UDO requires 10 TDUs and said with the new

project of Mr. Cadranel we did a compromise of 15 TDUs. He said there are no

requirements for 20 TDUs, as has already been explained earlier.



CITY SERVICE CENTER:



City Manager Hugley said in the newspaper on this morning, they reported

on a conversation that he had with a reporter as it relates to the Carmike

Theatre 8 out at the old Columbus Square mall; who stated that it would be used

as a City Service Center. He said that was incorrectly stated, and said a

correction was done in today?s newspaper.



He said the Carmike Theatre is a piece of property the City does own, as

well as we own Firestone; however, those two pieces of property have been

leased. He said we don?t know exactly what we will be doing with the Theatre,

but we are getting both pieces of properties appraised and will know the

appraisal value within the next few weeks.



He said we do know that a City Service Center will be on the site of the

old Sears property where the Library is located. He said as they master plan

the site, there will be acreage set aside for this City Service Center on that

site, not the Carmike Theatre. He said he wants to make sure that the public is

aware of that and know that we are not looking to use the Carmike Theatre for

that City Service Center.

----------------------------------*** ***

***-----------------------------------

CLERK OF COUNCIL'S AGENDA:



THE FOLLOWING ITEM WAS SUBMITTED BY CLERK OF

COUNCIL WASHINGTON AS INFORMATION FOR THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL:

__________________________________



(1) ACCG?s The County Line Newsletter, Volume 18, Number 2.



*** *** ***



THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CLERK OF COUNCIL

WASHINGTON AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL:



A Resolution (398-05) Excusing Councilor Charles McDaniel, Jr., from

the August 16, 2005 Council Meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers moved the adoption

of the resolution. Seconded by Councilor Allen and carried unanimously by those

nine members of Council present for this meeting.



*** *** ***



C.I.R.C.L.E.:



Clerk of Council Washington submitted a letter from Ms. Tonya Douglass

resigning from her position on the Commission on International Relations and

Cultural Liaison Encounter (C.I.R.C.L.E). Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers moved the

resignation be received with regrets and thanks for his service. Seconded by

Councilor Suber and carried unanimously by those nine members of Council

present for this meeting.



*** *** ***

MINUTES OF THE FOLLOWING BOARDS WERE SUBMITTED BY CLERK OF COUNCIL

WASHINGTON AND OFFICIALLY RECEIVED BY THE COUNCIL:







Board of Tax Assessors, No. 31-05.

C.I.R.C.L.E, July 12, 2005.

Council Briefing, May 17, 2005.

Council Briefing, June 7, 2005.

Council Briefing, June 14, 2005.

Uptown Fa?ade Board, July 18, 2005.



Councilor Allen made a motion that these minutes be received. Seconded by

Councilor Woodson and carried unanimously by those nine members of Council

present at the time, with Councilor Davis being absent for this vote.



*** *** ***



THE FOLLOWING NEW ZONING PETITION RECOMMENDED FOR DENIAL BY THE PLANNING

ADVISORY COMMISSION AND CONDITIONAL APPROVAL BY THE PLANNING DIVISION WAS

SUBMITTED BY CLERK OF COUNCIL WASHINGTON AND AN ORDINANCE AND PUBLIC HEARING

WAS CALLED FOR BY MAYOR PRO TEM

RODGERS:



Petition submitted by Wolford Development Options, LLC. to rezone 54.27

acres of property located on the west side of Gateway Road from LMI (Light

Manufacturing / Industrial), RE1 (Residential Estate 1), and RO

(Residential-Office) zoning districts to GC (General Commercial) zoning

district. (39-CA-05-Wolford Development Options, LLC.)



*** *** ***



BOARD APPOINTMENTS:



ANIMAL CONTROL ADVISORY BOARD:



Clerk of Council Washington pointed out on last week that Councilor Allen

nominated Mr. Dick McKee to succeed Ms. Kimberley Gerlack on the Animal Control

Advisory Board and that he may now be confirmed.



Councilor Woodson so moved. Seconded by Councilor Allen and carried

unanimously by those nine members of Council present for this meeting.

.

*** ***

***



DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY:



Clerk of Council Washington pointed out that the terms of office of

Mr. Fernando Verdree and Mr. Arthur Smith on the Downtown Development Authority

will expire on August 15, 2005 but they are both eligible to succeed themselves

for another term of office.

Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers then nominated Mr. Verdree and Mr. Smith to succeed

themselves for another term of office. Clerk of Council Washington said she

would bring these two nominations back in two weeks for the Council?s

confirmation.



*** *** ***



KEEP COLUMBUS BEAUTIFUL COMMISSION:



Clerk of Council Washington further pointed out that we still need someone

for Council District 5 and that Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers is working on a nominee

for this seat.



*** *** ***



PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION:



Clerk of Council Washington pointed out that the terms of office of

Mr. Michael Eddings and Ms. Chris Henson, who serve as the alternate members on

the Planning Advisory Commission will expire on August 31, 2005, but they are

both eligible to succeed themselves for another term of office.



Councilor Allen nominated Mr. Eddings and Ms. Henson to succeed themselves

for another term of office. Clerk of Council Washington said she would also

bring these nominations back in two weeks for the Council?s confirmation.



*** *** ***



YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL:



Clerk of Council Washington pointed out that we still need a nominee for

the 2005-2006 School year for individuals to serve on the Youth Advisory

Council. She said we need a nominee for Council Districts 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and

10.



She further pointed out that on last week, Councilor Suber had asked if it

was possible to nominate the individuals from last school year and said she

included in the information section of the Agenda of those individuals who was

appointed during that time.



Councilor Henderson nominated Mr. Joseph Henderson to serve as the Council

District 9 at-large representative. Councilor Suber moved he be confirmed.

Seconded by Councilor Woodson and carried unanimously by those nine members of

Council present for this meeting.



*** *** ***



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

Poydasheff then asked if there was anyone who had an issue to bring before the

Council, they could be heard at this time.



Mr. Wayne Clark, 4206 Timbalier Drive said his complaint is with the

unequal enforcement of the Columbus Noise Ordinance, which forced them for

health, school and employment reasons to leave their home at Wood Duck Pointe

Subdivision in Midland. He said the noise was due to Pratt & Whitney?s jet

engine test cell (JETCO) located at 8801 Macon Road in Midland. He said the jet

engine testing was called by the Federal Aviation Agency, ?The Noisiest of all

commercial Engines?. He said at the conclusion of the May 31st Council meeting,

there were no questions by Council and an appointment with the City Manager has

been requested to further discuss this matter. He said he has questions that he

would like to have answered and if you wish, the answers can be mailed to him.



He then asked the following questions:



(1) Why did the City of Columbus not enforce the Columbus noise ordinance for

911 noise complaints against Pratt & Whitney?s JETCO?



He said three police officers found the noise ?unreasonable?. A real estate

agent present in his home during a jet engine test wrote a letter stating. ?I

could not help but be concerned when I heard the noise coming from the Pratt &

Whitney plant when they tested jet engines, such noise on a regular basis would

diminish the value of the Wood Duck Pointe property.? He said a second real

estate agent present at his home during a jet engine test stated, ?I couldn?t

live here?.



(2) Why did the Columbus Police Department arrive at his home on 91 noise

complaints without a decibel meter for a period of four years?



(3) Why did the City of Columbus fail to do any of the required yearly reviews

of the Columbus Noise Ordinance for twelve years?



(4) Why did the City not enforce on Pratt & Whitney the noise ordinance night

tine limit 9f 70 dbA when called to his home for noise complaints? During a

noise complaint, he mentioned to the Officer, ?and they (Pratt & Whitney) went

over 70 tonight? The police officer states, ?73, 74, yeah?.



(5) Why was his home for purposes of the noise ordinance designated by

the City as ?commercial? property? A Columbus Police Officer stated, ?Well,

this is a residence?. (Referring to our home).



(6) Why was the noise ordinance not enforced on Pratt & Whitney for

five years, but enforced elsewhere in Muscogee County 55 times per two months

time period? He said a police officer at our home on a noise complaint said,

?What, you know, the noise ordinance reads and if they are in violation, then I

guess somebody needs to do something?. (7) Why was the Georgia Open Records

Acts violated by the City of Columbus on at least three separate times when

records were requested from the City of Columbus?



(8) Why did the City raise noise ordinance night time limits to exceed Federal

Aviation Administration Environmental Protection Agency, World Health

Organization, Acoustical Society of America, and Department of Defense

recommendations?



(9) Why was Pratt & Whitney allowed to test themselves for noise? The police

at the North Precinct said, ?tell her (my wife) Pratt & Whitney has tested and

are within the limits and that nothing can be done?.



(10) Why was Pratt & Whitney allowed by the City of Columbus to locate both a

340-acre aviation complex and later a JETCO next to and abutting our

established subdivision without an Environmental Impact Statement being done

for either? A technical document on JETCO?s Emissions and Control Measures

produced for the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency contradicts Pratt &

Whitney?s decision to locate so close to a populated area, stating, ?From this

exercise it can be concluded that if the JETCO?s do not directly border

residential areas, the noise impact should be acceptable for daytime

operations.



He said by the City not enforcing the noise ordinance, his family was

subjected to Pratt & Whitney?s extreme low frequency noise and infrasound. He

said the level of low frequency noise (LFN) is determined by subtracting the

?A? scale from the ?C? scale decibel measurement, which is a difference of more

than 15 decibels, denotes LN. He said by scanning our website and clicking

video clips, you will notice a difference of as much as 26 decibels which

denotes extremely several LFN at their home.



Mr. Clark said their efforts to fight this injustice were put on hold due

to their physician?s advice and their need to move away from the JETC noise and

recover their health. He said as a computer programmer, his wife was

constantly performing detailed work with little or no sleep. He said she

received her worst evaluation as a programmer in ten years. He aid their

infant son was constantly awakened by the testing, as well as their kids had

difficulty trying to study. He said some of his children had nausea and

headaches during testing of jet engines. He said his 15-year old daughter

emailed Pratt & Whitney and this is what she said? ?right now it is 11:30 at

night and I cannot take this anymore, all night long you do this to me, testing

at all hours of the night, because it keeps everyone in my family up and makes

me very sick to my stomach?.



Mr. Clark said their website of www.jetenginetestingcomplaints.com was

implemented to handle and transmit the vast amount of information accumulated

from constantly trying with no success, to try to work with the City and Pratt

& Whitney. He said several State and Federal agencies stated it is the

responsibility of the local government to enforce the noise ordinance and said

the City has violated their own noise ordinance by failing to enforce it.



He said the Declaration of Independence states, ?governments exist to

protect the rights of the people?. The Bill of Rights, Amendment #14 states,

?nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the

laws?. Her said the City has failed them and Pratt & Whitney?s activities

constituted an unreasonable interference with their rights as a citizen and

landowner for which they have not been compensated. He said he would like to

settle this issue since they were displaced from their home and wants to be

reimbursed for their expenses.



Mr. Clark said he could mail the Open Records request that was submitted

to the City. Councilor Turner Pugh said she would like to have that

information mailed to her.



Councilor Woodson said once we get the answers to these questions, she

thinks it is very important that we come back to the Council and answer these

questions. She said the public is viewing this meeting today and said she

don?t want anyone to think that we are hiding anything. She said there are a

lot of accusations being made here of what we haven?t done and said we don?t

know whether we did or not.



Mayor Poydasheff said this matter has been going on for some time now and

said these answers have been given before by our former City Manager on

numerous occasions. He said because Mr. Clark has already made a claim, he has

turner this matter over to the legal staff; therefore, when we get the answers,

we can go into executive session because of the possibility of pending

litigation, as Mr. Clark has already stated verbally that his demanding a claim

and we can discuss it at that time. He said over the years, this is the first

time that he has ever heard a complaint against Pratt & Whitney, except from

this individual, who has moved from that area.



*** *** ***



An unidentified lady then came forward and asked if this is the

appropriate time to speak against the new zoning petition, which is listed on

the Clerk of Council?s Agenda. She was making reference to the petition

submitted by Wolford Development Options, LLC., to rezone 54.27 acres of

property located on the west side of Gateway Road from LM (Light Manufacturing

Industrial), REI (Residential Estate1), and Ro (Residential-Office) zoning

districts to CG (General Commercial) zoning districts. (39-CA-95-Wolford

Development Options, LLC)



Mayor Poydasheff said this petition and public hearing was just called for

and said this would not be the appropriate time to speak to this issue. He then

outlined the process and pointed out that once this matter has been placed on

first reading, she can be heard during that time. He then asked her to give her

name to the City Manager?s staff person and someone will call her to let her

know when the rezoning petition will be listed on the Agenda for a first

reading.



*** *** ***



With there be no other business at hand, Mayor Poydasheff then entertained

a motion for adjournment. Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers so moved. Seconded by Councilor

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

this meeting, with the time being 10:30 a.m.





Tiny B. Washington, CMC

Clerk of Council

Council of Columbus, Georgia