Columbus, Georgia

COUNCIL BRIEFING



June 14, 2005





A Council Briefing was held on Tuesday, June 14, 2005, on the Plaza Level,

of the Government Center, Columbus, Georgia. Mayor Pro Tem John J. Rodgers,

presiding.



** CALL TO ORDER

(Deputy Clerk arrived at 8:40 a.m. and the meeting was in progress)



PRESENT: Present other than Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers were Councilors R. Gary

Allen, Wayne Anthony, Glenn Davis, Berry "Skip" Henderson, Julius H. Hunter,

Jr., Charles "Red" McDaniel Jr., Nathan Suber and Evelyn Woodson. Also

present were Mayor Robert S. Poydasheff, City Manager Isaiah Hugley, City

Attorney Clifton Fay, Assistant City Attorney Jamie DeLoach, Deputy City

Managers Richard Bishop and Lisa Goodwin, Finance Director Angela Cole, Clerk

of Council Tiny B. Washington and Deputy Clerk of Council Sandra Davis.



ABSENT: Councilor Evelyn Turner Pugh was absent.





PERSONAL PROPERTY:



Deputy Tax Commissioner Tony Floyd, was present to request that the

Council approve a resolution at the June 21, 2005 Council Meeting to allow the

insolvent personal property accounts to be removed from accountability. He

recalled that Tax Commissioner Lula Huff has discussed these personal property

accounts at the previous budget session. (A list of the personal property

accounts was not filed for the record.)



City Manager Hugley was prepared to respond to any questions and to advise

that the resolution would be coming back next week. Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers

added that this is just on personal property and the reason for this is that

these items have left the State or otherwise unaccounted for.



*** *** ***



LIBRARY SCULPTURE:



City Manager Hugley introduced members of the Library Board that were

present: Dr. Tom Wade, Claudia Mueller and some of the construction managers.

He advised that the library sculpture is on the City Manager?s Agenda for

today. He pointed out that this is change order #6 and in that change order,

there is a sculpture.



Councilor Suber suggested that the expenditure for the sculpture be

separated from the DVD that is included in change order #6, at which time, City

Manager Hugley concurred that there could be a separation.



Dr. Tom Wade, Chairman of the Library Board, came forward to explain the

reason why the purchase for the sculpture should be approved. He said this

decision was made relying on experts and Mr. Paley is a nationally acclaimed

artist. He expressed his surprise that this matter would be going before the

City Council. He then recalled that Resolution No. 531-01 reads that ?The

committee (which was previously the project development committee and is now

the library board) would control, oversee and be responsible for all aspects of

the construction and the equipping of the library project and will make all

decisions relating thereto?. He then questioned why this matter was presented

to the Council. He called attention to the concerns expressed by the citizens.



Dr. Wade then provided a mental visualization of the sculpture to be

purchased by outlining some of the material that would be used. City Manager

Hugley responded to comments made by Dr. Wade regarding him being unaware that

this matter would be coming to Council today.



Councilor McDaniel asked about the possibility to acquire private money to

purchase the sculpture. Councilor Suber asked that City Manager Hugley address

the comments about why this matter is coming before the Council. City Manager

Hugley explained that he had received comments from the community about this

being a conflict of interest; since, he serves on the Library Board and then

approving this change order. He said that he had received a written opinion

that this would not pose a conflict of interest, but because of the concerns

expressed by the citizens, he felt that because the change orders had reached

this level in terms of dollars, he believes the matter should come before

Council. Dr. Wade added that the project is within budget.



Councilor Suber asked if the School Board had voted on this matter and if

it would be appropriate to send it back to the Library Board for additional

consideration. Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers said that we could have the public

discussion today, but he has no objections to sending it back to the Library

Board, because the Library Board may reconsider their decision.



Councilor Woodson wanted to know if any local artist had been considered

to provide the sculpture, at which time, Dr. Wade responded by saying that many

local artist do not have the reputation and acclaim that is possessed by Mr.

Paley.



*** *** ***



There being no further business to discuss, this meeting adjourned at

8:58 a.m.











_________________________________

Sandra T. Davis, Deputy Clerk of Council

Council of Columbus, Georgia