Columbus, Georgia

MINUTES

COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

WORK SESSION

JULY 23, 2002



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

to order at 9:05 A.M., Tuesday, July 23, 2002, on the Plaza Level of the

Government Center, Columbus, Georgia. Honorable Bobby G. Peters, Mayor and

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



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

Councilors Berry H. Henderson, Julius H. Hunter, Jr., Charles E. McDaniel, Jr,

Richard Smith and Nathan Suber. City Manager Carmen Cavezza, City Attorney

Clifton Fay, Clerk of Council Tiny B. Washington and Deputy Clerk of Council

Sandra Davis were also present. Councilor R. Gary Allen took his seat at the

Council table at 9:08 a.m., and Councilor Woodson took her seat at 9:07 a.m.



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ABSENT: Councilor Evelyn Turner Pugh was absent, but was excused upon the

adoption of Resolution Number 447-02.



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

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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Led by Mayor Bobby G. Peters.

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MINUTES: Minutes of the July 16, 2002 meeting of the Council of the

Consolidated Government of Columbus, Georgia were submitted and approved upon

the adoption of a motion made by Councilor McDaniel and seconded by Councilor

Smith, which carried unanimously by those seven

members of Council present at the time, with Councilor Allen not yet seated at

the Council table.

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CONSENT AGENDA:



THE FOLLOWING SEVEN ITEMS LISTED ON THE CONSENT AGENDA WERE SUBMITTED AND

ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL UPON THE ADOPTION OF A SINGLE MOTION MADE BY COUNCILOR

ALLEN AND SECONDED BY MAYOR PRO TEM RODGERS, WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE

EIGHT MEMBERS OF COUNCIL PRESENT FOR THIS

MEETING:





An Ordinance (02-72) - Amending the text of the Zoning Ordinance to change

the Off-Street Parking requirements for commercial, general business or

personal service establishments that cater to retail trade, but not including

food stores. (31-A-02-Planning Division)



An Ordinance (02-73) - Rezoning approximately 4.88 acres of property

located at the northern portion of 6751 Macon Road from an R-1A District to a

C-3 District. (33-CA-02-Artisan Properties, Inc.)



An Ordinance (02-74) - Rezoning approximately 32.116 acres of property

located at 6800 Macon Road from an R-1A District to an M-1 District.

(34-CA-02-Dykes Development, Inc.)



An Ordinance (02-75) - Authorizing the creation of an Environmental Court

Division of the Recorder's Court and the regular hearing of the docket for

violations of environmental ordinances; increasing the FY03 Budget for

Recorder's Court by $3,598.00; and for other purposes.



City Manager Cavezza said that one of the items on the Environmental Court

was business licenses and said that it was not supposed to have been put in

there. He said we have strayed away from that aspect, as it relates to business

license. He said that we would like to delete business licenses from the

ordinance. There were no objections expressed to the business licenses be taken

out of the ordinance.



A Resolution (445-02) - Authorizing the acceptance of a deed to Weems

Road, Whittlesey Boulevard and Adams Farm Drive.



A Resolution (446-02) - Authorizing the acceptance of pass-through grants

from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs totaling $652,000 for the

following organizations: South Westview Against Drugs- $15,000; Columbus

Convention & Visitors Bureau - $10,000, Fourth Street Towers, Inc., - $47,000,

Drug Fighters of Columbus - $5,000, Columbus Youth Network - $20,000, Community

Alliance - $30,000, Renaissance - $40,000, Metro Columbus Taskforce for the

Homeless - $20,000, Columbus Consolidated Government Recreation Program -

$50,000, 100 Black Men of Columbus - $15,000, Two Thousand Opportunities, Inc.,

- $60,000, Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus & Phenix City, Inc., - $120,000, Port

Columbus Civil War Naval Museum - $100,000, Project Rebound - $5,000, Columbus

Community Center - $25,000, Urban League of Greater Columbus - $20,000,

Community Health Center of South Columbus- $20,000, Men of Action, Inc. -

$15,000, Positive Parenting Play & Learn - $10,000, and Combined Communities of

South East Columbus - $20,000; and amend the multi-governmental fund by a like

amount.



A Resolution (447-02) - Excusing Councilor Turner Pugh from the July 23,

2002 Council meeting.



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THE FOLLOWING TWO NEW ZONING PETITIONS WERE SUBMITTED AND AN ORDINANCE WAS

CALLED FOR BY COUNCILOR HENDERSON:

Petition submitted by Randy McGee to rezone approximately 3. 3 acres of

property located at the northwest side of Arkansas Drive, the northwest corner

of Arkansas Drive and Anglin Road, and the southwest corner of Claymore Road

and Anglin Road from an R-1A District to an R-4 District. (Recommended for

conditional approval by both the Planning Advisory Commission and the Planning

Division.) (41-CA-02-McGee)



Petition submitted by Columbus Properties, LLC., to delete the first

sentence of Condition #2 and the first sentence of Condition #3, both of which

are part of Ordinance Number 01-109, and replace the sentences with new

sentences. (The first sentence in Condition #2 as outlined in the current

ordinance reads: ?The three commercial lots fronting on Armour Road in Land

Lease #3 shall be limited to the following development, automotive service

businesses, such as a car wash, oil and lube center, muffler shop, brake

service center or similar uses. The first sentence of Condition #3 reads:



?On Land Lease #4, the portion designated for mini-storage facilities may be

used for RV camper, and boat storage.? (Recommended for conditional approval by

both the Planning Advisory Commission and the Planning Division.)

(42-CA-02-Columbus Properties, LLC)



UPCOMING EVENTS:



City Manager Cavezza outlined some upcoming events for the month of August

2002.



Friday ? August 10th ? 6:00 p.m. Mayor?s Gala Reception & Dinner, Civic

Center.



Saturday ? August 11th ? 2:00 ? 7:00 p.m., International Festival, Civic

Center



Tuesday ? August 13th ? 7:00 p.m., Community Meeting ? Columbus Square

Mall Site Development ? 1282 Rigdon Road



Friday ? August 16th ? 9:00 a.m. Columbus Crossing Ribbon Cutting



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TREES IN LAKEBOTTOM:



Councilor McDaniel said he would like for City Manager Cavezza to have

someone to go down to Lakebottom and check on those trees, because the leaves

are beginning to turn brown. He said what they need to do is water those trees.



Councilor Woodson also said that they need to have someone to check the

third tree on the Cherokee Avenue side where the stage is located. She said she

has had a number of people to speak to her about this tree.



City Manager Cavezza said he would get someone down there to look at those

trees.



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CONDITION OF RAY EVANS:



Mayor Peters said that Ray Evans is still in the hospital at St. Francis

Hospital, but said he is not doing very well.



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COLUMBUS PERFORMING ARTS:



Councilor Smith said there is a 3-week program that introduces children to

writing and performing, which will be held on Thursday & Friday, July 25 ? 26,

2002 and is being sponsored by the Columbus Performing Arts

Alliance.



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FORTSON ROAD AREA:



Councilor Smith said he has expressed some concerns about individuals

having cattle in the Fortson Road area, where they don?t have a covering over

the pen where they have these animals. He said he has tried to talk with

someone about this matter, and then asked City Manager Cavezza to see if he

could possibly find someone to address this matter

with.

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WORKSESSION AGENDA:



SIMPLIFIED HOUSING INFORMATION PROCESS (SHIP):



City Manager Cavezza said that Mr. Tom Helton of the Leadership Columbus

has put together a program for the Home Program and he is here today to give a

presentation on that program.



Mr. Tom Helton, Group Project Chair, Leadership Columbus Class 2001- 2002

said they wanted to look at trying to streamline the application process that

you have to go through in applying for housing in this area. He then showed a

brief slide presentation of the project that his group has come up with during

Leadership Columbus. He said they realized that there were a lot of good things

going on and said they didn?t want to create something new; so, they tried to

find something that was going on so that they could partner with it.



He said all of the agencies that they interviewed have agreed to use the

form. He said the form includes information and permission to share with the

other agencies. He said if you apply for one type of housing and don?t qualify

for that, then you have the ability to transfer the information to the other

agency.



Mr. Helton said they have talked with Lynette Gross and they will look at

putting that on line, so that the information will be transferred very easy

from agency to agency. He said they hope that this initiative will help in the

future with communication and ultimately help the clients to have an easier way

to get adequate housing.



Mayor Peters then asked Mr. Helton where would an individual start in the

process, to which he said they weren?t able to solve the entire problem, but

said it was a short project.



City Manager Cavezza then said the concept is wherever they start, that

same form is initiated, whether they come to the City or go to Columbus Housing

Initiative. He said whoever is the first contact with them initiates the form

and makes sure it gets to the right place, so they don?t have to fill out a new

form.



Mr. Helton said that Columbus Housing Initiative is the clearinghouse for

a number of these agencies, but regardless of which agency they begin with, if

they use the same form, it will be adequate information. He said it includes

all of the information that any of the agencies needs and requires; so,

wherever a person starts and wasn?t qualified with that agency, then their

information could be transferred to some other agency.



City Manager Cavezza pointed out that they are having periodic meetings

with Columbus Housing Initiative, and the different CHODOS, Habitat for

Humanity and all the people that are involved in housing to discuss these kinds

of initiatives and how to better work together, so that people won?t have to

run all over the City, trying to figure out where they are supposed to be. He

said we have a lot of that to work through.



Mr. Helton then spent several minutes in responding to questions of Mayor

Peters and members of the Council.



Some members of the Council also expressed their views and support of

Leadership Columbus.

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COLUMBUS HOUSING INITIATIVE:



Ms. Cathy Vaughn of the Columbus Housing Initiative prior to making her

presentation, made comments regarding the presentation SHIP that was

made by Mr. Helton above. She said within the Columbus Housing Initiative they

are developing a program called the Housing Resource Center and said they have

partnerships with the different agencies that were mentioned in the earlier

presentation and that partnership will become formalized with the adoption of

SHIP by all the agencies. She said they will act as the clearinghouse for the

Information Center and partnership with the Real Estate Office at the City and

said they are already facilitating that partnership with Habit for Humanity, as

they act as the Resource Center for Education for their clients.



She said they are working very hard and diligently to eliminate redundancy

within the entire housing services system, as well as simplify it for their

clients throughout the different agencies.



Ms. Vaughn said they are here today to bring a presentation on a program,

which is called ?Students Housing Seniors?. She said this is a partnership

program that was developed to accommodate a need in our community with our

senior citizens residents living in substandard housing. She said this

presentation was presented in Washington, D. C. several weeks ago, and said she

wanted to give you an update of what happened in Washington, as a result of

this presentation.



She said this is a very aggressive program that will accommodate several

different needs within our community. She said one of them was the fact that we

wanted to preserve our past, our heritage, and this was one way that we felt

that we could do it.



Ms. Vaughn said their first intent of this program was to provide safe and

decent housing to low-income elderly residents, and said it will also give them

the ability to allow the youths to interact with the elderly. She said they had

found disconnect in the community between the elderly and the youths that

wasn?t necessarily living in this community, and those youths who didn?t

particularly understand the need, how and why. She said this put the two groups

together and also allows for a process in which the students will be able to

study how our community has changed over this individual?s generation.



Ms. Vaughn then went into more details in outlining this program, spending

some fifteen minutes or more in doing so and then responded to several

questions of Mayor Peters and members of the Council.



She also gave a brief report of what occurred when they made this

presentation in Washington and met with the Department of Education, Department

of Labor and HUD. She said they were very excited and the responses from every

single one of the Federal agencies were incredible. She said they also took it

to the Homebuilder?s Institute, which is the workforce development arm of the

National Association of Homebuilders and showed it to their Public Affair?s

Department. She said the reason for doing all of this was that they felt they

had a legitimate program that had a lot of ability to succeed on the different

fronts, housing, workforce development and relationship building, and knew

there was no reason that it couldn?t be adopted anywhere else.



Ms. Vaughn said that HBI has taken it and packaged it to be a pilot

program in five cities in the United States. She said Memphis and Jacksonville

have both adopted it. She said their intent is to pilot it for the next school

year, and then roll it out nationally in 2004.



She said they are very proud that this was born here in Columbus and are

excited about watching it evolve as other cities take advantage of it, and will

be working real hard with the students when the school year starts, to

hopefully build five of these homes, with the intent of other schools coming on

line in Columbus and building 10 to 15 homes a year.



Councilor Woodson asked City Manager Cavezza to send this presentation

that was made by Ms. Vaughn to the National League of Cities and GMA for them

to publish something in their newsletters.



There was continued discussion on this issue, with some members of the

Council expressing their views, after which Ms. Vaughn then responded to

several questions and concerns of Mayor Peters and members of the Council

regarding this program.



City Manager Cavezza said at next month?s Work Session, we would have a

presentation on our HOME Program. He said we are making some adjustments in

that program, as we have had some challenges, and said it will compliment a lot

of the things that the Columbus Housing Initiative are doing.



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1999 SPLOST PROJECT UPDATE



City Manager Cavezza said that things are going fairly well with the

sales tax projects and said today, we just want to give you an update on where

we are, and to answer any questions that the Council may have.



Mayor Peters said several people have asked him about the sales tax

projects, and said he wants the people to understand that we are a little

different from the School District, as their sales taxes are based on a

timeframe, 5-years and if the economy is bad during that time; whatever money

they raised during that period, then that?s what is raised. He said our sales

tax is based on an amount, the total amount of $255 million, and however long

it takes to raise that, whatever it takes, is not affected by the economy, but

said it means they may have to wait a little longer to get the revenue. He said

he thinks it was a smart move, not to tie it to a time period.





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SWIMMING POOLS:



While waiting for Deputy City Manager Richard Bishop to set up for the

sales tax projects presentation, City Manager Cavezza gave some statistics on

the swimming pools. He said we have three new swimming pools open now, as well

as the pool at Carver Park and the senior citizens pool at Tillis Recreation

Center; and said this year the total attendance to date is 17,005, which

surpasses previous years by a tremendous amount. He said in the past what they

had to do was end up sending the police to the pools more than anybody else. He

said there are moms and dads, as well as grandparents, with their children at

the pools, and said it is a family event.



City Manager Cavezza said the pools are crowded on weekends, and said if

the sales tax did anything right, the pools were done right. He said there is

one more pool that we need to do; and said, hopefully, they will come back to

the Council soon and talk about that particular aspect in more details.



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MARINA:



Councilor McDaniel said he has been reading the newspaper articles as it

relates to the issue of the Congressman trying to shut down the dredging of the

Chattahoochee River and then asked, how is that going to affect the Marina? He

also asked, if we will be able to proceed with that project or not?



City Manager Cavezza said it certainly will affect barge traffic, but said

whether or not you can still have leisure type traffic is questionable. He said

they are doing all they can to fight that and said our Congressional delegation

is on board working on that with us. He said we have a Task Force that will be

meeting at the end of this month from all along the River, to include the

Alabama side, as well as the Georgia side, bringing whatever pressure we can to

keep that from happening. He said the dredging initiative is critical and said

that we won?t have an effective a Marina as we would, if you could get all the

way to the Gulf from here; that?s the strength of our Marina over other ones.



Councilor McDaniel said some of them are trying to raise some money to

fund that project and said he doesn?t want to go out there and get some money

to do it, and then we can?t do it. He said he wants to be sure that we are

going to have the access to the Chattahoochee.



City Manager Cavezza said there is a bill in the Senate Committee right

now asking to restore the River in the Florida area to its natural state, which

basically says stop the dredging. He said they are watching that bill closely,

as is our State Legislative Delegation. He said we feel fairly good about it,

but we are not totally satisfied that it is under control yet.



Councilor McDaniel said we are still hoping to get some money from the

State and said he is sure they will put their hands down if they close down the

dredging and we can?t use it. He said he doesn?t see how it would affect

pleasure boats, but he understands the barges.



Mayor Peters said it?s really not about barge traffic and said we would

have to agree, he said it?s about the flow of the River and trying to keep

moving water upstream.



Councilor Woodson said she would like the City Manager to keep a watch out

on this as well, and when she agreed to the letter that we did for the water

rafting, she made it clear that this would be in conjunction with the Marina

and it doesn?t supersede it.



After continued discussion on this issue, City Manager Cavezza then

responded to further questions of Councilor Woodson as it relates to this

matter.



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SKATEBOARD PARK:



Councilor Henderson asked if anyone from our area has looked at the new

Skateboard Park that?s opened, which is a private endeavor on Veterans Parkway

and said it sounds like they have answered the needs that was expressed by a

lot of the young people. He said he just wants to know if it is as quality a

park as it sounds like it is, and said he just wants to make sure that we do

everything we can without intruding on private enterprise to help them be a

success.



Deputy City Manager Isaiah Hugley said they have a team that they have put

together and said they had a meeting on last week, and will be meeting again

next week. He said Cammie Curry of the Parks & Recreation Department is heading

that team and said they had some renderings in last week. He said they are

looking at the local skate park, as well as the one in Lagrange and are going

on line and pulling in others. He said it is an effort that they are not just

only looking locally; because what they want to do is going to be on a much

larger scale and that is based on what our young people are telling us.



He said they did have a community meeting with the young people and said

that we are listening to them and said we have brought an individual in from

Florida, Linda Rice, and she has pulled together some information that they

captured from those young people and they are trying to package all of that. He

said they are looking locally, and also looking at Lagrange, as well as some

other outside region.



Councilor Henderson then asked if we are including the new owner of that

skateboard park here; because he would hate to see us open something up in

direct competition that is governmentally funded against a private enterprise.

He said he would rather see us try to bring them in and help them to be a part

of it, if that?s where we are heading. He said if we want to end up with what

the young people would like to see here, as they had some grand plans or ideas

of what they would like for us to create; he would like to see us work

cooperatively with any existing private enterprise that is out there.



Deputy City Manager Hugley said they would be happy to include them and

share with them, what our young people are asking for; but he doesn?t know if

they would be willing to make some adjustments or will say that they are not

willing to expand to that level, but said they would certainly involve them.



Councilor Henderson then asked if we have decided how it would work

operationally, would we build it and operate it or lease it to a private

individual, to which Deputy City Manager Hugley said, it has not been decided

at this point. He said they are considering the option of building it and then

contracting it for operations to a private party.



After continued discussions on this subject, Deputy City Manager Hugley

responded to further questions of Councilor Henderson, after which City Manager

Cavezza and Mayor Peters also made comments regarding this matter.



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MARINA:



Councilor McDaniel said if the Marina is built and we get a large

contributor, the City ordinance says that you cannot name it after anyone

unless they are deceased, but said the State law is not that way. He said you

can name it after anyone that is living and then asked if that will be

considered as being on the State River, and would it be a State project or a

City project.



City Attorney Fay said it would depend on ownership and management. He

said it depends on whose running what part of it; but said that it may be that

it could be part State-owned and ran and they could designate a name.



Councilor McDaniel said if we get a donor and they want to do it, and they

want to name it after someone and they are not deceased; then, could we do

that? City Attorney Fay said that the State could do it. He said if it is

totally City-owned, you would need to look at amending the ordinance, if you

want to try to name it after someone who is not deceased.



Councilor McDaniel then asked City Attorney Fay to do some research and

determine whether or not when the Marina is built, since it is being built on

the State River, will it be considered a State project or a City project. Also,

determine whether or not it can be named after someone if they are not

deceased.



Mayor Peters said he and City Manager Cavezza have met with people that

wanted to build the Marina and put the money out for it, but said their

concerns were that if someone comes in and build a Marina, and then we turn it

over to them, then the private company would take over, and they will let it

run down just to get the money out of it. He said we want to maintain some

control from the City?s standpoint, so we don?t have somebody just gauging the

public and keep raising the prices and not keep the facilities up.



Councilor McDaniel said he agrees and said he thinks it would be better to

have someone that would donate the money to build it and let the City run it.

He said he doesn?t like total privatization.



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1999 SALES TAX PROJECTS:



City Manager Cavezza said there has been a lot of work towards

implementing the 1999 Sales tax projects and pointed out that we have the staff

present here this morning that have worked or are working on these projects, to

respond to any questions of the Council, if there are any.



Mr. Bishop then went into some details and highlighted those projects,

which are outlined as follows:



? Build New and Upgrade Fire and EMS Stations:

? # 7 Buena Vista/Thye construction contract awarded- start August 02

? # 10 Benning Drive start Fall 02

? # 3 Veterans @ Northside start Fall 02

? # 2 33rd/Rosehill start Fall 02

? # 16 Cargo/Transport TBD

? # 9 Jay Street TBD



? Upgrade Public Safety Vehicles and Equipment:

? Mid-Size Sedans 38

? Pursuit Cars 50

? Unmarked Pursuit Cars 1

? Utility Vehicles 7

? Ambulances 2

? Cargo Van 1

? Fire Trucks 4



? Total 103

? 54 technology packages have been installed in Public Safety vehicles





? Public Safety Warning Sirens

? 45 new sirens will be installed

? Under construction in Fall 02





? Animal Shelter:

? Public\Private Partnership

? The Committee is developing fund raising strategy.



Councilor Henderson said he has been getting telephone calls wanting to

know where are we on this project and why haven?t we built what we promised

that we would build. He said he wants to make sure that the people understand

and said that we will build the animal shelter, but said we are waiting for the

collaborative effort of the private sector to finish their fundraising efforts.

He said they wanted something larger than what we were recommending.



City Manager Cavezza stated that the PAWS organization has indicated that

they wanted to raise $8 million to do the kind of facility that they want to

build. He said $2 million of City funding and they will raise $6 million.

He said he would ask the PAWS group to come in during a Work Session and

discuss with the Council what they are trying to do.





? DOT Transportation Projects:

? Veterans Overpass on schedule for Summer 03

? Auburn\Boxwood Realignment completion Fall 02

? Macon Road Widening completion 05

? Brown Avenue\Peacock Realignment Spring 03

? Whittlesey Boulevard August 02





? Resurfacing Projects

? 35 Streets will be resurfaced starting Spring 03





? Pavement Management

? Inventory data collection completed

? Program training has started

? System in operation Fall 02





? Local Street Improvements

? Georgetown\Amber Improvement

? The design is complete

? ROW acquisition has started

? Construction Spring of 03



? Blackmon Road

? Passing lane @ Blackmon Road School

? Start Fall 02



? Veterans\Whitesville Intersection

? Add turning lane

? Design complete

? ROW acquisition complete

? Construction Fall of 02

? Cherokee

? Reconstruction of lane

? Project completed August 02



City Manager Cavezza said he knows that there has been a lot of discussion

about Cherokee Avenue and the fact that we do a piece here and a piece there,

but said what we are doing, is doing it right. He said it?s going to hopefully

solve the problem, baring anything unforeseen.



Councilor Henderson said he has received a lot of telephone calls from

parents regarding the new high school, Northside and said they are anticipating

issues with traffic out there and then asked, if there are any plans for

widening of the streets, past Moon Road.



Deputy City Manager Bishop said there is a widening project that is

included in these list of projects.





? Woodruff Farm Road Railroad Crossing

? Completed

? Schatulga Road Railroad Crossing

? Completed

? Forest Road Railroad Crossing

? Under design

? Coordinating installation with Norfolk Railroad

? Start Fall 02



? Transportation Projects continued:

? Bridge Repair

? Brown Avenue

? Included on DOT rehab program

? Coordinating with DOT on any short term safety issues

? Standing Boy

? Design underway

? Schatulga Road

? Bid package ready to bid (wing wall failure)

? Bid package being assembled to address minor repairs as identified by DOT

Bridge Report for 28 bridges







? Signalization

? Woodruff Farm @ Mutec completed

? Victory @ Border completed

? University @ College entrance completed

? Warm Springs @ Armour Avenue completed

? Veterans @ JR Allen South Ramp completed

? Flat Rock @ Milgen Road completed

? Moon @ JR Allen North and South ramps August 02

? Whitesville @ Rollins Fall 02

? Moon Road @ Livingston August 02

? Pittman @ Miller Summer 02

? Veterans @ School/Park site Summer 02

? Veterans @ Cooper Creek Fall 02





? Storm Water\Flood Abatement:

? Storm Water

? Priority One replacement 30% complete

Two methods of construction are currently being used, Open Cut and CIPP(Cured

In Place Pipe)

? First open cut in Uptown has started





? Flood Abatement

? Design 20% complete

? The design is planned to accommodate a 25 year storm event with an intensity

at 0.83 inches per hour

? First project will start Fall 02 in the 12th Street Basin





? Pools:

? Rigdon Park, Psalmond Road, and Shirley Winston Park pools have been

completed

? Center City Pool site To-Be-Determined





? Bull Creek Golf Course renovation:

? New irrigation, new pump station, new irrigation lake, new concrete cart

paths, greens constructed to USGA specifications, green grassed with TifEagle,

reconstructed tees and bunkers



? Phase Two, renovation of 9 holes will be completed in August

? Phase Three, renovation of 18 holes will be will be awarded in August 02





Councilor Woodson said she knows that Bull Creek is part of the one-cent

sales tax projects, and knows there is a Plan B for other areas, like the Oxbow

Meadows Golf Course. She said she was at a forum where it was stated that Bull

Creek Golf Course was paying for itself and said she thought that we were

subsidizing this course.



City Manager Cavezza said we are subsidizing Bull Creek, because of the

construction. He said the construction has set them back, and said they had

been pretty much paying for themselves up to that point, and we anticipate that

they will be again in the future. He said regarding the Oxbow Meadows portion

there is still a lot of work to be done on that, because it would entail

acquiring more property, i.e., the old landfill, which leads us to all kinds of

issues, such as environmental and contamination issues. He said that land is in

litigation, or at least bankrupt, at this point, and said there is a lot to be

done at that particular piece of it.



Councilor Woodson said she thinks that we need to have a briefing on the

Oxbow Meadows Golf Course at the next Council Work Session. City Manager

Cavezza said there is a big demand to expand that course, and said we know

that; however, we have a lot of things that are pending on that, and it hasn?t

been finalized yet.



He said one of the things that are going to hurt Oxbow Meadows is that

Fort Benning has their course together now, and it is in good shape. He said

that hasn?t been the case before and Oxbow Meadows was getting a lot of people

from Fort Benning, but they are now going back to Fort Benning.



? Enterprise Zone:

? Brownsfield Grant for $200,000 has been awarded to develop Master Plan for

the area

? New Business

? Phase One, renovation of 9 holes has been completed

? Daisaka INC. (expansion)

? Steel Framing Systems (relocation into EZ)

? Residential

? CHI (8th Street)

? Springfield Crossing (North Lumpkin)

? Eagle Crest (Ft. Benning Road)



Councilor Suber said Columbus Housing Initiative and 8th Street project is

not a part of the Enterprise Zone. City Manager Cavezza said he was sure that

it is. Councilor Suber asked when was this done?



Ms. Lynnette Gross said the entire Carver Heights area is part of the

Enterprise zone and said that was when the State recognized residential as

being eligible activity within the Enterprise zone, the boundaries were

expanded.



Councilor Suber said that is contrary to what he understood, because we

had to rezone that area back to residential, because it was inappropriately

designated as R-3. However, Ms. Gross said it was always residentially zoned.



Councilor Suber said it was residentially zoned for apartments, and not

single-family homes, and then asked, how could that be done, when you can?t

even borrow money on a R-1, R-2 or R-3 area? City Manager Cavezza said the

designation for Enterprise zone is depending on certain things. Lynnette Gross

said it depends on census tracts and low to moderate- income

individuals.



Councilor Suber asked that City Manager Cavezza provide information on

when 8th Street became a part of the Enterprise Zone area.



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? Liberty District

? Consultant on board to develop Master Plan







? NFL (Muscogee Technology Park):

? The Master Plan has been completed

? Zoning has been completed

? Thedesign of the infrastructure has started

? Permitting has been completed

? Chattsworth widening to start in Fall 02

? Road construction into Tract 1 will start in Fall 02





? Buses:

? 4 Buses under contract for purchase in Fall 02





? Parks and Green Space:

? Phase One (Sol Loeb) has been completed

? Phase Two (9th to 10th Street) will start Summer 02

? Phase Three (10th to 11th Street) will start Spring 03





City Manager Cavezza said we need to have more public input into these

projects that and said we still have to have some community meetings, as there

are some concerns about the trees in the Uptown area; however, we are not out

to destroy any trees in this area. He said there is also some discussion about

one-way roads, becoming two-way roads and said we want to separate that from

the streetscapes issue, because it doesn?t directly affect streetscapes.



He said the block between 9th & 10th Street on First Avenue between the

Government Center and the Performing Arts Center has never been intended to be

a parking area for City cars, or anything else. He said it is a loading area

for the Performing Arts Center, and said a lot of people will have to move. He

said there will be a median down that road, and it will be an entirely

different area than it is right now.



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BUSES:



Councilor Allen said currently we purchase buses with an 80/10/10 match

and then asked if we are going to continue with that in purchasing these buses.

City Manager Cavezza said we use the sales tax money to provide the 10% match.



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? Walking Trails/Trolley Line

? Trail route will be from Uptown to Cooper Creek Park

? Engineering firm has been selected

? Engineering field work has started

? Public meetings will be held in Spring





Mayor Peters said while we are doing the Trade Center project now, why

couldn?t we coordinate it and start there, and have the trolley line from the

Civic Center, Oxbow Meadows and everything along that route.

He said he thinks that would be an ideal thing with the new hotel and Trade

Center expansion.



Deputy City Manager Bishop said as they get into the development of the

plans, those different areas will be addressed.



Councilor Allen said as far as the Trolley aspect is concerned, what are

we looking at, as far as what type car, or vehicle, to which Mr. Bishop said

today, they don?t have a pre-determined idea of whether it will be a rubber

tire or an electric trolley. He said as we develop the plans and look at the

marketing side of it, to see what the users will be, he thinks then we can come

back to the Council and review the information with the Council to determine

what type of vehicle that needs to be.



City Manager Cavezza said he thinks we need to listen to the public and

then do some more work on it. He said when you think about a rail, it?s nice,

and authentic and has a lot of merit, if you have the traffic, if you have the

ridership, but if you don?t have the ridership, it is a very expensive novelty

ride. He said to be practical the wheel trolley is probably more practical,

with less safety issues and more flexibility.



Councilor Allen said he was hoping that we had shifted away from the rail

car, because of the cumbersomeness of the rail car versus congested area, and

the slow moving pace of it traveling from CSU down to the River Center. He said

it would seem that a rubber, electric type of vehicle would make more sense.

Mr. Bishop said all those things would have to be considered before the Council

makes that final decision.



At the conclusion of the presentation of the sales tax projects, City

Manager Cavezza said there are a lot of good things going on and said we feel

good about the progress we are making; however, there is still a lot of work

that has to be done.



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CITIZENS SERVICES CENTER WORK ORDERS:



City Manager Cavezza said on last week, we got into a discussion on who

report things to the Citizens Service Center to get work done and said he has a

copy of those work orders that has been called in. He then went over that

report, pointing out that from January ? June 2002, there were 94,145 calls,

which generated about 36,000 work orders. He said citizens called in about

6,037 of those work orders and City employees called in 30,000 of those work

orders. He said City employees do call in work orders. He said the police call

them in when they see them, and he calls them in when he sees them. He said

anybody that sees them are calling them in, and said maybe we miss some things,

and need to continue to do better, but said that system is working. He said

there were 445 walk-ins that reported work orders, and 51 on the Internet. He

said they are hoping to increase the Internet activity and take the load off of

some of those telephone calls.



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SALES TAX PROJECTS:



Mayor Peters said we want to thank all of the department heads who have

worked on the sales tax projects. He said he would hope that our City employees

know that we do appreciate them, because it hasn?t been easy. He said they

always say, how can you build pools, and do other things, when you can?t use

more money for raises. He said once these projects are all built, rather than

building new projects, it would be good to have that sales tax to operate these

projects and to be able to pay salaries. He said the Council has asked for many

years, for a one-cent sales tax for operations. He said he hope our employees

understand that we can?t use sales tax money for salaries.



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MAINTAINING THE CITY:



City Manager Cavezza said what they are trying to do with maintaining the

City is that we have a process in place where we do certain things at certain

periods of time. He said when a citizen calls in and ask when will something be

done, or we need this done, we tell them that it will be done in 72 hours. He

said that satisfies them, as long as we do it in 72 hours. He said our intent

is to have a schedule to do these things.



He then distributed a handout outlining this issue, and gave an example of

the right-of-way mowing, saying we try to mow the right-of-way on a monthly

basis and do it sequential, which generally works okay, but said when you get a

lot of rain like we have had recently, then we start getting telephone calls.

He said he is really starting to discourage telephone calls, as long as we stay

on our process; because once we start taking people off the system and putting

them in other places, what we have done is completely thrown the system out of

the window, so that we will have problems in other areas.



City Manager Cavezza said the same applies with outlying roads, downtown

area, and debris on the road. He also addressed the parks maintenance, pointing

out the parks are mowed every seven to ten days, and every athletic field every

five to seven days. He said he just wanted to provide this to the Council for

information. He said when a Councilor calls and says they want an area cut, we

will cut it for the Councilor, but said it will throw us off our process. He

said if we have something bad out there that we have missed; then, we want to

know about it, so we can take care of it, but said he would like to stay within

our process, if we can, and he thinks everyone will be satisfied. (A copy of

the report was distributed around the Council table, but a copy was not filed

with the Clerk of Council for the Council?s records.)



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ONE CENT SALES TAX:



Councilor McDaniel said there is a political candidate out there that is

saying that he wants to get a sales tax for operation and this is what his

number one priority is going to be, but said he just wants to remind people

that we have been trying to do this for years and said we cannot do it, unless

the Legislative Delegation decides to let us put it on the ballot. He said they

are the ones who will decide that, and not the political candidate, nor this

Council. He said there must be six votes of the Council to do that.

He said we have been trying for years to get a sales tax to use for operations

and said that one individual can?t do it. He said this is nothing new.



TRAFFIC SIGNALS:



Mayor Peters asked, does the City of Columbus approve traffic lights or is

it the Department of Transportation? He said we have one on 18th Street where

the accidents are happening up there off of Wynnton Road. He said he has been

telling people what Traffic Engineer is telling him, which is on any State

road, the State of Georgia has to approve a traffic signal, but said he got a

letter from the Regional Department of Transportation which says the exact

opposite. He said if, in fact, we, the City determine that we need a traffic

signal, they will act on it.



City Manager Cavezza said they have to approve it. He said we can

determine that we want it, but said we have to get permits from the State in

order to put them up.



Mayor Peters said they are saying they will approve them, if we show the

data showing that it is needed, but said he has always been under the

impression that we deferred locations to the State, to let them see; if in

fact, one is needed. He said we are the moving parties according to them that

have to come up with the data and then request it. He said if we don?t request

it, then they won?t act on it.



City Manager Cavezza said we have put the request in and are waiting to

hear back from them, and said we anticipate they will approve it. Mayor Peters

said he was told that we haven?t done what needed to be done first.



Councilor McDaniel said on State roads, the State has to approve whether

or not the traffic light goes up. He said years ago, we put a traffic light up

at Bradley Park Drive/ River Road, because there were a lot of accidents there

in that area. He said we decided to put the traffic light up there, because the

State wouldn?t approve it. He said the State then came back and covered it up,

saying we didn?t have the authority to do this, but several months later, they

then decided we needed that light there and uncovered it. He said they would

have to approve it.



Mayor Peters said he thinks their approval is an administrative process,

whereby once we do the legwork locally, we submit it. City Manager Cavezza said

we have provided them with everything that they need, and said as of yesterday,

they had everything that they needed.



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REZONING:



Councilor Suber asked Deputy City Manager Bishop, when are we going to

have the meetings on the additional properties that are zoned R-3 in the East

Carver Heights area? He said there is one news station that reported on last

week that the light that the Mayor was speaking of has already been approved at

Wynnton Road @ 18th Street. He said he doesn?t know where it is coming from.



Deputy City Manager Bishop said that traffic light has not been approved

yet, but said all of the data and information is in Thomaston, Georgia.

He said he called on yesterday to check on a number of signals and said it is

an administrative process from the Department of Transportation to approve

them, but they have to go through and do all the data review and they make the

final determination on whether a light will go on a State route.



Regarding the R-3 area for zonings in the East Carver Heights area, Deputy

City Manager Bishop said they are starting the windshield review and once they

do that, they will get all the data collected on what needs to be rezoned, and

they will begin having public meetings.

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NOTE: Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers left at this point in the proceedings, with

the time being 10:38 a.m.



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MEDIANS ON BROADWAY:



Mayor Peters asked if we are going to make the medians on Broadway more

user-friendly. City Manager Cavezza said they have had one meeting on the

streetscapes on Broadway and said there were some concerns about parking from

the merchants and said Tree Columbus was also concerned about possibly removing

some trees. He said they have been working on those issues and said they need

to go back and have some community meetings. He said they are identifying

parking alternatives, if we have to take parking off of Broadway. He said all

that is in the process and the intent is to make it easy to go back and forth

across the street and make it pedestrian friendly.



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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 Allen and

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

Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers having already left the meeting, with the time being

10:40 A.M.



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Tiny B. Washington, CMC

Clerk of Council

The Council of Columbus, Georgia