Columbus, Georgia

MINUTES

COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

REGULAR SESSION

SEPTEMBER 3, 2002



The regular monthly night meeting of the Council of Columbus, Georgia was

called to order at 5:30 P.M., Tuesday, September 3, 2002, on the Plaza Level of

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

presiding.



*** ***

***



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

Councilors R. Gary Allen, Glenn Davis, Berry H. Henderson, Julius H. Hunter,

Jr., Charles E. McDaniel, Jr, Richard Smith, Nathan Suber, Evelyn Turner Pugh

and Evelyn Woodson. City Manager Carmen Cavezza, City Attorney Clifton Fay,

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

were also present.



*** ***

***



ABSENT: No one was absent.



*** ***

***











INVOCATION: Offered by Pastor Stephen Henderson ? Grace Baptist Church.

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

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



PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Led by Councilor Woodson.

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

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

CITY ATTORNEY?S AGENDA:



WITH THE COACHES, TEAM MOM, AND THE MEMBERS OF THE COLUMBUS NORTHERN

LITTLE LEAGUE 9 ? 10 YEAR OLDS ALL STARS STANDING AT THE COUNCIL TABLE, THE

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

THE COUNCIL:



A Resolution (496-02) - Commending and congratulating the Columbus

Northern Little League 9 ? 10 year olds All Stars upon their victory in the

2002 Georgia State Championship. Councilor Allen moved its adoption. Seconded

by Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers and carried unanimously by those ten members of

Council present for this meeting standing to cast their affirmative votes.



*** ***

***



COUNCILOR-ELECT WAYNE ANTHONY:



Mayor Peters welcomed and congratulated Councilor-elect Wayne Anthony, who

was present in the Council Chambers this evening.

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

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

MINUTES: Minutes of the August 20 & 27, 2002 Meetings of the Council of the

Consolidated Government of Columbus, Georgia were submitted and approved upon

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

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

present for this meeting.

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

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



CITY ATTORNEY?S AGENDA CONTINUED:



WITH THE FAMILY OF MR. ?BUD? RUFFNER STANDING AT THE COUNCIL TABLE, THE

FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS SUBMITTED BY CITY ATTORNEY FAY AND READ IN ITS

ENTIRETY BY COUNCILOR MCDANIEL AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL:



A Resolution (497-02) - Expressing condolences to the family of Mr. E. H.

"Bud" Ruffner who passed away on July 27, 2002. Councilor McDaniel moved its

adoption. Seconded by Councilor Smith and carried unanimously by those ten

members of Council present for this meeting.

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

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

ZONING PUBLIC HEARINGS:



THE FOLLOWING ORDINANCE, WHOSE FIRST READING WAS DELAYED FROM THE AUGUST

20, 2002 COUNCIL MEETING WAS AGAIN SUBMITTED AND A PUBLIC HEARING CONTINUED:







An Ordinance - Amending Ordinance No. 01-109, which rezoned property

located 500 feet north of Manchester Expressway, between Armour Road and 1-185,

by deleting the first sentences of Conditions #2 and #3 of said Ordinance and

replacing them with two 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 #3, the portion designated for mini-storage

facilities may be used for RV, camper, and boat storage.?



City Attorney Fay said that the history of all the prior amendments on

this zoning was provided in the information section of the Council?s

information.



PROPONENT:



Mr. Robert McKennna, representing Columbus Properties, appeared and said

that they have already gone over most of the history of this matter. He said

he provided a letter to the Councilors, which discusses the history of the

ordinance, and said what they are asking for is to delete two of the use

restrictions that are placed on the property and put in a restriction based on

the traffic counts out of the entire site, which is consistent with the traffic

impact analysis that was done in each one of the rezoning applications leading

up to this day.



Councilor Henderson said he is going to support the change because it

seems to make sense, but said his support comes with a warning. He said we

often put petitioners on the spot and ask them if they would accept conditions

from the podium and said this illustrates the fact that we should delay these

ordinances for a week to allow them an opportunity to consider the impact of

the conditions. He said one thing that he doesn?t like is having conditions

placed on a rezoning, because most of them are brought about from concerns of

residents, individuals who will be impacted by the rezoning itself.



He said when you place a condition on a rezoning and then a year later, we

remove it, it has the illusion of deceit attached to it. He said he thinks it

is unintentional, but what happens is the people that counted on those

conditions running for twenty years, which is required to run with the

ordinance, has a right to assume that it will stay there.



Councilor Henderson said this condition was agreed to when we thought that

we had a tenant and said the new traffic count will exceed what has been

estimated by that tenant; therefore, he will support it. He said in the future,

for anybody that represents a petitioner in front of this Council, they should

properly waive their answers to the question of a condition, before they agree

to it.



Mayor Peters said it would seem that you would need to go back through the

rezoning process to alert the citizens in order to be fair to everyone.



Councilor Turner Pugh said she will support this request, but said she

thinks that one of the things that we need to do, as a governing body is being

careful in the statement of the conditions. She said the conditions really

should be to state what we don?t want on the property and what is suitable for

that neighborhood, more so, than being specific of what can go in there. She

said if the conditions had been put in, stating those things that we didn?t

want to go on there, because of the impact of the condition, we wouldn?t be at

this point.



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

heard on this matter, they could be heard at this time. There was none.

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

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

PUBLIC AGENDA:



NO ONE REQUESTED TO BE LISTED ON TONIGHT?S PUBLIC AGENDA.

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

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

CITY MANAGER?S AGENDA:



THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY MANAGER

CAVEZZA AND AFTER SOME DISCUSSION WAS ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL:







A Resolution (498-02) - Authorizing the adoption of the policies and

procedures for the HOME Program. Councilor McDaniel moved its adoption.

Seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers.



Councilor Turner Pugh said there was one issue that we were dealing with

on the $5,000 allowing the $1,000 to be used for the prepaid items, to which

Mayor Peters then pointed out that those changes are included in the

resolution.



Councilor Suber said in looking at Section C-1 as it relates to the

statement that the inspectors will certify that all code deficiencies cannot be

addressed with the allowed $30,000; and then asked if there was something

missing in this statement.



City Manager Cavezza said we would need to get a clarification on this

matter. Ms. Lynette Gross then appeared at the podium and said if we address

the house, all code deficiencies have to be addressed with the $30,000. She

said if all code deficiencies cannot be addressed with the $30,000, currently

we will walk away from it, but now we will have the option of authorizing a

reconstruction.



It was then pointed out that we need to insert the word ?if?, so that the

sentence will read as follows: If the inspector will certify that all code

deficiencies cannot be addressed with the allowed $30,000.



Councilor McDaniel?s earlier motion, with the amended as stated above,

then carried unanimously by those ten members of Council present for this

meeting.



THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS ALSO SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY MANAGER

CAVEZZA AND ADOPTED BY THE

COUNCIL:



A Resolution (499-02) ? Authorizing a variance to the subdivision

regulations, Ordinance 82-26, Section IV (C-8b), to allow a distance less than

800 feet between intersections along arterial streets for a proposed public

street accessing 7470 Veterans Parkway. Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers moved its

adoption. Seconded by Councilor Suber and carried unanimously by those ten

members of Council present for this meeting.



*** ***

***



THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS ALSO SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY MANAGER

CAVEZZA AND AFTER SEVERAL MINUTES OF DISCUSSION WAS ADOPTED BY THE

COUNCIL:





A Resolution (500-02) - Authorizing the Mayor to execute a local

government project with the Georgia Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) for

the Bridge Improvement Project at CA 2227 Brown Avenue@ Southern Railroad S.W.

Columbus, Project No. BR-004-00(729) Muscogee County, PI# 0004729. Councilor

Suber moved its adoption. Seconded by Councilor Smith.



Councilor Woodson asked how quickly would something be done on that, to

which City Manage Cavezza said it is going to be about three years out.

City Manager Cavezza said he is not sure that there is anything that we can do,

because there is nothing that is saying that it is unsafe.



Councilor Woodson said she thinks that we need to go back and look at it,

because people walk on the side of that bridge and ride their bikes back and

forth across that bridge.



She said she would like for the City Manager to go back and look at this

bridge to see if we can put a barrier or something to make certain this bridge

is safe and stable for those pedestrians who walk or ride bicycles across this

bridge.



Councilor Turner Pugh said she thought that we were also going to talk

with the School System about not using the heavy buses and stop the heavy

traffic on the bridge. City Manager Cavezza said we are monitoring that and

said it is not an issue at the present time, but said we are monitoring the

safety part of that bridge.



Mayor Peters said the report that he read really didn?t throw up any red

flags about the bridge, other than that it needed maintenance done on the

bridge and they allowed the funding for that. He said it wasn?t in bad enough

shape that you couldn?t use it.



City Manager Cavezza said the State does inspect bridges every two years

and said we will keep our eye on it.



After continued discussion on this matter, with City Manager Cavezza

responding to further questions of the Council, the question was then called on

the motion to adopt the resolution, which carried unanimously by those ten

members of Council present for this meeting.



*** ***

***



THE FOLLOWING SEVEN PURCHASING RESOLUTIONS HAVING BEEN INCLUDED WITH THE

CITY MANAGER?S AGENDA PACKET WERE SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY MANAGER

CAVEZZA AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL UPON THE ADOPTION OF A SINGLE MOTION MADE BY

MAYOR PRO TEM RODGERS AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR SUBER, WHICH CARRIED

UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE TEN MEMBERS OF COUNCIL PRESENT FOR THIS

MEETING:





A Resolution (501-02) - Authorizing the execution of a contract for

professional surveying services with Moon, Meeks, Mason & Vinson, Inc., on an

?as needed basis? for the Revenue Division of the Finance Department.



A Resolution (502-02) - Authorizing the procurement of vehicle outfitting

services from New Centennial, Inc., in the amount of $11,985.00.



A Resolution (503-02) - Authorizing the purchase of four (4) theatrical

hoist motors from Command Audio Visual Services, in the amount of $19,950.00.



A Resolution (504-02) - Authorizing payment of attorney fees to Troutman

Sanders, LLP., in the amount of $18,400.57, pertaining to the case of

Columbus-Muscogee County Consolidated Government challenge homestead/tax

freeze.



A Resolution (505-02) - Authorizing the execution of a construction

contract with Cline Construction Company, in the amount of $83,000.00.



A Resolution (506-02) - Authorizing the execution of a construction

contract with KAM, Inc., in the amount of $133,500.00.



A Resolution (507-02) - Authorizing payment to Georgia Department of Human

Resources for ambulance service license renewal fee, in the amount

of $19,300.00.



***

*** ***



UNITED WAY KICK-OFF:



City Manager Cavezza reminded the Council of the United Way Kick-off in

the South Hall at the Trade Center, on Thursday, September 5, 2002 at 11:30 a.m.



***

*** ***



COMMUNITY MEETING:



City Manager Cavezza reminded the Mayor & Council that there will be a

community meeting on September 9, 2002 to discuss the Forrest Road Widening

Project, which will be held at Forrest Road Elementary School at 6:00 p.m.



***

*** ***



SEPTEMBER 11TH CEREMONY:



City Manager Cavezza also reminded everyone of the ceremony that will be

held on Wednesday, September 11th at the Civic Center, where we will have the

citywide observance of this event.



***

*** ***



ROAD PROJECTS:



City Manager Cavezza said in the Information Section of the Agenda packet,

he submitted a list of roads that we are planning on sending to the Department

of Transportation for resurfacing, which is our annual list. He said we now

have a pavement management system, and said we break them down into three

different categories. He said the upper categories, which has a score of 60 and

above, they are in good shape and we don?t have to worry about them for some

time now. He said the middle category, which runs from a 48 to 60, those are

the roads that need to be resurfaced now before they become un-repairable.



He said below that 48, we have roads that are un-repairable and said that

resurfacing would be a waste of money, because they need to be reconstructed.

He said what they are focusing on, is the middle category of roads that we can

resurface. He said we are working with the Department of Transportation, as

well as within our resources, to try to get funds to do the reconstruction of

those roads that are really in bad shape.



City Manager Cavezza said he knows that there have been some questions

about various roads from some of the Council members and said if there is a

road that is not on the list, then it could be in the reconstruction area or it

is a segment. He said we are dealing with segments now, and are not just taking

roads. He said we have 1200 miles of roads, but have thousands of segments of

roads, and are looking at segments to get those roads done.



*** ***

***



EXECUTIVE SESSION:



City Manager Cavezza requested a brief executive session after the

adjournment of tonight?s meeting, to discuss a matter of litigation.



*** ***

***



UTILITY POLE:



Councilor Woodson said she would like City Manager Cavezza to contact

someone at Georgia Power Company, as it has been brought to her attention that

there is a utility pole on Matthews Drive @ Ticknor Drive, that is rotten and

cracked, right next to the property at #92; and see if we can get that pole

repaired.



*** ***

***



ROAD PROJECTS:



Referring back to the list of road projects mentioned earlier by City

Manager Cavezza, Councilor Turner Pugh asked that he run the list of those

streets on CCG-TV.



*** ***

***



SWIMMING POOLS:



Councilor Suber asked if we have determined what we are going to do with

the closed swimming pools, to which City Manager Cavezza said we have already

sold one of those pools; and said that we will demolish the other ones and fill

them in. He said that our Public Services Department would do that, as it is a

high priority to get done.



*** ***

***



SEPTEMBER 10TH RUNOFF:



Mayor Peters said he would hope that everyone would go back out to the

polls on September 10th to vote in the run-off election for the Mayor?s race.

He said it is a very important election, and once again encouraged everyone to

go out and vote.



*** ***

***



SEPTEMBER 11TH CEREMONY:



Mayor Peters once again reminded everyone of the ceremony that will be

held on September 11th at the Civic Center, and encouraged everyone to try to

come out for this event at 8:15 a.m. for the citywide pledge, as well as a

brief service. He said we are asking everyone to put the American flags up for

the month of September.



*** ***

***



VENDORS SELLING ON THE STREETS:



Councilor Suber said it appears that we are having a number of vendors

that are practicing business on the side of the roadways and said he is really

concerned. He said he thought that we had gotten that cleared up, if a person

doesn?t have their business license, they wouldn?t be able to operate. He said

everywhere he looks they are either selling tennis shoes or some other kind of

trinket. He said he wants to make sure that these people are legal, and if not

then we need to get them off the road.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers said that they are legal, as they tried to sell him

some sneakers. He said they are allowed to be there for four days and said they

know how to beat the system. He said on the 5th day they are gone and then they

start over two days later. He said he has called in a list of those from the

Manchester Expressway area. He said it is an itinerant merchants license and

said he was told that we couldn?t restrict Interstate Commerce, and said if

that is not true, then he would like to do something about it.



City Manager Cavezza said they ran into this during the Olympics and said

we had the same problem. He said we tried to get it stopped and failed.



City Attorney Fay said the 3-4 day administrative rule tracks the State

law on licensing and said they recognize the 3-4 day type license, or trade

show is temporary and said that is where that comes from. He said you can

always shorten it in your own ordinance, but you would have enforcement to deal

with. He said this tracks the State rule and this is where it comes from.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers then asked if our ordinance could be more

restrictive than the State law.



City Manager Cavezza said he thinks that we need to do some further

research on this matter.



Councilor Henderson said he thinks that if we are going to look at

tightening that ordinance, we need to look at some conditions, some punitive

things that we can do. He said he thinks that the thing that will stop them, is

to have a stiff fine and allow confiscation of their merchandise until the fine

is paid or show a license.



City Attorney Fay said he would look into those concerns.

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

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

CLERK OF COUNCIL?S AGENDA:



THE FOLLOWING ITEM WAS SUBMITTED BY CLERK OF COUNCIL WASHINGTON AS

INFORMATION FOR THE MAYOR AND

COUNCIL:





(1) A memorandum from Clerk of Council Washington, Re: Planning

Advisory Commission.



(2) Biographical Sketch of Dr. William P. Kendall, nominee submitted

for

the position of Ms. Dee Shore on the Keep Columbus Beautiful Commission.



*** *** ***



THE FOLLOWING TEMPORARY STREET CLOSING APPLICATION WAS SUBMITTED BY CLERK

OF COUNCIL WASHINGTON AND APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL:



Application of Mr. Burnie Quick for a temporary street closure of the

parallel parking spaces next to median in 100 block of Broadway, every Thursday

from September 5 ? November 7, 2002, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., in connection

with an ?Uptown Concert Series?. Councilor Allen moved its approval. Seconded

by Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers and carried unanimously by those ten members of

Council present for this meeting.



*** *** ***



THE FOLLOWING APPLICATION FOR A TAXICAB OWNER?S BUSINESS LICENSE WAS

SUBMTITED BY CLERK OF COUNCIL WASHINGTON AND APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL:







Application of Mr. Elton G. Copeland for a Taxicab Owner?s Business

License to operate All American Cab in the City of Columbus, located at 102

Angelia Drive, Cusseta, Georgia. Councilor Allen moved its approval. Seconded

by Councilor Smith and carried unanimously by those ten members of Council

present for this meeting.



*** *** ***



KEEP COLUMBUS BEAUTIFUL COMMISSION:



Clerk of Council Washington submitted a letter submitted by Ms. Dee Shore

resigning from her position on the Keep Columbus Beautiful Commission.

Councilor Allen moved the letter be received with regrets and thanks for

service. Seconded by Councilor McDaniel and carried unanimously by those ten

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:



Airport Commission, July 25, 2002.

Board of Tax Assessors, Numbers 32 & 33.

Community Development Advisory Council, May 21, 2002.

Council Briefings, May 21 & June 11, 2002.

Historic & Architectural Review, Board of, July 8, 2002.

Hospital Authority, May 28 & July 30, 2002.

Housing Authority, July 17, 2002.

Keep Columbus Beautiful Commission, August 13, 2002.

Zoning Appeals, Board of, July 3, 2002.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers made a motion that these minutes be received.

Seconded by Councilor Allen and carried unanimously by those ten members of

Council present for this meeting.



*** ***

***



BOARD APPOINTMENTS:



COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COUNCIL:



Clerk of Council Washington asked Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers if he had a

nominee for someone to succeed Mr. Homer Kuhl, whose position on the Community

Development Advisory Council expired on March of last year. Mayor Pro Tem

Rodgers said he has not found anyone yet.



*** ***

***



TAXICAB COMMISSION:



Clerk of Council Washington said we still need someone for the new

at-large seat on the Taxicab Commission that was approved several months ago.

There were no nominations.



*** ***

***



YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL:



Clerk of Council Washington pointed out that the Council must make

nominations for the 2002-2003 Youth Advisory Council members.



She pointed out that Councilor Turner Pugh has nominated Mr. Greg Coates

and then advised that he could be confirmed. Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers then asked

that each Councilor be allowed to nominate or re-nominate their nominees and

then we can confirm them.



The following individuals were then re-nominated by the respective

Councilors: Tyson Greaves - Councilor Hunter, Allen Johnston - Mayor Pro Tem

Rodgers, Burt Barto - Councilor Allen, LaToya Phillips - Councilor Woodson,

Derek Hay - Councilor McDaniel, Sarahann Wood - Councilor Smith; and Cassandra

Fetcetta - Councilor Suber



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers then made a motion that these individuals be

confirmed. Seconded by Councilor Hunter and carried unanimously by those ten

members of Council present for this meeting.



*** ***

***



IN MOTION X:



Mayor Peters said on this past weekend, we had a lot of events in the

uptown area, and said one of them was the skateboarding event, and said he

would like to thank City Manager Cavezza and the Columbus Sports & Events

Council for putting on a great event.



He said at first it didn?t look like there was going to be enough

participation for the bike race, but said it was a really big event. He said

three or four years from now, there will be 30,000 ? 40,000 people in Columbus,

Georgia as that is a big event, and said it has been under-estimated up to this

point, but said he can assure you that this is going to be something that we

can be proud of as the years go by.



*** ***

***



EXECUTIVE SESSION:



Regarding an earlier request of City Manager Cavezza for the Council to go

into an executive session, Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers then made a motion to allow

the Council to go into an executive session to discuss a litigation matter.

Seconded by Councilor Allen and carried unanimously by those ten members of

Council present for this meeting.



*** ***

***



Prior to the Council adjourning its regular session for the Council to go

into an executive session, Mayor Peters then asked if there was anyone who was

seated in the audience that wasn?t listed on the Agenda, but had an issue to

bring before the Council, they could be heard at this time.



Mr. Gerald Ludwig then appeared and said it has been brought to his

attention that Mr. John Golden would like to serve on the Taxicab Commission

again, and said he asked Councilor Smith about that and said he has him working

on that. He said they would like to ask this Council to consider Mr. Golden for

the new at-large seat on the Taxicab Commission.



*** ***

***



Pastor Stephen Henderson, of Grace Baptist Church also appeared and

extended an invitation to the Mayor and Council to attend a service that they

will be having at Grace Baptist Church on September 15th, at 11:00 a.m., where

they will be having a similar service like the City will be having on September

11th.



He said Police Chief Willie Dozier, Fire Chief Roy Waters, and Sheriff

Ralph Johnson will be there, and they are also trying to get some of the

officials from Fort Benning to come as well. He said they are inviting all of

the public service personnel, for them to be honored. He said everyone who

comes would be honored.



Pastor Henderson said he thinks it would be an honor for the Mayor and

Council members to be present as Chief Dozier, Chief Waters and Sheriff Johnson

are being honored.



Mayor Peters said he would like to thank Grace Baptist Church for honoring

these individuals, and said he would try to be present at that service.



*** *** ***



At 6:10 p.m., the Council adjourned its regular session to go into

executive session.



At 6:24 p.m., this meeting was called back to order at which time Mayor

Peters pointed out that the Council did meet in an executive session to discuss

a litigation matter, but there were no votes taken.



*** *** ***



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

Tem Rodgers then made a motion for adjournment. Seconded by Councilor Woodson

and carried unanimously by those ten members of Council present for this

meeting, with the time being 6:27 p.m.



*** *** ***





Tiny B. Washington, CMC

Clerk of Council

The Council of Columbus, Georgia