Columbus, Georgia

MINUTES



COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

WORK SESSION



JUNE 22, 2004





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

called to order at 9:00 A.M., Tuesday, June 22, 2004, in the Council Chambers,

on the Plaza Level of the Government Center, Columbus, Georgia. Honorable

Robert S. Poydasheff, Mayor, presiding.





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PRESENT: Present other than Mayor Robert S. Poydasheff and Mayor Pro Tem John

J. Rodgers were Councilors R. Gary Allen, Wayne Anthony, Glen Davis, Berry

Henderson, Charles E. McDaniel, Jr., and Evelyn Turner Pugh. 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 Woodson

took her seat at 9:08 a.m.



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ABSENT: Councilors Nathan Suber and Julius H. Hunter were absent, but were

officially excused upon the adoption of Resolution Numbers 279-04 & 280-04

respectively.

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



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

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BIRTHDAY WISHES TO COUNCILOR TURNER PUGH:



Mayor Poydasheff asked the members of Council to stand with him, with the

exception of Councilor Turner Pugh and then asked them to join him in extending

birthday wishes to Councilor Turner Pugh.

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CONSENT AGENDA:



THE FOLLOWING ORDINANCE WAS SUBMITTED AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL ON SECOND

READING:





An Ordinance (04-56) - Providing for the establishment of taxing

districts, including a county-wide general services district and two (2) urban

services districts and three (3) Business Improvement Districts (BID);

providing for the levy, assessment, and collection of taxes for Columbus,

Georgia within such districts for the year 2004 as provided under the Charter

of the Consolidated Government of Columbus, Georgia; providing penalties for

violations of the provisions of said ordinance; and for other purposes. Mayor

Pro Tem Rodgers moved the adoption of the ordinance. Seconded by Councilor

Turner Pugh and carried by a vote seven to one, with Councilor Davis voting no

and all other seven members of Council present voting yes, with Councilor

Woodson being absent for this vote.



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THE FOLLOWING THREE ORDINANCES WERE ALSO SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY

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

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

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

COUNCILOR WOODSON BEING ABSENT FOR THIS

VOTE:





An Ordinance (04-57) - Providing for the levy, assessment, and collection

of taxes for the public school system of Columbus, Georgia; and for other

purposes.



An Ordinance (04-58) - Providing for the demolition of structures located

at 719 Church Avenue (Jewel Jones & Cynthia Fedd Ross, owners); 2 Regatta Court

& 4213 Alpine Drive (William J. & Shirley Madison, owners); 2827 Bradley Circle

(Charlie & Ora Lee Mickle, owners); 4218 Willis Street (Worthy Miller, owner);

820 Coolidge Avenue (Vera M. Robinson, owner); 1637 Elvan Avenue (James Ray

Shytle, owner); 400 ? 29th Avenue, Lots 54 & 57 (Spellman-Hung Capital, LLC,

owner); and 920 Benning Drive (Jason Wayne Thomas, owner); and for demolition

services for the Inspections and Code Division in accordance with the attached

Tabulation of Bid sheet.



An Ordinance (04-59) - Repealing the present Chapter 17C of the Columbus

Code and enacting a new Chapter 17C entitled ?Soil Erosion And Sedimentation

Control? for the purpose of controlling and minimizing the extent of erosion

and sedimentation, to conserve and protect land, water, air and other resources

and to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare; and for other

purposes.



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WITH DR. COTTLE & DR. IAN BOND STANDING AT THE COUNCIL TABLE, THE

FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS READ IN ITS ENTIRETY BY MAYOR PRO TEM RODGERS AND

ADOPTED BY THE

COUNCIL:





A Resolution (278-04) - Expressing our deep appreciation to Dr. Ronald E.

Cottle, Beacon University and Gregory S. Conkel for their generous donation of

time and media expertise to the Consolidated Government for the last four

years. Let a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Dr. Ronald E. Cottle, CEO

of Beacon University and Mr. Gregory S. Conkel. Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers moved

the adoption of the resolution. Seconded by Councilor Allen and carried

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

Councilor Woodson being absent for this vote.



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THE FOLLOWING THREE WO RESOLUTIONS WERE ALSO SUMBITTED AND ADOPTED BY THE

COUNCIL UPON THE ADOPTION OF A MOTION MADE BYMAYOR PRO TEM RODGERS AND SECONDED

BY COUNCILOR ALLEN, WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE SEVEN MEMBERS OF COUNCIL

PRESNET AT THE TIME, WITH COUNCILOR WOODSON BEING ABSENT FOR THIS

VOTE:





A Resolution (279-04) - Excusing Councilor Nathan Suber from the June 22,

2004 Council Meeting.



A Resolution (280-04) - Excusing Councilor Julius Hunter from the June 22,

2004 Council Meeting.



A Resolution (281-04) - Authorizing the acceptance of a grant of $32,000

from the Muscogee County Smart Start Collaborative and adjust the

Multi-Governmental Fund by the amount of the grant. An agenda report and

resolution are attached.



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THE FOLLOWING THREE TEMPORARY STREET CLOSING APPLICATIONS WERE SUBMITTED

AND APPROVED BY THE

COUNCIL:





Application of Bridgette Herring to temporarily close Broadway & Front Ave

from south curb of 9th St to north curb of 10th St and 9th St & 10th St from

west curb of Front Ave to east curb of Broadway on Sunday, July 4, 2004, from

6:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., for fireworks for Thunder on the Hooch.



Application of Lucy Burkett to temporarily close Bay Ave from 9th St to

12th St. on Saturday, July 10, 2004, from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., for Phenix

City's 50th Celebration.



Application of Lucy Burkett to temporarily close Dillingham Street Bridge

on Saturday, July 10, 2004, from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., for Phenix City's

50th Celebration.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers moved the approval. Seconded by Councilor Allen and

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

Councilor Woodson being absent for this vote.



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THE FOLLOWING TWO RESOLUTIONS WERE ALSO SUBMITTED AND APPROVED BY THE

COUNCIL PURSUANT TO THE ADOPTION OF A MOTION MADE BY MAYOR PRO TEM RODGERS AND

SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ALLEN, WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE EIGHT MEMBERS

OF COUNCIL PRESENT FOR THIS MEETING:



A Resolution (282-04) - Authorizing payment to Motorola Communications and

Electronics, Inc., in the amount of $83,849.38 for the FY05 Annual Transmission

System maintenance contract for the City?s 800 MHZ Radio communication system.



A Resolution (283-04) - Authorizing payment to Motorola Communications and

Electronics, Inc., in the amount of $5,819.39, to execute the FY05 Annual

service contract for the bi-directional amplifier system for the Muscogee

County Jail.





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DEMOLITION OF STRUCTURES:



Referring back to Ordinance Number 04-58 that was just adopted, City

Manager Cavezza said the property located at 920 Benning Drive has been sold

and the new owner is repairing that house. He said he would like to request

that we delete this property off of the demolition list.



Councilor Henderson then asked for reconsideration of this ordinance.

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

Council present for this meeting.



Councilor Henderson then moved the adoption of the ordinance, excluding

the property located at 920 Benning Drive. Seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers

and carried unanimously by eight members of Council present for this meeting.



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THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION, NOT LISTED ON THE AGENDA WAS SUBMITTED BY CITY

MANAGER CAVEZZA AND ALSO ADOPTED BY THE

COUNCIL:



A RESOLUTION (284-04) ? Authorizing the submission of an application and

if approved, to accept a grant in the amount of $102,340.00 from the United

States Department of Justice to support the costs of the Gang Resistance

Education and Training Program (G.R.E.A.T. Program) and amend the FY05

multi-governmental fund by the like amount of the grant. Councilor Woodson

moved the adoption of the resolution. Seconded by Councilor Turner Pugh and

carried unanimously by those eight members of Council present for this meeting.

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WORK SESSION AGENDA:



COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT:



Dr. Guy Sims pointed out that he was before the Council approximately one

month ago to inform the Mayor & Council of the town hall meetings that they had

going on and which is a very important part of this comprehensive community

assessment. He said that he is here today to give you an understanding of what

they are trying to accomplish.



He said this is partnership with a number of organizations in Columbus to

make this possible. He said United Way and the Family Connection realized that

they had to have some type of comprehensive community assessment done. He said

Family Connection is required by the State to do one every three years;

however, United Way haven?t done one since 1987. He said everything that they

have been operating off of has come from an assessment that was done almost

seventeen years ago.



Mr. Sims said things do change and said for us to tell the community that

these are the priorities that the community has said we need to be addressing

is really stretching the truth much more than we can. He said he doesn?t think

the priorities will change significantly, but said there will be some other

things that rise that the community says under these areas we need to be

looking at.



He then went into further details in outlining what their plans are in

implementing this comprehensive community assessment. He said we need

assessment so that we can look at the entire region so that we can

strategically starting planning to take care of those needs, as well as get

down to the root of what those problems are and make plans to eliminate what

causes these problems to occur.



Mr. Sims said they plan to make this assessment widely available to anyone

who wants it at no charge. He said he thinks this will serve the entire

community well. He said the last of the community meetings would be held on

next Tuesday, June 29th at Northside High School at 6:00 p.m. He said the have

been extremely pleased with the turnout at the last two meetings that held, as

well as the diversity.



He said there would be a series of focus groups to target the youths in

our community, as well as the Hispanic/Latino community. He said they are also

open from the public on advise of other focus groups.



Mr. Sims said they would also be holding public hearings in the other six

counties to allow them equal opportunity to voice their opinions, as well as

doing Internet surveys and telephone surveys. He said once all this is

complete, we would have available one of the most comprehensive community

assessment that could ever be available.





After the conclusion of his presentation, Mr. Sims then responded to

several comments and questions of Mayor Poydasheff and members of the Council.



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TREE FOR FEE:



City Manager Cavezza said approximately six months ago we did a program

testing a Tree for Fee program and then called upon Mr. Rufus Riggs, Director

of the Department of Public Services to give an update on this project.



Mr. Riggs said about seven months ago they started a pilot program and ran

a test for six months on collecting trees for those individuals who requested

it for a fee. He said the program has been very successful in the collection

and disposal and said that we are providing a service that is making our

customers happy.



He said since we have started this program we have collected 220 trees and

have had only two-documented complaints. One was a complaint of a tree in the

back yard and the customer did not understand why we could not go in the back

yard to get it. The other was a lost work order, which made the customer have

to wait additional time for collection. He said when it was found, it was

corrected in a matter of days.



Mr. Riggs said overall the Tree for Fee program has been a success for the

customer and the Columbus Consolidated Government and said they would like to

continue the program and make it a part of the Solid Waste Collection

ordinance.



He said they have some people who don?t want to pay after having requested

the service. He said in the pilot program, they don?t have a mechanism in order

to force that payment. However, they have a draft ordinance that they would

like to put in place to make it a part of their normal collection practices as

well it would provide for a method whereby it would allow those individuals who

have requested the services to pay for those services.



Mr. Riggs said in this proposal, they are asking that we add this to the

same process that we have for garbage collection fees, whereby a customer is

notified that they own for the service, with subsequent notices, if they fail

to pay to provide them an opportunity to show cause why they should not pay. He

said if they cannot show cause, they will coordinate with the Water Works and

have their water services terminated.



After Mr. Riggs concluded his presentation, he then responded to questions

of Mayor Poydasheff and members of the Council, after which additional

information

was then requested by members of the Council as outlined below:



Councilor Turner Pugh asked the staff to look at adding some kind of

delinquent payment fee to be assessed in this program.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers said for these special tree pickups we need to

possibly have the staff to look at billing it through the water bills as we do

with the garbage fees.



Councilor Henderson said if we are going to look at doing this program

similar to what we do with the collection of garbage fees, let?s have the staff

to look at implementing the same type of reduced fees for individuals on fixed

incomes, i.e. senior citizens and etc. Use the same percentage in reducing the

costs for those people who have the trees picked up.







After approximately thirty minutes of discussion, with Mr. Riggs

continuing to respond to further questions of members of the Council, City

Manager Cavezza pointed out that we have a system that really works. He said

the noise level has gone done tremendously and said the delinquent pay issue is

something that we need to wrestle with and deal with it. He said he thinks that

we can do it like we do with the garbage bill, if you don?t pay for the tree

pickup, you water get turned out; however, we will work through that. He said

they want to put this in ordinance form and bring it back to the Council at a

later date.



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COMPREHENSIVE PLAN:



City Manager Cavezza said we came before the Council at a previous work

session and talked about the plan and addressed numerous questions that were

raised, approximately twenty, which was raised during the process, at the

public meeting, as well as the Planning Advisory Commission. He said at that

time, you had some additional questions and said today; we would like to

address those.

He said their intent is to move forward with the first reading within the next

few weeks.



Deputy City Manager Richard Bishop then went into some details and

outlined those questions that was raised by the Council and provided the

answers for each of those questions.



1) If public sewer is available, does it have to be used?



2) How much land is available in North Columbus?



3) Move A-2 from low density residential to rural residential



4) What is the status of the Conservation Subdivision Ordinance?



5) Ask the Planning Advisory Commission to provide their comments on the Comp

Plan.



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1999 SPLOST PROJECT UPDATE



City Manager Cavezza said we have completed the 1993 SPLOST and said that

we have closed it out; however, we have the 1999 SPLOST ongoing and have asked

Deputy City Manager Bishop to give the Council an update on the 1999 SPLOST

Projects.



Deputy City Manager Bishop then spent some fifteen minutes in giving this

update, which he outlined the following projects:



Build New and Upgrade Fire and EMS Stations:



# 7 @ Buena Vista/Thye completed

# 15 @ Mckee Rd, # 3 Veterans @ Northside and # 12 @ Cargo completed

# 10 @ Benning Dr. @ River Rd. started construction in May

#2 @ 33rd/Rosehill and # 9 @ Jay Street construction date TBD



MCKEE ROAD FIRE STATION:



Councilor McDaniel said whenever the staff prepares for the ribbon cutting

ceremony of the McKee Road Fire Station; let?s make sure we invite Mr. Bill

Heard to attend.



Councilor Allen said he would also ask that the staff invite those

individuals in the Upatoi area that were instrumental in bringing forth the

concept of a fire station out in this area.



UpGrade Public Safety Vehicles and Equipment:



Mid-Size Sedans 93

Pursuit Cars 185

Utility Vehicles 6

Ambulances 2

Cargo Van 5

Fire Trucks 4

Motorcycle 2

Scooter 2

Total 299

189 technology packages have been installed in Public Safety vehicles



Public Safety Warning Sirens

Project completed



Animal Shelter:



Public\Private Partnership

The Committee is developing fund raising strategy.

Site has been selected @ Milgen and Cooper Creek





Local street improvements



Georgetown\Amber Improvement

Completed

Resurfacing of local streets continues (approx. 25 miles each year)





Storm Water\Flood Abatement:



Storm Water

Priority One and Two replacement 99% complete

Flood Abatement

Liberty District under design 85% complete, construction start March 05





Pools:



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

Fourth Pool at South Commons is under design, construction starts in 05





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 One, renovation of 9 holes has been completed

Phase Two, renovation of 9 holes has been completed

Phase Three, renovation of 18 holes under construction, July 04 complete





Enterprise Zone:



Brownsfield Grant has been awarded

New Apartment Complex on North and South Lumpkin have been completed

Five CHI single-family residences have been approved for tax abatement

Other land purchase opportunities are ongoing

1999 SPLOST PROJECT UPDATE

Trade Center expansion Completed

1999 SPLOST PROJECT UPDATE

NFL (Muscogee Technology Park):

The Master Plan has been completed.

Zoning has been completed

The design of the infrastructure has started.

Permitting on-going

Chattsworth widening completed





Buses:



4 Buses have been purchased

2 Buses are on order





Parks and Green Space:



Phase Three, Broadway from 14th Street to 10th has started



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 this Summer





Liberty District

Master Plan is Complete





Oxbow Park

Master Plan is underway



Other Projects

City Service Center

Library

Lake Oliver



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With there being no other business to come before this Work Session, Mayor

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

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

this meeting, with the time being 10:3 a.m.



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Tiny B. Washington, CMC

Clerk of Council

The Council of Columbus, Georgia