Columbus, Georgia

MINUTES

COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

WORK SESSION

JANUARY 29,

2002



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

called to order at 9:00 A.M., Tuesday, January 29, 2002, in the Council

Chambers, Government Center, Columbus, Georgia. Honorable John J. Rodgers,

Mayor Pro Tem, presiding.



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

Allen, Berry Henderson, Julius H. Hunter, Jr., Charles E. McDaniel, Jr., Robert

Poydasheff, Evelyn Turner Pugh, Nathan Suber 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.



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ABSENT: Mayor Bobby Peters and Councilor Richard Smith were absent.



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INVOCATION: Led by Reverend Sun Moon Park.



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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Led by the students of the various Middle and High

Schools, who were present to receive their prize money for participating in the

Telephone Book Recycling Contest.

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TELEPHONE BOOK RECYCLING CONTEST:



Ms. Ann Davis, a member of the Keep Columbus Beautiful Commission appeared

and said they are here today to present the prize money to those schools who

won the area Telephone Book Recycling Contest. She said the total this year did

not exceed last year?s total; however, they recycled 34,825 old telephone books

from the area schools. She said citywide, they recycled a little over 51,000

books.



She said the contest was again divided into four categories, Elementary,

Middle, High School and Private Schools. She said the prize money for 1st Place

- $350, 2ND Place - $250.00, 3rd Place - $150.00.



Ms. Davis then announced the winners of each of the categories, and Mayor

Pro Tem Rodgers then presented the checks to the following, as outlined below:



Elementary School Division:



3rd Place - Dawson Elementary

2nd Place - Key Elementary

1st Place - St. Mary?s Elementary





Middle School Division:



3rd Place - Blackmon Road Middle School

2nd Place - Fort Middle School

1st Place - Richards Middle School





High School Division:



3rd Place - Jordan High School

2nd Place - Shaw High School

1st Place - Columbus High School





Private Schools Division:



3RD Place - First Seventh Day Adventist School

2nd Place - Achievement Academy

1st Place - Redeemer Lutheran School

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MINUTES: Minutes of the January 22, 2002 meeting of the Council of the

Consolidated Government of Columbus, Georgia were submitted and approved

unanimously upon the adoption of a motion made by Councilor Poydasheff and

seconded by Councilor Woodson.

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PRESENTATION OF AN AWARD:



Ms. Marguerite Blassingame, of the Department of the Treasury, Bureau of

the Public Debt, U.S. Savings Bond Program, was present to present an award to

Councilor Poydasheff for his efforts in the 2001 Savings Bond Campaign.



She said Councilor Poydasheff hosted a luncheon, as well as had a kickoff

breakfast. She said Councilor Poydasheff?s job was to encourage individuals to

purchase saving bonds. She said in 2000 Muscogee County sold $37,688 in EE

Bonds, October 2001 it increased to $64,000, the Series II Bonds for 2000 was

$36,125, and in October 2001, $769,000.00.



Ms. Blassingame then presented an award to Councilor Poydasheff for his

volunteer service in 2001, U. S. Savings Bonds Program, Volunteer Campaign.



She said she would also like to thank Ms. Carol Gertjegerdes of the

Columbus Times Newspaper for her support of the Columbus 2001 Savings Bond

Campaign as well.

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PROCLAMATIONS:



?HEART MONTH?:



With Ms. Shanna Montage, of the American Heart Association and Mrs. Jo

McDaniel, Chairperson of Operation Heartbeat, standing at the Council table,

Councilor McDaniel read the proclamation of Mayor Peters, proclaiming the month

of February 2002, as ?Heart Month?, in Columbus, Georgia.

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DEFIBRILLATORS:



Councilor Turner Pugh said there is a bill that has been introduced by

Senator Nadine Thomas, where they are trying to make grant funding available to

cities for the purchase of AED (Automatic External Defibrillators), and then

asked City Attorney Fay to get a copy of that bill and then draft a resolution

of support for this bill.

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CONSENT AGENDA:



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

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

TURNER PUGH AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR SUBER, WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE

NINE MEMBERS OF COUNCIL PRESENT FOR THIS MEETING:







An Ordinance (02-15) - Amending the budgets for the fiscal year 2002

beginning July 1, 2001 and ending June 30, 2002, for certain funds of the

Consolidated Government of Columbus, Georgia; appropriating amounts shown in

each fund for salary increases, fees, positions and other activities; and for

other purposes.



A Resolution (33-02) - Authorizing the acceptance of a deed to Creekstone

Court and Stone Creek Lane, located in Section 5, Stone Creek Subdivision, on

behalf of Columbus, Georgia.



A Resolution (34-02) - Authorizing the acceptance of a deed to Highlands

Drive, Meadow Valley Court and Woodland Ridge Drive, located in Phase 5,

Garrett Creek Subdivision, on behalf of Columbus, Georgia.



A Resolution (35-02) - Authorizing the acceptance of a deed to Mitchell

Ridge Drive, and Mitchell Ridge Place, located in Section 2, Mitchell Ridge, on

behalf of Columbus, Georgia.



A Resolution (36-02) - Authorizing the acceptance of $120,400.00 in

funding from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to support

the operational costs of the Gang Resistance Education and Training Program

(G.R.E.A.T.) and to amend the multi-governmental fund (216) by a like amount.



A Resolution (37-02) - Excusing Councilor Charles E. McDaniel from the

January 22, 2002 Council meeting.





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NEW ZONING PETITIONS:



THE FOLLOWING THREE NEW ZONING PETITIONS WERE SUBMITTED AND AN ORDINANCE

WAS CALLED FOR ON EACH OF THE THREE PETITIONS, AS OUTLINED BELOW:







Petition submitted by Woodmont Properties, LLc. to rezone approximately 32

acres of property located on portions of 6001 & 6015 Warm Springs Road from an

A-1 District to a PUD District. (Recommended for conditional approval by both

the Planning Advisory Commission and the Plannin0g Division.)

(3-CA-02-Woodmont Properties, LLC.)







Petition submitted by Signature Construction Co. to rezone approximately

0.25 acres of property located at 2307 Hamilton Road from an R-4 District to a

C-3 District. (Recommended for conditional approval by both the Planning

Advisory Commission and the Planning Division.) (4-CA-02-Signature

Construction Co.)



Petition submitted by Timothy Gregory to rezone approximately 0.17 acres

of property located at 2912 12th Avenue from a C-2 District to an R-3A

District. (Recommended for approval by both the Planning Advisory Commission

and the Planning Division.) (5-A-01-Gregory)



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers called for the three ordinances and public hearings.

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REQUEST FOR A PUBLIC HEARING:



A letter from Mr. David B. Erickson was submitted, requesting that the

Council of Columbus, Georgia call for an ordinance and public hearing on his

two petitions that were recommended for denial by both the Planning Advisory

Commission and the Planning Division on his property located at 8091 Midland

Road and 8127 Midland Road (1-D-02-Erickson & 2-D-02-Erickson)



Councilor Suber called for the ordinance and public hearing.

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BUDGET PREPARATION:



Councilor McDaniel said as we prepare to go into budget session, we all

know that time and money is going to be tight, and said we can?t raise taxes

because of the cap. He said he doesn?t know if the citizens would vote to

increase that, but he thinks that is the only way that we are going to get out

of this problem, which includes all the cities, not just Columbus; to consider

a one cent sales tax for the roll back in property taxes.



He said he talked with two of our legislators on Friday and said they were

receptive to the idea. He said we would need to push the legislators for this

sales tax and roll back the property taxes and get rid of the garbage fee.

He said this would raise about $30 million, and he thinks it will benefit this

government and the people would vote for it.



Councilor McDaniel said all we would need to do is to ask the legislators

to put this on the ballot and let the people vote for it. He said he knows that

it is an election year and none of the legislators or the Council wants to

increase taxes. He said the school tax will be coming off the end of December

and said that we can continue in January with the one cent, if they let us to

do this.



He said he really believes this is the only way to go; because if we

don?t, then we will have to increase the user fees. He said none of us like the

user fees; so, therefore, he would encourage all of his fellow Councilors to

talk to the legislators. He said this would include all cities, not just

Columbus.



Council McDaniel said this is the only way that he knows of that we can

deal with this problem, because it is going to continue. He said this is a good

way that we can raise the money that we need, without hurting a lot of people.

He said if we need to send a resolution to the legislators, he would be willing

to call for the resolution.





Councilor Poydasheff expressed his views on this matter, saying that he

thinks a sales tax is the fairest way to go without burdening property owners.

He said he thinks this is a first step and a good step on something that has

been raised previously.



Councilor Turner Pugh said she would like everyone to know that its not

just our legislators that would have to approve this, but it would have to be

approved by every House of Representative and Senate member, in order for this

to pass. She said she thinks this has been one of the hold up, because we have

the support of our local delegation, but it has been trying to get a buy-in

from everyone else.



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FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS:



City Manager Cavezza said on last week, there were some concerns expressed

as it relates to some projections that were less than anticipated, which was

the hotel/motel tax and the local option sales tax, and said their intent is to

monitor that. He said in March, if that projection has not improved, we will

come back to the Council with some recommendations on how to deal with

shortages, if there are projected shortages.



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SOVEREIGNTY IMMUNITY BILL:



Councilor Woodson said she would like to request a resolution opposing the

Sovereignty Immunity Bill. She said it really affects three cities, Atlanta,

Columbus and Macon; whereby it could increase our budget up to $2 million. She

said she has information on it and she will forward that information to the

City Manager.



City Manager Cavezza said we have stated that we are opposed to that bill

and in fact; there are some compromised versions, which are no better and would

be very expensive to us. He said the bill is in Committee right now and our

legislative delegation is aware of our position. He said State Representative

Tom Buck is taking the lead on that opposition, and GMA opposes it, as well as

several other cities.



Councilor Woodson said she got the information from one of her committee

meetings, as she sits on the Intergovernmental Committee. She said they

expressed to us to go back to our City and continue to push it. She said they

indicated that they were going to give it another bill number, but wanted us to

go back and continue to express our opposition.



Councilor Turner Pugh said they have been working on it and she has been

in constant contact with GMA on it, as well as City Manager Cavezza has been

working with GMA Lobbyist on that bill. She said it should be coming out of the

House with the new bill number sometimes this week.

She said we have been opposed to it. She said it would cost Atlanta over

$6 million, and will mainly affect all of the larger cities in the State of

Georgia that are self-insured.



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BOND RATES:



Councilor Turner Pugh said when Governor Barnes spoke during the GMA

Convention, one of the things he talked about was their bond rating and how

they had renegotiated their bonds and they were able to get a lower rate on

their bonds. She said she would like for City Manager Cavezza to make sure that

we are looking at our bond rates and determine if there is room for us to

negotiate our bonds.



She said he also talked about the State?s borrowing power on their capital

improvement projects. She said one of the things that they decided that they

wanted to look at during this legislative session is to look at any projects

that they are planning on doing, was to borrow now, because you will not be

able to borrow money at a lower rate than you can now.



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SOVEREIGNITY IMMUNITY BILL:



Referring back to this subject, Councilor Woodson said in the future

whenever information is being discussed regarding the sovereignty immunity

bill, she would like to be kept informed. City Manager Cavezza said he would

make sure that she is provided with that information.



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MERITORIOUS RESOLUTION:



Councilor Poydasheff said he would like for City Attorney Fay to draft a

resolution honoring newly appointed Federal Court Judge Clay Land, on his

appointment.



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ABSENCES:



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers pointed out that Mayor Peters is out of town on City

business and Councilor Richard Smith had surgery on yesterday, but he is doing

well, and will be back on next Tuesday.

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WORK SESSION AGENDA:



ENVIRONMENTAL COURT:



City Manager Cavezza said we have had a committee working on this for some

time now. He said we have some legislation that we have sent up to our

delegation in support of the establishment of an Environmental Court. He then

called on Ms. Gloria Weston-Smart, Executive Director of the Keep Columbus

Beautiful Commission, to give an update.



Ms. Gloria Weston-Smart said in 1987 the Council adopted an ordinance

creating the Keep Columbus Beautiful Commission and said for 15 years, they

have been working diligently to enhance beautification, to eliminate litter and

blight and to protect our environment



She said she feels like they have done a good job and have done that with

the Council?s support and thank you for that support. She said she also

appreciates the support that the City Manager has given to them in their

endeavors. She said there have been several departments that they have worked

with on this project.

Ms. Weston-Smart said they have been working diligently on the Tree

Ordinance and Keep Columbus Beautiful and the Gateways supports the Tree

Ordinance 100 percent and they are hoping that the Council would do the same.



She said they have just learned from Sam Wellborn that they are going to

receive funding for the enhancement of two additional beautification projects,

which will be at Smith Road/I-185, as well as Manchester Expressway and Miller

Road.



Regarding the proposed Environmental Court, Ms. Weston-Smart said their

Committee has been meeting since June of last year, and said they believe that

they need this Court for a safer, cleaner and a more beautiful Columbus.



She said the purpose of this Court is to hear the cases of the abuses of

the environment. She said there are five different departments, which includes

Public Services, Health Department, Community Economic Development, Fire

Department and Engineering.



Ms. Weston-Smart then gave a caseload report of the different departments,

and the violations and cases that were made, which are outlined below:



Building Inspection- 18

Business License 166

Animal Control 1,095

Solid Waste 224

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1,523



She said the average of those cases per month, on a nine-month basis is

169, and on a 12-month basis, it would be 127 cases. She said those totals

reflect that they would justify having a court at least twice a month. She said

the committee would like to consider having a Court twice a month, possibly on

a Wednesday, depending on the availability of a Courtroom and a Judge.



Ms. Weston-Smart continued for some ten minutes in outlining her report to

the Council, after which she then responded to several questions of members of

the Council.



Several members of the Council then expressed their views and requested

some additional information, which are outlined below:



Councilor Henderson said he would like for the staff to provide an

analysis on the figures of the projected fines, how many fines didn?t get

levied in Recorder?s Court. He said he would also like to see an anticipated

amount of revenue coming into the Court versus what it would cost to operate

the Court.



City Manager Cavezza said we can go back and look at the slate and make a

projection on fines. He said what he is hearing from the Inspectors is that a

lot of times the cases are dismissed or are given extensions. He said when it

is taken relatively with other cases that the Court is hearing, it doesn?t seem

like a significant case and therefore, the fines are very light and or

dismissed. He said that is the perception of the Inspectors that are out in the

field.



Councilor Hunter said with a special Court, it would give the Inspectors

more incentives to make cases, as well as give citizens in the community, more

incentive to report violations. He said once they see that we are seriously

concerned about the environmental issues, they will be more likely to come

forward.



Councilor Turner Pugh said she is in favor of an Environmental Court, but

said we need to be very clear on what kind of Environmental Court we are going

to have. She said she thinks we need to do an analysis on what it will cost to

have a separate Court from the current Recorder?s Court.



Councilor Allen said he thinks we need to make sure that we have a

continuous educational process on the Environmental Court.



City Manager Cavezza said it has been proven fairly satisfactory to go to

the public and get their input on all of these types of things, and said that

has been the pattern that we have been following.



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1993 SPLOST UPDATE:



Deputy City Manager Richard Bishop gave a thirty minutes presentation on

the 1993 SPLOST Projects, highlighting the following projects:



North River Walk



- City Mills to 25th Street under construction.

- Completion Spring 2002

- 25th Street to Bibb Mill under design

- Completion in Fall 2003



Park Improvements



- Lakebottom

- Rigdon

- Shirley Winston

- Double Churches

- Psalmond Road

- Edgewood Park



Four New Recreation Centers



- North Park Recreation Center

- Psalmond Road Recreation Center

- South Columbus Recreation Center

- Shirley Winston Recreation Center





1993 SPLOST UPDATE:



Build & Upgrade Fire/EMS Stations:



- Veterans Parkway/Williams Road

- Buena Vista Road

- Thayer & Benning Drive



Construction will begin in the Spring







Transportation Projects:



- Resurfacing 50+ miles

- Rail Crossing Improvements





- Congestion Improvement Projects



Veterans Overpass

Macon Road

Flat Rock

Auburn/Boxwood



- Storm Water/Flood Abatement



Storm Water



Priority One replacements started in the Old Town Drainage System



Flood Abatement



Design of systems

(Designed to accommodate a 25-year storm)





Pools:



- Construction of New Pools

Rigdon Park

Psalmond Road

Shirley Winston Park



(The goal is to have three pools on line by the summer of 2002)



Center City pool site has not been determined.



City Manager Cavezza said part of this package was to upgrade Double

Churches Pool, but said the cost that we are hearing from the contractors to

upgrade Double Churches pool is too high. He said it almost warrants looking at

a new pool rather than putting a lot of money into a pool that has a lot of

problems. He said we projected about $700,000, but said they are coming in with

double that figure.



He said we are looking at several different options. He said the other

problem with the Double Churches pool is that there is not enough parking

spaces around the area, but said there are a number of options that we are

looking at with the staff. He said we would be coming back with the staff to

talk about the Center City pool, as well as some recommendations on the Double

Churches pool. He said the Double Churches pool will probably operate this

summer the way it always has. He said right now he don?t envision us putting

any money into anything until we resolve what is the best way to go with that.



- Bull Creek Golf Course



Phase One completed October 2001

Phase Two begins January 2002







- Enterprise Zone



City & Chamber of Commerce working to market the Enterprise Zone

12 parcels have been acquired

3 other prospects



- Expansion of Trade Center



Construction documents to be completed in January 31, 2002

Construction to begin in April 2002

Construction estimated to be completed in the fall of 2004



- NFL (Muscogee Technology Park)



- New public safety vehicles & clean air buses



- Parks & Greenspace



Design of Uptown pedestrian area has begun

Committee of stakeholders has been formed

Council & stakeholders have been briefed

Need to hold public information meetings



- Library



Design has started

Demolition will begin in the Spring

Construction date is to be announced



- Additional SPLOST Projects



City Service Center

Animal Shelter

Lake Oliver Recreation Area

Liberty District

Oxbow Meadows Environmental Park

Walking Trail





Deputy City Manager Bishop said all of these additional projects will come

on line after the completion of the other projects and said once we start the

planning process we will come back to the Council, to give the Council an

update.



Deputy City Manager Isaiah Hugley also responded to questions of Councilor

Woodson as it relates to the Skate Board Park and the progress of that project.



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Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers said we are fastly approaching the culmination of

the 1993 sales tax, and said Williams Road Super Center is the last project to

be done, and said with that comes the final accounting on the 1993 sales tax.

He said he is comfortable that we are on track with that and when that final

cost is determined we will be able to present to the City what was proposed and

what was actually done.









City Manager Cavezza said we will see show that in addition to that, we

have accomplished a lot more projects than what was anticipated, to include

paying off some old debt, if the Council approves of that expenditure and some

other projects that are pending.



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ROAD PROJECTS:



Deputy City Manager Bishop also gave a detailed report on the various road

projects, and outlined exactly what would be done on each of the following

projects, as well as showed photos of the area, which includes the following

roads, as outlined below:



54th St from Chumar Dr. to Veterans Parkway

Widen to 3 & 4 lanes with median improvements

City Responsibility: R/W & Util.

Start Date: R/W 02 $1.0M DOT Con 04

Project Challenges: Increase R/W $2.0M and Business Relocations.



Veterans Parkway From Moon to Harris County

Widen to 4 lanes with median

City Responsibility: No Involvement State Route.

Start Date: DOT R/W 03 DOT Con Long Range

Project Challenges: Env/School/Timing. Need consideration for southern

segment from 45th St. to Moon Road.



Veterans Parkway From Moon to Harris County

Widen to 4 lanes with median

Veterans Parkway from 45th to Old Moon Road

Widen to 6 lanes with median

City Responsibility: No involvement State route.

Start Date: DOT R/W Long Range DOT

Con Long Range

Project Challenges: Numerous business impacts. Road currently operates at LOS

D (23k-25k ADT)





Whittlesey Road from Whitesville to Veterans

Widen to 4 lanes with median

City Responsibility: R/W and Utilities $1.1M

Start Date: R/W

02

DOT Con 05

Project Challenges: Increase R/W & Utility Cost to $2M, additional R/W

acquisitions on Veterans will be necessary.



Whittlesey Road from Whitesville to Moon Road

Widen to 4 lanes with median

Miller Road ? Warm Springs to Macon Road

City Responsibility: R/W & Util. $3.2M

Start Date: R/W 04 DOT

Con 07

Project Challenges: R/W challenges anticipated at this time. N/S connector

(Pierce Chapel ? Buena Vista) to be determined.





Miller Road ? Warm Springs to Macon Road

Widen to 4 lanes with median

Warm Springs Road from 19th St. to Crestview

Widen to 4 lanes with median

City Responsibility: Utilities

Start Date: DOT R/W 05 DOT Con 07

Challenges: Numerous business relocations.





Forest Road from Macon to Schatulga Road

Widen to a 3 ? 4 lanes with median improvements

City Responsibility: Utilities $800,000

Start Date: DOT R/W 02 DOT Con 04

Project Challenges: Extensive Community Involvement





Buena Vista Road from Brown to Illges

Widen to 4 lanes with median

City Responsibility: R/W & Util. $2.0M

Start Date: R/W 03 DOT Con 04

Project Challenges: PIP is helping to eliminate residential and commercial

concerns.



Buena Vista from I-185 to Dogwood Drive

Widen to 6 lanes with intersection improvements

City Responsibility: R/W & Util. $650,000

Start Date: R/W 03

DOT Con 04

Project Challenges: Improve commercial access to adjacent businesses. PIP is

forthcoming.





Spider Web

St. Mary?s Road from Spider Web to Robin

Widen to 4 lanes with median

City Responsibility: R/W & Util. $1.6M

Start Date: R/W 02 DOT Con 04

Project Challenges: Numerous residential impacts. PIP process has begun.





St. Mary?s Road from Farr Road to Northstar

Widen to 4 lanes with median

City Responsibility: R/W & Util. $2.1M

Start Date: R/W 04 DOT Con 06

Project Challenges: Anticipate neighborhood impacts. PIP in 04.





Cusseta & Old Cusseta from Ft. Benning to Staunton

Widen to 4 lanes with median and intersection alignments

City Responsibility: R/W and Util. $2.0M

Start Date: R/W 04 DOT Con 07

Project Challenges: Numerous residential and business concerns and church

impact. PIP in process.



I-185/Old Cusseta Road Interchange

Construct new interchange

City Responsibility: FHWA/DOT Project

Start Date: To be determined.

Project Challenges: Interchange is needed to give access to enterprise zone.

Has numerous R/W impact issues to the area. PIP in process.

Farr Road from St. Mary?s to Old Cusseta

Widen to 4 lanes with median

City Responsibility: R/W & Util. $1.4M

Start Date: R/W & Util. Long range.

Project Challenges: Project justification contingent on not constructing Old

Cusseta Road interchange.



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PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT:



Deputy City Manager Bishop said within the past few months we have been

doing our pavement management inventory and said that process is well under

way. He said there is over 1,000 centerline miles of road that has been

inventoried. He said this would provide us with a list of all of our streets

and how those streets fair, as far as the maintenance that needs to be done. He

said as a part of this, they will be able to develop budgets, to present to the

Council so that you will know the status of all of our streets in the County.



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Mr. Bishop then responded to several questions of members of the Council

regarding several issues, as detailed below:



MILLER ROAD:



Councilor Allen said he would like for the staff to do some research and

determine whether or not those old gas tanks can be removed from the Miller

Road area.



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TRAFFIC SIGNALIZATION:



Councilor Henderson asked the staff to check the records and determine

whether or not there was a condition in the ordinance requiring the developer

to be responsible for traffic signalization at Whitesville Road @ Lyons Drive.

He said we need to go ahead and get started with this signalization, so that it

will be ready when the road opens.



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AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR SHOP:



Councilor Suber asked the staff to have someone to check the location of

the fence at the Automotive Repair Shop on Forrest Road at Urban Avenue,

located next to the Pub and determine whether or not it can be moved over as it

blocks the view of motorist.



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RAILROAD CROSSINGS:



Councilor Turner Pugh asked City Manager Cavezza to check with the

Legislative Liaison to see if there is a State Bill that has been introduced

that deals with railroad crossings in trying to get the railroad to fix up

those crossings.



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SIGNALIZATION PROJECTS:



Councilor Henderson asked City Manager Cavezza to provide an update on the

status of the traffic signalization projects.



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HOME PROGRAM:



City Manager Cavezza said we are proposing a change to the HOME Program.

He said they are getting a lot of requests for home loans versus the rehab

loans. He said what they would like to do is to transfer $145,000 from the

owner-occupied rehab to the home loan program. He said this will reduce the

owner-occupied rehab fund from $754,700 to $609,700 and will increase the

homebuyers assistance, which is $5,000 down payment, from $400,000 to $544,000.



He said we are getting a heavy demand for homebuyers to buy because of the

good market right now, and said we would like to try to accommodate those.



City Manager Cavezza said currently in the homebuyers program we have

$400,000, and said this would increase it to $545,000. He said we have a long

list of individuals who are requesting loans and this is why we wanted to make

the shift so we could try to accommodate them.



Councilor Turner Pugh said this year we decided that we would only do

single-family houses and said she has had a lot of people to call her about

multi-family houses, apartments. City Manager Cavezza said we only did one loan

this year, and said it hasn?t been a priority and said we discussed that with

the Council, but said we probably need to discuss that again, to see what

emphasis the Council would like to put on that. He said we have been putting

our emphasis on homeowners purchasing and homeowner rehab.



Discussions continued on this subject, with several members of the Council

expressing their views regarding this matter. City Manager Cavezza then

responded to several questions of the Council.



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PARKING METERS SURVEY:



City Manager Cavezza said we did a survey of parking meters downtown and

said they have received the numbers back. He said they still have to do some

additional analysis, but he would like to give the Council a brief update. He

said 141 people responded to the question, as to whether or not they wanted to

see parking meters installed on Broadway. He said of those 141 individuals, 83

or 59% indicated that they would like to see parking meters downtown, 58 or 41%

said that wouldn?t like to see them. He said they are going to be doing some

additional analysis and will bring it back to the Council at a later date.



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ROAD PROJECTS:



City Manager Cavezza said we had 35 road projects (L.A.R.P.) approved by

the State and said that project list would require us to spend $800,000 in

paving to prepare for that, but thanks to Sam Wellborn, our representative on

the Department of Transportation, the State is going to pay for that patching.



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CUSSETA ROAD:



City Manager Cavezza said there will be a Department of Transportation

public hearing tonight on the Cusseta Road project, which will be held at the

Cusseta Road Elementary School from 4:00 ? 6:00 p.m.



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City Manger Cavezza then outlined several dates and events that are

happening throughout the City, which are outlined below:



Feb. 7th ? Community Meeting on the Tree Ordinance

Feb. 15 ? 16 ? Once Columbus Summit at the Trade Center

Feb. 21st ? National Arbor Day



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TRAFFIC SIGNAL @ MACON ROAD @ TATE DRIVE:



Councilor McDaniel said he would like to have someone to check the traffic

signal at the intersections of Macon Road @ Tate Drive, where the new

Walgreen?s store is located, as there have been several near collisions where

you come out of the parking lot; because there needs to be a turn arrow there.

He said the traffic coming down 13th Street and out of Hilton Avenue coming

into Macon Road don?t understand that the traffic coming out of the parking lot

of the Walgreen?s store has a green light as well.

He said it is a bad situation and needs to be looked at.



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

meeting was adjourned, upon the adoption of a motion made by Councilor

Poydasheff. Seconded by Councilor Woodson and carried unanimously by those

nine members of Council present for this meeting, with the time being 10:47

a.m.



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Tiny B. Washington, CMC

Clerk of Council

The Council of Columbus, Georgia