Columbus, Georgia

MINUTES

COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

WORK SESSION



FEBRUARY 25, 2003





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

called to order at 9:02 A.M., Tuesday, February 25, 2003, in the Council

Chambers, Government Center, Columbus, Georgia. Honorable Robert S. Poydasheff,

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



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PRESENT: Present other than Mayor Poydasheff and Mayor Pro Tem John J. Rodgers

were Councilors Wayne Anthony, Berry Henderson, Julius H. Hunter, Jr., Charles

E. McDaniel, Jr., 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.

Councilors R. Gary Allen and Glenn Davis took their seat at 9:04 a.m.



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ABSENT: No one was absent.



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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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DELEGATION FROM ROMANIA:



Mayor Poydasheff thanked Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers, Mr. Ed Wilson of his staff

and the City Manager?s staff who offered assistance to the delegation that was

present here on last week from Bistrita, Romania.



He said that we had an extremely successful visit from the City of

Bistrita, including their Mayor, and other dignitaries who spent four days with

us here in Columbus. He said the program that Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers set up, and

the visit to Chamber of Commerce, and to every significant facet of Columbus

was very enlightening. He said the Mayor of Bistrita and his delegation went

away pleased with Columbus, with America and the concept of democracy.



Mayor Poydasheff said he is looking forward to a visit to Bistrita, as he

will be leading a delegation there in May.

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PROCLAMATIONS:



?ESTER ?BOOT? MOSES DAY?



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers read a proclamation of Mayor Poydasheff, proclaiming

high honor and recognition to Mr. Ester ?Boot? Moses upon his retirement from

the Parks & Recreation Department of the City of Columbus.

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MINUTES: Minutes of the February 11 & 18, 2003 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 Allen, which carried unanimously by those ten members of Council.

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CONSENT AGENDA:



THE FOLLOWING ORDINANCE WAS SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITYATTORNEY FAY

AND ADOPTED BY THE COUMCIL ON SECOND READING: _



An Ordinance (03-9) - Rezoning approximately 0.485 acres of property

located at 290 feet west of North Lumpkin Road, north of Airview Drive from a

C-3 District to an R-4 District. (2-CA-03-Ironwood Group, Inc.) Councilor

Henderson moved its adoption. Seconded by Councilor Woodson and carried

unanimously by those ten members of Council present for this meeting.



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THE FOLLOWING THREE RESOLUTIONS WERE ALSO SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY

ATTORNEY FAY AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL:_________



A Resolution (89-03) - Requesting the local legislative delegation to the

Georgia General Assembly introduce a bill amending 1993 Ga. Laws, p. 4849, so

as to add the Muscogee County Probate Court Judge to the list of local elected

officials with salaries, which may be supplemented by the Columbus Council.

Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers moved its adoption. Seconded by Councilor Woodson and

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



A Resolution (90-03) - Authorizing the submission of an application and if

approved accept a grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources,

Environmental Protection Division - Scrap Tire Management Programs Local

Government Enforcement and Education Grant to be administered by Keep Columbus

Beautiful Commission. Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers moved its adoption. Seconded by

Councilor Suber and carried unanimously by those ten members of Council present

for this meeting.



A Resolution (91-03) - Accepting a deed to Bayberry Drive, Spurlin Court

and Avis Court in Section Seventeen, Sweetwater Village Subdivision, on behalf

of Columbus, Georgia. Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers moved its adoption. Seconded by

Councilor Suber and carried unanimously by those ten members of Council present

for this meeting.



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LANIER JONES:



Councilor McDaniel pointed out that Mr. Lanier Jones, who was the former

Revenue Collection Division Manager for the City for a long time, is in ill

health and is at Columbus Hospice, if anyone wants to go and visit him.

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WORK SESSION AGENDA:



STREETSCAPES- UPTOWN COLUMBUS:



City Manager Cavezza said we have contracted with Hughes, Goods & Leary

Architectural firm, who is working in conjunction with Hecht & Burdeshaw,

locally is doing this streetscape project for us. He said it has been to a

number of public community meetings and has evolved to a point where we have

approximately 99% positive reaction to it, and we are here today to give an

update to the Council.



Mr. Brad Hughes, of Hughes, Goods & Leary Architectural firm appeared and

said they have gone through a great process of putting forth some strong ideas

and getting feedback from the people who are involved with downtown, and

working out a plan and direction, which they believe is very exciting and have

a lot of support at this point.

Mr. Hughes then spent some fifteen minutes in going through a slide

presentation, outlining the process of what has taken place up to this point,

using photos and how the area will look and also addressed the following five

(5) issues of concerns, which came out of the community meetings that were

held, and are outlined as follows:



Parking



Landscape



Drive Width Lane ? 21 feet



Construction Impact



Time Line



Mr. Hughes said what they wanted to do, is to have a very clear goal and

to start with the end in mind. He said they want to create for the City of

Columbus, an environment for people to live in, work in and shop in, as well as

promote safety and the quality of life for all citizens. He said they took into

consideration all of these things as they went through the process.



Mr. Hughes then showed an artists rendition of what the streetscapes would

look like upon completion. He said one of the biggest things that they heard

along the way, was the idea of more shade. He said this program would work to

create more shade as well as more sidewalk space and pedestrian comfort.



He said this is Phase III of the Streetscape Project, which includes the

1000 ? 1100 block of Broadway, 10th, 11th and 12th Street from Broadway to Bay

Avenue. He said Phase II, the Performing Arts block is currently under

construction and Phase I was done in conjunction with the development on the

corner.



Mr. Hughes continued to speak pointing out that they will be providing

more street trees, maintaining the big trees in the center, and moving the

curve line out, by expanding the areas on the sidewalk.



Mayor Poydasheff said this presentation was presented to the merchants and

all the people in uptown and as he understands it, was received very favorably

by them.



Councilor Turner Pugh said it was very well received and said that there

was only one individual business owner that expressed displeasure with the

plan, because they felt like it was taking parking spaces from their business.

She said their business is located in the 1100 block and said that she doesn?t

think it would have that much of an impact on that person?s business.



Mr. Hughes said they are also working with a Landscape Steering Committee

that was developed under Phase I, and they are giving them great local feedback

into materials and character that will help to make Columbus a unique and

wonderful spot with its own cultural. He said they have worked out a program

with the assistance of Deputy City Manager Richard Bishop to be able to address

the construction issues, as they come along.



City Manager Cavezza, in response to a question of Mayor Poydasheff, said

that Ms. Sally Folley is chairing the Landscape Steering Committee. He said

there is also a stakeholders group that is involved with that as well.



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

several questions of Mayor Poydasheff and members of the Council.



EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCH SYSTEM:



City Manager Cavezza said over a year ago, the Council approved the

Emergency Medical Dispatch system, which was a major step towards a more

efficient, effective and more responsive dispatch system for our City. He said

they have been going through the training phases and said it is now ready to be

implemented. He said they are phasing it in, and Chief David Arrington is here

this morning to give an update on this system.



Chief Arrington introduced the Department?s Medical Director, Dr. Jag Deep

Singh, who was present with him this morning. He said in addition to serving as

the Medical Director on all matters relating to the provision of emergency

medical

Services, Dr. Singh has also played an integral role in the implementation of

this project.



He said in October 2001, the Council made an investment into approving the

quality of the Emergency Medical dispatching in Columbus, through the purchase

of the Emergency Medical Dispatching system. He said this system is a

standardized protocol, which assists public safety agencies in dispatching the

most appropriate resources to request for emergency medical services.



Chief Arrington said there are thousands of these systems in place

throughout the United States and said they were pleased that the Council made

the commitment to bring this system to Columbus.



He said there were three objectives that they had outlined early in the

process, which includes (1) To improve the overall quality of dispatching

emergency medical units. (2) To provide callers with pre-arrival instructions

to assist patients with life-saving care prior to the arrival of emergency

units, and (3) To improve public safety by reducing the number of emergency

responders to non-life threatening calls.

He said in addition to public safety, it also has an economic impact as well.



He said in January 2002, following a training period of approximately

three months, Columbus 911 Center began utilizing the emergency medical

dispatching system, using a card base or manual system.



Chief Arrington said in August of 2002, the 911 Center upgraded their

manual card base system to a computer base system. He said the computers

improved the timeliness of the dispatchers being able to respond to the

callers? request, as well as improved compliance with the established EMD

protocol. He said since October of 2002, the 911 Center?s protocol compliance

has exceeded the miminum standards established by the medical priority

dispatch. He said based on the consistently high protocol compliance of the

center since October, earlier this month, the Department of Fire/EMS with the

approval of the Medical Director, Dr. Jag Deep Singh, begin implementing the

third and final objective, which was to modify the dispatching of emergency

units based on the call information that comes into 911. He said with

implementation of this modification they would have achieved all of the stated

goals of the system when it was purchased back in 2001. He said the

modifications primarily involve sending fewer fire apparatus on calls based on

the urgency of the call, which is identified from the 911 Dispatcher. He said

reducing the number of emergency vehicles improves public and emergency

responders safety.



He spoke for several minutes in outlining the new system and the new

process used for the Emergency Medical Dispatch System. He said the success

that they have had over the past year have been well-documented in providing

life-saving care to those patients prior to the arrival of emergency units.



Chief Arrington said at 1:00 p.m., today in the Fire Chief?s conference

room, they would hold a press conference to notify the public and let them know

the modifications that they are making. He said since they have implemented

this system, they have not had any adverse response from the public, as the

response time has continued to be as they have been prior to this system.



Dr. Jag Deep Singh then made some remarks regarding the new EMD system. He

said this new system should be able to quickly identify the seriousness of a

problem and the dispatchers should be able to dispatch the appropriate

responses ranging from ambulance with no sirens, to the other extreme where

they will dispatch everything from the fire truck, ambulance, police and

paramedics with the sirens.



He said there would be a zero minute response time to the medical care,

because they have trained the dispatchers to provide the medical care over the

phone. He said it would benefit the patient, the caller, and family members

receiving the medical care immediately, and in the long run, it will benefit

the community because they will have the appropriate resources allocation.



City Manager Cavezza said about four (4) years ago, Deputy City Manager

Isaiah Hugley chaired a functional assessment study and said this was one of

the products that came out of it. He said that was a very successful project

for the City, because we are still reaping the benefits from it. He said the

Emergency Medical Services Department have not only come together, but they

have initiated a lot of new initiatives and should be commended.



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HOMELAND SECURITY:



Mayor Poydasheff said one of the things that has been of concern to him is

the safeguarding of the City of Columbus, the people and the region to the

highest percent as possible. He said they had a very, very successful national

homeland security briefing on last week. He said he would like to commend Fire,

Emergency Management personnel, Police Department, Sheriff?s Department, as

well as other law enforcement agencies that came aboard, i.e., the Federal

Bureau of Investigation. He said the next Columbus Homeland Security Emergency

Management Task Force will meet on the first Friday of March.



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NEW SIREN SYSTEM:



City Manager Cavezza said the new siren system will be completed and in

place by March 21st. He said they would test it and do training on March 24th,

and shortly thereafter, they will disconnect the old system and implement the

new system.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers thanked Mr. Riley Land for inviting Ryder Wilson to

the press conference and said he is looking forward to being a part of the

ribbon cutting ceremony as well.



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MIDTOWN PROJECT:



City Manager Cavezza said the Council should have received an invitation

from Midtown Project to attend a community kick-off on Tuesday, March 18th at

the Columbus Museum at 6:00 p.m. He said they will be bringing in a consultant

to give an overview of the project.



ANNUAL HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT:



City Manager Cavezza said that the Community & Economic Development

Division have come up with an idea to hold an Annual Housing & Community

Development Summit in June. He said what this does is bring people together

from different organizations to address housing, and home ownership in

Columbus. He said this has been endorsed strongly by all of the organizations

that are involved with housing. He said they will be providing additional

information on this matter.



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EXECUTIVE SESSION:



City Manager Cavezza, in response to a question of Mayor Poydasheff, said

he would like to request permission of the Council, to go into an executive

session, to discuss two issues of real estate and future land acquisition.



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Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers said it was brought to his attention on yesterday

afternoon in his office that on a local radio program yesterday and during the

discussion of potential anti-war protest, that an individual called in and

threatened to run his pickup truck through a crowd. He said that has happened

in Alabama before, and said he doesn?t think we ought to take something like

that lightly.

He said he thinks that we should follow-up on that.



Mayor Poydasheff said people have a first amendment right to express

their viewpoint at a place and time approved by the City; whether we agree,

that is unimportant, that is what this country is all about. He said they have

absolutely no right to break the law, and said as public safety director, he

has already instructed our people that anyone who breaks the law in the City of

Columbus will be arrested and prosecuted.



Councilor Turner Pugh said she thinks where Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers was

coming from, she thinks the individual needs to be dealt with before they

actually do the driving through a crowd; because now there are laws against

terrorist threats, and people need to take the law seriously.



Mayor Poydasheff then said he and City Manager Cavezza will get together

with Police Chief Dozier on this matter.



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HOMELAND SECURITY:



Battalion Chief Jerry Fountain and Mr. Riley Land then appeared and gave a

twenty-five minute presentation, providing an update on the Mayor?s Columbus

Homeland Security and Emergency Management Committee.



He said they had their first meeting and have met with representatives

from the different entities and have developed a program that will enlighten

you as to what they actually are doing and how long they have been doing it, as

well as some of the programs that they are involved with.



Chief Fountain said they have been working on a program since 1989 when

they initiated the beginning program, which is for the foundation for what they

do, and that is the Haz-mat program. He said they have done risk assessments in

a number of areas, and infrastructure.





He said they have set up programs and worked with security issues and have

tried their best to identify what they feel like would be target areas and have

tried to harden those areas to the point that the infrastructure would at least

be minimally damaged in the event that we had a problem.



Chief Fountain said early intelligence and threat assessment is the key

component to what they do and said within the last month, since the Mayor has

set up this committee, their intelligence has increased three-fold. He said

they are connected to the GT- situation out with Fort Benning.



Chief Fountain spoke for some twenty-two minutes in outlining and

highlighting various components of the Homeland Security Task Force, which

includes the following areas:



Assessments Focus On



Large crowds and public gatherings

Critical Infrastructures

Highly Symbolic Facilities

Command and Control Facilities

Fuel/Chemical Storage and Distribution

Major Multi-National Corporations

Educational Facilities

Cyber Infrastructure

Transportation Assets





Columbus Metro Emergency Response Team (C.M.E.R.T.)



30 Person team made up of representatives of Columbus public safety agencies as

well as local agents of the ATF, and FBI

Team consists of:

4 Bomb Techs

Investigators

I.D. Technicians

Logistics and Radiological

Intelligence, Training, and community outreach component

Training as a team enhances capabilities





C.M.E.R.T. Community Outreach



1 1/2 hour training class titled, ?Terrorism Threat Management?

Given over 80 times to various businesses, corporations, churches, and

educational institutions

As far away as Sumter Co., GA, Athens, GA and Barbour Co., AL





Terrorism Management Classes Taught



U.S. Secret Service

Muscogee County School District

GA Board of Regents, University of Georgia

Internal Revenue Service

Columbus Museum

Police Officer?s Association of GA

TEST 2000 Seminar

Miller Brewing Company, Albany, GA

Tyson?s, Buena Vista, GA

United Cities Gas

Surgical Associates

United States Postal Service

Chattahoochee Valley Safety Society

Hughston Hospital

PolyChrome

Columbus Mills, Inc.

Teleservice Resources

International Bomb Technicians Conference

Columbus Water Works

Kiwanis Club

New Horizons

Public Services, Columbus Consolidated Government

Calvary Christian Church

Columbus Civic Center staff

Citizen?s Law Enforcement Academy

Doctors Hospital

Phenix Regional Hospital

Health South Diagnostics

Temple Israel

Synovus University

Federal Bankruptcy Court

American Building Company, Eufaula

Chamber of Commerce

Blue Cross/Blue Shield

Warm Springs Institute

Wellington Sears

Columbus Foundries

The Medical Center

Statewide Satellite Broadcast





The Thursday morning wakeup call

A WMD response will involve local, state and federal resources



Mutual Aid Agreements



Harris Co., GA Ft. Benning, GA

Russell Co. AL Talbot Co., GA

Lee Co., AL Chattahoochee Co.,GA

Taylor Co., GA Marion Co., GA





A monumental step toward a truly regional team concept



Members of the CMERT sworn in as Russell County Deputies





Explore - Find and Maximize the use of grants and alternate sources of funding

Study - Stay abreast of threat environment changes

Continuity of Investigations to Completion





Metropolitan Medical Response System



Previous planning for mass casualty was 25, now it is for greater than 2,500

casualties









Exercises Involving Local Businesses, Schools and Industry



A More Effective Response

November 5, 2001 through April 22, 2002

Advantages of a Team Concept

Intelligence gathering and dissemination among team partners

Form alliances - Mutual Aid Agreements

Explore - Find and Maximize the use of grants and alternate sources of funding

Study - Stay abreast of threat environment changes

Continuity of Investigations to Completion





Chief Fountain said how they prepare and respond for the uncertain future

is up to them. He said they have some recommendations and have made those known

to the Mayor, and this is why they are bringing it to the Council. He said they

have some concerns, and they feel like depending on whatever happens throughout

the world within the next few weeks or months it is going to create some major

challenges for them.



He said some of the things that they have proposed and one of which has

been done is to form the Columbus Homeland Security and Emergency Management

Committee, which is made up of elected leadership, Public Safety Department

Directors and Emergency Management.



He said they have also asked that they be allowed to name some

sub-committees, which are now in place. He said they have certain areas that

they would like to refine and make better. He said they would also like to

re-activate the CMERT Task Force; because we think that having this group in

place, as a unit would benefit the entire community. He said what they did

within those five (5) months is a good demonstration of the capabilities of

that team and they think it is a viable team, and have asked the Mayor to

assist them in looking at some funding to allow them to do that.



After the conclusion of his presentation, Chief Fountain then responded to

several questions of members of the Council.



Councilor Turner Pugh said most of the time you don?t think about what you

would do if a disaster does occur, and then asked Chief Fountain, if we could

look and see if there was any funding available, grants, where we could give to

each household in Columbus, some type of card that they could put on their

refrigerator as to where they should go, if a situation should happen and zones

were set up in Columbus. She said if the telephone system goes down, you won?t

be able to call anybody, and if the electricity is off, you can?t look at the

television.



Chief Fountain said they could look into that, and said one of the things

that this alert system that City Manager Cavezza was talking about earlier, is

that one of the capabilities that this system is going to have, is that through

our 911 and EMA we can broadcast it in different areas, and tell people what to

do.



Councilor Davis said if there is a suspicious type of activity going on or

a possible threat to our community, where would the citizens go, or who would

they contact. He asked would they call 911 or how would you advise on that?



Chief Fountain said it is currently setup for 911 or the Citizens Service

Center.

He said they would ask that the emergency calls be directed to 911, but if it

is just an inquiry, that it be directed to Citizens Service Center.



City Manager Cavezza said he wrote an article for the Employees Proudly

Serving Newsletter this month explaining all of that, and said we probably need

to get that out to the general public.

EXECUTIVE SESSION:



Mayor Poydasheff then asked for motion to allow the Council to go into an

executive session, to discuss two real estate issues, and future acquisition of

land.

Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers so moved. Seconded by Councilor Henderson and carried

unanimously by those ten members of Council present for this meeting.



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At 10:25 a.m., the Council adjourned its Work Session to allow the Council

to go into an executive session.



At 11:06 a.m., the regular session was then called back to order.



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DELEGATION FROM ROMANIA:



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers thanked the many sponsors who assisted in the visit

of the Mayor and his delegation from Bistrita Romania on last week.



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NIGHTCLUBS:



Councilor Suber said because of the recent deaths in the different

nightclubs across the State, asked if we have begun to make sure that our

people are looking at our nightclubs and making sure that we don?t have these

same problems. City Manager Cavezza said they are re-visiting that.



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Mayor Poydasheff then pointed out that the Council did meet in an

executive session to discuss two issues of real estate and future acquisition

of land, but there were no votes taken.



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

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

and carried unanimously by those ten members of Council present, with the time

being 11:09 A.M.



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Tiny B. Washington, CMC

Clerk of Council

The Council of Columbus, Georgia