MINUTES
COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA
WORKSESSION
FEBRUARY 5, 2013
The regular weekly meeting of the Council of Columbus, Georgia was called
to order at 5:30 P.M., Tuesday, February 5, 2013 the Plaza Level of the
Government Center, Columbus, Georgia. Honorable Teresa Pike Tomlinson, Mayor,
presiding.
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PRESENT: Present other than Mayor Tomlinson and Mayor Pro Tem Evelyn Turner
Pugh were Councilors R. Gary Allen, Mike Baker, Jerry Barnes, Berry H.
Henderson, Charles E. McDaniel, Jr., and Judy Thomas. City Manager Isaiah
Hugley, City Attorney Clifton Fay, Clerk of Council Tiny B. Washington and
Deputy Clerk of Council Sandra Davis were also present. Councilors Bruce Huff
and Evelyn Woodson took their seats at the Council table at 5:40 p.m. Councilor
Glenn Davis took his seat at the Council table at 6:54 p.m.
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ABSENT: No one was absent.
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INVOCATION: Offered by Reverend Emmett Aniton, Jr., Pastor ? Friendship
Missionary Baptist Church.
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PLEDGE: Led by students from Downtown Elementary Magnet Academy.
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COLUMBUS DAY AT THE CAPITAL:
Mayor Tomlinson said today is Columbus, Georgia Day at the State Capital
in Atlanta and said we got the opportunity to go up with some civic leaders,
the Chamber of Commerce, as well as some elected officials, which included
Councilor Thomas, City Manager Hugley and others to meet with the Governor, and
just make an impression that we believe Columbus, Georgia is a very special
place. She said we were warmly received and said it was a very nice day. She
said she asked the staff to make a copy of the House & Senate Resolution and
provide a copy to the members of the Council.
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RESOLUTIONS & PROCLMATION SESSION:
WITH LT. GIL SLOUSCHIK OFFICER ROBBIE YATES , OF THE COLUMBUS POLICE
DEPARTMENTAND MRS. VALDEZ, AND SANDY STANDING AT THE COUNCIL TABLE, THE
FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS READ IN ITS ENTIRETY BY MAYOR TOMLINSON AND ADOPTED BY
THE COUNCIL: ____
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A Resolution (38-13) ? Commending the Columbus Police Department?s
retiring K-9 dog Sandy, a 9 year old Golden Lab for her many years of service
as a drug detection dog.
Captain Slouschick said Officer Joe Valdez, who is the handler for Sandy
has gone off for some training for the next nine weeks. He said Sandy is about
nine years old and has been with the Police Department since she was two years
old.
He said she is getting to the point now, where she needs to go home and retire
and they are going to be retiring her, and she will be going home with Officer
Valdez. He said she is a veteran of over a thousand of K-9 searches and have
gotten hundreds of pounds of drugs off the streets of Columbus; and is
responsible for the arrests of literally over thousands of individuals. He
said she is a drug dog and not an attack dog and she is very, very friendly.
Councilor Barnes moved the adoption of the resolution. Seconded by
Councilor Baker and carried unanimously by those ten members of Council present
for this meeting.
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***------------------------------------PROCLAMATIONS:
Mayor Tomlinson said each quarter we recognize some exemplary employees,
those who stand out above all the other very hard working exemplary employees
that we have and then called on Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh to present the
proclamations.
INDIVIDUAL EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER:
With Corporal Robert Green standing at the Council table, Mayor Pro Tem
Turner Pugh read the proclamation of Mayor Tomlinson, proclaiming Tuesday,
February 5, 2013 as ?Corporal Robert Green?s Day? in Columbus, Georgia.
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PEER AWARD WINNERS:
With Deputy Alicia Davenport, Marshal?s Office, Ms. Willie Jean Davis,
of the Citizens Service Center Department, Mr. John Johnson, Finance
Department, Officer John McCarley, Muscogee County Prison, and Ms. Elizabeth
Sabatino, Parks & Recreation, standing at the Council table, Mayor Pro Tem
Turner Pugh read the proclamation of Mayor Tomlinson promoting employee
excellence recognition, and proclaiming Tuesday, February 5, 2013 as their day,
in Columbus, Georgia.
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?REVENUE REVIEW COMMISSION DAY?:
With Mr. Tyler Townsend, Mr. Carl Brown, Mr. Eddie Pritchett, Mr. Seth
Harp and others standing at the Council table, Mayor Tomlinson read her
proclamation, expressing her deep appreciation to the members of the ?Revenue
Review Commission? for their work.
Mayor Tomlinson said because of the long and intense services each of
these members have provided, she would also be presenting them with the Mayor?s
Service Medal because they performed extraordinary service for the City, as
well as the citizens of Columbus, Georgia.
?REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT INITIATIVE COMMISSION DAY?:
Mayor Tomlinson said she would like to tell each member of the committee
how much she appreciates them taking the kind of time that they did out of
their very busy schedules to work on this commission. She said we know that you
are all not in the business of making laws or typically having to look at these
kinds of things, but you did. She said you took the time to tell us why we have
areas in this community that we have been wanting to and having a lot of
passion about revitalizing, but haven?t been able to get the kind of results
that we want. Therefore, we went to those people in the community; who are
involved in finance, investment, as well as development; and then asked
them to have a very candid discussion with us and some of our staff about what
it would take to make some of these blighted areas come alive again and become
areas of opportunity and economic vibrancy. She said the report can be found on
our home page Columbusga.org if anyone wants to see to the hard work of the
commission.
Mayor Tomlinson then read the proclamation expressing her appreciation to
the members of the Real Estate Commission for their work on the Commission.
She said she will also be providing them with the Mayor?s Service Medal.
Mr. Neal Clark offered comments on behalf of the commission.
Mayor Tomlinson said the members of the Commission worked very hard to
propose some local legislation that has been provided to the members of the
Council. She said they would like to share a short video that has been
produced by members of the Commission.
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?PARTNERS IN EDUCATION WEEK?:
With Ms. Debbie Caballero, Chair, Partners In Education Board of
Directors, Ms. Mike Gaymon, President, Chamber of Commerce, Crystal Saied, Lela
Devi and Ms. Dana Whaley standing at the Council table, Councilor Thomas read
the proclamation of Mayor Tomlinson, proclaiming the week of February 4 ? 8,
2013 as ?Partners in Education Week?, in Columbus, Georgia.
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?COLUMBUS ARBOR DAY?:
With Mr. Steve Smith, Chairman, of the Tree Board standing at the Council
table, Councilor Baker read the proclamation of Mayor Tomlinson, proclaiming
February 23, 2013, as ?Columbus Arbor Day?, in Columbus, Georgia.
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?SEVERE WEATHER ALERT AWARENESS WEEK?:
With Mr. Riley Land, Emergency Management Director standing at the Council
table, Councilor Henderson read the proclamation of Mayor Tomlinson,
proclaiming February 4-8, 201313, as ?Severe Weather Alert Awareness Week?, in
Columbus, Georgia.
?ALRYK PERRY DAY?:
With Mr. Alryk Perry Day standing at the Council table, Councilor Huff
read the proclamation of Mayor Tomlinson, proclaiming Tuesday, February 5,
2013, as ?Alryk Perry Day?, in Columbus, Georgia.
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?DAVID B.B. COUNTRYMAN DAY?:
With Mr. David B.B. Countryman standing at the Council table, Councilor
Huff read the proclamation of Mayor Tomlinson, proclaiming, Tuesday, February
5, 2013, as ?David B.B. Countryman Day?, in Columbus, Georgia.
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?COLUMBUS TIMES NEWSPAPER DAY?:
With Ms. Carol Gertjegerdes, of The Columbus Times Newspaper and several
members of her staff standing at the Council table, Councilor Barnes read the
proclamation of Mayor Tomlinson, proclaiming the month of February 2013, as
?Columbus Times Newspaper Black History Celebration Month?, in Columbus,
Georgia.
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?EAGLE SCOT RECOGNITION DAY?:
With Jacob Alan Holmes, Charles C. Oliver, Ryan Jones, and Joseph James
McDaniel standing at the Council table, Councilor Allen read the proclamation
of Mayor Tomlinson, proclaiming Tuesday, February 5, 2013, as ?Jacob Alan
Holmes Day?, ?Charles C. Oliver Day?, ?Ryan Jones Day?, and ?Joseph James
McDaniel Day?, in Columbus, Georgia.
Councilor Allen also outlined the projects that each of the individuals
worked to earn their merit badge.
Councilor Huff said he would like to congratulate the scouts on receiving
their merit badge and encouraged them to keep up the good work.
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THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS ALSO SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY ATTORNEY
FAY AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL:_________
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A Resolution (39-13) ? Commending and congratulating Reverend Marlon D.
Scott Sr., Senior Pastor of Emmanuel Christian Community Church of Columbus,
Georgia upon being chosen as an award recipient of the 18th Annual Gospel
Choice Awards on September 24, 2012. Councilor Allen moved the adoption of the
resolution. Seconded by Councilor Woodson and carried unanimously by those nine
members of Council present at the time, with Councilor Davis having not yet
arrived to the meeting.
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CONSENT AGENDA:
THE FOLLOWING TWO ORDINANCES WERE SUBMITTED AND APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL
PURSUANT TO THE ADOPTION OF A MOTION MADE BY COUNCILOR HENDERSON AND SECONDED
BY MAYOR PRO TEM TURNER PUGH, WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE NINE MEMBERS
OF COUNCIL PRESENT AT THE
TIME:
An Ordinance (13-6) ? Amending Article XXI of Chapter 2 of the Columbus
Code by designating additional non-voting ex-officio members of the Employee
Benefits Committee; and for other purposes. Councilor McDaniel moved the
adoption of the ordinance. Seconded by Councilor Allen and carried unanimously
by those nine members of Council present at the time, with Councilor Davis
being absent for this vote.
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An Ordinance (13-7) ? Repealing Columbus Code Section 9-3 pertaining
to pauper burials and replacing it with a new Code Section 9-3 providing
for cremations and burials for the indigent at City expense; and for other
purposes.
Councilor Allen moved the adoption of the ordinance. Seconded by Councilor
McDaniel.
City Attorney Fay said we need to allow Councilor Huff to abstain from
voting
on this matter. Councilor Henderson then made a motion to allow Councilor Huff
to abstain. Seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh and carried unanimously by
those ten members of Council, with Councilor Davis now present and voting.
The question was then called on the above motion to adopt the ordinance,
which carried unanimously by those nine members of Council present, and
Councilor Huff abstaining.
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A Resolution (40-13) ? Expressing our strong opposition to any effort to
reduce the strength of the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team at Fort Benning and
urge all Columbus citizens and other interested persons to contact their
Congressional Representatives to oppose such a measure. Councilor Woodson
moved the adoption of the resolution. Seconded by Councilor Thomas and carried
unanimously by those ten members of Council present for this meeting.
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THE FOLLOWING TWO RESOLUTIONS WERE SUBMITTED AND APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL:
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A Resolution (41-13) ? Authorizing the submission of an application and if
approved accept $1,670,374 in grant funding from the Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) and the Georgia Department of Transportation for capital,
planning and operating. Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh moved the adoption of the
resolution. Seconded by Councilor McDaniel and carried unanimously by those ten
members of Council present for this meeting.
A Resolution (42-13) ? Authorizing the submission of an application and if
approved accept $116,631.00 in grant funding from the Department of , United
States of America, and the Georgia Department of Transportation, under Title 49
U.S.C., Section 5303. Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh moved the adoption of the
resolution. Seconded by Councilor McDaniel 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 (43-13) ? Authorizing the approval to enter into a
supplemental agreement with the Georgia Department of Transportation to amend
contract for 14th Street Pedestrian Bridge with Scott Bridge, Inc., for
$777,112.00 with a local match of $971,390.00 for a total contract amount of
$194,278.00. Councilor McDaniel moved the adoption of the resolution. Seconded
by Councilor Allen and carried unanimously by those ten members of Council
present for this meeting.
A Resolution (44-13) ? Authorizing the approval to enter into a lease
agreement with Columbus Regional Healthcare System, Inc., for a CCG Employee
Health/Wellness Facility located at 2000 - 10th Avenue, Suite 410 for a monthly
rental rate of $2,914 including utilities. Councilor Woodson moved the
adoption of the resolution. Seconded by Councilor McDaniel and carried
unanimously by those ten members of Council present for this meeting.
A Resolution (45-13) ? Excusing Councilor Glenn Davis from the January 22,
2013 Council Meeting. Councilor Henderson moved the adoption of the
resolution. Seconded by Councilor Huff and carried unanimously by those ten
members of Council present for this meeting
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MINUTES OF COUNCIL MEETING: Minutes of the January 8 & 22, 2013 Meetings of the
Council of the Consolidated Government of Columbus, Georgia were submitted and
approved upon the adoption of a motion made by Councilor Allen and seconded by
Councilor McDaniel, which carried unanimously by those ten members of Council
present for this meeting.
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EXECUTIVE SESSION:
City Attorney Fay said if time permits, he would like to have a short
executive session at the adjournment of tonight?s meeting, to discuss a
litigation matter.
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EMPLOYEES BENEFIT?S COMMITTEE:
Councilor Thomas said she thinks that most of the Council members received
an email from one of our employees requesting that we look at whether or not
employees on the Employees Benefits Committee had to live in the City.
She said she would like to ask the City Attorney to bring back a
resolution for our discussion so that we will have something before us to
discuss. She said it may or may not be something that we want to do.
Mayor Tomlinson asked City Attorney Fay if he has the email so that he
will know what the issues are. City Attorney Fay said he did not have that
information.
Mayor Tomlinson said she would get that information to the City Attorney.
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WORKSESSION:
DOWNTOWN STREET STUDIES UPDATE:
City Manager Hugley pointed out that Deputy City Manager David Arrington
will be making the presentation on the Downtown Street studies and said that we
have other guests that we have listed to add to the discussion, which includes
Reverend Robert Beckum, who is the Pastor of St. Luke United Methodist Church;
and Mr. Matt Swift of the W. C. Bradley Company.
Deputy City Manager Arrington then came forward and pointed out at the
last Council meeting that the Council requested that the City Manager bring
back an update on the downtown street studies specifically the ones relating to
the mention of a one-way street conversion. He said there have been three
different studies and there have been a lot of public discussions about this
matter. He said he thinks the fact that there have been three different studies
has created a little bit of confusion and he is hopeful on tonight that we will
be able to clear up some of that confusion.
He said the first of the studies was a privately funded study by the W. C.
Bradley Company. He said a company, EDSA was contracted to perform a
comprehensive master plan for redevelopment of the riverfront. He said this
contract was initiated in October of 2010 and was completed in August of 2012.
He said many of you may have seen the public presentation of that master plan
in September and there was mention of a one-way street conversion in that study
of which really began a public discussion.
Deputy City Manager Arrington said the City did participate, along with
Columbus State University as stakeholders in this process; participating
through stakeholders interviews from the standpoint of providing information to
the consultants about current infrastructure in the area and planned
improvements in the area. He said Columbus State University did the same, as
far as their current infrastructure that they have for building for students
and things of that nature as well as their plans for future development. He
said Mr. Matt Swift is here tonight and can provide the Council with additional
information on the different aspects of that study.
He said the second study that was conducted was conducted by the City and
said this study was limited in scope; more significantly to an operational
impact. He said the City was looking at having to make a significant investment
into the Sixth Avenue Flood Abatement Project at the intersection of Sixth
Avenue and Eleventh Street. He said they also had concerns from a public safety
standpoint about traffic flow during special events downtown when it is
required to have street closures on some of the existing one-way streets.
Deputy City Manager Arrington said they have had situations to where there
has been no way out of the riverfront area from Bay and Front Avenue. He said
with Ninth Street being the only avenue out and when a train comes down Ninth
Street and you have a major event on the riverfront, there is literally no way
out. He said they have also had concerns about growth in the area. He said the
dynamics of Uptown has changed over the years quite significantly and with
whitewater coming, they are projecting 180,000 plus new businesses to the area
and the one-way streets provide a different dynamic for people coming in from
outside the community; and said for those reasons we want to take a look now.
He said we didn?t want to make a major investment in Sixth Avenue and then a
year or two down the road have to come in and make a change as a result of that
and waste taxpayers? money.
He said we also wanted to address the operational impacts from a public
safety standpoint of being able to provide a means of egress for people
downtown and on the riverfront area. He said that study was contracted in March
of last year and said we received the draft report from the consultant in
October and received the final report in November. He said the two things that
they asked the consultant to do was to provide us with operational assessment
of traffic flow comparing one-way operation to two-way operation and we also
directed them to take a specific look at Third Avenue and Eleventh Street
because of the density of the pedestrian traffic at that intersection. He
said throughout the consultant?s review there was coordination and they have
provide the members of the Council with a copy of the detailed timeline of the
coordination that they have had throughout this process with St. Luke Church
and all of their administrators. He said they have been very cooperative
throughout the process and their information is also included in their final
report.
Deputy City Manager Arrington said once the study was completed, it was
their intent to bring that information to a series of public meetings in the
Uptown area; which was planned for December. He said once they received the
final report in early November, they were asked by St. Luke?s representatives
for them to hold off on doing the public meetings so that another consultant,
which was actually the consultant that worked on the Uptown master plan could
take a look at our report and then come in and provide an additional analysis.
He said out of respect for their situation, they agreed to hold off and let
that additional review take place before they initiated their public
discussions. He said they received the final report from the consultant on
January 11, 2013 and said he believes it was shortly after that the Council
asked them to cone and provide an additional report.
He said the third study was done by Mr. Wade Walker, a professional
engineer, and said that review was conducted from November and the finial
report provided to them in January of this year. He said it provided some
additional analysis, but the scope of that study was limited specifically to
the intersection of Third Avenue. and Eleventh Street.
In concluding his presentation, Deputy City Manager Arrington said he
would like to invite Reverend Robert Beckum of St. Luke Church and Mr. Matt
Swift of the W. C. Bradley Company to come forward and offer any additional
comments concerning these studies and the City?s coordination with them
throughout this process.
Mr. Matt Swift, W. C. Bradley Company came forward and said he believes
that Deputy City Manager Arrington did a good job in outlining what has taken
place regarding this matter. He said some way this issue got off track and he
thinks the article written by Ledger Enquirer write Richard Hyatt was a little
off track.
He said the EDSA plan that came out, which talked about a lot of issues in the
downtown area did recommend some one-way streets. He said that really has not
been unusual because we have had numerous land planning firms come to Columbus
throughout the last twenty years that have recommended taking the
one-way streets back to two-way streets. He said that is an urban planning
technique that is popular these days and said there are a lot of reasons to do
it, but in every land plan you have to take the master land plan and then you
have to zero down into to the specifics and study it a little more. He said in
this case, the EDSA plan did generically said that we need to take our one-way
streets back to two-way streets in the downtown area. He said he has a lot of
information that he can send to the members of Council about this matter.
Mr. Swift said when it came out there was a lot of concerns about the St.
Luke area in that particular intersection. He said because that particular
intersection is such a unique intersection, with four schools and churches
going on all at the same time, the need came out to study it some more. He said
that is the reason why the third study was done. He said it was specifically
done to bring the consultant back in so that he could sit down with those
individuals at St. Luke Church and talk with them to make sure he understand
their concerns and they understood the Uptown?s concerns. He said in that
process, Wade Walker, who had been a part of the EDSA team, who had made these
recommendations, said these one-way street conversions; it is not a black or
white issue. He said whenever you have urban decisions and urban
recommendations you have to look at every situation.
He said the fact that the school, the church and all of the people have
gotten used to it and have worked real hard on ingress and egress ideas and a
lot of different things; the consultant finally concluded that we should just
keep it the way it is. He said that was fine with them at Uptown and he thinks
it was fine with the people at the church and the school. However, he did
recommend a few other changes which he thinks they are looking at doing. He
said recommended from Uptown?s urban planning standpoint to take the one-way
street from Second Avenue westward would make sense. He said at the end of the
day, they came to an amicable solution, but said it took time, study; and said
it?s not an easy issue that you can just quickly decide, but it did take time.
Mr. Swift said he just wants to reassure the Council that first and
foremost at no point in time, was there ever any insensitivity to the children
and the safety of the children by any of the people involved in this process.
He said we all made the safety of the children first and foremost in all of
their studies. He said the paper seemed to insinuate otherwise, but said that
was not the case by Uptown neither the consultants nor the city officials who
was behind this.
He said some of the things that have come out indicated that they thought
that the City wasn?t doing its job and they felt like the City should have been
giving some reports to the citizens or should have been more proactive, but
said nothing could be further from the truth. He said Deputy City Manager
Arrington and all the City?s staff was on this issue all along the way and
actually went the extra yard to make sure what was the right them to do.
Mr. Swift said he feels that the process took place and that we are in the
right position. He said they will recommend these one-way streets, with the
modifications as they put out, but said that is just the first step. He said
there will be public hearings on that, and he wants to make clear that the City
hasn?t etched in stone any of the EDSA plan. He said there will be public
hearings to get feedback from the citizens and the stakeholders that are
involved in any kind of change. He said they are together with St. Luke Church
and the school and Uptown is ready to move forward to the next step in the
process. He said he just wanted to be real clear that the City, in particular
and Uptown have been diligent in pursuing this issue and they feel like they
are at the point where they need to be.
Reverend Robert Beckum said this all begin with them on August 22nd when
Wellborn Engineering informed them that they would be submitting their report
to Mr. Arrington of the City within two weeks, and that we would be having
public forums and should be prepared within two or three weeks for that public
forum.
He said obviously that was an overly optimistic timeline. He said they
requested at that time, if they had concerned pedestrian traffic, and was told
no; that theirs was only vehicular traffic. He said this was the second study
that was done by Wellborn Engineering. He said that was quite an alarm for them
at St. Luke; having a thousand children on campus and twelve thousand street
crossings per week, with fifty-seven hundred on Third Avenue and sixty-five
hundred crossings across Eleventh with kindergarten through eight graders. He
said as you can imagine pedestrian crossing was an issue at St. Luke.
He said after they had raised the issue and their headmaster had raised an
issue of safety with the Mayor at a forum, there was an immediate response. He
said not only did we have traffic controls that was enforcing the speed limit
in the school zone, but it was also the response of asking if it was possible
that we could take time to see if it was possible to reconcile concerns by the
Mayor for the various studies and the actual delay that many of our parents and
constituents were frustrated with was for our benefits. He said he don?t think
it was understood that the reason it was taking longer is to give adequate time
to consider; certainly with Councilor Thomas, the source of information that we
had, David Arrington, Donna Newman, and the Mayor; every person that responded
made clear that their primary concern in this was the safety of the children.
He said when they talked to W. C. Bradley Company, and Mr. Swift, the first
thing that they said was that you need to understand that their top priority is
safety; and wherever we come out in this, the safety of the children will be
at the top of the list of their priorities.
Reverend Beckum said that has been affirmed in every part of the process.
He said they are very grateful for the consideration and said they do think
that Third and Eleventh, with the configuration we have does pose a unique
traffic challenge, and safety challenge. He said they certainly value the
special consideration that would look at that from a safety standpoint as the
challenge that it is. He said they don?t think St. Luke or its school or its
children are unique or deserves special consideration that other children would
not; however, they do think the intersection, and the level of pedestrian
traffic is pretty unique and that is what they discussed with Mr. Walker when
he was here with the on-site traffic
observation with us and the uniqueness of that and the challenges that it poses
and why it might be worthy of considering special consideration for safety
purposes.
In his conclusion, Reverend Beckum thanked everyone for their response,
attentiveness, everyone?s concerns in this process, and is very thankful in the
way they have been able to work with Mr. Swift and W. C. Bradley Company, as
well as Uptown and said they certainly want to be a part of that development to
see Uptown grow as well.
Mayor Tomlinson then asked Deputy City Manager Arrington if he had any
closing remarks on this matter.
Deputy City Manager Arrington said the process that they have gone through
has been a fact gathering process that we go through in a number of projects in
looking at different community challenges that we face; and from that fact
gathering phase, we take the information and sometimes, as in this case, we
look to seek public input prior to coming to the Council with a recommendation
that might have some type of fiscal impact or otherwise community impact. He
said that is where we are now.
He said they have gathered the facts concerning the operational impacts of
one-way and we have the benefit of our consultant?s study, as well as the
additional benefit of the study conducted by Wade Walker and said they are
prepared to move forward with gathering public input, which has always been a
part of our process. He said he has the City?s study with him on tonight and he
is prepared to present to the Council prior to getting public input, if they
would like; or he is prepared to continue to follow the process that we have
setup, and continue going forward with our public input.
Deputy City Manager Arrington said they have tentatively planned to have
public meetings the week of February 18th, and the tentative date set is for
February 20th. He said he is prepared to do whatever the Council desires him to
do.
After more than an hour discussion on this matter, Mayor Tomlinson and
members of the Council made several comments regarding this subject, after
which Deputy City Manager Arrington responded to questions and concerns
regarding this matter.
After the conclusion of the discussion, several referrals were made of the
Council, as outlined below.
Councilor Thomas said she would like for Deputy City Manager Arrington and
the staff to continue on with the process that they have in place. She said she
would like for them to continue having the public forums, as well as continue
with the studies that you are doing. She said she would like for this Council
to be kept informed of the process regularly.
Councilor Woodson said she would suggest that Councilor Thomas provide a
list of questions that are being asked of her that her constituents are asking
with regards to this matter and then have Deputy City Manager Arrington answer
those questions and provide those answers to the Headmaster of the School.
Councilor Davis asked if we can get some of the information from the study
sent to the members of the Council. Also, provide a cost analysis, and the
impact of this proposal.
Mayor Tomlinson asked Deputy City Manager Arrington to provide an
executive summary of this matter to the Council, along with the cost analysis
that Councilor Davis has requested. She also asked that the Council be
provided with a list of the date of the public forums so that they can inform
their constituents within their district.
Councilor Davis also asked that Deputy City Manager Arrington provide some
options on the funding sources for this project.
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PART-TIME EMPLOYE BENEFITS UPDATE/COST:
City Manager Hugley said there was a referral at the last Council meeting
when we were discussing the new Federal law that says if you average thirty
hours, you will have to be provided full benefits and said we had some referral
questions asking us how many part-time employees we had, and if we were to do
something for the part-time employees, could we pro-rate and said he thinks the
answer to pro-rating is no, but he has asked Director of Human Resources, Tom
Barron to break this down in several ways that he is going to present to the
Council tonight.
He said he will also present what the cost would be, if this body decided they
wanted to provide benefits to part-time employees. He then called upon Director
of Human Resources Tom Barron to make his presentation.
Mr. Tom Barron, Human Resources Director came forward and presented the
following information to the Council as outlined below.
Part-time Staff Demographics
Using 2012 data, we eliminated those working < 200 hours (presumed no longer
employed), police working part-time security and bailiffs.
24 employees averaged 31 hours per week
102 employees averaged 25 hours per week
294 employees averaged 9 hours per week
Hourly rates range from $7.25 to $17.98 and average $9.23.
Mr. Barron highlighted the questions that were asked of the staff from the
last meeting and are detailed below, along with the answers to those questions.
What is the cost of hiring extra employees to make up for reducing hours
worked by current part-time staff?
A ? Most of our part-time positions pay the same fixed rate regardless of the
employment date. These positions will have a nominal additional cost related
to hiring costs only and not payroll costs.
What is the cost of offering benefits on a pro-rata basis to part-time
employees?
Mr. Barron said they were asked to look at sick leave, vacation and health
insurance. He then showed a chart detailing this information, which he pointed
that the cost would range from $14,000 for vacation, $18,000 for sick leave,
$135,000 for health care, for a total of $168,000.
He said for those employees with 20 -30 hours, the cost would be $588,000
and those employees with less than 20 hours, the cost would be $592,000.
Mr. Barron said for all part-time employees combined, that would be a
total of $1.3 million in additional costs.
After the conclusion of his presentation, Mr. Barron then responded to
several questions of members of the Council.
*** *** ***
CDBG PROPERTY PROPERTY:
City Manager Hugley said he wants to call the Council?s attention to a
letter, which he included in the Council?s information section of the agenda
with regards to CDBG property located on Cusseta Road related to the Enrichment
Services Program. He said as you know we have had this discussion before; and
said, they were located on Regency Drive and we were not going to move forward
with that.
He said that property will revert back to the City because they can?t meet the
timeline, but they have some property that we had deeded to them on Cusseta
Road
And they want to do something different with it. He said he just wanted to
call that to your attention and said we will come back to the Council to talk
about this Cusseta Road property at a later date.
Councilor Barnes said it is his understanding that the Regency Drive
property is null and void, to which City Manager Hugley stated the Regency
Drive property is null and void because they can?t meet the timeline and said
we are not going to allow for an extension.
*** *** ***
BEDFORD AVENUE:
Councilor Huff said he would like for the City Manager to ask Director of
Engineering Donna Newman to check into Bedford Avenue between Old Cusseta Road
and Moline Avenue, as there is a hill coming down from Moline Avenue where
there is a lot of speeding on that street. He said we need to determine whether
or not that street would qualify for speed tables.
*** *** ***
OLD CUSSETA ROAD:
Councilor Huff speaking to Mayor Tomlinson, said he has had a request to
try and setup a meeting with the City Attorney and the City Manager. He said
the carjacking that occurred on a Sunday on Old Cusseta Road a few weeks ago,
one of our seniors was up trying to get ready for an 8:00 a.m. church service
and had a gun pulled on her and was forced into her car and taken to an unknown
location and was later put in the trunk of her car. He said he wants to sit
down and discuss a few ideas that he has.
*** *** ***
RELOCATION EXPANSION FOR THE HOUSING AUTHORITY:
Councilor Baker said on last week when we had the discussion about the
relocation expansion project for the Housing Authority, he said he don?t
remember us verifying a funding source and how we were going to pay for this
matter.
Mayor Tomlinson said it was in the Memorandum of Understanding, but said
it was taken out because some of the Council members wanted some flexibility in
that matter; and to determine, given circumstances in the future. She said we
can bring back a variety of funding sources.
Councilor Baker said because of the amount of money that it is going to
be, he would like to define exactly how it?s going to be paid for.
Mayor Tomlinson said we will bring back the various options for the
funding source of this project.
*** *** ***
T-SPLOSTS PROJECTS:
Councilor Baker said the T-SPLOSTS funds will be coming in very soon and
said he would like to see the Council establish some type of guidelines about
the
T-SPLOST discretionary spending. He said he thinks it would be good to have
some kind of agreed upon process as to how the projects get discussed and
brought forward and funded.
Mayor Tomlinson said they have been working on pulling together some ideas
and trying to come up with a form and process to recommend to the Council, some
options for their consideration.
Councilor Baker said we don?t need to go into those tonight, but he just
wanted to let you know that is a concern of his and if we could get the wheels
moving in that direction.
Deputy City Manager Arrington said we are looking at that and are putting
together a list of proposed expenditures that we hope will be addressed during
the FY-14 budget process and then each fiscal year we will be able to address
that through the process. However, for the first six months we would like to
hold off so that we can develop a cash flow for the projects that we will be
funding out of the Tier One projects. He said we just don?t know what the
reimbursement schedule is going to be from the Department of Transportation on
those Tier One projects expenses.
He said we know that we will have some property acquisitions and some
engineering expenses that we are going to need to pay as soon as the Department
of Transportation gets us a contract. He said we would like to use that first
six months to help us establish cash flow and then address the discretionary
allocation during the FY-14 budget process.
Councilor Baker asked if the Finance Director know if those funds comes in
with one transfer from the State or is it done separately. He then asked if
there will be one for the Tier I, or original capital projects, and another one
for the discretionary fund or do we make the allocation off of what they send
us.
Deputy City Manager Arrington said the only allocation that we will
receive directly is for the discretionary funds. He said the balance of the
funds for the specific projects in Tiers I, II and III when they come forward
will be held by the State; GEFUS, and we will submit invoices to them for
reimbursement on those expenses.
Mayor Tomlinson asked Deputy City Manager Arrington to continue to pull
together those ideas that they have been talking about at the MPO meetings and
those suggestions made by Council members and let?s continue to vet through
those and bring something back to the Council so that they can see it and have
some input in it.
Councilor Henderson said he would like for Deputy City Manager Arrington
to clarify something for him, as he thought he heard him say that they had
already identified a number of possible projects or expenses that could be
applied towards that once we get through the six months cash flow issue. He
said he doesn?t want to speak for Councilor Baker, but he thought he understood
his question to be, prior to the time that any projects would be presented that
there should be some clear cut guidelines on how that will be evaluated and
which projects and the type of projects will be considered. He said unless his
misunderstood it, he would hate that answer to be in the form of a list of
items that have been suggested through the administration.
Deputy City Manager Arrington said he understood Councilor Baker?s
question to be relating to the discretionary fund; and said the expenses that
he was referring to are related to the Tier I projects and not the
discretionary fund.
Additional discussion continued on this matter, with Deputy City Manager
Arrington responding to further questions of members of the Council.
Councilor Thomas said the T-SPLOST went into effect on January 1st and said
she would just like to bring to the Council?s attention that the one percent
for the T-SPLOST and said within the last month, she has been to at least four
restaurants that are not charging the 8%. She said when she tells the Finance
Director about them, they call the establishment and remind them that the taxes
are in effect.
She said whether or not the restaurant collects the full 8%, they owe the
full 8%. She said if they are only collecting 7%; when they send their money to
the State to the Revenue Division, they are going to have a bill that is for
8%, and they are going to have to pay that 8%. She said all of the restaurants
have gotten letters and postcards from the Department of Finance, from the
State, Department of Revenue. She said they need to be sure they are collecting
the right amount so that they do not have to make up the difference. She said
she would like to remind people to make sure they take a look and bring that to
the attention of the restaurant.
Mayor Tomlinson asked Director of Finance Hodge to check with the State to
see exactly what their notice said that was sent out to all the business
owners. She said it may be that they gave out some notice but it may not have
been sufficient.
She said let?s see what we can do to work with the State to get the right
notice out to the retailers.
*** *** ***
URBAN SERVICE DISTRICTS LEGISLATION:
Mayor Tomlinson said Assistant City Attorney Lucy Sheftall has put
together a summary page of the Urban Service Districts legislation. She said
the first part quotes the Georgia Law Redevelopment Statute. She said the
reason for that is so that we won?t recreate the wheel, and that it has already
been tested in the courts, so that we don?t recreate things that are new and
could be tested again. She said the law is out there and the development
community is very familiar with this type of function. She said they also tried
to use other standards that you will see included that are very familiar to the
finance community, and regulatory community. She said they borrowed various
standards from tried and true laws; and she would ask the Council members to
take this summary and look at it and she will put it on her Agenda for the next
regular meeting.
She said if any members of the Council have any questions in this regard,
they can either give her a call or the City Attorney?s office; and we will get
you whatever information it is that you need.
*** *** ***
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
Regarding an earlier request of City Attorney Fay to go into an executive
session to discuss a litigation matter, Mayor Tomlinson said she would
entertain a motion to allow the Council to go into an executive session.
Councilor McDaniel so moved. Seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh and carried
unanimously by those ten members of Council present for this meeting.
*** *** ***
At 8:00 p.m. the regular session was adjourned to allow the Council to go
into an executive session to discuss a litigation matter.
*** *** ***
At 8:05 p.m., the meeting was called back to order at which time Mayor
Tomlinson pointed out that the Council met in an executive session to discuss a
litigation matter, but there was no votes taken. She then called on City
Attorney Fay to make some comments.
City Attorney Fay said he would like to call up a resolution for a vote to
settle the case of Latez White v. Columbus e al, for a motor vehicle accident
in the amount of $25,000.00. Councilor Thomas so moved. Seconded by Councilor
Henderson and carried unanimously by those eight members of Council present at
the time, with Councilors Allen and McDaniel being absent for the vote.
The above action adopted the following resolution.
A Resolution (46-13) Setting the case to settle the case of Latez White v.
Columbus e al, for a motor vehicle accident in the amount of $25,000.00.
*** *** ***
With there being no other business to come before the Council, Mayor
Tomlinson she said would entertain a motion for adjournment. Councilor Thomas
so moved. Seconded by Councilor Henderson and carried unanimously by those
eight members of Council present at the time, with Councilors Allen and
McDaniel being absent for this vote, and the time of adjournment being 8:06
p.m.
(Councilors Allen and McDaniel left during the executive session.)
*** *** ***
Tiny B. Washington, CMC
Clerk of Council
The Council of Columbus, Georgia
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