MINUTES
COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA
WORK SESSION
SEPTEMBER 29, 2009
The regular monthly Work Session of the Council of Columbus, Georgia was
called to order at 9:00 A.M, Tuesday, September 29, 2009, on the Plaza Level of
the Government Center, Columbus, Georgia. Honorable W. J. Wetherington, Mayor,
presiding.
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PRESENT: Present other than Mayor Wetherington and Mayor Pro Tem Evelyn Turner
Pugh were: Councilors R. Gary Allen, Wayne Anthony, Mike Baker, Jerry ?Pops?
Barnes, Berry H. Henderson, Julius H. Hunter, Jr., Charles E. McDaniel, Jr. and
Evelyn Woodson. City Manager Isaiah Hugley, 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: No one was absent.
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INVOCATION: Led by Councilor Wayne Anthony.
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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Led by students from the Growing Room Academy.
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CONSENT AGENDA:
THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY ATTORNEY FAY
AND APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL:___________________________________________________
A Resolution (340-09) ? Denying Special Exception Use to erect a
telecommunication tower for wireless communications service on property located
at 8200 Stevens Lane.
City Attorney Fay said there is evidence in the record both for and
against the petition. He said the court reporter is present again this morning
to take down the vote and said it?s ready for Council?s action.
Councilor McDaniel said he don?t know if he should abstain from voting on
this matter or not, but said that his cardiologist is a member of that firm who
has objections to this request; and he also has a Medtronic defiblator and a
pacemaker. He said he doesn?t have any financial interest. City Attorney Fay
said he is not disqualified from voting on this matter just because he has an
implant.
Councilor Davis said he would like to make a motion to adopt the
resolution denying the request for a special exception as written by the City
Attorney. Seconded by Councilor Henderson and carried unanimously by those ten
members of Council present for this meeting.
THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS ALSO SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY MANAGER
HUGLEY AND APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL:_______________________________
A Resolution (341-09) ? Authorizing the submission of an application and
if approved accept a Grant for $75,000 from the U. S. Department of Justice,
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention for the Muscogee County
Marshal's Office, Junior Marshal Program.
Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh made a motion to adopt 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 NEW ZONING PETITION RECOMMENDED FOR CONDITIONAL APPROVAL BY
BOTH THE PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION AND THE PLANNING DIVISION
WAS SUBMITTED AND AN ORDINANCE AND PUBLIC HEARING WAS CALLED FOR BY MAYOR PRO
TEM TURNER PUGH:______
Petition submitted by J. Barrington Vaught to rezone 35.095 acres of
property located at 3201 Macon Road from NC (Neighborhood Commercial) to GC
(General Commercial) zoning district. (21-CA-09-Vaught)
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GREATER COLUMBUS FAIR:
Mr. Dale Hester, Director of the Civic Center came forward and said the
Greater Columbus fair starts on tonight and said he would like to encourage
everyone to come out and enjoy the fair. He said he has Mr. Jeff Blommest,
owner of the fair.
Mr. Hester said Mr. Blommest?s son, who is a navy seal, and who has been
in Afghanistan many times is coming home today and said he has served our
country very well.
Mr. Blommest said they look forward to coming back to Columbus every year
and said he would ask that you spread the word that they will be here through
Sunday.
City Manager Hugley said we look forward to a great week of the fair and
encouraged all of citizens in the region to come out and enjoy the fair.
Councilor Woodson said she would also like to remind everyone that tonight is
$1.00 night for everyone to get into the fair.
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ZONING PETITION:
Regarding the zoning petition, as outlined above, Mayor Pro Tem Turner
Pugh said she called for the ordinance and public hearing on the proposed
petition to rezone property on Macon Road, but said that doesn?t mean that she
supports that petition. She said she is probably not going to support the
request, but she just don?t want anyone to think just because she called for
it, she is going to support it.
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COMMUNITY MEETING IN DISTRICT 2:
Councilor Davis said he would like to share with the Council information
about a community meeting that took place in his Council District on last
night. He said there were about 300- 400 people who showed up at this meeting
on last night and they were concerned about crime, as we all are.
He said he wants to thank the Mayor, Police Chief Ricky Boren and the
Columbus Police Department and others who attended that meeting. He said they
really wanted the assurance to know that the City was looking at their concerns
and keeping it on the top of the list as a priority and making sure that the
citizens? best interest is at hand. He said it was a good meeting and they were
able to share their concerns, as well as there were some great suggestions and
ideas, but it is a step in being proactive with respect to crime. He said the
bottom line is that you can?t rely on one department or one group of people to
solve all the problems that we face as a society, and that we all need to work
together. He said he think that last night?s meeting showed that there are
opportunities that we can all work together to make an impact when it comes to
crime.
Mayor Wetherington said he would like to thank Chief Boren and his staff
as they did a great job on last night explaining what has to take place in
order for those citizens to form a neighborhood watch program in their
community. He said our police officials did a great job and those citizens who
were present at the meeting on last night interacted with our officers and were
very respectful. He said they just want to make sure, like all the other
neighborhoods that they live in a safe neighborhood and our police officers are
doing anything that they can to make that happen.
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WORK SESSION:
OFFICE OF CRIME PREVENTION:
Mayor Wetherington said he would call upon Ms. Judy Thomas and Mr. John
Redmond to make the presentation on the establishment of the Office of Crime
Prevention. He said he, Mr. Thomas and Mr. Redmond have interacted with members
of the Council and heard what you have had to say about crime prevention and
said we are ready to make a proposal that we hope you can live with.
Ms. Judy Thomas, Executive Assistant to the Mayor said since we last made
a report to this Council said she and Internal Auditor John Redmond met with a
variety of people to come up with the report that they have submitted to you on
today. She said the report is the work of her and John Redmond. She said they
met with a number of Council members, talked with some of the original members
of the Mayor?s Commission on Crime Prevention, talked with staff as they put
this report together for you. She said she has talked with several of the
Council members since you received the report and she knows that there are
still some minor things that they need to deal with and hopefully on today, as
a result of this report and presentation to you, they will have those things
worked out.
Ms. Thomas then went into details and presented an hour?s presentation
with respect to the establishment of the Office of Crime Prevention. She went
into much detail, outlining the following information:
Mission
To provide leadership on effective and cost-efficient ways to prevent crime
To reduce crime by identifying truly outstanding crime prevention programs
Meet a high scientific standard of effectiveness
Innovative initiatives that help stop crime before it starts
Goals
To enhance and improve services offered by various departments, agencies toward
reducing crime
To directly impact mission of preventing crime
To streamline, coordinate crime prevention efforts
To ensure high level of accountability to citizens of Columbus who passed the
Local Option Sales Tax July 2008
The Office of Crime Prevention Board
Seven members, including chairperson
Appointed by the Mayor, confirmed by Council
Makeup of the Board:
Four at-large seats
Chairperson of the Public Safety Advisory Commission
Representative of educational community
Muscogee County School District
Columbus Technical College
Columbus State University
Representative of law enforcement agencies
Muscogee County Sheriff?s Office
Muscogee County Marshal?s Office
Columbus Police Department
Ms. Thomas said at the request of one of the Council members, on yesterday
she spoke with these three representatives of our law enforcement agencies and
they were in unanimous agreement that this is a position that they would like
to see established on this board. She said she also spoke with each one of them
if their agency is not the agency that has a person sitting on the board this
time around, how did they feel about having a liaison from their office work
with the board and the director; and said that is something that they would be
interested in doing. She said that is not a requirement that they have put into
the report, but said it is certainly something that they will be looking at.
Term of Office
Three years; eligible for one additional consecutive 3-year term
Exceptions
Law enforcement representative ? one year
Chair of PSA ? duration of term as Chairperson
Initial appointment ? terms established by lot
Ms. Thomas said they are recommending that the Chairperson would serve a
3-year term and the other three at-large positions, they would draw their names
out of a hat and one person would have a three-year term, one a two-year term,
and the final one would have a one-year term to get us in a rotation mode and
then they would be eligible for an additional appointment for an additional
3-year term.
Duties of the Board
Recommend to Council process, method for awarding service agreements for
delivery of crime prevention programs
Review and select for recommendation to Council service agreements that meet
the standards, criteria for funding
Criteria for Selection of Vendors
Includes those elements that help fulfill the mission of the Office
Criteria revised from time to time
Initial funding confined to agencies within the City or other governmental
agencies.
Must include specific components which identify outstanding crime prevention
programs
Must meet a high scientific standard of proven effectiveness
Must be innovative initiatives that help stop crime before it starts
May fall anywhere along the services continuum from early prevention to
aftercare programs for offenders
May target more than one issue, age group and population
Duration may be multi-year programs, but none shall receive funding for more
than two years without reapplication
Areas of Emphasis
Programs should address:
Recreation
Education
Employment
Drug prevention and intervention
Community policing
Service Agreements Include
Completed application form
Full description of proposed program
Budget showing proposed use of the funds
Agency?s current fiscal year budget showing all other funding received by the
agency including all grants, endowments, and all other funding from all sources
Goals of the program and timeline for meeting those goals
Method by which agency and City will measure attainment of program goals
Agreement to allow authorized representatives of City access to financial
records as they pertain to service agreement program
Any other element as authorized by the Board or the Columbus Council
Director of the Office of Crime Prevention
Position under direction of and part of Mayor?s Office
Operating budget part of Mayor?s Office budget
Budget shown as a separate section in the Columbus Consolidated Government?s
Fiscal Year Budget to be approved by the Columbus Council during regular annual
budget deliberations
Ms. Thomas said they did have a suggestion by one of the persons that they
talked with that there should be some kind of restriction on the amount of
money in this budget item that could be spent for the administration part of
this (operation part) and what percentage for the service agreement. However,
we didn?t include that in this report. She said in talking with the Human
Resources Director and the Finance Director, it was their thought to us that
the operating portion of this budget would not be an awful lot. She said you
are talking about the salary of the Director, as well as office supplies. She
said it would not be a lot of money. She said they did not propose to you a
split on the percentages. She said until they get things up and running, they
are not sure of what they are talking about; however, according to
conversations that she has had with the Internal Auditor we are certainly
talking about less than ten percentage of the administrative side.
Director of the Office of Crime Prevention Continued
Oversee City controlled funds used to support crime prevention activities
Build relationships with community organizations, businesses, and law
enforcement to aggressively promote the Office of Crime Prevention and its
mission
Work with various agencies as appropriate
Major Duties
?Develop and design procedure to be used by groups seeking service agreements
between agencies and the City for crime prevention programs
Procedure to include methods to measure program success and to provide
accountability of the programs that use City controlled funds
?Plan and coordinate crime prevention programs and activities in association
with law enforcement agencies, other governmental agencies, community
businesses and non-profit organizations
?Seek and evaluate crime prevention programs from other jurisdictions and
implement as appropriate
?Identify, apply for and administer grant programs relating to crime prevention
to further goals of Office of Crime Prevention
?Develop and oversee operating budget of Office of Crime Prevention
?Serve as liaison to Board of Office of Crime Prevention
In concluding her presentation, Ms. Thomas said that the Director of the
Office of Crime Prevention would have no jurisdiction over any law enforcement
agency in the City of Columbus. She said the Mission in a nutshell is that this
is Crime prevention, not law enforcement.
Councilor Henderson said he would like to congratulate the Mayor and his
staff who worked on this report. He said they showed tremendous patience in
trying to solicit input from the Council members. He said most of it looks
fantastic, but there is one point that he wants to make for clarification.
He said with respect to the operation and creation of the office of the
Director of Crime Prevention, he thinks we need to clarify in the resolution
that creates this office that it will be funded through the Local Option Sales
Tax. He said it would not be an additional burden on the general fund for
operations. He said he still knows that there are some issues with regards to
the position of the director and he would request that this be brought forward
in the form of a resolution. He said he would like to see it brought in
multiple resolutions, so that at least the office will pass; whether or not the
director?s position is approved.
Ms. Thomas said it is their recommendation to the Council that at the
October 13th Council meeting they would have the first reading on several
ordinances that is needed to put this in place. She said one of them would be
an ordinance creating the position of a Director of Crime Prevention, as well
as an ordinance creating the Crime Prevention Board. She said they are working
with the City Attorney?s office to determine if there are other ordinances that
need to be brought to the Council for their consideration. She said they
anticipate the first reading would be on October 13th and the second reading
October 27th.
After the conclusion of the presentation, Ms. Thomas and Mayor
Wetherington then responded to questions and concerns of the members of the
Council. The questions and concerns of the Council members are outlined below.
Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh said with respect to the makeup of the Crime
Prevention Board having seven members said at one time we had talked about
possibly having a representative from each of the eight Council districts and
then asked Ms. Thomas if they discussed this component.
Ms. Thomas said they did discuss that and said part of the reason for them
recommending a seven member board is that it is their feeling that a seven
member board is sufficient to do the kind of things that this board is going to
be doing because when you get much beyond that it gets unwieldy; therefore, it
is their recommendation to have a seven member board.
Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh said we went through a lot to get the sales tax
passed and said it was a commitment to the entire community and said she wants
to make sure that the entire community is represented on this board. She said
she knows that the Mayor appoints the board, but by the same token she thinks
everyone needs to be represented.
Mayor Wetherington said he is going to try to do that as best as he can,
but said he thinks that if you get too big of a board, it will be more
difficult to work through. Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh said she doesn?t think
that an 11-member board is too big. She said she feels like each Council
District should be represented.
Councilor Anthony said he had four additional questions regarding the
report. 1) He said he would like to follow up with Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh?s
request to have more members on the board in terms of greater representation
from the community. 2) He said he need to have clarification on what agencies
might receive funding and asked if they were excluding not for profit
organizations?
Ms. Thomas said their recommendation is initially that funding be made to
agencies within the City government and perhaps the school district or other
governmental agencies. She said this would allow them to get this piece in
place and get the corks worked out before they go out into the non-profit. She
said ultimately they see that this could go to other organizations, non-profits
and etc.
Councilor Anthony said he has been a champion for this and has seen many
of the presentations by the non-profit organizations in our communities that
are doing such great work and could do more if they had the resources. He said
so many people had that as an understanding as we moved into this and said he
would like the staff to come back and take a look at that again. He said not
just to make it exclusive to City government.
He said in going back to the two-year funding, said what if they did one
year but it is a renewable program, and they have to justify beyond that one
year.
Ms. Thomas said when she talked about the program might cover a two-year
span, we think that there are some crime prevention programs out there where
you can?t accomplish what you want to accomplish in a single year and said for
some of those they would be willing to take a look at a two-year program;
however, there are some programs that you can measure in one-year increments
and said those would be one year and would be renewable. She said those
two-year span would be for those programs that the service provider says that
we need a little longer to meet their goals. She said none of the programs
would be more than two-years without coming back to the Council for
reauthorization.
Mayor Wetherington said in order to kick this program off; we were going to
look at Parks & Recreation, Juvenile Drug Court, Adult Drug Court and some of
the other organizations. He said in no way are they going to exclude
organizations that has a good track record in looking at whether or not they
receive money or not.
Councilor Woodson expressed her concerns regarding the small groups that
are not large organizations, but primarily home-based groups that are doing
things within the community, but don?t have enough money to take their programs
or mentors to another level. She said when she looks at the Crime Prevention
Program she is looking at those small groups. She said she is hopeful that we
don?t exclude any of those small groups like CAD (Columbus Against Drugs) and
others.
Ms. Thomas said one of the things that they envision the director of the
Crime Prevention Office doing is working with groups like CAD to assist them in
their planning and funding, etc. She said they are well aware of those programs
and will be available to assist them that don?t have a funding base.
Councilor Woodson said she is happy with the program and she doesn?t have
a problem with hiring a director. She said she agrees with Mayor Pro Tem Turner
Pugh that the board should be larger; possibly have a sub-committee.
Councilor Hunter said he favors having a strong Director of the Crime
Prevention Office. He said this Director will have major duties and because of
that we do need to have a strong director if our goals are going to be
effective and there are efficient ways to prevent crime. He said if we have a
strong director some of the other things would become miniscule.
With respect to the terms of office, Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh said she
knows that they are recommending a one-year term for law enforcement
representatives, but said she thinks that it is going to take them at least one
year to get going really good and said maybe we need to look at that being a
two-year seat.
Ms. Thomas said this person could be reappointed for a second year and
said one of the reasons they said a one-year term was to allow for the
involvement more often of all of the agencies and said in her discussion with
the heads of these law enforcement agencies, each one of them said they would
have someone as a liaison to the board and to the office so that while there
may be only one person on the board as a voting member we anticipate that there
will be representatives from the other two law enforcement agencies actively
involved, but not as a voting member.
Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh said she is not talking about the entire
duration of the board, but said just the first couple of years.
Mayor Wetherington said we certainly could take a look at that.
Councilor Davis then expressed his views regarding this report and also
thanked the Mayor and his staff for their patience with him. He said initially
there were a lot of things that he was concerned about and even today there may
be some things that he is not comfortable with, but there are some things that
he likes about this program. He said if it is going to be a positive in a
community and we have a good way to evaluate this program to show that it?s
making a difference, he thinks any time you could do that; it?s good to give it
an opportunity. He said he was very vocal on this matter initially and thought
it was very important that we had a better understanding of the direction that
we were going and said the Mayor was kind enough to step back and take a
breather on this matter.
He said what he was sensing out in the community initially was that
everybody had a different perception of crime prevention and what this program
was about. He said what you have been able to accomplish here now is to narrow
the focus and the goal and what this program and crime prevention is going to
be about and because of that people have a better understanding today about
crime prevention.
Councilor Davis said with respect to Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh?s concerns
as far as the makeup of the board, he wasn?t dead set on how to form that, but
said whatever we do, there is a necessity that fairness and balance be on this
board. He said he likes the concept of the larger board and the members being
represented with each District Councilor having an opportunity to nominate
someone and said he thinks there is some balance there and it?s fair from that
standpoint. He said he is okay if the Mayor wants a smaller board or if it is
the consensus of the Council.
Councilor McDaniel said he thinks that the entire community has a
misconception of this Committee and what this program is supposed to do because
everyone he has talked to have said that we don?t need any more law enforcement
committee and said we just need to let the police, sheriff and marshal handle
it. He said it should be emphasized that this is a crime prevention tool and
not a law enforcement tool. He said it really needs to be emphasized with the
media.
Mayor Wetherington said there is some misconception about what this
position is as there are some who thinks that this is another safety director?s
position. He said he think that he has been patient and have made the case, as
well as have tried to inform the public of what this position is all about and
said this is something that we promised the citizens of this community that we
were going to propose a crime prevention director to work on crime prevention
programs and said in his opinion, this is going to be a great program if it is
administered right. He said he want to try to get it off on the right foot and
go forward with it. He said selecting the Crime Prevention Director to head up
this office is going to be so important so that he/she can work with the
different organizations and fund those that you think needs to be funded.
Councilor McDaniel said one thing that concerned him about this is that he
has had a lot of threats from people that says any Council member who votes for
this Commission they are going to vote against them when they are up for
re-election. He said we have to do what?s right and said he has tried to
explain to people that this is not a law enforcement office, but it is crime
prevention. He said we are trying to prevent crime.
Ms. Thomas said if there are people who have questions about the program
that we are proposing, they can give them a call and they would be glad to walk
through it with them or answer whatever questions they might have.
Councilor Barnes said he thinks this is going to be a tremendous program
and he echoes what Councilor Hunter has stated is pivotal in that the
Director?s position is extremely crucial. He said he thinks that when we do
mull all this through, we are going to mull through all the glitches or
problems that some people may have with the program. He said he agrees with
Councilor Woodson that there are a number of grassroots programs that have been
out there for years; with drug fighters being one, but said there are a number
of others that have been handicapped due to a lack of funding, but have stayed
the course over the years. He said he feels like Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh in
that because this was put out to the entire community that we do need to have
more district representation, because everyone bought into this by virtue of
the sales tax passing.
After more than an hour of discussion on this subject with several members
of the Council expressing their views and Ms. Thomas and Mayor Wetherington
responding to questions and concerns of the Council, this presentation was
concluded.
Councilor Anthony said he thinks that it would be helpful if we publicize
the five major areas of emphasis, which includes recreation, education,
employment, drug prevention/intervention and community policing. He said
community policing is one of the elements at the bottom; however, there are
four other major elements that this program has to address to have expertise in
and if the community understood how broad and sweeping this emphasis would be
they probably might have a better understanding of the nature of the Director,
who must be able to direct programs in each of these areas.
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Bond Project List and Financing Recommendations
City Manager Hugley said you have been talking about the Local Option
Sales Tax and the crime prevention component, as you went out to the voters and
said he think this would be a good time to go ahead and bring forward the
projects for bond financing, because this was a part of the local option sales
tax discussion as well. He said when we went out for the local option sales
tax, we defined infrastructure in the presentation that went around to the
various locations and said it included things like buildings and facilities; we
specifically mentioned the ice rink, natatorium, city service center, parking
garage, as part of the infrastructure definition. He said the question that was
asked of the people, if they would agree to use local option sales tax dollars
to completely fund those projects that didn?t have enough money to move forward
and in each of those sessions, the percentage and responders said yes, to us.
He said as we present to you, the project lists for bond financing for
your discussion and approval, a resolution will be forth coming at the October
13th meeting and we are hopeful that you would approve the resolution so that
our finance department can move forward and work with the other parties to
package the final list and get it approve so that we can have bonds issued to
us in January 2010 in order that we can move forward with the projects that are
going to be presentrd to you on today.
City Manager Hugley said that as these projects are presented to you on
today and if you approve the resolution on October 13th to move forward with
the bond packet, the debt service that we will incur as a result of getting the
bond money, the debt service payments would not cause an increase in any
property taxes or any taxes otherwise. He said the debt service payments would
not be a burden on the general fund just as the crime prevention would not be a
burden on the general fund. He said the 30% funding for roads and
infrastructure projects as that revenue is collected through the sales tax;
that would be used to pay the debt service that would be required for getting
this money through the bond issuance.
Councilor Woodson said she is going to have to leave the meeting early
this morning as she has a project at her job that she has to attend to, but
prior to leaving she has some requests that she would like for the staff to
look into for her. She said she would like for the staff to come back at a
later date and give an update on the East Highlands list. She said she
understands that a list was submitted a few weeks ago from the East Highland
residents of items that need to be addressed.
City Manager Hugley said he has not personally seen that list, but said
he will check into it.
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CHAMBER OF COMMERCE:
Councilor Woodson said she would like to request a resolution for the
Chamber of Commerce. She said it is her understanding that the Chamber was
recognized and did receive an award for their work in getting NCR to locate
here in our city. She said she did ask Mike Gaymon to come back to the Council
at a later date so that the public can see when we take risks in doing things
to bring new jobs to Columbus what happens. She said it is important for the
citizens to be kept update on what?s going on,
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Bond Project List and Financing Recommendations
Finance Director Pam Hodge then came forward and said there are three
different components of her presentation, which relates to the bond package,
which includes the update on the Local Option Sales Tax, L.O.S.T. Plan
Allocation and revenue projects, Project List (which will be presented by
Deputy City Manager Arrington and then she will wrap it up with the Debt
Service/Financing Recommendations for this bond issue.
Ms. Hodge said this is an updated local option sales tax revenue
projection based on estimates that we are receiving current collection
estimates. She then highlighted the following information outlined below:
She said in 2010, we are projecting $28.8 million; which is what was
adopted in the operating budget for FY-10. She said this is an average of $2.4
million per month and for July 2009 we actually collected $2.6 million. She
said for an average we are expecting to collect $28.8 million, some of which
will be set aside for the rollback requirements. The $14.7 million is for the
70% for public safety, and $6.3 million for the 30% infrastructure. She said
this projection is taken out over the years to 2016.
City Manager Hugley said when we went out for this local option sales tax,
we projected based on the trends lending into the local option sales tax. He
said we projected that we would collect $36 million with this one percent local
option sales tax; but obviously the economy went bad and sales tax collection
is still down and therefore, we have adjusted these numbers to reflect actual
collections today. He said these are conservative estimates going forward in
future years, as we have projected $36 million for 2009, but we have adjusted
the numbers based on current collections, but even out as far as the year 2016,
we are still projecting around $30 million, which is $6 million less than what
we projected and what we should have been on target to receive in 2009.
Director of Finance Hodge said we also wanted to use conservative numbers
to show that the debt service requirement by these bonds will not be impacted
and will actually be much better off if the economy does turn back around and
we do collect more revenue; but said the current revenue collection that we are
seeing today can support the debt service on these bonds.
She said in looking at the 70% for Public Safety, by year, they have
projected out the public safety personnel, operating and capital, crime
prevention program, as well as the debt service requirement on the 70% public
safety allocation. She said they are showing it in phases, and will show the
financing recommendation to have these bonds issued in two phases. She said the
first phase debt service requirement would be in 2011 and then both phases
would be required in 2013.
Ms. Hodge said in 2013 on the public safety personnel there is a large
increase from $9.9 million to $15.3 million, which will be during the time when
we anticipate the jail to be staffed and all of the positions that was
recommended in the local option sales tax to be allocated.
She said that will also be the time when the rollback requirement will be
completed and we are looking at a full year worth of debt service and
personnel.
Ms. Hodge said on the 30% roads and infrastructure, it has been broken out
into the pay as you go projects and debt service on three different areas,
which includes roads, storm waters and facilities. She said the debt service
will be in two phases, with Phase One being completed by 2012 and Phase Two
will take place in 2013; therefore, the full service debt service requirement
will be required in 2013.
Deputy City Manager David Arrington then came forward to present the
projects list. He said as Director of Finance Hodge has indicated, we are
looking at the year 2013 as the fiscal year for us to make our projections
based on the projected revenues and expenditures. He said when we look at the
70% allocation for public safety this is the first year that we project that we
will have all the public safety officers hired to staff the jail, and the 100
police officers. He said we also have the operating and capital, as well as the
crime prevention budget, which is subject to the Council?s approval each fiscal
year. He said there is also the bond financing for the two capital projects for
public safety. He said the only fixed amount in this allocation is the bond
financing. He said the other allocations; operating, capital and crime
prevention are subject to the revenue, which is generated that particular
fiscal year. He said the personnel are semi-fixed in that once we hire the
personnel they are on board and we incur those expenses. He said the public
safety allocation is heavily weighted towards personnel because the main
objective of the local option sales tax was to put additional police officers
on the street and then to expand the jail.
Deputy City Manager Arrington said when we look at roads and
infrastructure, the 30% allocation from the local option sales tax bond
financing will amount to approximately $6.895,000 for roads, facilities and
storm-water rehabilitation projects, which will be a fixed amount as we move
forward. He said as we receive additional revenues or as the economy improves
and we have additional dollars, those dollars would be spread out over the pay
as you go items. He said their initial projections for the pay as you go items,
which includes resurfacing, building maintenance, technology, storm-water
rehabilitation, and bridge maintenance, we had a lot more money allocated
toward each of these items; especially resurfacing, which is a high priority
item for us. He said of those dollars remaining, we allocated 50% of the pay as
you go items towards resurfacing. He said we would like to do more, which their
initial goal was to have close to $3 million.
He said the fixed amount for bond financing is $6.896 million dollars and
the additional funding would go towards the pay as you items.
He then went into details outlining the specific projects, as listed below:
Public Safety Bond Projects- $33,000,000
Fire Station Construction
Jail Expansion
* 911 Center Expansion & Additional Console
*800 MHz ? High Performance Data Upgrade
* These projects will be funded with general fund, fund balance in FY-09. Fund
balance to be reimbursed with L.O.S.T. funds on an annual allocation basis.
Road Bond Projects - $31,100,000
Moon Road Phase II (Wilbur to Whittlesey)
Forrest Road Phase I (Floyd to Schatulga)
Forrest Road Bridges (2)
Forrest Road Phase II (Macon to Palomino)
Whitesville Road/Double Churches
Panhandle Road
Fort Benning Road/Brennan Road
Fort Benning Road Streetscapes
Infrastructure Bond Projects - $67,400,000
Flood Abatement ? 6th Avenue Phases II-V
City Service Center
Natatorium
CSC Parking Garage
Ice Rink
Recycling and Sustainability Center
Cooper Creek Tennis Court Expansion
-----------------------------------*** ***
***-----------------------------------
NOTE: Councilor Allen left at this point in the proceedings, with the
time being 10:35 a.m.
-----------------------------------*** ***
***-----------------------------------
Councilor McDaniel said he has asked Deputy City Manager Arrington about
the possibility of putting the Mayor?s Office, as well as the City Manager?s
Office out at the City Service Center and then asked if that is included in
this project. City Manager Hugley said that they are going to be looking at
that. He said when we bring back the layout design of who is going to move you
will see that and decide whether it stays in or come out.
Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh said she didn?t know we were going to move the
Council Chambers out to the City Service Center. City Manager Hugley said part
of what we had talked about before is that the Council Chambers will be
included in the City Service Center, along with some of the other offices. He
said we will bring it back to the Council and you will make the final decision.
Deputy City Manager Arrington pointed out that the City Manager felt that
it was important that we mention some of the projects that are not included in
this bond issue because we were limited in how large of a bond packet that we
could put together because of the economy, as well as the revenue that we had
forecast could cover our bond debt. He then outlined those projects that are
not funded, as outlined below.
Projects Not Funded
Name:
Amount:
Old Camp Landfill Closure $4.8 million
19th Street Flood Abatement $20
million
Additional Flood Abatement YTB Determined TDB
Watershed Maintenance $500,000/yr
Resurfacing ? approx. 35 miles/yr $4 million/yr
Local Share of DOT Road Projects TDB
Stormwater Pipe Repair/Rehab $3 million/yr
Oxbow Meadows Marina $10 million
Technoogy Upgrades-Court Case Management, $14 million
Pension, Tax Appraisal & Collection, Police,
Record Management etc.
City Manager Hugley said he told Deputy City Manager Arrington to put the
Oxbow Meadows Marina on the list to show that it is acknowledged and
recognized; however, it is not funded. He said as we go through this process,
the Council will decide what stays on the list, what comes off and what will be
added.
Councilor McDaniel said we have exhausted every method of raising funds
for someone to build a Marina and give it to the City. He said the only way
that it is going to be built is possibly with a bond issue and said then we can
lease it. He said it would be a tremendous tourist asset to our community and
said we really need to do that.
-----------------------------------*** ***
***-----------------------------------
NOTE: Councilor Allen left at this point in the proceedings, with the
time being 10:35 a.m.
-----------------------------------*** ***
***-----------------------------------
Deputy City Manager Arrington continuing on with his presentation on those
projects currently not funded said if there are any of these projects that the
Council would elect to include in the proposed bond package, then they would
have to go back and take a look at the impact that it would have on the overall
revenue stream and then bring back that impact for a decision at a later time.
Deputy City Manager Arrington, as well as City Manager Hugley then
responded to questions of Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh with respect to the amount
of funding that is included in the bond packet for resurfacing.
Deputy City Manager Arrington pointed out that the allocation for the
other pay as you go items under the 30% roads and infrastructure are close to
what they had originally projected for them. He said as additional revenue is
generated through the economy improving, that additional money would be
allocated towards resurfacing, as it is a high priority for us as well.
City Manager Hugley said as our sales tax collection increases, we could
put more money towards resurfacing because it is not a bond project. He said we
could accomplish what you desire when the collection starts to increase.
Councilor Henderson said he agrees and said he thinks its important to
note to gain $1 million worth of resurfacing money the revenue has to increase
by $3 million because we are using 30% towards infrastructure.
He then asked that he be provided with projected operating costs for the
facilities that we are looking at constructing out of the bond projects.
City Manager Hugley said that we are working on that. He said Deputy City
Manager Goodwin provided him with a list of facilities operating cost, which
includes the Citizens Service Center. He said he is not ready to give this list
to the Council right now, but said it?s forthcoming.
Director of Finance Pam Hodge said for the list of projects that Deputy
City Manager Arrington outlined above, the following, as listed below are the
financing recommendations, which will be done in two phases.
Debt Service Financing Recommendations
Phase I - $91,500,000
Public Safety - $2,000,000
Fire / EMS Station
Infrastructure Projects- $89,500,00
Road Projects
Flood Abatement
Recycling/Composting Center
City Service Center
CSC Parking Garage
Natatorium
Ice Rink
Ms. Hodge said these projects would be included in Phase One bonds that
they would like to issue in January 2010.
BOND PROJECT LIST
Phase II - $40,000,000
Public Safety - $31,000,000
Jail Expansion
Infrastructure - $9,000,000
Road Projects
Cooper Creek Tennis Center Expansion
She said the reason for the Phase II projects is that these projects are
not ready to go now, but they will be ready to go within the next one to two
years. She said the total debt service that will be required once both phases
of the bonds are issued would be $2,310,000 for Public Safety and $6,895,000
for Infrastructure. She said these debt service projections are an estimate at
this point; however, when we go out for bonds, the actual debt service will be
determined at that point. She said we are currently using the market rate plus
50 bases point for their estimates and said that these are conservative debt
service estimates and do anticipate them to come in a little lower than what we
are projecting.
Ms. Hodge said in order for us to issue the bonds by January 2010 and to
meet the timeline that has been outlined to the Council, we will be coming back
to the Council on October 13th with a resolution that will authorize the
Columbus Building Authority to issue the bonds and for us to proceed forward.
After the conclusion of Ms. Hodge?s presentation, City Manager Hugley said
with that being said, we would like to bring back to the Council as stated by
Ms. Hodge at the October 13th Council meeting the resolution which would allow
them to move forward with this list of projects for the bond financing in the
amount of $131, 500,000; which will be in two phases as stated by Ms. Hodge.
Councilor Anthony said on the revenue projections, asked if those numbers
included growth from BRAC, Kia or the National Infantry Museum increased
revenue, to which Ms. Hodge said that is just based on the current collections
we are experiencing today.
City Manager Hugley then asked if there were any other questions on this
presentation before moving forward with the next subject matter.
Mayor Wetherington said this is a very aggressive agenda and said we are
taking a step, in what he thinks the citizens of this city wants us to do. He
said he don?t believe that there is another city in the country that has passed
a permanent sales tax in a down economy with a L.O.S.T. and then passing the
S.P.L.O.S.T.; two taxes that were passed within a year. He said our citizens
stepped forward and they said yes. He said this is a very aggressive proposal
that we are asking you to support, but it is something that the citizens have
spoken about and is something that we need. He said we are going to continue to
travel that path of doing things for the citizens of this city. He said he
wants to say thanks to the citizens, as well as the Council in this matter.
Councilor Anthony said he would like to ask that we continue our efforts
in transparency making sure that everybody knows how we are spending the
previous S.P.L.O.S.T. money, as it has been a while since we have presented
that to the public.
*** *** ***
Regional Economic Development Projects:
Deputy City Manager Arrington said about three years ago the City Manager
brought to the Council a recommendation for us to move ahead with hiring a
consultant to update our comprehensive plan. He said the comp plan being that
primary policy tool that we use for land use decisions, development issues and
community development. He said at the same time we also discussed with the
Council the idea of working with the Valley Partnership Joint Development
Authority on perusing federal grant funds through the Office of Economic
Adjustment to assist the region and us in preparing for the impact of BRAC. He
said through the hard work of Gary Jones and his staff, specifically Larry
Crane and his grant writing ability, the region was awarded through the Valley
Partnership funds for two planning grants; a joint land use study and a
regionally growth management plan. He said these two documents compliment our
comprehensive plan and said the document just distributed to the Council by
Will Johnson shows how the three documents work together, as there are areas
that our comprehensive plan did not study; but either the joint land use study
or regional growth management plan did.
He said our comprehensive plan looks at issues within our city limits, and
the other two documents look at specific elements from a regional basis and how
things that happen outside Columbus impacts us and how things that we do inside
of Columbus impacts us outside; with all of it focusing towards Fort Benning
and the impact that the growth has on our community.
Mr. Arrington then called forward Mr. Mike Gaymon, President/CEO of the
Chamber of Commerce to introduce Mr. Gary Jones and his regional growth
management team.
Mr. Mike Gaymon of the Chamber of Commerce said Mr. Gary Jones is the
Senior Executive VP of Military Affairs at the Chamber of Commerce and said
that we are very blessed to have him leading the military affairs efforts.
Prior to Mr. Jones coming forward to make a presentation, Mr. Gaymon
made some brief comments regarding Columbus? growth industries and gave some
statistics of that growth, which includes the following:
Fort Benning, Defense Industry
11,403 New Jobs
$ 3.5 Billion Capital Investment
Aflac, Information Technology Industry
2,000 New Jobs
$100 Million Capital Investment
Kia, Automotive Suppliers Industry
3,000 New Jobs
$1.2 Billion Capital Investment
NCR Manufacturing Industry
872 New Jobs
$27 Million Capital Investment
Mr. Mike Gaymon said thanks to the Council?s support and leadership for
what you have done to help us recruit NCR, which has already hired 100
employees and are ahead of schedule. He said what Councilor Woodson had
mentioned earlier in the meeting is that for the second year in a row, our
Valley Partnership Chamber staff has received the Deal of the Year Award at the
Georgia Economic Development Association?s Annual Meeting and the NCR Project
got the Deal of the Year.
He then highlighted the Fort Benning Growth estimate numbers; which he
said these are the numbers that was first put forward regarding BRAC and said
that they have not changed. He said Mr. Jones will provide you with some
additional numbers, but said these are the numbers that Ft. Benning and
Washington has; and these are the numbers that we have consistently talked
about with respect to the impact of the growth of Ft. Benning in our area. He
said we are talking about a city, the size of Rome, Georgia being put into our
region, 28,000 people coming to our city over the next several years. He said
the impact is going to be significant.
Mr. Gaymon said they have had over 400 volunteers involved with this
Regional Growth Management Plan, which includes the city staff who has been
side by side with all the consultants and other people working to make sure
that we are paralleing what the city?s growth management plan is about. He said
we don?t have two separate documents, they are all in concert together and said
this study was done to the support of the Federal Government, for the ten
counties of which Muscogee County is one at no direct cost to you. He said
this document parallels what you have already done and they are consistently
compatible with one another.
He then called Mr. Gary Jones to come forward and go through the other
aspect of the regional growth management plan.
Mr. Gary Jones, of the Chamber of Commerce said when they focus on the
Base Realignment Enclosure Plan they focus on the 10-county area because it
cannot be a local effort when dealing with a magnitude of 11,000 jobs and
growth of 28,000 plus people, you have to approach it from the entire region;
which includes three counties in Alabama and seven in Georgia. He said as
indicated by Mr. Gaymon we have created a plan for each of those individual
counties, as well as an oversight regional plan.
Mr. Jones then spent approximately twenty minutes or more highlighting
several charts providing information on the following areas:
Fort Benning Construction 2009 Through 2016:
$3,500,000,000 (Approaching $4 Billion)
Fort Benning Regional Current Salary Impact:
Monthly $110,000,000 = Annually $1,320,000,000
Fort Benning Regional Current Contracts:
Impact Monthly $250,000,000 = Annually $3,000,000,000
Fort Benning BRAC Complete, Future Salary And Contract Impact
Increase:___________________________________________________
Monthly $25/$35,000,000 = Annually $420,000,000
Regionally When Fort Benning BRAC Complete, Regional Future Annual
Sales:_______________________________________________
Estimated Increase = $986,367,000
Regionally When Fort Benning BRAC Complete, Regional Future Annual
Salary/Income: _____________________________________
Estimated Increase = $246,296,000
When Fort Benning BRAC Complete Annual Regional Economic
Impact:______________________________________________________
$5,972,000,000 (+/-)
Mr. Jones said that whenever Fort Benning has an issue, then we have an
issue; however, we have a staff that is focused on Fort Benning and said they
couldn?t accomplish that without the great support of the City staff. He said
City Manager Hugley specifically chaired the Public Transportation aspect of
the regional growth management plan, as well as Deputy City Manager Arrington
and Finance Director Hodge chairing a committee. He said it was truly a team
effort as they went forward.
He then showed some photos of the current construction that is taking
place at Fort Benning, which includes the Fort Benning Highway & Community
Cluster Development, Clark Realty Capital, Fort Benning Project, Infantry Basic
Training Construction at Sand Hill, Armor School Construction at Harmony
Church, New Hospital - Site Opportunity, ($597 million total impact).
Mr. Jones said when they created the Regional Growth Management Plan; they
standardized the way to look at counties within a 10-county area.
He said regardless of whatever county you go to, the plan will be laid out the
exact same. He said if anyone wants to look at the plan, they can go to the
following website and pull up that plan: ww.fortbenningandthevalley.com
He said from this website, you can bring up videos, fax, as well as
individual plans. He said there has been over 10,000 hits on that site, with
over 32,000 pages have been read by people who are looking to bring businesses
here to our city, as well as people who want to relocate here.
Mr. Jones pointed out that there is a video that has been created that is
being used actually by the Economic Development Departments to sell this region
and it has been created for each of the cities. He said that there are current
growth trends and in the direction that people are going with the projections
showing that Muscogee County will have the greatest growth with Lee and Russell
following second and third, Harris and Chattahoochee being the fifth. He said
when you take a look at Muscogee County, it is anticipated between now and the
year 2013 that there could be a growth of up to 15,000 new citizens.
He said when they went and came up with the key findings, we were pleased
to find out that our findings were parallel to the comprehensive plan and were
in sync with the studies that are being done and found that it is augmented
into the plan and has assisted and have flushed out some gaps. He then
highlighted those key findings of the Regional Growth Management Plan, which
are outlined below.
Key Findings:
Largest current economic development project in the Bi-State area
Numbers continue to grow
RGMP From Regional Prospective
Has Augmented Columbus Comprehensive Plan
Is in Synch And Supportive of Columbus Comprehensive Plan
Location, Location, Location
Must Continue to Think Regionally To Be Attractive to Incoming Industry
Continue to Address Public Transportation Needs of Growing Senior Population
Continue to Develop Library Services Web-based Access
Continue The Growth And Expansion of Workforce Development Programs Necessary
to Meet Economic Development Demands
Mr. Jones said when the new members comes here, they are going to decide
where they are going to live and said of the key factors in deciding where is
going to be safety, education, quality of life, spouse employment, childcare
facilities. He said we need to continue to encourage local contractors to
partner with existing contracts that go on post and said those citizens who
want employment; we will be showing them a site that they can go to which will
show Federal employment opportunities. He said in addition to that we have
received a $3 million grant where they will be working with Columbus Technical
College, Chattahoochee Valley Community College, Auburn, Columbus State
University, Georgia Tech, as well as other entities to go create program deals
for combat automotive; as well as go into communications and how you go in and
repair computers; etc. He said all these things we have applied to the military
requirements so that civilians can be hired as well.
Mr. Jones then continued to speak for several more minutes in outlining
what the next steps are in this Regional Growth Management Plan, as well as
what has already been done.
In concluding his presentation, Mr. Jones said that the Regional Growth
Management Plan is your tool and has been designed to assist the City Manager,
and is a document, which city managers and their staff can appreciate because
it not only addresses things historically but addresses the day and looks
forward to the future.
Mayor Wetherington said he would like to thank Mr. Jones and the Chamber
of Commerce for the work that has been done in this effort and all the good
things that are happening in our region. He said we are just a blessed
community.
Councilor Anthony said he would like to thank Mr. Jones for his years of
work on this project and said that long before we could begin to see the
obvious construction out at Fort Benning, from the Chamber of Commerce, City,
Regional Commission, you particularly have been pushing this and helping us to
stay in the forefront of it, we really want to thank you for your great
leadership and continuous efforts.
*** *** ***
ORDINANCE FOR FIVE CENTS METRA FARE INCREASE:
City Manager Hugley said at the last Council meeting, the ordinance for
the five cents Metra fare increase was listed on the City Attorney?s Agenda and
there was a public hearing held on this matter, and said it was supposed to
have been listed on the Consent Agenda for today?s meeting, but was
inadvertently left off. He said we do need to take a vote on this ordinance to
approve that five cents increase so that we may proceed forward with responding
to the Federal Government. He said it was on first reading at the last meeting
and should have been listed today on the Consent Agenda for second reading.
In response to Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh, City Manager Hugley said yes, it
has been publicized and we have gone through the public hearing and said we
also had a public forum to receive input from the citizens and then it went on
first reading and we didn?t have any citizens to respond.
City Attorney Fay, also responding further to the concerns said this does not
change the fare card, it only charges the $1.25 fare to $1.30 fare.
Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh then moved approval of the ordinance. Seconded
by Councilor McDaniel and carried unanimously by those seven members of Council
present for this meeting, with Councilors Allen, Baker and Woodson being absent
for this vote.
*** *** ***
MONTHLY FINANCE REPORT:
Director of Finance Pam Hodge then came forward and presented the August
monthly finance report. She said this is the first report for FY-2010 and said
typically in July most of the revenue that is received is recorded as revenue
in FY-09. She then highlight the Local Option Sales Tax Information for August
2009; however, said that she has also left the full fiscal year of 2009 on the
report, as well as the first two months of fiscal year 2010.
She said with respect to the positions that have been filled, at the end
of August the Police Department has 82 of the 100 officers scheduled to be
hired and of those positions that have been authorized in the budget E911 has
filled 4 and there is also one court related position that has been filled,
which is in the public defender?s office. She said this is out of the Local
Option Sales Tax for public safety.
Ms. Hodge said the revenue collected for public safety for the 70% is
$1,840,074.14, which is the 70% allocation of the first month of
collection.
She also highlighted each of the departments that received all allocation
in FY-10, as well as the total amount that was spent, which includes the
following departments.
PUBLIC SAFETY EXPENDITURES (Including Encumbrances):
Police
Department
Police E911
Fire Department
MCP
Sheriff?s Office
Marshal?s Office
Court Related:
Public Defender
State Court Solicitor
Civic Center
Public Services
Parks & Recreation
Coroner
METRA
Ms. Hodge said the majority of the expenditures for personnel services
relates to the $3,000 supplement for all law enforcement-sworn officer?s
position. She said the Infrastructure Revenue, which is the 30%, the revenue
for the L.O.S.T. Infrastructure is $788,842.86, which is one month of
collections and said we have not made any expenditures relating to the
infrastructure.
Ms. Hodge also highlighted the Operating Funds in the August 2009 report,
which reflects the following:
General Fund: Decline from FY-09 to FY-10 of 35%. She then noted that in
FY-09, it included the Continental Carbon settlement, which skewed the numbers
for the general fund for August 2009, and said with the Continental Carbon, the
general fund is down 7.80%; which is a reflection of about $600,000. However,
there are a few revenue sources that makes up that difference, with one being
local option sales tax, comparing August 2009 to August 2008; which was down
7.77%. She said we are also seeing a slight reduction on the occupation tax in
the general fund.
Ms. Hodge pointed out that in the beginning of the each fiscal year, there
are oftentimes timing differences of when the revenue is collected and
receipted into the general ledger; therefore during the first few months of the
fiscal year, it is really difficult to do a true comparison, so they are
monitoring some of the revenue sources. She said there is nothing in the
general fund to be alarmed about with the decline of the 7.80%.
The property tax collection rate for FY-09 was 96.90%; so, in October when the
first payment is due on property taxes that will tell us how much compared to
last year are we seeing any changes in collection rates.
Sewer Fund up 2.27%, which represents about a $2,000 difference.
Paving Fund down 6.5%, less than a $20,000 difference.
Medical Center Fund down 9.86%.
lntegrated Waste Fund down 7.66%.
Emergency 9l1 Telephone Fund up slightly at 2.64%
Economic Development Authority Fund down 9,86%
Debt Service Fund down 10.37%
Transportation Fund up 3.71%
Parking Management Fund down 19.36%, which is a $6,000 difference.
Trade Center Fund down 17.73%
Bull Creek Golf Course Fund up 9.05%
Oxbow Creek Golf Course Fund up 9.68%
Civic Center Fund up 57.96%
Ms. Hodge said there are some revenue sources that they will continue to
monitor as we get through the first quarter of the year and as we start seeing
taxes come in to determine if we have any issues on the revenue side. She said
we did make some adjustments in our revenue projections for FY-2010 based on
some of the declines that we saw in FY-2009.
*** *** ***
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
City Manager Hugley requested a brief executive session to discuss a
property acquisition matter, as well as a personnel issue after the adjournment
of today?s meeting.
*** *** ***
Deputy City Manager Arrington once again came forward and gave an update
on the Major Projects within the City, as well as the additional projects that
have been completed this year, which are highlighted below:
Major Project Update
Projects Completed or Substantially Complete in 2009
Streetscape ? 10th Street
Streetscape ? Front Ave. Parking Garage
Riverwalk ? 12th Street
Cougar/Algonquin Intersection Improvement
Brown/Peacock Intersection Improvement
Weracoba Creek Bank Stabilization
Additional Projects Completed in 2009
6th Avenue Flood Abatement ? Phase I
Annex HVAC Replacement
Cora Drive Pipe Replacement
Biscayne Drive Pipe Replacement
Warner Road Pipe Replacement
Active Projects
Rails to Trails
Contracts Awarded
Phase I, April 2009
Bridges, May 2009
Rest Areas, August 2009
Phase II, August 2009
Phase III, Ready for bid
Funding Source
1999 SPLOST
Projected Completion Date ? August 2010
Riverwalk ? 12th St. to 13th St.
Contract Awarded
September 2009
Funding Source
Transportation Enhancement Grant
Projected Completion Date ? March 2010
800 MHz Analog/Digital Upgrade
Contract Awarded
February 2009 (A/D Upgrade)
August 2009 (HPDS, 911)
HPDS & 911 expansion awarded August 2009
Funding Source
General Fund
L.O.S.T.
Projected Completion Date ? December 2009
Deputy City Manager Arrington said the vendor that bid on the contract to
do the remodeling in the 911 Center bid $911 out of probably a $20,000 job. He
said his company just wanted to do that work because it was for the Police
Department and to help safety in our community.
Fire Station 2 Replacement
Contract Awarded ? August 2009
Funding Source ? 2003 Bond
Projected Completion Date ? August 2010
Oxbow Meadows ? Phase I
Partnership with CWW and CSU
Phase I Elements
Environmental Learning Center expansion
Festival Field
Corporate Pavilion
Large & Small Dog Park
Walking Trail
Boat Dock
Funding Source- 1999 SPLOST
Bid scheduled November
Transportation
Whittlesey Road ROW- To be completed 12/09
Whitesville/Double Churches ROW ? To be completed 02/10
Technology Parkway, Phase IIROW ?To be completed 12/09
Corporate Ridge/AFLAC Under Construction
9th Street Railroad Crossings Veterans Scheduled 9/12
Blackmon/Warm Springs Round-a-bout Under Design
Moon Road ? J.R. Allen to Veterans ROW ? Ready for bid in 60 days
Forrest Road ? East (Under Design)
River Road/Bradley Park (Under Design)
Veterans/Double Churches (Under Design)
Wynnton Road Streetscapes (Under Design)
Veterans Parkway Streetscapes- 8th St. to 13th St. (Ready for Bid)
Cargo Dr./Transport (Under Review by DOT)
Woodruff Farm/Corporate Ridge (Under Design)
Moon Road ? Wilbur to Whittlesey (Under Design)
Forrest Road Bridges Environmental Underway
Quality of Life:
Deputy City Manager Arrington said we are ready to go to bid with the Ice
Rink and said that Mr. Sam Wellborn our DOT board member has secured a small
grant for us to make some trail improvements out at Lake Bottom Park. He said
we would also include some additional trashcans, park benches and etc. He said
we are waiting for the bid to be let.
Double Churches Pool Renovations
(Have some schematic drawings)
Recreation Center Improvements (Contracts Awarded)
Skateboard Park Gazebo
Replacing gym floors
Infrastructure:
Meritas Drive
14th Street Pedestrian Bridge
Charter Oaks/Sugar Mill Watershed
Sidewalk/Handicap Accessibility
Britt David Retaining Wall
Britt David Ball field
Citizen Service Center/Natatorium
With respect to Whittlesey Road, Councilor Davis said he had asked
previously that we have a Work Session on this particular subject. He said
people are getting impatient and don?t understand what the holdup is and what?s
taking so long with these road improvements. He then asked Deputy City Manager
Arrington to talk a little more in detail on the Whittlesey Road improvements.
He said it is not a project that we are directly involved in, but it?s a
Department of Transportation project and there are some issues there. He said
there was a traffic study done that said the supporting road needed to be in by
2006 and here it is 2009.
Deputy City Manager Arrington said the City has been in the process of
acquiring right-of -way as far back as when the tornado came through Green
Island Hills and we were able to assist the citizens and to help them out so
that they wouldn?t have to rebuild for a year or two; but as the right-of-way
acquisition moved forward, it was identified that there were certain errors in
the right-of-way plans; therefore, our right-of-way people could not continue
to acquire the property until the plans were revised so they would be
purchasing the right amount of property.
He said the Department of Transportation had contracted out the planned
development for that project; however, have since dismissed the engineers and
have begun doing it in-house. He said as they were piece-mealing us
right-of-way changes our people would go out and begin negotiations and begin
that process. He said they have been meeting with the Mayor, as well as our
board representative, Mr. Sam Wellborn on this project for well over a year now
and this past spring the Mayor asked the Interim Department of Transportation
Commissioner Gerald Ross to come down to specifically talk about the Whittlesey
Road project. He said Mr. Ross committed that they would have all the
right-of-way plans completed and finalized by the end of May. He said they met
that deadline on the very last day and said we have been able to make a lot of
progress on acquiring right-of-way and at least getting it towards acquisition.
However, since that time, there have still been some minor changes in the plans
that are used to acquire right-of-way and they don?t know if we are going to be
able to meet the December 31st deadline, but shortly after the first of the
year, they should have all of the right-of-way acquired.
City Manager Hugley said he wants to point out that we did not make those
changes locally, but they were made by the Georgia Department of
Transportation. He said when they made those changes that meant that we had to
go back out because the lines had shifted and we had to do some work that we
had already completed. He said when they make a change at the Georgia
Department of Transportation it changes something that our people has to go
back out and do, which causes a setback.
He said our people had projected that they would be completed by the end
of the year, but said they will not be able to meet that timeline because of
the changes at the Department of Transportation.
Deputy City Manager Arrington said there are only about three parcels that
we are not well into the acquisition phase on, but said there are several
elements to acquiring the property and said we are making progress on this
matter.
He said for the past year, the Mayor has frequently asked for updates and
said they have had meetings with their board member in the Mayor?s office, as
well as the Interim Commissioner and every time they have an opportunity to
talk with the new Department of Transportation Commissioner, Mr. Smith they
have mentioned that this is a high priority for our community.
Councilor Davis said he think it is important to give this update to let
the citizens know where we are on this project, as it has taken some time and
what he understands is that there has been a lot of contributing factors that
has delayed this project. He said he thinks that everyone is aware of the
restructuring of the Georgia Department of Transportation, but he wasn?t aware
of the engineering change. He said this is a project that we don?t have control
over, but said one of the good things that the citizens were in support of was
taking the initiative to complete some of these road projects and building our
infrastructure and they choose to do so in the form of voting in support of the
Local Option Sales Tax.
In responding to further concerns of Councilor Davis as to when
construction may begin on this project, Deputy City Manager Arrington said as
soon as they certify right-of-way, and said it is certainly contingent upon the
State budget. He said what they are able to fund from one day to the next
changes based on the availability of State funds, but said the plan is that
next spring they should have let the project and be under construction.
Deputy City Manager Arrington said there were a number of projects that
were proposed to be funded in future years, but said when they changed the way
they do business at the Department of Transportation a lot of that went away
and said it is now on a cash basis.
City Manager Hugley also said that some projects that we had funded, which
was funded by the Department of Transportation the money was taken away and was
replaced with stimulus money.
Councilor McDaniel said he was under the impression that when they funded
something that was it. City Manager Hugley said they funded projects, but when
they went through this crisis we received a letter saying that if there weren?t
projects already actively moving forward, they de-funded them.
Deputy City Manager Arrington said he thinks that was a funding commitment
that funding in future years assuming all things equal; however, we know all
things weren?t equal as the economy turned, they had some accounting
irregularities at the Department of Transportation and a lot of things changed
that affected the commitments to funding projects that they had made in prior
years. He said he is not saying that they have de-funded this project, but that
is the only variable that he would hesitate in making a commitment on in
getting the money.
*** *** ***
PRESENTATIONS DELAYED:
City Manager Hugley said he would like to delay the presentation on the
Enterprise Zone, as well as the update on Ft. Benning Road Streetscape project
until a later date. There were no objections.
*** ***
***
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
City Manager Hugley said he would like to have an executive session to
discuss a personnel matter, as well as property acquisition.
Councilor McDaniel so moved. Seconded by Councilor Henderson and carried
unanimously by those seven members of Council still present at the time, with
Councilors Allen, Hunter and Woodson being absent for this vote.
*** *** ***
At 12:00 noon, the regular session was adjourned to allow the Council to
go into an executive session to discuss a personnel matter, as well as a
property acquisition matter.
The meeting was called back to order at 12:55 p.m. at which time Mayor
Wetherington pointed out that an executive session was held to discuss those
two issues as outlined above, but there were no votes taken.
*** *** ***
TRAFFIC CALMING DEVICES:
Councilor Barnes said as the Mayor is always saying, we have a good
government but said that we can always do better. He said when it comes to the
speeding traffic we can do better by improving the process. He said in
September 2008, the residents called him, as they were having problems with
speeding on Lamore Drive and said that he went out there and visually saw a
couple of times himself where people were speeding.
He said he told the residents to interface with the Traffic Engineering
Department, which they did. He said they gave them the survey, which he doesn?t
think that we should task our citizens with doing; however, he said they did
complete the survey and returned it back on October 7, 2008.
Councilor Barnes then went into some details highlighting days, which says
these things are still in progress. He said then in August he went to the
Citizens Service Center to ask for an update to see what was going on because
during this time, the people were asking him what?s going on. He said every
time he goes out there, he sees people speeding.
Councilor Barnes said three weeks ago, they called him again because a car
in that same location he had witnessed the people speeding almost hit a little
girl. He said when the citizens calls the Citizens Service Center they are
looking for help and when they call us, the elected officials, they are
definitely looking for something to be done. Therefore, he would like for some
of the councilors to get with the Traffic Engineer so that we can take a
re-look at the process and how we handle this. He said we, as elected officials
are directly responsive to the people
He said a Mr. McGruder came before this Council to inform the Council of
the speeding problem and only after that time, and after they had an accident
there, did they go out and put up the directional signs. He said he would like
for us to look at how we conduct business.
City Manager Hugley said the buck stops with him and said he accepts
full responsible with whatever the concern is and said if Councilor Barnes
wants to talk with him, that?s fine and he will deal with his engineers.
He said he would be happy to bring the process to the Council and outline it
for you and if there is something about the process that we need to change, we
can change it. He said he doesn?t have a problem with changing it.
Councilor Barnes said they did come before us and made a presentation and
went through the process with us. He said that is when he brought up the fact
about the survey and said personally, the survey was distasteful to him because
a lot of time conducting that survey served as an impediment because a lot of
people don?t have the time to do a survey. He said he would like for us to sit
down and look at the process.
*** *** ***
TEXTING IN SCHOOL ZONES:
City Manager Hugley said that they would do that. He said he will bring
the process back and will outline what he believes is going to be an improved
process with the Global Connect and this telephonic survey.
*** *** ***
In responding to a question of Councilor Henderson, City Manager Hugley
said he had a conversation with State Representative Carolyn after our
Legislative Session and she saw the information on texting and said she
indicated her indication to introduce legislation that would prohibit texting
in such in school zones.
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NOTE: Councilor McDaniel left at this point in the proceedings, with the
time being 1:05 p.m.
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With there being no other business to come before the Council, Mayor Pro
Tem Turner Pugh then made a motion for adjournment. Seconded by Councilor
Henderson and carried unanimously by those six members of Council present at
the time, with Councilors Allen, Hunter, McDaniel and Woodson being absent for
this vote, with the time being 1:09 p.m.
*** *** ***
Tiny B. Washington, CMC
Clerk of Council
The Council of Columbus, Georgia
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