MINUTES
COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA
REGULAR SESSION
JUNE 25, 2013

A meeting of the Council of Columbus, Georgia was called to order at 5:33 P.M., Tuesday, June 25, 2013, on the Plaza Level of the Government Center, Columbus, Georgia. Honorable Teresa Pike Tomlinson, Mayor and Honorable Evelyn Turner Pugh, Mayor Pro Tem, presiding.

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PRESENT: Present other than Mayor Tomlinson and Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh were Councilors Mike Baker, Jerry “Pops” Barnes, Glenn Davis, Berry H. Henderson, Judy W. Thomas and Evelyn Woodson. City Manager Isaiah Hugley, City Attorney Clifton Fay, Clerk of Council Tiny B. Washington and Deputy Clerk Sandra Davis were also present. Councilor Bruce Huff took his seat at the Council table at 5:32 p.m. Councilor R. Gary Allen took his seat at the Council table at 5:33 p.m.
----------------------------------------*** *** ***-------------------------------------ABSENT: Councilor Charles E. McDaniel, Jr. was also absent.

----------------------------------------*** *** ***-------------------------------------INVOCATION: Led by Pastor David Lix- Liberty Baptist Church.

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PLEDGE: Led by Girl Scouts Troop 50211.

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FORT BENNING’S THIRD BRIGADE:

Mayor Tomlinson said we have just learned that Columbus, Georgia will keep the 3rd Brigade and said that we will be adding some troop positions. She said it is a fairly minor number of positions, 76 will be added. She said this is good news indeed and said she would like to commend the community because the citizens came out in support of this matter. She said they wrote their elected officials, as well as the Federal delegation was instrumental in this and many Councilors members were heard on this matter as well. She said our Chamber of Commerce, as well as our partners in education, the school board all came out in support of our Fort Benning troops.

She said the Federal taxpayers, the local taxpayers who have put in $3.5 billion into Fort Benning and its growth there know now that growth will be optimized. She said we don’t want to be too overly optimistic and want to enjoy the good news that we have received today, but said we are certainly well positioned to get future growth as the army continues to restructure with this downsizing and sequester and possibly some choices they have to make in the future. She said we have the newest army base because of BRAC growth and said we will certainly be arguing that are well positioned to get any future reassessment and reassignment of other brigades.
----------------------------------------*** *** ***-------------------------------------MAYOR’S AGENDA:

CRIME PREVENTION GRANTS - EXTENSION:

The Crime Prevention Department has four grants that are internal (Boxwood Recreation Center, Junior Marshal Program, Copper Theft, and Juvenile Drug Court) that are due to expire at the end of the fiscal year. A grant extension will be required for these entities to be able to continue their programs and utilize the remaining awarded funds.

Mayor Tomlinson said this is needed for accounting purposes before the close of the year. She said not all of the monies in a particular grant or a few grants have been paid out because it has been very fiscally prudent in how those monies were distributed. She then called Mr. Seth Brown to come forward to state what the needs are.

Mr. Seth Brown said these four grant recipients have done an amazing job of minding the money only using it when they needed to. He said we are at the end of the cycle and they all have money left over. He said this money was awarded by the Council during this fiscal year and said he and Finance Director Pam Hodge have met and said they don’t want to take the money from them and said we will need an approval from the Council to extend those funds.

City Attorney Fay, in response to the Mayor said the contract grant extensions will be placed on the July 9th Council agenda. He said the new contracts will be effective July 1st.
----------------------------------------*** *** ***------------------------------------CITY MANAGER'S AGENDA:

WITH SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE JOHN ALLEN STANDING AT THE COUNCIL TABLE, THE FOLLOWING ADD-ON RESOUTION WAS CALLED UP BY COUNCILOR DAVIS AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL: ____________________________________________ __

A Resolution (214-13) – Authorizing the submission of an application, and if approved, accept $156,535 with no matching funds from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council for the operation of the Muscogee County Veterans Treatment Court, from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014 and amend the Multi-governmental Fund by the amount awarded.

Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh moved the adoption of the resolution. Seconded by Councilor Barnes and carried unanimously by those nine members of Council present for this meeting, with Councilor McDaniel being absent.
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NOTE: The City Manager’s Agenda is continued below.

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CITY ATTORNEY'S AGENDA

THE FOLLOWING TWO ORDINANCES WERE SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY ATTORNEY FAY AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL ON SECOND READING: _____________________________

An Ordinance (13-30) – Providing for the establishment of taxing districts, including a county-wide general services district and three (3) urban services districts and three (3) Business Improvement Districts (BID); providing for the levy, assessment, and collection of taxes for Columbus, Georgia within such districts for the year 2013 as provided under the Charter of the Consolidated Government of Columbus, Georgia; providing penalties for violations of the provisions of said ordinance; and for other purposes.

Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh moved the adoption of the resolution. Seconded by Councilor Woodson and carried unanimously by those nine members of Council present for this meeting, with Councilor McDaniel being absent.

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An Ordinance (13-31) – Providing for the levy, assessment, and collection of taxes for the public school system of Columbus, Georgia; and for other purposes.

Councilor Woodson moved the adoption of the resolution. Seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh and carried unanimously by those nine members of Council present with Councilor McDaniel being absent for this vote.

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THE FOLLOWING FOUR ORDINANCES WERE ALSO SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY ATTORNEY FAY AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL ON SECOND READING UPON THE ADOPTION OF A SINGLE MOTION MADE BY COUNCILOR WOODSON AND SECONDED BY MAYOR PRO TEM TURNER PUGH, WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE NINE MEMBERS OF COUNCIL PRESENT FOR THIS MEETING, WITH COUNCILOR MCDANIEL BEING ABSENT:_______________________________________________________

An Ordinance (13-32) – Providing for contributions to the Columbus, Georgia General Government Employees’ Pension Plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013. An Ordinance (13-33) – Providing for the contributions to the Columbus, Georgia Pension Plan for employees of the Department of Public Safety for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013. An Ordinance (13-34) – Providing for Government funding of a Major Disability Income Plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013. An Ordinance (13-35) – Providing for Government funding of a Death Benefit Escrow for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013.

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THE FOLLOWING ORDINANCE, WAS SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY ATTORNEY FAY AND AFTER MUCH DISCUSSION WAS THEN PUT BACK ON FIRST READING AT THE COUNCIL’S REQUEST:________________________________________

An Ordinance – Requiring elected officials and all departments of the consolidated government to seek Council approval for expenditures exceeding budgeted appropriations.
THE FOLLOWING ORDINANCE WAS ALSO SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY ATTORNEY FAY AND AFTER MUCH DISCUSSION WAS THEN AMENDED AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL:______________________________________________________ An Ordinance (13-36) – Amending Section 20-13.11 to create an additional parking management district; and for other purposes. *** *** ***

THE FOLLOWING ZONING ORDINANACE WAS SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY ATTORNEY FAY AND A PUBLIC HEARING WAS HELD AS ADVERTISED:_______________________________ _______

An Ordinance – Rezoning property located at 2828 Warm Springs Road from an SFR2 (Single Family Residential 2) to NC (Neighborhood Commercial) The purpose of the rezoning is to for a parking lot for office.

PROPONENTS & OPPONENTS:

The petitioner was present, but did not make a presentation, as there was no one present to oppose this proposed rezoning ordinance.
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PUBLIC AGENDA

MR. PAUL OLSON, RE: INTEGRATED WASTE FUND FEE INCREASE, PUBLIC SAFETY CUTS/OLOST SALES TAX, RESOLUTION NUMBER 343-09, OPERATIONAL COSTS FOR WHITE ELEPHANT PROJECTS & RECYCLING PLANT:________________________________ Mr. Paul Olson, who was scheduled to appear on the Council’s Public Agenda to speak to the following subject matters, as listed below, cancelled his scheduled appearance before the Council on tonight. Re: Integrated Waste Fund fee increase (2) Public Safety cuts / OLOST sales tax (3) Resolution #343-09 (4) Operational costs for white elephant projects (5) Recycling Plant.

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MR. TOLLIE STRODE, RE: BUDGET RECOMMENDATION:

Mr. Tollie Strode, appeared before the Council and outlined several suggestions to the Mayor and Council, which he stated were Budget recommendations.
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CITY MANAGER'S AGENDA’S AGENDA CONTINUED:

THE FOLLOWING TWO RESOLUTIONS WERE SUMBITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY MANAGER HUGLEY AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL:_____ ____________

A Resolution (215-13) – Authorizing the execute a Memorandum of Understanding with Columbus Housing Initiative, Inc., D/B/A Neighbor Works Columbus to initiate the FY14 Down payment Assistance Partner Program. Neighbor Works through a financial allocation from Community Development Financial Institution Fund, will allocate $250,000 to the City's down payment assistance program to provide funds for down payment assistance. The program will offer up to $10,000 in down payment assistance to low income households in Columbus.

Councilor Woodson moved the adoption of the resolution. Seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh and carried unanimously by those nine members of Council present for this meeting, with Councilor McDaniel being absent.

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A Resolution (216-13) – Authorizing the acceptance of a deed to 0.207 acres adjacent to old Double Churches Road for additional right-of-way for future road improvements per Section 7.4.3 of the Unified Development Ordinance.

Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh moved the adoption of the resolution. Seconded by Councilor Allen and carried unanimously by those nine members of Council present for this meeting, with Councilor McDaniel being absent.

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THE FOLLOWING TWO PURCHASING RESOLUTIONS WERE SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CITY MANAGER HUGLEY AND ADOPTED BY COUNCIL PURSUANT TO THE ADOPTION OF A SINGLE MOTION MADE BY COUNCILOR WOODSON AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ALLEN, WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE NINE MEMBERS OF COUNCIL PRESENT FOR THIS MEETING, WITH COUNCILOR MCDANIEL BEING ABSENT:

A Resolution (217-13) – Authorizing the approval to purchase uniforms from All American Uniforms (Columbus, GA), on an “as needed basis”, for the estimated annual contract value of $892,397.00. The uniforms will be utilized by the following Public Safety Departments: Police, Sheriff, Marshal, Muscogee County Prison, and Fire/EMS. The contract period shall be for two years, with the option to renew for three additional twelve-month periods. Contract renewal will be contingent upon the mutual agreement of the City and the Contractor. A Resolution (218-13) – Authorizing the approval to purchase a software upgrade to the patient care software from Image Trend, Inc., (Lakeville, MN) in the amount of $44,220.00, plus the annual maintenance fee (after the first year) in the amount of $6,220.00

Per Resolution #216-12, Council approved the purchase of patient care software from Image Trend, Inc., for the Fire and EMS Department. The software upgrade Fire and EMS wishes to purchase at this time will work directly with the software previously purchased. The new module upgrades will allow the department to have one company that offers an all in one program providing a system with powerful fire and EMS modules working together to facilitate data collection, analysis and reporting. EMS and fire data can be collected separately for incidents requiring only one type of reporting, or can be collected in two associated reports that will copy shared data to reduce entry time for incidents involving both types of data. The Fire Investigations module allows the department to enter and track investigation records in Image Trend’s Fire Bridge or Rescue Bridge module, from completing standard forms to adding photographs or documents to be associated with the investigation. Any investigation report entered into Fire Bridge or Rescue Bridge can be associated with an NFIRS (National Fire Incident Reporting System) report, allowing the department to quickly see important data related to a specific occupant or property. The scheduler module integrates with the Image Trend EMS Service Bridge™, State Bridge™ or Rescue Bridge™ software to populate NFIRS reports with vehicles and personnel based on scheduling at the time of the call. It also works with schedules for investigations or inspections to view the department’s full schedule at a glance without having to launch separate modules. These are just a few things the software will allow the department to accomplish.

*** *** *** for the Mayor and Council and pointed out additional information. FINANCE MONTHLY REPORT - MAY: Finance Update for the month of May 2013.
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CLERK OF COUNCIL’S AGENDA:

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WERE SUBMITTED AS INFORMATON TO THE MAYOR & COUNCIL BY CLERK OF COUNCIL WASHINGTON:_________________________________________________

(1) Biographical Sketch of Dr. William Roundtree, Councilor Huff’s nominee to replace Mr. Neill Hatcher on the Golf Authority.

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THE FOLLOWING TWO RESOLUTIONS WERE SUBMITTED AND EXPLAINED BY CLERK OF COUNCIL WASHINGTON AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCI:__________________ _________ __

A Resolution (219-13) – Excusing Councilor Glenn Davis from the June 18, 2013 Council Meeting.

A Resolution (220-13) – Excusing Councilor Charles E. McDaniel, Jr. from the
June 18, 2013 Council Meeting.

Councilor Henderson moved the adoption of the resolutions. Seconded by
Councilor Allen and carried unanimously by those nine members of Council
present for this meeting, with Councilor McDaniel being absent.

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KEEP COLUMBUS BEAUTIFUL COMMISSION:

Clerk of Council Washington submitted a letter from Mr. Robert Nobles
resigning from his position on the Keep Columbus Beautiful Commission.
Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh moved the letter be received with regrets and thanks
for his service. Seconded by Councilor Allen and carried unanimously by those
nine members of Council present for this meeting, with Councilor McDaniel being
absent.

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MINUTES OF THE FOLLOWING BOARDS WERE SUBMITTED BY CLERK OF COUNCIL WASHINGTON AND OFFICIALLY RECEIVED BY THE COUNCIL: ____________________________________________ ____

Board of Tax Assessors, Nos. 20-13 & 21-13.
Civic Center Advisory Board, May 16, 2013.
Convention & Visitors Bureau, May 15, 2013.
Family & Children Services Board, May 8, 2013.
Recreation Advisory Board, May 22, 2013.
Region Six Regional Planning Board, May 8, 2013.

Councilor Allen made a motion that these minutes are received Seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh and carried unanimously by those nine members of Council present for this meeting, with Councilor McDaniel being absent.

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BOARD OF WATER COMMISSIONERS:

Clerk of Council Washington pointed out we have two nominees for the position of Mr. J. Philip Thayer, whose term of office will expire on December 31, 2013, but pursuant to State law must be filled in July. She said the nominees are Mr. Lamar Barnett and Mr. Reynolds Bickerstaff

She then took a roll call vote, which resulted in Mr. Reynolds Bickerstaff being elected by a 7 – 2 vote. Voting for Mr. Barnett was Councilor Huff and Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh. Voting for Mr. Bickerstaff were Councilors Allen, Baker, Barnes, Davis, Henderson, McDaniel and Thomas.

Councilor Henderson then made a motion that Mr. Bickerstaff be confirmed. Seconded by Councilor Barnes and carried unanimously by those nine members of Council present for this meeting, with Councilor McDaniel being absent.

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COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS & CULTURAL LIAISON ENCOUNTERS (C.I.R.C.L.E):______________________________

Clerk of Council Washington pointed out that Mr. Sudhir Patel does not want to serve another term of office; therefore, the Council will need to nominate someone to fill this term, which expired on March 1, 2013. Councilor Huff then nominated Ms. Rose Spencer.

Clerk of Council Washington said she would bring this back at the next meeting for confirmation.

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GOLF COURSE AUTHORITY:

Clerk of Council Washington pointed out that Councilor Huff is nominating
Dr. William Roundtree for the position of Mr. Neill Hatcher that has been declared vacant by the Council due to his lack of attendance. She further pointed out that Councilor McDaniel is nominating Mr. Sam Warren for this same position and that she will bring it back next week for a vote of the Council.

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EMPLOYEES’ PENSION BOARD OF TRUSTEES:

Clerk of Council Washington pointed out that the term of office of Ms. Susan Lathan, on the Employee’s Pension Board of Trustees will expire on June 30, 2013 and further pointed out that she represents the general government employees. She also pointed out that this is the City Manager’s appointment and he is reappointing Ms. Lathan for another term of office and that she may now be confirmed. Councilor Henderson so moved. Seconded by Councilor Allen and carried unanimously by those nine members of Council present for this meeting, with Councilor McDaniel being absent.

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KEEP COLUMBUS BEAUTIFUL COMMISSION:

Clerk of Council Washington pointed out that the Council will need to nominate someone to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Robert Nobles’s at-large position on the Keep Columbus Beautiful Commission as he was appointed to serve on another board. There were no nominations.

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PUBLIC SAFETY ADVISORY COMMISSION:

Clerk of Council Washington pointed out that Councilor Allen is nominating Mr. Roger Lamar Beck, Sr., to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Greg Wagner, as his
Council District Six represented to replace Mr. Wagner who was appointed to serve on another board. She pointed out that he may now be confirmed. Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh so moved. Seconded by Councilor Woodson and carried unanimously by those nine members of Council present for this meeting, with Councilor McDaniel being absent.

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FINAL COUNCIL MEETING:

Councilor Thomas noted that this will be our last official business meeting that we will be holding in this Council Chambers as a Council. She said we will be moving to the new facility for our next meeting. She said Council has been held in this building since 1971 and in this particular Council Chambers for a long time.

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HOLIDAY CLOSINGS:

Councilor Woodson noted that the Government will be closed on July 4th & 5th so that the citizens will be aware of it.

With there being no other business to come before the Council, Mayor Tomlinson then entertained a motion for adjournment. Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh so moved. Seconded by Councilor Allen and carried unanimously by those nine members of Council present for this meeting, with Councilor McDaniel being absent, with the time of adjournment being 7:58 p.m.


Tiny B. Washington, MMC
Clerk of Council
The Council of Columbus, Georgia