 Patience, Madam clerk, could you please call the roll? Certainly, good afternoon. Mr. Brennan. Present. Mr. Rickerman. Thank you. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Present. Mr. Vine. Here. Mr. Davis. Here. Mayor Benjamin. I'm here. Everyone please stand and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance. And to the republic for which it stands, one nation, one god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I can't wait to get back to normal and have some Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts in here, leading us in the pledge at some point. Red McDowell, would you bless us with a word please, brother? Yes. Thank you. That is great. For the beauty of this day and for those who have gathered here, sensing and feeling the beauty of this hour, we ask Lord that you might be with us as we deliberate. We ask as this city continues to grow and find purpose in it, we pray that you might touch us individually and collectively, sensitizing us to your purpose, to your spirit and to your will. We ask it in your son's name. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Probably going to, we'll have it marked as action. Okay. So is there a motion to adopt the agenda? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? Seeing none, we'll move the previous question. Call the roll. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. Rickerman. Mr. McVowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mr. Vine. Aye. Mr. Davis. Aye. Mayor Benjamin. Aye. All right. MC Benjamin. Yes. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? Move the previous question. Call the roll. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. McVowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mr. Vine. Aye. Mr. Davis. Aye. Mayor Benjamin. Aye. All right. MC Benjamin. Yes. Yes. Mr. Benjamin. I don't know if you want to hold a COVID update and take care of presentations. I think we sometimes do that. Would you like to do that, Mayor, today? Sure. Why don't we do that? Why don't we do that? And then we'll take out the COVID update immediately thereafter before the consent agenda. Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir. And we have two that we have on the agenda. And I know Mayor Benjamin, you also wanted to update Council on this wonderful press conference that we just attended with you. Yes, ma'am. I don't know if you wanted me to do the other two first, or... I defer to you. Okay. Sure. Let's go ahead and take care of this wonderful item number three, Resolution Number 2021-118, approving the honorary naming of the Hyatt Park Pavilion located at 950 Jackson Avenue, the Mary G. Thurman Pavilion. And I know that Ms. Thurman's sister is with us, our wonderful Parks and Recreation team members. I'm not sure if Assistant City Manager Simon's is going to help facilitate, but Mary was just a jewel to us in the city. And we certainly miss her. And I know all of the young people who frequent Hyatt Park miss her just as much. Oh, we are so excited. I will tell you, everything's still under development. The history, I guess, of the historic pavilion that was once there many moons ago, there are some bold development happening at Hyatt Park. And we're so thankful to the collective leadership of Council and certainly the constant leadership of Mr. Davis. And it's a wonderful legacy. I'd like to read this resolution if you'd indulge me. Whereas Mary G. Thurman was born and raised in Pelzer, South Carolina, she was a graduate of Widmont High School in Piedmont, where she was a stellar athlete in both basketball and volleyball. She received an athletic scholarship and graduated from South Carolina State University with a degree in physical education. She was also a gifted musician and singer as she performed as a pianist and organist for her church. And whereas Mary G. Thurman was formerly employed by Hope Worldwide for 20 years as Executive Director, and she continued her service with Hope Worldwide as a volunteer, serving as South Carolina Chapter Representative since 2016. And whereas Mary G. Thurman joined State of Columbia Parks and Recreation in 2013 as a Recreation Coordinator and brought dozens of programs at Hyatt Park's Lyra Moss Community Center. Her mission was to get the community involved and she was able to achieve her goal with many programs and touch the lives of countless children, seniors and families and was instrumental in providing outstanding services to the Hyatt Park, Keenan Terrace neighborhood. And whereas Mary G. Thurman brought forth many programs that benefited her community such as the Thanksgiving Food Drive, Christmas Toy Drive, Saturday Academy, Cooking Matters, Shoes Giveaway, and a Vita attack service just to name a few with her most endearing programs close to her heart was a partnership with the Education Outreach Program and Midland's Youth Capture, the colorful Cosmos Wide CCC. Now therefore be it resolved this ninth day of November 2021 that the Mayor and City Council of Columbia hereby approve the honorary naming of the Hyatt Park Pavilion Park located at 951 Jackson Avenue, name it Mary G. Thurman Pavilion. The design and color of the honorary sign shall be subject to the approval of the Director of Public Works. All right. Is there a motion? Is there a second? Second. Motion by Mr. Davis, second by Ms. Devine. Any further discussion? Move the previous question. Mr. Vernon? Yes. Mr. Rickman? Aye. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mr. Devine? Aye. Mr. Davis? Aye. Mayor Benjamin? Aye. Thank you. All right. I know that we lost Mary early this year, February of this year. And as you read, Mary was a pillar for Hyatt Park, especially with her seniors. She loved her seniors. And Mary had a special way of touching the lives of our youth as well as her staff. She really impacted her staff. So we have something that we're going to present to her sister, Ms. Eula Duncan that's with us today. I'm going to read it and I want to allow her to make a few comments as well. It reads, in honor of Mary G. Thurman, recreation coordinator, 2013 to 2021, the city of Columbia dedicates Hyatt Park provision to a true pillar and inspiration to the community reminding us of the lives she touched throughout her time with us. And thank you to Ken and Brian, our deputy director that's with us, Kerry Rich, our superintendent, and also Todd Martin, project manager that's here from the recreation department. Also Randy Davis, our director of parks and recreation in his absence. He is not here today. But we thank you for this opportunity. Thank you. Thank you so much. I am elated. And driving down today was kind of emotional for me because there's so many landmarks and just so many memories coming to visit Mary. But she was a woman of excellence who is really she's gone too soon. And I know you miss her. We miss her even more. But not going to be able to do this. But I just want to say on behalf of my family, I just say thank you. She really deserved this. And I'm so appreciative to all of you. Thank you so much. She loved all of you. And just about everybody she met she left an impact on them. So she was just that kind of person. And we love her. And I'm just so happy to know that you loved her as much as you do because of what you've done here today. Thank you. And the team. Thank you all so much for that. Mary represented the very best of us. And I'll tell you, we also had an opportunity today to really highlight some of the strides that we've made in public safety in this city over the last several years under leadership of Chief Holbrook and Deputy Chief Kelly and their command staff and the men and women who run towards danger when the rest of us run in the opposite direction. The press conference we had earlier just really wanted to highlight the amazing work being done at the emergency operation center under Director Tinsley, the real-time crime center and how just good old-fashioned policing that helps build the ties that bind in the community representing the responsible leadership, accountable leadership, transparent leadership, and you take that and you lever up technology as a force multiplier showing people what you can get done. I mentioned at the press conference earlier, and I think I mentioned to me previously I had an opportunity to participate in the Washington Post panel early this year in which two cities, two mayors were selected to present. And I asked why I was there and they commented that the police executive research forum highlighted Columbia, South Carolina as one of the few major cities in the country over 1919 to 2020 as the pandemic raged across the country and we saw crime go up, we saw homicides and violent crime go down in the city. It doesn't just happen. It happens because you have men and women who are doing the heavy lifting and the very thoughtful precision policing that Chief Holbrook and Deputy Chief Kelly and their team had evidenced. It was important that we highlight all the great work being done at the EOC and the Real-Time Crime Center. I hope it's covered the way in which the information was presented. It's also notable that gun homicides are down 31% in Columbia this year. Still too many guns in the street, still too much going on, but our men and women in blue are doing their jobs and doing it well. I'm going to defer to the city manager at this point. Mayor Benjamin, it couldn't have been more timely today for you. And I know you wanted to do that a long time. You and I have talked about highlighting the successes of the department and recognizing this path that we are certainly going down to utilize technology to compliment Chief Holbrook's focus on 21st century policing and community policing. And so when finally the time came today for our schedules to align and us to get the press conference done to highlight those efforts, it was not lost on me that there's also something else that you and the council and I have talked about doing for a long time to recognize the tenure truly and accomplishments of our chief and our deputy chief. And so I would like them both to come forward. It's very difficult to do anything to surprise these two gentlemen. It's even difficult to get deputy chief to leave his desk and come to Leslie Street today because he's just so busy after the press conference. But as they come forward, because my grandmother always told me that you recognize people and give them their flowers while they are due and they are with us. We today for their stellar leadership during some very trying times of the pandemic, periods of social unrest, for all of the period of things that we have expressed and we've seen firsthand in that EOC today, the leadership that's being exhibited. Today we salute them both. And it is time to present them with their course and third stars on a mission. I mean this has been, I felt like Wonder Woman or something trying to get this done. I want to thank Ms. Perlina and Michelle and Fund for their grace, how gracious they are to help Major Drafts, Jennifer, everybody who assisted to pull this off, but it's time. I'm going to ask Michelle to help with the fourth star, the fourth star for our chief. I don't know if I can get it open. And first. Now chief lighting's probably not how it works. You know, take our time and give it to the white. I'm alright. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No, I'm sorry. 22, 23 years in 2022 started as a net four. I mean, this man has, how many years in the profession team? Thirty. Thirty years in the profession, you know, we are so thrilled to be here, and the Holy leadership team and the Holy Department, thank you for every sacrifice and your family's sacrifice. I don't know what to say really. I take zero credit for any of these accomplishments. It's because of the man behind me and the staff that's here. We've persevered through some of the most challenging times that our profession has experienced and we were you know we were not immune to that here and it's you know it's professional police officers leadership confidence and selecting me thank you never received so many calls to come to council meeting as soon as possible I didn't know about the fourth call I knew something was up but I've said it before and I'll say it again we are we're a spoke on the wheel that keeps this city turning and so very proud to be a part of that wheel and no matter what time it is what day of the week it is we're always committed to put in the city at the forefront family is very important to all of us we're so fortunate to have family that supports us I will say that in parting that we will miss some of the things that will happen as the council this council term towards the end I I was jokingly saying to a friend of mine a certain councilman recalls me late at night saying bad words and how close he and I have grown to be Sam Davis but relationships like that you can't replace and it becomes not work but a way of life and we just thank each and every one of you so much but most like to thank the men and women who are out there right now patrolling the Columbia we're investigating those crimes and making the city better so thank you for what you've done for us and what you continue to do but for the men and women who are out there continue to do what they do thank them as well thank you I'll tell you as many of you get around the country as I've had the privilege of doing you will not find two finer lawmen and it's a unique privilege to have both of them in the same city same time leading our police department yes ma'am you better go get you you better go get your primate I don't I don't put them in that situation if you don't know where I stand on police by now you got a problem the only thing I see is Laura Ludge all right and um that was pretty cool ma'am city manager very good we did have one other presentation much of your heart is your microphone I can't hear you too well yes sir it's on can you hear me would you like to go to Arbor Day sir sure and who's gonna receive this probably Robert Sarah and Caleb I see him I see him back there now we have the Arbor Day 2021 proclamation the Honorable Mayor Stephen K. Bishop was an 1872 J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture a special day he set aside for the planting of trees and whereas this holiday called Arbor Day was first observed with the planting of more than one million trees in Nebraska whereas Arbor Day is now observed throughout the world whereas trees are renewable source give us paper, wood for our homes, fuel for our fires and beauty wherever they exist and whereas trees can reduce the erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce life-giving oxygen and provide habitat for wildlife and whereas whatever they have planted trees are a source of joy and spiritual renewal now therefore I, Stephen K. Benjamin, Mayor of the City of Columbia one of my fellow members of Columbia City Council do hereby proclaim December 3rd, 2021 to be Arbor Day in the great City of Columbia and urge our fellow citizens to recognize and participate in the observance this of course will be our last meeting before the end of the month Caleb, thank you Sarah and I guess Robert I still owe Robert a little bit of payback whole another story but your entire team for your incredible leadership across the city making sure the city remains beautiful I know several members are passionate about that Ms. Duvall and others and just thank you for your leadership Thank you Is there a motion? So moved Is there a second? I move I'm moving seconded Ms. Duvall and Mr. Duvall I'll move to the previous question I'll call her up Mr. Vernon Yes Mr. Rickerman Hi Mr. McDowell Hi Mr. Vaughn Hi Mr. Davis Hi Mayor Benjamin Hi Thank you Thank you guys for having me Again, Arbor Day is special to the Forestry Division as you guys know it is tree planting time in the City of Columbia so we plant 500 trees every year we methodically look at all the locations throughout town that need a tree planted at them and I just love this time of year as it's a time to look to the future as to what our urban canopy could look like in the future and so it's always a great time we're also working with Keep the Midlands Beautiful this year as they won an Arbor Day grant and so they're actually helping plant 50 of those 500 trees so we're excited as we've got to teach them how to plant and they're getting involved as well so again we're excited for another successful planting season and I'm excited that we're being honored here and keeping Arbor Day going again we're applying for our 43rd year of Arbor Day well the Tree City USA so again excited to have that as part of our city Our Benjamin takes his seat we will move into our City Council discussion action item which is related as usual to the COVID-19 update Mayor Benjamin will start us off and of course we'll have a situational report by Mr. Harry Tinsley, Emergency Management Director Sure, Harry's done such a great job keeping us in the loop of trends and seeing how we've been managing COVID in this city I am particularly proud as I've expressed to City Manager and her team earlier of the fact that it's often we look at the glasses being half empty and not half full and our glass as it relates to COVID acceptance vaccination acceptance amongst our city employees has been exceptional I think we're at 81% for our employees and 3% more who have been partially vaccinated so we are so you think about places that have a very high vaccination rate like New York City we have a higher vaccination rate amongst our employees in the city of New York, higher than the state, higher than the county we're going in the right direction because of the leadership of our staff in this council I'm just going to walk through because we're never going to have some discussion and potentially some action on to this item right now and might invite you up Director Tinsley as well to grab the microphone but we're watching a dramatic decrease in the rate of cases for 100,000 individuals who's got the ticket, let's move to the next slide testing of course is down as well you know percent positive rate previous day 3.8% well below what we wanted to see early on obviously in the pandemic we expected different types of activities to occur the numbers always been 5% over a multi-week period again we're seeing numbers that are good and we're very happy about that keep on going we're also seeing after seeing a spike in deaths we've seen a significant deceleration still one is too many but again we've seen some significant improvement in that area hospitalizations down significantly particularly happy the fact that children are not being hospitalized at the rate at which they were early on down significantly I see hospitalizations the same the last one and of course those COVID-19 patients on ventilators I know that we actually had some discussion last meeting the last time we renewed the ordinance around masking as to how long we would do it we're seeing some fantastic trends it's important that and I would say this again to everyone within the sound of other ways that you get vaccinated if in fact you catch the virus your success rate beating it goes up dramatically still it's good to see that masking and social distancing and sanitizing techniques that were not necessarily a part of our everyday activities are becoming part and parcel as the how we live going forward and that's very encouraging get vaccinated if you're feeling sick keep your space and keep your distance from others again very thankful and this council is very thankful and proud of our team we want to see that number as close to 100 as possible but we are pushing back and being the odds here I do want to take this after a sit rep from director Tinsley although I've stolen all his slides if you want to share some other information I'm going to use this as an opportunity to make a motion that immediately we cease the enforcement of the mask ordinance in Columbia understanding that the prohibition that the requirement to continue masking in city-owned buildings will remain intact I have a motion that I would like to make at the appropriate time but we'll be making that motion at the end of director Tinsley's comments and obviously we'll have all council have a chance to have input as well please thank you Mr. Mayor good afternoon members of council Madam City Manager so just as the mayor has alluded to on some of the data sets there on the seven key indicators that we look for to determine community spread or burden of COVID we are trending in those seven indicators in the right direction and forecast models right now are showing that we will continue to trend in that direction for the next several weeks so we are moving back into a good direction I will give you a quick update on vaccine clinics we are partnering with Prisma Health will be hosting a mobile vaccination clinic at our Vista Lights annual holiday festival on November 18th that will be all this information is on our website as well and our Resilient Columbia and it's also communicated throughout our social media through our PR department 1200 block of Lincoln Street near the blue Marley we'll have a mobile clinic set up from 4.30 to 9.00 p.m. also we continue to roll out the clinics at our parks, Hyatt Park on the 10th from 1 to 5 on the 17th, this is this month, the 17th from 1 to 5 Melrose Park the 24th of November that will be from 1 to 5 and then Woodland Park on the 30th of November from 1 to 5 and we continue to work with our partners to make sure we have that capacity also our testing at 2221 Devine Street is daily from 9 to 4 we still do that location just some real quick assessment on the data as reported out through DHEC today our case count for our state stands at 724,601 those are confirmed case counts you'll notice our I wasn't at the last meeting because I had to attend a function but on October 5th at our meeting we were 33,000 a little over 33,000 cases in a 14 day period now in our state we're just over 9,000 those numbers are going to continue to go down today's numbers post out at 276 confirmed cases 106 probable as a total of 382 our percent positivity is 4.3% and we were at 8.9 as of October 5th so we're almost a month to go two additional confirmed deaths reported out today through our state, Risken County case count for us here stands at 56,239 the case count today was 19 total combined it's 15 confirmed and 4 probable we are over the last 14 days in Risken County we've had about 450 new confirmed cases that's averaging about 32 per day and that's down really significantly over that reporting set and as of the 11th 14 day recent disease activity incident rate we continue in Risken County to remain low our percent positive for that report report period is 3.5 and we want to see it below 5% so we are trending steady in that direction hospital bed capacity through our state remains good as of the 8th there were 510 patients currently hospitalized in our state due to COVID-19 confirmed or suspected here in Risken County there are 24 patients and there have been over 5.5 million vaccines to date right now in our state 55.5% of cyclone population greater than 12 years old are considered fully vaccinated in 63.3% have at least one one shot one dose in Risken County that number continues to go up 57.5% are considered fully vaccinated in 65.9% of our residents in Risken County have received at least one dose and those numbers fall above the CDC or within the CDC guidance but opinion any questions that concludes my report thank you thank you so much Harry let me make a motion take a second and we'll have discussion ordinance 2021-94 repealing ordinance 2021-81 extended emergency ordinance 2021 as 07-8 related to COVID-19 whereas by ordinance number 2021-081 enacted on October 5th 2021 city council extended ordinance 2021-078 that temporarily suspended the normal operating procedures of city council and city boards and commissions meetings as well as requiring facial coverings in all public places within city to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus disease known as COVID-19 whereas city council desires to have said ordinance repealed now therefore be it ordained by the mayor and city council City of Columbia South Carolina this 9th day of November 2021 at the restrictions here too for and acted by ordinance number 2021-078 and extended by ordinance 2021-81 are hereby repealed this ordinance shall take effect immediately is there a second all right I want to say just two more notes and I'm going to defer to the council I know we have some members who may want to make comments the greatest challenge we face between now and the end of the year is honestly it's Thanksgiving it's families so we really want to encourage everyone family members when you're around those you love most let's be careful let's be thoughtful let's make sure that we're doing everything we can to to discourage the spread of COVID-19 we can do it and obviously if we can do it with those we love most we can we can beat this thing secondly I anticipate I'm going to defer to the subject matter experts but this will also be our last city council meeting in Busby street we will for the balance of the calendar year be returning to city council under the direction of the city manager of course chief tensley chief Jenkins and others will still obviously be thoughtful and how we congregate and how many people we have in the chambers but we anticipate returning back to council and lastly I'm going to be quiet thank you again to our city staff and to all of us all 2000 plus for your collective leadership exhibited over this hopefully this is where we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's sunlight it's not a train because of our collective leadership discussion Mr. Rickman is divine and I think this may be maybe for more for Harry or I'm not sure it is folks saying if there's any way to have vaccination clinics open past four or five because a lot of people work till six is there any way to do some clinics where folks can go get vaccinated after hours or tested because all of these sites are closing before five o'clock and a lot of people who are working different shifts and can't get from one place to the other I didn't know if that's something we can coordinate with DHEC or Prisma I mean since we're using our sites I was hoping we could have some influence on that but if that's something because I think we still want to encourage people to get vaccinated as much as possible we need to make it easy as possible I know that you're trying to move around with the mobile and try different places but it's the Monday through Friday folks that they need an opportunity to get there so if we could look into that I'd appreciate it Thank you Mr. Vine Yeah just a couple things and I will say to follow up on Councilman Rickman there are also opportunities on weekends as well I know I have co-hosted clinics with DHEC and Prisma Health and so we're in the community on the weekends and so we want to make sure that all that information gets out but first of all thank all of staff but I will say I had the pleasure of meeting Harry's sister on a couple occasions and I told her I said yeah I said if it's not Dr. Fauci Dr. Bell or Chief Tinsley I'm not doing it and so you have become our expert here and I thank you so much for just the data and the information and making sure that we have the right information to make decisions based on the science and not for any political reasons and so as we said earlier if we saw that decrease in that trend we would follow the science and so I know there are still some people who will want to wear masks and lots of such choices I probably still will but as far as our city mandating it I think we are at that point that we can follow the science and go without mandating it I do think we're at a very interesting part with only a weekend if that long where children 5 to 11 are eligible I now have one more child that's now eligible I still have one that's not going to be but I know at least for me the Councilman recommends point about scheduling trying to get her into the pediatrician this week has been very difficult and so I don't know for our clinics is there any plan to have some children's vaccinations available as well? I just think for parents that would be easier if they're able to go to a clinic and not necessarily have to get into a pediatrician or wait to another time but I know that because the dosage is different not every vaccination clinic has that available so I would love for us to make that available and then I guess the last question would be as far as the trends go we are got the vaccinations and the testing can we still also make sure that we are promoting where people can get tested are we still using our facility on Devon Street but I don't think many people go there it seems like when I go by there that's not a lot so we just want to make sure people also know where you can get tested as well I think a lot of folks are looking at the vaccinations but when people do have symptoms they need to know where they can go get tested thank you so very much any other comments? who would approve this question? please call the roll Mr. Brennan Mr. Rickerman Mr. Davis thank you thank you Mayor thank you council we are at the point on the agenda to approve the consent agenda items 5-18 is there a motion? is there a second? second is there any discussion? seeing none we will move to the previous question Mr. Brennan Mr. McDowell Mr. DeVall Mr. Bein Mr. Davis thank you that takes us to the public hearing and first reading for zoning planning matters with assistance from director Hampton good evening good evening so your first item on your public hearing agenda is an annexation comprehensive map amendment and zoning map amendment 800 Garner's Ferry Road a request to annex the property assign a land use classification of community activity center and a zoning of general commercial the property is currently neighborhood medium density in Richland County we are allowing citizens to participate remotely you may listen to the audio and call in at 855-925-2801 when you are prompted please enter the meeting code of 8380 and press 1 to listen if you are here for a case you stay on until that case is called you have two options then to leave a voice message you can press start 2 it will be played back or you can press start 3 and be placed in the speaker queue city staff will unmute callers during the period and you will live in it 3 minutes please remember if you are calling in to turn off any other devices so we do not have feedback so 7800 Garner's Ferry annexation is anyone here to speak in favor of or against this item is anyone queued up to do so electronically no sir is there a motion I got a question Ms. Hampton I think that we are about to decide on how is that different than the current county zoning I guess my question is can they do can the property owner do what they want to do with this property if they were to not get it re-zoned annexed yes they actually developed in the county so it is a developed property so either way it is a county and in the city perfect thank you any other questions is there a motion second discussion for a call to roll Mr. Brennan Mr. McDowell Mr. Duvall Mr. Vines Mr. Davis an annexation comprehensive plan map amendment and zoning map amendment next to 3900 river drive also known as 3820 river drive request to annex the property and assign a land use classification of urban core mixed residential and a zoning classification of employment campus the property is currently zoned mixed use corridor zone GC by Richland county is anyone here speaking in favor of or against this is anyone queued up electronically speaking of the matter no sir I just want to move is this so that they can rebuild yes this was necessary for that project move forward move Mr. Davis is there a second second any discussion move a previous question Mr. Brennan Mr. Rickerman Mr. McDowell Mr. Duvall Mr. Vines this is a major amendment so this is a rezoning a major amendment to a plan development on the south side of broad river road it's a request to make a major amendment to the planned unit development to change the land classification from reserved this is in the harbison development area and has received the approval of the harbison group Mr. Davis from planning commission we do have two folks who signed up to speak do we have anyone online who has signed up to speak no sir all right if you want to be heard Mr. Reems and Ms. Swigert are you both in favor of the development they are in favor all right if there's no one else signed up to speak move approval is there a second well maybe I didn't get it what's the I've just got something to say this particular thing poses a high density kind of concern what's the proposed number of units 74 lots 74 individual attached units a single family attached 74 lots of members the lot sizes will range between 3,800 and 4,600 square feet I move approval application second discussion each lot just south of the 10th one acre maybe a little smaller okay Mr. McDowell any other questions with the previous question Mr. Vernon Mr. McDowell Mr. Duvall Mr. Vines Mr. Davis as promised when we adopted the new development ordinance we knew that we would have changes to come back to you and so we do and I regret to say that the applicant Rachel Bailey regrettably is no longer with the city so she is not here today she's gone back into private sector miss her terribly but she did a great job so she is no longer here she's working with a large scale solar installation who was that Rachel Bailey she's the applicant but she's not here so I will act on her behalf is that legal I have a letter of agency so I can go through each of these I sent a summary as well there's a summary along with the agenda however council would like to proceed with these items this is a public hearing is anyone here to speak on this matter or anyone online and I'll get a little bit more background these are amendments to the unified development ordinance some of them were just plain omissions that we're cleaning up some were definitions as we were implementing it we realized we needed we are amending for instance the accessory dwelling unit to allow those to be a little bit larger we noticed some setbacks were too great we found a development where bicycle parking was excessive so we're reducing that in some of these instances I promise you there will be additional ones as we implement this we don't want this to be static we don't want to say that we've gone another 40 years as we did with this one so but again I'm glad to go through each of the different sections as council desires just as a question of curiosity how did you find these are you reading through this a little bit everyday and jotting down things that well we actually that's a good idea we had identified some of them after you all had adopted the code but some of them are during the implementation when projects are coming through that we've identified them the one about the gyms was something that had come up through a citizen so it's a whole host of ways that we're identifying these they're very interesting I'm glad you think so we do as well no one calls zoning very interesting very much so thank you I'm sure if I made a motion already but I do is there a second move and second move to the previous question Mr. Brennan Mr. Rickerman Mr. McDowell Mr. Duvall Mr. Davis I thank you so much it's your last zoning public hearing sir is it really it really is thank you Rachel dumped me on the way to the to the hearing give her our very best please thank you thank you Christa resolutions item 23 resolution number R-2021 and Mary Benjamin do you want us to take this one up first or last let's do 24, 25 and 26 yes sir resolution number R-2021 1-1-1 we're identifying four building sites as abandoned buildings pursuant to the South Carolina abandoned buildings revitalization act title 12 chapter 67 section 1267 100 of the South Carolina Code of Law as amended regarding the property located at 1813 so moved second any discussion move to the previous question Mr. Brennan Mr. Rickerman Mr. McDowell Mr. Duvall Mr. Davis Mr. Benjamin item 25 resolution number R-2021 1-1-5 certifying a building site as abandoned buildings pursuant to the South Carolina abandoned buildings revitalization act title 12 chapter 67 section 1267 100 so moved second any discussion move to the previous question Mr. Brennan yes Mr. Rickerman Mr. McDowell yes Mr. Duvall Mr. Vine Mr. Davis item 26 resolution number 2021-1-2-7 authorizing a person amendment to the management services agreement between the city of Columbia and executive management leasing ink for the property located at 14-01 main street question yes sir this management agreement is it for the building or the complete grounds parking lot everything else around it and I see Missy coming to that it does have the main focus of this is for the building itself we're going up on your rent is what we're doing I'm just curious about the parking charge for the view so the city's managing the parking the agreement is for the building perfect thank you a move of approval second any discussion move to the previous question current call of roll Mr. Brennan Mr. Rickerman Mr. McDowell Mr. Duvall Mr. Vine Mr. Davis item 23 resolution number R-2021-106 ratifying and authorizing the city manager to execute at Columbia Riverfront Park Saludo River Greenway and Vista Greenway donation agreement between the city of Columbia and Prisma Health and any documents necessary to consummate the acceptance of a donation to the city for the use and support of Riverfront Park and Greenways second mayor pro tem do you mind I'm both you second yes sir thank you you're going to ask for the vote mayor pro tem Mayor recused himself I'm sorry I don't think he realized that he went out I didn't realize you I'm sorry sir yes sir it's been moved in second yes sir Madam Clerk certainly Mr. Brennan Mr. Rickerman Mr. McDowell Mr. Duvall Mr. Vine Thank you we have one event resolution I believe yes and these safety plans adhere to the COVID-19 pandemic safety and social distancing protocols as published by the CDC in South Carolina D.Hag and they've been reviewed and approved by the Columbia Police Department for the resolution number R 2021-119 authorizing consumption of beer and wine only at the South Carolina Worcester Festival so moved discussion with a previous question we'll call a roll Mr. Brennan Mr. Rickerman Mr. McDowell Mr. Duvall Mr. Vine Aye Moving into a period of appointments Ms. Jenkins Wood will come forward to assist we've got the Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee Climate Protection Action Committee Richland County Board of Assessment Appeals and the South Carolina Memorial Park Commission First First we have the Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee Council has asked her up to two appointees with the people that applied is a re-appointment and if you check the chart on the back of that that re-appointment is not included in the two slots that you have available to appoint however there's only one person that applied for the additional so we still have one vacancy we still have one vacancy because we have Mr. Agee who is Hal Stevenson he was already on A move the appointments of Mr. Stevenson and Mr. Agee okay second and we still have one vacancy yes sir we do I'm sorry so we have a district we've been working with and we have a district one appointee for that which is why we're holding the additional vacancy Mr. Davis you can work on it get another name another previous question Kevin I do likewise there's no nominee for there are no applications for district two Ken do we have the opportunity to do that at a later date there's only one slot right I mean slots are there yeah so if Sam yes there's only one additional so Hal Stevenson is a re-appointment there's two slots after that you're appointed Sam Agee so now there's only one we haven't yet so there's two there's two slots outside of Hal Stevenson so Hal Stevenson was re-appointed there are two vacancies one and two both of those have to be hospitality industry yes sir because the two individuals that we lost were hospitality and lodging so Sam he is a former chairman of the hotel hospitality gateway when he fit that mold Mr. Madel say that Mr. Madel are you okay with the two applicants are you okay with the two applicants are you are you in no right now sir we can let y'all dial a little bit on the second vacancy let's move forward Mr. Stevenson re-appointment and y'all can talk about the other two slots prospectively okay I'm comfortable with the applicants but I don't recognize Mr. McDowell's on readiness I'll move Mr. Stevenson for re-appointment yes sir any discussion Mr. Vernon yes Mr. Rickerman Mr. McDowell Mr. Davis alright so again for clarity of sakes there are two slots available Mr. Davis has been discussing a name with Ms. Wood and and we'll discuss the other applicants we do have Mr. Agies still on the table Mr. McDowell hopefully let's see if we can put a bow on this by next meeting alright yes sir thank you ma'am next we have the climate protection action committee council is asked to appoint up to two non-voting appointees to this committee there's also a recommendation listed from CPAC committee I would and additionally we also have an appointee for district one which is the reason why we held it last meeting that we're working with councilman Davis how many slots do we have here just those two so we are comfortable with the applications of Robert Cudea and Tempest Johnson so if we appoint both they would fill one of the district of the availability to put a district one appointee well I see one it has Tempest Johnson it has a work school school district one and does a district one for her work first school because she is a USC student sure they both are I would definitely want to move for Mr. Cudea I'll second that I'll second that nomination Mr. Cudea Robert Cudea PhD student geography at the University Robert Cudea he's been active in CPAC he's been active and works directly with the committee already let's move Mr. Cudea forward and have one more seat open there's a district one slot hopefully we can make it with a previous question Mr. Brennan Mr. McDowell Mr. Duvall Mr. Vine Mr. Davis Mayor Benjamin so next we have the Richland County Board of Assessment Appeals Council is asked to appoint one appointee with expertise in real estate and real estate industry and they must live within the city limits we have three applicants the memo from interim assessor I'll move the appointment of Christine Wells how many slots do we have just one I'll move the appointment of Christine Wells second second discussion move the previous question card Mr. Brennan Mr. McDowell Mr. Duvall Mr. Vine Mr. Davis last but not least we have the SC Memorial Park Commission Council is asked to reappoint the members of the commission that have all agreed to serve additional terms as opposed in the bylaws this is a pre-existing committee that was inactive it's now becoming active again and it's been handled primarily with by Councilman Duvall and then also vetted by legal regarding the bylaws and any additional changes Mr. Mayor Mr. Duvall as Ashley has explained this is a rebirth of the South Carolina Memorial Park Commission that was appointed according to both for really who has served on its inception Sam Davis is the only person that was on council when it started it has not had governing rules as the other commission has had asked us to come up with bylaws which legal department has drafted and they have approved and they have asked these particular people that have broad range of representatives from all over the community to serve as the initial board and all of them have agreed so I would move that we approve the bylaws and the proposed list of members Mr. Davis that completes the board in terms of vacancies no I think they got more people one, two, three, four yes it's ten they could have two more members they could have twelve I have a brother-in-law this is ten no more ten so they have ten they have ten that would be nice I have a brother-in-law on the wall would you be fine how would you think there's any any opposition or any issue with the first of all you should always have an odd number of members so maybe increasing the number to eleven or number thirteen one to the other okay some other folks let's try eleven alright I'm fine with that you are what's the name what's the name you do have another name no he just we can come back and point to eleven alright we'll change the bylaws to reflect eleven members no less than seven no more than eleven we will move forward with these ten distinguished Columbians I might add this is a fantastic group second is to Mr. Duval's amended motion approval of the bylaws and the composition with no more than eleven appointees any discussion further with a previous question please be sure to give our thanks he's been stalwart he and Lily and some others Dr. Feller has been amazing with a previous question Mr. Vernon Mr. Rickman Mr. Mcdowell Mr. Mcdowell Mr. Mcdowell Mr. Duval Mr. Devine Mr. Davis Mr. Benjamin all other matters item 32 council is asked to approve the installation of a four-way stop at the intersection of Chester Street and Lincoln Street as requested by the engineering division Mr. Davis move approval is there a second any discussion Mr. Vernon Mr. Rickman Mr. Mcdowell Mr. Duval Mr. Devine Mr. Davis did someone talk to Mr. Brotherhood in the corner of history did anyone have someone um Faculty mentor yes sir item 33 appeals to the CInsert of the center improvement district million the honorable Sam Davis okay committee met and we discussed the matter regarding the bid But I'd like to read a statement unless my two colleagues have anything to add before. Mr. McDowell, nobody? Okay. Let me just give you a statement which encompasses the discussion and the recommendation of the committee. The matter was on the agenda. They were objections to the notice of assessment of the City Center Business Improvement District from owners of the properties located at 2014 and 2016 Sumter Street and 1320 Elmwood Avenue. A hearing was held on November 3rd before the Economic Community Development Committee who heard the objections submitted in person and writing and the committee hereby makes a recommendation to council to confirm the assessments as calculated. The objections presented to the committee focused on specific services, those properties felt they were not getting in comparison to the properties on Main Street. They presented an argument that the calculation of the assessment was inaccurate and the calculation is the same across the board. Charlotte and Scott Thompson of Carolina Eye and Ear Real Estate at 2014 and 2016 Sumter Street, Melody Hearing, member of the Aaron and Dorton at 1320 Elmwood Avenue. Council is to review the assessment and determine whether the calculation is accurate. The committee recommends that the amount of the assessments be confirmed and council will now vote to confirm the same. I would suggest that we read a final in the adjustment of the committee and then ask the council to vote on the issue. Will you give that? Okay. Notwithstanding the assessment, council wishes to express concern that the properties on the edge of the bid perceive they do not receive the same level of service as those properties along Main Street and direct city center partnership to work closely with those properties to address any and all concerns. Any questions about that? Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir. I agree with the direction of the committee to make sure that the city center partnership works on these fringe areas to make sure they feel like they're getting the dues worth. But there is a levy on the Main Street people that it's not made on those on the outside. It's an additional tax of $4 per front foot on Main Street. So the Main Street people are paying a higher tax rate or higher assessment rate than the people on the fringe. But I agree with the committee's statement that the city center partnership needs to build better bridges with the fringe. So I think we made an attempt to come up with something that's workable and doable on everybody's part. One that was to affirm the calculations, the assessment, and the other that they continued to work together and work out those differences. So therefore, on behalf of the committee, I'm asking the council to approve the recommendations. Second. Any discussion? I'm thankful to the CCP for your leadership and your work. I do see it on the periphery of the district as well, all the way up to the Main Street. So we can always do better. So let's do better. Move to the previous question. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mr. Vines. Aye. Mr. Davis. Aye. Mayor Benjamin. Aye. Thank you. A period of Council Committee referrals and reports, Mr. McDowell. Mr. Mayor and members of council, we have the Administrative Committee met, and of course, as you know, this is a continuing effort for us to look at health issues. Particularly, this was initiated some months ago, referencing a new chief health officer. This has elongated itself, Board of Directors, we are talking about a Board of Directors with groups under that to report to this Board of Directors. These persons have not been officially identified, but it comes to us, it comes, of course, with the whole impetus of making sure that citizens in our city are adequately being taken care of with the resources that are available, but yet collaborated with each other. So there's going to be other meetings as we continue to define this new framework, and I think it poses some real potential. Fantastic. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Now, there are, I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman. Please. There are two additional issues that we will take up. One, of course, is the issue of, may I protein him, and excuse me, and the length of time that position is available. The other issue, of course, is the municipal judges. We will take that up at our next meeting. Hopefully we will have something ready for council. More additional information on the health disparities within the city, and excuse me, and the two other issues on the night of December. Super. That concludes my report. Thank you so much, Mr. McDowell. All right. Are any other reports or referrals to committee? All right. Public input. We do have at least one citizen who's signed up this week, I'm sorry, Mr. Davis. I just wanted to say this so we can say it now. On this and the other committee that Eric is reporting on, I've always had an appreciation for staff working with the committees in terms of research and providing information and that sort of thing. Before we close out this year, I just want to go on record saying that they've been good, very good, very professional in working with the committees, providing information during the necessary research. Makes our job a lot easier. Thank you, sir. Thank you all. Thank you. Absolutely. Fantastic. We do have at least one citizen who's signed up this week, is it Ms. Sandra Richardson? Is she here? Ms. Richardson, please. Ms. Richardson works her way up. Chief, please give her a hand. I did see one of my fantastic mayors, fellows in the audience. Are you still sure you want to be in government and politics, Jaheim? After all this, you sure? I'll stand up for a second, son. Fantastic. Student at the University of South Carolina, Marlboro County native and just a dynamic young leader. So, Jaheim McLauren. Keep up the great work, son. All right. All right. Yes, ma'am. And things is worse for us. It's not better. I want to see if y'all can give us some security at Upper Sea of Saxon, because we don't have no security over there, no cameras, and housing refused to put cameras up there. And my apartment has run down. It took them four years to replace my floor in my kitchen. And I fell with my cane and was hospitalized and was in a wheelchair for three months. And I just want to see if y'all can get them to do better, because they're doing worse. Now they want to pull away from hood. And if they pull away from hood, we're going to definitely be in a bad fit. That's all I have to say. And I got copies of y'all created. Okay. Yes, ma'am. And we will make sure that that makes it to the housing authority on your behalf. Ms. Richardson, thank you, ma'am. I can remember. Thank you for your patience here today, too. Bless you. Bless you. Do we have any other citizens who've dialed in electronically? Asked to be heard, recorded comments of any type? No, sir. No, sir. All right. Then as Mr. Duvall prepares his motion, no one else wanting to speak, I am going to make a motion that neither Ms. Isaac Devon and Mr. Rickon may be allowed to leave the building until after midnight tonight. And stay here throughout the race. You guys stay right here. Right here. Enjoying government. All right. Mr. Duvall, do you have a motion? I don't think either one of us that want to have late-night meetings in the future. I remind the mayor that the USC girls are playing in the state at five o'clock. And we have a short deadline here. It's 3.30 now, sir. We're getting close. It's up to y'all in the executive session. I'd like to make a motion, Mr. Mayor, for going into executive session for receipt of legal advice related to matters covered by attorney Klein privilege pursuant to SC code 30-4-78-2 COVID-19, bond court redistricting site review plan for 16.2 acres, 750, 754 south Beltland Boulevard, receipt of legal advice related to a pending threat and a potential claim pursuant to SC code 30-4-78-2 north versus city of Columbia. Discussion of matters related to proposed location or expansion of services to encourage location or expansion of industries or other businesses in the area served by the public body. According to pursuant to SC code 30-4-78-5, OASIS development, Empowerment Zone and Integral Group, LLC. Discussion of negotiations interested to propose contractual arrangements pursuant to SC code 30-4-78-2 Convention Center State Museum memorandum of understanding. Thank you. Second. Second. Is there a discussion? I move the previous question. I'll call the roll. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mr. Vine. Aye. Mr. Davis. Aye. Maybe in the interest of time, let's shift over to the conference room. All right.