 Good afternoon everybody new sound system. I hope it's working. Can you hear it? Can't hear anything? Testing one two three. You're good. You're good mayor. Now I don't hear anything. We can hear you. Can you hear me? Yes sir. It's magic. Some people shaking their head saying they can't hear me. Well you hear it? All right good. They'll be making adjustments as we move throughout the meeting. Good good. Good afternoon everybody. Madam Clark could you read the role please? I think everybody's here ready to go. Yes sir. Good afternoon. Mr. Brown. Here. Mr. Harbert. Here. After Bustles. Here. Mr. Brennan. Present. Mr. McDowell. Mr. Duvall. Present. Mayor Rickerman. Here. If everybody will stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic of the United States one nation under God and indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Reverend McDowell would you give us a word of prayer before we go into the meeting? Thank you. That's about it for this day and for the manifold blessings you've already bestowed upon each of us. We thank you Lord for the opportunity to be here together. And yet we thank you for the opportunity to discuss openly and discuss this beautiful city and the expansion of this city. Let's each person who's here today individually and collectively bless us all. Amen. Amen. Mayor Rickerman at this time we will receive any public input related to items on the agenda as outlined. Of course there is a time for zoning matters of individuals like to wait to that time. So is there anybody who wants to speak about any item that's on the agenda? We will have open discussion of when the zoning matters come at that point. Everyone that has signed up has signed up for items on the zoning. Okay. Ms. Williams if you have something to speak. Is she on a crutch? Don't know how to walk upstairs. I know who that is. Hey Ms. Williams how are you this evening? Hello. Let me see do I say it okay so first thank you all for the kitchen that's coming to the Bellfield Center. I saw that on our agenda. It's been a long time coming ever since this Deborah Livingston passed. I don't know how many years ago that was but we're looking forward to making good use out of it. And the other item I want to ask you about is the distribution of food where you're going to give monies to certain people to deliver food. And I just want to know some specifics about it. We'll be talking about that when it comes up on the agenda. But a quick overview is is doing a pilot program and then putting other resources we actually filed for a grant as well to go with that so that we could utilize the food service delivery that's already in place. So you have multiple food service deliveries that cover about 90 almost 99% of the city limits. And the idea is there to use the infrastructure until we can get to a point that we can get neighborhood grocery stores and others but give people the option. And part of it is a lot of the delivery services utilize by having somebody sponsor individuals on there that would give them unlimited delivery. So no cost to them prepaid and we would probably use Medicare and Medicaid as the benchmarks of where to start. Okay. So I would like to also ask that the dollar stow which is already in the Booker Washington Heights area be a part of that because he already delivers. Well he's welcome to come and present his delivery service when we sit down and we go through the process. We'll put them in there because it won't be one company. Right. People will have a choice of who they want to sign up with to do that. So we've gotten feedback from all the major grocery stores, Instacart, Walmart, Foodline, Publix. So very excited about everybody's interest to help us solve this problem. And then I guess the other question is how will they how will the seniors who do not trust how will they get on a computer and put their information in and there's a lot of ways that people can call in and others. And what we're sampling with the national folks is programs that already are working in other communities and how that works. There's another community also utilizes their version of Dart. So when the Dart system is down it actually does delivery as well to those folks that they already work with. So there's a bunch of little nuances to pick but we wanted to get a pilot program first to make sure that people could be they would want to be involved and take advantage of it and then also see how many people may be challenged by you know they may not they have a credit card that they use or a debit card how do we we work around that and use the alternative methods that other cities do. So there's some more things to figure out the point is that we're going to try to fit do something instead of sitting around waiting and not doing anything. I appreciate that and I do want to say once again and leave it in your mind the dollar stow Brian Thomas. Just tell him to reach out to us. Okay I'll bring him. Okay. I know you will. Thank you Ms. Williams. Yes. Yeah Reverend Ridao. We we are working on trying to to get some technical assistance to write grants that's one of the problems that we have and that's technical assistance to write grants to fund folk within the communities with additional funding. So we're working on it. I think we're going to try to do a GoFundMe but we've got to do it. Thank you Ms. Williams. I think that was it for agenda items. Well with that Mayor we can certainly adopt the agenda as outlined. There's a motion. Is there a second? Second. Any questions concerns anything need to be held on the consent or I mean for the adoption of the agenda. Hearing none seeing none. Madam Clerk could you read the roll? Mr. Brown. Mr. Herbert. Dr. Bussells. Hi. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Mr. Duvall. Hi. Mayor Rickamon. Hi. Thank you. Approval of minutes. Council is asked to approve the March 21st 2023 meeting minutes. Is there a motion? Motion. There's a second. Second. Any questions concerns changes notes that needed to be added? I know our clerk does a wonderful job so I know there's probably no changes but we must ask. Hearing none seeing none. Madam would you read the roll? I apologize. Is that the motion? Me. Thank you. All right Mr. Brown. Since I wasn't at that meeting I'll abstain. Thank you sir. Ms. Herbert. Dr. Bussells. Hi. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Mr. Duvall. Hi. Mayor Rickamon. Hi. Thank you. Thank you. At this time we will ask Council to approve and present an honorary street naming a very special one indeed resolution number R-2023-022 approving the honorary naming of the 800 and 900 blocks of Washington Street Joe E. Taylor Jr. Way. So moved. Second. The motion is second. Any discussion, comments? We look forward to having the family and friends when we do the unveiling here in the coming months but want to thank everybody for supporting it. As Joe had a very big impact on a lot of people and every day I continue to hear about things he did that a lot of us who were close to him didn't even know he did and he made such a difference and I think this is as well warranted and thank all of y'all with that. Madam Clerk could you read the roll? Mr. Brown. I proudly vote in favor. Ms. Herbert. Hi. Dr. Bussells. Hi. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Mr. Duvall. Hi. Mayor Rickamon. Hi. Presentations item three the child abuse prevention month proclamation the honorable Daniel J Rickamon mayor. And do we have who's all here for to accept this proclamation if y'all wanted to maybe come forward to the podium that would be wonderful. Thank you. Thank y'all for being here. Thank you so much. I'm Sue Williams the CEO of Children's Trust and we appreciate you recognizing April as child abuse prevention month. Thank y'all. Did y'all want to say anything before I read the proclamation and presented it? Just that South Carolina Children's Trust works to prevent the abuse and neglect of children and so we see that children do well when families do well and families do well when they live in communities that support them. And we really appreciate the efforts that the City of Columbia is doing to make it a very family friendly city. So thank you so much. Well thank you for what y'all do and thank y'all for for you know bringing this forth for us to to bring forth. I think it's very important that we as a community this is a community issue and this is where we bind together where every corner comes together every neighbor comes together to make a difference. So thank y'all for what y'all do. I would like to introduce two of my board members Tim Lines who's a managing partner at Malden-Denkins Accounting here in Columbia and Mr. Steve Moon a partner with Rogers Townsend a law firm here in Columbia. Thank you. Sarah Knox is our newest person on our team. Nice to see you. And that Williams is another member of our team. Great. Thank you. Well with that South Carolina's future prosperity and quality of life depends on the healthy department development of more than 1.1 million children residing in diverse communities across our state. 88,924 in Richland County. Preventing child abuse and neglect must be a priority that requires individuals, families, child-serving organizations, schools, faith-based communities, business government agencies, civic leaders to support the physical, emotional, social, educational well-being of all children. Child abuse is a serious public health issue with wide-ranging societal consequences. As the data shows, the link between the abuse and neglect of children and a wide range of costly medical, emotional, psychological, and behavioral issues in adulthood. Parents and caregivers who have a support system of family and friends know where to find public resources and understand how to remain resilient and challenging times and are best equipped to provide safe, nurturing environments for their children. So as Daniel J. Rickerman, the mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, along with my fellow members of council here, we do proclaim April 2023 as Child Abuse Prevention Month. And during this time, town, cities, and across the state and the nation will focus on building strong families and supportive communities to help kids. And just to understand that, in the fiscal year of 2021 and 2022, there were 9,000 child protective services investigations with 15,000, really, to be honest, 16,000 children in South Carolina. And so over 1,000 investigations, over 1,600 kids just right here in our community. So when we say this is important and it's a community-wide issue, it is a true issue. So I hope everybody will join me with giving these folks who are working every day to make a difference a hand. Mayor, can I say a few words? Yes, please. So not many, many people actually know, but Children's Trust in South Carolina is where I began my career. And it's really wonderful to see all of you again in this forum. And just want to thank all of you for all of the great work that you continue to do. And I'm just really proud. I always say we when I talk about Children's Trust, even though I'm not technically we anymore, but you all are doing some really incredible work and have really demonstrated the importance of collaboration on a local, state, and national level and anything that we can continue to do to support you. I'm always here. Thank you. Don't please go ahead. You don't have to hang around. Next, we have Military Child Month Proclamation. Deputy Commander Susan, I see there. Fred Henley and Ashley, would you all come forward? Good to see you, sir. Good to see you, sir. It's all the general yesterday. Yes, sir. I hope you're doing well. Yes, sir. Would you like to say a few words? Yes, sir. Just on behalf of the 19,000 military connected students in South Carolina and the over 6,000 military connected students we have in the eight school districts that surround Fort Jackson, this is an amazing honor. And thank you. The partnership and appreciation that Columbia always shows our military families makes Fort Jackson special in a destination of choice in our Army. Military kids are special and they face unique challenges as their parents serve. And today recognizing them is amazing. So thank you again for this honor and know that our over 3,500 soldiers and 5,000 civilians on Fort Jackson feel like this is his home. Well, thank you all for what you do. Thank you for your service. Thank you for being part of the community. We've had some time to spend some time together. And I tell you, it's just amazing to me every time I meet a family from before how engaging and they want to be. And thank you for taking care of those 45,000 recruits. Yes. Welcome to meeting those 250,000 family members that come to visit us. And thank you for the $6.7 billion worth of economic impact that Fort Jackson has on this community. But more off is the relationship and the growing relationship that's been there. I think since my time being here, relationship with General Michaelis and then now with General Kelly and the staff over there has just been unbelievable. And I hope to be at graduation soon. I heard there's been a few changes to graduation and it's been a positive response. But it's great to see met some military families this weekend at Soda City and just truly engaged, happy to be here. And I'd honor for us to do this. And so with that, I'm going to read this proclamation. Military youth of today and tomorrow promise to be the most active and involved populations in our nation's history. The city of Columbia is honored to work with school districts and South Carolina military affairs to provide support to the children of service members as they transition between schools to address their distinct needs and prepare them to graduate as well-rounded citizens ready for college and their careers. The physical, social and emotional well-being of children and military families is essential to their success and has a direct impact on the resiliency of military families serving our country. The military education coalition is committed to aiding these issues that are faced by these children and their families ensuring that they are afforded the same opportunities for education success in our community and whatever community they're in. By ensuring military children are safe and supported in our schools and our communities, our men and women in uniform can focus on the challenges and their missions. Our efforts and support can improve the lives of military youth and help path the way for future generations. So here as the mayor of Columbia, Daniel, recommend along with these fellow members of council here, we recognize April 1st through 30th, 2023 is military child month and everybody remember that victory starts here. Our next presentation is the mayor's campaign against breast cancer check presentation. The honorable Daniel J. Rickman mayor. Can I have the committee come forth along with Prisma Health? First of all, I want everybody to give the committee a hand. They work to put on a really incredible breakfast and event, entertainment, lots of people and we had a beautiful day at Boyd Plaza. We're going to have even a better one this year. We're stepping up our challenge. We want to raise more and give back more. And this obviously is very dear to all of our hearts. We're all touched by somebody who has fought the fight. I lost my mother-in-law to breast cancer. My sister-in-law has breast cancer. Where's my glue? Ms. Shanique Beltin is a fighter. Ms. Erica, our fighters in this city and I just want to thank y'all for all we do because this is important to us as a group and this is truly a family event as you can see on the screen behind me. What's really exciting is that we raise money to try to make a difference in the fight moving forward and it's a great honor with me and the committee to present Prisma Health with a $20,000 check. We are on a roll with great things happening here. Yes, sir. Another wonderful presentation by Ms. Miriam Atria, the president and CEO for the Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board here with an update. Hold on to your hats ladies. This will be a ride. Lights, camera, action. That's right. I brought along with me today the chair of our board of directors Jimmy Chow and also another board member Buddy Jennings who is the retired former director of tourism for our state of South Carolina and Jimmy has to leave for another board meeting. So I'm going to let him speak real quick and then I'm going to come back after Buddy. Thank you Miriam. Good afternoon the honorable council members. I have a great news to report to you. Our beloved president has won a very prestigious award recently, Fred Brinkman Award. Fred Brinkman Award is the highest award in the tourism industry the governor can ever be so too individual for their achievement in improving and helping the tourism industry in the state of South Carolina and our president has just won and our other board member Buddy has a previous recipient. This award doesn't give out every year they only give out when they have a worthy candidate. So this just demonstrates to you our organization how much you know the positive impact we have in our tourism industry. So thank you for your text order to make our state a better place. Thank you. Hey Mr. Mayor, members of the council, how are you all today? It's an honor for me to be here to thank you for all the support that you give for Capital City Lake Murray Tourism. Without you we couldn't do what we do. It's an honor for me to serve on Miriam's board. You know last year was a record year we had two world-class events. One that had never been held in continental United States. The world best classic that brought in millions and millions of dollars. 25 nations participated. It really helped set us up as an international destination and I think because of that and all of the work that Miriam's done over the years and the support that y'all have given us we truly have become a key destination in this state. Now Councilman DeVall and I go back a little ways and he'll remember that in 1969 when PRT was created the number one tourism destination in South Carolina was south of the border. We've come a long way. I wonder why he always says paid residence. The number two destination was the pier at Myrtle Beach. Not Myrtle Beach but just the pier at Myrtle Beach. Governor McNair decided to create PRT and he said that in his four years of serving as governor that was his greatest achievement. It was not building the state house complex. It was not ushering in integration. His greatest achievement was creating PRT which helped bring tourism to our state and with the work that people like Miriam have done we really have become a major tourism is major industry in our state. So again I just wanted to thank you all. I wanted to make sure you would recognize that Miriam was an award winner and as Jimmy said Mr. Brinkman passed away in 1990 and the award was named after him. There's only been 11 recipients of that award in 30 something years. I am fortunate to have been one. I'm glad to have Miriam on there because there's only six living six of us that are living. I need to have her over there to represent the rest of us but thank you again for what you do and I'm going to ask Miriam to tell you about what's going on right now and what's coming up. Thank you buddy. Thank you buddy. What's going on right now? We have 150 professional fishing pros in town with Bassmasters and we have Fox Sports Channel Fox Sports 1 in town and on this Sunday April 23rd we will be our region Columbia and Lake Murray will be on Fox Sports for five hours and a half live from Lake Murray. This is history for Bassmasters of ever having that amount of time. A lot will be said about our wonderful community when the show is filmed and aired later in the year. Our television tourism ad will be included in that airing and then last week we had another small event in town major league fishing came into town and 47.12 pounds of bass were caught. We're hoping Bassmaster breaks that record this week but we are going to be that show will be televised on the Discovery Channel on Saturday September 30th and again on Saturday October 7th. We have a one-minute community segment on Columbia on it as well as our tourism ad. We are busy trying to bring even one more world event this time it's golf from London and they will be coming next year a week before the Masters and we're hosting them on a four-county region tour and they will be playing golf at many of our courses. There's probably 50 to 60 in that group and then finally the biggest news of all I've been talking with some council members about working with the world food championship we did not win the bid you cannot say no to our organization so what we have done is we're creating our own food event food sports is hot it is a big industry and we want to showcase food sport here and make Columbia South Carolina the host at Sugra Park for the first ever southeastern barbecue show day we are bringing in national talent national mcs national country music stars and you will be hearing a lot more about this awesome opportunity our goal 5000 people at Sugra Park for two days and then who knows in a few years we might end up at the Gamecocks Stadium we know we're looking at one right now and you will hear a lot more great news about that event we thank you for your time today we thank you for your continued support we work very hard we have a very small staff getting it done thank you Miriam now you talked about the the competition that we lost but can you tell them who we lost the competition to okay yes the world food championship has been in Dallas Texas now for five years we had received a quote from colonial life arena we were working with them to have that event come here we are a small tourism organization our budget now is getting up for marketing around two million dollars and we can't compete with Dallas Texas on dollars however saying that what i've just announced to you we're going to make this region shine so much brighter and so much bigger thank you council thank you good job i'm just glad i think in my point is that we are competing literally go to Dallas Texas that's good stuff how do you stop in Dallas when you rent a car you pay for all the amenities in Dallas look at your rental receipt in there or the hotel bill your paying for rodeo your paying for everything they have figured it out thank you the next presentation is an update by mr earnest lee tant the public affairs manager for cooperative health good afternoon mr mayor and members of council thank you for having me today i'm lee tant public affairs manager for o'clair cooperative health center we do businesses cooperative health uh we are very grounded in our mission to provide accessible compassion and high quality health care services in the spirit of the good samaritan we're a nonprofit community health center a fairly qualified health center serving more than 60 000 patients in four midlands counties as fairfield lexington newberry and right here in richland county specifically in columbia we operate 17 clinical sites a large majority of those are concentrated on two campuses here in the columbia area 225 1225 hearton street and also 1605 monicello road recently we opened in january our waverly women's health at uh 21 17 drivet street no thank you mr mayor and councilwoman brussels for attending our grand opening might have been the biggest opening i've ever been to awesome unfortunately i wasn't able to attend due to this pesky thing called covet 19 but anyway i'm here today so that's good we also in partnership with toby's place and transitions we serve the homeless community here through our sites in those particular locations and last fall we on boarded vision services as part of our scope of services through a partnership with advantage icare in northeast columbia we offer a wide variety of services for our patients so that includes pediatrics adult and internal medicine one thing we pride ourselves on is our chronic disease management we exceed national health center averages and treating hypertension heart disease and diabetes among others and we also made a big push within our organization to integrate behavioral health services within all of our sites for example if you go in for a primary care visit and one of and our provider notices there was a mental issue presenting he can actually or he or she can actually hand you off to a licensed professional counselor oftentimes within that same visit so we're treating the whole patient mentally and physically we also have pharmacy services because as we know you can diagnose something but if you can't provide the medication to treat it that's not doing a whole lot so we have two on-site pharmacies in the columbia area at both minacella road and also at harden street and for those sites that do not have a pharmacy on site we have convenient delivery and pickup options for our patients we also have two dental clinics so main street and also minacella road within the columbia area and we also have a podiatry services off the main street and i can personally attest to the podiatry services my seven-year-old is a big fan of trains and i stepped on one right before christmas and messed up my foot very badly but our podiatrist got me up and running and chasing after that very fast young man and able to enjoy christmas so one thing that we also are very happy about we were able to accept all patients regardless of their ability to pay your insurance status and we have a wide payer mix so about 48 percent of our patients are Medicaid 12 percent of Medicare 19 percent are uninsured and 21 percent are insured patients and i think that really speaks to the level of care that we provide because those folks who choose anywhere to go but they have chose cooperative health as their medical home we also have a variety of means to take care of our most vulnerable patients so we have what's called the good Samaritan program or GSP which is a sliding fee scale so our uninsured patients could pay a very nominal fee often as low as 20 dollars per visit we also have what's called the healthy outcomes or hop program and this is a limited Medicaid benefit that's funded through the South Carolina State General Assembly and this allows people with untreated chronic illnesses to identify what those illnesses are get them into treatment and avoid them having the long-term hospitalizations inappropriate ER utilization or even you know catastrophic care lastly we have affordable care act marketplace assistance so we have an outreach team dedicated to finding the right insurance plans under the ACA for our patients and i should note that we're now in the process the state is in the process of doing the Medicaid unwinding during COVID no one was allowed to be removed from the state Medicaid roles now the Department of Health and Human Services is doing the redetermination process so we're actively engaging in process to help people that will lose their Medicaid coverage as a result of that i should note that next year we will open and we're very excited about this an adolescent and teenage facility off of Monticello road at our founding location and i want to thank senator Lindsey Graham for his support in the congressional budget for providing funding for that we would like to invite you any and all times to visit our locations in Colombia you can shoot me a text or give me a call at 803-995-1842 or email me at etant at cooperativehealth.org our website is www.cooperativehealth.org i also have some informational packets that you can look at afterwards and thank you for your time and i'll be happy to entertain any questions you might have i don't have a question but i do have a statement i want to thank you all my grandmother uh who just passed last year she's 98 but she was i think one of the first patients at Oakley Cooperative Health um and you all treated her until she passed away and i believe it was um dr bell maybe yeah dr bell would literally come and see her um and my grandmother's a handful so i i thank you all she i really do thank you all but she i know that she's always very appreciative and she always trusts that you all in your service thank you thank you so much my mom works there she went back to work bernadette herbert thank you mayor benjamin they had this little thing going on but yes my mama just went back to work i mean they have a good friendship she has a thing on both of them i just want to i thank you all um and i know that my mom is enjoying you know going back into the workforce too so that's been pretty cool awesome we're excited to serve and uh happy to have her yes thank you and you need to meet her because she will brighten your day i will make an appointment to do so you know whose grandmother and mother that was and you heard the description it runs down family tree i'll be happy to track her down and meet her miss bernadette brightens my day every time i see her so i know she'll do it when you see her but she was so excited about that opening when we were there she was looking for you councilman herbert thank you so much all that you did that's all i did mention this uh the second week of august is national health center week so we definitely love to have any of y'all y'all come visit us at that point thank you very much thank you for for being here today the information that we sent the presentation i know some people saw it you'll be able to see it on online if you want it there's a lot of great information it's amazing how many people y'all served especially when i looked at the mental health oh yes sir that's a worry which is growing and harder and harder and the fact that y'all are there in the community and 20 percent of your patient load is is uninsured and of course you have Medicare and Medicaid and private you have a blend of all so you serve all of the community and we want to thank y'all for what you do oh you're welcome thank you thank you sir have a good one thank you mayor and council we had lots of great presentations today and with that we'll move into the consent agenda items 8 through 27 motion to move second discussion hearing non-seeing um madam perkins mr. brown hi mr. harbert hi dr. bustles hi mr. brennan yes mr. mcdowell mr. duvall all right may i recommend thank you moving into our public hearing and first reading zoning planning matters is hampton will come forward to assist as needed starting with item 28 an annexation future land use amendment and zoning map amendment 456 riverview court good afternoon following on what um city manager wilson said this is an annexation it's a request to annex the property assigned a land use classification of urban core residential small lot and a zoning of residential single family small lot at the time of annexation here to speak for or against this item mayor we have miss shila mckay who signed in to speak we would like to remind speakers that they have three minutes to present their comments to the council i was just coming yeah i was no i was just coming to see if you know any of my neighbors had anything because they didn't really want to but i'm the in the donut hole so i appreciate you guys wanting to do this i called richland county for help with my drainage ditch and they were like me so i was like you know i'll call the i'll call city because i'm in the donut hole literally turn the corner and there's my house and the line is like in front of my house so i only bought it a year and a half ago and i didn't realize that i was in what they called the donut hole and they've been trying to get those two little properties so i'm happy to get about a garbage service and we're happy to have you thank you i'm sorry i do have a question i'm just check miss is miss mckay you said you wanted to see if your neighbors had any concerns have you spoken with your neighbors and there's a airbnb on this side um i think their address is 52 um i didn't think that she was too interested in it by when i talked to her about my drainage ditch that runs through my yard so i just thought maybe you know she might have some concerns but maybe not wanted to ensure that they weren't being annexed yeah okay and what about the neighborhood association from anyone i mean mostly it's it's mostly it's right outside of urlwood i think i still consider myself or what but it was called something else a long time ago okay it may not be or i was trying to pull it up but because it's in richland county it doesn't show the neighborhood so okay thank you okay are you anyone else speaking more against this item here you can see it um miss harbert you have a motion so move second a motion and a second any questions or concerns so be the first reading madam clerk to read the roll mr brown hi mr harbert hi dr bustles hi mr brannon yes mr mcdowell mr duvall hi may i recommend your next case is a zoning map amendment that's also known as a rezoning for 0.747 acres on the south side of sunset drive it's a request to rezone the property from residential single family medium lot district in the urlwood protection overlay to a mixed use mu one zoning in the urlwood protection overlay district it involves two parcels right there is there anybody here to speak for against this item may i recommend i have a mr philippe philippe hernan and after that canny and sherry mcwilliams my name is keith norville i own the property at 33 59 makeway drive that adjoins the property that's in question i know and i am not a public speaker by the way and i'm not prepared but anyway i know once the zoning is changed pretty much anything can go there this property does back up to residential property it's occupied by families and single older people i would like anything that is done with this property to take that into consideration that you're dealing with people's homes and uh once it's done it's done but anyway uh i don't have any terrific suggestions because i'm not used to this type of thing but i am the landlord and i know the city is constantly going on about absentee landlords and landlords that don't care and trying to provide affordable housing well i'm here and i care i care about my property and i care about the people that live in it and i think you need to take this in consideration before you start making changes thank you mayor um miss hampton is this catty corner from the bucks and we're the old and then we're um river and i think there's like a vegan restaurant that intersects river and sunset yeah and the old shopping center okay it's right across the street and then i had a question will it have the overlay when it's annexed so um it's a rezoning and it currently does have the url wood overlay no it does not just let me look just one second yes it does pardon me it does can have the url wood protection overlay and it would maintain the url wood protection overlay okay and that i don't know that answers some of his questions about what it can be used for but i guess that may be just for architectural purposes correct it does not impact the use of underlying zoning impacts the use yes sir let me tell you my mic on um that line of buildings who owns or who owns that piece of property i don't know but i have my um laptop here i can check for the ownership are you talking about this the shopping center the shopping center across the street the beginning of section right yes sir yeah right then you go down and then you go across the bridge down by Aberdeen i believe so there's been talk too of redevelopment of the shopping center but we haven't had any concrete proposals yet yeah the church rev the church that shopping center yeah there are talks of potential they're not on it are they planning to buy it they did own it they owns it i'm not certain that they own it currently so i can't say for certain but we can we can accept in is anyway you could find out for for me and for us certainly who that property yeah i was going to say rev i met with them about two months ago and with the church and they still own the property church owns the property as of like two months ago great thank you i think pastor isl yes ricky isl all right i got you and ryan mr devol's gonna hold this question until we hear from the other folks who wanted to speak so that's good mr herndon hello mr mayor city council you all look very different than you do on your campaign signs it's nice to see all in real life my name is philly perndon this is my partner kenneth mcwilliams we are the owners of river drive creative that purchased these plots on river and sunset drive i have a small handout i can provide to everyone for review as to our reasonings as to our zoning request and our logic behind the requests thank you oh and that drop so if we can get a view of the overlay it's kind of a zone in on that miss hampton's running just a controller i apologize i'm i need to back up one or actually the um the one where it was just with we were the one before to the right uh one more that one thank you so much okay so we purchased four plots of land two that are on river drive and then these two that about sunset the two that are on river drive are already with buildings that we're upfitting we are spending about 350 for the purchase price of the property on upfit for our businesses these two are zoned for residential but they're unfit in our opinion for residential use for several reasons first the one to the left which is to the north is a budding buck's market the convenience store there's also severe grade to the property where um the estimate that we got if a residential property were to be put there or in either spot would be equivalent to about 70 percent of the purchase price of all the property lots and physical property our intention is not to put anything along the lines of residential or commercial use in either of those plots beyond our ability to build parking right now our space shares parking the space the if you look there's a 4 000 square foot building on the east side it shares parking with buck's market the convenience store it's not appropriate for buck's customers or for ours to have to share that parking right now buck's parking customers are regularly in that spot our our plan and intention is to build good neighborly fencing between the two and allow us to develop access to parking from sunset a simple driveway and the best accommodations for it involve being able to use either or one of those lots the driveway to the north of the left lot is buck's driveway and we would like to respect to their access for their customers and have access for our clients via the sunset drive route I do have a question have you all met with the neighborhood association yeah I reached out to them and told them that we were there they were very welcoming but we haven't met with them in person did they request a meeting or because they only meet quarterly as well so that may have been an issue too okay they didn't ask to me they were happy that we were moving in is what the woman told me I can't hear you sorry they were happy that we were moving in that we purchased the building but that's as much communication as we had with them and do they know the use of the property I told her that yeah what our companies are yes in the email oh mr mr brenner wants to know what the business is tell me about so mr mcgilliams is the owner of archer avenue music studio he's been in business for about 12 years I'm the owner of caroline guitar company we've been in business about 10 years serving clients all over the united's approachment into residential areas one reason we feel that this would be appropriate rezoning is that if you look there's a natural tree line barrier in a gravel road before any residential stuff starts to the south of the second plot on the right so there are barriers there is no residential at this point on those spaces and our intention would not be to put large facilities or anything on there because the it's just not well suited for it we would like to preserve that barrier between our commercial use and the residential but allow us to use that parcel for access to parking parcel is already what I saw was a come out of box there's a driveway there comes down the hill and then that first parcel is the way I see it in my map it's already no so after you get past box both of those parcels are residential our zone residential the maps that we have online what I have show it is pink so what you're looking at the urban so that is the land use which is why staff has actually recommended approval of that parcel to go to the commercial it's the adjoining parcel that is in the yellow for the land use that we recommended not going to commercial so that's the difference your land use plan is just a policy guidance for future decisions but then of course the zoning which regulates it is there um and they're those are those two parcels the parcel is neighborhood right now yes we do because while we would be able to I'm sorry oh thank you sorry sorry you'd think people who work in audio would understand proximity to mics building a little you know I'm a little stage rusty so thank you um all of the plans that we've looked at and proposals we've heard from contractors would request that because while we would be able to abut it with parking there would be no access to it and for it to be a driveway or anything coming from sunset our understanding is that it would need to be rezoned for a driveway that would access from sunset to the back parking behind the building and I think like the concern has been that the one lot on the left that's already zoned I guess that could be changed would not be enough space for the parking that we would need but that picture that showed the tree line the tree lines slightly further over than that so there's actually some of our property that's not covered in trees or forest right now that we would love to just kind of go to the edge of not to the edge of the tree line but just to the edge of that plot and use parking kind of over the course of mainly on the left plot but partially on the other one as well but again not changing the tree line at all that is already there. Mayor I just wanted to note that I am at this moment I really I've been trying to reach the neighborhood president and I haven't heard back I would feel a lot more comfortable if I had confirmed that they understood the extended project so today I'm thinking of either deferring the vote or to vote first reading and take the time between first and second to confirm with the neighborhood association. I don't have a preference for either one but I want to make sure you all understand that that it's important to me to make sure that they understand what the project is because not normally they would be here so and but I haven't been able to give each anybody on the phone. First reading. I think yeah. All right so I will make a motion um to approve. Second. Do I need to say pending? Because that would be next. Second reading. Yeah. But we need to have a second reading. I'd like I personally for comment. Speaker. Let's vote then we have discussion. We got a motion. Was there a second? Second. All right discussion. The one lot is commercial. The other one that borderlines there. I don't know if there's any way for us to figure something out that we can protect that tree line and and so forth there between now and second reading. I don't know if that lot could be subdivided. I think it when you take over that lot we're doing what we haven't done in any other neighborhood which is change that residential to commercial and so I want to figure out if there's anything we can do to to come to that because your one lot is 100% commercial. It's there's no doubt about it and I see what you're talking about from the the photograph I have. I just like for us and part of the discussion between now and second reading and see if there's a way for us to keep that because when you go by there you understand how that protects that part of that neighborhood not you know and I think it's important. I understand what staff is saying why they're recommending it but I have some hesitation there and I'd like us to explore some options in between readings if it possible. Madam clerk could you read the roll? Mr. Brown. Yes ma'am. Just a question for these gentlemen. My name is Deiasca Swetman the attorney my matter zoning matter is coming up next. I'm curious about the hours that this business operates that they have specifically the recording studio. I'm also curious as to how much parking this business needs. It appears to me from the map that their two parcels there are in the backyard of a few residential homes and that the request is for a lot of parking so I'm really curious about what the business needs are for their project. Well the one light is commercial the other light is residential currently that's commercial the light directly behind their building is commercial so it's not a residential light it's a commercial light it's zoned properly today it's the second lot that gives me some heartburn and concern which is the one with the trees but I if can you answer what the parking requirement was will be? I'm actually not going to answer that question because I want to caution council about talking about project specific items with regard to a rezoning because rezonings aren't project specific once you have a property rezoned you can use it for whatever is allowed in that zoning so it's really not appropriate to talk about that. What gentlemen y'all are in a different phase so what is your intention from parking spots? My company currently employs four employees two of which actually are living in the Earlwood neighborhood so they are delighted about the prospect of skating or actually one of our employees the general manager is renting the property directly abutting so he's planning on recording a youtube video celebrating the world's shortest commute he will be walking he will be walking out of the property at 3502 taking 10 steps and walking into the property at 3504 so our situation between the park what I've observed of our parking situations typically two to three vehicles along with access for deliveries from FedEx UPS and various vendors his situation typically I've seen several cars because he's recording musical artists and things like this but it's become almost untenable because you've been working out of your home so it's like the driveway gets taken so the idea being that if we do set up a fence between us and bucks we want to be able to have people be able to get in and get out and while we could line up everybody to parallel park along that fence area that we would propose setting up between our parcel and bucks it would be a lot more acceptable for them to be able to park a behind 3502 up to that area and be able to then access out and to be a little more specific normally I would need it would be me so one or two cars for me and my coworker that work out of the studio and then just whatever clients are there that day most days that is one extra car or two extra cars it could be as many as five or six or seven or eight but that's very rare if that answers your question the other thing I wanted to address that she mentioned is it with it being in the backyard of a residential house we actually also purchased that house right next to 3504 so we own that house as well and it's zoned mixed use so the his employee that lives there is renting from us we own that property so we purchased the building the house next to it and the two lots behind it and because that house is already zoned mixed use our understanding is that that could be used for commercial anyway so we wouldn't be affecting someone's backyard that is in a residential that is already zoned residential thank you for that clarification and that information any other questions council madame clerk could you read the roll mr brown hi mr harbert hi dr bustles hi mr brennan yes mr mcdowell mr duvall hi may i recommend i look forward to working with staff and others for the next reading your next matter is also a zoning math amendment rezoning for 25 34 forest drive this is a request to rezone the property from residential single family medium lot district to a mixed use district mayor may i recommend we have quite a few individuals signed up for item 30 okay all right we will start off with mr david turner mr mayor counsel thank you for the opportunity to speak i'm david turner i am a volunteer with the forest hills neighborhood association and i'm asking today that she would uphold the decision of the planning commission that was made on march the ninth and i speak on behalf of our our neighborhood and um other folks on the board thank you thank you madame clerk philips mcwilliams i'm philips mcwilliams i'm a resident of forest hills thank you for allowing me to address you today i live at 25 25 strapford road just a few houses away um one street into forest hills from uh where this zoning is or the proposed rezoning is to take place and i'm speaking against it um you know i don't want commercial encroachment into our neighborhood we've got a great neighborhood there we love the atmosphere right next door uh if you're looking from far strive to the um house in question to the left of it is a um piece of property there's actually three lots if this has turned into mixed use there's nothing stopping that person from subdividing their lot they have one house on there and then selling that all for commercial purposes as well and they could completely transform the the neighborhood uh i would also like to say that i believe that if you allow this rezoning to occur it would be quote unquote spot zoning which the southbound supreme court has said is not allowed um and i also think it would be an arbitrary and unreasonable rezoning which again the southbound supreme court has said is not allowed and i think it would be arbitrary and unreasonable because uh every review it's gone through up until now has recommended denial of this rezoning to mix use um so i thank you for your time and um thank you for hearing me and i'd ask that you vote against rezoning this next we have warren warren snoddy i live at 1425 westminster drive i won't take up your time i'd like to support the the two gentlemen that went ahead of me and hope that you'll uh make uh uphold a previous decision thank you thank you you mr paul graffle i'm not certain about that last name but paul sorry for the poor handwriting but uh it's my last name is greggery paul greggery i also live in forest hills and i just don't want to open the door to any kind of encroachment and change into uh commercial property in our area thank you thank you mr greggery hank mobily good afternoon my name is hank mabry i'm a resident of forest hills i live at 25 36 canterbury road i'm also the area representative for section a of forest hills which this resident falls within um i'm opposed to this rezoning request because it's completely out of character for one of the oldest neighborhoods in columbia um there is adequate uh commercial zoning across the street uh and that's where i think it probably needs to stay thank you next speaker uh first name is derrick derrick proctor all right can y'all speak a little bit into the mic so we can i don't think they can hear you have an odd superior street resident on superior street okay miss ronda thank you thank you i um apparently did not realize that there was an order of speaking but i am ronda some people um call me help me ronda some people don't i'm probably least helpful to the people that are opposing this zoning but i want to tell you a brief story oh i beg your pardon mysner i'm going to tell you a brief story um about why this zoning should be considered i am personal friends with diaska however when we met she was left of california i was right of atilla the hun um the reason i tell you this is because not only is she a rule follower um she wants to follow the rules and uh there was some confusion initially i did not was not involved in the sale of that i am a real estate broker and i would say that pretty much everything on forest drive in the future is probably going to be commercial it is it is incumbent upon all of us to to look at um i know the gentleman talked about the south carolina supreme court i didn't hear any actual cases that he cited but i will say this about that spot zoning i believe to be unconstitutional because it has to be the nature and character of the community the community is about what is necessary and what is available certainly diaska could rent that house out and then you have lots of transient people coming in and out she simply wants to have a law firm it's during the day it's not at night there's no craziness going on it would it would fit very nicely into the community from the standpoint of um if somebody in the neighborhood needed a notary if someone in the neighborhood um needed legal representation certainly that could be a benefit to the the local community what um what is important with zoning and change if we look at atlanta my family grew up in atlanta we had lots of property and little five points i can tell you that all of those properties changed over time we may not want them to change in some ways but in this way this would be not only um a congruent part of the community but it would be i think um a good good move there certainly um i think miss hello i got a warning um she has she has said we will you know we'll limit it to a law firm or we'll limit the zoning for so that there's nothing in the future that's all she wants to do she just wants to work so thank you so much and by the way i i want to tell you guys this is one of the most positive meetings that i've been to i really appreciate your efforts for commercialism i appreciate your you know support of the community and i'm out of time but many many accolades to you guys thank you tie barns would you give that name again madam clerk tie barns okay good evening council thank you for your time thank you for your attention to this matter again my name is tie barns i'm resident in forest hills i serve on the homeowners association as a code enforcement official so i wanted to just say to you all that no one is against free enterprise we are certainly proponents of folks working earning a living and taking care of their families however it's the families it's the families who reside in these neighborhoods in these houses uh and all we're asking is to have that preserved so that folks can raise their children can walk the streets jog and enjoy the surroundings that um that they have the right to to to live into to grow and prosper within those uh within that framework and so all we're asking is to preserve that for the folks who live and um raise their families there so thank you for your time and i appreciate it sir i have mr miller on strafford road that miller um i'm at i live at 2507 strafford road i'm really nervous so i apologize i'm not much of a public speaker um i just would like to say a couple things i'm adjacent to my property backs up to the one in question um like i welcome all new neighbors i've been very happy to see the improvements at the property um and that's great that said i'm opposed to this being zoned as mixed use commercial um i'm concerned that about future development and future tenants um you know once something is zoned it's zoned i'm also concerned that all the this could set off change on the line of forest drive of other properties that back up to the that are part of the neighborhood who you know back up to properties on strafford road um just a couple more comments if someone wanted to own a commercial property or rent a commercial property there appear to be lots around this on the other side of forest drive on the other side of manning very close by that seem to be vacant um i would hope that they would pursue a commercial venture in one of those properties that's all i've got thank you lisa glover good afternoon mayor i recommend council members my name is lisa glover and i am currently residing and have continued to reside at 2501 strafford road next door to mr miller uh for the last 19 years and i am here to request that you deny this uh rezoning um forest hills uh is a great neighborhood i've lived there i got there for the past 19 years as mr barnes has stated we raise our children and one of the things we love about our neighborhood is the natural beauty we can walk our children around and just enjoy the natural beauty we asked that i'm asking that you deny this request um forest hill is an in-town suburb um our neighborhood dates back to 1859 and it was developed for residential use in 1925 as you may or may not know forest hills is on the national registry for historic places as i stated it dates back to 1959 as the neighborhood um we are not being unreasonable opposing miss sumptuous request we are just looking out for our neighborhood um you know in her social media post the last couple of days she has deemed us as being unreasonable and uh she's really invested in it so will we um as mr mayberry stated he is our area resident um we are a good neighborhood we have events we do things together so we get to know one another um i know most of the people who've still up here today some of them i don't know um but we just recently had an easter egg event uh easter event for the neighborhood we get together and have social where we bring potluck meals in together and just sit and visit and get to know one another so i would additionally ask that you uh deny this request in uh in in particular i would ask our council representatives dr bustles and mr devolve to please uh vote against this request thank you synthia clark signed up where you don't have to speak i'd like to thank you all for your time um i sent a letter i think you've received it and after listening to everyone i thought of only three things to say some of which are in the letter that i sent the first one is that the rezoning was not a requirement to purchase the property which is of interest um if rezoning or if if someone wanted to operate a business in a location they would check that out first so i want to just want to make it clear that that was not the purchase of the property was not contingent on rezoning the second one is that uh city council i think um i'm not sure of the year but there was a similar request nearby on manning avenue and it was denied by city council it protected both the lion's street neighborhood and forest hills and this is just around the corner the third thing was that the planning commission denied it in accordance with the columbia compass 2020 which was passed only about three years ago with mayor benjamin so i hope everyone will vote no on the rezoning thank you miss wetman you're welcome to i think i should all right miss maya borden or burton hello everyone my name is maya burton i currently work with and for attorney spencer i've worked for her for about five years i'm here to definitely say that being a young person i'm speaking for the fellow college students who are close to that area with usc alan and benaday we do a lot for the community as you can see i am young i'm only 25 years old attorney spencer she's wonderful and i'm not just saying that because i work for her if and when you guys do approve us i'm going to speak it into existence we do a lot for that just the community in general whether it's for strive broad river it doesn't matter we do a lot for the community we believe in the people if any resident or if you guys were to need our help we're certainly there for you at any time so i just hope you guys take that into consideration with your decision miss lori triplet good afternoon my name is lori triplet and i'm here to ask you to approve miss spencer's request for rezoning deuska is a outstanding member of our community and as an educator of our children in the community i feel like that having her business there would allow our children as you're walking down the street with your families to be able to say that look what people can accomplish she is a role model for our students she is an example that we want our children to be able to see every day of what they can accomplish no matter where they come from she gives back to our community on a daily basis and the things that she can bring to this community by allowing her small business would do nothing but make our community greater last but not least is miss wetman thank you so much before i give my remarks i just want to say i like easter egg hunts too and i just had the privilege of traveling with 11 families out of my neighborhood in blithe wood to jamaica uh and i'm a good neighbor and have always been to them uh and i'd be a good neighbor to those in forest hills so again i thank the council i thank the mayor uh i thank those who are here in support of my request and i'm grateful at least for the discourse for those who who may be in opposition and some clearly are um if we could put a photo of the building up so that's the building that is across from the michael's dry cleaners um the gentleman dutton miller sent an email to this council saying why not put my law office in that strip mall which is um on the other side of the the property that adjoins my lot i'm not putting a law office in a strip mall i grew up in columbia and i was told that if you wanted to make it you had to leave south carolina i have many friends that have left but i stayed i started my business in a room across from trinablasa four years later i bought a small building because it was what i could afford i hired staff they've been with me we're growing my business did seven figures and fees last year we just need a little more space i can't just go anywhere i'm a woman business owner this is where i grew up i went to drear i feel safe here the mayor has said the city of columbia is open to small businesses wine safety concerns i do i do i closed in the screen porch so that no neighbor would have anyone sitting in the back of the property looking into their yards i did not know i would meet opposition and rezoning this building where the noise level is so high if you're in the front room that no small child could ever play safely in that front yard so yes i bought the building i'm out of time but i do i ask you all to understand that i am a daughter of columbia unlike some of the folks who now live in forest hills i grew up in columbia and i've built a business here that is working that's thriving that's supporting other small businesses in the city of columbia and it's time for columbia to be like a dallas i heard miss miriam say we're not dallas we can be dallas we can be dallas we can be atlanta and we can do it well because on millwood rosewood divine and other parts of the city commercial and residential exist why not this stretch of forest drive thank you miss thank you so much mayor i'm sorry i i didn't know i wanted to ask miss fencer if she wanted to address any of the again not the use of the property because it could be used for anything else but any specific responses to the issues that were raised by the residents and i i'll ask you the same question i asked the other folks have you met with the neighborhood association and the ask and i are friends and we've talked about this so no surprises councilwoman i do want to address the privacy concerns again um i closed in the screen porch if you look at older photos of the house uh after it was remodeled by a developer um i hired a gentleman to go in and create walls to put up siding to close it in so that no one could sit in the back and look out into the neighborhood um and to mr miller's backyard i have also put in a driveway i did not know that removing the few trees that would have obstructed a driveway being put in would cause so much um pushback from neighbors um but i've committed to work with the landscaper who's putting in 32 lega strums along the fence line we're waiting for the decision today he's already run lines for sprinkler systems to water the grass that will go in i've put in a fence to again protect uh rey and annie has have a little dog they're the adjoining land owner who wrote the letter in support put the fence up so that their dog would not come over onto our land and to sort of um make it a little more private for them and to sort of block out some of the the things that they have in their backyard i do not want to rent the space as an airbnb i've been told that that's an option i don't think that that promotes uh safety as the young woman suggested that it's a safe neighborhood for children i think that creates a revolving door of tenants i think renting this space even to young people creates more of a uh a noise hazard or or potential problem for the neighbors a law office operates nine to five while most people are at work and we're not there on the weekends um we see no more than 10 clients a week two on tuesday perhaps three on wednesday maybe a couple disbursements on friday i've planned to only have clients park in the front of the property because that's the front of the property and where they would enter the building the parking pad that's on the back would be for staff like maya who's been with me since 2018 no 2018 and lori who's been with me since 2018 um and uh this is a week a year ago this week the green highlights are the clients that i saw it was four i don't want to publish this because it actually has their names but we don't have a ton of folks that come in most of my work tina your lawyer is um remotely and on the phone uh i think that's all that i have with respect to the privacy concerns that were raised um unless you have other questions any other questions i mean i'd just like to say i've met with de asca um i've been to the property i've talked to her on the phone um and and as the district for representative um a lot of the things that she says is relevant it's just not relevant to the zoning issue so so in my mind you know there's a lot of cliches we could talk about um a couple come to mind the ends don't the end doesn't justify the means the end doesn't justify the means or two wrongs don't make a right um so in my mind uh and i've been very clear with de asca that um i plan to vote against the rezoning any other discussion traditionally having denied rezoning and fine street greenview rosewood millwood and all support their corridors who's currently here there is between manning and all the way to what used to be the piece of general is all residential sorry all residential um so i i don't believe their support to change this and this isn't about you it's about the property and and that's where it is um it's unfortunate we do support small businesses and we've we've proven that over and over but here we have something that's in an interior and it's not in on the outer skirts or the other it's not comparable to another piece the best piece i could compare it to is the divine street which we denied uh millwood which we denied because of the impact that that's there and it's not just the impact today it's the future impact with that i would ask um is there a motion i move we deny the application is there a second second yeah motion in a second any further discussion um i just one thing and i'm hoping that miss spencer understands it is so not about a law office it's just not about that at all it is truly about making this property commercial and then it's the next piece of property going to be commercial and then it's the next piece of property it is not about it being a law firm that's not the issue today madame clark would you read the role sir mr brown i miss harbert i dr bustles i mr brunnan yes mr mcdowell yes mr duvall i may recommend i thank you the next case on your agenda are amendments it's amending the unified development ordinance of the city of columbia um bear with me i will be brief but i will highlight these changes um as you know our our ordinance went into effect now a couple years ago and i want to applaud staff hope hasty and and others who as we've been working with its implementation have identified elements of it that need to be addressed and amended and we've been bringing those to you um i hope that they'll start slowing down over the next year but these are all intended to make it easier to administer easier to use i move i move that we adopt all of the technical amendments as proposed by staff i got a motion and a second any discussion questions or concerns hearing none seeing none madame clark could you read the roll mr brown i miss harbert i dr bustles i mr brunnan yes mr mcdowell yes mr duvall i may recommend i thank you that concludes your zoning public hearing thank you miss hampton ordinance's first reading item 32 ordinance number 2020 3041 consenting to the inclusion of property in a multi county industrial business park 2019 bull street owner l lc formally referred to as project astral in richland county and this item approval of ordinance 23041 is there second second to have a motion and a second any discussion hearing non-seeing none madame clark could you read the roll mr brown miss harbert dr bustles i mr brunnan yes mr mcdowell yes mr duvall i may recommend i item 33 ordinance number 2020 3049 granting an encroachment to the university of south carolina for the use of the alley right of way area of 1300 block of florida street for the installation and maintenance of a drive i'll move second madam motion and a second any discussion concerns hearing none seeing none madame clark read the roll mr brown i miss harbert dr bustles i mr brunnan yes mr mcdowell yes mr duvall i may recommend hi moving into a period of appointments um i think council has three here today before you the bicycle pedestrian advisory committee food policy committee and the planning commission miss wood is here if you have any questions so council we have um asked to three appointees and one reappointment which is the comet designee miss pamela three are y'all good with the reappointments well that's the matter that um oh yeah that's that's sorry that's this one yeah miss pamela is is is appointed due to her job so there's no conflict there so that's not it's not an issue that's not a issue that's all right there are three vacancies there's um yes they can appoint up to three um then there's the a reappointment who who are the two reappointees is the first two i'm sorry pamela final read is the is the comet designee that would be the reappointment yes we only have one correct sir we just have miss root read just miss read i'll make a motion that we approve miss read we on food that's sorry bicycle pedestrian advisory committee no one i didn't see that name i've seen the name and that's about virtue of her being on the comet right yes yes sir that's due to her job right yes about motions or second second motion a second any further discussion hearing none seeing none madame clark could you read the roll please mr brown mr harbert hi dr bustles hi mr brennan yes mr mcdowell yes mr duvall may i recommend hi now we're on the food policy yes now i'm in the vacancies are there um there's three total but two are for reappointment and those two reappointments are are sheina h kato and kimberley humphrey okay ashley help me out with this looks how many vacancies do we need to feel today really just need to reappoint the two reappointments okay because in discussions there needs to be a position for a comet designee and if we fill that last open slot if we're talking with food policy committee it would eliminate that connect to the comet and we need that because the comet has been evolved played an intricate part in a lot of their programming that they've developed with the former chair director john ando so the top mr but if i'm hearing you correctly the total number of persons or two total numbers of that board is 11 yes sir it's 11 11 total that all boards and commissions are allowed that's the max um and right now we are seeking to reappoint two individuals and we were made aware of needing to hold that last position um in order to um reappoint a comet designee to food policy committee so all we're doing today if you choose to is to reappoint sheina kato and kimberley humphrey so move second discussion and that's because there are only two vacancies so there are three vacancies but we were made aware actually today that there is there needs to be a position for a comet designee since a lot of the food policy committee programming was designed around their partnership with the comet because the comet provides access to some of the areas that they're trying to service that are dealing with food food deserts so today we're going to do the reappointment we're going to leave one position open so we can determine if we need a comet designee and deal with that at a later time yes okay yes ma'am i got it yes ma'am thank you be good madam clark could you read the role please sir mr brown hi mr harbert dr bustles hi mr brennan mr mcdowell yes mr duvall hi may i recommend hi thank you lastly we have the planning commission and council has asked to appoint two new commissioners for two vacant seats anybody have any of these folks that have applied today like to bring forth at this time um this doesn't look the same as what we had online through the other things so it's kind of hard to the the people that you sent us online through matchmaker or whatever the name of that matchboard yes sir matchboard matchboards when you swipe to the right one of those matches uh one of them lives in blackwood and we can't have a blackwood person on our planning commission yes sir i think mr so that leaves two correct that leaves for the two slots stand for stanford dinkins is the only one well you got two you got mr dinkins and you got the attorney who lives in cedar terrace yes sir josh waltz those are the two there are three applicants and one is as you pointed out is in blackwood so you've got down in your comments to stanford ending his second term that's on the design um that's he left the ddrc left ddrc he's applied to move to the planning commission yes sir okay i think at this point based on everybody not having themselves prepared or have a direct answer that i'm there for a defer to the next meeting okay that's a good second thank you i'll send a second madame clark could you read the roll mr brown hi mr harbert hi dr bustles hi mr brunnan yes mr mcdowell yes mr duvall mayor rickamon hi thank you other matters item 37 the food desert grocery access program the honorable daniel j rickamon mayor well here we are at the end of the day and talking about something that's very important um to cart public's food lion and um as mr regina williams pointed out talking to the dollar store and some others who may can provide a service for delivery to use the ten thousand dollars as a pilot we know this is not enough this is only to see what the response is we are in the process of getting a donation through a foundation to help fund the future but the idea is to take advantage of a system that already is in place which covers about 90 99 of the city to provide those groceries through working to look at the different opportunities how that can be modified by downloading programs having the money paid for the service so they create an unlimited delivery um type for the nearest grocery store we thought we would use based on whatever folks who are eligible for medicaid and medicare who live over three miles from the nearest grocery store is our basis to start and then build up from there there's a lot of different um numbers distances that people use i know there was a group before us that used the half mile would that would include me and other people in that category and so making sure that we focus on the folks in the most need to build up the program we probably come back to ask for some more money we put away money as you know in our american recovery act funding for food and food insecurity but we also have private foundations who want to help and support and uplift that through the program utilizing the retail instacart and other folks who have programs already set up to establish it we would use our parks as the center for this um this would demonstrate the proof of concept so that we could open it up before we invest thousands of dollars in a program not knowing that it's going to be successful um using technology in a system that's already in place is why we're trying this and trying to address the food uh desert as you know we had a memo in there um for everyone's uh review and i'd like uh to ask your support so that we could start the the pilot program so hopefully it turns into a full pledge program that can make a difference in the areas that are underserved in our community uh mr mayor so i like this program a lot and intend to fully support it how will we track its effectiveness uh during the pilot program because we could we can track all the the you can track everything through the through the service so you'll be able to see how many people take advantage of it how many times they get delivery i mean to be quite frank i have a feeling that the pilot's going to sell out he'd use that term but sell out its program right away and we're going to be looking for more money to grow it but be able to track that because of the technology of how they order it and i think miss um williams brought up a good point about you know some folks may not be able to technology there is a call-in service to that as well uh so that we can track that so we'll start looking at where those areas are taking advantage of it so that we can target which will also be great data to go as we begin to push for neighborhood style grocery stores so i was gonna say i think i think the the metrics or the data is important for the future as well as the the effectiveness of the pilot program so i think there's we need as much information as possible well it's going to be interesting because the tracking also allows us to track not only how many times somebody uses the services but the products they buy right are they buying more staple items and taking advantage of farmers markets and others for fresh goods you know it will be very interesting to see what's most needed and that will also help us in the future as we go down the path to find the right partner you don't need this for paper towels we need for food but everybody needs staples right mr. mayor yes sir may i ask this is there any way the specifics of the program is there any way a group of us of you and perhaps several others we could work out some of those specifics a lot of it in terms of the sheet that i uh sent everybody um but i would happily sit down i'd love to have the retailers here uh insta card here and uh south carolina retail association they have been extremely helpful in sharing information so yes we could set that up and have everybody in i think it'd be great for you to hear from them what's happening in other communities and how they plan to do that absolutely and that would be real helpful for all the big stores in the big enterprises but the little stores like that little store of this of this what's the name of that store dollar store dollar store stores like that and also see how how you can incorporate uncle willies and other people down the road mr. mayor i think those partners can also tell us the metrics that councilman brown was talking about what they can effective bringing them i think it's great which would be great yes ma'am miss harbert um may i just i only had just a suggestion or maybe a question for the city manager i know that the source here is um american rescue plan act funding and sometimes the federal dollars are just hard administratively i didn't know if we could consider the leftover funds from the resilience fund so that we don't have the the reporting and you know administrative requirements that come along with federal dollars now i don't know what they are but they're usually some uh i didn't i didn't catch that it said arpa that was the intent was to use the resiliency funds i stand correct yes okay thank you for bringing that to our attention let me ask you this question how useful and how helpful would it be if there are uh reserve funds and i told you that we could possibly use for well you all have pretty much spent that down reverend mcdowell i believe with the use if we apply what is it ten thousand dollars for this program is that the intent ten thousand to start yes ma'am knowing that we probably come back but didn't want to appropriate money something that may not be welcome yeah so i we recently you allocated those funds for at least two other initiatives the community relations council got 60 thousand dollars out of it and then there was another initiative prior to that as well and then there would be the ten thousand for this so i have to do some accounting of what's left yes sir yes sir we can do that yes sir i mean it really all just goes back in the general fund as you know sir but yes sir let you miss ma'am i i think it's i think it's important for the public to understand that this is for the delivery it doesn't cost it's not for the food it's not for the food it is getting it to which is one of the biggest complaint about right and of course that's why i think it's critically important to kind of flesh out all of the specifics of the program because it's it's a difference in picking up the phone and calling for food and you don't have money it's a difference so it's for delivery and not for the gathering and i think we need to be very specific about that motion is second any further discussion questions concerns hearing none seen i'm out of court could you read the roll mr brown all right mr herbert hi dr bustles hi mr brunin yes mr mcdowell mr duvall hi may i recommend hi thank you and that brings us to our council committee reports referrals and new business do we have any committee referrals this afternoon any new business any good news that you want to share with the public move with adjourn we got we have a point of public input now is there anybody who would like to speak this afternoon is there anyone who signed up to speak no ma'am now i will entertain a motion to adjourn all right second second thank you mr brown all right mr harbert hi dr bustles hi mr brunin yes mr mcdowell mr duvall may i recommend i have a great