 Well good morning everyone. I want to start by welcoming you all here this morning for our ribbon cutting and groundbreaking at North Main Street. I would especially like to think and recognize our community partners and project designers in the audience today. I would also include the City of Columbia. I want to recognize specifically Mayor Daniel Rickerman as well as former City Councilman but still Councilman Sam Davis as well as City Councilman Howard Duvall and City Councilman Ed McDowell also like to recognize LJ construction as well but also I'd like to thank my colleagues in the audience you know this morning for the tremendous support of this widening project specifically Councilman Paul Livingston whose district this project is located. The county continues a very successful run of transportation penny projects the past several months. Back in December just a few miles from here with collaboration from partners we finished up in a Vista Green Street Phase 2. That project reconnected Green Street and included a bridge over long-standing railroads. In January we broke ground on major intersection improvements at Bull Street and Inwood Avenue one of the most important interchanges in the city and then a few weeks ago we started the process of upgrading Blythwood Road to help bolster infrastructure in northeast Richland County. With that work as well as this new multi-phase project here at North Main Street to Richland County Penny is making things safer for drivers as well as pedestrians and cyclists. This project has widened and repaved nearly two miles of road. Vito intersections in this area have been upgraded particularly at North Main Street and Monticello Road. There are also other improvements from crosswalks and upgraded pedestrian routes to landscaping and street lighting. Overhead utilities in this area have been relocated underground. All of this was the culmination of efforts by so many professionals and entities that became invested in improving the quality of life for people here. Back in 2012 the communities we serve saw the need to improve transportation throughout our county and voted to adopt the penny sales tax. That taxes led to the successful completion of more than 500 projects with many more either underway or happening soon. The transportation penny has benefited Richland County by making travel easier and more efficient across the map in enhancing the vibrancy and quality of life where we live and work. The upgrades we will discuss today are another example of the county's commitment to safety and improved infrastructure. And with that in mind I'd like to invite the next speaker and distinguished guest and my dear friend Councilman Paul Limitster. What a great day for North Columbia and Richland County and the rest of our Middle East region. Welcome and thank you for being here. You know I'm excited to be here with you today for this ribbon-cutting widening project for North Main. This is a prime example of the transportation can at work for the residents of Richland County and for today specifically District 4. From a county council perspective a lot has been changed since our residents, you our residents, voted for a transportation penny tax. And we are still committed to fulfilling obligations that you set out for us reference the penny tax. A lot has been changed since we first passed this penny tax. But we do know that change have been rather significant and beneficial to all of us in Richland County. And there's still a lot more to be done. But then the county, you know, back then the county saw fit to support a change in our community by making sure we provide significant infrastructure. You know transportation penny has significant benefits for the county as a whole. But let me just talk about those significant benefits for North Main. We're talking about significant intersection improvements. We're talking about widening. We're talking about paving of North Main. We're talking about work to improve pedestrian routes, crosswalks, straight lights. And you know, we're very fortunate because, at least in my opinion, you know, North Main got their roads lost treatment. You know, a lot of communities are pretty jealous. You know, North Main has, you know, underground utilities, you know, how many communities would love that? I mean, North Main has really wonderful, nice, gorgeous poll lights. And that didn't happen by accident. You know, I have to give my colleague and my friend at that time, Sam Davis, because of the effort we put forward to try to make sure those things happen. I just want to commend Sam for working with me during that particular time. You know, and there are other benefits that the area, that's very visible in the area too. And that keep, you know, for example, we know that there will be benefits of the related businesses, you know, in the area. There's more like to develop here. We want to help facilitate growth and bring more resources to this area. Things like grocery stores, banks, pharmacies, things that particular agent, we think that will happen. We see that's beginning to happen. We know that because what we're doing to pay the profit here, we're going to see a more vibrant community. Counted transportation improvements we're talking about today will have a huge, huge impact throughout the community. The work completed on the pending program is vital to the future growth in this district. And I would say the overall county. And I want to thank those citizens of North Columbia for their patience. We know there was a delay in this project, primarily because of the old trawler rail having to be replaced or removed. But this project has always been a priority project. I remember back in the years when this project was not listed as high priority. But we worked to move it up. We looked at the early benefits. We looked at this area is being ready to move forward with this project. And so move it up on the list. And I know some folks thinking, well, this is very long. But remember now, a transportation program was a 22 year program. We just have we're there right now. And you have your project on pretty much completed. So just let me again, just thank everyone for the support and their patience with this particular project. At this time, it is my honor to introduce Donalba, Daniel Rickerman, Mayor of City of Columbia. Thank you, everyone for being here. You know, this is this is a great collaboration. As you as we all know, where the county and the city, the residents came together and they made a decision. Not everybody was for the penny. But the folks that did realize how important it was for us to make an investment. And this is an area that has made a big difference. And as Councilman Livingston said, you know, the creating gateways and building up the infrastructure, putting the underground utilities attracts, it helps build up and in a center of a community that wants to grow. This is what we're trying to do as a collaborative effort. Couldn't be done without everybody coming to the table and working together in the hard work before and our former council member who still I think people still in this district call him Councilman Sam Davis, what work hand in hand councilman Livingston to make this a priority and make sure it happened. Now granted, we had some delays. There were some headaches here. But when you look at the end result, it was worth the wait. It is a great investment. And I want to thank the Richland County for their stewardship. I want to thank their leadership. I want to thank Sam Davis for his tenacity because he was the dog that caught the car and he wasn't gonna let go until it got done. With that, I turn it over to Councilman Davis. Morning, everybody. You know, a lot of what would be said this this morning would be repetitive. And I think one thing that most folks are not aware of is the route from here to Washington. We made several journeys to Washington. And you you learn quickly the art of passing the hat and had in hand. But I can assure you that everybody who bought into this project were committed and they followed through and they came to the table when when the time was right. And the time the right time in Washington is when the money comes. But I want to assure you that every member of the delegation, both sides that we talked with from time to time, express their commitment. And as opportunities presented themselves, they followed through the dollars came, there was the partnership with the penny tax. So what what we have today is what you call the final product. One thing I learned about projects like this is that you've got to make sure the stakeholders are involved. And I can tell you that a one or two nights, I was literally almost ran out of that that building right there. Because folks just wanted to make sure one that we were serious about what we were going to do. And that we were going to do whatever it took to get it done. That's all timeframe and pure commitment. And I think with with both staff city, county, and the legislative delegation in Washington, they all at one point, locked hands and said that we're going to make this project work. I I learned a lot about the structure and the stability of Charlie cars through this project. It wasn't a hard job. It took a lot to undo what was done years ago. So that tells you that the foundation back then was worth the money. And I'm convinced that the foundation now is going to be a durable one. It can't be done overnight. And we all know the benefits of this project. That's the bottom line the benefit we've all it's already been mentioned. You can see it. Investments are coming. Investments have already happened. And this project leads from the interstate. So if you're coming into Columbia, you have four easy turns. North Maine, Fairfield, I always count Monticello and so forth. Every one of those corridors and every one of those exits have been impacted by this project and the benefits are happening now. So staff, the citizens, colleagues, we all want to express our appreciation for everybody's input. And you can honestly say it's a job well done. Thank you. Good afternoon. I'm Mike Maloney, director of public works for Richland County. Here representing several professionals who have been involved in this project before me. We have Dana Higgins from the city director of engineering for the city of Columbia. Dana spent a constant contact with us to ensure that the city had implemented two phases of this project before the penny. The area where we are is kind of the centroid of all the work that had been done by the penny and culminated with the center section being completed this past winter, Monticello Road and Main Street. We also have Kim Tony, who was our project manager here holding the umbrella. For Dr. Thompson, our former director of my boss, the ACA, who's been involved in this project. So I want to thank all them for bringing it to a point where they just said, you know, get the last pair crust and get it built and finished and, you know, complete the punch list. So that's where we're at now. Punch list is almost completed. I'd like to point out that where the signs are and where the ribbon is and where all that beautiful landscaping is used to be an exit ramp, basically from Monticello Road. And they were able to recover this beauty and create more parkland by the changes that were made. So it wasn't all widening. It was really a consideration of pedestrians in a big way. When you look at this, you can go to Google Earth timeline and see how this area changed over time. And the biggest thing you see is great crosswalks and sidewalks and areas for pedestrians. And of course, the improvements to the parks around it. Some of the things that also was safety and that were improved were intersections that didn't make sense, trying to close those off and improve those. We had one just to beyond this location on Main Street that I'm sure was a challenge and it took a lot of public input to do that. But a lot of tough decisions were made and created a great corridor here.