 Good afternoon, Mr. Brown, Ms. Herbert, Dr. Bussells, Mr. Brennan, Mr. McDowell, Mr. Duvall, Mayor Rickamon. Thank you. Thank you. I would like to please take some of the blood out of the United States of America and to the Republic of which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty, and justice for all. Mr. McDowell, would you mind saying a word before we start? Let's have word of grace together for these moments of discussion and reflection for the beauty of this day as our city continues to grow and fester in its own, in real positive ways. We ask your blessings upon each of us individually and collectively. Touch us in a way that we might be good listeners. Touch us in a way that our antennas of sensitivity might touch and invade us with a kind of conversation that is meaningful to the city. We ask it in your name. Council, we do need you to adopt the address for deferrence. Yes, sir, at the request of the applicants. We also, can we move the DR to out of the consent and vote on it separately? Certainly. Okay. And that's item, that'd be item five. Okay. There's a motion to adopt the agenda with moving item five out of the consent and deferring items 14 and 15. Second. Second. Second. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mayor Rickamon. Aye. And I'm sorry, I failed to mention that Ms. Herbert is listening but not here. She's under the weather and so she decided to stay home today but she has voiced her opinion for her district and we're well aware where she stands on the issues before us today. But just wanted to make sure that you knew that she is watching, she is still representing but she's under the weather today. Thank you, Mayor. Public input. Yes, sir, Mayor. If any attendees have public input related to the items on the agenda, we can hear them at this time. Of course, any matters for public hearing and zoning will have their own time to be heard. And then there's a section at the end of the agenda for any general items, discussions, comments, questions, et cetera. At that point, we'll be at the end of the agenda. Thank you, Mayor. Moving into a period of presentations, our first item is National Police Week Proclamation. The Honorable Daniel J. Rickamon, Mayor, and Mayor Rickamon will also have Chief Holbrook come up for some additional acknowledgements. Well, I'd like to invite the Chief first if we could. Sure. And allow him to speak. Thank you, Ms. Wilson. Mayor Reckman and Council, I have the privilege to recognize two of our emerging leaders at the Columbia Police Department today, and it's very fitting as we're recognizing National Police Week, and we just came off Law Enforcement Memorial Day yesterday. As you know, we lost an officer in a line of duty last year, and his name was placed on the memorial this past weekend. These two officers really exemplify what servant leadership and means to our agency. The first person I'd like to recognize is Lieutenant Daniel Wesley. Dan, if you'd come up here, Lieutenant Brink, would you come up here also, please? And I'd also like to point out that here this evening with us is also Deputy Chief Kelly, Captain Cynthia Wagner. She's our Metro Commander, Captain PJ Moldowski, our Southeast Region, Captain Brian Bell, West Region and Captain Darren Hicks, North Region, and Major Chris Roberts, who's over operations. On May 12, 2023, Lieutenant Wesley graduated from the University of Louisville Southern Police Institute Administrative Officers' Course. Lieutenant Wesley was a member of the 149th session, which was comprised of 46 officers of various ranks from 19 different states. The Southern Police Institute was founded in 1951. It's a 12-week course, earned approval of the 12th semester hours of credit at the University of Louisville College of Arts and Science. This very demanding academic curriculum pushed Lieutenant Wesley, both personally and professionally. During his studies, he reviewed police policy, completed case studies, studied leadership, criminal justice administration, racial relations, managing organizational performance, and many different legal aspects of criminal justice. Operational success and maintaining the culture of excellence is achieved through developing leaders in an organization. We talked about that earlier today, a work session. Lieutenant Wesley has demonstrated sacrifice, perseverance, and his commitment to excellence and this organization in the city. And for that, we are recognizing him with this Outstanding Achievement Award today. So, I guess we're about to judge by the loudness of clapping to see how this next one's received. Lieutenant Brink is the Executive Officer in the North Region. On May 15th, Lieutenant Brink graduated from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department's Command College. Lieutenant Brink was a member of the Command College Class 008, which was comprised of 15 officers of various upper command ranks from 13 different local, state, and federal departments. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department Command College was established in 2016 to provide additional professional training for their own command and executive staff. Several years later, it was opened by invitation to other agencies that emphasize professional staff development. The current program offers a comprehensive course of study over a six-month period in following areas, culture of proficiency, leadership development, community impact, media strategies, problem solving, defensive tactics, communication, and health and fitness. The program puts an emphasis on preparing leaders for complex, contemporary challenges that are facing our profession. Lieutenant Brink completed three presentations, one being if I were in charge. He has failed to present that to us yet. He presented it to them. He thinks he's in charge a lot. Three-mile island nuclear emergency leadership lessons learned, and he also did a site visit to the Knoxville Police Department where he reviewed their Crime Gun Intelligence Center and some of their gun crime processes. His final capstone in the program was completing a rigorous 10-hour PT session, which included rowing, ruck hikes, running, shooting, repelling, and team-oriented missions. As I stated with Lieutenant Wesley, the organizational success is based on having that culture and developing leaders, and these two exemplify that. I will also add, Lieutenant Brink is one of the finalists for the Governor's Award for Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. This is the first award of its kind. He's being recognized Friday at a Governor's banquet. If he wins, he will receive an award certificate and a $10,000 check, so there's a lot on the line. But again, if you'd join me in congratulating both of these finalists. Go ahead and do the proclamation first, but we're here to celebrate National Police Week from May 15th through the 19th, and I think what you see represented in our room from our Chief to all our Captains, Lieutenants, our Majors, you got the best of the best in the capital city, and I say that with great confidence. These gentlemen and ladies stand up every day to protect us, and they do it usually a lot more than their shift, and they give, and I've seen them in action in this most compassionate group of folks that I've ever seen in law enforcement, and very proud to call them Columbia policemen. With that, I'd like to read with you the proclamation we have for National Police Week, which offers honor, remembrance, and peer support, while allowing law enforcement survivors and citizens to gather and pay homage to those who gave their lives in the line of duty. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation, which designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day, and that week in which the date falls as Police Week. Currently tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from around the world converge on Washington D.C. to participate in a number of planned events, which honor those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice. This all started in 1982. Decades later, the event more commonly known as National Police Week has grown to a series of events, which attracts thousands of survivors, law enforcement officers to our nation's capital each year. National Police Week draws between 25,000 and 40,000 attendees from departments throughout the U.S., as well as agencies from around the world. The attendees come from departments throughout the United States, as well as from agencies from around the world who have a unique opportunity to meet each other, who work in law enforcement, and work together to make our world a safer place. So therefore, I, Daniel J. Rickerman, Mayor of the City of Columbia, South Carolina, along with my fellow members of Columbia City Council, Dubai, here proclaim that this city honors and recognizes National Police Week from May 15th and 19th. At this moment, I'd like everybody to just take a moment of silence for all of those folks who sacrificed their lives for us. I would ask all the officers that are in attendance to please come forward. Our honorees, please come forward as we present this proclamation and celebrate your honors. So we go from the folks who save us to the folks who save us. That's right, Mayor. We're also celebrating today from May 21st to the 27th National Public Works. And we could not function as a city without Public Works. From every event there is, to every storm, to every tree, to every pothole, to all the things that make this city run, Public Works is part of it. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Robert Anderson, the head of Public Works before I read the proclamation. So I'm not sure if you want to turn this over to me today, but we're, we mentioned last year about having a little fun. So we're going to have a little fun today. So first of all, I want to congratulate the police department. They're awards. I think that is, that is very good. But American Public Works Week every year has a theme, and this year is connecting the world. I want to take a moment to talk about the earlier meeting today that Council held. And, you know, some of the things you said is kind of connecting the world, but it's connecting our employees and it's connecting our employees back to what we do each and every day and making sure that they're valued. And, you know, I stand that as a Public Works director, but I'm humbled by every employee we have in the Public Works department. So I've brought several members of my staff here today. They're most of them are white shirts. There's a lot of white shirts around here. So you may want to see that. I know Chief Holbrook talked a little bit about school. So today is kind of a pop quiz. So we're going to go back to school and have a little pop quiz. I'm sure that the white shirts behind me may have a little help for you. And we'll try to make these as simple as we can. So the South Carolina American Public Works Association is what we represent today for Public Works Week. And who is the current Chapter APWA Chapter President? Is it Samantha Yeager, Mickey Mouse, Yogi Bear, or George Jetson? It must be Samantha Yeager. So Samantha is our current president. She took over last June and she will complete her session this year. But thanks to the mayor and council and our city manager, we've had a long list of chapter presidents and chapter officers and American Public Works Association. And we can't say how each and every year that we collaborate with our public works people even during the pandemic and we got together and we understand what's going on in the public works world or we go to seminars or we go to equipment shows. So we thank Mayor, Council and the city manager for allowing us to continue those educational sessions. You know, last year we went to a national convention, got to go and we actually got to pick out a new LED light bulb that is got a built-in driver and a built-in cooler and so we're demoing those in town now. But there's a lot of things that that come out of American Public Works. So our next slide, since it's budget season is what is the current our next slide? Sorry. I do have the best mayor, city council and city manager. So is it Columbia, Missouri, Columbia, South Carolina, Columbia, Tennessee or Columbia, Maryland? Sarah found that, by the way. Our deputy public works director. So, you know, we we hear what you guys say for us, but we appreciate you each and every day. Yeah, we get the phone calls. Yeah, we get the phone calls or the tax after of an evening. But we do appreciate what you guys do for us every day. Listening to the conversations today, making sure that we are all understanding that our employees are the ones that are valued here. The guys and ladies and people that are going out every day and heat, cold, whatever it may be, we appreciate that. We appreciate you. So our next question is which division or what division visits each house at least twice a week, if not three? A street division. B is solid waste. C is our forestry beautification. D is traffic engineering. And the answer is so we so solid waste used to visit every house three times a week as long as we're on schedule and the trash wasn't too heavy. But this group of people that have worked in the solid waste divisions, the math, the Yager is over here. She's our current superintendent. You know, they go out every day and they make sure it's not a president. Madam president. But they go out each and every day in the heat, cold, rain or whatever. And the one thing that that I always want to say about solid waste and of course, I have a passion because I ran it for years is they're at it until the job gets done on recycling and garbage. It don't matter if it's six o'clock, seven o'clock, 10 o'clock. A few years ago, it was 12 o'clock. So and we actually finished the next day, but we always finished. I will tell you that there's some contractors in town that don't finish every day and I know that they come back the next day with a. That's right. We don't charge a fee. So the next question is what public works divisions fill potholes on a daily basis, repair traffic lights, respond after hours to flooding and hang holiday decorations. Animal services, solid waste and forestry, sustainability or traffic and street. So traffic and street division, they are probably from our public work standpoint. One of the most called out divisions there are, whether it's a streetlight out, whether it's a traffic light blinking, whether it's a traffic light out, a pothole, Robert Sweat and Victor's here representing Street Division today over here. But Robert Sweat and his group gets called out for just about everything. If it's a none known, we just call Robert Sweat's group. And they'll go out and figure it out and tell you that. So and our traffic division where Jim is over here is a recently new hire. It's been a great asset and actually has embraced the traffic side of it. I would be bad right now. If I didn't say, we're still looking for a traffic engineer. So if you're looking for a job, you know, in Columbia's website and apply, we'd love to have a traffic engineer. So our next question is, which divisions have multiple arborists on staff is responsible for the beautification efforts at eight two and one main street? If you haven't looked at the one that you should, the pots look absolutely gorgeous. And the division is submitting the lead for cities. Let me rephrase that has submitted the lead for cities program. Is it traffic engineering? D. D. So D, you're correct. Our forestry beautification and Brian's over here has done a great job this year of making sure the interstates are mowed on a regular basis and planting these pots. So things look good in front of City Hall. Things look good in front of 1801 and other city buildings that we're doing. And she don't take a lot of credit. But Mary Pat, who is sitting on the front row right here, leads our sustainability efforts in the city. And the one person that will refer to herself as just the intern. OK, it's Clara. So Clara is a recent graduate of USC. Unfortunately, Clint and I had a conversation the other day about hiring her. She's decided to move to Indiana with her boyfriend. We couldn't talk her into breaking up with him or doing anything else. We did our best. So she will be leaving us soon. So we've enjoyed having her at Public Works. So our lead grant has been submitted. We should hear it about five weeks or five weeks for five weeks. They have to relook at her. Yes. So one, two questions left. Will be will be which division continues to focus on our pet population by increasing adoptions and fostering programs, traffic, bees, animal services, Seas Forestry, D Street Division. Of course, it is B. So I want to point out, first of all, Victoria said you put a garbage truck in my picture and we did. So if you look at the garbage truck very closely, there's actually an advertisement for adoptions on it. After many years of talking about it, we decided our trucks, our solid waste trucks is one of the best ways to advertise anywhere we go. We visit every house every week, twice a week. So we've got animals. We've got hiring decals on it. Public information is designing decals right now to put on our trucks. So we will get them out and it's a great rolling billboard that doesn't cost the city a lot of money. They said they're good up to five years. So my last question is which division in public works is the best? Is it traffic? Sustainability, solid waste, forestry, animal or street? Not sure. So with that, I want to take a moment to the last few moments to talk about connecting and Mayor, I think you said it earlier. I heard it last year. I heard it from Councilman Brennan or somebody today. Councilman McDowell is telling our story. So Saturday, May 20th, for the first time, we're going to have touch a truck on Main Street with our partners from not only public works, but police and fire and Columbia water, water, wastewater, animal control, solid waste. We're going to have a little excavator demo, mini excavator demo out on the street about every half hour on the hour. So we're going to tell our story. We're going to show the citizens of Columbia and the children here what we do each and every day and try to educate them about our trucks. So, Council, thank you for your time. That's our public works. So for public works, people would say that. Let's have all the public works, folks. I'm going to present you the proclamation because you've already laid out everything else. No reason for me to read it. Mayor and Council are great internal presentations. And then we have one more celebrating the Jewish American Heritage Month. The Honorable Daniel J. Rickerman here who will be here to receive it. How are you? Good. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. I'm Rachel Barnett. I'm the executive director for the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina. And I'm joined today by Robin Waits, Eric Friendly, John Sher and Emily where they all went with Historic Columbia. And we appreciate you putting together a proclamation for Jewish American History Month. Historic Columbia in 2014 began a project, a Columbia Jewish Heritage Initiative, which we have documented Columbia's very deep and long Jewish history. And we've done this through walking tours and oral histories and brochures and websites, and it has been a joy to work with them as always. So we are here and we will be happy to receive the proclamation. We're very excited about this, not only that the work that's being done, but, you know, long term we had discussions prior to with Robin and so forth about how we can have kind of a roving display and how we can share that with the public because the Jewish community in our community played a major role for for as long as our history has been here. And more and more, I think, sharing and learning and capturing a lot of the oral history that that we have lost in the past that we still have the opportunity to gain today. And more and more, we find the Jewish community being wanting to get more back and involved in the community and sharing the story and working together. And, you know, we're very blessed to have Dan Frankhouse here. We just had the Jewish movie festival, which if anybody who participated in that saw that was incredible stories that were told. We had the kosher soul artist here. We just had this great involvement, but also we've had the opportunity to work together really to push against hate crimes and work together. And the city, as you know, adopted a hate crime legislation a while back. We hope that the state does it soon as well to protect all of our citizens in our community. But with that, I'm going to read part of the proclamation and then present it to you, Rachel, which is a Jewish American Heritage Month is a national month of appreciation, nearly four centuries of American Jewish experience, recognizing each year, the month of May by presidential proclamation, providing an opportunity to learn about and appreciate Jewish heritage for Jewish Americans, Americans of all backgrounds. And this serves against anti-centimism. I always have a hard time saying that, excuse me. And the celebration of our nation's diverse communities. Jewish people have called South Carolina home since the late 17th century, established in 1749 is one of America's first Jewish congregations, better known as the Holy Congregation or the House of God, supported and fought for the independence of the 13 colonies during the Revolutionary War, served in the armed forces in the United States of America and South Carolina National Guard contributed greatly to the culture and economic, political, civil, civic, social, educational and religious lives of the state. And as of 2022, the number approximately of 16,820 residents statewide, the Jewish people have resided in Columbia area since the mid 18th century among the first to purchase land in the city upon its establishment as the capital of South Carolina in 1786 and have grown their community in number, approximately 3,000 city residents, three Jewish congregations, the Tree of Life, the House of Peace and Shabbat Al Thesa House. So the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina and the Historic Columbia Celebration, the Jewish heritage of Jewish Americans and their contributions to Columbia, the state of South Carolina, the United States of America and the world, these institutions recognize nearly four centuries of American Jewish experience by establishing the Jewish American Heritage Month in 2023. So I, Daniel, recommend as the mayor of the city of Columbia along with fellow council, city council members here, do bribe claim may as the Jewish American Heritage Month in the city of Columbia, urge our fellow citizens to recognize and participate in its observation. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. At this time, we have your consent agenda items number four and item six through 13. Mr. Mayor, I move, move approval of the consent agenda. That is without, without number five, without five. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, seeing none, Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown, Dr. Bussles, Mr. Brennan, Mr. McDowell, Mr. Duvall. Mayor, recommend. Thank you. Item number five, Council is asked to approve contract amendment number four for program management services for close out of the community development block grant disaster recovery program as requested by the Community Development Department on May 1st, 2023, the award to ICF Incorporated LLC in the amount of $507,000 and $54.58. Madam City Manager, is there a are we under a time limit? Is this something that we could defer? I just got some questions and I apologize to staff for not trying to get them answered earlier. A few other things took precedent and I didn't get around to it, but I was kind of looking at the ongoing costs and really just had some questions around that. Okay. Is this is this a critical path item or is this something that could wait till the June meeting? If the program management services team lead would agree to us bringing it on June 6th, we do have an extension through the end of this month. That's my understanding, Mayor, but I would think they would work with us to make sure you all have a clear understanding and we bring it on June the 6th. I mean, technically, our extension ends at the end of the month, yeah. Well, I guess where my concern is is that this has been ongoing and then I look at what they're estimating for the next period of time and being an average of $65,000 a month. I just question where we are in that and it just seems to me to be a lot and I'm just not sure that I'm comfortable voting on it today. So again, the amended the amendment is within the amount that was originally allocated, you know, the city was allocated through HUD of a little bit over $26 million and we haven't drawn all of that down. So this amendment would pay for the closeout of the grant and those services that the program manager would provide. You know, obviously, we're now that the construction reconstructions, rehabilitations are over. It becomes very heavy on the back end with paperwork and invoicing and reconciling things. And obviously it's very important, I know to you, but definitely to me that we close this out properly. And I would submit that we absolutely need their services to do that the right way. And to add to that, it's important we not have a lapse in the agreement. So at a minimum, we'd need to stem for 30 days and then bring it back. With per HUD requirements, we can't let the agreement expire and then it stand after expiration. So even if the program manager agreed to do it, it's more of a HUD regulation, Missy. Mr. Mayor. Yes. Missy, are any home rehabilitations from the flood that are in this program? Is there any work that is stopping because of this funding that's needed or are citizens not going to be able to get back in their home because of this pause? No, no, sir. Actually, as a matter of fact, all of the work is complete with the exception of warranty and or punch list items. So we've completed all reconstructions and as of this week, all the rehabilitations, most folks are back in their home. It's really close out reconciliation, wrapping up all the final items. A lot of the work, I know you've got a resident that still has some work going on that's warranty work. That final close out comes from the third party, the consultant. It does, very heavy on the third party. With our oversight. With our staff being involved, but very heavy from their standpoint. Great. Thanks, Missy. And Mayor, do you, so would you say that after this, you know, I also feel that's a lot of money for a short period of time after this project is done. We will not hear anything more about this project that has gone on way too long. Absolutely. And the intent is to get us through December 31st, 2023. And then the entire program is closed out at that point. Now there will be a future HUD audit. So we'll be audited. And that's really one of the parts of why close out is so important is we have to have all the documentation in order and be prepared for that future audit. Is there a motion? Mr. Mayor, I move approval of item five. There's a second. A motion and a second. Any further discussion? I'm still cautiously here. So I'll move forward with that. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown? Dr. Bussells? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor, recommend? No. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor and Council. That takes us out of your consent agenda to item 15 deferring item 14. I'm sorry, item 16 deferring items 14 and 15. 16 is the Zoning Map Amendment for 4401 Windermere Avenue. And Ms. Hampton is here to guide you through the rest of the zoning matters. Thank you, Ms. Wilson. And we are just waiting for the presentation to come up for item number 16. Thank you. This is a Zoning Map Amendment for 4401 Windermere Avenue. This is a request to rezone the property from single-family residential medium lot to residential mix, RM2. Can you all see it? That's on the screen. Yeah, it's up there. I see it. Do you all see it? Is there anybody here to speak in favor or against this item? Yep, you've got to sign up. Yes, I have. Is there anybody not signed up? Ms. Cheryl Mitchell? Ms. Mitchell? Good afternoon. I'm Michelle Clark. I'm with Irmall Property Solutions, and I'm here on the interest of Mr. Ali Surabi, who is the owner of 4401 Windermere. We're asking the council to consider the rezoning from single-family to multi-family. The property in question was in a very, very bad situation prior to Mr. Surabi buying it. He has spent extensive money remodeling the house to the tune of over $60,000. It's currently, as I said, zoned as a single family, but we are hoping that the rezoning will allow three units to be there. One unit is a two-bedroom, the second unit is a large one-bedroom, and the third unit is the one that we hope will be utilized by... We've been working with the Help Housing, which is an initiative to get emergency housing for people such as seniors, et cetera, and there's a ramp back there. This is a fairly small lot of 1.3 acres. There won't be any parking problem, because there will be driveways to move that are currently being moved, so that there's only one parking for the front, parking for one side, and parking in the back. The outside has been considerably beautified from where it was before. It was in very, very bad condition with mulch and plants, and it's been cleared, and we would ask that we be allowed to continue on with transforming that four-bedroom house into three units. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Is there a question? Oh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to know if you've engaged the neighborhood at all about this potential rezoning, any of the neighborhood association or leaders? I'm sorry, I can't hear you very well. Have you been able to talk to the neighborhood at all about this potential rezoning and what they feel about it? We understand, I have not personally, but Mr. Scherer and Mr. Surabi have. I think I understand completely what their concern is once the zoning has been changed, what that might entail in the future, but there's been a very tremendous effort from what that property looked like before the owner took it and what it was left for years and years. So we think that it's a great improvement to the property also bringing in people, especially the unit that can be utilized with a ramp and it's handicap accessible. So Mr. Mayor, to be clear, we have not had ample communication with the community involved. I agree, sir. All right. Yes, it's always good to have the communication and the support of the neighbors. And it seems as though I am new to the area. I've been in South Carolina for a while, but I was out in Newberry County but moved several years ago. And it's always been part of what I've tried to see with communities getting together, especially in conjunction with seniors with limited income who want a nice place to live. And we're not talking about emergency money, but a new initiative to actually get, for that one unit, get someone in immediately. So Ms. Nicole Brennan represents POW. That's the Housing Hope Initiative and that we have coordinated with her already. So we only need to get the approval. Yes, sir. As Ms. Cheryl Mitchell comes to the podium, we will remind speakers that you have three minutes to present your remarks. Name is Cheryl Mitchell. I am actually a homeowner in the neighborhood. I am familiar with Mr. Olly. I have not met young ladies just spoke, but in our last meeting, the question was asked if they'd had a plan, that they have drawings for anything going forward. So we would better understand what their intent was. Those were not available. They also seem to be very unsure about whether they were going to do a duplex, triplex, or quadplex. Based on her comments, I'm assuming they finally made a decision to do a triplex. My other concern is that if they have not submitted a plan, they don't have drawings, are they going to go back and do renovations because he's already renovated the home? So how do you turn what is a single family home that has just been completely renovated into a multifamily home? And if it's going to be three separate units, that means three separate kitchens and three separate toilet or bathroom areas. So if those things are not already existing, along with entry and exit points for each one of those units, then when do they submit the plans or drawings or anything to show how that is supposed to unfold? We don't have any of that information. I do understand that there is opportunity for growth in our neighborhood. The house does look better. Mr. Olly has been in possession of that home for more than, I don't know, at least eight years. He removed the tenant that was there before because she didn't care for it, but he has worked diligently on that house for the past three months. So are you going to at this point go in and undo all of that to turn it into three separate units? Or is this zoning going to later affect us by a developer coming in and changing the entire plan by bulldozing the home? The home is really more than 70 years old. So it's not a new structure. It's not a true renovation. It's more of a few of this throughout. So those are a lot of the questions that I have that I think need to be answered. We didn't get clear answers on the last one. And I think as a homeowner, it shouldn't be up to me to provide information or proof that they don't need to bring this type of, this idea that they have, he initially pitched homeless. I don't know if that's still the goal. I just don't think that's a good fit for our neighborhood. We do already have homes that are residential and then we have the mixed residential. But I think if we start to oversaturate that area, then that's going to create a larger problem. I think it's the onus is on them to tell us why we need that in the neighborhood that we live in that they do not. That's all I have. Thank you for your time. So, yes. Cheryl Mitchell. Yes. So, you've had conversation, but there has not been any specificity in terms of how that's to be done. Correct. Is that what I hear? Yes. The other thing that I hear is that conceptually, you all have heard that and the community is not for that. That is correct. Okay. Thank you, Ms. Mitchell. No one else has signed in for this item. Yes, ma'am. If you'll just state your name and where you live just for the record. Thank you. Okay. My name is Kay Patterson and I'm president of Widenamere Springs Neighborhood Association. February, Mr. Ali, as I call him, the property owner came to our neighborhood meeting and he stressed his desire to make his property a duplex. Well, we were all excited about it because that property had been an eyesore under his ownership. And to see the changes that he was beginning to make, we're excited. Well, when we went to the zoning board, it went from being a duplex to a quad and we were shocked. It's like, okay, a quad that means you can have an additional 20 units in that little small space. I believe if we were to approve his request that would open up Pandora Box for other neighbors in the neighborhood that have property even larger than his. And right now with the situation in our neighborhood, trying to make it a pleasing, trying to make it more safe, that would hinder our goal. Also the traffic in that area, vandalism, the traffic of homelessness. One Saturday morning, I woke up to find a young lady that was on meth. She was actually just having a hard time. And of course, I know that's the city of Columbia. That's not just my area, but that was just a shock. And it came through the increase of traffic in the area. Widnimer Springs, it's really a quiet neighborhood. It's a quiet neighborhood. It's a neighborhood full of retirees. And a lot of them like to get out and walk the neighborhoods. And the safety, I believe, would be in jeopardy. If this property was to be rezoned. Right now, the way it looks is excellent. We, the neighborhood approve of it. We like the way it is. It's very pleasing to look at, especially when you drive down. Also that area has been known to flood. We haven't had a chance to talk to anyone in engineering department. It sits at the bottom of the hill and the rain goes down. If we were to mix with that and put cement and stuff, then we can definitely see some flooding that would take place in that area. So leaving it as it is. The neighborhood appreciate it. Thank you. Any questions? Any questions? I actually have one for Krista. Does anybody else have any for Ms. Patterson? Thank you, Ms. Patterson. Krista, can you just confirm? I know since we, I still have got all because what happens when we go to an RM2? It will, so single family residential will allow only one dwelling unit per parcel per lot. If you go to RM2, they can put as many as the density would permit. With this lot size, that would be approximately give or take 20 units. And that's because it sits 1.42 acres, I believe. Yes, sir. So up to 20 units if we re-resone this. To speak on this issue, Mr. DeVall. Mr. Mayor, I'm a commotion. We disapprove this application. Is there a second? Second. So we have a motion. A motion as to what would actually come to fruition here. And so for that reason, I also am going to vote to deny the rezoning. So we have a motion. Madam clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown. Yes. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. DeVall. Aye. Mayor recommend. Aye. Thank you. I would recommend to the owners in the future probably need to sit down with the neighborhood and have a true discussion about what the full plans are. But to understand that a lot that could have up to 20 units on it is not, you know, if you're talking about a duplex or a quadriplex, that's a different discussion. When you're talking about 20 units in a highly single family residential area, this is not what we're looking, especially with there not being any real plans laid out. I think there things need to be discussed. We do need some quadriplexes. We need some townhomes. We need some smaller units for people to transition to. But there has to be a plan and just to openly change the zoning to up to 20 units is something that we can't support. So with that, we have a denial at this point. Thank you. Next case. Yes, sir. Your next case is the zoning map amendment at 335 South Pickin Street. This is a request to rezone the property from neighborhood activity corridor center in the airport overlay district to a residential mixed district, removing the airport overlay. The removal of the airport overlay is recommended as well because the aeronautics commission has found that this with proper conditions under permitting is they do not oppose that the development type. Mr. Mayor. Yes, sir. Before we proceed, I'd like to request that today we just do the public hearing for this and then defer first vote to the June 6th meeting. Want to hear from the neighborhoods and then have some follow-up discussions with the property developer if he's here during that two week period. Ms. Hammond, is any formal vote need to be taken on that? No, sir. I don't believe so. No, sir. Great. Thank you. So just to be clear, you're asking for a deferral, but you'd like of the item. I'd like to take advantage of having the neighborhood here to have a public hearing and have our staff answer any questions. Yes. So have conduct the public hearing but hold the vote. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Madam Clark, do you have anybody signed up for this item? Yes. Mr. Mayor, just procedurally, I think it would be well worth our while if we would defer that. Just for that after the public hearing. Just are you going to do that before? After. After. You got to have the public hearing first. All right. Madam Clark. Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir. I have a Ms. P. Gilmartin. Ms. Gilmartin. Everybody, thank you for allowing me to have three minutes of your time today. I live in the Hollywood Rose Hill neighborhood. I live about a block, maybe a block and a half from the property that is proposed to be rezoned. And I just like to make a couple of observations about it. There's a lot I don't know about this proposal. I did, I've not been to the planning commission where they approved it. I went online this morning and tried to find the minutes from that meeting and they have not been published yet apparently. So most of what I know is just what I've heard from other neighbors and hearsay and that sort of thing. I have a lot of questions that I know we won't answer today. But I would like to say that in my neighborhood we have a lot of, we already have a lot of rental properties and we wish we had fewer probably. We would like to see the proportion of rental properties decreasing rather than increasing. Rental, if you have a lot of rental property, it tends to decrease, diminish the value, property values in the neighborhood. And diminish the quality of life as well. So we try to maintain the single family residences as best we can, although a lot of it is out of our control. This particular request at the corner of South Pickens and Rosewood is particularly problematic in that it is out of character with the rest of the neighborhood based on, and I am making an assumption here, but it has been rezoned to RM residential mixed too. And looking at the city's discussion about zoning for RM2, they give examples of the kinds of architecture, the kinds of structures that would be allowed under RM2. And every example that they give is a two or three-story townhouse. A rental property using that sort of architecture would be very much out of character for a neighborhood, which is comprised of primarily little brick bungalows that have been converted to rentals and duplexes. I'm also concerned or wonder about the fact that they removed the airport safety ordinance at the same time that they approved the rezoning. And apparently the two go together. The rezoning made it possible to remove the airport safety overlay district. This property is right in the approach path for the runway at Owens Field. And I'm concerned about the safety. If they did plan to have two and three-story townhouses there, I'm concerned about the safety issue of having removed, having taken it out of the safety district. That district overlay says that there can be no building or trees or anything higher than 35 feet tall within the district. So if this property is not in the district anymore, then they would have a great deal more flexibility in building taller buildings, which would make it even more uncharacteristic of the neighborhood. I guess I'm out of time. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Lynn, Charlie. Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor and Councilmembers. Thank you for the time today and all the hard and aggravating work you guys do from day to day. I am currently the President of the Hollywood Ocelot Neighborhood Association. I appreciate Councilman Brennan's suggestion as to what we do with this matter. A couple of points, perhaps different than Pat Gilmartin touched on. As a geographer, the top three things I worry about when I make a decision are location, location, location. The location has two components, site and situation. I can't attest to the proper nature of this site for the proposed change, but the situation is horrible. It is at a major intersection this traffic controlled South Pickens and Rosewood. There is absolutely no street parking along these property boundaries. If it is a multi-unit facility, and if we assume that it's marketed primarily to students, we know they're going to be excess cars. They're going to be parked on busy South Pickens where there are no metered parking spaces or marked parking spaces. So I have a concern about that in particular, the entrance and egress and the parking for the parking spaces that will not be required by the zoning change. We obviously are concerned in our neighborhood as a broken record about increased renters, increased student renters, increased traffic. Don't need to tell you those are our concerns and a lot of other neighborhoods that are similar on that. I do question why the airport safety overlay gets removed because of the zoning change, because all the other zoning around there has that overlay. And one other interesting point, on Rosewood Drive, three blocks to the south going toward the state fairgrounds and five blocks to the north, you will not find another property that touches Rosewood Drive that is zoned residential with the exception of one that was recently converted at South Walk-A-Maw for a quadplex, which has an entrance and egress only off of Rosewood Drive. So my main concerns are traffic and density and how that adds to our neighborhood character or the tracks from it. Thank you, folks. Thank you, Mr. Schur. Lynn, let me ask you something as neighborhood president. Has the developer reached out to you to discuss any of the... They have not. And we have only mentioned this in email among our council members. We meet tomorrow night, and we will probably have a little talk back regarding what has gone on here, but we would be glad to dialogue with you as well. Let's try and get a better understanding for you with the developer. Okay, great. Thanks so much. Thank you. Lynn, before you leave, just I think we agree we'd like to see something improve on that corner, what that is. I'm not sure we all know the answer to, but having been over there and watched that corner for years, something's got to be better than what's there today. I agree. I think finding the right fit and having a deeper discussion is worth pursuing. Yeah, good. I appreciate it. Thank you, sir. Thank you. You have anyone else sign up? Madam Clerk? Yes, Mr. Pete Holland. Hey, how are you, sir? I'm Pete Holland, and I live at 212 South Pickens, which is two and a half blocks from this site. And I agree with everyone that something needs to be done, but I don't know. I've heard eight units at that site. My biggest concern is the traffic, traffic on South Pickens has gotten worse since I've lived there. I've been there 54 years. And now that a new dorm is opening at the top of the hill and with plans for more dorm, it's a main thoroughfare and it's totally out of control. And I don't want to see anything done that would increase traffic on South Pickens. Now, something needs to be done. Maybe it's a smaller multi-family housing or maybe it's a single house. Maybe it's a park. Let's clean it up and make it a little park. Something needs to be done. Taking donations every week, so you can help us get there. So my biggest concern is the traffic. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you for being here. So it's not the, sir? Yes. So it's not the, it's the number of units we're talking about. That's my biggest concern, eight units and any traffic increase. Now, I know they have a lot of people on, sir. Yeah. Yes, sir. Okay. Yeah, they had a lot of people living on that site in the past, but I don't think they had vehicles. This airport overlay business, I want to, is it the height of this building? I don't know. You know, I'll be honest with you. I question some of the overlays where the way they go, because the pattern is so wide. But yet, if you spend any time at the airport, they go to certain, we just allowed to have, I don't know how many new units on south. That is to 50 feet outside of one of the zones, and we wouldn't zone something else to match it. So I don't understand the dynamics of all of that pattern, how that works, because it's inconsistent through the neighborhood. When we look at those patterns and you look at existing, but it's a good question that we need to explore more. And I think that's why one of the reasons Mr. Brennan asked for us to have the public hearing today and then have further discussion, to make sure that what we do moving forward, doesn't create a problem that was unforeseen. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. All right, Mayor, we have Ms. Catherine on south wood. I emailed you all, so you kind of know where I'm coming from and it's been sort of said partly. I think it's also that, that is a single family home there that faces, and it is right around the corner from my house. I would like to see that lot go back to single family, like all the other houses on the street, and not go into multiple units. And some of those reasons are, of course, traffic, parking, noise, parties, et cetera, that we seem to face as we're sort of losing South Pickens and Bull and Marion in our neighborhoods to student residences. And we have a really great and vibrant neighborhood, and we want to do things to keep it that way rather than, and I think that smart development is a good idea. I don't think we're looking at smart development here. I believe the developers, one of those people who keeps send us postcards to buy our houses for cash, those tend to be places that want to buy cheap, do small investment, and then sell at big profit. And when we're thinking about the way population is going to be changing and how in the very long term we're looking at, I mean, fertility rates are already lower, right? Pretty soon we're not going to have students by the scads coming here anymore. But we're going to be building all these things for the short term, and then we're going to be stuck with them when there's nobody to live in them anymore. So I think we have to kind of balance in a long term way how we're growing and to protect our very vibrant and wonderful neighborhoods that are in the city, that many of them have been destroyed by continual, the tipping point of rental and owner. So I'd really like us to think really hard before we decide to put multiple units on that site. And it is the entrance of our neighborhood. So if you're going to have bunches of people coming in and out of that location, at a location when everybody else is coming in and out of our neighborhood and going to campus and downtown, then I think you're setting up for a really sticky kind of situation. Ma'am, thank you very much. Well done, thank you. That lot is in the commercial corridor, as we know as well. And we do, I don't think we're going to run out of people who need units. We need 16,500 and something units right now in our city. So I don't think we're going to run out of units anytime soon, but I appreciate your concerns. And I think we all want to find a solution that works best for everybody. That corner is an interesting corner. It has some great attributes, but it also has some real concerns and we'll continue to work together. But thank you for being here. That's good. And the trees also. I mean, it does have some landscaping on that site. And if you look at what they did at South Waka Ma'am, they cut down every single tree to build right up to the, you walk out that front door and you're on Rosewood Drive. And it takes up the whole lot. I'm worried they're going to do the same kind of thing there. All the green space will be gone. All the old trees will be gone. So that's something else I would not like to see in our city. That's because the trees are one of the things that make this a beautiful place to live. Thank you. Madam Clark. Yes, sir. Those are all the names that I have. Yes, ma'am, if you'll just come off and if you'll just state your name and your address for the record. My name is Holland Huff-Stetler and I live in the Shandong Hollywood Hills neighborhood. I'm actually here on behalf of the developer Lucas Properties. First, I would like to just address some of the concerns. The dimensions of the structures on the property, as of now, are not going to change with these plans. And as far as the traffic goes, there's already parking on the lot for multiple vehicles. And actually the driveway that goes to that lot enters and exits on Rosewood, on the other side of the South Pickens and Rosewood Intersection Light. As far as meeting and going over more things, I think that's a great idea, but I just wanted to clear up some of those questions. I think that's the purpose of the meeting. Yes. So everybody can get a feel of what y'all are proposing, how you plan to propose it and what. So because as you heard, there are a lot of questions and concerns. So I think this is informational for everybody. Absolutely. And they mentioned they're meeting tomorrow night, Lynn. Is that correct? So if you want to exchange information, that'd be wonderful. For sure. And we actually have talked to direct neighbors and they are pleased with the changes that we've discussed, especially because we've pulled out 37 mattresses out of that home. And there's nightly homeless people staying there. There's actually some homeless people in there when we first bought it. So we're excited to see change. Something needs to happen there. It's not what anybody wants, but I'm glad to hear that you're willing to work with a neighborhood and I think that'll be beneficial for you. Thank you. Anything else? Thank you. I'm good. But thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Can we have a motion? Mr. Brand, for deferral? Motion for deferral for first reading, for item number 17. Michael Howard, I have lived at Pickens and Hollywood for the last 23 years. I can throw a rock about as seven duplexes right now. And most of them are students. Pretty much, we have called the police in the last three years, probably eight times. A lot of property managers don't cut the grass. They don't pick up the trash. Heel that comes down from Hayward, down south, Pickens. I've witnessed three students about died. They hit the bump, went up the hill, rolled over three times, about three o'clock in the morning. One of them got a DUI. And the last three years in the duplexes, probably 135 Pickens. There was a major drug bus with 10 City of Columbia police that rated it. My video also caught the mailman that got on our street at gunpoint by two guys. So these duplexes, the more you put in, and there's no parking, there's parking for these units, but the students don't park in them. They'll park on the street. And, you know, my corner's had enough. My lady, my next-door neighbor to the left was a homeowner association president, Maria Smoke, and she had enough of it. I mean, it was every, it was called the city, code enforcement. I mean, this continues to go on and on. And if they get a run-and-start from Hayward down the hill, and it is like a speedway, all the university buses from the other housing come down our street. And I agree the eye of the tiger needs to go. It's been an eye sore. But if this guy's going to put in, I don't know if you saw South Saluda, no, South Wacomaw, they just built another unit right there, and it's almost zero lot line. I mean, there's going to be a car hit it one day. I mean, it's so close to the road, somebody hits the curb and they're going to hit that house. And if this is going to do eight apartments, whatever, it doesn't need to be a zero lot line right on Rosewood. It needs to be part, if it's eight units, it needs to be 16 parking places. Because there's no going to be no parking right there on that corner because that's where all the stoplight is. And this owner needs to pay the property tax of the value he pays for it. He doesn't need a discount. It just, South Pickens needs to be looked at with the duplexes, the property owners that do own them. So I'm going to live out of state. They don't even look after their properties. It's a major party over there. And it's getting worse. And when USC moves in their new dorms, and y'all all know it, their measly little parking garage they built, they're going to park in my neighborhood, the neighborhood to the left, to the right. And it's going to be a major problem. And you're going to hear a big, big chaos about it. I think y'all know that because there is no parking in the new units they built. I mean, I walk by there every day. I mean, even a track meet. When USC has a track meet or a softball game, the neighborhood's full of cars, because nobody has anywhere to park. They park in front of everybody's driveway. And if you're going to put in this unit, it doesn't need to be like South Walk-A-Maw. And you can ride by down there. Y'all go down there. We'll rent them Liz on South Craig. He's got speed bumps all down his. And we've asked for speed bumps all down Pickens, at least one or another stop sign to slow them down from coming down the hill. And it's not worked. And with all these university buses, from all these other apartment buildings that, I mean, the main thoroughfare is Pickens Street. And I sit on my back porch and see them all day long. And my video is called all kinds of stuff going on. But y'all need to take a hard look before you approve anything. There's no, I don't know what the setbacks are. I know with my house it was 15 feet in the front and 25 feet in the back. Right now what's going to happen is, is that we're voting to defer it so that the developer can sit down with the neighborhood and show everybody what they're talking about. What we heard from the young lady was representing is that they're not changing the structure. They're renovating it. So I think it's important for everybody to sit down, listen, hear what they have to say, and then we'll work together. I can't tell you that it's going to get approved or not approved today because we don't have that. Have you seen San Joaquin Mall? I mean, a unit they just built. I mean, it's a zero line. I don't even know if they have parking. If they do, they're going to park on the street. Any rentals, they're going to park on the street. That's the spirit. Students, they will have parking and the students will park on the street. They'll park in front of your house, my house, anybody. They don't care. They park boats out there in front of them on Hollywood, right at the bottom of the hill. And we've, all you do is have to, you got to complain to code enforcement, call the city, you call somebody. I mean, it's, it's continuous and it needs to stop. I mean, you know, these, there's, there's good property managers and there's bad property managers. And the ones that are bad, they don't care. They just, you know, they make everybody else look bad. And, you know, you can, there's a house, 1500 Hollywood, same thing. Fix it up brand new house. And it is a party house. It's almost like an attorney house. And you can rob by there today. And this is the yard. I mean, it's terrible. Lynn, I would request that you include this gentleman in the, in the conversation with the developer. Everything from Pickens South to the Doty is most of its rentals. And it's, it's become the old Rosewood across the street, Rosewood. I built, when I built my house, it was, it was the old Rosewood before they built, you know, toward all those projects down. Thank you for being here, Mr. Howard. We appreciate it. Can I have a minute? We have a motion on the table to defer. Can we get a second? Second from Reverend McDowell. Thank you. Mr. Brown. Mr. I'm sorry, Dr. Bustles. Yes. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Govall. Mayor Rickamon. Thank you. Your next matter is a zoning map amendment at 611 Holly Street. This is a request to rezone the property from residential mixed RM one with the community character overlay to community activity center that CAC with the community character overlay. Is there anybody here to speak for against this item? Is there a bug signed up, Madam Clark? Have one individual signed up and Mr. Vince Sheanna. All right. After, yeah, go ahead, sir. He's, he's, I live at 2823 Blossom Street. I've spoken with Vince about this and what I'm concerned about, when I spoke with him on April 20th, he told me there would be four apartments added to this property. There's going to be a, I guess, he's going to redo the property. Right now it's a single family dwelling or it was. It's an architect, wouldn't it? An architect in this building or something? The Harrison. Don't get it clarified yet. Right. Patricia and John Harrison. But my concern really is when I heard there were going to be four apartments there. And I'm assuming it's going to mean college students. And so that's going to be two per apartment. That's eight. And then their friends. We've lived at on Blossom since 87 and 2821 Blossom before it became a single family residence. Was a rental and we had all sorts of issues with the college students here, with the parties, the noise, the litter. The police were called numerous times to shut them down basically. Again, I'm just concerned about the the behavior of the college students. Well, at this point I can't, I can't assume that it's college students considering, you know, Divide Street, as you've seen as it's grown, has a tremendous amount of young professionals and so forth. And obviously fair housing doesn't allow us to decide this is a college student house or not. I think what we need to take is the merits of what's being proposed and see and taking the considerations that you're saying obviously in. But also, you know, I mean, there are bad students and there are good students. Oh, I agree. I think there are some really responsible college students and that's fine. It's the ones that cause the problems. Absolutely. We're on the same page on that. But I do think that Divide Street has become a pretty much a really great corridor for young professionals. And I think what we've seen for the cost, especially as well of units, but I think I'd like to hear to what's said, but I hear what you're saying. Sure. Thank you. Thank you. Mayor, council members, I think I can address this pretty quickly, but the one thing that I want to point out first and foremost is if you look at the parcel that we're discussing, I live, no one lives closer to it than I do. This is a renovation. This is a perk. We're not developers. This is a personal renovation development because we're concerned as concerned, if not more, if that's possible, about what's going to happen in my backyard. I will say that there conservatively is $200,000 worth of deferred maintenance on this building. It was originally the Shandon Gentleman's Club, cigars and poker, but then it became a Montessori school. I didn't know that. I just wanted to talk to you. I did. I knew it. I found out after I bought it. It's a club in Columbia. I'm not a member of it. I don't know. I'm not a member of it. I don't think Clyde would like it to be a Gentleman's Club either, but I think that so it was a Montessori school for a while and it had a tremendous impact. And then we all know that they moved to Rosewood and what that means in the community. And I'm a member of the Shandon Neighborhood Council. I'm really trying to take a piece of property that desperately needs beautification right down to that nasty white wall if you've ever seen overflow parking from Henry's. We're looking at putting a mural or something there. We're really working hard to do that. But if nothing else, no one's more incentivized to not build that overbuild or over develop that property. And I can tell you firsthand, we're not looking for frat parties either. We're looking for the contributors in the University of South Carolina major programs who want to be lawyers, doctors, and young professionals. And we think that that's synonymous with the development that's taking place in Divine Street, which is why we bought there. And it's also right across the street, the only other piece of property on that block has already been developed. There's a lovely esthetician that's there. She's got a couple of apartments above. They're both young professionals and it's been a great experience for everyone. And the last thing that I would add is that I've spoke to all of my neighbors that as Cly told you, I had a conversation with him. I think it was important to serve in the neighborhood, speak with the Shannon Neighborhood Council, and everyone's very excited about taking an ISOR and making it substantially better. The last thing that I would say is there is no feasible way for this to be a personal residence anymore. It is 4,100 square feet long and only 60 linear feet in the front. There's no backyard. There's very little egress. It's going to require some creativity and something my dad and I are excited to do. So we appreciate your consideration. Right, which house is yours? 2827 Blossom. It's right in the middle. So you see that arrow that's pointing? It's literally the middle parcel opposite the Divine Street. And Clyde's is actually two over is just adjacent to the property. I would also point out that the backyard of his property is already a law firm. So when you come down, you have plenty of depth in the back there to create parking because I know that's been a challenge. We do. There is a driveway. And we estimate four to five parking spaces in the front. So again, the type of small business that we would put would be like an esthetician. Someone community friendly, low traffic. And in the back, maybe a couple parking spaces per unit. But it's only our intention to beautify. We're not looking to over develop. Mr. Shana, have you had the opportunity to sit down and have a wonderful pre-planning meeting with our city staff? I see Hope and Krista. We did pre-zoning. We haven't done pre-planning yet. We were actually advised to do this meeting first. That's more of a let's get around the table and talk about what you want to do. Let the city, our city staff start working with you to avoid any confusion moving forward to help you out as a developer. So I encourage you to reach out to Krista. We'll reach out as soon as we leave. Yeah, that's great advice. Thanks, Will. Great. Thanks. Yep. Any other questions? I have nothing for them. Thank you. And you're not related to the pizza family. I'm strongly related to the pizza family. Yes, sir. That's the pizza guy right there. Yeah. That's why I said that. Good stuff. Is there anyone else here that would like to speak for against this item? Ms. May I make a motion to approve? There's a second. Second. You have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Frank, I just hope as you continue to move down you continue to work with your neighbors and talk about the renovations work with our staff. And I think this spot needs a little love. Madam clerk, could you read the roll? Yes, sir. Mr. Brown, Dr. Bussells. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Hi. Can you recommend? Hi. Thank you. In a similar area on another street, is I'm in Mac Amendment for 620 Meadow Street. This is a request to rezone the property from Office Institutional OI with a community character overlay to Neighborhood Activity Center with a community character. Is there anyone here to speak for against this item? No one has signed in, Mayor. Nobody signed in. Mr. Brennan. This is your district. Thank you so much. Motion to approve, please. Motion is there a second? Second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. I don't think about Shana's pizza, by the way. So I apologize. I'm at the back side of the meeting. Let's get in closer to the dinner hour. We have a motion and a second. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown. Dr. Bussells. Hi. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Hi. May I recommend? Hi. Thank you. Final case tonight is a Zoning Map Amendment for 405 Gervais Street, a request to rezone the property from a plan development district in the city center and setback overlay to community activity center with the city center and setback overlay district. Is there anybody here to speak for against this item? Hearing none, see? Yes ma'am, please come to the podium. That's why we're here. I'm representing the South Carolina State Museum. And as you know, we have a beautiful area right there with the river, the potential of the canal, the Dominion Energy Property has already been approved for a six or a six story 300 unit development for multi families. So I just want everyone to consider moving forward as there's also the other parcel of the client property that still needs to be developed. That we have a beautiful river that we're going to miss the sidelines eventually if we build all of these properties up and take away the beauty of it. And Greenville has such an amazing riverfront through their city. We have the same potential. So I just want to keep that in mind. Thank you. Appreciate your comments. Thank you. Is there anyone for against hearing none seeing them? Is there a motion? So moved, Mr. Mayor. Motion. Is there a second? Second. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown, Dr. Bussells. Yes, Mr. Brennan. Yes, Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. You're recommended. Aye. Thank you. That concludes your zoning public hearing. Thank you, Ms. Hampton. Thank you, Christa. Ordinance's first reading item 21, ordinance number 20203056, authorizing and directing the city of Columbia to enter into an intergovernmental agreement relating to South Carolina local revenue services to participate in one or more local revenue service programs to execute and deliver one or more participant program supplements and other matters relating thereto. The move, Mr. Mayor. And we have a motion. Is there a second? Second. Motion to second. Any discussion? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown. Aye. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. You're recommended. Aye. Item 22, resolution number R2020203036, a resolution authorizing the mayor and city council to execute an American rescue plan at ARPA stormwater infrastructure programs subrecipient agreement between the city of Columbia and the South Carolina office of resilience to fund a stormwater infrastructure improvement project that will mitigate the impact of future disasters. Is there a motion? Motion. There's a second. Second. Any further discussion? Other than we gladly do this and thank you all for bringing this forward. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll please? Mr. Brown. Aye. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. You're recommended. Aye. Item 23, resolution number R20203039, authorizing condemnation for easement acquisition for sanitary sewer improvements along the Broad River, the West Columbia sub basin number two, Castle Road in Richland County. Is there a motion? I move approval. I have a motion. A second. Second. Any further discussion? We're not seeing none. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll please? Mr. Brown. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mayor Rickamon. Aye. Item 24, resolution number R20203040, amending resolution number R202005, approving and ratifying mutual aid agreements between the City of Columbia and the City of Columbia Police Department and various law enforcement agencies and authorizing the City Manager. Second. I have a motion. A second. And any further discussion? Seeing none, hearing none. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll for us please? Mr. Brown. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mayor Rickamon. Aye. Item 25, resolution number R20203045, authorizing the City Manager to execute a contract for sale and purchase real estate between the City of Columbia and Lucas Properties LLC for the purchase of 1507 Hardin Street. Motion to approve. Motion second. Any further discussion? Very excited about the opportunity here. With that, Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mayor Rickamon. Aye. At this time, Mayor and Council, you have two appoint, well, two entities regarding appointments, the first being the Central Midlands Council of Governments and then the Planning Commission. Ms. Jenkins, Ms. Wood is here if you need assistance. So there's a motion to appoint our newly elected Council member, Peter Brown, to the Central Midlands Council of Governments. Second. Second. Second. Second. All in total vote, Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mayor Rickamon. Mr. Duvall. Mr. Mayor, I move we reappoint arrested to pass whose term is over now to another term. Is there a second? Second. So a motion and a second, Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mayor Rickamon. Aye. Very nice. Other matters, Item 28, Council is asked to approve the installation of one-speed hump on St. Clair Drive as requested by the Planning Board. I think we still have Planning Commission. They were appointing Rusty. Reappointing Mr. DePas to Council of Governments. The Cog, yeah. Oh, my apologies. Planning Commission. So there were two seats up and under the Cog? Yeah, we had his term it expired. We needed to reappoint him. Next up we have the Planning Commission. There are two vacancies and you'll see the applicants listed on the second page. What were the, do you have the districts from the vacancies? Those District 1 and District 3 is that our, what were those? Do you know? So, how to, so the way? I'm saying that I had a hard time figuring it out. Who was what on there? That's okay. It's listed on the following page where it says boards and commissions staffing request. The, the, it was District 1 and then it was District 3. 1 and 3. And the applicants we have are from, one is from District 3 and one is from District 4. And the third person as you see is listed below but they live outside of city limits. Is there a nominee and motion from anyone? I have a question. Yes, sir. Has Mr. Dinkins served two terms? So Mr. Dinkins was rolling off of, hold on a second. Who's on another board? Another committee and was applying for this one. DDRC. He was on the DDRC. Who's on DDRC? I think we may defer this item till June 6 because it's clear to me that my colleagues have, they're indecisive at this one. It's okay. You're saying that. I'll make a nomination. Well, we're picking two of three and one of them doesn't live in the city. All right. So I make a motion to appoint Mr. Austin and Mr. Dinkins. Is he in the city? Yes. Mr. Austin is within the city. Correct. Second. To have motion in a second. It's amazing when we defer something how everybody gets excited and wants to move forward. Yes, sir. Thank you. Madam clerk, could you read the roll? Absolutely. Mr. Brown. Dr. Bussells. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Okay. Mr. Duvall. Recommend. We're looking at the appointment. You want it? Okay. Go ahead. Time flies when you're having fun. So I nominate Will Brennan. Continue to serve on the Caw. Is there a second? Just a second. Motion in a second. So, Madam clerk, could you read the roll? Let's just clean up all the books tonight. Absolutely. Mr. Brown. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. All right. Mayor, recommend. To you all that we need to address. Okay. Thank you. Okay. I'm sorry about that. And then, of course, other matters, as I mentioned before, number 28. Is there a motion for the speed up on St. Clair? Second. Second. Second. Second. We've got a third on that one. So that means the unanimous. Madam clerk, can you read the roll? So when you get a speed hump, you have to get all the neighbors have to sign on to it. Then we put in a drawing, and then somebody's got to have, agree to have the sign in their front yard. And once all that's happened, then we'll put in a speed hump. And the fire department and the police department will look at it to make sure it doesn't impede. Yeah, there's not one on St. Clair. The first thing you do is call Robert. And Clark, can you read the roll? Mr. Brown. Dr. Bussells. Hi. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. All right. Mayor Rickerman. Aye. Thank you. City council committee reports, referrals and new business. Do we have any reports, referrals this evening? That leaves us to a matter of public input. Madam clerk, do you have a sign up sheet? Yes, sir. We have Mr. Ron Hegel with, he wants to speak about the Vietnam War Memorial. Would like to remind speakers that you have three minutes. Thank you. I'm a president of the Chapter 303 of the Vietnam Veterans of America here in Columbia. I'm here to talk about the care for the Vietnam War Memorial and Memorial Park. I don't think I need to tell you how important this monument is. I think we all know the history, our history, those of us who were in Vietnam and those of us who use this wall, this whole area, several events throughout the year are used by various veterans organizations. I want to acknowledge the fact that some of my colleagues are here from various veterans organizations around town. And you may know that annually there are events at various times of the year that this, the way this was designed, this area was designed, it is the ideal for what is used for. And it has become more than just a wall where the South Carolina fallen during that war, names are wrong. It has become something more and it means quite a lot to our community over this, over this week since that happened. Several things have happened. I've been called, emailed, texted from various people that work for the city. Not only Randy Davis, but also Henry Simmons. One of the problems there has been the fact that there is this concrete bench area behind the monument, you may have seen it. And it has been in various dilapidated condition over many years. And we've been trying for quite a long time to have something happen there. Well, over the past few days, the entire bench has been completely refurbished. And it is now much safer than it was. Those concrete pieces were quite dangerous as they were. Some of them were broken. Some of them were hanging up. Well, now that's all been repaired just from the last few days. And we acknowledge that it's very nice. That's only one of the problems there. We have been trying for over three years to get that bench repaired. And it happened within the last few days. That's quite, quite interesting. We also have been pressing to get the flag moved. And you may know that when this was built in the late 80s, there was a flag pole put in there that has a few WMI flag and an American flag on it, right? There was a tree planted very near there. There was a tree planted very near there. And that tree has overgrown that pole quite a lot. And actually one of the flags was actually destroyed there a few years back. And it had to be replaced. We requested that it be moved then. This was over two years ago. And we were told that it would be, but it was not moved. In fact, what the city did was cut a slice out of the tree to allow the flag to float a little bit freer. But that tree has continued to grow. Now we are told that they are going to move the flag pole to the place we suggested. I'm not sure because we've been told so many times that things are going to be done and they weren't done. Well, just from my edification, because I've never heard from anybody about it, where do you, when you request this, where does that, who have y'all been sending that to? Just out of curiosity, because I haven't, I haven't got anything. So I want to understand. A person in reparation, you know, Randy Davis is in charge of that area. And his crew apparently does some of the work there from time to time. However, during this week, I've been contacted by Henry Simmons, the assistant city manager. And he says that some of these things that need to be done there, may take more, more effort, more funding, et cetera. And some of those have to do with the brick terraces there. You may know that there was a brick terrace laid across this entire area and the later after the wall was completed, after the map was put in. This brick terrace was placed simply on the ground. There's root encroachment around the entire brick terrace. They have said that now they've told me this week that they will fix a part of it. However, that small part of it is only part of this problem. And Mr. Simmons has told me that he believes that that needs to be an outside contractor brought in. It may be have to go out for bids. It may take time. But the city would save a lot of money if they did that. Because this patchwork thing they're saying they're going to do now, they had to do once before when someone fell there because of that brick terrace. And they did it. They did it quite well, a little area where you come in off the parking lot. But if you look around and I've given you pictures, I hope we've seen all these pictures we've been sending, we've sent them to the two of you. There are several places where it's coming apart already, that brick terrace. It needs to be taken care of. But one of the worst things about this has to do with that there's a lighting system that was part of the design. It has never been secured from the elements. Water and debris are filling these places. When you go and look at it, you will see that it really makes it look pretty shabby. But a year ago, a vandal took a heavy instrument and struck the wall itself and took a big divot out of it. There is a, you've seen in the pictures, there's a piece on the A section above Abbeyville County, that area where there's this hole just out of the granite. It is terrible. It makes the wall look like somebody doesn't care about it. And that's what I'm here today to talk about. Something needs to be done about all these things. Now, I was asked by Mr. Davis and his boss if I knew of someone who could help fix this piece of granite. It took me about a minute to find someone over in Casey that they were talking to today about fixing that granite. We've been asking for this since it happened over a year ago. And now within the last week it started to happen. Will this really come to fruition? Will these things be fixed? I don't know. But I'm here to tell you that we would like for it to happen. Veterans, particularly people like Richard LaBarre, who was one of the people with the mayor at the time, what was his name? Patton Adams. They were the co-chairs of the group that put this wall in place, raised the money, put it together. And that organization that did that became this organization. The Vietnam veterans. We are very concerned about this and we think it is the duty of this council to do something about this, to make sure that we're not told something and then years go by and nothing happens. And that's why I'm here today to tell you about that. I'm hoping that you'll take it. What can we do together? Because I think there's some communication that needs to happen directly with us. But also this is a community monument and we need to maintain it. But what can we do together to address some of these issues and work together? Because that's how it was built. It was built by multiple organizations. It wasn't built by the city by itself. And how do we address some of those things? Well, the city took on the job. And some of we, I know that some of the issues we had in the past, and I don't know if this is related to this, where some of the skaters and other things happening in there, where they're riding the benches, you know, that's a trick thing. I'm not a very good skater. Well, it's been almost 40 years since it was originally built. So some of that is wear and tear. But the city took on the responsibility to care for it. So that's why we're bringing this to you. Probably what we need to do, and I'm willing to do this at the appropriate time, is let's take a walk together. Let's walk through it. Let's identify some of the issues. Let's figure out how we can work together to address it. Make sure that it is as prominent as it should be. And we can do that because I know what you're saying. But if we, the rest of us don't, the rest of us haven't got any emails or photos or anything. I think we care about this. Do we not? Do we not care about this monument? I think we all do. And I think that's what I'm saying. I think it'd be good for us to work together. But I haven't been privy to all the pictures. I haven't been privy to the emails. So it's hard for me to try to solve something that I don't know the problem. I like to solve problems. So I'd like to work with you and the group to address these issues. Let's get the things fixed. Let's get the lighting done. Let's make sure that it is as prominent as it can be and should be. Because I do think we owe it to each one of those people who served, each one of those people who didn't come home. Because I think that's more important than anything else. And so you have my pledge to work with you and what we have to do. And we may have to work with some of the business community and others. But it would be helpful if we all knew what was going on. So I want to make that pledge to you that we'll address it. I think Howard might speak to this. Mr. Mayor, Ron, I think I had to check with Peter to see if he's a veteran. But I was the only veteran on this council. And I got the first message, I think, from you this week. And we promptly took action on it. I did not know that these things were not done. So now that you've got the contact information for Mr. Brennan and Mr. DeVall and all the rest of us, if you get us in the know, like the mayor says, we can take care of the problem. So we pledge to work with you. And we have made a lot of repairs this week. And we will make the rest of those repairs. So it's going to have to be you contacting us and be the eyes for us when things need to be done. But you know who to contact now. And I think also there was, you know, I understand what you're saying sir about. It's the city's responsibility. I'm not quite sure that I will look into that as far as an agreement that was made because there is a board that's inactive. So I think as we're reengaging on this, we need to verify. It is a state monument. However, when it was completed, the city took on that role. I don't know that for sure, but I will look into that. 1986. We'll look for a paper that specifies that. At the end of the day, it is in our city core and we want to do what we can. And I think that may be part of why our resources allow us to do what we can when we can. And if there are other people that need to be involved and we need to reengage and make sure that's happening. Could I just say that Randy Davis has been trying to help us. But I believe that the funding that's actually needed for what actually has to be done to ensure that it's not just patchwork here and there hasn't been given to him. And I think that may be the problem here. You know who to contact now. You're a good veteran, just like me. Use your talents and contact the people that can get things done for you. I don't mind doing that. And I hope we can move forward and things will be done. We've been being told they would be done year after year. And as you've seen, it hasn't happened. You've gotten to the right place now. We will take care of it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Michael Bow. Brooklyn Mack. My name is Brooklyn Mack. I'm an international principal guest artist and the artistic director of Columbia Classical Ballet. I've had an extensive career in dance. One that's taken me around the world from the London Coliseum to Tokyo's Bunkamura Theater, the historic Bolshoi in Moscow, the Jobork Theater in South Africa, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Palace Garnier in Paris, and many more. I've won more awards than I can really keep track of. Most of them are first for an African American. Some of them first for an American period. In 2012, I was the winner of the Istanbul Grand Prix at the Istanbul International Ballet Competition. I was the first African American medalist and the only American to ever receive that coveted distinction of Grand Prix. That same year, I won the gold medal at the oldest and most prestigious International Ballet Competition in Barnabal, Bulgaria. In 2015, I was part of More History as myself. And Misty Copeland became the first African American dancers to portray the leads in the classic ballet Swan Lake with a major company. That accomplishment would see me get the key to our great city the following year. I've been featured on ABC, NBC, NPR, Ebony Magazine, New York Times, The Griots, and more. And while, of course, all these accomplishments are great, the reason I'm here sharing them with you all is because I was born right here in Columbia, South Carolina at Baptist Hospital and raised in Elgin. The impetus that started it all was here. I got my start dancing after a school field trip, one that I wasn't particularly keen on attending. That brought us to the Koger Center for the Arts to see a ballet performance presented by Columbia Classical Ballet entitled Life Chance. Life Chance is a dance benefit gala that was created to raise awareness for various charitable causes and has done so for more than two decades now. This gala brings together some of the best dancers in the world to share their talents through a one night only performance at the Koger Center. As the current artistic director of Columbia Classical Ballet, it's my endeavor to continue the legacies at the core of this company and that is bringing the highest quality of dance to the Midlands and the great state of South Carolina. Beyond entertaining, dance is transformative, cathartic, healing, inspiring, unifying, and liberating. So for the time that I'm here, I want to give back in this way so that Columbia and the greater South Carolina community can have access and exposure to this wonderful art form because I believe that is what our community and especially our young people deserve. I believe that was my time. So I'll just end with Columbia Classical Ballet has been very grateful for the support that we've received from the city in the past and we are looking to expand our outreach efforts. We've always had a great presence in outreach, but we're looking to expand that by reaching to parks and schools, community centers, etc. And so we hope that we can count on your support in the future as we seek to further enrich our great community. Thank you very much because you're still hanging around Lee Lumpkin. Very impressive. As you know, we're going through hospitality now and I think we've always shown our support for the ballet and we'll continue to show our support for the ballet, but very excited to have you in our community and coming back home and sharing your talents. It means a lot to a lot of people. I think individuals like him would be great to showcase as we tell our story of someone who's born and raised here and has done so many amazing things and has chosen to come back. So if it's okay with you, we would love to get in contact. Thank you. Thank you. Good to see you. Good to see you as well. Last but not least, this is Diane Wiley. Ms. Wiley, come on down. Today is your lucky day. Thank you. How are y'all doing today? To the Bayer City Manager of City Council, I want to thank you very much. First of all, I want to thank my councilperson, Mr. McDowell, Reverend Mr. McDowell, who have been there for me. You, Mr. Mayor, listening through all my challenges. I hope I wasn't too mean, but right now they are working on my house and I want to thank every one of y'all. I didn't want this place to be this empty. I started to get up and say I need to talk, but I wanted this place to be open. I'm going to say it again when we have a lot. The next council meeting, I want to be first. My name was, but look, it's empty in here. But anyway, fun. I went in today and they stripped everything on the inside out. You can see the bricks all the way through. It's even looking good like that. I want to thank you, but this is one thing I want to say. I want to keep this man here because if you ever get somebody else, they got to learn me all over again. I don't know that we can afford that. You know, they got to learn me all over again. The neighbors are so excited. I got my pages, all these. They come into the meetings. All these are just from last, from Thursday. They are coming. They're looking up. They're feeling better. I want to thank my house of representative, Leon Howard, Mr. Tony. He calls me every day. My husband says, how many times have I met him? That's because he's trying to get you before you get him. I want to thank you. Y'all, you don't know what I've been through. They lost my husband last week when he went to the doctor. Lost him for an hour and a half. Yeah, the ambulance come and get him where I stay at. They lost him for an hour and a half. You sure you didn't arrange that? No, I didn't arrange that. He didn't arrange that. But I want to make sure that Mr. McDowell gets his props because I call this man every day. Every day. Now, don't let Mr. McDowell, if I don't call, I text him. But I'm very passionate about my neighborhood. I'm not going anywhere. And I told them Thursday when I get back, I'm going to be wide open, wide open. I'm not going to stop doing what I did. Kick it in the overdrive because you've been pretty wide open since I've been around. No, not really. I've been quiet lately, haven't I? Don't look at your watch. Chief, I want to thank him. We have Mr. Jamie Devine out there Thursday. He's going to put a fence up where that school is. And after the meeting, we had a bunch of people out there trying to have a cookout on a Thursday. It's ridiculous. But I want to thank everybody. Y'all don't know what I've been through. I mean, it feels my heart. I really want to cry. But, you know, it's been hard because, you know, with my husband, my doctor told me Thursday, he said, it's time for you to come back. And I'm getting back. I just want to thank you. I don't know no other way to say I want to thank all of y'all. Thank you. You want me to do, you know, I'm going to be here. So don't ask why I'm here because I'm going to be here. Thank you for being a voice for your neighborhood. Thank you for your persistence because I have so much to say, but I want somebody to be up in here. Y'all workers, I want the people to see what's going on. Y'all workers. Ain't nobody here. They are workers. But I'm going to say, next first Tuesday. I don't say that, you know, for y'all. Yeah. But Mr. McDowell, I want to thank you. I know your wife get tired of me, but, you know, that's just who I am. I ain't trying to flirt. You got to get to know me. I'm a good person. I'm a good person. Mr. Mayor, let me just, let me just, seven, seven and a half years. Yes, ma'am. I was just coming to an end. I just going to say that, Ms. Wiley. It's been, it's been a journey for you. We were able to, not only assist you and continue the journey as we look at the rebuilding of your house, but other places too that has been very sensitive to that need. I thank you for your passion. And Audit did just ask me a few minutes ago, did you pay him to pay Ms. Wiley to say all of that? Ms. Wiley has been a passionate servant within the confines of this community. Not only has she been passionate, but it's been a constant, she's at every one of our council meetings and they, she's not local. She lives somewhere else, 50 miles away from home and you come here and we thank you for that. So it's not that it's me, but it's all of us who take the credit for what you're saying here today. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have anyone else? Is there anyone else who'd like to speak at this time? Yes, sir. I'm Michael Boe. Probably know me from the emails you've been receiving. I'd like to thank the mayor and city council for their dedication to serving the people of Columbia, South Carolina and giving the opportunity to speak. I've worked in Columbia for over 30 years and recently seen a significant increase in deviant behavior. This affects the city and the community. I brought this to the attention of chief Holbrook and Mayor Rickman and everyone on city council by emailing pictures of the deviant behavior. The suggestion was made that I addressed the businesses to discourage loitering on the property. So I went through and I contacted the businesses in the area and they all expressed universal frustration with the situation. Most regularly ask individuals to leave the property. They don't go far and they come back after a short period of time. Individual small businesses can't afford the higher private security to continually surveil the property and ask individuals to leave. A tenant that had been in this space over 20 years left because the increased undesirable activity occurring outside the store. I talked with two prominent businesses considering leaving downtown because of this issue. Three businesses I spoke with were in the process of installing fences to keep people from participating in untoward activity on the porch. Everyone was concerned and upset with the current condition. The deviant behavior increases cost of businesses downtown and makes working and living in Columbia less desirable. I know we all have the same goal, making Columbia a nicer place for everyone to work, live, including the individuals that don't have a permanent residence. I believe other than perpetrators, no one finds individuals urinating and defecating in the street, passing out drunk on porches, fighting, spitting at people and throwing trash on the sidewalk as acceptable behavior. You can see the impact this is having on the area with buildings that have been here for more than 40 years putting up fences to keep individuals off their property. Businesses are walling themselves in in order to not deal with the problem. This is the exact response that is predicted by the broken window theory. To quote psychology today, the broken windows are a metaphor for any visible sign of disorder and environment that goes unsettled. This may include small crime, criminal acts such as vandalism, drunken and disorderly conduct, etc. Being forced to confront minor problems can heavily influence how people feel about their environment, particularly their sense of safety. Disorder increases level of fear among citizens, which leads them to withdraw from the community and decrease participation in informal social control. Businesses and residents are withdrawn by erecting fences. The issue facing Columbia is not unique. Many other cities are encountering similar problems. Asheville, North Carolina recently started an initiative to increase law enforcement presence, increase cleaning of downtown by removing litter, needles and biological waste and increasing monitoring of areas where vagrancy drug use and crime are known to happen. They started this initiative after 20% increase in crime. The people of South Carolina are independent and practical. Everyone realizes government, including Columbia City Council, cannot solve this problem. I'm asking Columbia City Council to offer leadership to help the people living and working in Columbia develop the best possible plan to address this unacceptable behavior occurring on the streets, businesses, and homes in the community. In the last five days, business days, I have over 120 people and dozens of businesses sign a petition to address the undesirable behavior in Columbia. It calls for City Council to establish an ad hoc committee to study and make recommendations in 60 days. It also requires immediate action on some key issues until the recommendations are implemented. The recommendations include increased police presence, making bathroom facilities available to the homeless population and enforcing current law. Until we the people working living in Columbia say with one voice, this behavior is not acceptable and we will not stand for it. The problem will continue to get worse. Our friends, family and children deserve better. We don't need to wait until the crime increases 20% to take action. Let's not tolerate broken windows. So I know I've emailed you all hundreds of times and you're probably sick of getting the emails of people urinating and defecating. I can tell you, your frustration is one-tenth of what it is having to walk through this and see this every day. So once again, we're patrolling consistently. We're also adding $100,000 to the city center partnership to move forward to help with cleanup and abatement down in this area at no cost to you. This is what we're doing to help. But we also, as I've spoken to several property owners down there too, we've got to work together. It can't be all on our side. So where there are opportunities to put fences, do different things. We've got to work together to do that. And we're continuing to do our effort. That's why we put the money into the rapid shelter. So we could start taking some of those unsheltered folks and get them in a place where we could help them get the wraparound services. And we're going to continue to do that. I will talk with council at the appropriate time about if we add hot, but we're continuing to do the efforts that we can to work together. But we got to have some support too from some of the business owners. And I've had to be quite frank. I've had several folks tell us that, well, that's what they pay taxes for. But no, it's a community. We have to work together. And I think you see that we're making the effort. We're going to continue to make the effort. It is not an issue that we take lightly or will take lightly. And we'll continue to do the efforts. We're also, unfortunately, we're also kind of handcuffed for lack of a better term in certain certain ways to do things. But we will continue to work together. We'll continue to have dialogue. We'll discuss the opportunity if we see a an opportunity that we need an ad hoc, it may be a town hall, it may be a charrette process, but we need to continue to work together to work on this. Sir, I agree with you 100%. It's not something that city council can solve with the waving of a wand. I wish we could. That's right. Like I said, we all have this common goal. But I do think that it's the responsibility of the people that live and work in Columbia to participate and try and solve this problem together with the leadership from county or city council. But I can tell you from my experience, it has gotten worse significantly worse. I know that you've done several different projects and I applaud your ingenuity and creativity. But the problem is it's still not working. As you see from the emails every day, there's someone doing something that's totally inappropriate in the public area. You know, it's not like when the tiny houses were built, the problem went away. It's not going to and we knew that. We put that in in November and our plan was to slowly tip this off. This year in the budget, we're able to put money to help with the cleanup and do that, which we think that extra patrol will also help. I know our officers spend a great deal of time and their spots and I know you send that. But you know, we got to do something there too because that alleyway opens up the doors to continue to do it. We can't be there 24 hours a day and you can't be there 24 hours a day and you don't need to be having to deal with that every day. And I 100% agree with you. So let's continue to work together and think about other opportunities and what we can do as a community and let's have more dialogue. We're open to ideas. We always have been and always will be. We don't have all the answers, but we are investing very heavily and hard to try to make a difference that where we can. Yeah. Yeah, we're working on public restrooms right now. You've gotten pictures from my alleyway, which is just one small part of the city and I appreciate that. But when I went out and talked to other businesses, all of them were very upset. They told me stories of unbelievable things that were happening on their front porch and what they have to deal with on a daily basis. So the problem is not just my alleyway. The problem is much larger than that. And some folks who don't want to help, they don't want to put in lighting. They don't want to do anything to help on their side of the fence. So we have some struggles there. So the more you can do to help us bridge that gap, the more opportunities we have. But I know you have a commitment from all of us up here that we're going to continue to address the issue. We're going to find innovative ways to deal with it. Obviously, we know we're arresting people when we can. And we're going to continue to do. I'm hoping the clean and safe makes a big difference. But we're getting there. Just unfortunately, it can't happen overnight. I appreciate that. And I do sincerely appreciate the police. They've always been very professional, as I've mentioned before, both to me and to the other individuals. They're a great asset for the city of Columbia. The problem I have is I've seen things like this go on and on and on. And it's kind of like we need to start taking action now, not sometime in the future. Businesses are leaving. People are complaining about it. Like I said, two businesses have left. And three more are looking at leaving and more putting up fences. It's not something that we can wait for another six months to address. We need to have some action. I don't think we're waiting six months. And I think we've shown every time that we continue to do things progressively. It doesn't happen all overnight in a period. But we're not waiting six months. Our budget season, we're voting on this budget, which includes that money to expand that. That's a July one start. Can't start it any earlier because I don't have the money outside of that budget to do it. But we've appropriated money for that. We've continued to use everything we can. We're getting ready to change all the lights to LED lighting to brighten it all up. We're doing our part. But we got to sit down and work with the other neighborhoods as well, too, and address it because there's some things that everybody else can do as well. And I think we just got to continue this dialogue. But I promise you we're not waiting six months to address this issue. We're working on it now. I would say it's great that you're putting in the LED lights. And those might have some effect. But to me, I think that the big issue is getting more policemen around. We used to have a policeman that would ride a bicycle around the streets, not anymore. We'd love to have more policemen. Believe me, we're trying recruitment in every way. We put in a plan. We put in more money than we've ever spent in public safety. But people aren't doing that. We're even in the discussion of hire and private security to help us because there are gaps like this that we can't fill. So, you know, it's a challenge on both sides. But I want to reassure you that this city is doing everything we can. But I can't put more officers down there right now when I've got 18% increase in shooting, domestic violence going on, and other things in other areas. Now, we're trying to address it in different ways, and we'll continue to work together. But I can't put all of that there. If I had all the force that we hope to have in the future, that'd be a whole different discussion. But let me just reiterate, we are going to, we are addressing the issue. We're going to continue to invest in that. But we're doing the best we can with what we got at this point. And we're going to continue to innovate, be creative, and do whatever we can to just work with us. I'm more than happy to work with you. And I know that the other businesses that I spoke with would feel the same. But we're still, as you are, results oriented, which is, we want to see the environment improve, not just for the city center where my property borders, but for the people that are outside of the city center as well, that have the same kind of problems. So I'll be glad to send my emails out to everybody in city and state government. I don't have a problem with that, letting them see the first hand what's going on. I do wish I would have amended my proposal to include mental health professional in the committee, which I did not. You know, we've hired five. I mean, we literally, we're doing more than it's ever been done in a decade, because we do understand the issue. And in some of the challenges is we're the capital city. I don't think you'll hear us giving an excuse, we're continuing to find and make investments and to do it. And I hope we can continue to work together to try to solve it together, because it's going to take all of us. I agree 100%. Thank you for your time. Thank you for being here. I appreciate it. I'm sure we'll be in communication. I think there's someone else. Yeah, this young lady would like to speak. I'm good. How are you? Good. I'd like to thank you for allowing me to speak in as well as to this. Can you just take your name and address for the record? Yes. I am Taruka Langley. I am owner of the McDonald's on Elmwood and Assembly. My parents have owned McDonald's since 1986. I started at 14. And so I've seen the progression. I actually left, went to college and came back. When I was 14, we had a homeless person there. His name was Stanley. We all knew Stanley. And we helped Stanley. We knew how to deal with Stanley. Since then, it's changed a lot. My children work with me at the McDonald's as well. My daughter was punctured with something. She didn't tell me until months later. She thought it was a beast singer. I said it was probably a needle in the drive-through by someone from the transit. My employees are scared. They don't want to come to work. Turnovers really high because it's hard because they come to work to serve the community. As we tell them, our motto is we want to serve everyone, the community, each other. But it's hard to come to work when you're there with people who are coming in who have the mental issues. You're trying to be nice to them. They're yelling, screaming, hollering, fighting with them, spitting on them, things of that nature. You go outside. They're urinating and defecating around the corrals and things of that nature. We tried to be a good neighbor. My parents' idea was to go and donate to the transition house. We donate cookies. We've donated breakfast, lunch, dinner. We've gone to make the mothers that are there feel better about themselves by celebrating them on Mother's Day. We've done the same for Father's Day. But it's hard. It really is. And so I wanted to echo some of the things that Mike talked about just so that you could hear it from yet another business owner. I think it's important that we continue to try to, as you said, work together to figure it out. We've put lighting, LED lighting around our parking lot. I mean, we've tried to hire people and we have some good success stories. It's a pleasure to see someone who does not have a home go from living in the transition house to working with us, getting a car and an apartment, moving on to a house, and then they move to another type of career. But those aren't the people I'm talking about. I'm talking about the ones who are a problem. And I hear you. I see that you, oh, that's my time. I'm going to keep talking. Okay. I hear that you guys understand what we're talking about. And I'd like to just say thank you for looking into it. Thank you for putting some resources to it. But I do think I agree with Mike that we got to get a little more aggressive with it because sometimes I'm afraid to come to work. And I'll tell you, you know, a lot of these are frequent flyers. These are folks that are being let back out. I mean, there are many times that we've had people committed on Friday and on Saturday I see them walking down the street in their scrubs. There's things that are outside and we're advocating hard to create. I mean, to long story short, we want to have a central place where there's a safe place that we can have folks that can get the wraparound services, the short term housing they need, the addiction, the mental health. It's not where we are right now. Right now they're scattered services. We're seeing more influx to the city because we're the capital where the services are. We're to inject care for 17 counties. That means folks from Lancaster on come here and unfortunately some of left. We had a young lady out here on Laurel Street that we had to pick up that had been dropped off from Orangeburg Hospital left on Laurel Street. So yes, we got some challenges. That's why we're putting the resources and we're trying to work together wherever we can. And there's some things that are out of our control, but we're investing in mental health. I mean, we literally, the chief and I and Miss Wilson had a conversation about can we hire a third party security company to help us in this corridor because it is concentrated to about a 12 block area and how we address that. I wish we had all the officers we need, but it's harder for people, especially when they deal with that. I mean, we took the hotspots. I can tell you exactly what a hotspot is and you end up putting fire, police, ambulance, the hospital system, all the costs surrounded around that. And then folks continue to be out. So yes, I understand it. I wish I had this great solution, but we're going to continue to invest, continue to do the things that we can continue to work with property owners. But you know, there's some we've got some folks that don't help us when they're not helping themselves because they're allowing things. I mean, we had incidents where people weren't allow us to arrest people who were trespassing. And so then you then you got folks still there and in some folks and you're right, the folks who want to help, they get it here. It's the folks that don't, it's the folks that are addicted and it's the folks that are challenged. Somehow we've got to get them to the next. And unfortunately, when you lock up some folks in 21 days, they're getting out one way or another. And so we have this recycle of folks going through that we've got to figure out and that's where we need help with our legislators and others. But I think you have the commitment from this council. I think we're continuing to do it. I wish we could make things happen quicker, but we are. And I think the expansion of the yellow shirts, the expansion of having the clean and safe help gets cleaned up. It kept doing that. We're going to continue to, if we catch people arrest them, it makes it hard when we can't, you know, video does help, but you can't identify all those folks from everything, but we're going to continue to do it. We're getting creative. And if we haven't thought about it and you got an idea, I'm all ears. Thank you. Yeah. So it's all day long. If I pull on my lot, sometimes it could be any time of the day, I'll see five people and I call immediately 911. I have five people, what do they look like? I tell them what they look like. It used to be the same people that we would see, but now it's different people with different issues coming through. And believe it or not, I've even gone down to our restaurant at two a.m. And it's like a circus. Like I was like, Oh my gosh, you see people riding on bicycles and skates and running and just it's crazy down there. And my folks are afraid to get out their cars to go in. So it's all day. And I would say it actually gets worse after 5 30, because there was a lady that was driving around in a white car. Excuse me. I can't remember what the name of her job title was. But she would come around and ride through our parking lot. And she kind of kept them at bay. But after she gets off at 5 30, they were it just goes, you know, ramp it. I think it. Yeah, I think it's I personally think it's where we're located, because we're right there. Kind of across the street across the way from the transition home. I think that's I mean, certainly every city, every restaurant is dealing with it. But I think ours is worse based off of where we are. I do think it's proximity. I do think that and I was excited because someone said that they were going to move to a different location. And then I heard that's not true. I was like, Yes, but they're not moving. I mean, I understand. I mean, everyone deserves a second chance, right? And we're willing to give them that. But we're not willing to work with the ones that are trash and urinating and defecating and all that stuff just makes it. Mr. Brown, Dr. Bustle, Mr. McDowell, Mr. Duvall, Mayor recommend. Thank you.