 Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Mr. Bailey. Present. Mr. Brown. Here. Mr. Herbert. Here. Dr. Bustle. Here. Mr. Brennan. Present. Mr. McDowell. Mr. McDowell. Mayor, recommend. Here. Could everybody please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic which stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Brown, would you do us the honor, please? My pleasure, Mr. Mayor. A few about your heads, please. Dear Lord, thank you. Thank you for this beautiful day that you have given us to enjoy. Thank you for this beautiful city that we have the pleasure to live. Thank you for our citizens, the people we serve, and those that count on us to make good decisions that will affect their today and their tomorrow. Thank you for our staff and their commitment to making our city the best city in South Carolina. Thank you for our council as we strive to make every day count and every decision matter as we work to improve Columbia and our quality of life. Please help us make today and every day matter as we work for the people of this great city. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, good afternoon, Mayor Rickerman and Council. We will start with the adoption of the agenda. There are a few amendments, Mayor, to include item number one, the deferral of item 25, appointments to the Citizens Advisory Committee to Community Development, and item number 32, the deferral of the discussion of the employment of an employee pursuant to South Carolina Code Section 3470A1 City Manager and City Attorney. Mr. Mayor, some move. So we have a motion. Is there a second? Second. A motion and a second. Any further discussion, questions pertaining to that? Hearing none seen, Madam Clerk, could you read the roll, please? Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussell. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Mayor Rickerman. Aye. Mr. Mayor, do you mind taking me out of personal privilege just for something very briefly? If it's okay with council. Oh, sir. How many of y'all went to the parade this weekend in here? Show of hands. I just want to take a moment to thank the City of Columbia staff for the parade was just excellent from the police department, parks and rec, social media. It was really a stand out and I just want to make sure y'all received the credit for that because it was a great event. And I think sometimes we wake up in the morning and things, things just happen, but there's a big long planning process. So y'all did a great job. What a more shock that is the fact that no, not all of y'all raised your hands. Clearly we got to have a conversation after this meeting. Oh, I was told they can't really hear me on the microphone. So. Oh, so hands who went to parade this weekend for the gang cocks. Okay. That's not that much. Well, we considered it our joy and our pleasure, but we appreciate you councilman Bailey and all of council for the support. It's all about community and that when we see those events happen that way. So thank you for your support. With that we will have public input related to the items on the agenda. These are for individuals who are allotted up to three minutes to address city council about items on the agenda items requiring a public hearing cannot be addressed at this time. And we do have a few signed up. No, ma'am. Not for this. Not for this period. Okay. So none signed up for this period. Mr. Mayor. All right. The approval of minutes item number one council is asked to approve the March 19th 2024 and April 2nd 2024 council meeting minutes to approve. Second. Motion and a second. Any further discussions, audits, changes, questions, hearing none, seeing none. Madam clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Mayor Rickman. Aye. I would like to know that Reverend McDowell is online. So we need to work on his, maybe his connection. Okay. And I'm going to also remind all of our speakers as they come to the microphone as well as council members and myself to speak directly into the mic in order to assist with our audio. We're going to get this audio straight. And so boy, because we continue to try with that, we are at a period of presentations and this is a pretty exciting one item number two, the city of Columbia rebranding and logo reveal. And I will take this one on Mr. Mayor and council, you know, at you all's direction, we embarked upon this process several months ago where we have engaged Crawford consultants to assist us with our marketing efforts to rebrand the city of Columbia, which includes a pretty fabulous new logo, new fonts, new pack color palettes. And we're at the point now to share that with the public. And after that, we will be also either tonight or in the morning, sharing on all social media handles, then the new logo, the new look, the new feel and encouraging all of you, as well as our city employees who will be our ambassadors on this effort to also share and take part in our launch of the new logo for the city of Columbia. We will have new personal social channels that we recommend that city leaders utilize and our employees to reshare the post that is scheduled to go out to go live and add their own captions to it. We're going to have some sample captions again for your personal use. We will have a Q&A document that includes potential questions from our citizens and stakeholders and internal branding 101 sessions for our employees to attend because we have a whole branding guidelines that must be followed by internal employees as well as our external stakeholders and we talked about that a little bit earlier today that we want to make sure that as we embark upon this journey, it's consistent and that everyone is aware of how to utilize our brand. So we'll also have external branding 101 sessions for our stakeholders as well, but we couldn't be more excited. And with that, we are going to launch the video that you all took part in. I want to give some shouts out to the very creative Justin Stevens and Ms. J. Anna Carter on our staff for working so hard to help pull this together. And with that, I think we're ready. Yes, team. Yes, yes. I hope so. Here we go. City of Columbia has always been a place of innovation and leadership, constantly transforming and progressing. At this exact moment, we are experiencing a very exciting time in our city's history where countless crucial projects are underway that will lead us into the future. No longer will Columbia be the best kept secret. Our progress calls for a refreshed city identity. And our identity starts with a strong strategy of embracing who we are, a stronghold of community spirit committed to civic and personal progress. The economic engine of South Carolina rains in Columbia. And we are grateful and thankful that this kind of attitude has taken place within our city. Today, we're excited to announce a new logo and visual identity for the city that will help propel us into the future. It represents who we are today and who we will be in years to come. We're confident this logo and other new branding will help create greater consistency across the city and our public communications, instill a sense of pride and show that we are a city that can and will stand out. Our new brand is built on Columbia's unique culture, strengths and vibrancy. Its elements include our three rivers, the South Carolina state flag and its wrapped in the letter C for Columbia. Its message is fresh and bold and it makes a statement that Columbia's day has come. An updated color palette compliments this new logo and brand identity. It speaks to the dynamicism of our city, it boldly communicates who we are and references our beautiful outdoor amenities. We are proud of who we are and are excited of who we'll become. We invite you to embrace Columbia as a leader, an example of excellence, a great place to live, work and play. Join the momentum and always remember. We came close. As we launch, if you noticed, the together we are Columbia is very important. It's just a slight take on. We are Columbia as we've known it, but it's a very important addition. Together, comma, we are Columbia, period, is the way that the guidelines designate that we utilize it with the capital letters. Focusing again on who we are as a community and we know that the character of our community was a really big focus for you all that we use that spirit that shows our rivers and our community in the light that it isn't a hey, I agree. We've been the best kept secret, but no more, no more of that. We are embracing who we are as a capital city, a university town full of wonderful entrepreneurial spirit and businesses. So thank you mayor and thank you council for allowing us to do this. Well, thank you, City Manager. You know, we sat down almost, it feels like a long time ago, but it was really around the corner with an objective to really tell our story and give us that facelift and be the capital city that we can be. And that strategic plan that came from council and working with the staff and y'all executed this, you took what we asked you to pursue and brought it to life. And I think that's so important. And as we've seen with the rapid shelter, we've seen these others, we really appreciate, you know, what's being done and excited to share this and y'all deserve a round of applause. Well, we couldn't have done it without you all, you know, push that this is the right way to go. And again, for the, for the community to understand this, the mission was to instill pride in every resident by actively embracing our diversity, caring for our neighbors and sharing a common purpose and you all set that tone from the beginning. The key themes with our messaging will be pride, community, welcoming opportunity. And again, we talked about the brand direction is together. We are Columbia. Well, we've steadily said we are making strides together and we said that for the last almost three years as a group and in capturing that into that. And it's a pretty, pretty exciting day to see that it really I really do think it roots to the heart of who we are. Yes. Thank you again. So to share to share you all get it first. I think Ms Veronica has the first hot off the printer presses or whatever it would be for T shirts, your first shirt that will be the merchandising that we will hopefully implement for community as well. Mr Mayor, may I well she's passing the shirts out. Well, I would just like to say we have come so far from my colleagues making fun of me for using social media too much to now also having a fellow millennial on Council to now everybody thinking about how they're going to help promote this new brand. And so for the public, I really want to share with you that this is so much more than a logo. You know, one of the things that I think all of us when we came on with this new council had a lot of consensus around was that we do some really great things and sometimes we just get so caught up in our own little worlds that we don't talk about them. We don't sell our city in a way that it deserves and we often sell ourselves really short. And so there was a lot that went into this exercise as city manager mentioned, including looking at the ways in which other groups that we work with talk about the city as well. And so I'd love to see y'all, you know, rock some swag with our new logo. Talk about it, you know, share it with your friends and colleagues and and really embrace it. I really truly believe that, you know, Columbia can be a destination that people choose over other places. I mean, you saw what happened this past Sunday where we had hundreds, thousands of people out supporting our three time championship team. And so, you know, this is just the beginning in terms of us hopefully having a more cohesive prideful voice that really talks about all the great things that are happening, but also in terms of our work to be more transparent and give you all a more positive experience as it comes to engaging with the city. So wanted to thank Miss Wilson and the team and everybody that came together to make this happen. This is much more than a logo for me, especially and I know for Council, it's really I think defining where we are, which is a turning point in in Columbia and I hope that it is embraced for for years to come. So we have with us to just another recognition, Mayor, because I think it goes to the heart of what we're talking about the interest in our students in Columbia. We have the Benedict College political science 330 class, the state and local politics class, and they are under the leadership of their professor, Miss Cynthia Joseph. And I know she's mentioned to me how interested they are in the things that Dr. Bussells just described and being a part of our city fabric. Would y'all stand up and be recognized, please. That's our future leadership right there. Absolutely. I know they're professors, so I know they're listening intently in case they have a quiz. I don't know. All right. Well, thank y'all so much. Take a picture with you. Please. I think that would be perfect. Absolutely. Yes. I wanted for social media. Doesn't sound like you. You got it. Yes, ma'am. Okay, Lisa. You like those stickers. Toe bag stickers. Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much. You all thank you to our public and media relations staff. They've done a great job working with Crawford. We are so appreciative. We are moving along to our next wonderful for so much going on in the City of Columbia right now. So we have the Dr. John H. Dozier Day proclamation for our new president of Columbia College. The Honorable Daniel J. recommend to do the presentation. Mr. Mayor. Dr. Dozier, would you join us at the podium, please? It's a great honor to have you here, sir. Excited about your tenure moving forward. And we've had a great time already having conversations about what we can do to improve each other's lives. And I'm so excited about what's coming forward for not only for Columbia College, but for Columbia as a whole. But with that, John H. Dozier is Columbia's 21st president. Dr. Dozier received his Bachelor of Science in Marketing from South Carolina State University and was presented with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2015. He went on to earn both a Masters of Business Administration and Doctor of Education degrees from DePaul University in Chicago. He's held a variety of leadership positions in the Chicago Community College system, including Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs at Kennedy King College and Wilbur Wright College, Chief Information Officer for the entire system and the president of Kennedy King College. He joined the University of South Carolina in 2013 where he served as inaugural Chief Diversity Officer and Associate Provost. He most recently served as the Institute Community and Equity Officer at MIT, Massachusetts Institution of Technology. Dr. Dozier is married to Victoria, who is a mechanical engineer and they have three children. With that, we wanted to recognize your investiture and so as the Mayor, I, Daniel Rickerman of Columbia, South Carolina and my fellow members of City Council who proclaim April 20th this Saturday as to be Dr. John H. Dozier Day in the City of Columbia. Before we do a photo, I'd like you to share some words with us, please. Thank you. Mayor Rickerman, City Council, our honorable City Manager, Ms. Wilson. You know, it's, this is home. Columbia, South Carolina, I've left it, me and my wife have left Columbia, South Carolina twice and Columbia, South Carolina has bought us back home twice. We don't plan to leave for a third time. But when I think, when I think about these recognitions, I mean they, they honor an individual when in fact nothing that I've ever done has been based on just me. I've always had wonderful people supporting me, wonderful people that have mentored, advocated and some of those people are here now. My wife Victoria and my daughter Sophia are here and even the senior leadership team from Columbia College is also here. Please would you stand and be recognized. I see you brought all the koalas with you. We run deep. We run deep. You know, I want to make a appreciative of the work that the City of Columbia is doing in its rebranding efforts. Ms. Wilson mentioned was Columbia is seen as the best kept with me because I think that we can say the same thing about Columbia College and the best kept secret. But we both are looking to dispel that myth. We're no longer a secret. And in fact, Mayor Rickman, it shouldn't be lost on you, Council or anyone else that Columbia College is the only college in Columbia that bears the city's name. And we're here to partner with you to make sure that the prosperity of Columbia continues to be on the rise and always. And we're looking to deepen our engagement with the community and make sure that we are partnered with Columbia and a part of the prosperity that we will bring to this wonderful city. Thank you immensely for this honor. Thank you, Council for your support. Councilwoman Herbert, thank you because you are the person whose district we live in, and we certainly appreciate all of your. Y'all are mine. Yes, you are. I'm sorry. I hate to tell you, she shares you. She forgets there are three other people in that district. Well, we are Columbia College and I thank you, Mayor Rickman. Thank you all for this honor. And Mayor Rickman, if I could just add, I am so grateful to have the dozers back. I have lived on colonial drive a couple of times, but I'm familiar with Columbia College. My mother graduated from Columbia College. I have family members who graduated from Columbia College. My uncle, Claude Krumlin, worked at Columbia College for 27 years. And I'm on the street with your softball, baseball field. So I am excited about the future. I'm excited about what you all can bring. And I think that you're also an example of how important it is and not that everyone has to do it. But when you leave and you see other things and you have other experiences and then you bring them back home. So I'm delighted to have you all. I'm excited about the future and we're going to do some things. I'm excited. Thank you. May I have one more? Oh, absolutely. I just kind of dawned on me while I was sitting next to my wife that I don't know that I'm ever going to be able to live this down. April 20th is also my wife's birthday. So for me to have a day on my wife's birthday. Don't worry, Tiffany's is coming your way. I like to make a motion that we change the day to a day. Wise beyond your weirs. And our beautiful city clerk is a proud alum of Columbia College. Yes. Now fighting koalas you may leave if you have other engagements. We will move forward with presentations item for the second chance month proclamation. The Honorable Daniel J. Rickham and Mayor. Mr. Young, please join us at the podium. Blessings. Blessings. Thank you. So we're real excited today to have you here and to recognize you with this proclamation. So I'm going to read the proclamation and then give you an opportunity to say a few words and we'll share some more information as well. But America was founded on a strong foundation of perseverance even in the face of adversity. The belief that every person deserves to be treated with dignity as well as respect. Whereas individuals returning from correctional facilities after paying their debt to society for committing a crime still face significant challenges to access to access or to regain basic rights and necessities. A person's conviction history should not exclude them from employment, housing, public benefits or the right to vote. April has been designated as second chance month in 2017. And ever since then, every US president, governors in more than 25 states, including South Carolina, have brought awareness to second chance efforts by recognizing April is second chance month. These efforts have proven beneficial, impactful for Americans with a conviction history and have contributed to the strength of our nation, this state and our great city. Whereas successful reentry and reintegration programs into society for Americans with a criminal record means restoring self worth, responsibility, affirming human dignity. All while contributing to the strength of this great city. City of Columbia re-inferms its commitment to helping residents forge new beginnings and that they have rightly earned. So now therefore I, Daniel Rickman, the mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, along with my fellow members of city council, do hear Breiber claim the month of April and I got to put this footnote in it. You got to share this with the NCAA national championship women's basketball team. Second chance month and we personally and respectfully honor you, Lester young, not only for your generous work with your foundation path to redemption, but your commitment to our community. And you've probably done more as an individual than most people have done, especially in this area. And we just want to take the time to honor you as well to encourage the creation of opportunities for individuals, employers and communities to extend second chance of those who have paid their debt. And we want to give you a heart. Well, thank you on behalf of the 144,000 residents. Thank you. Thanks. Thanks city council. Thank you, mayor. Thank you city council. Thank the citizens of Columbia, South Carolina. I want to just say that I'm internally grateful for this opportunity. I remember sitting in prison with a facing a life sentence with the possibility of never walking out of prison. And I remember when someone told me the power of writing a vision down and chasing that vision. And I remember sitting down in that cell, not knowing that if I will ever walk out of prison, but I truly believe that with that conversation I've had with this mentor of mine, he told me that anything is possible. He said God said write the vision down on a plane table and chase it. And that's exactly what I did in prison. Even though as I said the 3% chance was I was going to die in prison. I still believed in that vision. Now to be able to see that path to redemption is something that I wrote in prison is now 10 years given life to the citizens of Columbia, meaning those who are formerly incarcerated struggling with different legal barriers that are in that are competing their growth. That path to redemption has played a tremendous role here in Columbia by empowering those with felony conviction with hope. But also letting the citizens of Columbia know that redemption is possible, that a person should not be judged based upon the conviction of their crime, but be given an opportunity to do just something completely different. So I'm internally grateful for the city of Columbia, the former city of Columbia as well, who I worked with closely to enact the ban the box policy in 2018, I believe. And here we are right now we're doing the same thing. So I just want to encourage you all those who are listening to my voice to please understand the power of second chance that the city of Columbia has passed the bill. But I ask that you all in your respective businesses do the same thing by joining together with Columbia being one Columbia, meaning that those with felony convictions still is part of Columbia even though they have committed a crime. And I think that with that we can continue to make create a more inclusive Columbia as we move forward. So again, I'm grateful for this opportunity. I want to thank my wife for believing in that vision. I want to thank my team. I want to thank my team. Someone who believed in me when I was in prison when she just saw it as a vision and she supported it, she helped breathe life into it. And as a result, we have my team here we're in Department of Juvenile Justice path. The redemption is now working inside of Department of Juvenile Justice where all of these men and women are working seven days a week inside of Department of Juvenile Justice mentoring and helping create a more inclusive, more successful path for those that are inside of the juvenile system. So again, thank the team. Thank everyone for this opportunity. Thank you again. I also wanted to take a minute to the City of Columbia's Office of Violent Crime Prevention is partnering with Goodwill's industry from the upstate in the Midlands and the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs to bring second chance month panel and community resource fair that's going to be on April 27th from 11 to three at Goodwill on Decker Boulevard. It's the event is open to the public it's free rainy day fund will also be on site to assist attendees with any legal services. For more information please reach out to our City Office of Violent Prevention and give us a call look on our website you'll see the event but that is April 27th from 11 to three. Thank you for sharing Mayor. Item five is the National Small Business Week 2024 proclamation. The Honorable Daniel J recommend Mayor. We would ask that Miss Aisha triggers and her team come forward. Come on team. Director of the business opportunities. So we're excited we are here to celebrate Small Business Week and our entrepreneurs that contribute to the success of our community. We have a number of events scheduled for the upcoming week it'll be April 29th through May 3rd. We'll start with a kickoff press conference we partnered with Susan from the Columbia Chamber she's here today will be at the Tom's Creek Farmers Market Exchange doing that kickoff. Then on Tuesday we partner with Richland Library as well as SBA to do a lender matchmaker event to give entrepreneurs an opportunity to make with lenders one on one. And then we will have our 11th annual Small Business Week conference on Wednesday May 1st at Embassy Suites. It'll include breakout sessions we partner with SBA to do their award ceremony and also a matchmaking opportunity for them. And then on Friday we're excited we're excited about a food truck and friends event. So we will have four food trucks are mobile market from Tom's Creek as well as animal services out to provide opportunities for adopt a pet. And so that will be on Friday May 3rd at the REI parking lot. Also I'm glad that I have my staff here I have an amazing staff I know all departments at the city feel like they have an amazing staff but we accomplish a lot with our team of eight and I'm so proud to stand alongside them and I appreciate their support. And before we get to the proclamation I also have a special presentation if Kalina could come forward. This is very timely that Kalina celebrates her five years with the city. It's a surprise she didn't know. So she's been very instrumental to the coordination of our Small Business Week conference and all the events that we have. So Kalina here's your five year pen. And also here's your certificate of achievement it's proudly presented to Kalina Gignard. Thank you for your five years of service to the city of Columbia. You are a valued member of the organization and we honor your service. It's signed by Ms. Wilson our director of human resources Ms. Javis and myself. Thank you Kalina. I just really hate that you don't like your job at all. I love it. I tell you every time I see all you're doing is smiling it makes me smile. It's so exciting. With that I'd like to read the proclamation for Small Business Week. For more than 50 years the U.S. Small Business Administration has celebrated National Small Business Week which recognizes the critical contribution of America's entrepreneurs and small businesses. Small businesses are at the heart of every city preserving traditional values while providing new ideas, new jobs, increased sustainability and they always give back. Small businesses represent a tradition of hardworking dedicated individuals living the American dream to provide for their families to create job opportunities for their neighbors, their friends and their cities. And to make invaluable contributions to their community and we see this every day in Columbia and it really it's one of our strengths but it's also one of our untold stories that our new marketing campaign is really going to help highlight. Small businesses are vibrant and vital segments of our economy and a huge economic force throughout the nation. Residents of our community and communities across the nation are being asked to support small businesses and merchants during Small Business Week and hopefully throughout the year. Make local and small your first choice. The City of Columbia and the Columbia Chamber of Commerce recognize the value of small businesses within our community and their priceless contributions. So I as the Mayor of Columbia, Daniel, recommend along with my fellow council members do proclaim the week of April 28th through May 4th, Small Business Week. Another presentation Mayor that is somewhat related because this next I guess she's a legend I would say Ms. Diane Sumter. She works very closely with our Office of Business Opportunities and she is here, the President and Chief Executive Officer of DISA Inc. Ms. Diane Sumter to present the South Carolina Minority Business Development Agency report. I think she's here. Oh, she's here. She's passing the book. Oh, okay. Good afternoon, Mayor. I recommend and to City Council and Ms. Teresa Wilson. Diane Sumter is being a bit shy today. The first time in her entire life, I promise you. So I'll provide you with an agency update. Okay, my name is Camille Shaw and I serve as Project Director for the South Carolina MBDA Business Center, which is operated by Diane Sumter of DISA Inc. But before I begin, I would like to thank the City for your continued collaboration, partnership and support of the small business community. The City has supported DISA and the Center for over the past 30, 20 years and we are grateful. And we also appreciate how well Ms. Aisha Driggers and Clint Shealy and the entire engineering and OBO department work well with us. So the South Carolina MBDA Business Center is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency. We work with socially and economically disadvantaged businesses of companies throughout the city and the state of South Carolina to help them scale up, build capacity and grow. So thank you for allowing us the opportunity to share our 2023 annual report with you. It's called the Year in Review and you may have copies in your packet and I brought extra copies for today. The Year in Review summarizes our project accomplishments and highlights client success stories. Last year the Center worked with clients to generate over $42 million in revenue and contracts. Say that number again. $42 million in revenue and contracts and over $31 million in capital and bonding. And we provide services to some of our clients in the local Columbia area and just to name a few our clients consist of construction dynamics, people's choice plumbing, corally construction, Frank's electrical services, AJ's global services in viral ag science, the centric group, Thomas media group and Optus Bank and that's just a few. So we appreciate the city's partnership with investing with us in us last summer to conduct a four part series on business succession planning. So the succession planning included topics of how to avoid common succession planning mistakes, developing a contingency plan, how to increase business valuation, legal and accounting issues and how to prepare to transition and exit the business. More than 285 persons registered for the series and we had an average of 65 attendees per training and the training is still available for review on demand. In addition, the city partnered with us this last fall to host a workshop on simple access to SBA surety bonds. The workshop was facilitated by Peter Gibbs of foundation surety company and he is a former director of the US SBA surety guarantee program. So the foundation was instrumental in underwriting over $11 million in payment performance and bid bonds to the small businesses who attended the workshop. So we thank you for that as well and just wanted to share as we look and move forward in the future we are researching new industries. We are looking at key focus areas to include electric vehicle development with the NEVY program, the national electrical vehicle infrastructure program. We're looking at ways that companies can maximize and become more efficient using artificial intelligence as well as broadband opportunities. So we plan to continue to serve as a resource and offer trainings to firms so that they can build capacity and transition to a more innovative and sustainable economy. As well as equip clients with tools and knowledge to seize opportunities in new markets. So this is just a summary of the past year and we thank you again for your continued support of the small business community. So next year when you come is going to be $52 million right? Yes sir. Yes sir. Diane said $100 million. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Mayor could I have a second please? Yes. I just wanted to thank both of you and my constituent, Ms. Diane Sumter. But small business located inside is the backbone of every community. It's harder now than ever I think to be a small business and to operate in a world that continually becomes more and more complicated. I think it's really, really important that people have this type of guidance and this type of help and this type of leadership to be able to be in business, make a difference, make their community better and really continue to reinvest their efforts into making our community great. So thank you for what you did. Mr. Mayor, as we prepare to take on the consent agenda items, I was trying to do a quick sound check for Reverend Dowell. Councilman Dowell has been on and I wanted to make sure that he's no longer having difficulties with audio. Reverend Dowell. Yes. Thank goodness. Thank you. Welcome. Well, I thank you, Ms. Wilson, and I thank my fellow colleagues, but I also thank warrior and technology for allowing me to have a voice. I wanted to say something a few minutes ago as it related to Dr. Dozier and the Columbia College experience and welcome him back home. My sister attended a Columbia College and I'm grateful to that and I hope, I hope every word is heard by members of council. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Consent agenda item seven through 12. Mr. Mayor and Council for your consideration. Is there a motion? Got a motion. Is there a second? Second. Any further discussion, questions, concerns? Hearing none, seeing none, Madam Clark, could you read the roll? Mr. Bailey. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Now, ma'am, Mr. Dr. Bussells. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mayor Rickamon. Aye. Thank you. Did I get everyone? Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you. The next item is the first reading item 13, ordinance number 2024032, amending the 1998 code of ordinances of the city of Columbia, south Carolina. Chapter 23, utilities and engineering. Article 7, stormwater management 23205, the stormwater or service charge rates. Is there a motion? Motion to approve. A motion, is there a second? other discussions, questions, concerns, seeing none, hearing none. Madam clerk, could you read the roll please? Mr. Bailey, Mr. Brown, Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussos, Mr. Brennan. Yes. And Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mayor Rickamon. Aye. Thank you. Resolutions, item 14, resolution number R20201019, certifying building site as an abandoned building pursuant to the South Carolina Abandoned Buildings Revitalization Act, title 12, chapter 67, section 1267100 of the South Carolina Code of Laws as amended regarding property located at 1815 Gervais Street. Motion to approve. Second. A motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, hearing none. Madam clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussos. Aye. Yes. Mayor Rickamon. Aye. Thank you. Item 15, resolution number R20204024, approval for acceptance of the Congaree River levee site containing 12.93 acres and access easement on Richland County as listed at that TMS number and maintenance responsibility for the Congaree River levee located adjacent to the Metro wastewater treatment plant. Is there a motion? Motion to approve. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, hearing none. Madam clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussos. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mayor Rickamon. Aye. Thank you. Event resolutions, item 16, resolution number R20204012, authorizing consumption of beer, wine and liquor at the Kai, Iota, Iota Scholarship Fund, Inc.'s Secret Garden II and the 1600 block of Blanding Street between Pickin Street and Anderson Street on Saturday, May the 4th, 2024. Motion to approve. Got a motion. Is there a second? Second. Motion and a second. Any further discussion or questions? Seeing none, hearing none. Madam clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mayor Rickamon. Aye. Item 17, resolution number R202021, authorizing consumption of beer and wine beverages only at Triangle Veg Fest, Columbia Veg Fest as City Roots Farm, 1005 Airport Boulevard. Motion to approve. Got a motion. Is there a second? Second. Motion and a second. Any further discussion? Questions? Seeing none, hearing none. Madam clerk, please read the roll. Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mayor Rickamon. Aye. Thank you. Moving into a period of public hearing and first reading for zoning planning matters, individuals are allotted up to three minutes to address city council about items requiring public hearing and planning and development director, Ms. Krista Hampton will assist. Thank you. Good afternoon. Your first item number 18 is an annexation, a future land use map amendment and zoning map amendment for 500 Spears Creek Church Road. This proposal is to request to annex the property assigned a land use classification of Urban Edge Community Activity Center and a zoning of institutional general district for the pending annexation. Is there anybody here to speak for or against this item? Mayor Rickamon, no one has signed up. No one has signed up. Mr. Brown. Motion to approve. Got a motion to approve. Is there a second? Second. A motion and a second. Any further discussion or questions for council? Seeing none, any member Madam Clerk read the roll. Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mayor Rickamon. Aye. Thank you. Number 19, an annexation future land use map amendment and zoning map amendment for 2.65 acres on the south side of Jacobs Mill Pond Road. A request to annex the property, assign a land use classification of Urban Edge Residential Large Lot and a zoning of plan development district for the annexation. Is there anyone here to speak for or against this item? No one has signed up to speak. Is there a motion, Mr. Brown? A motion to approve. Is there a second? Second. It's got a motion and a second. Any further discussion or questions? Seeing none, hearing none. Madam Clerk read the roll. Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mayor Rickamon. Aye. Thank you. Item 20, annexation future land use map amendment and zoning map amendment for 4543 Broad River Road. Request to annex the property, assign a land use classification of community activity corridor and Urban Edge Mix Residential and assign a zoning of employment campus district and a residential mix district for the annexation. Mayor, we have Ms. Lisa Taylor signed up when you're ready for comment. Ms. Taylor. Was it a gentleman by chance? There was a gentleman here earlier. So Ms. Hampton, there was a gentleman here who may have left. His question was about making sure whatever happens that the properties don't flood because they had snake problems years ago. I'm not familiar with those issues. Certainly the property would be subject to stormwater control that does not permit additional stormwater to exit the property. So we would review that any development. Thank you, ma'am. Additionally, just one other point to note is that the rear that you see in RM2 will remain. That is a residential zoning buffer from the commercial that will be developed to the front. So that will assist in buffering that development from the residential to the rear. Thank you. Ms. Herbert. Oh, so moved. Do we have a motion? Is there a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Madam clerk, I believe we're ready for the roll. Yes, sir. Mr. Bailey. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Brussels. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mayor Rickman. Aye. Thank you. Last item number 21 is an annexation future land use map amendment and zoning map amendment for 1101 Kinley Road request to annex the property assign a land use classification of community activity corridor and a zoning of community activity center corridor district for the annexation. Is there anyone here signed up to speak for against this item? Madam clerk, do we have anybody sign up or right in? No one signed up. All right. So moved. Ms. Herbert has a motion on the floor to move. Second. We have a second. Dr. Brussels, any further discussion? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam clerk. Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Brussels. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Aye. Thank you. Concludes your zoning public hearing. Thank you, Ms. Hampton. Thank you, Krista. Appointments, Mayor and Council as Ms. Jenkins comes forward to assist items 22 through 27 are for city council appointments to include the accommodations tax advisory committee, the capital city, Lake Wright Regional Tourism Board, Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority, the Comet Hospitality Tax Advisory Committee, and Riverbank Zoo, again, deferring citizens advisory committee to community development. So it looks like the recommendation is to go ahead and reappoint all the members as stated. Yes, for accommodations tax, as well as hospitality tax due to the nature of the projects they have coming up in the short timeframe. So for accommodations tax, is there a motion to reappoint? So moved. God. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk. I would just would like to note that they do have staggered terms and just for the record, you all are appointing them on the new staggered terms. For hospitality tax, yes. Is that hospitality? Yes, for accommodations, it's the same to your term, but for hospitality tax. Commodations is all together. All right, thank you. Okay. But yes, for hospitality. Thank you. Mr. Bailey. For clarity, this is just for accommodations tax right now. We're voting. That is correct. Yes. Aye. Thank you. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bustles. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mayor Rickman. Aye. Thank you. For capital city, like Murray Regional Tourism, it is actually a council member appointment, not a citizen. Mr. Mayor. I'd like to make the motion to appoint Councilman Tyler Bailey to replace Howard DeVall and Tina Howard to continue to serve in the ex-officio, sorry, Councilwoman Tina Herbert, to continue to serve in the office ex-officio position. I cannot read her handwriting. I'm sorry. That was in a form of a motion. Can I have a second? Second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Congratulations, Mr. Bailey. Thank you. Madam Clark, could you read the roll? Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bustles. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mayor Rickman. Aye. For Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority, we're asking to reappoint Councilman Will Brennan, board chair, and Ms. Caroline Gleaton, for their second terms. I'd like to make the motion to reappoint Ms. Gleaton and Mr. Brennan. Thank you. Second. I just clarification, Ms. Gleaton, did she serve more than two, what's the- This will be your third. That's the ruling. We'll have to get clarification on that, but she has a fantastic attendance record. Can you amend until we check that just so we stay consistent with procedure as we've done with all the other boards? So essentially, she's continued to serve month to month as we confirm? Yeah. Okay. Hopefully we can get it resolved for the May 5th meeting. So- The last motion. Can you amend that motion? Yes. I'd like to amend my motion to reappoint Councilman Will Brennan and to appoint Ms. Gleaton to conserve on a month to month basis until we can clarify her terms because we need to have a body, someone- Yes. In that position right now. Understood. Thank you. Is there a second to that motion? A motion and a second. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Next we have the reappointment of the current committee members for the Hospitality Tax Advisory Committee with the staggered terms as the clerk stated and as well as on the memo. So if we take the recommendations that are before us that would be Mr. Chad Elsie appointed for one year term. Mr. Hank Davis for a two year term. Mr. James Williams for a two year term. Mr. Jonathan Taylor for a two year term. Kelly Glenn for a two year term. Joseph Kendrick for a one year term. Matthew Bridges for a one year term. Putnam Patel for a two year term. Sharon Thompson for a two year term. And then we have two vacancies. Yes. Second. That was a motion, right? Yeah, it was a motion. Second. Not for the vacancies. Not for the vacancies. That was just for the reappointments and then we'll take the vacancies separate. Madam clerk, could you read? Can we have discussion please? For the current? For the current, yes. Yes. So almost a year ago we removed ex-officio members. We've talked about this like five times and I'm very unclear on why we continue to list an ex-officio according to our boards and commissions guidelines. We don't have ex-officio members. Well, the title may not necessarily be correct, but the issue came through the arts committee and there was a discussion that there should have been, historically, one arts position. I don't know if it said ex-officio or not. And then that was sent to the administrative policy committee, I believe. And so there was consensus that at least an art position needed to be on there. I'm not saying if it was ex-officio or not, but I do remember that part, so that's why that's... Okay, well, I would like for us to, since we have been consistent with the city residency requirements and everything, I mean, then we need to revisit and if this person will be called something else to fit our guidelines, it's fine, but we can't have things that are not aligned with our past rules and regulations for our boards and commissions. We currently aren't voting on that. I know, but I wanted to make sure that it's on the record so that staff knows. Yeah, and it's correct. You're not on administrative policy committee. I don't recall us having this conversation, but we have a couple of things still table to meet about. So... This is one of them. Yeah, we haven't met about this. This is one of the things. So with that, Madam Clerk, can you read the motion for those reappointments, please? Yes, sir. Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Harbert. Aye. Mr. Russell. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. We recommend. Aye. Thank you. All right. And then we have two open positions. Are we having any nominees for those positions? Mr. Mayor, I'd like to nominate Ms. Julie Roof to one of the vacant positions on the Hospitality Tax Advisory Committee. All right. Second. We've got a motion for Julie Roof in a second. Any questions or concerns? Would she be at-large or restaurateur at-large? At-large. At-large. With that, Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Harbert. Aye. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mayor Rickman. Aye. Thank you. Is there a nominee for the restaurateur? Hearing none, so we will move that to our May 5th agenda and try to get us a restaurateur. Thank you. Thank you. And just so unclear, the instructions are just to get clarity on what the title of that position is supposed to be, the art position. I mean, it's not formally codified, so I think it might need to go to the process if they are going to have an arts, a designated arts person, right? What I'm saying, it was sent to the committee specifically to address that issue. Right, but we haven't met about it. Yeah. It was in committee. It was. It was just that, yeah, it was. It was, I don't, to the point of Dr. Bussells making about ex-officio, I think that's just, probably just a scrivener's error or something, but the issue was addressed in committee. And I think the, the, from my memory, the resolution of it was that historically there had been an arts, dedicated person representing the arts and the committee decided to honor that. I think it was basically the gist of it. So we can certainly check the record. I may not have been, I probably wasn't at the meeting. It's okay. That's good. I'm glad we addressed it. I just want to make sure we're consistent with whatever we have. Right. We'll remove that ex-officio reference. Yeah, we did. And Mark, I apologize. Yeah, we did address that. And for the record, I think it would be advantageous that we look at, that we look at this again, not to just to have additional conversation for clarity purposes. Okay. So are you all moving forward with your appointment then? Yes, ma'am. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you. I apologize. I was going by the book, not the agenda. I jumped two items in. Oh, okay. You're fine. Okay. Next we have the riverbank zoo with the reappointment of Mike Velasco for her second term. The movement's mayor. Yes, sir. So move. Do we have a recommendation for the riverbank zoo? I'd like to make a motion to reappoint Mike Velasco for a second term. Is there a second? Reverend McDowell had already moved it. So we have a second. Okay. Motion is second. Madam clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. I recommend. Aye. Thank you. Okay. Thank you so much for city council committee referrals, reports and new business. The next slide. I would call the news. And the meeting is. And 28 is a referral that really the staff and I are asking to be formally referred to for the review of a draft ordinance related to right away signage as requested. City administration. So this is an issue regarding. I would call them. Nusent signs that we see sometimes. Cluttering our right of way. et cetera. And so the staff with legal Ms. Jasmine Kears has been working on a draft ordinance. I know that Councilman Brennan had really championed this effort that we get something on the books. So we're at the point now to review that with you all. I think it'd be great if we could move it into committee first, if you all don't mind. And Mr. Brennan suggested it go into public safety. We have an upcoming public safety committee. April 30th. April 30th, 11 a.m. We just wanted to go ahead and get that formal referral in there. And we'll do that review with the committee first. In addition, since that work has been done, I'll have Missy or Krista come forward. There's an additional request or maybe a few requests about signage in our right of ways. Having access that is not nuisance by any means, but we feel like we need to bring it to Council's attention because the request concerns electronic signage and maybe naming, some type of naming rights. And so we wanted to get that in front of the committee as well. If you feel once she explains it that it could be tacked on to this issue of right of way signage in general, going to public safety committee, I think this is more of a policy issue. So you may want to make a separate referral to administrative policy committee. Is that right, Missy? Yes, ma'am. It is. So to explain that a little more detail, we've received multiple requests to place signage in the right of way, commemorating individuals as well as new types of vertical banners on utility poles and light poles. The new signage is not sponsored by the city. So we're really looking to receive policy guidance from Council before we bring encroachments forward for consideration. I would say we add it to the agenda. Yeah, go ahead and address it. I know we've been getting a lot of calls about it. Subspecific, specific, especially on some of the commercial properties that sit back and are clouded, I know, as well, but also understanding, having the committee go through it and make sure that we have the guidelines, I think would be a good way to move forward. So and for clarity, these aren't signs advertising businesses. These will be recognizing individuals. Normally, those are not placed in the right of way unless they're sponsored by the city like your street signs. So these would be placards in the right of way. And then also a different style vertical banner is being requested by an agency. Okay. So that's another issue I want to add. The other one I think Ms. Hampton was looking for some clarity to with some of the businesses that were set back that had some unique requests on visibility and it's in our right of way. So if we could add that as well. Okay, and Tika, you're good. I mean, it may be as I don't know that it's part of the same ordinance that Jasmine's working on, but are you good with it all staying in public safety? It wouldn't be part of the public safety ordinance. We can discuss it at the same time, but it wouldn't be part of that ordinance. Well, ultimately, police is a zoning code. Well, it's as it comes. It's been deemed a planning policy, right? Yeah, it would, it wouldn't go under to say it would be more like the policy I'll have for street naming and something like that. So you think of that or go to administration? Yeah. There's the facility related signage, but that's more like the naming. I think it's still sitting in administrative policy committee, but it really can come out. I think there's just a couple of clarifications left with that. And was there something else about signage and one of the committees? Yeah, I think we're going to capture that to through the the effort we're now in with Crawford. But would you prefer this additional being administrative policy? Yes. So we'll make that recommendation as well. Okay. So the first one then is item 28 as listed. So move. Motion. Is there a second? Second. Motion second, Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Is it Mr. Mayor? Yes, sir. Now, is that the move to administrative policy committee of public safety? The latter half is moving to admin. Okay. I didn't realize 28 didn't specify to the public safety committee. It should have. So for item 28, council has asked to refer the review of a draft ordinance related to right of way signage. And I would add that or more that are nuisance oriented signs to the public safety committee has requested by city administration. Thank you. So motion second. Second. We'll try that again. Yes. Thank you, Miss Wilson. Mr. Bailey. Mr. Brown. Mr. Herbert. Dr. Bussles. Mr. Brennan. Yes. And Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mayor Rickamon. Thank you. And then council has asked to refer the review of requests for right of way signage related to advertisements or by a particular entities that is more controlled and or the possible naming rights for individuals in the right of way to the administrative policy committee. Very good. Is there a second? We have a motion and a second Madam Clerk. Could you read the roll? So it's two parts. Okay. Okay. Mr. Bailey. Mr. Brown. Mr. Herbert. Dr. Bussles. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mayor Rickamon. Thank you. Okay. Any other committee referrals, reports or new business? Anyone have anything else? Comes to the magical time, Madam Clerk. Public input. Individuals are allotted up to three minutes to address city council about items not on the agenda. Items requiring a public hearing cannot be addressed at this time. All right. We have several individuals signed up to speak. Ms. Cherry Wagoner. City council. I'm Sheree Wagoner and I'm representing my sister Janay Wagoner at 2015 Green Street. In 2004, the city of Columbia came to my sister with sent in Mr. Ward, who was a director of construction management, and Mr. Wells, who was a director. And they threatened my sister that if she didn't sign her property rights over to the city of Columbia, they were going to do to her what they had to do. And it was over a property in Barca. They wanted to put his sewer line on her property. And I asked him if he owned any property rights in her property. He said no. I said, does the city have any property rights in Mr. Barcas? He said no. Understand what you're doing here. And he said, how would you Mr. Wells did? How would you like it if you had sewer problems that you put your sewer lines on their property? He said, well, I would know. I'd have to go to my neighbor, not to the city of Columbia. So I asked him, is this for anybody else? And he said no. It was for a person in the back who'd sued my sister for adverse possession. And my sister won a president's setting case in the state of South Carolina. And the state Supreme Court, when he appealed it, ruled that anything on the back of her property from that property owner was a continuous trespass and was easily abated. So my sister had to hire an attorney, Mr. Andy Serrat, who told the city that they couldn't do what they wanted to do and to cease and desist and they did. So in 2020, that was in 2004. In 2020, the city came back again at the same problem. And this is for two property owners. They just called it now the Rocky Creek Project. And they told my sister that they sent a letter that they were going to take that land and they were going to put that sewer line through for them. I said, so I called up Ms. Nash, who was the real estate division manager and I told her, I said, the city is in possession, which the city is, of the videotape of that meeting with Mr. Wells and Mr. Ward. I said, and that was a federal crime under the color of law. I said, and the city has no easement rights on that property. And she said, well, I'll have to look into it. And she did. And then we got a little letter from the city that the city was not the property owner. They admit that it's this private sewer line and they were going to stop. So that was in 22. So 23, the property owners at 819 Hardin Street, they come in and they want to have a license to enter. And my sister has an attorney and we think that they're going back and forth with our attorney and they go instead on a commit a trespass on our property. And right now we're wondering if the city wasn't involved in that. And they destroy thousands of dollars worth of fencing on our property. And when they find out that we've caught them on the property because we made a police report, they file a lawsuit. Do you mind if I go on? Yeah, ma'am. They file a lawsuit against my sister for license to enter. We go on April the 8th to court. And they have dropped the suit because they said they come up with a different way of handling. And I think that's the city of Columbia because when I go to the property on Friday the 12th, just a few days ago, I find this tape, which is a surveyor tape, on my sister's iron fence right where the sewer line is proposed. So I'm here to ask the city, did the city come on her property and help do that damage to her fans? Is the city going to go forward with this, which is for sewer line on her private property? Because, Mr. Mayor, I'd just like to say this, my sister's lost all the quiet enjoyment out of her property. And this is the easement that they wanted her to sign at the time. And this is tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayers' money to fix the private sewer lines of two wealthy property owners. And I find this shameless that the city was giving my sister a dollar and she was going to give it back for a multi-million dollar piece of property. And property rights are bought. They're not given away. And I'd just like to know what's going on right now because I'm not getting anywhere with the people down the city. I'm going to have to refer you to Mr. Shealy, who's the head of utilities because I'm not privy to that. But just for orientation, the piece you're referring to is, which building is yours? It's a 2015 Green Street. And Mr. Mayor, there's other problems with this too. That's the empty building next to Old Garibaldes? Yes. And I would like to say to you, the only reason that building is empty is because somebody down the city has been sabotaging my sister. She could have that building rented every week. And I would like to, if I would give me the time to tell you about one particular person that came in 2016. They did a first and second site approval on the building, one of the largest corporations in the world. And they told my sister that she had the real estate agent first, like I said, that the real estate agent came forward that was working for him. He tried to buy the building for a little over three million dollars. My sister didn't sell it to him. She should have sold it for three million dollars. Well, I don't think so. I've seen that property. I would have taken it for three million. Well, it's a very bad piece of property, Mr. Mayor. And the corporation told her that it was a high-profile building. For them, it had the best location in Columbia. It was sitting in front of the fountain in a high-traffic area down from the University of South Carolina. So we told them when they sent in, the real estate agent came back and told us that they were going to take the building and they were doing a due diligence. And they sent in a team of people from two different parts of the country, and they did a state-of-the-art due diligence on the building. When they were finished, they went, wow, what a building. You said, we can't believe it because the pictures you sent weren't anything like the building is. The real estate agent told us it was a done deal, and I said, well, you don't know that. He said, I don't. It's a done deal. They're taking the building. So they went down to the city of Columbia. My sister looked at me and she said, no, it's not. I said, I know that too. We didn't hear back from him. I called the real estate agent. He didn't answer the phone. So I decided to call the corporation, the person that we were working with, which was Amazon. And the person who was working for Amazon said, Ms. Wagner, we can't help you because we have to work with the city of Columbia, but you have a serious problem with the city of Columbia. They told us we could not rent your building. Seriously, Amazon, can you imagine what Amazon would have done for Five Points? So we do have a problem with that building, Mr. May, and I would like you to get involved in this and see what's going on. We're going to get you connected with Mr. Shealy before you leave so we can try to resolve the current issue and look into what's going on. And then we'll follow up with you. But thank you for bringing it to our attention. All right, thank you. Thank you, ma'am. All right, Mayor, we have Mr. Mustafa Abdullah. We will remind Mr. Abdullah that the time limit is three minutes. Honorable Mayor, how are you doing? Doing well, sir. Thank you. First and foremost, let me say thank you to you, Mayor, for your leadership. You're a great leader. I want to say thank you. I'm here today because of the fact that we have an issue when it comes down to student academic. I read the report card for South Carolina Department of Education. Elementary schools, below average, unsatisfactory. Before I rush on and say that, let me thank you for coming. You and Mr. McDowell for coming to Hayward Career Center. Hayward Career Center, unfortunately, many people don't know anything about it. And I hope that on the side of my voice, if you don't know anything about Hayward Career Center, please find out about it and let's get involved. We need to recognize two individuals from Hayward Career Center. One of them been Tyler Clerk, a diesel technology student awarded the 2024 Work-Based Learning Award by South Carolina Department of Education. Tyler Clerk. In addition, Bryson Wilson, chosen for national skill competition, job skill demonstration, which will be in June. In regards to the academic dying among our students, it's problematic for me and it should be problematic to everyone on the side of my voice. I would like for the council to support the mayor, because he's a great leader, to organize local government, state government, county government. Coming out of Tacoma, Seattle, Washington, government works together. I haven't seen that here. Haven't seen the city council work with the county council. County council work with the state government, legislative. We serve the same constituency. We have to address this problem. As you all know, as we all know, education is a passport to the future. On the side of my voice, I challenge each and every one of you in here to take a look at the report card from Richland 1 and Richland 2. Unsatisfactory for one elementary school. It's unacceptable. But for many, it's totally unacceptable. In addition to that, we would like for the city council to support the mayor in creating a Daniel Rickman Youth Leadership Institute, which would be a multi-culture four-year level, round leadership training and development program for young people aged 14 and 19. And that can be altered. Training model emphasizing practical hand-on experience and a whole list of the approach to developing leaders of the 21st century. We need that. And in that is some solutions, vast solutions to curtail the issue. We have to begin to prepare future leaders. You are a great leader. We're talking about leaving legacy behind. That's what we're talking about. Leaving legacy behind. When you look at that piece with the leadership institute, inside of that, what you have inside of that is we need to create, first we need to partner with the colleges with their leadership institute. And there is a model. I'll let you know about that model. Share with us. Yeah, I'll definitely share with you that model. Inside of that, we're talking about partnering with the colleges. We're talking about creating a job program. And we can work on that for next year. And DC, many years ago, they had over 10, 20,000 youth working. But my main concern is that we need this leadership institute. My main concern, speaking on behalf of the community, is that we need to address the academic of our students. The academic is down. It's down, it's down. And we have to bring everyone to the table. I'm sure you're familiar with PPP, public-private partnership. Maybe that might be the solution. Maybe that may be the solution. But the reality is I talked to some of the other legislative, they entered the individual. Well, that ain't my problem. No, yes it is. It's our problem. So I'm asking the city council to support you in this organizing and mobilizing. Thank you for being here. Number one, number two, I think, you know, our first and foremost, our step is to really support and share what's going on. Hey, absolutely so. Absolutely so. It is absolutely an amazing asset for us as a city. And I think the conversations of getting the business community engaged. And we thank you. Taking advantage of the resources that are there and how we transport that, not just for the students, but the group of young people. That's right. That are out there and bring them in, take advantage if it's harboring. That's right. That's right. That's right. The welding, the diesel mechanics. Right. The auto mechanic, the $100,000 simulator. Backless. CDL driving. So yes, we want to work together to really, to, I think that's our first step because that's that asset. And then we can work together to build up. But thank you for being here. And thank you for sharing with us today. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Mr. Mayor, I'd like to add, I think that's a fantastic name for the Institute as well. That was recommended. Daniel. Is that a motion? I don't know. It may be too early to move, but it'll pass. I believe. Tina. I think we ought to put our efforts and our minds in that career center. But thank you. I'll be glad to discuss that with my Richland one alumni grads about that. I'm going to call Bernadette. She'll be in my corner. Mayor, we have Mr. Wade Fulmer. Good afternoon. Continuing with the animal control, non enforcement nuisance reminder, there were no barking problems in the first two of six years of the neighbor's arrival. Dog was not left outside when no one is at home and no dog door will allowed at will access updating the long list. I provided the last couple of meetings of being awakened. April the 8th, since the last council meeting, April the 8th, awakened by the dog barking at 5.30, April the 12th, 6.52 a.m., April the 13th, 6.07 a.m., and the weekends are just not good. April the 14th, Sunday, 4.24 a.m., as was Good Friday in Easter, same thing. Yesterday was interesting. We're back to once in a while in the afternoon, 4.15 yesterday, Monday, the dog barked from 5.23 until 6.45 and nobody was at home. Administration should no longer delay, needed now resolutions should not allow continuing repeat nuisance harm to this neighbor victim. Victim is awaiting effected legal compliance with code. The humane applies to both human and dog. The humane quality of life code intent for order and health by enforcement. End of nuisance, not if, when again barking. Very quickly, the four questions summarized. Why 17 months before a ticket? Two, who, why, when two more flagrant, clear violations, no tickets, animal control enforcement on April the 10th last year and 9.26, 23, and the animal control supervisor told me they won't let us, who is they? Why were the accumulated reports evidence given by Columbia Police Department? Southeastern Region Officer Gunner and Captain Blondowski, two animal control to provide the city legal, tampering with hell, not given by animal control to city legal, thus did not get to court. Why, given the above facts and the assistance of Columbia Police Department and dispatch all those years, why should credibility of those duty and more doors be questioned? They are appreciated for their noted efforts. Division of animal controls and non-enforcement of code seems policy quote chatting from the letter I got from the neighbor status quo and there's no accountability, why? Thank you, any questions? Thank you, sir. Will you have anything? Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. No one else has signed up. Good afternoon, my name is Tracy. I am a resident of Grandview Community. And great afternoon, everybody good to see you. How are you? I am absolutely speaking against the city detect cameras that you're going to be placing on the back of trucks. It appears that you've already done so for 12 weeks. I think that type of technology is redundant to placing it on the back of trucks, somebody's sitting and watching the camera and then sending somebody to confirm that it's an issue. I am very much in favor of the in-person employment of our code enforcement. If I'm not mistaken, you cannot even get a citation without it being witnessed by code enforcement from the street. So the fee of $48,000 for the first year and the increase fee of $100,000 that most recently came from the beautification grant should be better used to help the people that have issues. In my community, the Grandview Community, most of our issues are because people can't afford to do the things that are necessary. And if you have beautification grant money, then I think it should be used to help people beautify their homes and their property. I am very much against the idea of our freedoms being violated with cameras on the back of trucks going through our community, citing us on things we can't afford. So with that, I know that these cameras are picking up much more than just pieces of trash and litter. And if the goal is truly to beautify and to stop litter, then that's not what a camera does. It cites what people are doing. And the problem has already happened when the camera actually ceases. So I just think with loving each other and caring for each other and using grant beautification money to help people do the things they need to do, then we can have our communities become cleaner and safer and healthier. So that's my two, three minutes, and I thank you. Thank you, ma'am, for being here. So please take that into consideration when you view what we always do. That our civil liberties are being violated and we should be concerned and contacted and have a decision in that process. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Tracy. Is there anyone else? And Mr. Brennan, I'll entertain a motion. Yes, Mr. Mayor. I make a motion. We enter into executive session, right on number 29 receipt of legal advice relating to a pending threatened or potential claim pursuant to SC code 30-4-70A2 into an Anderson v. City of Columbia item 30 receipt of legal advice which relates to matters covered by attorney client privilege pursuant to SC code 30-4-70A2 Loomis Fiber of South Carolina LLC franchise agreement. The last item 31 discussion of negotiations incident to propose contractual arrangements pursuant to SC code 30-4-70A2 DMH surplus property. Second. A motion and a second. Any further discussion? Questions hearing none. Seeing none. Madam clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Bailey. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussells. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mayor recommend. Aye. Thank you.