 Those of our heads, create a God for the manifold blessings you bestow upon each of us. For this city of ours that continues to grow and expand itself to the residents who sense and feel a kind of joyousness that happens when this city grows and expands. For neighbors who find themselves in crisis situations, we pray that thou would give us the resources and tools to handle those things. For all that you've done, for the many blessings you bestow upon us, we simply say thank you. Hi. Hi. Mr. Mayor, at this time we would ask for any public input related to the agenda as adopted. I do believe here some of it is signed up. Is there someone who signed up to speak on some of the items before us? Please. Right here? We have three minutes. Please stage a name for the record if you don't mind. She's pushing the button. Don't worry. I live behind the VA hospitals in the city of Columbia. I'm here to speak specifically about ordinance number 2019-062 and section 148, hate and intimidation. My concern, first of all, is that this wasn't published until Friday. And I didn't get a copy of this until late last night. I worked all day. And I'm concerned that this is of significance. And I think that it should be postponed until people have time to actually read it. You've got all these sections listed here, a person who violates section 1034 and all those sections didn't know how to get hold of those sections. And with the intent to intimidate a person in whole or in part because the actual perceived and goes on. And I'm just concerned that people who might want to understand this better didn't have the opportunity to read it and to come and speak on it. And that includes me. I mean, I understand that we have a national hate crimes law. And I didn't understand exactly what the word hate intimidation meant. Does that mean hate crimes? Does that mean hate speech? Exactly what does this entail? And I think that the failure to have this put out early enough other than on Friday and then have a vote on it on Tuesday is just not enough time for people to understand what it's about. Because it seems to me that we already have laws that address what's right and wrong. We have a crime. And this is a crime. This is a bill to add additional penalties to somebody for something that they have done. That's exactly the intent, sir. That's where I could gather from it. But I'm not sure that we need to have two crimes based on what people are thinking. And you're trying to put a crime on somebody based on what was their intent, not on their action. Sure. I sense a predisposition against hate crimes laws. I'm correct. Thank you for that. City Council, Ms. Knox can direct you to where online you can find an easy accessible list of city ordinances. I want to assure you that each of the code sections of the reference there are existing crimes. So these are, but the way to easily navigate them online will make that available to you. South Carolina is relatively just one of the handful of states that does not have hate crimes law. South Carolina is just one of the handful of states that does not have hate crimes law. And so Columbia disagrees with that. This I believe the preponderance of the majority of the council does. I feel the need to step forward as we see this rise all across the country of these violent acts animated by biases. If it was my sole consideration, I'd actually add different protected classes to this list. Each ordinance is required to have two weeks before enactment. So there will be an opportunity for another two weeks for you to digest this and please our ease of the fun steven.benchman at colombiasc.gov sharing the feedback you have with me. I understand we have a philosophical disagreement, but we believe this is important to do in America today. Could this actually be enforced if it doesn't have a state law? Yes, yes it can. Yes, it can. And we can spend some more time dialoging about it. But please know the doors are wide open and I've been around long enough to know that two people want me and can have different views on something. It's just important to have that kind of dialogue and open to have that with you. All right, and Taylor, can you make sure he has our contact info? Anyone else wants to speak to the hate crimes ordinance? Please. Thank you. Thank you, council. My name is David Smith. I'm the transgender resource coordinator at the Harry Hancock Center and I appreciate and commend you for broadening this hate intimidation. But I would ask for a minute, I would ask that gender identity explicitly listed as the protected groups. It is sorely needed. If you are not aware, since the start of 2018, we have had several uptick in crimes in the state. I have been here for 20 years and I have seen more in the past two than in the previous 18. If you're not aware, in the past 18 months, four transgender women of color have been murdered in this state. Allendale, North Charleston, Orangeburg, and Girard. And all of them were very much multiple gunshot wounds, burned alive, and those crimes were not considered a hate crime in this state. So what I would ask that it be amended so that it's not just part of the sexual orientation definition, but that it's explicitly listed that gender identity be protected. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Anyone else on this specific hate intimidation ordinance? Thank you. Anyone else on speaking on other ordinances under consideration? What an opportunity for public input later in the agenda as well. Catherine? She was saying that. Thank you. All right. Thank you both for participating in democracy. I share your concerns as well and that's something we will take on the consideration as well. All right, Madam City Manager? At this time, I just want to say before we move on, we should have done it at the very beginning. I just noticed just one of the recognized Connie is with us. I don't know if anybody noticed. Well, welcome home. Hey, Connie. I'm sorry. I just didn't know if she would leave early and I didn't want to wait till the end. Madam City Manager, adoption of the minutes. Is that motion? Yes. So I thought she was jumping to consent agenda, but now, okay, gotcha. So moved. Yes. Yes, sir. Thank you. Move approval minutes of June 4th, 2019. Moving property second. Discussion? Seeing none, we'll move the previous question. The clerk will call the roll. Mr. Rickerman? Aye. Mr. McGowell? Mr. Ball? Aye. Mr. Devon? Aye. Mr. Maduro? Aye. Mr. Benjamin? Aye. Thank you. Thank you. So motion to approve consent agenda is 9-38. I'm moved. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? Yeah. Mr. Rickerman, you want to close them out? I know. I just think it'd be great if maybe just, we have a lot of big ticket items up here, and I just think it'd be great maybe if Mr. Shealy could just talk about that most of them are over the water, clean water, 2020 and others. I just think it'd be great if we just give a brief explanation because there is, and Ms. Wilson, I'd like somebody to talk about item 49 as well, because just so people understand what we're doing as a major, 49, we're not next, ma'am. Oh yes, we'll be talking about 49. When we get there. Yes. Thank you, Councilman. Appreciate the opportunity to come and speak. We have several large items on the agenda. Two particular are program management items. So we have our swim water program management services. We have, as y'all know, you blessed us with the opportunity to sell green bonds last year to funds drug order improvements, and we have been in contract with Woolford and they are helping us with our asset management programs and managing that 90 million dollar investment in our swim water infrastructure. We also are continuing along with our Clean Water 2020 program, which is continuing that major investment in our sanitary sewer system and our wastewater collection and treatment, and this is year eight of that program with that team, with the C. M. Smith team, and they've done a phenomenal job helping us so far, and as we breach all this afternoon, we're well on track with our capital investment, also our compliance with the EPA consent decree. So those are two of the major items. We also have a feasibility study for a solar farm and our natural wastewater plant on the agenda this evening, as well as a few of the miscellaneous things. I don't feel to get any detailed questions, but thank you again for your support of these major investments in our infrastructure. Thanks. Thank you. Lots of good things. We've got a fantastic report from Columbia where today, and all the things that are happening from reducing sanitary sewer overflows by 95 percent significant investment in our water sewer and stormwater infrastructure, and also the deployment of our new advanced meeting infrastructure that's going to allow all our citizens more transparency and effectiveness and controlling and using that water is going to be a significant move forward for our Columbia water. Great work. Thank you, Mr. Reckman, and thank you, Mr. Shealy. With the previous question, we'll call her all. Hi. Mr. Mecowell. Mr. DeBowell. Hi. Mr. Bedouro. Hi. Mr. Vine. Hi. Mr. Dave. Hi. Mr. Benjamin. Hi. Moving into a period of presentations, Mr. Mayor and Council, the first being that she did day proclamation to Honorable Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin. And as he's come in, if Ms. Waites and Mrs. Hodges, First Lady Hodges, would come forward. As a City of Columbia, and you guys know this, that we have these fantastic proclamations, and that they make me a much larger appointee size for me, so I can actually read these things as my eyes affect my age. Whereas the City of Columbia has a strong legacy of remarkable women, the rest of Columbia, only six of our 145 landmarks are specifically named for women, whereas only one of the 42 streets in downtown Columbia is intended to recognize a woman, Lady Street, and it does not reflect the true name of the true recipient, Martha Washington. And whereas people living in the power of moving into a city that recognizes women's achievements, and whereas August 26, known as Women's Equality Day, commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote in the United States, and whereas Women's Equality Day provides an opportunity to recognize and continue to struggle for all women to achieve full equality here in Columbia and across our state and country. Whereas Women's Equality Day, when the collaborative initiative of Historic Columbia and the Women's Rights and Empowering Network separates the victories of our communities, when it connects through their stories and empowers and supports one another, and whereas when we believe we can do, when we believe we can do, the City of Columbia recognizes that because she, the Rollins Sisters, C. D. L. Saxon, Matilda Evans, Anna Hayward-Teller, Lucy Hampton-Bossick, Majessa Monteith Simkins, Sarah LaFrette, Sarah May Fleming, Gene Toll, Herrick Hancock, Lily Sturdenfiller, and Dawn Staley did, we can. And therefore, as Stephen K. Benjamin, Mayor of the City of Columbia, and all of my phone numbers of Columbia City Council, do hereby proclaim August 26, as she did day in the great City of Columbia and urged my fellow citizens to recognize and participate in these resorts. Firstly, Hodges. Rachel, please. Thank you. Good evening and thank you for letting us come and say how grateful we are for this proclamation. I'm joined this evening by Robin Weitz, the Executive Director of Historic Columbia, and Gina Lewis, Leslie, excuse me, Gina Leslie, who is a member of the Board of Historic Columbia. With Council's support, Historic Columbia and Wren launched the Columbia City of Women Initiative in March 2019 with the unveiling of a map that honors the legacy of 12 trailblazing women. I'd like to thank steering committee member Tamika Ozik Devine. Councilwoman Devine has been our champion from the very beginning, and I thank you for that. I'd also like to thank Mayor Benjamin, who realized from our first discussion about the Columbia City of Women, he saw the potential value that this initiative brings to the state's capital city. So I thank you both for listening and taking a chance on this initiative, and I thank Council for your support, and I hope you will continue to see all the great success Columbia City of Women has to offer for our city. Our steering committee members are calling for increased visibility of the accomplishments of women through the creation of a city-wide day of observance called She Did Day. We selected August 26th, She Did Day, because it is nationally celebrated as Women's Equality Day commemorating the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which granted women the right to vote. The certification of the amendment was an important milestone in the women's rights movement, but it did not guarantee access to the ballot for many women of color. In Columbia, the suffrage movement was initiated by City of Women Honorees, the Rowland Sisters, who are highlighted this month on the Columbia City of Women webpage. The sisters, Frances, Charlotte, Catherine, and Louise, were all born before the Civil War into an elite circle of free people of color. The Rowland Sisters' political and social leadership in advocating for women's rights placed them among South Carolina's leading women suffragists. As African American women, they lobbied for human and full citizenship rights regardless of race and gender. Their political engagement helped pave the way for the ratification of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right in the United States of America to vote. Other honorees on our 12 Trailblazing Women, Columbia City of Women, who worked tirelessly for women's equality, include Majesca Simpkins, who among so many other causes worked to end the all-white Democratic primary in 1948 in South Carolina. Sarah Leverett pushed for women to sit on juries, which didn't pass until 1967. Jean Toll, who, unparalleled in her accomplishments as a lawyer, legislator, and South Carolina Supreme Court Justice, continues to be an outspoken advocate for women's rights, social justice, and education. These are but a few of the names that we have recognized on the Columbia City of Women Map who are great leaders and women to inspire and honor. We thank you for this proclamation and we look forward to highlighting these and other stories on Monday, August 26 at 2 p.m. as we celebrate She Did Day with this city sponsored proclamation recognizing the Columbia City of Women. Thank you again for your support. We could not have kicked off this project without you and your engagement will continue to strengthen our efforts going forward to provide these names of women who make Columbia a great place to be and live, and She Did, She Can and She Will will inspire future generations of women. Thank you. Mr. Mayor, our next presentation is the Kendrick Cross Day Proclamation, the Honorable Tamika Isaac II, your post house to present. Thank you. And I'm going to say something and then read this while I'm doing this, though, if I can ask Mr. Cross to come over here. And I'm going to be shocked that he probably won't say anything, but I'm going to give him an opportunity to say something, but just a point of personal privilege. You know, we at the City of Columbia always love to recognize our local folks who leave here do great things, but always remember that Columbia is home. And this is special for me because I've known Kenny for over 25 years, went to high school together and I've watched his career from when he was doing poetry and Mr. Beasel and Too Much Road through his commercials and his stardom. And he is somebody who has really persevered amazingly and always said, I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it. And when he said, I think I'm going to move out of Columbia just to pursue my career, we knew that he was going to do great things. And so I'm so excited because all of his hard work has paid off over the years. And then just this year, he has been blessed so much with an amazing leading role in the new, own drama that is breaking shattering records. So if I may, Mr. Mayor and member of the City Council, read this proclamation from the city. Whereas Kendrick Cross is a Bicostal actor working in Los Angeles and Atlanta with roots here in South Carolina and Smote Town, the Shepherd Square neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky, a place of humble beginnings, made famous by Muhammad Ali. And whereas he started his professional career on the WB's hip show Dawson's Creek and has made more than 75 appearances in film and television sense. And whereas his roles being characters on House of Pain, Drop Dead Diva, The Game, Insurgent, The Has and The Had Nots, Acrimony, Containment, House of Cards, Homeland, Mr. Mercedes, Black Lightning, and now on the new family night-time drama Ambitions, where he plays Mr. Titus Hughes. Ambitions is produced by Will Packer and Jamie Giddens on the Oprah Winfrey Network. And whereas Kendrick went to West Bay High School in Maine, Germany, Lower Richmond High School, and ultimately graduating with the academic diploma from Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina. And whereas he holds a computer science degree from the University of South Carolina with Sakahachi, where he played Division I men's basketball and earned the most improved player his first year. And whereas he is a accomplished poet, having opened four most notably Boys to Men in Charlie Wilson, performing for the Kids at Citizen Schools Program and at the annual Martin Luther King Day at State Museum in Columbia. And whereas in addition to acting, he has produced poetry CDs and hosted weekly spoken war, open mic nights, and collected clothing for the homeless. Now, therefore, on behalf of our Mayor, Stephen K. Benjamin, and all of the members of Columbia City Council, we do hear back proclaim that this city honors and recognizes August 20, 2019 as Kendrick Cross Day in the City of Columbia. And I want to give Kenny an opportunity to say something, but I also just want to say just to his testament as well, today we're celebrating him. Tonight is the second to the last show of Ambitions, so we're hosting a party over at Topgolf's One Suite tonight, a watch party for his show, but he didn't want it to be about him, so he's asked everybody who is coming to bring clothes so he can donate to the All-Bold Hospital Mission. So he still is giving back to Columbia. So, Kenny? I just want to thank you. Thank you all so much. I mean, I'm truly honored and I'm proof that if you set your mind to something and you're persistent and consistent, that you can make things happen. And a lot of people sit around and want things to come to them, but I've never been that person. So I really appreciate you. I appreciate Columbia. You know, I kind of grew up here even though I've had other homes and I've been here the longest, and Columbia has shown me so much love over the years, and I always want to get back. So I appreciate you. I know Mayor C. Benjamin as well. We came up together. We ran, you know, we ran a long time. I'm going to give you 25 years, but close to that, I'm still trying to figure out how my wife and Tamika still claim to be 35 years old. That's almost pretty very proud of you, man. Very, very proud of you. You just kept your nose to the grindstone, kept working, kept working, and just watching your powers blossom. It's been amazing, and you continue giving back to a very proud of you. Thank you so much. And thank you for you. Thank you, everyone. In just the interest of posterity and migrant health, let Mr. Cross's comments be restricted to the year before 2002. Thank you very much. Okay. All right. It's all fair game these days, and never, never. The South Carolina American Public Works Association Project of the Year award this day is our director of engineering. We're really excited about it. I've been wanting to present this for a long time. Good day to you. Thank you, Ms. Wilson. I counsel, and Mayor, we are very excited to announce our Project of the Year award from American Public Works Association. I'm going to talk about this. One of our successes that we are very proud of, construction completed at the end of last year. For those of you who might not know what this is like, I think everyone does, because it's Rocky Branch, the urban part of our wonderful city, above five points, and we always are looking for opportunities to help five points with the flooding, and also with the water quality with it being an urban stream. So our project goals, we wanted to make sure that the relative velocities through the stream were slowed down. We wanted to try to improve the quality of Rocky Branch, but we also wanted to make it a great part for the residents. We met with them a lot, and it was important for them to appreciate the project and feel good about it. Our design took two areas around MLK Park that are traditionally wet, and they increased the storage, so we were not only looking at water quality from the plains and vegetation that was chosen, but we were also adding 1.6 acre feet increase in storage for the two-year storm, those are the small summer showers, and we increased 2.6 acre feet in storage for the 10-year, 24-hour storm. All that to say, we've seen some real improvements in five ways when we have a storm come through, haven't had as many storms go out of the thresholds of the businesses, so there's been a great impact from this project. In addition, we had boardwalks installed above the water quality areas in the wetlands, and we have already, and Ms. Devine has already mentioned that her child's school has gone out there for education opportunities, and we are working with our consultant in Parks and Recreation to put some boards out there to talk about the importance of the water quality and quantity. This is a picture of us accepting our award. I'd like to point out that how Clarkson with Woolford will stand up, he is a consultant that assisted us, and very excited to have received this award. So I'm just going to show you all some pictures. This was at the beginning of construction, clear cut the area, got the bulldozers out there, started installing the boardwalk, and then here's a nice panoramic view when we're doing the plantings in December. This is earlier this year in March, and it's continuing in May. It's already has lots of vegetation. So this is current day, and we have been excited about this project and had lots of positive response. So any questions? No questions they have. I would just say I think to share this in a work session, share it here at the meeting is, so my elementary school daughter, her school went there on a field trip, and the kids loved it, and it's just such an amazing place to learn about our environment, to really just see the beauty of nature, and to see the fact that we were able to utilize this opportunity to help with some storm drainage issues that we have, storm water issues that we have, as well as have it be just a beautiful remedy for the community, and a learning tool for everyone. It's just amazing. So well deserved award, and I hope that if anyone has not gone to MLK Park yet, that you will go and see it personally for yourself. It's just beautiful. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Thanks for the great work. Green infrastructure, green infrastructure, green infrastructure. Our next item is an update from the experienced Columbia SC president and CEO, Mr. Bill Ellen. Bill, Mayor Benjamin and members of council. I have with me tonight three of my board members that are your reportees to our board. I have Mrs. Janice Marshall, Dr. Rich Howell, and Mr. Sam Thompson. Thank you for being here with us tonight. We're here to thank you for the funding that you granted for our New Year's that started July 1st, and specifically for the funding that you granted for the NCAA men's round one and two basketball tournament that we hosted back in March, known as March Madness. And I thought you would enjoy hearing some of the stats that contributed to the economic impact in Columbia that we gathered from the NCAA. We're still waiting on some final stats that we're hoping to have in the next few weeks. But some that I'd like to share is that the tournament attracting an attendance of over 47,000 people. The Duke versus University of Central Florida game that was on national CBS was watched by 12.88 million people and was the highest rated basketball tournament first and second round game in 11 years. It impacted the average rate of our hotels. It increased for the month of March over 14%, which you can figure that is five days. If the month was 14% that week was a tremendous week in occupancy. It was over 90.9% for the entire region. We had more than 30 community events that were planned throughout the city and attended by thousands of people. We printed 66,619 marking materials that were displayed around town. We had information tables at each of the host hotels at the airport and outside the arena. We had over 70 volunteers that worked to combine 362 hours from Thursday to September, which was tremendous community support. The tournament guarded more than 600 media mentions, reaching over two and a half million people and resulting in a $1.1 million publicity value for Columbia. Publicity value that if you had to buy that TV time would be too expensive. So tremendous impact there. We had 647,493 impressions across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook channels. So we had tremendous spotlight on Columbia for the tournament. In addition, we also had the president of the NCAA, as well as the Dukehead coach, Coach K, that made comments to national media about how great the tournament was. Coach K even said, I mean, what a beautiful city was that Columbia is and what a great job we did. So I think that will send a strong message going forward. The next time we can host the basketball tournament, which will be 2023. As you remember, this was the first time we had held it since 1970, 49 years. So we will travel to Indianapolis on September the 17th, which is the headquarters of the NCAA, and we will meet with each tournament director for each NCAA sport that we have potential to host. Again, the first time we can host basketball will be 2023. We have a few challenges going forward that they gave us a pass on this last time, but I feel like we're in really good shape to get it back. And without your support, it wouldn't have been possible the first time and certainly won't be possible in the future. But thank you for that support. And we will begin working on the bid for 23 shortly after Labor Day is due February. And we will find out October of next year, whether we get awarded the 2023 tournament. So thank you again for your support. And if you have any questions, I'm more than happy to answer them. Mr. Baderer. I want to take this opportunity to thank you both for all the hard work that you've done during the March Madness. I know I took my boys where I really enjoyed it, but I was really impressed with how much volunteer or how many volunteers you had working. The police department did a great job. The atmosphere around the marina and everything that you've done at the convention center was like outstanding. But just to see everybody come together and make that NCAA tournament so successful, it really showed what kind of community we are in in Colombia. And we appreciate all the hard work. I know there were really a lot of hard work planning ahead of time. And I'm sure there will be a lot more work coming up in the future. But I just want to take this opportunity to say thank you for all your hard work and everybody else that helped make the tournament success. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. I'm glad you mentioned CPD because they were, we couldn't have done it without their help and assistance in many departments throughout the city. Just everybody came together and it was a community effort. It was very successful. So thank you all. Just a question. So, Mr. Ellen, when you do the bid for, I know we did get a waiver for hotel rooms and things, but that may not happen in the future. I know we have several hotel rooms that are being planned that will not be operational by the time you put in the bid, but, you know, we'll be online by 2023. Is that would we be able to put that in the proposal? We will be able to put total rooms available because that is important for the fans. However, the last time they gave us a pass on the number of full service hotels, their intentions are to put one team per hotel, which would require eight separate hotels. We had to double up teams at two hotels because we only had six full service available. I don't know whether they will allow us that, you know, four years down the road, but hopefully by the end we'll have some more full service hotels in the market. But anyway, that all comes together as a big puzzle and it's very important. I would just make a comment and I'm glad you've got some board members here. You know, this council has already started talking and are looking forward to working with you regarding the expansion of the convention center and, you know, we're certainly doing our part that we can encourage development, like, you know, more hotels and other things, but I get a lot of questions from folks, especially when we have things like the tournament that people want to say, well, why can't we have more things like this? And I think it's important for our citizens to understand the relationship that all these things play and making sure that we are investing in growth and development and able to attract developers who want to put full service hotels, allows us to get conventions and, you know, tournaments and other things. And so, you know, I thank you for what you do, but I think we certainly have to continue to talk about the need for us to be creative and continue to develop our downtown so that we can be competitive for things like the tournament. Thank you so much. And if we are able to eventually realize the potential of expanding the center, it will open us up to attract many of those larger events like you're talking about, which will make huge impact in our cities. So we look forward to considering that, continuing that discussion. Thank you. Thanks. You know, great work, Bill. And there are a couple of things we need to spend some time, just kind of showing up on the Miss South Carolina pageant, Watchtower, and also NACP, and I'll spend some time with staff covering those bases. You guys keep kicking butt. We're going to add 74,000 square feet of exhibit space. We got to make it happen. And we just got to make it happen. So thank you for your continued leadership. Next item is... Is that okay, hands? Are we good? I'm just teasing this marshal. I'm sorry. Yes, we are. Thank you. Yes, sir. Item 43 is the Communities and Schools of the Midlands Update by Miss Latasha Tace Walker, Director of Development. Please. Hello. Good afternoon. Thank you all for having us. I'm Honorable Mayor, Council members. I'm Latasha Tace Walker, and I'm with Communities and Schools. And today I have with you our CEO, Tanika Epps, and our Site Coordinator at one of the schools that we support in the original economy, Miss Kitty Mayberry. I wanted to just thank you for allowing us to be in the Midlands. We've been providing dropout prevention services to six schools, now seven, in the Midlands. We're actually helping schools overcome obstacles for students who are at risk of dropping out. And Miss Kitty Mayberry, she's going to share some success rates of what our program is doing to help kids stay in school every day and how we're actually in the community, in the schools, to help the schools reach momentum in the Midlands. Good evening. Again, my name is Tanika Epps, and I'm the CEO for Communities and Schools. I just want to share with you a little bit of the overall about what our organization is and what we do. Communities and Schools incorporates our unique model of integrating services into the communities by placing Site Coordinators into the schools that we serve. So each of the six, now seven schools that we serve within Richland, Muckson County, all have a Site Coordinator that's there to support the school, the students, the families by bringing community resources and connecting those. We look at not only the academic needs of the students in that school, but also the non-academic needs. We understand that sometimes there are things that occur outside of the school day that have direct impact on the school day, and we want to make sure that we're there to provide the support that those students need so that they're able to continue on successfully throughout their academic careers. We're able to do this through providing our three-tier levels of services. This past school year, we're able to serve almost 2,000 students. Of those students, 186 receive our case management services. They were identified through early warning indicators, academics, attendance, and behavior are the three areas that we specifically focus on with those case managed students. Tier one focuses on providing whole school supports and just providing areas that the school needs that support in. An example of that, we all of our sites have a clothing closet. That clothing closet is open to every student in that school. It contains hygiene, items, school supplies, clothing. This helps so that if a student is removed from class because of dress code violation, they're able to go back and that's maybe five or ten minutes spent out of class versus missing that whole academic day because of that dress code violation. And then on tiers two and tiers three focus specifically on those case managed students in those three areas that I mentioned a little bit earlier. Now, I can stay here and I can sprout out numbers because we are really big on data. However, in order to get the true essence of what we do, I think you need to hear directly from someone that is in the schools every day working with those students and working with those families. So with that, I present Ms. Kasey Mayberry. Good evening. Good evening. As Nick said, thank you for having us. We appreciate the opportunity to speak. I'm often asked exactly what is it that a site coordinator does? What are you? And to sum it up, I couldn't say it in fairy tales. You have a fairy godmother, what is the school you have a site coordinator? So just to drop a few data points, I am at Sandal Elementary School and I have the privilege of serving 59 students on my case management case load. Of that 59, it's a hard job and it takes a lot of work, but of that 59, 79% of our students increase in ELA, 88% make gains in math, 100% of the students that were case managed that had a behavior goal met that goal, which means they improved their behaviors, and 100% of those students that are case managed at Sandal Elementary School improved their attendance through over 600 hours of volunteers, because it is a community effort. We take the parents, we take the students, we take the school, we find out what those students need in their lives to be successful and we do whatever it takes. So we hit the ground running and we hit it hard. Some of the programs that we do to support that is we have our annual minimum distinction program and that's where we have a day where a general community come in, they read to the students and that is a heavy focus on literacy because by the age of six, students should have been exposed to at least 10,000 words. So if we can get in and have people reading to them, getting that fluency, getting that comprehension so that they can get exposed to that literacy. We have a Girls with Pearls Conference and a Boys with Bowtie Summit, because again, those positive self-esteem are what's going to help those students be successful. So if we can just push them and encourage them in any way we can, it moves mountains. So again, I thank you for the opportunity to allow us to come in. Thank you for supporting us to do what we do and we do whatever it takes to make sure our students are successful. We surround them with a community of support. We empower them to stay in school and achieve in life. Thank you. Again, we thank you all for your support and hearing us conquering a national problem right here in the Midlands, keeping kids in school. We're achieving some great results and we love the opportunity to work with people on the one and have the time to share some upcoming programs to include an environmental energy program grant that we were awarded by Demanded Energy. So we're going to have a full-fledged program that's going to tell students how to have better recycling and support their environment. And also, we are preparing for a grant opportunity to expand some schools with the U.S. Department of Education, some schools in the lower Richland area that has some larger needs. So again, we look forward to sharing more information with you and working with you on all of those projects. We can send some support letters and support those grant opportunities. We love to do that. Thank you for what you do and thank you for being the fairy godmother and both of you fairy godmothers for that. Thank you. Doing great work. Thank you so much. Thank you. I am 44. The 14th annual Dr. James R. Clark Memorial Cycle Cell Walk to be presented by Ms. Yvonne Donald M.A., the Deputy Director of the James R. Clark Memorial Cycle Cell Foundation and Ms. Regina Brown in the 2019 Walk in Baccalaureate. Thank you. So both of you earlier did not get to hug each one of your necks. No, the love is there. The love is there. We'll have to make sure we correct it. Yes, ma'am. Well, good evening. I want to begin by thanking me as Steve Benjamin, his wonderful staff and members of the City Council for the opportunity to share and encourage participation in our 14th annual Dr. James R. Clark Cycle Cell Walk. The 14th annual Dr. James R. Clark Cycle Cell Walk will be held on Saturday, September 14th at a new location. This year will be held at King Park, 2300 Green Street. On-site registration begins at 7.38 a.m. pre-Walk ceremony begins at 8.00 a.m. and our walk will proceed at 8.30 a.m. The walk is held each September to honor our children, families, and adults who live daily with Cycle Cell Disease. And it's held each September to recognize September as Cycle Cell Disease Awareness Month. Proceeds from the Walk benefit our scholarship fund, which assists our students with Cycle Cell Disease in their pursuit for our education and to date, we have awarded 30 scholarships with proceeds from this walk and our registration is still only $15 per walk. The James R. Clark Foundation has been fortunate to have the support of numerous community advocates to serve as walk ambassadors, including our honorable Mayor Steve Benjamin and Councilwoman Tamika Isaac Devine. We are honored this year to have another community champion, Regina Brown, Manager of Community Relations Prisma Health Midlands. For over two decades, Ms. Brown has assisted and supported the various programs we offer to our patients, in particular the Back to School program and the Given Tree program held each December. And at this time, Ms. Brown, say a few words. Good evening, leaving Mayor, Councilmembers, Ms. Wilson. Thank you for giving us the opportunity today to come. I would encourage everybody present today to please come out and support the walk on the 14th. I kind of call myself a behind the scenes volunteer for the Cycle Cell Foundation, and so I look forward to seeing everybody present today at the walk on September 14th. Also, please, before I end, let me mention and honor the life and legacy of Rudy Canzada, many of you who knew her, I'm sure had great regard for her. She certainly was a tireless effort and an effortless advocate on behalf of individuals living with sickle cell disease and actually lost her own daughter to the battle, who lost a fight in a battle with sickle cell disease. So on September 14th, in addition to the walk, we are going to host a special tribute and her honor. So we do ask that that perhaps we'll give you even a double reason to come out and support us. Again, our registration is only $15. The walk will be held September 14th at a new location, 2,300 King, 2,300 Green Street and King Park. And you can find additional information on our webpage and our website at www.JamesR.ParkCycleCell.org. And again, thank you, Mayor Benjamin. Thank you, City Council. Thank you to your wonderful staff for giving us this opportunity and for the support that you've given us for so many, many years. And together, as a community here in the City of Columbia, together, we can break the Cycle Cell Cycle one step at a time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for your continued leadership. I'm excited about the new location. That's pretty cool. And Regina, have you seen pictures of your electric glasses and the whole nine yards? They look great. I was teasing her that my daughter got contact lenses yesterday and she's off running now, but she's the cutest thing ever. And she is. But anyway, she is. All right. I am 45. Our zoning planning matters for a second reading the adoption of a unified development ordinance. All right. Mr. Medura, second? Is there a second? Second. All right, any discussion? We just wanted the record to recap that we're going to make an amendment. Yeah. Yeah. We're sitting on the record the last time that we expect that between now and the implementation next year, there'll be some amendments and changes and more public discussion around that. All right. Move to the previous question for Coral. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. McAll. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mr. Medura. Aye. Mr. Gadaan. Aye. Mr. Dake. Aye. Mr. Bitterin. Aye. We're moving into a period of ordinances first reading. Item 46 is ordinance number 2019-056, submitting the 1998 Code of Ordinances of the City of Columbia, South Carolina. Chapter 14 of this is the miscellaneous provisions to add article 12 extreme risk protection orders. We recognize Mr. DeVine for voice amendment and motion. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I would like a move, approval of ordinance 2019-056 with the following amendments. I'd like to amend section 14-355, subsection D. I would like to add number 10 to read as follows. In order by the court of competent jurisdiction has been issued pursuant to South Carolina Code section 44-22-100 at seek. That code section is the code section where orders of mental health or mental incapacity are adjudicated. I'd like to add that. And then I would also like to amend section 14-366 to read mental health, chemical dependency, and domestic violence treatment. And during any proceeding under this article, the court shall consider whether a mental health or chemical dependency or domestic violence treatment is necessary and may order the petitioner to file the appropriate action in the court of competent jurisdiction for order for mental health evaluation, mental health or chemical dependency evaluation, or a domestic abuse treatment. And those would be my amendments. And I will, I'll provide those in writing for a second reading, but I'd like to amend the ordinance to reflect those. Second. Is there any discussion? I just wanted to say for the record that the mayor proposed this ordinance over a month, a month and a half ago before the tragic incidents that happened in Dayton and El Paso. And I asked that to be held because I wanted to do some additional research and wanted to suggest the amendments that I made. Unfortunately, you know, we have learned all too well with the recent events in this country that these extreme measures are necessary, specifically the shooter in El Paso. We've learned that his mother called law enforcement because of his behavior and there was no such remedy available to her. And so if that incident happened here, this, this ordinance would at least have a remedy that law enforcement could go in and do something. It was just my concern to make sure that not only will we allow law enforcement to confiscate weapons, but also refer someone to treatment because we do know that although many of the mass shootings deal with a lot of things that are not mental illness. So I'm not saying that mental illness has anything to do with this, but I do know that sometimes there are mental health or domestic abuse issues that are not being treated by other avenues. So I want to make sure that was put in here. So I wanted to just say that because I know I don't want people to think this is reaction to what's happened in this country, but the mayor and his leadership proposed this well before those incidents. I would just say that this is an extra tool for law enforcement. I think this is great. But the only way this tool will be utilized is if people say something. We know all too well incident happened at Carl Newman and there's others that I think people can name where there are folks who see red flags who have signals and they do not call. And so we need to make sure that everyone understands that there has to be people, good people speaking up and saying something so that law enforcement can implement the tools that we're trying to give them. So with that said, I'm definitely supporting this ordinance. That was perfectly stated, Mr. Divine. And the importance of not just only protecting the general public but also protecting people from themselves at times. These ordinances have proven to save people's lives by allowing family members of law enforcement intervene in a system that shows you process as well. And it's important to recognize that these this ordinance in addition to the other ordinances that we're proposing are consistent with federal and state law and will continue to be. It just shows the importance of local activism when we think there's something else that's needed and our law enforcement officers need more tools. And we're going to make sure they have them. And I do want to say that what it does is gives the court the ability to order that someone relinquish a firearm so because state law doesn't allow us to see these to confiscate weapons. So the court can order them to relinquish a weapon either to law enforcement, a law enforcement agency, or to a licensed gun dealer that's willing to take a weapon. And it was drafted that way in order to make sure we comply with state law. Amen. Thank you. Duly noted. Thank you. Well, I just I think the most important piece to it is what Councilman Devine had which is, you know, taking gun from somebody who's got issues but not helping them get or pushing them into a program and getting help that is not going to solve the problem. So I think it's very important that we did take our time to do this prior to moving forward. And I thank you for taking time to do that. I think the Councilman was forward thinking and speaking with a couple of judges to deal with these type of issues in the Propriet Court. And I think it does help enhance the ordinance. Mr. Bedura. Patrick, the only other thing to comment on, I agree with everything you said. I shared a Facebook post with my colleagues earlier today into where the responsibility goes when you see something on Facebook or on social media. And if somebody is crying for help, where do you go? And I think it's my understanding that if something like that happens to report it to the police department or the authorities and then, you know, let them take it from there, whether that person needs extreme help or whether he's engaged into himself or other people. So let's just make sure that it's a police determination, I guess, or the family's determination to make that call. But if you see something disturbing on Facebook or any social media in that fact, report it to the authorities as soon as possible because you never know what that person might be thinking. In this particular case, I don't think anything dangerous was going to happen or anything like that. It just concerned me when I saw the post that I shared with Council about my thoughts and I wouldn't relay that message. All right. Thank you, Council. Move approval of the ordinance as amended. I am 47. I'm sorry, Mr. McDowell. When will gun violence become not a part of our environment? When is it going to stop? We talk about this and we talk about that. When is it going to stop? When our children, teenagers, we're getting it every day. CPD is doing their best to keep up with this nonsense. Where is it going to stop? Does it start with us? Does it start with parents? When is it going to stop? We got to stop talking about it and collectively do something about it. I'm trying to hear my thoughts and prayers or with someone when tragic episodes happen in the city and nationally. When is it going to stop? When are we going to place our edicts on the wall and simply say no more? Our children are dying. Dying. We got to do something and that's something that involves standing up, taking a stance. The words are if you snitch, you're going to get stitches or however that goes. We've got to turn this thing around. I've got children. Everybody on this council has children and I'm not going to be bullied by some gun person. I'm not. What are we going to do? Let's stop talking and start singing a collaborative song that no more are we going to let this continue in our community. CPD has done an excellent job. Spotshotter is doing its job. When is it going to stop? Thank you, Ms. Mayer. Thank you, Mr. McDowell. Thank you very much. Item 47 is Ornette's number 2019-062, admitting Chapter 14 offenses and miscellaneous provisions are one offenses and miscellaneous provisions to add Section 14-8, hate intimidation. Madam City Manager, I have one amendment to the ordinance immediately after the last protected class or stated class, I'd like to include the words gender identity, immediately after national origin, I'd like to include the words gender identity or expression. Second. All right. And with that, we'll move to a period of discussion. Seeing none, with a previous question, I'll call her all. Mr. Rickerman. Hi. Mr. McNally. Yes. Mr. Ball. Hi. Mr. Adore. Hi. Mr. Dine. Hi. Mr. David. Hi. And thank you all for being here. All citizens on the other side, all sides, be happy to continue to have continued discussion about this. Thank you. Ms. Dine. Mr. Mayor, members of City Council, I would also like to think that this is a leadership step of our city. We tend to be the leaders of the state and just going back into the bump stock ordinance. Once we did it, then others follow suit. I would hope that that means the same that our state would seriously look at the ordinance, most ordinances, the statutes and implement hate crime legislation on the statewide level. But I certainly think that passing this ordinance is a great step. I would also ask that we send a letter to our delegation urging them to make it a property for the next session and that we direct Mr. Michelle as our lobbyist to put that on the list of the city's priorities that when we are lobbying at the State House. And just for, I guess, people who may not understand it, this ordinance, what it does is it takes the statutes or the ordinances that are listed and actually provides an enhancement. So anyone who commits the underlying crime, if it's deemed that it was the intent, they had the intent to intimidate a person because of race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or national origin, that the crime can be enhanced and it actually runs consecutive to what they would get under the crime itself. So it's an enhancement because of the hate intimidation. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Duvall. Just a question to clarify for some of the audience. The sections that are listed at the start of that ordinance are all already identified crimes. That's correct. And so, like it might be a salt and berry or something like that. That's correct. And so, our ordinance only adds an additional charge of hate crime to already existing crimes. That's correct. Thank you. Thank you, Council, for your leadership and so many of the advocates who continue to push for somewhere decent nation. Next ordinance. Item 4, Yanks. Ordinance number 2019-063, amending Chapter 14 of this is Ms. Lenny's provisions to add Article 13, Gun-Free School Zones. I'm going to approve a little of ordinance. So, you want to explain the ordinance as well, Patrick? This ordinance for the Gun-Free School Zones, what it does is state law actually provides some controls for people carrying weapons that they have to be locked up and there are different things they have to do when they're on school property. What this does is complements this state law and actually mirrors federal law. And it does the same thing is that if you have a permit or a license to carry a weapon, you just have to make sure that it's contained properly according to our ordinance as well as state law and federal law. The only difference or the main difference is that ours actually goes from K through 12, state law actually goes to universities, colleges, and both actually deal with public and private institutions, so state law actually already deals with public as well as private institutions. And it has a thousand-foot radius. That's the thing what it does is it has a thousand-foot radius where this ordinance takes effect. But to be in compliance with state law, what we did is that if you're in compliance with the state law, Section 1623-420, which allows you to, if you're on a road that's the state or locally maintained road that's running through adjacent to a school property, then you're in compliance with our ordinance. So we drafted in a way so that we would be in compliance with state law and someone who is in compliance with the state law and they happen to be on a road that's adjacent to a school or near a school within that thousand-foot radius that they are still in compliance with our ordinance. Man, thank you. I'm going to move approval. Is there a second? Second discussion. Mr. Rickman has some input you want to share. I think we're going to spend some time. You want to go ahead and speak? Well, I wanted to ask a question because he said the state statute that this is based off includes colleges, not a thousand-foot limit. So we want to spend some time just looking at colleges and the hospitality zones and figuring out how we're consistent with the constitution, state constitution, and the state statute, preemption statutes to make sure that there's some more room here to include hospitality zones, particularly the universities, to make sure that we give that some serious consideration. I wonder how we can expand that because I think that's just one more tool that we need to provide law enforcement to have the ability to use. Can we give it for free? Absolutely. Are you asking that that be looked at between the first and second? Yes, it would be expanded. So moved is there a second? Second. We have a motion to second. With the previous question for Carl. Mr. Rickman. Aye. Yes. Mr. Ball. Aye. Mr. Lodore. Aye. Mr. Dwayne. Aye. Mr. Davis. Aye. I want to say just thankful, thankful for this council, thankful to our incredible staff for the leadership. We listened to people on all sides of the aisle as we composed the various policy directors have come out of this body. We have, for those of you who are keeping count over the last several years, as Mr. Bond mentioned, led the way nationally, the first in the country, to ban most stocks and trigger cranks. The federal government followed not long thereafter. Tonight, hate intimidation ordinance, extreme risk protection, orders both inferturing along with the gun free school zone ordinance. Just in the last few months, we moved forward with incentives encouraging our citizens to report lost and stolen firearms. We banned ghost guns. We continue in spite of the federal government and state government being slow to act or not acting at all. We continue to operate with our number one party in hand. That's making sure that our community is safe and we're going to continue to lead to do that because that is our job. Just in the last year or so, the city of Columbia Police Department working closely with the Riching County Sheriff's Department taking well over 1,000 and 1,500 guns off the streets of our community. We invested in Shot Spider just yesterday. We announced it with the first party in the state to join the First Net Authority, allowing our first responders uninterrupted priority broadband network that this country has looked for since 9-11 to have uninterrupted emergency access so we can talk in the event of a manmade or natural disaster. We're leading the way and we're not going to stop leading the way. We're going to do as much as we can, as long as we can. I want to thank all of you who fight the good fight every single day. I want to thank the moms and Perry and just all of you who just do all that you can know that we're in this fight with you and our first priority is making sure we take care of our families. We keep our streets safe. We help our children, live up to the guiding potential. That only happens if we work together. We've got to do more. I know sometimes it feels like just a few of us are pulling all the wagons at the same time. We've got to do more. We've got to demand more from each and every one of us, but I think that's the mark of a city for all people. We can do more, rather than we can, and we're going to do that. We're going to commit to it. I just want to thank all of you for your leadership. I really thank my incredible colleagues for their leadership. Mr. Mayor? Yes, sir. I didn't want to add one thing, that we're at that juncture where we're making the moves and we're doing everything, but the one thing that we've got to solve between now and January is the funding source to make sure that our CPD and our other public servants who are out there keeping this city safe and clean have all the tools because we're doing everything we can on the legislative side, but we've got to give them everything in the street because we do have a problem. Amen. And we've got a problem at Reverend McDowell. Thank you for your words. The reality is true. It's interesting the newspaper published comments about what we said about the university, which was one part of a whole discussion of people coming together, standing up, communities standing up, neighbors and friends giving the information to our officers so they can do their job to stop the violence that's out there that's going on. And I think if we don't come together as a community, we're not going to go anywhere. And I thank everybody who's committed to helping, but we've got to get those resources there and all the entities from non-tax paying to whoever's all involved need to contribute so that we can make sure that we can deliver the service that we know we can provide with the resources. Thank you. Mr. Davis. Mr. Fair, I agree with you. I think, again, this among several things we've attempted to address tonight is very basic to keeping our families and children safe. No city among municipalities is productive unless people feel safe when they move, when they go around and move around. The schools are basic to us. And if children are not feeling safe in school, then we all know that they're not safe when they travel from school to home in vice versa. It's the most, it's the safest environment that we tend to rely on as a society, for example, when there are emergencies and things of that nature, schools also serve as a haven for safety. And so if our children are not safe, then I think we will probably sort of take a look at one another and wonder why we did not take the necessary steps when we had an opportunity to do so. And I also agree too that our CPD is among the best in the country, have not the best. We know that. And we have always made an attempt to make sure that they have what they need in order to keep us safe. And us is a selfish term, but when we say us, we talk about everybody who visit the city, who recuperate here and people who live here. And so I think the commitment to them is is unquestionable and we are going to do what we can to make that a reality. I agree with everything you've been saying here. I think the only other request or maybe look moving forward and thinking ahead is try to identify the 1,000 feet no gun within the school zone. And maybe either put a marker or a sign or something like that to create more awareness between the children and the parents. And everybody is coming into school, leaving out of school that guns are not allowed within 1,000 feet from the school. Maybe that's something we can, it's probably operational for city manager and city staff to look at whether that's even possible or not. But that's something maybe we can do. We're talking about communities looking out for each other and doing their part. That would be a good part to raise awareness that if a kid or a parent sees a gun or sees anybody carrying a gun within 1,000 feet from the school to definitely identify all the authorities that we can react. Yeah, we did. We did. That was just comments. Yes, sir. Thank you all for your leadership on those items. Item 49 is ordinance number 2019-064, a 19-subliminal ordinance providing for the issuance and sale of City of Columbia, South Carolina Water Works and Sewer System Revenue Bonds and one or more series in the aggregate principal amount of not exceeding $310 million in order to refinance. Is there a motion? No, I think it would be very helpful if somebody came up and explained what we're doing. I mean, this is a very large number. It's combining water, soil, and strength. Mr. Payton, sum it forward. Item 49 is for the ordinance for it's now $310 million. As y'all will recall back in late winter, we had an ordinance for the next bond issue. It was roughly $97 million. In the spring, we decided to hold off on that based upon our current cash position. And we also knew we had another capital improvement plan coming up. So we've combined two years into this one bond ordinance. So this will be paying for our ongoing capital improvement plan for fiscal year 2019 and the projects that were in that along with the fiscal year 2020, that would be a total of $120 million last year in projects and an $80 million this year in projects. Of the $310 million, the new money piece or the project fund piece of that is $149 million. That's consistent with the report that Black and Veish presented to us back in May on the rate study. In addition to that $149 million, the markets have had some changes over the last six months. It's moved in our favor. We currently have outstanding bonds of in excess of, I believe it's $500 million. But of that, we have about $147 million that are now eligible for refunding. So we've added that into this. What that means is based upon current markets and things will change a little bit between now and the day that we issue the bonds that we anticipate savings in the upcoming next several years per year in debt service of anywhere from $500,000 to $1.7 million per year in debt service. That will actually have a very positive effect on the rate study that Black and Veish will be back to us in the update this upcoming spring because in their study we did not include any refunding savings. Those two combined come up to roughly a little short of $300 million. The additional 10 to $12 million is our contingency amount. Anything if we have to have a reserve, our cost of issuance, and certainly other smaller items. But that's what makes up the full $310 million. We'll be able to reapply the savings from interest to the projects to move those forward. So what will happen is the savings will actually, and the savings won't, by the time we issue the bonds in December, which is roughly the time line of November to December, the savings that we have on that will be our future debt service. So two things we can look at in two different ways. It'll either generate additional cash in the system. Part of it will generate additional cash in the system. That will go to additional projects which will a little bit less debt in the future. It'll also have an effect though on next year's rates. So I don't remember the exact number that Black and Green showed us, but he did not have the decrease in the debt service anticipated from refunding. At the time that we were going through the rates study, the markets really weren't dictating that there was an opportunity to do that. So that's going to lower the rate increase that we need to do next year as well. So will you take a look between now and then and decide if it's better to pay down debt or pay cash for projects based on the... Sure. Yeah, we can look at that. I don't want to think, this is the type of thing that's why we utilize Black and Green so they can do that analysis. We can pay those sales taxes. What's that? We can pay those sales taxes. Yes, sir. Second. Second. Any discussion? Further discussion? Seeing none, would the previous question card call roll? Mr. Rickenan? Aye. Senator McAuliffe? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Senator Padura? Aye. Senator Saban? Aye. Senator Padura? Aye. Senator Bidget? Aye. Senator Bidget? Aye. Item 50, Ordinance Server 2019-05, not amending the 1998 Code of Ordinance of the City of Columbia, South Carolina Chapter 8, Environmental Health and Humanitation, Article 3, No East. I move approval of this ordinance. Second. Moving second. Any discussion? I move the previous question card call roll. Mr. Rickenan? Aye. Mr. McAuliffe? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Senator Padura? Aye. Mr. Dine? Aye. Mr. Bidget? Aye. Mr. Bidget? Aye. Mr. Bidget? Aye. Resolution 51. Resolution number R2019-078, adopting an investment policy for the City of Columbia. Is there a motion? To move. Yes, second. Second. Any discussion? Will the previous question card call roll? Mr. Rickenan? Aye. Mr. McAuliffe? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mr. Padura? Aye. Aye. Mr. Davis? Aye. Mr. Chairman? Aye. Item 52, Resolution number R2019-080, coming in the City of Columbia, South Carolina to provide a local match for a municipal association of South Carolina hometown economic development grant and following its procurement policy with securing services and products with the grant funds. Move approval of this ordinance. A resolution, resident. Can somebody give some background on this? Because it wasn't, I wasn't able to download anything and unfortunately my screen says January 8th, 2019, so I can't pull it up here either. Anybody? Right, sir. Good evening. We are applying for the municipal association hometown grant. They provide up to $25,000 in grant funds for a variety of things including infrastructure, playing, and we're requesting it for marketing. We've been working on a concept to do some digital marketing for the city focused on business recruitment and involving a lot of local business owners and leaders talking about why they love doing business in Columbia. It's a 15% match, so if we were to ask for the full $25,000 in grant funding, our commitment for match is $3,750. So we're going to pursue that opportunity and they require the council resolution as part of the application package for that as well. I think what kind of threw me off is it says following procurement policy when securing services and products for the grant funds. Is it municipal associations? That's our language that we put in. We just wanted to include some language in there to make sure that to state in the resolution that we'll be following the city's standard for procurement policies. It may read like it was coming from the municipal association and I'm certainly not sure that their procurement policy and ours are exactly the same. That was our language that we put in. We'll change that and follow in the city of Columbia for the procurement policy. Alright, thank you. Alright, did we vote? Did we hold on Daniel's comment? Did we? Second. Second. Second from Mr. Badura. I'm with the previous question from Carl Carl. Mr. Rickerman? Aye. Mr. Davis? Aye. Moving into a period of other matters item 53, city council has asked to approve the substantial action plan amendment number five for submission to the Department of Housing and Urban Development along with all citizen comments received during the 15-day public comment period from August 9th through the 24th of 2019 as requested by the community development department. Is there a motion? Second. Any discussion? With the previous question from Carl Carl. Mr. Rickerman? Aye. Mr. McNally? Aye. Mr. Badura? Aye. Mr. Van? Aye. Mr. Davis? Aye. Mr. Benjamin? Aye. Excuse me. We previously appropriated to the Benedict Classic 3960 and to the Pemedic Classic which included Benedict $14,850. Motion is to shift $12,850 from the Pemedic Classic to the Benedict Classic both considered by the HSEC Committee and happening this fall. Is there a second? Second. Go ahead. Say no more dollars. Say no more dollars. Yes. We're not looking for a future appropriation. No sir. No. You're transferring the whole fund? All with $2,000. All with $2,000. I got you. We approve your question. Yes sir. Rickerman? Aye. Mr. McVowell? Aye. Mr. Badura? Aye. Mr. Davis? No. Just from the work session that needs to take up in my recollection and then we would have the opportunity for committee reports and referrals. I do have, I don't know whether you want to do a referral or maybe something that you guys can work on. It depends on the ordinance that we passed. The yard debris, an extra large amount of yard debris sits in front of the house. I know the city does not pick it up until somebody pays or the homeowner pays to find to pick up that because it's not a normal weekly yard debris. But it gets, it's getting to the point where the neighbors and the neighborhood is complaining because either the homeowner is not present or not responsive enough or fast enough to do it. And it's become a nuisance for the neighborhoods and the neighborhoods because sometimes it takes over two weeks to get picked up or somebody to respond. Is there any way we need to either tweak the ordinance or direct staff or send it to committee that if somebody doesn't respond within seven days or ten days that the city will pick it up and then we'll send them a bill later or anything to do to relieve the neighbors and the neighborhood from having to look at a pile of yard debris for two weeks period before anybody responses? Well, I think there's a couple of things there. We've had a lot going on with storms, et cetera. So if they're experiencing that, it may have something to do with the atmosphere. But let me get with the staff, if our staff is pretty good about collecting yard debris, unless it is something that is of such a substantial nature and it does require that the citizens no pay to have that done. It's more like, you know, some type of construction debris, et cetera. We have to get more involved. But I'm rather than referring it to the community kind of issue. I want to make sure to be having specific locations that we get those from you as well. Okay. I mean, I can talk about that, but I'm just looking at the policy in general because I think we've had that before in a couple of times. I feel like the neighbors and the neighborhoods are, you know, it's not the cities, it's not the city public works to do anything wrong. I just want to make sure we're clear on if it's more of an issue because of a lot of... It's not a normal weekly yard debris. I mean, it's almost a construction, but it's all bushes and limbs. And I think as the city manager said, I think we need to look at it from also a legal perspective because I do think code enforcement does issue notices on the property. That notice has to be up prior to us picking it up. Okay. So once we notify them, I can't remember seven days or 10 days. Okay. Is the price of the issue. Mr. Davis. Just to add to that, you know, there are some instances where landlords or tenants may not comply. But one of the things, I think, Robert, you and I dealt with this several times this year. There are folks that also bring trash and jump into a neighborhood, dump it, and leave. They don't live in the neighborhood. It's a good number of times. It's construction material. So we need to work with... I'd like to see us work with public boards to see how we can maybe track that. Also, you know, we get them, we find them, and we make the find, I think, as steep as possible because that's really dumping in neighborhood that you don't live in. And we would love to have... I dealt with one this week, and David Hatcher and I were really exceptional about tracking it down. And if there is the opportunity for them to do some monitoring to kind of catch us doing that. But we need to know locations and whatever information we all have on these particular areas we live in. Because we installed some temporary cameras and caught a couple of folks. I was going to skip that part. It's not the public broadcast. But it is a burden. It really becomes a burden on the neighborhood. We'll get some information back. This really isn't about something staying out two weeks. But what I do find is maybe we just need to do a friendly reminder. I've seen folks who, you know, yard trash is picked up on Monday and they have their yard person scheduled to come Monday afternoon or Tuesday. And then some stuff is out for a week, and then we get the rains and it's in our system. I'm just wondering maybe working with PR to do some friendly reminders and also send something out to neighborhood presidents to remind neighbors of, you know, coordinating their, you know, their yard cleanup with the days that we come and pick up yard trash. Committee referrals? We'll refer to the Economic Development Subcommittee. Yeah. We'll refer to the Economic Development Subcommittee potential economic development overlay. Second. All right. I have a previous question for her. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Any other reports from our session? Any other referrals? All right. Do you have several systems to sign up either to speak or to just make it clear they're here on certain items? First, David Oldt. You sound to speak, David? All right, go for it. David Oldt. Good evening, council. Good to see everyone. So my name is David Oldt. I'm an incoming sophomore at the University of South Carolina majoring in international studies. I'm also a student-athlete at the University of South Carolina. So I have my hands full right now. But one thing that I, oh, I'm also a marriage fellow this past summer. So thank you, Mary Benjamin, for that opportunity. You might have seen me in a couple of work sessions or in these meetings. I'm kind of hitting out. But this upcoming semester at the University of South Carolina, I'm the director of this student government organization called the City Advocacy Commission. And it was intact last year and we had some success in that. Basically what this commission, we call it CAC, does is it finds issues with students and tries to find ways that we as students can collaborate with local government to find solutions and work together. Whether it's city council, whether it's city officials, that's just something that we're looking to do. And I'm really excited that I can speak here today and ask for you guys to work with us for a more next semester and find some solutions and to look into some student issues, do some research and just collaborate more frequently. So that's what I'm asking for basically. I'd love to work with you guys more and whether that's just through emails, through dialogue, through phone calls, that's something I'd love to do. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you, David. David was a fantastic marriage fellow too. Fantastic. All right. Ms. Lauren Small. I'm a mom of two children and a customer at Columbia Water. I have some concerns regarding the new AMI meters. I also brought today with me a petition of 139 other customers as well who have some concerns. There's a number of concerns that I actually would not be able to share with you, but just to address the ones that are most important to me are some conflicts with the safety studies that I've seen. The burst of RF radiation that these meters in it are actually considered class to be carcinogen by the World Health Organization, which is the same as lead just for reference. Just because they're out in the yard does not mean that they're not concerned. I've brought also a study showing that conductive plumbing due to ground clearance can cause childhood cancer and I have some concerns over how these meters might affect plumbing, how much of the AMS may be reaching the homes, maybe traveling along the plumbing and reaching the house and the people in the house. I've been told that the meters only will transmit twice a day and that it's less radiation than our cell phones are emitting, but I haven't seen anything that shows that. So just for an example, PG&E in California, which is a utility company out there, they stated that their meters were only transmitting six times a day. They actually had a court order them to submit data showing the actual number of transmissions and utility admitted that its meters were transmitting up to 190,000 times per day, which is much more radiation than our cell phones would be emitting ever. I'm sorry, who was that? That's PG&E in California. It's an electrical company. And so that's just an example that I've been told that this is how much they transmit, but there hasn't been anything to show that. Aside from the carcinogenic risk of the RFRgations that they emit, there are people in the community who are specifically, more especially sensitive to AMS. There are thousands of studies that show this. I brought just one today just for reference, but there are specific diagnosis codes for that. Our goal is just to have an option to opt out of these meters and to keep our analog meter. I also brought one other study just to show some specific concerns on smart meters. Since we're unable to choose our utility company, I believe that we have a right to decide which technology is put on our property, especially since this is a newer technology in the grand scheme of things with how technology goes. We have no long-term studies that show the health effects on people, especially children. So I just would like for the ability for us to maintain our analog meters. I do think that the burden of having somebody come and check the analog meters falls on the utility company, considering that there's conflicting information out there. I think that when there's concerns over how the savings will be for the customers, the total meters cost $40 million. So I think that the cost of having someone come out and check these meters and consider comparison to the health of the citizens and the community is really at a minstrel cost in the grand scheme of things. Thank you. Can I give you a few papers? Absolutely. We want to make sure that as much as we can dial and communicate, make sure some of these questions are answered with as much specificity as we can. Let's make sure we're dealing with that with Mr. Sheet and others. May I say one thing? I think that there are plenty of studies on both sides to show things and that's where the concern comes. There's conflicting data and just with it being a newer technology that we would just like the option to opt out of this meters. I appreciate any help in making that happen. Just a question. Are you surrounded by other houses around you? Are you like there's enough land between one house or another? In other words, how many meters are close to your house? I have a neighborhood so there's a number of meters. We also have the electric, new, manure smart meters. But I think it's one of those things where we can't say well just because we have this, this is our institution at my office as well and it's a compounding issue. Okay, thank you. We also have Mr. Small and Ms. Chamberlain. It's time to speak as well. Mr. Small might have his hands full a little bit right now. Yes, I'm Kara Chamberlain. So thank you guys for allowing us to speak tonight and for the time. I know that we've covered some heavy issues tonight. So I thank you for the time to cover something that may seem a little more miniscule to some people considering some of the things we've covered. I also want to say thank you. I am a City of Columbia water recipient. I actually don't live in the city limits though. So, you know, I live in Armo. So as you guys know, Armo receives City of Columbia water, but we don't actually have any representation on City Council. As far as, you know, I wasn't given, I guess, a choice in the smart meters. I was notified of a Slavia letter that we were going to receive these smart meters. And I definitely appreciate all of the measures that you guys are currently putting into place to improve all of the municipal water supplies and infrastructure, all that. I've been listening very closely to everything that you all have been putting into place. And I greatly appreciate that because I know City of Columbia water has been consistently ranked above the best of the nation. So I know that's due to the improvements that are constantly being made. I know that the City of Columbia, the water meters, they've been put out as being more accurate. I know that's one of the primary, I guess, complaints with analog meters as they can be a little less accurate. And again, I just would like to have the option, I guess, to have some sort of say in this. Just the option to opt out, the option to choose if we have this or not. Thank you very much. This was small. Good evening. Again, I just reiterate thank you for hearing me this evening. I really appreciate my concerns about the safety of these EMFs and conflicting experts' opinions on this. So I look for all the safety studies and I'm trying to respond to those. There's plenty out there. But according to the FCC, not all standards and guidelines throughout the world have recommended the same limits of exposure. So no matter where you go in the world, it could be conflicting that on what is safe and what's not. Everything from does it cause a biological effect or does it cause a hazard to the health? Things there's a wide range that they have set for. And even in the FCC bulletin, it states that in the order of FCC noted that research analysis relating to RF, which is ready for frequency safety and health is ongoing and changing recommended exposure limits may occur in the future as knowledge increases in the field. So they're admitting themselves they don't have all the knowledge. And going to just one study that I found is cell biology and EMF standards and safety written by Martin Blank. He's a member of the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics and Columbia University in New York. He states there are other disease-related mechanisms and biological damage by EMF that have been identified such as inhibiting secretion of melatonin that affects circadian rhythm and molecular repair processes as well as the effect of capillaries in the blood-brain barrier causing leakage and damaging neurons in the brain. Like DNA damage, the effects occur at exposures well below levels that are considered safe. He goes on to say the reluctance of EMF safety panels to be guided by biological evidence probably arises from the lack of familiarity with research and cell biology. So I understand there are safety studies that say it, but there's both sizes spectrum by experts. Columbia University, FCC, they're disagreeing. If there is a disagreement, so I'm just looking for that option to consider my family and my young kids. Just the safety, especially with their growing brains. Thank you. Thank you. Make sure you let those know some of the lesser reference in the other. Doc me left behind. Make sure you leave those with staff as well too. I'd love to look at some of that research. Ms. Dan Wally. I'm here at the city council. Hi everyone today. My issue is I have been traveling around in our neighborhood trying to see what we need and we need a new fire station. Number 11. I went on a tour of Monday. It's terrible in there. It need to be painted. It really need to be torn down. Need to be painted before the bad electrical is bad. The beds look like it came from the garbage. The beds look really bad. And the drainage up under the truck when they come in to back up this water just, that there was water all up under there. It really look bad. I was there at eight o'clock that morning and they cooked me breakfast. I decided to wash dishes first. But it really look bad. It really need to be coming out from that spot because there's only two trucks can fit back there. The one that they used in an emergency truck. You know emergency food. And it's old building. It tells exactly which one you're talking about. 11 off to not road. Is that a county station? A city. Now the fate we're being told is a county station. You know we have a joint policies and county stations. Is that the entire of the. Yes, off to the right and he's going to get out of the way. And there's a house that's connected to it, that's made out of a sleeping mattress. Yeah, double check. Some chick jiggers were there. But he's the old shit thing. Oh, okay. Okay, but that's in our neighborhood. There are 11 people over at Richland County that you should go talk to. But I want y'all to know it need to be torn down. And it really need to be coming out from the front. Up from the back to the front. Because you would notice a fire station back there. You know, there's really no sign. I'll make sure you get the phone number. I like all the phone numbers, you know. But in another thing, in our neighborhood, we don't know what city and county. Because we've got a torn down, well, it's building this burnt on Beltline in front of the old Buick place. It's an asshole. It was a club one time, and it burnt. You know what I'm saying? That is what I'm saying. What the hell? What the hell? I don't know exactly what you're talking about. Okay, don't have to start talking. I'm trying to be nice. I'm really trying to be nice. And another thing, it's a man that called me Tuesday. I don't know whether this is counted or not. You know what? The TV radio station in 47 on Cushman Drive. He asked me could he cut the tower down and lower it. Because if people want to do something. They need to go to the city of the county. You know what I'm saying? The tower, the tower, because they wanted to put something there. They need 10, fours instead of 15. That's what you have to go to the city council or county council. So I gave him your number. This number or this number? Well, it was really, really silly. They called me to give me his number, and I called him back. So I gave him your number. You're a failure. And another thing, when am I going to move into my house? I'm ready to come back home. I'm in a deserted place. I wake up every morning and feel like I'm in a twilight zone. It's going on five years now. I got snakes in my house. I can't go anymore. I said when am I going to start doing some development on my house? It's going on five years. Is that a missy or a safe question? I don't know. I'm trying this. No, I think the main thing is, is the ditch issue has to get resolved before she can rebuild. Yeah. I think we're going to stay there. The lady called me today, and she said they're going to remodel. But I can't stay there with no snakes. I got snakes in my house. I think we're close to a resolution on that, aren't we? Yeah. We've done it all week. We've done it in an association. Yeah. Is that one of the issues with the administrator? Any work on details on that? Yeah. Okay. Okay. And I want to invite you all to our neighborhood meeting on September 10th, 6 o'clock. Anybody that want to come, just pop in and talk to our neighbors because I'm tired of asking questions. I keep going over and over again. No. And I appreciate the city for coming out to explain about the water and the solution. I think that's, we're not meeting on the 3rd, so we're meeting on the 10th? No, we're meeting, okay. Okay. That's all I guess. I think you're all doing a good job. Thank you. I'm not going to be able to tell you what I want. Yes, ma'am. I want to thank you for what you said today. Thank you as well. About the sand in all of the neighborhoods. We need them in hours too because some people have parties and we can't get in our yard. But I don't have that problem with a lot of it in my house, you know. Thank you. But you're going to have a party when it's done, right? Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Anyway, ma'am, you're going to have a party when it's done, right? Oh, yeah. I'm having a big party. I'm already playing. I'm having a big party. I'm inviting everybody. And then some of them act out, I was at your mother's funeral. I just couldn't get to you. I stood up, but they didn't really know me, you know. But I really was sorry. And I know how it is when you lose a mother. Amen. But you did a good job preaching. You really did. Thank you as well. Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Lady June Cole. Kelly Barron. Good evening. I'm Lady June Cole of a board member with the League of Women Voters with me. I'm Kelly Barron. And I want to first thank you for allowing us to have a few minutes. We will be brief. We are here today on behalf of the League of Women Voters. What we'd like to do is get your support because we are a nonpartisan organization. And right now we're working to inform and engage our citizens in the electoral process. Our purpose tonight is to share information about the 2019 voter guide that is found at vote411.org. This website is to promote voter participation. The National League developed vote411.org. And this guide is the place where citizens can find answers about voter registration, polling places, and identification requirements. When voters type in their address, they will see all of the candidates who have filed for upcoming races and information on how to contact those candidates. The declared candidates will receive an email inviting them to participate in vote411. And they are given a link to use to enter their information directly into the website. After the candidate responds to our invitation to participate, the voter guide will have background information on that candidate. And it will display his or her responses to the questions on current issues. Participation in vote411 is free. And the information will be available 24-7, anywhere that there is internet access. We hope those of you running for reelection and others who may be running for our office will take advantage of this opportunity. And we encourage voters to use the vote411.org to find answers to their questions about voting and to learn about the candidates' perspectives on current issues. The legal women voters ask that you please assist us in sharing this information and promoting vote411.org through your city newsletter, your website, and any other available outlets that you may have, including your friends and neighbors. The legal women voters does not endorse or oppose candidates during the 2018 election. Nearly 90,000 individuals visited the site statewide and nearly 17,000 individuals. In the Richland and Lexington County areas, use the vote411.org to prepare for the election. We are looking forward to the 2019 election and we thank you for allowing time for us to present this new advantage point for any candidate that we have. We do have some cards and with your permission, may we leave those with you? Absolutely. Questions? We can just make sure that we get that to our peer apartment and we can help with the information that goes out. I don't know if it's more... I don't know if that's your name, but... What's your name? Ms. Moore does a great job and was out. But it's something else now. She's not telling us. But she does a great job of getting that information about municipal elections, so we'll make sure that we coordinate and push that out. Thank you. And I just tweeted it. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you, Madam President and killer. Thank you all so much for our work that you continue to do. We so appreciate legal women voters. I like your shirts. I'm not sure I've ever seen you so casual on my dad. I think the next two people who signed up are gone now. The ordinance they're concerned about, but we'll make sure Ellen DeYagin and Gina Mosta think their issue was covered. Ms. Donald was covered. The one and only Donna DeWitt. No, ma'am. Did you want me to ask? I'm Donna DeWitt and vice president of the Columbia Central Labor Council, AFLCO. And our members were very concerned with ordinances 46, 47, 48. And they've been in and out tonight. And I'd like to recognize William Christopher as our secretary of treasure. And St. Squire, our president, couldn't be here. But we represent workers that either reside or work in the city of Columbia. And these ordinances were very important to us. And I just want to say after the first reading that we are so pleased that the city of Columbia has shown leadership when we can't get things passed in the state house and we can't get things passed at the federal level, that you understand that we need to keep our residents as safe as possible and make Columbia a place that people want to live and work. We're here for you. And we thank you so much for what you've done tonight. Thank you, Donna. Thank you, Donna. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Mr. Davis, I believe, has spoken and gone. Ms. Katherine Bruce. First, I want to start by saying thank you because I'm talking about the residential ordinance, permanent parking ordinance. And it was discussed in the work session today. So I want to start by thanking Tameka and Daniel because a number of years ago back when Daniel was at large, I went and talked to both of them, and they provided the initial, after looking at the materials and the documentation about the issues in the 2214 Hampton location, provided some protection at that time of the white parking stripes and the initial sign. After a couple years after when Councilman McDowell came on board, he launched the parking study aspect of it. So we did have a parking study with John Spade which resulted in identifying the 2,200 block of Hampton Street where I live and the 1,400 block of Pine Street as severely impacted blocks in Historic Wainley District. After some communication with staff and showing them the pictures, we then got a change in our sign to something rather than parking only, I think it's what I said at the time. And after a couple of years, we got the permit parking sign and the permits. So I did the process, paid the money, filled out the normal process, and we see passes. So I had passes for two years and I actually also had passes for this year. Although I don't sign for this year, I do have passes, so I filled those out. And it really worked wonders. I'm the first sign, worked wonders, but the residential permit works wonders as well rather than articulating, okay, these people can't, no suits, no this. It says if you have a permit, you can park here, very simple. So now we have other buildings coming online. We have Allen University's buildings. We have their doors come online. We have St. Martin's School and Church that are there. But now Good Samaritan Way Hospital is getting ready to come online as well. So they came before the Board of Zoning Appeals to ask for parking adjustment. So that was approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals. We did ask them because there was another resident from Pine Street, Steve Larkin, who came. He said he's interested in having residential signs also. And of course the Board of Zoning Appeals cannot do that. It's not their jurisdiction. So that's back to City Council. So I'm asking you today to have the public hearing and I'm asking you to pass residential permit district for a 2,200 block Hampton and 1,400 block of Pine, which will provide us excellent protections right now without the sign. You know, we're kind of back to square one. There are people there 24-7. I can't get city services because the cars are there all the time. They can't pick up the trash. They can't pick up the yard debris because it's too close to the cars and they can't pick it up. There's visibility and other issues. So asking you to go ahead and do the public hearing and I can bring all the documentation and we can have the discussion and hopefully this will pass very soon. So any questions? No, let's... I know you sat through the presentation earlier today. Yes, I did. So let's take this all in its entirety and totality and make sure obviously some of the same issues being that close to Alan and Benedict, he faces the same issues as those in University Hill. Yes. So let's talk to all about comprehensive approach to these issues. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Richard Adams? Is that what it says? And Ms. Bailey, did you want the last word? Please. You look beautiful. I am back just for 20 days before I go on to my next assignment in Taipei, Taiwan for two years. I want to tell you guys that my years at the city helped me prepare me for this job and I have learned a lot and I have seen a lot and being overseas has made me realize how lucky I am to have the rights that I have and to witness what goes on in other countries that you wouldn't even think of. I came with gifts. I have traditional date cookies. They're wonderful. My family loves them. You guys will try camel milk. Instant camel milk. Camel milk. It does not taste like camel milk. The mayor is a vegetarian, so he may not be able to handle it. Something typical that they give out to that comes to visit. Keep coming. I'm always watching seeing what's going on here in Colombia even though I'm thousands miles away. Make a channel two over there. I'm lucky I didn't get any American channel. Make a channel two. Make a channel two. Kind of miss you, Daly. You took care of me for several years and always worked hard, treated people with dignity and respect, was compassionate, and we miss you. We miss you and your family, Daly. So good to see you. Daniel and I are going to drink the camel milk together and see what's going on. Does it taste better seen or cold? They actually serve it with coffee, so yeah. You can have it steamed. Camel coffee with the mayor. Great, good to see you. I keep on calling you. We keep on calling you. We're sorry for that. It's time to get to the last part of the night. I'm going to be able to motion to adjourn. The movie's question is for Carol. Mr. Rickman. Mr. Mcdowell. Mr. Valdura. Mr. Daven. Mr. Davies. Mr. Davies. You're a vision. Have a good evening.