 Thank you, Madam clerk. Would you please call the roll? Good evening, Mr. Rickerman. Mr. McDowell. Mr. Duvall. President. Mr. Ryan. Mr. Davis. Mayor Benjamin. Here, would you all please join us for the Pledge of Allegiance? Mr. McDowell, would you please bless us with a word? This is an exciting time in the life of this city, and of course in the lives of many persons, youth, students. So we pray tonight that sensitivity and our sense of oneness and unity be a part of our deliberations tonight. We won't not what is best for me or for any one person on this deus, but for the city of ours. Will you bow your heads with me for just a moment? Or are you done for us for the blessings you've already bestowed upon us, for the city of ours? All the positive things that continue to happen in this city, we simply ask that you might touch us tonight, individually and collectively. Allow a sense of unity be our purpose. Allow the issues that we discuss tonight and discern each to the other. Might touch and penetrate our hearts, but we know that sometimes hard decisions are hard. But we know that there is purpose and favor in every decision that we make. Rekindle us, renew us and allow us to sense your presence. We ask it in your name, amen. Thank you. Red McDowell, huh? I did too. Mr. Acton City Manager? Our next item on the agenda is the adoption of the agenda. Yeah, so move. Second. Second. In discussion with a previous question for Colorado. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. McDowell. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mr. Vyne. Aye. Mr. Davis. Aye. Mayor Benjamin. Aye. Next item is public input related to agenda items. We'll have the zoning put occurring, huh? At seven. Sorry? Mr. Duvall? Yeah. Is there a motion to approve the minutes? Seven minutes. Motion to approve the minutes of the January 16th meeting. Moved. Mr. Rickerman. Seconded by Mr. McDowell. In discussion. Seeing none, move the previous question for Colorado. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. McDowell. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mr. Vyne. Mr. Davis. Aye. Mayor Benjamin. Aye. And the point of personal privilege in the chief holdbook is in the back somewhere. Many of you know that we've been, this is a week in which a number of our students all around the country are coming together to talk about youth violence and gun violence. And I just wanted to share a brief video in that regard. I'm showing some of the work being done at our local high schools. I would never bring gun to school. guns to set a personal problem or dispute or use my influence or phrase to keep them from using guns to set a dispute. My individual choices in action when multiplied by those of young people throughout the country will make a difference. Together by honoring this place we can reverse the violence in growth and safety. This is of course at Eau Claire High School and the student pledge against gun violence is something that we're going to be encouraging students to sign on Saturday when a number of them will be on Main Street encouraging every school in the city to do the same recognizing that we all have individual responsibilities to keep our school safe. So just wanted to highlight the good work going on at Eau Claire High School. Mr. City Manager, our next item is we asked for your approval for the consent agenda items 9 through 23. Move approval of the consent agenda items 9 through 23. Sacker discussion. Mr. Rickman. Yeah I had several items I wanted to get some clarification item 11, 13 and 16. On 11 I wanted to confirm we had to approve some fencing money the other day. Was that included in this or was this added to it because I thought it was for Earl Wood Park. I just was surprised to see this on the agenda as well. Remember we added a hundred thousand dollars. Yes sir that hundred thousand that was out of hospitality tax money that is a part of this 389 part as part of this complement. It is okay it just wasn't listed that way. 319. Okay. And then on 13 I wanted to make sure did what happened it looks like we had a vendor area error did that cause us do we have any liability with that or we find to move forward with that. I think that's under you Robert. The side loaders we that's all been worked out we don't have any liability. All right thank you. And the last was I just thought it was important Clint as we continue to do these these programs and water and sewer and these large amounts just to explain to folks what we're doing here why it's so important. Yes sir we're we're very excited on the heels of the stormwater fee increase from last year and it's effective this year to be hiring a program manager to help us implement some of these capital improvements and this is the award of the first year of that contract and so they're going to be providing a lot of services that our citizens are going to recognize and see and helping us implement that program making improvements to our stormwater infrastructure. So we're really excited and grateful this day to hear anything to add to that. Thank you for that. All right. Good. All right. The previous question. Mr. Rickerman. Hi. Mr. McNown. Mr. DeVall. Hi. Mr. Vine. Mr. David. Hi. Mayor Benjamin. Hi. Item twenty four is our first presentation is the February 2018 employee of the month. It'll be presented by Mr. David Brewer our city traffic engineer. Good evening Mr. Mayor members of city council David Bailey. I'm here this evening and introduced the February 2018 employee of the month Mr. Byron Jasper. Byron's been employed by the city since November of 2000. He started out as an entry level electrician and he's moved up since then to senior electrician. Byron's one of those people that always arrives at work early. He pursues excellence in his job duties and during his time with the city he's earned a master electrician license. He has strong initiative and he's meticulous in his work. In addition to his job with the city Byron's a veteran of the South Carolina National Guard and during his time at the city Byron was deployed to Afghanistan for a year where he earned the Army commendation medal. He understands teamwork and promotes this attitude with the other employees and when there's a problem with a signal at night or on a weekend Byron is one of those guys we call on to leave his warm house and go out and fix it. Even when he's not the one on call duty he can always be dependent on to come out and help whoever is. Please welcome our February employee of the month Mr. Byron. We're always excited to have fire fire appreciation month in that spirit. The chief did ask me to remind everyone that we have a full house tonight. I think I was supposed to start to meet and I'll fight that I'm sorry chief. So if in fact we are required to evacuate the space, please listen to your firefighters as they try to escort us out of the building. Is that sufficient chief? All right good job. You want to come on up? Come on up. Obviously we have this opportunity each year whereas firefighters have one of the nation's most hazardous professions requiring physical strength, stamina, extensive training, courage and selfless commitment to protecting our citizens and whereas firefighters throughout South Carolina and across the nation in addition to their daily service to our communities have devoted their personal time to a number of community service projects and have joined the Muscular Dystrophy Association for over 60 years in the fight against newer muscular diseases and whereas the Muscular Dystrophy Association is extremely grateful with Columbia firefighters whose 2008 campaign will assist them in providing medical education seminars at no cost to local children and families and whereas the Muscular Dystrophy Association is sponsoring Columbia firefighter appreciation month for the month of March 2018 and honor and recognition of the tireless efforts and dedicated service of Columbia firefighters and whereas the state of Columbia joins the Muscular Dystrophy Association and is tribute to our firefighters and thanks them for all they do to serve the people of Columbia. Now therefore I, Stephen K. Benjamin, Mayor of the City of Columbia, among my fellow members of Columbia City Council, do hereby proclaim March 2018 this Columbia firefighter appreciation month in the City of Columbia and we urge our fellow citizens to recognize and participate in its observance. Chief, thank you to our firefighters. How about that? And to the best fire chief in the world, how about that? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. What you got? Mr. Mayor, Council, Mr. Paglin, to all the great citizens of both Columbia and Richland, we are so honored to receive that award. We're here on another purpose as well, not only to honor firefighters, but to also talk about the MDA boot drive. That is coming up this week, beginning tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. I'll tell you, this is a special year. The reason why it's a special year because we are right on the tip of collecting over $3 million for the last 16 years. So we want to get pushed over the top over the next three days. And our goal is to reach that $3 million mark. Last year we collected just under a little over $130,000 and hope we can collect that this year as well. It is a very good cause. We love doing it. I tell you, this is something that every firefighter looks forward to every year to get out there on the street. You know, I told Mr. Ball since, you know, we can't collect on the street from now, we're going to collect them y'all tonight and council. He also said it was a $20 charge. Well, it's $20, but we're taking anything over five. So we are just so delighted to have with us the Beverly family, whom we are so proud to be collecting this money for as the Beverly family. So we're so proud to have them stand up here with us. We also have with us the executive director of Mr. Watts, and I would like to give him space at this time. Thank you, Chief Jenkins. Thank you, City Council. We are very fortunate to live in a community where we're kept safe by such fine firefighters in this community who not only keep us safe day in and day out, but they go above and beyond to make the community a better place to live. There are over one million people in the United States living with a diagnosis of muscular dystrophy. About 40% of them are under the age of 18. We're fortunate enough to have tonight the Beverly family, Stacey, Brad and Gresham. I'm going to ask Stacey to come forward and just speak a moment about their diagnosis and their journey. And again, thank you for your continued support of this program. I would like to add that the Columbia filled the boot program is in the top 15 programs of fire departments across America and their number four in the southeast. So we have significant leadership with Chief Jenkins and his team and we're very grateful. This is Stacey and Gresham. Good evening. First we'd like to thank y'all for having us tonight. This is Gresham. He's our seven year old son and he was diagnosed at approximately 20 months with a rare form of muscular dystrophy. It actually falls under congenital muscular dystrophy where his muscles don't make me or some like we do every day to be able to do what we can do. Gresham, he tends, we actually live in Lexington, but he attends public schools in first grade. He's thriving at Rocky Creek Elementary School. He loves to do just anything that all these boys and girls in here enjoy to do. He is in Friday. He plays piano. We're very active members at my horrible. He is a Cub Scout there as well. He has played t-ball in the Miracle League and last year was his first year to go to camp as a mother as I'm nervous now. But I was devastated. I'm a God he's gone to camp. They're going to do his breathing treatment night or they know how to put his cough, his vest on to cough him. And we were very nervous about letting him go, but he had a fabulous counselor, Ms. Ashley. And he cried to leave. I cried why he was there. And when we went to pick him up on Friday, I mean, he was ready to go. He was six when he went this year. They have changed age a little bit because I mean, that's hard to send a six year away for a whole week at camp. But he cried to leave and that speaks volume of the things that he can he could do at camp that he can't do every day in life sometimes. And he wants to speak for a few minutes. Does this come off? Absolutely. I don't know which one is it just. I just don't want to mess it up. Hey, have something different inside us. And we all have the talent. And that talent for me is champ. And, and it's like a whole world of their own kind that you get to do the funnest thing that other kids get to do. They might can't get to do like archery, paddleboarding, canoeing, sleeping in cabins, rock climbing. Thank you so much for my support. Gresham, you have no idea how often grownups get to that microphone and are too nervous to say a word. You did an excellent job, young man. Excellent job. Congratulations. Again, Brad and I just would like to thank everyone for their support in the Columbia area and all around to help send these kids to camp because there's lots of expenses that go along with muscular dystrophy and we just appreciate everyone's support. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Bellamy. Mayor, City Council, we thank you all. We know how much you all want to be a part of getting us to that $3 million mark. So we actually brought your boot tonight. You're going to ask a young man to take around. So if you would help him take the boot around. Mr. Mayor, I think they ought to pass the boot around because all these people are taking up all our time. Mr. Mayor, I have finally figured out the formula. If I want to increase in my budget, I'm going to bring a kid with me. Don't count it, Chief. He's collected. Look at that. Chief, I think you want to tell people if they are so moved, there will be a boot outside the door, all right? If you feel in the spirit, there's an opportunity for everyone to contribute tonight. Again, Gresham, fantastic job. Fantastic job. That works. Okay. Okay. Fantastic. Thank you. Take a moment to present our Earth Hour proclamation. Obviously, the World Wildlife Fund, on March 24th, 2018, at 8.30 p.m., I'm just asking individuals, businesses, governments, and organizations around the world to turn off all non-essential lighting for one hour, one hour, an Earth Hour, to make a global statement of concern about climate change and demonstrate their commitment to finding solutions. And whereas the City of Columbia has taken steps to go beyond Earth Hour to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy efficiency, including purchasing hybrid vehicles and expanding recycling programs, whereas climate change is one of the top environmental issues of the 21st century, United States is one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gases with nearly five times the world average in carbon emissions. And whereas observing Earth Hour is important to think of ways to serve energy, year-round, and help reduce the carbon footprint for future generations. And whereas the City of Columbia challenges all local businesses, organizations, and individuals take part in Earth Hour on March 24th, 2018, at 8.30 p.m., to reduce the carbon emissions and the impact they have on the environment and our daily lives. And whereas all non-essential lighting in the City of Columbia City Hall, as well as all other public buildings, will be extinguished for one hour to conserve energy and raise awareness about global climate change as part of Earth Hour. Now, therefore, I, Steven Benjamin, Mayor of the City of Columbia, along with my fellow members of the City Council, do hereby proclaim Saturday, March 24th, 2018, between 8.30 and 9.30 p.m. as Earth Hour in the City of Columbia, and urge all our citizens, businesses, and organizations to participate in this event and to commit to actions to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions. There's so many different things that are happening all across the city, the city government, and also throughout the city with our private citizens and partners to recognize the role that we play in preserving our environment. A fantastic Department of Public Works has been, has helped lead this effort in so many different fronts here at the city. So, Robert, I'm not sure if you're your team, who's going to receive this? Mayor Pat? Sarah, we'll see this on behalf of our staff. I think we have Liz Norris, the AARP. Hey, ladies, I think you're out there somewhere. I'm so excited to have the leadership of the AARP. A State President, Ms. Liz Norris, and Ms. Lisa Marie Field, the Chair of the AARP, a trendy city advisory council, and Ms. Ann August. On the comment here as well. We have Ann August. All right, please. Executive Director for the Regional Transit Authority. Thank you for letting us come before you tonight because we really are here to present to you AARP and the World Health Organization entered into an agreement several years ago to really look at how are we helping cities age in a way? Let's put your microphone down just a tad bit. Better? Yeah, I think we moved it a little bit. Yeah, let's go. Even better. Yeah, even better. Lean in. Lean in. Lean in. Thank you. Thank you, Liz. Thank you. In and in a way for us to try and make sure that we, around the all cities in the United States, are really looking at how do we make sure as we build for the future that we are looking at it in terms of all ages? So those who are getting older, but everything that we do, we feel like if it's good for an 80-year-old, it's good for an eight-year-old as well when it comes to how you develop. So with that in mind, we came before you a few months ago to let you know we were enrolling in this process to become designated as an age-friendly city that has happened. We are now officially enrolled. And so tonight, we are here with this proclamation, and if I may, I'm just going to read it to you briefly. And it just says that this is to certify that the city of Columbia, South Carolina, and I'm going to add something. We are the first city in South Carolina to go after this designation. We've committed to becoming more age-friendly under the criteria established by AARP and the World Health Organization, and that we have now been accepted as a member of this network. So we will spend the next two years getting ourselves up and operating so that we will absolutely be able to be seen as a city that is age-friendly. Thank you all for being able to push this afford for us and with you. Well, thank you and thank you to the AARP. Many of you may not know, we spent a lot of time, particularly in the last year or so, with AARP. They provided technical support, some big picture of visionary support as we try to make ourselves an attractive place. We often talk about the creative class and millennials, and not often enough do we talk about the role that the experience class plays in making a city a very special place to live. So we're excited to be in the vanguard of cities in the first in South Carolina to receive this designation. Thank you so much. I'm not age-friendly yet. He's age-friendly. Let's go ahead and bring up Mr. Hank Chardos. Evan Chardos. Birthright. The children. How are you? This afternoon, a 22-year-old came to Birthright of Columbia for a pregnancy test. She has a four-year-old son. The pregnancy test was positive. And now she has two children with no birthfather support. Birthright is a pro-life emergency pregnancy service assisting moms who oftentimes are without a birthfather to help them and their baby. Services are free and confidential. The Birthright chapter here was formed by my wife and I 38 years ago. So for 38 years, I've been answering the phone and saying, hello, this is Birthright. It may help you. You all have a blue packet. I'm going to ask you if you could open it up. Because in the blue packet, one of the items, April 15th is usually designated as the, uh-oh, IRS day. But on April 15th this year, Birthright is going to be holding a baby shower that's hosted by USC nursing students. A very joyous day. The other thing that you have in your packet behind that is pink. So it's easy to distinguish. And I'm going to ask that you look at it because I'm going to read a little bit of it. It's a letter that is dated over a year ago from the mayor to Birthright of Columbia. It says, as the first city in the country to sign on them as a member of Birth 40 Coalition, Columbia is dedicated to taking the necessary steps to implement programs that will improve maternal and infant health in our state. If you jump down to the fourth paragraph, it says the mayor's office and square roots will work side by side to implement programs that will streamline the sharing and dissemination of best practices, innovative solutions, and current evidence-based research regarding how to improve maternal and infant health outcomes in Columbia, South Carolina. This program didn't come to Columbia. And so I come now to say the need because unplanned pregnancies affect all of us is beyond prevalent. And so I come to say a packet will be delivered to each of you that will ask for your support of implementing what has been looked at to help with regards to maternal and infant health in our city. So I thank Councilman Davis for an opportunity to be on the agenda. Any questions? The items that you all are needing for the baby shower those be new or slightly used? They can be slightly used because what they are, and I appreciate the question whether it be a sleeper, whether it be a gown, it's hope. That's what is received by those who come to the baby shower. And where can people donate? They can come to the birthright office. We're on Great Street downtown Columbia. It is an opportunity for there to be a connection between those who want to help and those who are needing help. Small little things go a long way. I do thank you for this time. I ask for your prayers. For the individual, the 22-year-old that came earlier today ask for prayers for the office volunteers to answer the phone and say, hello, this is birthright, may I help you? But especially help for those who don't know about birthright. And so that's why birth 40 has so much importance and impact in the city right here in Columbia. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Hank. To move on, I'll find out about my folks. Okay. All right, thank you. All right, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I would so move the resolution number R-2018-022, supporting the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, prompting the health and safety of women and girls and supporting their being affordable, equal, academic, economic, social, cultural, and business opportunities in the city of Columbia. Second. Second. Discussion? All right. Move the previous question. Or call the roll. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. McDowell. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mr. DeVine. Aye. Mr. Davies. Aye. Mayor Benjamin. Aye. Thank you. And Mr. Mayor, I was going to say, Janelle and members from the League of Women Voters are here, and I didn't know if you all wanted to say anything. Mr. Duvall, you had something to say? We won't hold that against you. Yeah, I always say you're front you're off. No, members, I'm president of the local League. As you know, violence against women and discrimination against women are still problems in our society. We just want to say thank you very much for taking this step. Absolutely. Thank you for all the League does. And thank you so much for all the work that the League of Women Voters does. Good, solid community work, not just here in Columbia, but across the state and country. So thank you. Thank you so much. I think this is, again, you, Ms. Duvine. Honour, I'm going to go on. May it please the court. That's my wife. Mr. Mayor and members of City Council, I would like to approve resolution number R-2018-026, approving the honorary naming, and we're going to adjust this, and I don't know the numbers of the blocks, but Robert will help me with this. But the renaming of King Street between Millwood and Preston, after the Judge Mildred W. McDuffie way. A second. Honour. All right, move the second. Any discussion? With a previous question, the court call around. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. McDowell. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mr. DeVine. Aye. Mr. Davis. Aye. Mayor Benjamin. Aye. Thank you. And Mr. Mayor, if I could just say, we do have a sign made up Judge McDuffie. Couldn't be with us this evening, but I will make sure that I deliver that to her. And those of you who know Judge McDuffie, she is a staunch supporter of the City of Columbia and the State of South Carolina, and she has served our city not just as a magistrate, but she has been the chair of the C-E-Z Inc., which will be celebrating 10 years next month. She has fought for equity throughout our city, and she is just an amazing woman, and she's a little bit under the weather right now, so I'll just ask that everybody keep her in your prayers. You're welcome. Thank you, Ms. DeMine. Mr. Palin. Our next item, number 31, is resolution number R, 2018-024, a resolution authorizing the issuance and sale of a not exceeding $3,125,000 general obligation bond anticipation note, series 2018-A, or such other appropriate series designation of City of Columbia, South Carolina. Fixing the... Is there a motion? Is there a second? Second. Just for clarification, you did say 3.1 million, not 300 million, correct? 3 million, 125,000. I just want to make sure I couldn't hear it. Thank you. Thank you. I was thinking big. Yeah. Clerk, call the roll. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. McDowell. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mr. Vine. Aye. Mr. Davis. Mayor Benjamin. Aye. All right, so we're a little bit ahead of schedule, y'all, when we... Move 35. I'm sorry. Go down to ordinance. Do you have something? 35, yeah, I was just going to... On 38, I was going to ask, is Sarah Shuebo or Brianne Grace here? Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, okay. They were here for 38, so I was going to ask to move that up if they were here so they didn't have to stay, but I don't see them, so... Yeah, did you have a moment to do some things? We can do 35. I don't know if you can. Just give us a few minutes at some point. Let's... Do you want to hit the last three? Sure, let's take up the last three items. Move to item 35. We'll take up the last three items and then we'll... We can't start the zoning public hearing until 7 p.m. sharp, y'all. So we got a few minutes before we can start that, and we're just about 10 minutes off. So when do we pick up? Item 35. All right. Ordinance number 2018-008, authorizing the city manager to execute a seventh amendment to lease between the city of Columbia and Old Boy properties, LLC, for property consisting of 100 plus or minus acres in Richland County, South Carolina. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? Seeing none, we'll move to the previous question. I'll call her all. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. Mcdowell. Mr. Gouffall. Aye. Mr. Vines. Aye. Mr. Davis. Aye. Mayor Benjamin. Aye. Item 36. Ordinance number 2018-009, granting encroachment to Central Midlands Transit Authority, the comet for the use of the right-of-way areas of the 5,500 block of Ring Road for the installation and maintenance of a bus shelter, sidewalk, court. So moved. And landscape. Second. This is that 5,590 Ring Road. Moving second. Any discussion? Move to the previous question. I'll call her all. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. Mcdowell. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mr. Vines. Aye. Mr. Davis. Aye. Mayor Benjamin. Aye. Item 37. Ordinance number 2018-011, granting an encroachment to Historic Columbia Foundation for the use of the right-of-way area of the 1,700 block of Henderson Street for the installation and maintenance of a wooden utility pole and conduit adjacent to 1,650. That motion. Move approval. So second. Second. Any discussion? Move to the previous question. I'll call her all. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. Mcdowell. Yes, sir. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mr. Vines. Aye. Mr. Davis. Mayor Benjamin. Aye. We'll take up 38. We're going to take up 38. And before we go, I think Brian is here. If y'all would come on up. Let's introduce everybody with you. Say everybody knows. Hi, I'm Sarah Greitach, one of the residents of Walk on My Avenue. I'm Bre Grace, a resident of Walk on My Avenue. And I'm Rachel Edwards, also a resident. And we would like speed bumps. But on our streets, we had a speed study last year that showed that we were getting cars going as fast as 60 miles per hour down our street at times. And lots of cars going in the 30 to 40 miles per hour at times when kids are walking to and from school. And speed limit is 25. The speed limit is 25. And these cars are just zipping down the street. We brought it to the neighborhood association last year and it was decided at the neighborhood association meeting last year that the residents of Walk on My Avenue would vote on this. And we went and collected signatures from the majority of residents of the street who supported it. We then turned that to the city. We got signatures. We've got speed bump placements back. And we've got approval from the majority of the residents on the street for the placement of the speed bumps. So I've got the signatures for those things here. And the neighborhood association wants to keep meeting to discuss over and over again. But we'd like it to be considered. And it's important to note that we didn't have these problems before speed bumps got placed on the street behind us about two years ago, three years ago. And they just still have. And that was not done through the neighborhood association. Mr. David is here as well. And I think Mr. DeVall heard from the neighborhood association who wanted once it held again. I guess I'd like to know from staff. My understanding of staff did do the study and recommended the speed bumps. Is that correct? We did the study. It showed that there were speeding on the road. The residents asked for it. And as far as we knew, there was neighborhood support for it. So this is just a disagree. Your study showed what? Significant speeding on that road. Okay. Mr. Davis, Mr. DeVall, Mr. McDowell. The basic question, it has not been submitted yet to DOT? This is not a DOT road, so we don't need their approval. It's our road. It's our road, yes. So it's our prerogative, unlike with DOT, to go ahead and approve it. Our data and research analysis showed us that cars do speed, so forth and so on. A couple more questions. And we're not in discussion, but we have a motion. I'm sure at some point. Mr. McDowell, please. Yeah, I think you're off air. It's ours, okay. Mr. DeVall. David, has there been an approval from the neighborhood association? I understand there's some controversy as to whether the neighborhood association is sponsoring. I have not received anything from the neighborhood. They actually met a week ago, two weeks ago. A week ago last Sunday. Have they asked you to wait until they give you an approval? That's my understanding from them, yes. And you have not received that approval? I have not. I would like to defer this until next month. Mr. Rickman, do you have input as well? Mr. DeVall. So just part of my concern, and I guess Mr. DeVall, I've not heard from the neighborhood association myself, but I've heard from the residents of Wacomall who are directly impacted by this. My understanding initially was that this was an association that did not meet on a regular basis. Did they have a meeting before our next month's meeting that they could take this up again? They did have a meeting. Unfortunately, there's only one resident of Wacomall that I know of that is currently a member of the neighborhood association. And part of the problem is that the neighborhood association meets once a year. The membership forms have not yet been put out for this year. And unfortunately, none of us were available when we heard the time of the meeting to go and present it to the neighborhood association again. So none of us were at the meeting. We don't know if it was discussed at the most recent meeting. I suspect it was not, since none of the residents that I know actually made it to the neighborhood association meeting, because most of them heard about it three days ahead of time and have not yet gotten forms to even pay to be a member this year. So my concern... It was approved last year. Yeah. So, Mr. DeVall, I would be okay with maybe an affirmative reach out and a discussion so that decision can be made, but waiting a year for the neighborhood association to meet I think is unrealistic. And so if the neighborhood association met, and I'm on that list, so I did get that email, and it said annual meeting. So they met last week. If they don't meet again for another year, we can't hold this up. Is there a motion? Well, I have no approval. Is there a second? Second. Further discussion? I move the previous question. Clerk Calderon. Mr. Rickerman. Mr. McDowell. Aye. Thank you. Mr. DeVall. No. Mr. Vine. Aye. Mr. Davis. Aye. Thank you. Thank you, ladies. You young people, this is democracy in progress. All right, guys, as the mayor mentioned, we cannot start before seven o'clock, so we have about four minutes. So if we would just stand at ease for a few minutes and we'll get started at seven. And yeah, I've got a 13 month old. I have a bunch of... You got your batteries, you got your timer, you got your lunch. What is this huge department? We're going to blaze through the agenda with the exception of 34. Of course, 32 is deferred, so we're going to 33. And this is hold 34 until the very end. Okay. All right. Ms. Hampton. You have a zoning math amendment this evening at 3319 Millwood Avenue. This is a request to rezone the parcel from PUDC to RS2. This is career high school. All right, guys, we have six pages of people who want to speak on this. And a few people downstairs, I'm sure have not yet had an opportunity to do so. So everyone obviously would be afforded the opportunity to speak at this public hearing. I've had the opportunity to talk to more of you than I'm sure who wanted to talk to me. And some of you who I've not really enjoyed talking to over the last several months. It was the consensus of this council that we would urge all interested parties, recognizing not just two interested parties, but several interested parties, but several interested parties to try and come to some resolution. And it's been very difficult to find that resolution. Obviously, there are a number of bodies that have to make approvals here. And I want to give you all a sense just in the interest of transparency, inclusion, just tell you exactly where I think everyone is without speaking, maybe to individual concerns. And then I'm going to put some thoughts on the table. And then I'm going to make a motion. And we're going to take it from there. We'll let council determine how we move forward today, because we will act today. And then we'll have another opportunity to act next month. And I will tell you that between today and April 17th, unless we see you at Church of the grocery store, or at work, or in the courtroom, we will not be seeing you here on this issue again anytime soon, okay? This will be dealt with with a degree of finality, at least before this body. The, we've been part and parcel of or witness to a number of discussions I had, face to face, some via email, some on social media, some in traditional media. And as we said this time last year, I don't believe that we're in any position where anyone is in the wrong. I think it's one of the rare situations that we've been able to contemplate here at council, where there are significant and competing interests, wanting our children to have the opportunity to have a full and rewarding education. Recognizing that education is not just academic, it is also extracurricular in a number of different ways. Incredible arts education. Receiving Rich in the One, I think the Drear arts education is second to none, I dare say, in this country. But also recognizing that the opportunity to participate in extracurricular athletics, the role that it plays in helping build the full student and the full student experience is also very important. And I am not convinced and neither is the vast majority of this council convinced that we've all done everything we possibly can to resolve this issue. That there is more time and opportunity for more discussion between tonight and April 17th, and we're willing to provide not only our time, meaning me and Mr. Rickenman, but also the resources and providing a mediator to help us work through these issues. But I want to read a brief statement so it's clear where we are. And again, I will tell you that there couldn't be a starker difference between what I expect we'll do here tonight and what could potentially happen on April 17th. We need to be convinced that there has truly been good faith effort by all interested parties and trying to come together and bring this community together. But it is city council's goal to facilitate the construction of practice fields that allow Drear students to thrive athletically and academically while protecting the quality of life of the adjacent neighborhoods. There appears to be general agreement between the school district and the neighborhood association leaders on the plan for the fields to help achieve this aim. The only thing lacking is a tool to assure the neighborhoods that the plan will be followed as the project proceeds. It's clear you understand that city council cannot, as a matter of law, make a rezoning conditional upon actions by either party. We can only vote up or down. So we're asking, again, the school district and the neighborhood representatives work together and we're going to invite to the table the leadership of the district, the leadership of Drear, the leadership of both the Melrose and the Heathwood neighborhood associations. I want the boosters there to represent the parents. It's probably a place for Shannon as well to be at the table. To come up with a plan to memorialize exactly what this will look like and also a way to deal with the evolving discussions that may happen over the next several years. So we're not going through this every single time. If there's an opportunity for you all to have a meeting of the minds, there's no need for the city planning commission or the Bozo or city council to be involved in this discussion. We do believe that it is in the interests of all the neighborhoods aforementioned and very much in the interests of Drear and most importantly in the interests of our students that Drear remains strong and thriving and continue to do the great things that's done for the city, the state, and this nation and indeed the world. So we're going to urge you to work together between now and the next meeting of council, which will be April 17th and will be again the time when we will deal with this matter with finality to develop a solution to memorialize the agreement between the parties in a binding form that's acceptable to all parties. As has been the case in the past, such a document can be submitted as evidence to the Board of Zoning Appeals in their deliberation for the required special exception. My anticipation is we'll probably be in this room, Daniel, or somewhere we can actually sit around the table and look at each other and we're going to work through this together. We're going to do this between now and April 17th. I want to ask everyone to come to the table in the spirit of collaboration and compromise and togetherness with our eyes focused on these young people having the academic experience that they deserve that helps them prepare to do the great things that we know God has in store for them. I will, at the appropriate time, unless someone just has to speak, I can make that motion now. I will move for first reading of the district's plan. I will tell you, well thank you, Mr. Duvall, I will tell you and I want to make sure that I lay the foundation properly that this first reading is just that, the first reading. We've got some serious ground to cover between now and April 17th because to say there's not unanimity amongst this body would be an understatement, a grave and gross understatement. Let's hammer through a plan. We will avoid the first week of April, which I know is spring break, but we will endeavor to all come around a table and work this out. Again, we will provide a talented and skilled mediator to work through what this looks like and that's all I got, guys. That's all I have. I do want to thank you all for the various contributions. I joked earlier about not wanting to hear from some more of you, but I will say that the thoughtful, insightful, passionate misses that we received in various forms have been appreciated. It's the way democracy is supposed to work. So, can we move the previous question? All right, I'll call her all. Ms. Devine, of course, has recused herself from participating in this matter. We still have the opportunity for anyone to be heard. I assure you, and we may have to make some type of exception next month. If someone wants to have their say then, they can also do it then, but it is a sense of the body that this is the proper action for the night. If you all feel or any of you feel that your voice is not represented by one of the specific parties we mentioned tonight, I would urge you to reach out to me and Mr. Rickenman and we will figure out how we deal with that moving forward. Yes, sir, Mr. Duvall. Some of the people might not understand that this does require an ordinance which takes two readings, so we're not delaying anything. It's going to take tonight and April the 17th to move whatever we do, so it's not a delaying tactic. We moved approval. We got the first reading, and again, I want to encourage the groups that I've reached, I've talked to, mentioned earlier. We got some ground to cover, some real ground to cover. Let's do it. We got less than 30 days to hammer it through. I suspect that Ms. Hampton will probably be designated to help pull everyone together, and we'll make it happen. We will not be offended if you don't want to stay the rest of the meeting. There's not a whole lot left. All right. Anyone got to speak tonight? If you don't have to speak tonight, then we'll be looking forward to talking to you a lot over the next few weeks. Yes, sir, Mr. McDowell. I want a personal privilege. I certainly want to thank each of you for being here tonight. It's not a win-win or lose-lose, but it's a time for us to gather around the table. And if we can gather around the table with an area of sensitivity, as our mayor moved us to do in terms of emotion, it provides us an opportunity to talk. Now, I think it's explicitly clear that some of us want to talk. Some of us want to listen. Some of what I read, you have not because you ask not. And it would seem to me that this motion and the acceptance of this motion gives us an opportunity to gather around the table with the same common menu so that we make this happen. Remember, April 17th is coming. There will be another vote. Let's make this real for communities. Let's make this real for our students. I had an opportunity to talk to some of our soccer students right over there. They didn't convince me, but they sure touched my heart. It's about them, but it's also about this city of ours and making sure that vision and that dream for our city holds up and stands clear as a beacon on the top of a hill. So the work is still yet to be done, and there's a lot to do. Let's move forward. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to take a couple minutes, and I want to thank the folks that I spoke with over the last couple of days. It's probably been some of the best conversations since this has started. I feel like I need to say that. I hope that we all can learn from this, and hopefully, as we're moving forward, I voted no tonight because I've been asking for an agreement because that's what we needed to do to bring harmony to this so that we can have a path moving forward that's clearly designed so that nobody's in this situation in the future. What we've seen on all sides is emotions, and unfortunately, sometimes our emotions get ahead of ourselves, but we have a great opportunity, and I hope we don't waste these next 30 days together where we can resolve this, and everybody can go on because for 14 years since 2003, there's been harmony, and we need to get back to that. So I hope that we'll all work together, and I thank y'all for coming tonight, and I appreciate the phone calls, the people I spoke into over the last night. I don't know where Michael is, but we've had some interesting conversations over the year, and we had a wonderful conversation today about how to move forward. So I would just ask that we continue to take that spirit and move forward. It's time to put Facebook and Twitter and all those fun items we'd like to use away and do it face to face. Thank you. We would not be offended if you guys went home right now, okay? We still have a little bit more of a meeting, so if you all could exit quietly, Ms. Hampton, if you would move forward. Again, y'all, thank you so much for being here. Y'all keep it down just a little bit so we can finish our meeting. Love the enthusiasm. Ms. Hampton, if you would move forward with item 34. Certainly. You have one final. It's annexation comprehensive map amendment and zoning map amendment at 2050 Wood Creek Farms Road. This is a request to annex, assign the land use classification of UEMF and a zoning of PUDR. I move approval of ordinance number 28,000. Is there anybody here to speak for or against item 34? Is anybody here to speak on this item? You might be lost in the crowd somewhere. I see none. Is there a motion? Move approval. It's been moved in property second. If any discussion? Seeing none, if the clerk will read the roll. Mr. Rickerman? Aye. Mr. McNally? Mr. Duvall? Aye. Ms. Devine? Aye. Mr. Davis? Aye. Thank you. That concludes your zoning public hearing. Thank you so much, Krista. Mr. Palin? Mr. Palin, uh-huh. Yep. Next item is consideration of matters discussed during the work session. Are there any issues? I have none for consideration. Next we have a committee reports. Mr. Mayor? Mr. Rickerman? We had an opportunity today to have a public safety meeting and I believe all of y'all were given a proposed ordinance. I would like for us to go ahead as a council move forward so that we can advertise, that we can hold public meetings, maybe even some workshops depending on what council members want to participate so that we can bring all the stakeholders in and begin the process to move forward on the extended hours. I think what you'll find that's been provided is a real change from what we had before and is really going to help us move forward. Now I say that with there's several other pieces that we need to address in this. And I think one of the things that we emphasize today too is that we need to take all our powers that we have to influence the state house and judicial system too about putting out with repeat offenders and and giving teeth to people carrying unlawful weapons. You know because this is a piece of violence that we can't tolerate. I think the other piece that we're going to have to look at is as we move forward with the comprehensive zoning too is looking at the different ways that we can address it so that we don't end up with a concentration area like we're seeing now and having things that are a little bit more spread out and a little more defined. So I think there are pieces that we're going to have to take in in in succession to this but I think we've we've made great strides and I believe what we have before us and obviously you know we'll hear from the public input gives the police department the ability to do what they need to do and also gives the folks who deserve to have that opportunity who have been in business for 20 years to stay in business. Thank you Mr. Rickman. So that's that's a motion or just to start in the process. I guess we have to approve the committee recommendation or set public hearing. They just referred it back to the full committee. We have to go ahead and schedule public hearings so they got to advertise. It's 15 days, 15 days. So I guess we'll set the public hearing for April 17th. April 17th. Works for me. Ms. Devine. I just wanted to add I know that when we took up this ordinance years ago there was some concern regarding the timing because of industry that is affected typically if we had a public hearing at this time then a lot of them would be working so I would just add or offer that we consider maybe more than one public hearing at two different times so that people who work could still come to an evening public meeting but those who are working at the time of our evening public meeting might come to a nine seven yeah two and seven yeah two p.m. and seven p.m. or two a.m. and seven p.m. you'd have to ask permission Howard. Tell Mr. Devon that two a.m. so he can be here at two a.m. but two p.m. and the seven p.m. public hearing so we can make sure. I think we'll get a lot done and the idea is to bring some of the stakeholders together first and have some workshops so that we can have some dialogue. I want to thank the Public Safety Committee for your work, look forward to digesting this and also having some feedback so establishing the public hearing for April 17th at two p.m. and at seven p.m. Miss. We have the budget matters that we'll be discussing at two p.m. during the work session so Howard. Still I think we'll just as we insert it on the agenda we'll insert it on the agenda we'll just plan just bring bring some snacks y'all we're going to muscle through April 17th all right thank you thank you very much all right now I know most of the folks who signed up to speak we're here to speak on the on the drear rezoning issue or anyone else who's not to speak at this time yes sir we do have an additional start stairs want to talk about how are you my name is Julia dreamy i'm the vice president of stocks terrorist community i've got a lot of our last meeting for explanation and i don't have one so i'm coming to city council for it it um it's in reference to your rezoning on um mason road and all that and i know all about that what i'm uh what she's seeking and i am seeking an explanation of one owner on bowling avenue got a letter one on homeowner which i'm a homeowner on bowling avenue too so this is what i'm seeking an explanation for can you hand that to miss hampton letter take a look at see we send letters to properties directly adjacent to the subject property so not all parcels necessarily on that street are directly adjacent to the property which it has to be right next to you have to be what does that mean this is your and to your rezoning of the property on mason road that we we notified property owners who whose property are next to the property that it's being that the request is coming so that you can be aware okay you could you could you could call me you could call me and boss me around like that like you have all these years yeah okay any other questions you have you call you call me directly and um all right just keep just keep your dottos off my tail all right okay thank you mr. lian anyone else sign up to speak who needs to speak now hey mr. rages you got come up here you playing musical musical chairs tonight because i've seen you in about three different spots in this room tonight that means that i'm enjoying you guys hey mr. rages i'm to speak for some of my neighbors who ride public transportation and not necessarily because they want to but because they have to um i have neighbors who do not own cars i have neighbors who i have physical disabilities i have neighbors who are near my age some of them a little older and they no longer drive um and they need public transportation but what happens or what has happened is that when the city and the county needed a penny tax they came to our neighborhoods they came to the other poor neighborhoods and i'm saying poor not so much that our neighborhood is poor but let's say um neighborhoods that are not um shandon since we just had a lot of shandon residents here are not um neighborhoods that are not as upscale as some others they came to our neighborhoods and they asked they came where the penny tax was used or needed they said um the communities who actually used the penny tax and who need the penny tax were asked to support it and they did they actually supported the penny tax you can check your tax records you can check your tax books and you'll see where that support came from uh communities where these communities were promised safe clean timely working public transportation if they supported that tax and when i say working i mean buses that ran through their neighborhoods okay now based on the commitment from the city based on that commitment and promise from the county these people supported it now because of certain budget requirements some of those buses have to be eliminated and guess where those buses are being eliminated from the very people and the very communities that need and use them 90 percent of the bus riders in the city of columbia and richland county are minority bus riders check your records the comet noses and if you check the records that are the roots that are being eliminated totally eliminated they're going straight through these neighborhoods people who use the bus um going from rosewood hills all the way down harden street to the cbs on the other side of richland memorial hospital the people who live there use the bus to go from one end to the other to visit people at the hospital to visit relatives to shop um to go to the hospital um but what has happened is that a buzzer for me yes ma'am all right okay but what i want you to know is that the people who actually need and use the buses are being um discriminated against that's not good we um i know you want to say something design divine we we got a very comprehensive report from the comet earlier today and that and actually got some um several questions and concerns asked and some that were addressed and some that that i think we're still going to get some more feedback on uh i'm not sure as as miss furge has had a chance to see the full presentation um by the comet if not i have okay well one thing about the um the report from comet is that the people who ride the bus have not been told yet yes ma'am about the elimination of routes through their neighborhood yeah people who ride the bus get off from work at 11 o'clock most of the buses that are being the times are being reduced to before 11 o'clock we have had to take some of our neighbors to work on the weekend already because their buses don't go through the neighborhood like they used to and there's something wrong with that if you have people who are working and who get off at 11 o'clock and the buses stop at 1045 or nine o'clock or eight o'clock there's something wrong with that people can't get to anywhere in this neighborhood because of that thanks miss rogers you're welcome thank you thank you is anyone else uh senate speaker yes i'm sorry can i just add one thing though um so one of the things that we did talk about today mrs furges was that um the the proposed changes are not set yet they are actually at the point where they're doing public hearings and so the comet is working to get the word out we will also push it out for our pio um and the writers association has already um met and gave input and so to your concern we we did ask that question but what we are also encouraging people and if you could share with the folks that you're talking about that are riding the bus that they need to come to the public hearings and make sure their voices are heard um thank you um mr vine my dear sweet niece but um did were you aware of the fact that this has been voted on because my dear sweet husband is on the board so i'm working against him too but i asked the questions specifically my understanding is it was it was voted to do the public hearings yes and but it has not been voted to approve the changes yes sorry thank you all all right thank you all all right there is a board member sitting yes okay that's all right i'm sorry admit hey adjourned mr yes sir it's your it's your your microphone okay you have six people talking at once yes sir please my name is walter durst i'm the vice president of the midlands transit writers association and from 2013 to 2015 i was the president um you can blame me if you want to but i was worked with a comet very closely to develop routes within the city and um i voted for the penny tax i worked hard to get the penny tax passed the midlands transit writers association was um formed um out of that work for the penny tax um to suggest that the comet is working to eliminate routes within a certain segment of the population district within the city is inaccurate and to me offensive um route the the route that they were referring to was route 22 which um goes from rosewood over to richland memorial hospital to suggest that um you won't be able to get to richland hospital is inaccurate because there are there's another route that will do that um i know that there has been some discussion regarding getting people to midlands tech in the on the weekends and because their the comet has has suggested to eliminate the crosstown bus 88 on weekends so someone has said how you're going to get to midlands tech on weekends there's two other bus routes that will go to midlands tech on weekends um you know from a point of personalness on this um we are a city of a lot of different people a lot of ethnicities um my parents taught me to treat everybody the same you know everybody here um you know may may come from a different background different education but i represent the middle and transit writers association because i believe that we are all one city and not little segments of cities you're supposed to say one columbia at that point which you meant you you meant i'm sorry we we agree mr deris we agree because let me just say i don't know if i have enough time to do this i probably not you'll hear it um my uh grandmother taught school in alabama she taught white kids in the morning and black kids in the afternoon the clan came along and burned across in their front yard they shot up their windows now this is around 1900 okay um my grandfather was the judge in the town and he put all the clansmen in jail which is very unpopular ever since then i've been taught treat everybody the same i am not a racist and i don't believe the comet it's a racist so i just asked that you you know take some other people's comments with a grain of salt thank you thank you thank you very much and yes sir and mr mcdowell just want to reiterate um something miss fergus said just a moment ago and that is uh we heard this detail report uh in detail uh in our work session but i think what i hear miss fergus saying and what is and what we talked about the question that i asked of course is how do you how do you get that word out the folk in the neighborhood and i think what miss august and members of the committee said was that there are going to be as tamika indicated miss divine there are going to be public hearings and i want reiterate that because that's going to be important in the life of the decisions that's going to be made because as i heard it today there were no decisions being made we're still tweaking it from what i understand we're still tweaking it and uh it's going to give us an opportunity for residents to voice their opinion that's what i thank you thank you thank you and obviously all of our comments and questions earlier at the work session on the record as well and i was happy with the depth of questioning and um just i got some work to do but i want to thank everyone for their leadership and and and input as well uh we have one more um citizen who sent to speak mr parker yes sir i'm the city council my name is dr d a dinner senior the president the president of the local organizing committee i'm here in columbia and the first thing i wanted to do was recognize our councilman sam davis uh for coming through with something that we've been having an issue with for a while which had to do with the utilities of the building that we used as a headquarters of 4910 um main street and uh councilman was able to pull his resources together and to help us out of a situation um that would have basically just shut us down because we wasn't able to we wouldn't have been able to serve the community as we do so that you'll know um exactly what we do uh we are a committee and an organizing committee that deals with the community based off of uh three points education treatment which deals with mental health and also um behavior modification and also redirection we deal strictly with our youth uh more than anything else um our young adults and our elderly or our elders are very important to us however our youth are the ones that our future is going to carry us along the reason why i'm coming to you today is basically to let you know who we are and what it is that we would like to do um in partnership with you uh we give ourselves and service um to our community um in in service for our elders so that they can help to translate their words into life as well as their teachings into actions and hopefully our youth will find joy through that in serving and living where we are um we also teach individuals to mirror their souls in their own presence as well as community so they'll know where they are and once they've come in the long road they ought to be going and so to us it's very important for us to be able to partner with the city council with the found mayor so that we can do some things for the community specifically our communities whether it's our african-american community and also those that are less fortunate because for whatever reason we always get lost in translation and so we want to be able to provide that media uh for us to be able to work together and we will be back um not just discussing issues and things that are wrong but also recognizing council members and others for what they do uh right and also to help the community um in the way that mr sam davis has done as well as others that are here in the room and so i want to just give give notice that we are here uh as a local organizing committee the loc that is better known as and again i'm the president and we have our second vice president um here as well and we will be back and we want to be able to partner with you to see what we can do for our community so the community doesn't have to be policed by others or we can actually police our would you say your name again for the record uh dr da denis all right thank you thank you dr denis thank you very much all right appreciate you all right um no one else who's not to speak um is um two announcements please make two announcements one is just a reminder that tomorrow is um together we can read we're celebrating 10 years and uh this year's book is the freedom ship of robert smalls each of you have a book in your boxes so do not leave here without your book um and i hope that you guys know which which um schools you're reading at but tomorrow we'll be all reading collectively in every single third rate class in richland one at nine a.m that's my first announcement and then the second announcement is saturday is the midlands heart walk and the city of columbia mr mayor i'm proud to announce that we have a team of last high chat 40 members strong that we'll be walking on as part of the city team on saturday morning but it is not too late for anyone to join us if you'd like to you can actually go to midlands heart walk and look for the city of columbia team and join us and meet us out um at colonial life arena at nine a.m on saturday and then after you lose some weight you can register it with way in columbia just one announcement mr mayor uh let me just announce to all of my colleagues and for those of you who are uh would like to participate jones mcdonald uh association is having our annual uh we hadn't done this in a long time on the 31st of march we're having a east of branch our east of branch uh that's at yeah drew on this what time 11 a.m we need you to come and be a part of this of this activity this is something we used to do some years ago and of course the help of the furges and the jones mcdonald family association we were able to get it going again and we certainly want to invite our colleagues to come and be a part of this of this uh this this informative activity all right thank you thank you is there motion to adjourn is there a second in discussion with a previous question clerk call the roll hi mr duval hi mr vine hi mr davis it's mayor benjamin all right have a good evening thank you