 Good evening. Good evening. I think there's a storm coming because it sure looks like a tornado's rolled through here No, this though. It's the mighty golden tornadoes to be correct Very excited to have y'all all here. I hear we have folks from the class of 1957 to 1974 is that correct? It's a pleasure to have y'all we got a What was that? 51 sorry, I'll back I'll back it up We got a couple items that we have to do first and then we'll get get to the mighty golden tornadoes Proclamation a lot of paperwork here tonight. We've called the meeting to order. I'd like Madam clerk, could you read the roll, please? Yes, sir. Mr. Taylor Here is Herbert here dr. Bussells mr. Brennan present mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall Attending may I recommend here? Thank you. We stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, please A pledge allegiance to the flag As we accustomed we start our meetings with a little Blessing and we're fortunate enough to have our own in-house Reverend so Reverend Ed McDowell will you please give us an invocation sure That is my head for your grace and mercy for peace that passes all understanding of the potential and possibilities That this gathering holds today We simply say thank you We thank you for the ability to assemble ourselves To rejoice to celebrate a School that has Legacy built into the fabric of the city of ours We simply ask that you continue to bless our city Those of us who sit around this table and particularly Those who are sitting there in this chamber today Bless us continue to nurture us Continue to allow your presence to hover over us We ask it We claim it in your name in every heart said so we're moving for the adoption general of the agenda We'd like to defer item 27 and item 28 and I Think those are the only two items that we want to defer this evening off the agenda So could I have a motion to adopt the agenda with these two changes? To move I got a Motion in a second madam Clark. Could you read the roll? I would note further record mayor that item 26, which is an event resolution was deferred on the revised agenda that went out Yeah on yesterday Thank You madam Clark. Thank You mr. Taylor Miss Herbert. Yes, dr. Bustles. Yes, mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall I Your recommend I thank you At this time we have an opportunity for anybody who would like to have public input on any agenda item They may speak now We also have a place at the end of the agenda for any general comments concerns or Ideas is there anybody who'd like to speak on any agenda item this before us Yes, miss Wiley How you doing today everybody I'm speaking on item six. Yes, ma'am The young lady called me yesterday and she said that she wanted to put a CBO women Deep in me before I get started CBO With a restaurant there and our neighborhood. We already got enough in our neighborhood the restaurant is fine but the thing with the Opio You know oil CBD CBD whatever, you know, she wants to put a vape shop there or CBD CBD With a restaurant and our neighborhood we having a meeting Thursday our neighborhood is against that we got enough already But I understand y'all going it through To make it city and it's County right now And I want to make sure that y'all know when these people come in our neighborhood They need to get in contact with us first Before you know you come in because we're not gonna have nothing that these neighbors don't want and they're against it they're against so we got enough as it is liquor stores those stores and These little party things that we got enough and it's only coming in two nine two three and four Areas and and we're not going for that So I told her she can come to our meeting Thursday and the people will tell her how they feel about it You know That's what I did when y'all come and do these things that you need to get in contact with the neighborhood We're trying to clean up our neighborhoods It's it's on that's the one of twenty nine oh eight. I mean oh five two knots row The old Miller store miller used to be a Miller's a Columbia store Yeah, and that picture that y'all show you last time. That was that other place on the side that was Miller I hope that's Jesus Christ That's called a direct dial Okay, what we'll probably do is pull it off the consent and bring it as a separate item because we need to get some Background from staff on it too. So yes, ma'am. Thank you very much. Yes, ma'am How you doing young lady I did speak with her yesterday and referenced what we did want to do from I mean with the building I'm from around that area. So I'm just not coming into the community We're coming into the community try to build up the community for as anybody know about two nights roll And I don't think miss wise completely know about CBD store And what's the benefits it can bring closely to the community that is around Not other store that they do have is a vape shop. We're nowhere near doing a vape shop We're gonna do a restaurant and a CBD store and I think it could benefit the community that the store is close to walking distance that they can get to the But I think you really don't understand the benefits and I will be to the meeting on Thursday to explain that to the board What type of restaurant? Cafe Well, we have a food truck now. We do bubble waffles But we're doing savory dishes. So you have chicken and waffles or what are we gonna have chicken waffles? What else can you say I like food? So I'm asking cuz I get hungry Well, right now we're doing Waffles with it's like a cornbread waffle We have macaroni cheese collard greens Smoked turkey and with puree on top or we have with seafood inside the waffle or steak and macaroni cheese Mm-hmm cornbread waffles that's something I haven't had yet. You got iced tea, too iced tea You got a little man Mr.. Mayor. Yes Can I move that we defer Acting on item number six until there is conversation with the community and we bring it back at our next scheduled meeting Yes, you can bring that motion. I thought the product what I want to do is take it off the consent Just so we could hear from staff to about Everything and then if you want to defer it at that point that be okay. Let's do it. Yes That will give that will give that will give miss Mac an opportunity to be in conversation with the community and of course To defer it until we get until we come back at our next meeting Thank you, ma'am Can I have a motion to approve the minutes of the council meeting from May 3rd 2022 so move mr.. Mayor Have a motion in a second madam clerk. Could you read the role mr. Taylor? Miss Herbert. Hi dr. Bussells. Hi mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall Mayor recommend Hi, thank you. Thank you Afternoon we are moving into a period of presentations the first being the golden tornadoes month Proclamation by the honorable Daniel J Rick them in mayor Whereas Booker T. Washington high school was a stellar during its many years of existence The alma mater was one of the pew schools in south carolina accredited by the southern association of colleges and schools For many years. It was the largest african-american school in the state and an important part of columbia's cultural life Whereas founded in 1916 booker t. Washington high school was the hub of the educational system for young african-americans in columbia It attracted students from all over the state booker t. Washington high Offered vigorous academic curriculum and extensive vocational education activities that range from a superb band A gospel choir to a highly competitive athletic teams Booker t. Washington high school produced thousands of graduates many of them who walked the halls of our alma mater Distinguished themselves in a variety of professional fields in communities across the country To preserve booker t. Washington High school's tradition of academics vocational athletic and cultural accidents resulted in the formation of the booker t. Washington foundation In the summer of 1974 Representatives from the panel in council and booker t. Washington alumni elected the first board of directors of the foundation The board committed to a two-fold purpose to preserve the rich history of booker t. Washington high school To enshrine the school's memorabilia Over the years the board has overseen the formation of an alumni association Individual classes involved in community outreach the creation of a scholarship program A heritage banquet the rival of the john work course And the establishment of a building fund this work comes to fruition during our annual heritage celebration in june The preservation of booker t. Washington high legacy thrives through the visionary leadership of the board of directors And its mighty golden tornado alumnus So whereas the the mighty golden tornado month would be an opportunity to remember Booker t. Washington high's impact on columbia and to celebrate the work of booker t. Washington Foundation that continues today So now and therefore I Daniel j. Rickman the mayor of columbia south carillon south carolina along with my fellow members of columbia city council Due by here proclaim that the city honors and recognizes the month of june as the mighty mighty golden tornadoes mark Mr. Addison you're gonna say a few words Yes, sir. Just a few This was a vision Of one our alumnus that came true today And I want to recognize him rock rake I'm Matthew Addison i'm the president of the alumna association. Yes, which i'm a proud member graduate 1962 and I hope you are as excited to see us as we are to see you and and you can tell by the All of the ones that we've got here today that we are serious about this business yet And we are passing on as you can see I got a few more grades. I had two years ago And as we are And as we pass on we want to leave a legacy that's still alive And that's one of the reasons we wanted where and we are happy to date that you made This month a month that will be long remember So before I close it, we just got one reading I'm gonna ask the president of the book of tea washington foundation Miss gloria board to come up and do a small reading for us if you don't mind and then we'll uh We'll present the proclamation and get a photo with everybody. Okay Good afternoon. Good evening I am gloria grand boy president of the book of tea washington high school foundation And on behalf of Our president emeritus Doris glint green Who is in the hospital right now? She fell and broke her arm and had surgery today But she wants to share this information And this message with you And if it wasn't we're not for doris we would not be here today because This was her dream and all of this came to fruition because of her desire to keep the book of tea washington legacy alive And so mr. Mayor and honorable council members No words can truly express our gratitude for this written document which honors and proclaims the historical significance and indelible legacy Of the phenomenal book of tea washington high school This afternoon you have propelled the foundation's mission of preserving the school's history for perpetuity Our motto is last we forget Two years from now in 2024 We the foundation and btw alumni association Will commemorate and celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the closing of the landmark btw Lest we forget We asked city council to support us in this endeavor as we remember btw was built in 1916 The first high school for african americans in columbia and richland county The second secondary high school Built for african americans in the state of south carolina Lest we forget And her request is that we stand And sing the alma mater Because this will tell you certainly we have not forgotten So let us stand let us sing We're gonna ask uh for sandra the lead is off Ed you got if you stand and you got to sing You know the words We're ready Not only was that beautiful beautiful Let's uh you want to do a photo up here with everybody Y'all are welcome to leave I think we have our next presentation ready as we're uh Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir, ma'am as the tornadoes are making their way out. Yes Thank you, ma'am. Recommend our next presentation is the 2022 tubing season update. Mr. Mike mayo executive director of palmetto outdoor I think he's trying to make his way in but uh, there's a storm warning going through the gallows there How are you Mike? You made where the hat podium absolutely, but I think we might all right. I think everybody can hear me now Uh Hey, everyone. My name is michael mayo. I'm with palmetto outdoor and the palmetto experience. I want to thank you for your time Thank you, mr. Mayor and council members for uh for letting me speak today um I'm here to uh for to do two things one to present a gift to the city But first uh quickly like just to uh to remind the city uh, what precious resource we here but have here in our backyard In 2006, um, I've been a white I've been a whitewater kayaker on the life My dad put me in a kayak when I was six years old tried to unsuccessfully drown me on the life Best thing you ever did for me gave me a great appreciation for the river and the river banks and along the way Uh learned a thing or two and I wanted to share that with uh with the community too. So in 2006 We opened up a small business with a 15 passenger van in 50, uh, whitewater tubes designed for the river We took that business if we did about 82 to one day. That was a good day Over time we grew that business to where we're putting down hundreds of people in one day Last year we put down six over 600 people in one day. We can easily put a thousands of people down in a weekend We have grown this business though all the way up until uh 2017 Where at which point, uh, we expanded from just being a little booth down by the river walk I bought a permanent location in columbia off of candy lane called the palmetto experience To provide that full experience where for instance a group from fort gordon is going to be coming up here next week They'll be joining us to do a team building exercise at our at our building Then have a catered lunch at which point they'll float down the river. We'll pick them up Take them back to their hotel. They'll eat at some restaurants and then go on their way Tourism is our business heads in beds We don't want uh hoteliers or restaurants to go back and say palmetto outdoor did this We want them to go back and tell the community that the recreational resources did this and that's what I like to point out Colombia is one of a handful of cities across the nation to have white water in their backyard To go enjoy white water you have to go to the mountains where there's one hotel and one restaurant But not here here in columbia have all the amenities to support recreational tourism There are other cities though like columbus georgia richmond virginia, washington dc That are also getting it right, but I challenge everyone to tell me what or I challenge anyone I've challenged myself to find out what makes our city the most unique city in the world And I'll tell you what it is It's the spanish moss because nowhere else in the world. Can you see spanish moss draped over rushing rapids? Tastes of the upstate and low country wrapped up here in one convenient package and again all the amenities to support recreational tourism Like I said in 2017 we expanded everything was going great and then kovat hit in 20 Going from 2019 into 2020 we were uncertain what our year was going to look like It turned out that recreational tourism is also a safe and viable investment Our bottom line grew 25 percent going from 2019 into 2020 still with some uncertainty going into 21 It grew another it grew 35 percent going from 2020 into 2021 Again putting hundreds if not thousands of people down the river So I always like to reinforce not only do we have a a unique gym white water in our backyard But we have the potential for growth Our supply chain broke down because of uh because of uh, kovat We had to then begin sourcing our own equipment So we are also proud to tell you that we manufacture not only our own tubes Which is what I present today is our double that came in last week We also have singles that I mean, they're the product of the tubing industry They're got an island cover mesh bottom women and youth really appreciate and uh, we also safety being number one We also now manufacture our own life jackets too. So not only did we get a bunch of tubes. We got 800 life jackets also um, but I am here to say We are very fortunate and I'm I'm very lucky to do what I do. I enjoy doing it We're here to get children outside the four walls to help them realize there's more life in video games and internet We invite you to come join us on the river and I wanted to come here. We're so excited about this double tube Can't say much more about it. You'll have to come try it out for yourself If you have any questions though, I'm here to also answer it Our trip basically is you're coming to the Jervais street bridge at which point you get on a shuttle bus We take you upstream to the riverbank zoo region We drop you off there and you float two and a half three hours back to your car back to the starting point That way when you're done, your car is there. You drive closer there. We grab the equipment. You're free to go Makes things real easy. Uh, thank you Mike thank you number one for what you do and and I've had some incredible experiences Through your company on the river It is a wonderful asset that we need to continue to develop and utilize and share It's part of our overall theme here at columbia. We keep telling about telling our story This is one of those stories we need to keep telling because it is an incredible experience I will tell you I know the one thing that we need to do for you and others is to build a Better entryway into the water and we've discussed that we're working on that And we'll definitely team up with you to talk about how we can make that part of the experience for all these out-of-town guests Much better Anybody have any comments or questions for mike? Mike No, I just take a second and share with everybody here because to me I think it's amazing More can more tubers come to the river here from other states than they do locally. Isn't that about correct? That is correct. Uh, I do apologize We were unable to get the demographics to you on or to get them to you on time But we do also every customer that floats down the river with us Fills out a waiver on the waivers of zip code. We take that bunch it into a computer system and it spits out a demographics for us Um, we're proud to say that over half of our business is coming from outside of a 50 mile radius 10 of our business comes from florida and out of that eight percent of them are making the trip up here solely to go tubing And that's what's impressive. It allows us to market into other areas like uh, ohio DC has been very popular We even call it the ohio corridor. We see individuals coming from you know, Cincinnati, columbus and uh The other one to lita. Yeah to lita, but uh, but they but we do yeah We see a lot of tourism coming from all over southeast two other quick points Um Just briefly let everybody know that while the tubing is great in the summer What do you do in the winter on our rivers? Just because We may not get you back in here when the weather comes Well, you know, I you know, I'll always be happy to come back anytime. Uh, but yeah, that's a great question. Uh, councilman taylor We are open year round. Uh, when we started we were a seasonal business But there's a resource nearby congress national park. Uh, it's a half hour drive from columbia Um, and what we have noticed when it comes to demographics on that park is none of our customers are from south carolina They're all all of them are from out of state. If not out of country So it's been an impressive demographic and what we've actually been able to do is now sustain year round operations Just based upon doing trips To congress national park Thank goodness for south carolina and the moderate climate that we have Majority about every day is a good day to be out there in the park But that that is a fabulous question and it's great to hear. Thank you We we're we're glad to hear that the support of the rivers because daniel you are an inspiration for this double, by the way Your trip is what led us to Customers feedback wanted one of these tubes that you would float it down with and we decided well if uh, if it's good enough for the Mayor it's good enough for us Let's get a bunch of them and mike I take it that middle piece is for a small child, right? Well, let's uh legal may not the mayor had a small child with him in the middle Legal may not appreciate this but uh, yeah as long as as long as the child's wearing a life jacket That is what's important to you're one of our ambassadors. I think this year for the area I just thank you for what you do and I I hope one day that we'll we'll get a sculpture made of that hat Put in the park out there as long as we can just have a another safe year on the river That's all I ask but that means a lot and again It really thank you for taking the time to listen to me. Uh, again, I've lived in this city all my life I've watched friends move away Um, maybe at one time for good reason but not now Now the city has something to really really uh to to promote and devalue. Yeah, and I would just add You know congratulations on becoming an ambassador for experience uh, columbia and you know, I Took advantage of tubing during covet when there was not much to do safely and we enjoyed it very much and Um, I would just share that you know There are a lot of young professionals that have been going on those trips as a part of the leadership columbia program As well as capture columbia and we received a lot of positive feedback About really take sometimes we take for granted how accessible our river is compared to a lot of other cities And so we appreciate your efforts to make it known that it's a very unique and treasured asset of our city So thank you for being here. Thank you so much. That means the world to me. Thank you Well, I always ask the question how much access is needed to the river more more I can certainly get you the hat but to get it to look like this requires one hard day of work in the rain And then it forms to you. Well, we can we can make that happen too. Hey a river trip would suffice. Thank you. Thank you Thank you, Mike. Thank you. Thank you very much Oh, and I do have uh, we do have passes and I'd love to get you all on the water. So anytime, please let me know Thank you That's gonna be our bonding this at the end of the summer Sunday afternoon That'll be our bonding. We'll we'll put ed the double tube No, you're not gonna get me on it period I appreciate the enthusiasm But that's too much water Thank y'all Thank you He's got canoes too now. Yeah I got dry land too Thank you, city manager Yes, sir, moving into your consent agenda items four and five and seven through 14 Is there a motion Now what do we do at item six? We held it go Motion is there a second second Is there any discussion questions concerns Hearing non-seeing none. Madam clerk. Could you read the roll, please? Mr. Taylor. Hi, miss harbert. Hi dr. Bussell's I mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall I May recommend I thank you For item number six you Can we have a motion on that deferral? Mr. McDowell. Yeah, I moved to defer it Meeting on the 17th. Yes. Is there a second? second Second Can you read the roll, please? Mr. Taylor Miss harbert. Hi dr. Bussell's I mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall I may recommend I Thank you moving into zoning and planning matters for first reading Item 15 is the annexation annexation interim comprehensive plan map amendment and interim Zoning map amendment for 12.59 acres the shot road extension Motion to approve I got a motion to approve. I've got a second. Is there any discussion? Seeing none hearing none. Madam clerk. Could you read the roll, please mr. Taylor or miss harbert. Hi dr. Bussell's I mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall I may recommend I Item 16 is an annexation interim comprehensive plan map amendment and interim zoning map amendment for 83 25 old Percival road Is there a motion? Is there a second? Hearing any discussion Seeing none hearing none. Madam clerk. Could you read the roll? Yes, mr. Taylor. Hi miss harbert. Hi dr. Bussell's I mr. Brennan Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall I may recommend I Thank you. At this time we will move into our budget public hearing for the fiscal year 2022 2023 proposed budget and the ordinance first reading will start with the proposed budget presentation Miss missy kaufman budget program management and grants director will come forward to assist Jeff and I will also participate as needed and For the new members of council each year we do Something a little bit different Maybe a budget open house at times where we've had different departments set up down in the gallery downstairs We've done a a budget in brief a notebook Which we probably still going to eventually put that together this year has been a little bit different as we're transitioning with the new Council and we do have a narrative before you that we would love for you to utilize with your constituents And we will also go through the presentation and answer any questions. You may have at this time Thank you, miss wilson. Good afternoon everyone. Good afternoon mayor and city council Thank you. It's good to be here today to present to you the f y 2022 2023 proposed budget for the city of colombia As the as the budget is being presented We we like to try to highlight those things that are of significance to city council That are also significant items in the budget one that we have mentioned and Prior conversations is that this budget is prepared with a no property tax increase There's also no tax rate increases In water and sewer or in other areas So this budget is reflective of no no increase in rates or fees We also want to point out where we've made specific investments in city council objectives In this case, we're highlighting areas of safe communities As you all have been discussing city council is considering a competitive pay plan for the police department as we know recruitment and retention for police Has been a challenge and so this pay plan will help to Incorporate and be able to help recruit and retain our police positions We also have included a planned upgrade of our body one cameras and the Interconnected system of our body one cameras To the tune of this year's budget reflects about a 400 thousand dollars The total budget is about 1.1 for that project However, we do have a grant for this first year of about 700 thousand To help offset some of that initial cost for that project We'll also be completing the the rollout of the citywide Camera system upgrade that is in progress. It is due to be online in the I think september october time frame And that is also reflected in the budget for this coming year of 1.7 million And then of course accreditation renewal for our 9-1-1 emergency communication center and our fire department I'd also point out that's not mentioned here is that the fire department will be going through a renewal process of their iso Which is the insurance ratings Systems in this coming year as well Iso the city's iso is one Which is the highest rating that can be achieved that translates to our community to our citizens to our residents as a Savings on their insurance premiums Next organizational effectiveness and investing in city employees and city services and customer services Making sure our departments have the resources that they need to be able to provide services every day And to operate a clean safe and financially sound city is is key to this city council and to the city manager As we know there's a number of increases coming through just in operational increases with regards to gas and fuel I mean electricity and fuel We have also noted That we do have a number of departments in the general fund specifically that have Some maintenance and repair projects to various city facilities as well as Our parks and city buildings. These are non capital items that tuned to about 400 000 We are also Transitioning continuing to transition to our no kill shelter That includes to be able some best practices That includes additional vaccines as well as some Treatments for the animals when they are coming into the shelter police facilities As the police department has added on additional facilities this year to finish out Remaining outfit and furniture is included in this budget for 75 000 Some additional police and crime scene and other specialized items for 150 And then fire and extraction and safety equipment is about 200 000 So that's just highlighting a few things in the general fund with regards to helping make sure our departments have their The resources needed to provide services The continuation of the capital emplacement program The general fund reflects a nine million dollar capital lease program that is a that we used for annually for Replacement vehicles and heavy equipment It's about 119 different vehicles and a ladder truck that's included in that in that cost this year As we move on again, we'll be walking through the water and sewer capital improvement program our Our storm drain program as well as our parking capital improvement program And also pointing out a couple of restructures of our economic development department where we have Streamline to focus on business recruitment and retention initiatives to promote a business friendly environment And lastly pointing out communications with regards to centralization of existing resources To focus on citywide marketing communications and social media platforms Consistency and branding and marketing Those are just a few of the highlights across the city in terms of areas where we have been able to consolidate some services As well as highlight certain areas that are of of importance into this council and our city manager The overall proposed budget for fiscal year 2022-23 is 391 million This encompasses the operating funds of general fund water and sewer storm water parking Accommodations tax and hospitality tax of course, um water and sewer makes up about 48 percent of that total budget and general fund is second with 42 percent Next our capital improvement program is 52 proposed at 52 million this year, which reflects 13 million for water capital improvement programs 27 for wastewater capital improvement programs 11 million for storm drain and parking isn't included at one with wastewater being the largest portion of that capital improvement program Just highlighting a few things about the city services in terms of the numbers of what What this budget actually covers The city by the number if you will There's a variety of different information and pieces of data about city operations city facilities and city programs First we'll move through the general fund budget. The general fund proposed budget is 164 million 810,594 That's a projected increase of 9.2 million Six percent over the current year as I pointed out briefly just a moment ago a few highlights of items that are included in that budget That make up that 9.2 million increase Revenues are projected at 141 million the cities the general fund majority of our revenues in the general fund come from property taxes and licenses and permits Make up that collectively they make up over well over 50 percent of the total budget of revenues How much is the property tax collection dollar wise the property tax budget revenue is Hold on just one second Is 62.9 million Missy Yes, sir How much of that property tax is paid by the local auction sales tax? Um, I believe the number is around 29 million but can confirm for you That's that's a good belief I'm sorry. What was I heard didn't hear the last piece Your number was correct. That's very close. Okay. Thank you Next uh transfers in total 22.9 million. This is an increase of about 700 Thousand or three and a half percent over the current year This budget does include an allocation of three million from fund balance as well as two million from american rescue plan funds Additional revenue highlights just pointing out different things about the general fund revenue specifically um again just graphically about Um showing how much of our budget revenues come from property taxes Which is right at um 38% Licenses and permits make up the other portion overall. We're seeing a slight increase across all of our different revenue streams For a total increase in revenues of 8.4 million of our total revenue missy Let me ask you a question about licenses and permits. Yes, business licenses Now that we have to meet the state format for business licenses is the projection for business license revenue Where do we think that's going to fall? So because I've had a lot of folks come up and ask me about I used to pay $11 for my license now Um and again that is that is a state a state format that we have to follow right correct What I'll answer in two parts first part of the reason for the increase of 10 percent in the budget of property law of business license is really to the fact that when last year's budget again was Lower than normal expectations because we were still in covet So part of the increase is just being able to adjust back to what's more realistic or more normal normal recommendations I'll get jeff to confirm, but i'm um pretty certain that the implementation of the business license module from the state Does leaves us revenue neutral. It is not it is not um, it's not One or the other I think in either way I think across the board some folks are paying more some are paying less Right a new approach. Okay, but overall there's not a rate increase included or any kind of an increase is included in that Implementation great. Thank you. Finally just pointing out transfers in um highlighting of our total revenues Our revenue of our total budget revenues are transfers in that account for about 14 percent of our total budget The transfer from water and sewer is 4.1 million That's inclusive of all of the water and sewer fund. Yes, sir To the general fund How about other funds? I don't think water and sewer water and sewer only transfers to the general fund and then to the capital capital improvement program for water and sewer Moving on to general fund expenditures the um information On the slide is a couple of different items. One is just showing our um general fund budget by different categories and we just group different um Functions for ease of of reporting or or or charting here So public safety, of course, makes up the majority of the city's general fund of the 164 million dollar budget 75.7 million Is the uh is recognized as public safety. It's right at 49 of the total general fund budget um following behind that would be the um Uh public works general government and public um parks and recreation making up the majority of the total budget I've also included um information about the what makes of the city's budget by different categories Of course, the budget is also within and is grouped by personnel services, which is staff salaries fringes and so forth um operating expenses, which would include those things that are are um professional services electricity things that are paid outside of the department Service expenses would be supplies and consumables capital outlays would be those things such as vehicles or heavy equipment or um Tools that are over $5,000 We also have debt service and non-departmental I know there's been a question to ask about how much of our personnel services is for fringes 38 of the of the personnel budget is for fringes Which makes up about 24 percent of the total budget in the general fund The general fund probably has the largest portion of personnel services in comparison to um other categories Can y'all make sure you speak in the mics so people listening at home can hear it. Thank you Yes, sir Talk to me a little bit about the development services and planning That would be the department of planning and development services planning zoning And at full point not 4.1 percent represent An increase is that correct of about 140,000. I can't hear of about 140,000. I'm sorry Okay, my next question comes under General services Yeah, general General services. I see a 19.7 percent increase General government Talk to me a little bit about that So that reflects a couple of different adjustments across That reflects several different departments that includes the legislative or mayor's office includes central administration includes our hr department public relations finance it Legal and legal, right? So part of that is the shifting of some services from other departments into Into What's now a department that's in general in sport in general government for instance public relations So staffing that was shifted into public relations Part of that would be here Some other is just reflection of of other operating increases. I think there's some Some technology additions for the city clerk's office Is that percentage is that percentage we see the percentage from 20 22 and 23 to increase in 23 Well comparatively what has been the percentage say in 21? Do we have those figures? I could find that out for you, sir I'd like to know please Thank you And that will also give and show us the percentage of increase for 2021 Is that right? Yes, sir. You really need to look at pre-covid those 20 and 21 Are coveted here. So we're gonna have some different numbers. So they're probably gonna be lower Oh, yes, sir. It's gonna be lower Just comparatively just want to look at that right and then one of the things that I didn't point out earlier was Across all the departments Is an annualized 3 cost of living that went into effect this past january That was at that's now annualized in this coming year's budget Just for informational purposes Yes, sir pointing out again some additional information with regards to the general fund budget Focus on addressing blight nuisance enforcement and neighborhood improvement sweeps. That would be the addition of of staffing for code enforcement. That's three additional positions as well as The operating cost for those three new physicians to be able to help address Blight and nuisance Enforcement technology enhancements. Um, as mentioned, uh, city services application Parts recreation is also expanding their use of our city works system Which is for remote work order management and inventory process That's used in our utility departments and our public works departments in other areas So as we continue to expand on the use of that application across other departments This will help them to be able to do some remote work order processing in the field We see how quickly do you think the city citizen service applications will I don't know an answer of that implementation I have not been told of a project timeline, but I don't think that it is a lengthy process So I think most of it's just going to matter of getting into the budget season and being able to get it procured It's created and vendors are We have vendors in mind. I think there is some some of those things already in progress. Yes, sir We can get you a timeline Of course recruitment and retention of employees another part of what's analyzed in this budget is The increase of of the um minimum hourly rate that was adjusted earlier this year whenever we were doing Doing efforts to help recruit and retain employees. So the increase of the hourly minimum hourly rate to 1450 an hour So that's also impacting. Of course the general fund departments several some general fund departments Um, lastly just pointing out only because it hasn't been referenced in a while Is that we do have some funding for community promotions? These would be grants that we would issue more through a notice of funds available With direction from city council in terms of guidance in terms of areas of focus Of how you would want to be able to to program those type of dollars We'll come back to you in a in a future budget workshop to discuss that process And I just for clarity did we decide on is it just going to be one that's for neighborhoods? Or did we decide on having a note for for serve like programs that folks want? That's part of our workshop pro Okay Since we have the workshop we're going to narrow that down, but we wanted to go ahead and have a placeholder. Okay, got you Next just pointing out the city's general funds capital replacement program is mentioned. This is our capital replacement for vehicles and heavy equipment a total of 120 pieces of equipment and vehicles Which includes a ladder truck. So that's a total of nine million dollars across different general fund departments And this does not include some of the Our um replacements being made through the American rescue plan, right? No, ma'am. Okay Next moving into our water and sewer operating fund Proposed budget of 185 million This budget is an increase of 2.4 million over the current year or about 1 percent Over the current year budget The proposed rating. There is no proposed rate increases mentioned Revenues reflect moderate growth and assume normal consumption levels across our current users Water sales make up approximately 64 percent of the total Water and sewer fund revenue streams expenditure wise the the um operating budget reflects operating departments of 104 million Which is a 2.5 million increase or 3 percent over the current year budget The operating budget includes continued provision of essential services Making sure that we are meeting our regulatory compliance with our permitting for water and sewer services Helping to continue to make improvements in our customer service areas Appropriate staffing level, but also the use of contract contractors to address potential service areas and gaps Staff is definitely making efforts to be able to Incorporate use of contractors Where where appropriate Overall out of the total 185 million dollar budget debt service makes up 48 million of the total budget That is not issuing any new debt. That's existing debt and is debt service schedules based on the current debt service schedule Trent transfer yeah, mr. Mayor. Yes, sir Mr. Mayor while we're talking about the water and sewer budget I just wanted to be on the record of saying I think we're making a mistake by not having a Modest increase in the water sewer rates. We are in a period of great inflation that is causing All the normal cost cost of our operations to be increased They've already told us that the cost of some of the chemicals have doubled In the last a few months and you look at the cost of the gas to operate all those things So I think that if you don't do a modest increase this year, you're going to be looking at a much higher increase And then in the near future You also got a The iso inspection coming up Water services is a big part of iso And the iso rating is one of the things that impacts our citizens more than anything else that we do as a city government It's about a 20 reduction Every time you come down a notch in iso and we are right now at one It's going to be important for us to have the capability to maintain that one Are you going to see a 20 increase in your your? insurance program I also worry about the the capital improvement plan the capital improvement plan Used to be has been 120 million dollars a year I think we're going down to 40 million dollars this year That might be the number But it's it's a big drop in what we Normally putting out to take care of the problems that like belvedere and everything else that that come up $4 million that we put into belvedere to take care of the brown water situation over there Is fresh in my mind as being an important expenditure We you cannot operate these major utilities and this is the largest municipal utility in the state of south carolina Without keeping up with the cost of doing business And I think that once we get into the budget year We need to go back and look at the financing available To columbia water to see if we're providing them with the tools necessary to Do the job Another expense that we're talking about is doing something about the taste and odor problem caused by the algae That's not going to be cheap if we want to put some infrastructure in to take care of that There's no way Say again, I said The algae problem in a multi-million is not there's multiple solutions for that other way. So, you know, that's that that I agree, you know, you're we're taking all your information down, but I don't I don't believe all of it is is accurate Well, I think it's fairly accurate I'd like to see some numbers and you may have some insight into some vendors that come in and provide us with a Cheaper alternative, but as far as doing business, I think it's going to cost money And we got to be careful to provide the resources necessary to keep columbia water The best municipal utility in the state So just pointing rounding up the water and sewer expenditures Utilities department include is the largest consumer of the water and sewer operating budget Which includes the operations of two water plants our wastewater plant as well as our maintenance divisions our compliance And other other functions of our utilities department The transfers out total 29.7 million of that 29 million 22 is cash to the capital improvement program For water and sewer capital improvements Next we'll move on to our storm water program This budget is 16.11 million It's an increase of a little over three percent or less than right right at five hundred thousand dollars over the current year budget the Of course the the primary source of the storm water budget include is from the storm water fee This would have been the fifth year of a rate increase We have suspended that Fifth year of the rate increase for storm water this year as we continue to evaluate sort of where we are with cash And future projects and where we are with the overall capital improvement program missy yes Just for clarification. I wanted to mention. I did how it was kind of muffled and I didn't get all of what he was saying The simple fact is We got a cip of 40 million dollars 2023 is that correct? For water and sewer is correct. Yes, sir And I hear how it's saying 120 million I didn't understand that I believe its reference was to the fact that in prior years our capital improvement program for water and sewer has been 120 million And exactly. Yes all right Yeah, I'll also have to recognize in the discussion that we also Took some opportunity to take care of the public during the The pandemic which created a 14 million dollar deficit And also reduced amount in sales and not any new growth So this this budget reflects what it takes for us to operate this system effectively efficiently Without an increase at this point still taking care of the the issues that we need at this point Moving on with the storm water budget expenditures The storm water fund of course includes the functions and departments of that that help maintain our storm water system Which includes public works engine and engineering primarily Overall the operating department's budget is 7.8 million, which is a little more than 5 increase over the current year debt service is right at 2.4 2.5 million Again is based on existing debt and existing debt schedule for payments Transfers out total 5.7 million of which 5 million is for the storm water capital improvement program Which we'll talk a little about a little bit in going forward Moving on to parking fund our parking fund budget is 10.2 million this reflects the An increase as basic it's a little flat really compared to current year in terms of revenues Because the current year budget we had utilized american rescue plan funds as a part of the budget And this budget does not reflect any use of american rescue plan funds. This is based on revenues of the system which we are Seeing much more activity that is closer to pre-pandemic activity in our parking systems you can see parking meters and parking garages or parking decks and lots make up the Majority of the total budget we have utilized 1 million from the parking fund fund balance in order to Approve funds for a capital improvement program in our parking system parking fund Expenditures Is for operations of the parking system? Which include our parking Operations department and our support services or parking facilities The parking operations Budget is a little more than 260 thousand dollars increase over current year And the operations Does include the addition of two additional parking decks that are scheduled to be open This fiscal year Debt service is three million and again that's based on existing debt This is not issuing of any new debt based on the current debt service schedules and again transfer 500,000 dollars to the general fund which is the same as current year levels Moving into our capital improvement program Our capital improvement program this year includes program improvements for water system our wastewater system storm water and parking Versus drinking water the total proposed capital improvement program is 13 million of which 62 of those projects are attributed to water quality projects And then 19 is for our water treatment plant improvements You can see again. I think we all know our water and sewer system Exceeds well beyond the city's corporate limits and covers A much broader area so you can see system system improvements throughout the entire system Our wastewater improvement program is proposed at 27 million 61 of those projects are attributed to capacity and 12 percent are attributed to Rehabilitation of the system. There's four percent and therefore the wastewater treatment plant Which is different various plant improvements at our at metro wastewater And again our wastewater system exceeds our city limits. So of course these Projects are system-wide Moving on to our storm water. I noticed mr. Brennan didn't say anything about the water quality and the rosewood project That was down there for three million. He was awfully quiet over there. I just want to make sure he saw that Lots more work to do that out. We'll make sure to highlight those things in our final documents And storm water the storm water program is just within city limits. It does have a proposed capital improvement program of 11 million Um Of course highlighting several of those different projects in our in our storm water program and they're in our different watersheds So to just to clarify and this may be Clamp with this the pin branch. This finishes that project, right all the way to lake catherine Thank you And for our parking system our parking system Capital improvement program is one million dollars Which includes replacement of elevators at two of our parking garages As well as exterior painting and stucco repair at two additional parking garages. There's also additional maintenance and operating Work in the operating budget for parking facilities. It's not capital Capitalized items. So they were reflected in the they are operating expenses But they are towards capital maintenance. They are towards our maintenance of our facilities Wrapping up we'll move into special revenues, which is our hospitality tax fund and accommodations tax funds The hospitality tax budget is budgeted at 12.7 million Which is an increase of 2.7 over the current year and accommodations tax is 2.6 million With the hospitality tax budgets our hospitality tax fund This is a 27 increase over the current year budget and i know we've heard this a lot This budget again is adjusted to reflect more pre-pandemic levels and based on activity that we are seeing in actual collections of hospitality tax Which thankfully are Much more robust than what we had initially projected a year ago when we were still pretty much pretty much Projecting without a lot of the information we would normally have to be able to make our revenue projections and forecast So we are in line with pretend pre-pandemic levels of growth between three to four percent and as closer to actual collections, we also Did not include any use of american rescue plans in this proposed budget expenditure wise City council has already allocated three million dollars of this proposed budget for the hospitality tax committee They have are holding their first of three day meetings starting today. So they are meeting now as we speak um The remaining 3.5 allocation is available for some additional city council initiatives that have yet to be determined Uh transfer to the general fund is remaining at the current year levels of 3.7 and debt service is based on 2.5 million Again, that's not new debt. That's based on existing debt service schedules the accommodations tax budget is 2.6 million again, that's a um It's a significant increase percentage rise over the current year budget And in particular this this uh funding stream The way the collections come in they come in every quarter. So we are um Always sort of lagging behind however revenue collections from the prior year As well as revenue collections through this year are showing much more pre-pandemic levels So we do have a 2.6 million dollar projected budget It's an increase of 1.1. But it's again in in line with pre-pandemic levels expenditures for the accommodations tax fund are based on state law Um 25 000 uh directly goes to the general fund We have five percent that is available for general purpose of which 40 000 we have included as part of the community promotion grants to be determined The other is available for allocations that it's pending for city council consideration The committee has available uh 2.5 million dollars that committee has also met in those allocation recommendations will be coming forthcoming to city council for review and approval Those allocations are also based on state law which it determines 65 for tourism and 30 for marketing and promotion for tourism And that concludes the proposed budget for fiscal year 2022-23 for the city of colombia For our operating budgets and our cap on improvement programs. We certainly do appreciate Your all of your attention and um time that you've dedicated to the budget this year. It's been quite a bit We still have a lot more to learn a lot more to do but looking forward to it. And if you have any questions, we are Glad to be able to answer them for you Any questions from council stage? I know we've been through a lot of Yeah, just to run down on the schedule moving forward for the public sure So today is public hearing and first reading of the budget On june 21st will be your second reading of the budget. And that's the final reading of the budget Of course, we implement our uh first day fiscal year is july 1 And i've submitted a list of questions to the city manager. I just sometime between now and 21st would like to Review those You have a question sir. I'm sorry. I didn't hear you so I submitted a list of questions Yes, sir. I just sometime between now and the 21st. I'd like to be able to review those with sure We tried to answer some of them today, but yes, sir, of course And I do still have some concerns An escalation of 400 employees during the next year when we When we have worked pretty good this year to to knock down water Work order mounts and things like that. I just again just want to put that on the record is having Having a question about that. Thank you. Mr. Taylor anyone else and I mean just a point of clarification That was actually I know one of mr. Taylor's questions. So we did try to provide the staffing report again updated it Um, so it really be more like 328 employees for next fiscal year The 400 is reflective of the vacancies that are in the budget from May So going forward we've we've reduced 52 eliminated 52 positions. So if you take that number from the 400 vacancies, of course that vacancy number fluctuates every day Um, we're at around 328 And that also addresses that net number From cpt look at a 400 number on the sheet, but I mean even 300. I still Causes me just some consternation that that Well, I realized that our our staff could be heroic at times but And 300 is a pretty significant number I think it's at this point I think we'll get some updated numbers from the manager and then continue to to massage this Budget as we like to say over over the period here This is our best shot at it. I don't know that the numbers will change Now in the the second reading, but I'm happy to answer further questions about it Yeah, I think my point was to just understanding because I haven't seen the the latest list from what y'all have Okay Ms. Herbert, did you have something? I'm sorry. I thought I saw your hand I see some mystery. Yeah, just a word of thanks I know it's been a long, tenuous process Um, we've grown weary But I think we've got something To kind of go with our first reading Thank you all so much you missy city manager and the rest of the staff Uh, it's been a long process But I think the long process has helped us each one of us develop our own understanding of what Zero base budgets What that is how that works? So thank you all For your time and your talents We're not through yet But at least we've got to the first base Thank you all so much. Thank you. It's been time well spent Ma'am Time well spent Thank you Thank you Mayor recommend are you prepared to move forward with item 18? The reading of the ordinance or the budget? Yes, so A motion to To adopt ordinance 2022 Dash 052 to raise the revenue and adopt the budget of the city of columbia South carolina fiscal year ending june 30th 2023. Is there a second? I Hear the clerk was right. I guess we should ask for any public input being that it was a public hearing Yeah, I think it's because we had a thanks throwing me off here as we had the presentation done under the public hearing as well when it should have been in separate Is there anybody here that would like to speak on behalf of the budget? Raj, you're more the welcome to come to the podium, sir Without alert The podium's yours, sir It's good to be with y'all Good to see you down. Thank you for coming to the festival about three weeks ago and A couple of people I got to know them More now because I don't know them. I didn't know them before I'm just here to say thank you for city of columbia support for the coloma international festival I've been volunteering for this event for 27 years And I've been a resident of columbia for 46 So I lived here more than any other place in the world and we're a very multicultural multi lingual Multi ethnic all the diversity you can find any place else in the world Our big cities in this country. We find them in columbia, south carolina I think about 200 nationalities represent right here in the central south columbia especially in columbia And I think this festival is very much needed for our city Because it defines who we are as a city I there's I can't think of any other event That defines us as a city so diverse than columbia international festival And also For all immigrant population matter of last 400 years We all came from someplace I know reading about your bio a little bit, you know second generation swedish and All of us came from someplace I guess Dr. Brussels and so I think we're proud to be an american from different heritage And my wife is a canadian so So it's good to be here. Mr. Taylor. Thank you for all the work you have done for the state of south columbia economic development He knows more than anybody else Seven percent of all the employment In our state is created by the manufacturing companies by foreign inflated companies At one time it may have changed but South columbia has the largest State in the country that attracts foreign investments than any other state in the continental usa except hawai That may be still true that it may have changed But we are about the leading state I will give two examples before I quit. Okay. I was just coming over the festival this past event And I said two usc professors Who were there and we were just chatting and then One of the men said in now, you know what? We came to columbia Because of the festival I just couldn't believe it. I said nobody ever told me a story like that But then his wife was standing across from him and she told him To tell the story she told me she came to when the u.s. Recourse people They show the city and what it is. She thought about the columbia international festival He said that's what brought her here Because she grew up in a city there's a lot of diversity there when she saw the festival She said this is it. I want to go here. It was a true story. Just I heard it Another quick thing and somebody called me from Florence And said we're looking from something international. They work for handa So people come to columbia because of the diversity we have And thank you for your support. I think uh last statement would be City can completely sustain the festival. Okay Because of the event it is for the city The amount of hospitality tax 25 percent of all the Hospitality tax are collected by ethnic restaurants and people who serve the ethnic foods. That's a lot of them I tried to do some research not too long ago It could be changed now, but thank you No time buzzing. Okay. Thank you. Dr. Miller. It was a great. It was a great event I gained to think about five or six pounds while I was there, but other than that it was a wonderful event Thank you so much. I saw several of you there including mr. I would do Not to learn I know you were there. I saw you What was the final count participants probably close to 15,000 much 1515 Because it was still under the pandemic And that's a great number. I think we usually have a 20,000 people come in a normal year The Saturday rain did hurt us I have All texted me. He said I'm sitting in my car I can't get out by the time I get in I'll be wet. So I'm going home He came back on Sunday Your work is Your work is very appreciative In the city of in this city of ours Thank you so much for what you do and the energy You put in to making this event an international Event Thank you, sir. This is my volunteer time of giving back to the community By doing this event just bringing the people together in this damn time. We need it most of the effort in the past Thank you so much. Thank you, sir Is there anyone else who'd like to speak? Good afternoon. It's Tracy. It's an awesome under civic law Better known as green view community. I'm representing today And I see Safe communities in the budget They complete roll out a city security cam system Cameras will not stop gun violence We need to keep them engaged from three o'clock to eight o'clock to prevent them for engaging with people Who create now have For gun violence in this budget Write something clearly addressing Gun violence. I see 64 police cars Being replaced Police officers always short. That's a lot of cars Except that's short-handed right now alleviate Gun violence In green view In columbia Have a good day. Do something. Thank you Thank you for your comments. As you know, uh gun violence is we are funding multiple Programs not only through our police department, but our parks department Along with an office of gun prevention that we'll be rolling out later on along with some announcements of different grants And efforts that we're working in our community. So we're doing a lot, but this is a community issue and an issue that needs to be Partnershiped by all folks. That means parents. That means community leaders. That means churches the social guardrails have been lifted And we need to bring them back up. Um, this is not just a law enforcement. This is not just a government issue This is a citywide issue and so we'll continue to work together We look forward to working with you and the other folks in the neighborhoods To continue to make an effort to prevent gun violence. Thank you. I may want to Clarify the issue on the cars police cars I think that those are actually important assets for our officers to have so Not that we are putting Cars over people But those help our guys patrol better. Um, and it's something that helps them in their service So just want to make sure that you didn't think that that was we're putting My cars over the issue, but it will really help the officers If they have individual cars Thank you. Is there anyone else? So we'll entertain a motion to approve ordinance number 2022-052 To raise the revenue adopt the budget of the city of columbia, south carolina for the fiscal year ending june 30 2023 I have a motion. Is there a second? second Howard second Any more discussion? I know that we're continuing to gravitate on information and clarify a few items before june Before the june 21st meeting and and we'll continue to work together on on getting that as we have in the past. Thank you Madam clerk, could you read the roll, please? Mr. Taylor Let me say i'm pleased that there's no tap There's no uh, no tax Rays, there's no fee raise and unlike howard. I'm tickled that there's no water rate increase I vote yes with some reservations based on the questions Mr. Herbert, dr. Bussells. Yes Mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall I May I recommend? I Thank you all Ordinance's first reading in item 19 is ordinance number 2022 032 Granting and encroachment to huge senate hotel associates llc I have a motion. Is there a second? I have a motion and a second. Is there any discussions? Any concerns not hearing none seeing none. Madam clerk, could you read the roll, please? Mr. Taylor. Oh, mr. Herbert Dr. Bussells. I mr. Brennan Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall I May I recommend? I item 20 ordinance number 2022 049 granting an encroachment to 1813 main street llc for the use of the right-of-way area of the 1800 block of main street I have a motion. Is there a second? I have a second. Is there any discussion? Seeing none hearing none. Madam clerk, could you read the roll, please? Mr. Taylor. Uh, mr. Herbert I dr. Bussells. I mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall I may recommend I Item 21 ordinance number 2022 054 Authorizing the city manager to execute an amendment to the deed between the city of colombia as the grand tour and Teollc grantee for the sale of 9.9 acres being known as parcel c north south of barrel road in richland county Is there a motion? Got a motion and a second any discussion? Seeing none hearing none. Madam clerk, could you read the roll, please? Mr. Taylor. I mr. Herbert I dr. Bussells. I mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall I may recommend I Item 22 ordinance number 2022 058 Authorizing the city manager to execute a quick claim deed with reservation of easement from the city of colombia to chitwit development llc for an approximately point two seven seven acre undedicated Mr. Mayor Got a motion and a second any discussion seeing none hearing none. Madam clerk, could you read the roll, please mr. Taylor Mr. Herbert. I dr. Bussells. I mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall I may recommend I Item 23 ordinance number 2022 059 amending the 1998 Code of ordinances of the city of colombia south Carolina chapter 20 I have a motion to approve in a second any discussion Seeing none hearing none. Madam clerk, could you read the roll, please mr. Taylor Ms. Herbert. I dr. Bussells. I mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall I may recommend gladly Mr. Mayor could point of order, please. Yes, sir. Let me say thank you to the economic development community development committee and to our staff at our water department and the city manager For too long. I think we've been unfair to small businesses And how we did with expansion fees for existing water service And I think this is a great equalizer and I think it will do What it will do for for five points in downtown downtown is multiplied for what it will do In north main and two nitrode and broader I think this saves start-up businesses sometimes as much as 30 35 thousand dollars of dead cost And again, I think this is a great step forward. The mayor's called the press conference for monday I hope everybody will be there when we'll we'll detail even more Pro business make it easier for our small business to grow and succeed here Anybody else have any comments? I just want to say, you know, this is one of the things that that we heard about a lot from smaller businesses trying to make investments across our community and Excited that we were able to get to this point and and move this hurdle as I would refer to it out of the way and really allow us for the For folks who want to make an investment here who are first starting off really to have a Chance without such a great hurdle to move forward. So thank everybody economic development Team that worked so hard on it. I really appreciate all that y'all did. Thank you We want to also thank you all for your leadership in this regard and I would note I mean, obviously here it's amending the code as it is currently written Which references a sewer plant expansion fee the new name that's in your backup materials is the sewer capacity fee So that will be the new title. Thank you very much Thank you Resolutions item 24 is resolution number r 2020 to 045 amending resolution number r 2022 0 0 5 approving and ratifying mutual aid agreements between the city of columbia and the city of columbia police department and various law enforcement agencies and authorizing the city manager of the city of columbia and the chief of police of the city of columbia To execute all such agreements to add the u.s. Immigration and customs enforcement homeland security Investigations to the list of agencies Have a motion to have a second. I have a second any discussions questions um I always really appreciate the the aid from all the different law enforcement agencies Unfortunately, we've had to use their aid several times this past year and um, you know They really did an incredible job of supporting us with enthusiasm and being there for us and Um, I really do appreciate all those other agencies that support our chief and our public safety We have a motion and a second. Madam clerk. Could you read the roll, please? Ms. Herbert. Hi, dr. Bussells. Hi, mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall I may recommend I Item 25 is another Um related item to 23 and the wonderful work being done Coming out of the economic and community development committee Resolution number r 2022 048 amending resolution number r 2020 015 adopting city of columbia fat oils and grease the fog forgivable loan program Is there a motion Have a motion. Is there a second second and there's a second any discussion Hearing none seeing none. Madam clerk. Could you read the roll, please? Mr. Taylor. Hi, mr. Herbert. Hi dr. Bussells. Hi mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall Hi May I recommend gladly don't put an order on this one too. This is another One that really will benefit small businesses here Historically, we've only limited our our program to local businesses and this opens it up to all businesses I mean if you're going to make investments here And you're going to create jobs here. We want everybody to it and city manager wilson We're working towards even making a better program that Is more of a rebate program that would let us do more and have And actually have no net new physical impact to the city. So I mean, I think all these things that we're working on again Clint and the and the staff there has been a huge help Councilman harbert councilman Brennan on the committee I think you said when you got elected you wanted to make darn sure we were open for business and And I think we're all working hard to make that happen again. This I think For for small businesses and new businesses It just makes it easier and better to open here than other places Thank y'all All right, moving into our appointment period item 29 May I have a point of personal privilege? You may reverend mcdow. Thank you I don't I just want to commend our chief uh, the last few meetings With persons in our community referencing gun violence Has been very fruitful the information has been thoughtful You and other members of your staff has acted in a very fiduciary way To talk through some of the issues that some members of our City brought to your attention and of course to the sheriff and the solicitor So I want to just say a word of thanks for the ability and the openness To hear what they had to say and to respond to in kind And in a way that uh, hopefully will lead to some Resolutional kinds of efforts To decrease gun violence within our city. So chief. Thank you very much for your willingness to do that Yes, sir Thank you. Yes, sir The first appointment is the columbia tree and appearance commission. They are currently two at large vacancies And um, ashley is here to assist you also have on your appointments today the food policy committee With one vacancy I would move forth to Two nominees patrick mclean from district three And juliana and i'm gonna butcher this because i'm terrible defrice. Is that correct? From district one For the tree tree in appearance committee a question Um, ashley did I see an email that there was three open vacancies? I think although it was three also Three vacancies but the third is for an architect or engineer and none of the applicants meet that qualification The third will what now ashley for an architect or engineer And none of the applicants meet that qualification I believe one is an attorney one Might be another but none of them are architect engineers. So that's why we put the two at large positions up When's the next round of openings? for um Currently, I guess the only other position would be the architect engineer Just want to come up and I can look back at the vacant list of vacancies. I'd like mr. Cox to stay his application to stay Who's application mr. Cox johnston cox Okay, mr. Three. We've got an application on file. Yes, sir one of the three I'm yielding to the mayor for the uh, mr. McLean. I mean if you Yeah, I'm open. I'm happy. Yeah, he's very interested. Um, he's uh, approached me many times about um, and I don't think he's a second yet No, I haven't gotten a second yet. So I would draw my major in mclean Yeah, I'm happy to do that I would draw my motion And I would make the motion that we elect mr. McLean and mr. Cox Second There's this motion with a second any discussion second So with that madame clark, could you read the roll, please? Mr. Taylor. Ah, mr. Herbert. Hi dr. Bustle. Hi, mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell. Yes, mr. Duvall I May recommend I point of order Miss Mr. Erica, and I were talking earlier today Mr. Mayor on appointments And one of the things that uh, that I would like to recommend After is is to take our committees And have mr. Erica kind of look to see which of our council committees Uh are more applicable applicable to each one And then and then assign those committees to be reviewed by the by the individual committee So that we can again in some cases look and see if we've got If we put in occupational restrictions on things that we can't do Maybe if the committee, you know, there's committees out there that have non voting members That committees have decided to make voting members just a general review over and and and in some Cases we may have committees that may no longer be be applicable But let you know just assign them over the course of then sometime between now and the end of september You know each of our standing committees that's assigned it would make a recommendation back to council I thought we'd already done that Didn't we as if we assume that in the stand if we did Uh, they're sure there's some issues there. I mean we're running the issues with we had it Excuse me. We had a discussion about that and maybe in the last meeting about Looking at the requirements for certain qualifications like an architect or certain certain things on some of the committees One or two of them are required by state law But if they're not required by state law, I agree with you, mr. Taylor We need to remove the Specification on our local community. That's right. It's just it's just a cursory review and a recommendation back to council That I you know that I think make can make this thing a whole lot easier I was just going to suggest maybe Administrative policy committee to review them my only concern about dividing them up is then you're going to come out Maybe with some more hodgepodge, but if it goes through one committee At least they'll know that they'll be looking they'll have like a consistent idea of what they want to do with all of them It's on that's just my end I think we can refer it at the proper time on the agenda The mayor just told us to move on that's what he just He just told us to move on um so now Madam city manager. We had the food policy I would I would move forth deca smith the director of sustainable midlands as a nominee second So I have a a nominee in a second any discussion Hearing none seeing none. Madam clerk. Could you read the roll? Ms. Herbert. Hi dr. Bussells. Hi mr. Brennan. Yes mr. McDowell Mr. Duvall Mayor rickamon. Hi. Thank you. Thank you Other matters item 31 Council has asked you approve traffic calming measures for the Earlwood neighborhood to include four four-way stops and a neighborhood-wide speed limit of 25 miles per hour With the exception of river drive and sunset drive as requested by the earlwood community citizens organization I would like To move forward with the four-way stops But I would ask the neighborhood to hold off on the speed limit of 25 miles an hour as we're going to discuss here At item 33 neighborhood slow zones where we're going to look at some different speed Recommendations calming and so forth for neighborhoods and school and entertainment districts I'm amending this to to go ahead and approve the four-way stop but hold off on the city-wide I mean the neighborhood-wide 25 mile speed limit until we can Discuss the neighborhood slow zone Mr. Mayor Yes, I just had I don't because I have I don't know anything about it is Is it just a deferral of that issue or will it prevent them from being able to get it? No, it will actually be a lower number Okay, it will provide their outcome. Okay. Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir any of these connector roads No, okay. No connector roads So I have a motion on the table there a second Second Madam clerk, could you read the roll, please? Mr. Taylor. All right. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussells Mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell Mr. Duvall All right, ma'am recommend. Aye At this time I've placed before you a city manager's report Has it has become customary for me to provide one at least once a month That's what I'm trying to do here This time I want to focus on the activities. I think inherent in some of the ongoing conversation as a community as a state as a nation regarding Violence is you know, the city's role where we can play a part With the services we provide and certainly through parts and recreation Which is a service we provide We want to focus on quality summer activities and I do believe our staff has done a phenomenal job Even streamlining what we were able to do coming out of the pandemic and staffing up With some very worthwhile programming for youth this summer and families So before you which I think many of you have already seen I know miss her bird and um In particular has worked with our public relations staff on a youth services guide for the summer that encompasses more Even than what the city does but to make sure we're pushing the information And the message to families so that they are able to um Look out there and see what's available to keep our young people busy And I really appreciate a c.m. Simons and parts and recreation director Davis for sharing this information again So that city council can have it handy So i'm excited to share this Information on the various summer programs and activities for our youth from ages five through 18 beginning uh yesterday The youth of teens ages five through 16 will be able to enjoy summer camps specialty camps for golf tennis sports and outdoor adventure Teens ages 13 through 18 will be able to enjoy prime time in the parks late night activities which include Parties in the parks game nights and sporting events and kids of all ages will be able to enjoy movie nights and select parts Including laurek pine herds hyatt and page ellington park one of our newest parts In addition to the planned summer programs and activities parts and recreation will collaborate with several organizations Including the columbia police department serve and connect and the university of south carolina and of course Registration is ongoing open and available online at parts and rec dot columbia s c dot gov Or in person at the parks administration building located at 11 11 recreation drive Or call 803 545 3100 for more information And of course council you are already familiar with the summer programs and activities They're included in the report at a glance for you The various opportunities Really excited about those Um another part of the update for today includes a columbia water update Um as we all have been trying to communicate with our citizens Uh, particularly that are served by the canal water treatment plant that we continue to work to address the taste and odor problems Due to elevated levels of geosman a byproduct of algae in the broad river Changes in this treatment process that we're undergoing include sampling in the plant Every day and along the canal and we're just going to continue to push the message to make sure Everyone understands What's going on a lot of outreach to keep our community and citizens informed And our customers of course all of this continues to occur daily If you have any questions right now on that situation and clint is available to ask or give any more detailed Information. I know they met with black and vege Um, I think as recent as yesterday They're just continuing to explore all options To address the concern and we just continue to reiterate that it is not harmful in any way to the public But it is a nuisance and we we acknowledge that Any questions specifically do we have enough date? Do you like to share? I think it'd be helpful or frank because we're continuing to to monitor and work with folks You know to let them know and share information. I think yes, sir Thank you, mayor. I'm going to just have a few general comments and ask frank to give us a few more specifics As he's been closest to it in this past week or so that we've been Battling some unprecedented levels of geosman in the broad river in our in our canal as well It appears that the The taste and odor causing compound, which is geosman. It's a naturally occurring Byproduct is coming from the broad river itself So we're not seeing elevated levels or growth of the taste and odor compound causing compounds Within the columbia canal within our reservoir within our treatment process We're seeing them coming into our canal from the broad river as well So it's not unusual for us as a water utility or really for any water utility to have Seasonal taste and odor causing compounds in their source water That happens. It happens to us on occasion We adjust our treatment process and our customers never know the difference and that's what we want, right? And so we have a conventional treatment process both at lake murray and at our canal water treatment plant When we use the term unprecedented levels, we're seeing over 10 times The level that we've ever recorded in our canal water treatment plant or in the broad river So we've got a treatment system of adding powder diatomic carbon that has served us very well for a little over 20 years But again, we've got a new data point now that we've we've never seen levels that's high In 30 years, I think I heard from from someone that since we've had an event like this or 40 and We didn't measure the levels back then. We didn't have the technology to We measure now and we've been tracking data since 2006 Whenever the the testing became a little more readily available for us. So again, really really unprecedented levels This is a regional issue our friends at across the river also We've spoken with them this week and as well as last week and they're experiencing issues We're working with dehec. They were at our facility today. They've been doing some testing Upstream as well to help define the magnitude of the problem and and help us frame that as well And thankfully we're we're not seeing any of the harmful algal blooms that give you some of the dermatitis If you're in contact with the source water or it could create public health problems We're seeing incredibly low levels. They are nothing of concern So clint, I wanted to talk about that a little bit based on some of the engagement with constituents and I appreciate Frank's rapid updates. It's very helpful and as someone who loves science I've been reading a lot about geosmen and learning and Seeing our numbers be upwards of 100 when typically it's around four or five is pretty Pretty alarming. I think that there is some confusion in the public about the The harms the harms associated with the algae bloom as opposed to the naturally occurring substance that generates from that That's already present in our water So anything that we can do to continue to communicate that it's not the blooms themselves that we are tasting rather it's The you know the the chemical that comes out of that or the compound that comes out of that I think will be especially important and I appreciate you all you know Really continuing to listen and understand that while we've remedied a lot of the situations we were dealing with around water And customer service that's still something in the back of people's head And I really want to make sure that this isn't a Point where we continue to lose some folks and help them really understand that we're doing everything that we can And sometimes people just want to be heard so as much information as we can give and I know some other cities across the US have dealt with this as well, maybe modeling some of their best practices on Making it easy to understand is something that I really recommend as we come towards a solution Hopefully soon and that would be my big question is when people ask what's the timeline? What can we get what what answer can we give them? Frank will speak to some of the specifics that we're we're changes that we're making to the treatment process, but We're really At the mercy of the source water coming in to some degree the changes that we're making are going to Knock the edge off of things a bit and we're going to see some improvement We're going to work with the best professionals that are out there We've got folks coming in on thursday from bling green technologies and Scientists from israel bringing in technology to look at how to control the algae And and also the some of the modifications we're doing we think it's going to take a little while to get that For them to the effectiveness to show up as the water works through our treatment plant and then through our distribution system But we're hoping in the next few days We'll see a break, but again, we're largely dependent on The source water coming in and what those levels are and trying to remove as much as we can and be as effective as we possibly can We've been meeting and talking to the best experts in the industry To and we've got a lot of in-house expertise, but we brought in that extra consulting expertise and are doing that again on thursday, so Being transparent with our customers. We've seen our call volume Drops significantly just based on the outreach that we've been doing the the media Contact that we've had we've done multiple interviews. So I believe that's being effective But to your point we will absolutely look at best practices and how to how to communicate those messages I want our customers and I want y'all as our elected officials to know that that we're doing everything possible with the tools that we have And we're also enhancing our capabilities as we move forward To try to address this we're communicating as best we can We're being transparent and we want our customers know the water is safe to drink. We understand That it can be objectionable But it is safe if they chill the water if they add a little bit of citrus to it That helps knock the edge off and reduce that flavor and it's very Person to person specific as to how objectionable it is each of our noses were amazing creatures We sense things a little bit differently But geosman is one of those compounds that is detectable at very very low levels. So we're dealing with something that's it's pretty difficult I want to thank our staff. They're working very hard. They're texting updates. They're out I'm doing the things that frank's got him doing right now. So i'm going to ask him to To give a few more details of what we're doing and then we'll we'll see if you have any other questions Mayor counsel miss wilson. Thank you for your time the Church that we just handed out or for your reference The 11 by 17 shows you what the different levels have been at the canal plant since 2006 This helps explain when I say it's unprecedented We're dealing with the numbers on the far right-hand side The eight and a half by 11 just shows you what we've been dealing with since the end of april and I think i've mentioned to you before that when we went home for the memorial day holiday The geosman and our finished water was below four And we thought the problem was over And before we could get back to work the next week. We were off the charts so algae is a is a very particular thing it takes perfect conditions for it to grow and we've had perfect conditions for it to grow this spring in the broad river and We're seeing that now in the testing that we do I'd be happy to answer any questions clint actually did a beautiful job covering what we're doing The the latest efforts that you and you and I may not have talked about as much We're adding our copper sulfate feed in the treatment process near the our raw water intake We are working to move our carbon feed from one spot to another so it'll be more effective I don't want to take you too deep into the treatment process But if you have questions about that i'd be happy to try to discuss that with you as clint said we're trying to Treat this problem as best we can against the backdrop of providing safe drinking water To communicate what we're doing so that people will understand what's going on And then doing everything that we can think of at any given time To to deal with this because we know how inconvenient it is for our customers Frank my understanding is that an upstream occurrence is what loosened a lot of this algae up and sent it our way I know that Folks in west columbia and casey and other folks have been talking about it. I know they had some effect I think it probably came to us in a lot larger dose based on where we're located on the river And the canal as we continue to move through this process You know, I know timelines are important and we're treating it I know we had a real great uptick and then we had a drop and then we had another uptick What are you seeing the levels at now? Are we seeing it where it's starting to levelize out so that it's getting down to more manageable? Or are you still seeing spikes? well, the Latest numbers are still high and that's been part of the frustration is the lag between taking a sample and getting the results We're still waiting on results from samples. We took yesterday morning So we'll we'll be sharing those numbers just as soon as we get them My my limited experience in the columbia area Tells me that the broad river has been very low this spring Okay, I mean it hasn't even been going over the diversion dam for much of the spring Which means what the broad river has been more a lake than a river We had some releases from a hydroelectric dam upstream That kind of brought heavy flows through the broad in our area over the holiday weekend We we believe my belief is because that's 24 river miles upstream That it was what was in the broad just in our immediate area that kind of got washed into Where we pull our water and that's why west columbia and casey And we all saw the same thing at the same time um We just need the flows in the broad to pick up because algae does not like moving water So at this point, I mean based on a release, shouldn't they be pulsating out releases now to keep that flow going at this point? Are we I mean is somebody communicating with them? Yes, we talked with them this week and um Their releases are based on rain that occurs in the upstate because the broad river basin is enormous Even into north carolina So They're they're watching the rainfall in the upstate We we're thinking about more what's happening here, but they're operating their hydroelectric based on what they see coming into their dam so We just need to see normal flows in the broad river We one option that we would like to be able to exercise is to flush the canal Well, the broad river is so low right now can't even we can't really get a good flush on the canal. So Like I said the conditions for what we're dealing with Are perfect in the wrong way But hopefully that'll change in the meantime. We're going to continue to do everything we can To get this so it doesn't bother our customers as much Frank when when conditions stabilize and we move forward from this Is d-head going to continue to try and pinpoint exactly what happened? With with this with this bloom Whether it was local or it was up in monticello Any follow-up going to continue? Yeah, I don't know how much more research they plan to do on the broad because this is such a rare problem I mean it just We've been preparing for taste and odor At lake murray. Okay That that's where we've experienced it in the past They they kind of leave leave it up to us to investigate They did however and it was a great help to us. They did research They did some testing to prove that we're not dealing with a harmful algal bloom That produced toxins. So that's very that's very important for our customers to know that water's safe but over such a long period of time To have the broad not have this problem Plus we are moving forward with plans to repair the canal Which will repair the hydro facility When we have our new raw water intake on the broad We'll be able to pull water from moving water Once we have that in place So once once those those two improvements are made which are in the works and are going to happen It it will make this situation even more rare for us at the canal plant All right. Thank you. All right, I do There's some great technologies And patents and and proprietary treatment processes that other folks Had a chance to speak to several mayors in georgia and in florida who have dealt with this too And it's not a reoccurring. I know I got an email from constituent that you know Wanted us to put in this treatment system that they read about the problem is is those treatment systems If you're not operating them all the time and don't have a need from all the time They end up not working when you need them because they need to operate on a constant It's a million dollars But I do think some of the the things that maybe is this we're going through and able to get more information from some of these Scientists about using these different ways to to treat the algae because obviously We're having to kill all the algae and the reality is we want to keep some algae because a good algae kills The bad algae that keeps our system going And so looking at some of these these patents and other things that folks are doing that have worked I think are going to help us protect ourselves in the future and be prepared but You know having something 10 times A normal amount is is is not something we see all the time Mayor to that point, um, you know in our in our 10 year outlook Um, and it's well out at year 10 We had looked at a a treatment technology and planned for that both at lake murray and canal that would Help address taste taste notary issues, but also help us address other Potential issues that may be on the horizon We haven't pulled the trigger on that because as you said it's multiple tens of millions of dollars of investment And we just haven't had the need to do that yet This is a new data point We want to explore the source water treatment options those types of things because those are far more economical And can be far more effective at addressing specific problems like this before we Make a huge investment. So we've been very strategic yet not doing that yet There may come a time where there's a Compound or that it's unregulated now that the science develops that we may need to add that type of technology in the future We've been very strategic at not spending that money yet because it's something that we simply haven't needed today So we're going to leave no stone unturned to try to Figure out ways to be prepared for this the next time it happens and to minimize what's happening now Any other questions? Thank you for your patience with that Thank you. That was very important for us to put the time in for some clarifications and steps forward Additionally on my update regarding columbia water they continue to Work on the repairs of water distribution lines Utilizing contract labor and they're continuing at a really good pace of approximately 100 repair sites per month Reducing our backlog of work orders with the water distribution line. So that's good progress Also success in filling empty positions within water distribution continues as 11 positions are being filled from recent hiring activity Leaving only four budgeted positions and water distribution maintenance left to fill next fiscal year Waste water management has four new employees starting this month to address staffing shortages And we're seeing three or four new applicants per week and are approaching the budgeted staffing that we anticipate for next fiscal year as well the customer care effort is Continuing at a good pace as well The staff continues to do a great job at managing the call volume and maintaining a relatively low wait time for our customers is a big difference from Several months ago. So we appreciate council's input as we've turned the corner for may the call center handle 372 chats 21,555 calls Excuse me 862 emails 2,115 pieces of mail And processed 2,569 contracts the average wait time for calls handle was three minutes and 10 seconds. It's a huge improvement We're working to fill 13 vacancies and are proceeding with the training of four new customer service representatives who will begin answering calls on june 17th Customer care saw a significant increase in call volume this week due to the taste and odor problems That's just referenced from the algae issue in the Broad River Our customer service representatives are assuring our customers that the water is safe to use and consume And finally our columbia water communications team kicked off a marketing campaign in april to promote its eye on water application Which allows customers to track their water usage as measured by the new automated water meters So far downloads have increased in may over the previous month And the communications team has handled numerous media requests in recent weeks for interviews and information on the taste and odor issue And again, they noted Clint noted we have issued two news releases posted several items social media and conducted interviews With our local outlets and we're just going to continue this frequent push of information Until the issue has subsided So I thank you all for your time with the report as always I also use this time to Some of you have asked Sometimes for some input on additional staff that we might have or staff that has done something significant And I wanted to bring forth Uh chief holbrook because he has two members. I know at least two of the team that he wanted to recognize during this period chief Thank you miss wilson. Uh, good evening mayor council councilman devol mentioned A few meetings back that he wanted an update on our special assistant united states attorney, which is one of our positions with the city attorney's office And I think not everybody had had an opportunity to meet meet him So i'm going to reintroduce him to you all and talk about him for a minute if i may city attorney who is Designated as a special assistant united states attorney is lamar file He's a native of north trawison a first generation college student and graduate mark graduated from the usc school of law in 2014 He served as the president of the black law student association and the vice chair of the southern region of the national black law student association Since 2017 Lamar has served as the mock trial coach for the black law Student association and he travels with students to competitions He serves as the law school's young alum on the law school's young alumni council While serving as an assistant fifth circuit solicitor we Poached him And i'm glad we did lamar spoke or volunteered at more than 45 community events. He prosecuted More than 1,100 charges He tried 12 cases now as a special assistant u.s. Attorney He's developing strategies to reduce gun violence with our crime gun intelligence unit and he litigates federal crimes Of a substantial interest to the city of columbia We recently completed a 90 day operation. He had direct involvement in inviting over a dozen prolific Violent offenders in our city and they're detained in awaiting federal prosecution Last month i had the distinct honor of attending the complete lawyer awards ceremony at the university of south carolina school of law That award recognizes attorneys for their civic and professional accomplishments Each year a committee that consists of the chief justice of the supreme court The chief justice of the south carolina court of appeals and the president of the south carolina bar The president of the alumni council and the dean of the school of law They select three deserving lawyers Lamar was the recipient of the silver medallion award Lamar joins a very distinguished group of past award recipients Whose conduct competency conscious and high standards reflect positively on themselves and the legal profession And certainly on our city and our department Lamar if you don't mind standing up and being recognized This is the more I'm gonna tell you about another What I consider to be Distinguished attorney on our legal staff here at the city that is embedded at the police department You all I think get a lot of emails from jasmine curse, but um, I don't know if you've singled her out and I'll ask you to stand up Jasmine is the legal advisor embedded at the police department She has done an exceptional job just raised a bar. She is incredibly responsive. She anticipates She is timely in everything that she does and She provides literally minute-to-minute counsel with our investigative team And it's just intimately involved in so much that goes on at the police department I think she has helped us reduce exposure and liability when it comes to High liability situations that we're in and just to I think miss wilson for allowing us to take this innovative approach with embedding people in the police department and Listening to us when we recommended the special assistant u.s. Attorney position and and again I think it speaks volumes for how we lean forward and critical areas of need Jasmine, thank you for And in last I want to recognize captain kelly yates Captain yates has over 23 years of experience at the police department She has a bachelor of science degree from south Carolina state university The masters of science degree from southern west leon and on may 12th of this year Kelly graduated from the university of global southern police institute administrative officers course cap me age was one of She was in the 147th session And she was one of 43 officers of various ranks from 18 different states across the country The southern police institute was founded in 1951. It's a four-month onsite course And it has a very rigorous rigorous curriculum And upon completing that year at 12 hours a semester semester hours of credit at university of global The very demanding academic curriculum push captain yates both personally and professionally In addition to her academic accomplishments. She experienced personal growth and awareness Of her own leadership style her personal blind spots and the value of flexibility and resiliency Organizational success and maintaining the culture of excellence is achieved through developing leaders in an organization Captain yates has demonstrated sacrifice perseverance and a commitment to excellence and a commitment to our city and this organization And I again like to recognize her and commend her for a job well done Man that was some really good news Try to contribute to Especially that I can I want to also just make a comment about What you talked about at the beginning of your comments miss wilson And thank you for your comments Reverend mcdown, you know At all these these meetings that we've had recently many impromptu to discuss spinal crime and what we are doing It is very easy to answer what we're doing and when we hear about You know, well, we need things for our young our young adults to do and thanks for our children to do I'm able just to go right down a laundry list of what the city Provides the services that are provided The summer camps for our our young children that need something to do Idol time is is exactly what we don't need right now, but also our adults people that have Made some mistakes Have paid for them mistakes and have you know re-entered into society Our city has a number of opportunities for for our our young adults And you know, it makes me very proud to be able to immediately respond to someone that says hey, what you know What is the city doing? What's there? How are they helping us solve this problem? So we we've really kind of flipped that narrative a little bit and um it's um I think it's making a difference and we should be very proud of you know, what we're doing We've got a lot of work to do but there's lots of opportunities. There's lots of very proactive Programming that's in place We just gave 40 bikes away just a few weeks ago Our partnership with parks and recs and what how important their role is with these young children and young adults I think is important and I look forward to what we do in a new in the near future with some more gun safety activities Thank you. Thank you chief If I could just add chief, um, I want to thank you too We have had how many meetings in district one to discuss gun violence Um, and they're necessary um But chief or someone on his team has to be at every last one of them um And I mean sometimes three or four nights a week we're going to meetings So I want to commend you and your staff and then commend you for representing us Um, I've had to tell a couple of folks well if chief is there then I don't need to be there because chief represents You know us and city council But I want to just commend you for that sacrifice because it is a sacrifice And sometimes the audiences are in a good mood and sometimes they aren't Um, but I do believe that the narrative People do understand that we cannot police our way out of this. I think that is what I do know Um, and I'm optimistic because I think people are finally seeing it Um, and that is going to take the community and it's going to take several people Um, and as I tell people you don't want the police to handle all of your issues Because we will handle them I'm differently the outcome will be different than you want. So I just want to commend you all um For for this season that you're going through and I know you you get in a lot of flak But how you all are handling it And just just being honest with folks. I think is is the best thing that we can do So thank you And that just in case I can't make another meeting Then just know that that you're representing us. Thank you. Thank you chief Thank you council. That concludes my manager's report I would like to reserve some time with you as you finish your Uh referrals reports and new business to go over some dates with you on the upcoming Calendar council meeting dates and committees, etc So at this time if there are um, well, we've got them outlined here And I know we'll have any additional time for referrals and reports, but the ones on the agenda include Um another effort related to everything we've been discussing Just now and it is the lock it up campaign the honorable oddity bustles Better segue after chief's overview about some of the work and his commentary on engaging with the community I'd like to put on the record a letter that I received from a constituent that inspired this campaign Um, so I'm going to read it to you all now greetings councilman bustles I'm a constituent of yours from the hamptons old woodlands neighborhood In light of the most recent heartbreaking mass shootings I'm reaching out to you to urge to take measures Combating gun violence that seems to have permeated our city and our nation As a whole I'd love to see more accountability from our state senators and leaders in support of common sense gun reform laws I have written to my state delegation sharing my thoughts on this matter And I hope you will support these initiatives too While we wait for action if any on those issues I'm hoping as a representative of our city that you can strategize and be a part of the solution by supporting initiatives locally that help reduce gun violence I am concerned about the access at which children have to guns It has been reported that 40 percent of gun owners do not lock up their guns And that the presence of a child in the home did not make a difference One study found that households that Locked both firearms and ammunition were associated with a 78 percent lower risk of self-inflicted firearm injuries And 85 percent lower risk of unintentional harm Upon researching methods of a city our side could take to reduce gun violence I recommend a gun storage initiative social media campaign a gun storage event as well as awareness and um And the expansion of mental health resources Which you all are already doing as well as expansion of youth programs. I've seen some of this already within the city of colombia keep it up So, you know after spending some time and I really appreciate this constituent reaching out doing the research and sharing some of her ideas and thoughts and solutions And I did invite her to be here today Um, I was fortunate to be able to sit down with chief our parks and rec department um a c m henry As well as our pr department to start thinking about what a campaign would look like and today I'm very excited to share with you all that we will be launching a lock it up campaign that will really be a comprehensive effort from the city To help our constituents in our community understand the risks associated with leaving your firearms unlocked If you look at the specifics of gun violence specifically, um associated with Children here in south carolina. We have about 59 percent related to um, you know them having access to guns within their own home And so over the next several months. We will be uh looking to Talk about why it's important to store firearms safely safe storage device options We'll also talk about how to practice safe storage at home encourage others as well And this will be coupled in addition to continuing to share our resources around youth engagement our summer programs all of the options that we have available As a part of our city's work to to work with communities and to engage youth at an early age to help them Find a sense of purpose and and to develop their interests And of course, we will also be providing free gun locks at some of our events While sharing resources that uh, we know our evidence base and can help reduce gun violence We recognize that this is one piece and as the constituent said this is just one piece that the city can do and I'm I'm looking forward to working with my colleagues Many of whom have many other initiatives in the works to continue to address our part in reducing violence in the city of columbia I will leave it there and if there are any questions, please feel free to let me know questions Thank you, dr. Bussells Thank you, dr. Bussells and next the honorable daniel j rickham and mayor with the neighborhood slow zones Yes, I am just going to quick brief as we've been talking I think traffic is one of the the conversations that all of us have On a day-to-day basis uh with our constituents and I know there's a lot of work done but I think as we move forward over the next 30 to 45 days, we will present to council in a formal presentation The neighborhood slow zones and to prove for Improved safety in our neighborhood schools and entertainment districts We like to start and plan neighborhood slow zones to create a safe road conditions for walking biking and quality of life We can achieve road We can achieve reduction in traffic speeds using very A variety of traffic calming techniques while certain speed controls alter the configuration of roads other methods can change how people Psychologically perceive and respond to a street We'll establish neighborhood zones collector streets safety zones around schools and parks and slow zones around our entertainment We'll implement slower speeds Using calming measures such as medians pinch points parking curb alternating lanes lane shifting Speed platforms diversion breaks speed cushions and urban traffic calming pain paintings that have have really Been used in a lot of different situations and produced incredible outcomes We'll be creative to provide a comprehensive calming plan to apply across the city But specifically tailored to the streets in the corridors for the needs within Our neighborhoods entertainment and schools and so we look forward to bringing that forward and Hopefully this will help resolve some of the angst and the concerns And a lot of the efforts that our communities have been bringing forward So I look forward to bringing that to full council in the next 30 to 45 days Mr. Mayor who I'm just you said we alive So who's the we just your office? Yes, sir Well, I'm saying we because I to me I'm rep it's all of us It's a city council move forward, but we've been working on a staff staff level pulling a lot of uh reports and things putting together taking all the Work that a lot of the different neighborhoods had already done in addressing those issues Thank you, mayor item 34 is the central mittlands council of governments may 26 2022 meeting I think there's been a report that was already included in the record So i'm sure you all will note that report There's a lot of good information in there. I know for me and the staff And then item 35 is the report out on the task force to prevent an in homelessness may 18th 2022 meeting the honorable oddity bustles We had our first task force meeting on may 18th We thought it was a very engaged discussion and Had a good representation of all of the folks that have been appointed to The committee we stand we started with a brief discussion about existing ordinances as well as the ways in which Our city funds various services And and for the record, I'd like to note that we fund about a million from our general fund and an additional Two million from our community block development grant. So On average around three million towards homeless services Of course, we know there's a lot of different factors connected to homelessness And perhaps some of our other initiatives indirectly address the issue as well and then we really launched into a a discussion about How you know, what is what is really going to be this committee's work? What are some experiences that people have had engaging with with this population as well as some of their observations, whether within the space of being in the community or Engaging from a judicial or legal sense We also received a comprehensive comprehensive update from chief and cpd around Data and the rates of homelessness that they are seeing as they are Engaging with the public as well as some of the oftentimes Occurring complexities of homelessness, whether that's in the form of drug addiction mental illness and associated sometimes criminal activity And then really we we ended with Again a discussion about how we really make some of our goals achievable Knowing that homelessness is multifaceted and it is an issue that Has a lot of different solutions And so we really look forward to the next Meeting which will be on june 29th to continue to narrow down and develop our goals As well as as we are finalizing our budget really think about the best ways that we can continue to Address homelessness through our our priorities and our funding mechanisms I'll stop there and see if my colleagues councilman brunnan or councilman McDowell have anything to add Thank you. Dr. Bussells Thank you item 36 is the tax modernization committee may 19 2022 meeting the honorable joe taylor jr Yes, ma'am. We have included in the packet the Summary of the final meeting. We have draft recommendation plan was made For the mayor and spending the course of the summer Meeting with various stakeholders throughout the county and planning to come back in and september We'll make a recommendation for an implement implementation committee to move forward Very Very pleased to see the traction the discussion of our Uncompetitive tax rates are happening Or occurring in the press and in the county. I tip my hat to council chairman over to a walker Of really hitting a pause butting a button on things that have been standard and taking a hard look at what certain tax increases would do And I mean I mean and you hear the discussion around town. So again, I would thank the mayor and And the councilman Councilman McDowell For their work on On the on this committee. I think this could be probably the most transformational thing We've seen in richland county in decades if we can we can bring it to fruition Mr. Taylor, thank you for your leadership on it. You know getting us connected with the various folks bringing Forth everybody together. I know that The discussion is out there and and our Relationship with richland county and our discussions with the county I know you've met with different county staff as well And I think it's been a great conversation and a lot of people Really coming together to figure out how we can make sure that we're Competitive in the future and that we have investment and we're growing as a community Not just one part of a community but of all of our community and this this has a real ripple effect across Everybody from someone who rents a home to somebody who is is looking to start a business So this this will be one of the the great things that we continue to work on as a council I do want to take this time at the end of this really to thank all of Council everybody has taken an active role in a in a committee on issues and working together You know, we're still finding our ways. We continue to work together But everybody is moving forward to try to improve the quality of life for all of its citizens And everybody's taking an active role of of where they have some real expertise and bringing it to table So I just want to take a minute to thank all of you For what you you've contributed and what we've done together and that will continue to work as a city as a whole To improve the quality of life of our citizens the service we deliver them Make sure that our employees have The technology the training and the investment that they need to do their jobs as well I just just want to take a minute to thank each and every one of y'all for your continued hard work and service Thank you mayor any other additional reports referrals or new business We're scheduling that Getting that out to you so that at our next council meeting those issues will be brought to the table I think we wanted to refer to the administrative committee to Take a look at the boards and commissions And make sure that we had the bylaws and they're representative of what our functions are today and also talk about The the different seats and if there needs to be any changes recommendations brought to council for those Okay, is that mr. Eric make sure you include that it can that list continues to grow And it's probably going to take us another two days to get through with this So please include that on our agenda so that when we schedule that those four three to four items Be listed there. Yes, sir. Thank you anything else mayor if if not, I wanted to We have a quick minute I hope and it would give us some direction for next week right now you all do have on your Schedule of meetings and committee meetings a council work session On tuesday june 14th at three o'clock I'm the mayor and I had been talking And trying to look at some scheduling earlier today and of course, I know there's several items slated for work sessions follow-up items to things that will be moving forward in the new budget year and One of the items has to do with h tax a tax the tourism development fee I think even looking at the statutes or getting some information from legal on the a tax and tdf And then of course there's been the discussion of a community promotions Notice of funds availability that council may be interested in doing And we were directed to put together the potential You know requirements of such a NOFA So the mayor and I talked about july and I allow him to address the july 19th Regular scheduled council meeting and the possibility of rescheduling that to a different date in july We had talked about a work session one work session in july, but mayor Um, I didn't think about the fact that we have on your books a work session next week Which we can use that for any Of the items I just mentioned that I noted for you forgive my little Chicken scratch here I was just trying to help us along and in addition if we wanted to use the time next week for any follow-up budget items um happy to sit with y'all individually or and or Use this time for any other budget questions you might council's preference be to pick up any unfinished budget items next week on that work session or use that to Discuss h a tax and tdf What would be y'all's preference? We originally had said we're going to talk about h tax and a tax and tdf in july I am going to request if it's all possible for council if we could consider moving that council meeting one week for Forward or a guest back go from the 19th to the 26th I know people have made schedules. So i'm asking If that's possible. I have ended up with a conflict And are going to be out of out of state and i'd really like to to be here for for that that work session Well the 19th is i'm talking about moving july 19th to the um, what did I say the 26th And move on the 12th to the 19th There isn't anything scheduled on the 12th mr. Taylor at this time The affordable housing task force meeting that was on the 12th has been canceled, there's not a meeting on the 12th And then of course you had your regularly scheduled council meeting on the 19th and we recommend has a now has a Request to move to the 26th If anybody well look may I ask may I ask mr. Wilson? Yes, sir Because of the importance of the other issues on administrative policy committee We need to ensure that we We get a date put a date down. Okay um And we very well can't do that today because of the schedule Is there any way we could schedule in We um tuesday the 28th that's off the calendar for june 28th rather for administrative policy Can can we go ahead? Let's settle the council meeting and then we'll hit the committee meetings if that's okay All right, if we can do that. I just want to be sensitive so that we not So I forget to include the next tuesday we have a schedule Three o'clock work session. Do y'all want to utilize that to to discuss any open budget items just things like that I think we have some budget items that we still need to tackle You want to do each and they shouldn't I mean that should probably take first priority since fiscal year ends and then 8 tax 8 I think that that that would work for me if we do that and then we push the h tax Because originally we had talked about having it in july anyway So the question becomes then are y'all okay with moving the july 19th meeting? Does that work with people's schedule? I know it's a request and I'll apologize, but I'm sorry. I just got a quick question So how many actual council meetings do we have in july? Just one one? Okay. Yes, ma'am And so we'll have it on the 26th and then what we would do is have a work session and then a council meeting We'd have the a tax age tax and tdf discussion But what time would you like to start on the 26th for your work session with two o'clock be convenient for everybody? When you see yes, sir All right July 26 at two o'clock Okay, so we've got that we'll have work session next Tuesday at three We'll have meeting on the 26th starting at two talk about age tax a tax tdf community promotions And then our regular scheduled meeting Then that brings back um Breva mcdowell's question about the 28th or administrative committee meeting Could we work june the 20th june 28th could we work that in miss erica? Yes, sir. I'm i'm available Councilman taylor and dr. Bussell. Yeah What about you? I mean, we already had three p.m If we could do that time, that'd be great. Okay, mr. Taylor So are we okay? Yep, we're naysay said he was fine. Okay. Thank you. You gonna sit down. Yes, sir. Thank you ma'am at three p.m Are we staying with three? Yes, sir We'll be talking about finishing up any loose item budget stuff. So we should it should be a fairly light easy Mr. Just for clear we're talking about Yes, sir Work session and council for age tax. Yes, sir Because there's some legal questions that we need to answer now. I just want to make sure we we've got enough time Get some legal opinions and some things like that on some of these tax Yeah, some of that's already in the work. So we should be getting a packet and then So are we gonna have are we about to have a three July You got a 26 meeting I mean You will get those tomorrow And then I think at the next work session we can go ahead and work on on because I know we're gonna have to add We've got work sessions set does anybody have any problem with the work sessions that we have set in august date wise Is there any concern with anybody at this point? Because if not, we could just let miss erica know because I know she likes to plan ahead Those are optional, correct Well, we're gonna have we we I mean we should all set time aside for yes. No, I think we're planning on using those because we have several items That will carry over into the the august to discuss The just some of the ones that we've noted and started trying to think about past july would be Work sessions on the capital lease program the capital improvement program I think there was a request for a work session regarding the development corporations And the municipal well, I'll be bringing back the municipal court Yep fire utilize our work sessions, but let's just plan through august on the work sessions Let's see what we get done and then we can reboot for the fall after that But right now did we understand you to say the august night than august 23rd dates are fine. Yes, ma'am Okay, great And as far as next week june the 14th is there you want me just to we just want us to be available for anything Regarding the budget, okay You don't need us to prepare anything in particular Well, I think we could go through some of the items that we've left open for discussion Okay, close the loop on that. I think the idea. So why don't we refine that this week? Yeah, uh in the next day or two. Well Maybe thursday. No problem. Yes, ma'am. Thank you all so much that helped. That's very helpful to us And we left public input inadvertently off At the bottom, but I know you already mentioned it mere recommend at the beginning that we would have public input at the end Is there anyone left here to speak? I have a miss Tracy jones ross signed up to speak and after her would be miss lindsay green Good afternoon. Good. Good evening. Now. We've already crossed across the border. You are so correct How are you? I am blessed and highly favored. How are you? Thank you It's such an honor come before you guys. My name is tracy jones ross I am the founder and CEO of shepherds transformation mountain communities We're coming in from washington state I think erica for inviting us here today to introduce our nonprofit that we would like to bring to south carolina Today, I would like to present why we established stmc Um, it was established off my live experiences At first as an incest survivor and molestation survivor Then I would enter into um into foster care At the age of 16 years old. I was getting ready to get released from foster care So I decided to get married because I didn't know how to live on my own foster care does not teach you that So once I in foster care and I got married, um, of course at that young age my marriage was ended in tragedy So what else to do? I joined the military I loved serving as an army. Um, it was one of my best jobs that I've had in in my 50-something years of life As I was serving our country our country I also suffered became a survivor of sexual assault by a sergeant in the military This caused a disorder called post max breast disorder, which I was put on the medication Now a bill if I Caused me to be homeless for three years just from the side effects that it has in that medication During my homelessness. I have met many women Some hiding from sex traffickers some from domestic violence But there's one thing that we had all in common. We could not afford affordable housing So this has became our vision For stmc to provide affordable housing with low barrier entry Trauma informed because being in poverty caused trauma Also with onsite self-sufficient wraparound services We will also include transportation department onsite because down south you guys don't have the comic does not run everywhere Not only will we have that we will have onsite day care and learning center Upper room fellowship club for our youth to have something to do So we like to think this time out For today what we are asking for today is donations Not only donations, but we would like to partnership With agencies that are helping to end homelessness the coc The commerce addiction and mental health Which we would like to also partnership with local churches because they will be our ministers Of our council for ministry And also youth programs that are running currently here in the city of Of columbia We would like to thank you We will also like for any community that would like to to think about bringing our scattered community Concept to their community to give us a call so that we can have a citizen community listening session We will not go into any community until we have at least five listening sessions with that community Because we don't think it's fair to come into a community and try to take over just for funding We appreciate your time for if you would like to contact me at any time My email is tracy jones at stm homeless program Dot org once again, that's tracy jones At stm homeless program dot org. I look forward to Making contact and partnership with you guys as far as opportunity zones rundown hotels and Other opportunity areas that we can bring this non-profit to city of Thank you for your service and if you have any information that you can leave with with the city manager We'd appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you And I would just like to add You may want to reach out. I don't know gloria is here, but our community development department To look at the funding options that they have there for affordable housing As said, you may want to contact or you should contact gloria syed or someone in our community development department Where they have funding set aside for businesses such as yourself that are helping with affordable housing Yes, ma'am and we did we did enjoy the homeless We had a covert here lately for the homelessness here at the city hall It was amazing It was amazing to be able to be a live experienced homeless person for three years to give our input because Most most cities they don't they don't take it from us We know that what we need and we know how we need to survive just like for instance Having supportive services outside of your apartment complexes. It doesn't work We're too afraid and we have anxieties As homeless people to go outside So if they want to venture outside there to get that help and they want help But it's just the anxiety you guys have to think about that mental side of being homeless Even though I was a vet and had money. I still had that mental had to change my mindset after I got up home So that is very important Thank you. Thank you so much Do you have anybody else? I had a miss green, but I don't know if she's still here Miss green I think it's just us and No more Do we need to have an executive session? I don't have my cheat sheet to read the statute I'll read it. Thank you, Howard I'm trying to take my job away just because I got covid I didn't know you were still there I moved we're going to executive session for discussion of negotiations as proposed contractual arrangement pursuant to sc code 30-4 s 78 to executive management and leasing incorporated second Mr. Taylor Miss Herbert dr. Bussells Mr. Brennan. Yes, mr. McDowell. Yeah, mr. Duval Mayor recommend. All right. Thank you