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Columbia City Council + September 27+ 10 am
City council convened about 10 am Wednesday morning, September 27, for its regular meeting and for a public hearing. All members of council were present: Daniel Rickenmann, Sam Davis, E. W. Cromartie, Mayor Bob Coble, Anne Sinclair, Tameika Isaac Devine, and Kirkman Finlay.
Annual national award goes local Robert Anderson , Columbia's manager for solid waste, recently received the American Public Works Solid Waste Leader of the Year Award. Anderson thanked his wife of 23 years.
Buses Bob Goble and Chloe Jaco of Carter-Goble Associates explained the bus system's urgent need for interim funding while the annual SCANA contribution continues. When the SCANA subsidy runs out in another year or so, an income stream dedicated to transit will be necessary. Finlay asked how this mess came about, how did council allow SCANA out of the bus system for so little money, and how did council allow the bus system to fall so far apart for so long? Coble attempted an explanation, but the person who directly managed the mess for almost 20 years as the SCANA executive in charge, Cathy Novinger, sat quietly on the front row.
Clean air Myra Reece , a bureau chief at DHEC, warned council of increasing problems with local air quality. As local measures are strengthened, federal requirements get more stringent. She praised council for its initiatives for climate protection.
Five Points parking Randy Dennis, proprietor at 2Gs Clothing on Saluda Avenue, asked council not to enforce parking meters on Saturdays, particularly since they are not enforced anywhere else in the city. With Dennis were Judy Roberts of Portfolio Gallery and Jeff Helsley of Goatfeathers. Dennis recommended council study Greenville's Main Street, a successful retail and restaurant strip where there are no meters. After two years of construction and after taking in two one-hundred-year floods in two years, Five Points is hit hard enough, Dennis said.
Governor's Hill Ned Pendarvis, chairman at the Columbia Development Corporation, thought it made sense for the city to take over and maintain the streets of the Governor's Hill development, leaving the streets open and public, as opposed to a gated community with private streets.
Smoking The city's proposed smoking ban ordinance brought out a crowd to support, for the most part, the ordinance. First to speak was Dr. Oscar Lovelace, Governor Sanford's opposition in the Republican primary. Lovelace, a physician, endorsed the ordinance. In opposition were bar owners William Durkin (Durkin's) and Jeff Helsley (Goatfeathers). The two suggested with adequate advertisement at the door explaining what to expect inside, their patrons could decide for themselves whether or not to enter and run the risks of second-hand smoke. Joe Mac Bates asked to speak as an out-of-towner. Bates thought government was going a bit too far with this one. The majority of the speakers, however, didn't think government was going far enough. They wanted smoking banned everywhere. Rusty Depass thinks smoking is disgusting.
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