Columbia City Council meeting + October 18, 2006

Hillary McDonald, Lee Ruef, and Sam Clarke

Roll call

City council convened Wednesday, October 18, at 9 am for its work session. Regular session began at 10. Council member Sam Davis was absent. Present were all other members: Daniel Rickenmann, E.W. Cromartie, Mayor Bob Coble, Anne Sinclair, Tameika Isaac Devine, and Kirkman Finlay.

September favorite

Guy R. Robinson was identified as the city's Employee of the Month for September. With the city since 1995, Robinson is a truck driver with the Public Works/Solid Waste Division.

October favorite

Joe E. Gray Jr. was called forward as the city's Employee of the Month for October. An investigator with the Police Department, Investigator Gray began his career here in 1984. He was promoted to Criminal Investigator in 1989.

Zoo

Satch Krantz , the Riverbanks Zoo's executive director for the past 30 years, was recognized by Mayor Coble for his accomplishments.

Randy Dennis

East Gervais

The stretch of Gervais Street between Millwood Avenue and Trenholm Road is about to gain a heavily landscaped median which every neighbor wants. The debate in the neighborhood, however, is over which intersections with Gervais should the median block for traffic reductions in the neighborhood. Lee Ruef , president of the Forest Hills Association, suffered his laryngitus and tapped Sam Clarke to speak for his neighborhood. Clarke endorsed the city's plan, especially the median obstruction for downtown's outbound traffic at Westminster and Wellington. Hillary McDonald also endorsed the median plan and thanked council for finally getting around to what she saw coming out of the Appearance Commission in 1999. The obstruction at McDuffie, closer to Millwood, found several objections among the speakers, and council suggested McDuffie might stay fully accessible to both directions. Finlay asked what needed to be done to give the contractors the go-ahead. Council should vote at the November 1 meeting.

Andy Dial

Five Points parking, or lack thereof

Five Points shop owner Randy Dennis asked council to offer the Five Points merchants and restaurateurs some Saturday relief and cancel Saturday parking meter enforcement. The case for the rest of the city on Saturday is just that: no meters are monitored on Saturday. So it gets confusing for weekend shoppers to walk off Gervais Street, where the parking is free, and then drive to Five Points, where they get parking tickets. Dennis said his parting customer gesture of late has shifted from "Y'all come back real soon" to "Bring me your parking ticket." The median at Saluda Avenue used to have unmetered free parking with a limit of 90 minutes, after which a parking ticket was slapped on the windshield. Now there are meters with the same limit of 90 minutes, and on Saturdays the tickets really get slapped around. There were several suggestions for a compromise, but Finlay was arguing for immediate relief while the debate continued. With immediate relief, Finlay argued, Five Points could prep for the Christmas season and maybe even keep a few customers. Possibly what needs to happen is every meter in Five Points is good for two hours on the first quarter with no penalty for refeeding. The Saturday lunch/shopping set needs at least four hours to get through a languid liquid lunch, leaving enough time for some serious shopping. Former famous Washington Street haberdasher Andy Dial spoke on behalf of Five Points, arguing as if he knew far more about retail traffic than any member of council, which he did.

Smoking

For the first reading of the ordinance, council voted four-to-two to ban smoking in all public places, to include bars with a 21-year age minimum. A private club (as in Durkin's) exception could be added at the second reading, as could a consideration for bars as opposed to restaurants.

Dreher track

Dreher High School's remote track near Memorial Stadium was voted to locate parallel to Jim Hamilton Boulevard, saving a valued and heavily forested area, much to the satisfaction of the neighborhood. Somewhat dissatisfied, though, were the skateboarders who asked for an upgraded skateboard park, no just a relocated replica.

Homeless

Warner Wells offered his guidance on the matter of homeless shelter/services management. Having fought the homeless wars for over 10 years, Wells was happy to share his expertise if council were happy to ask for it.