RSS Feed
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Columbia City Council meets Jan. 23, 2008
Domestic violence Devine brought council up to date on the Criminal Domestic Violence Task Force. State Museum Adrienne Huffman, director of the State Museum Foundation, and Willie Galloway, museum director, showed plans for a new observatory, planetarium, and 4- D theater or OPT, as it's called. Total school visitation for free is 70,000 annually with 23% coming from Richland County and 9% from Lexington County. Overall annual attendance is 165,000. The museum turns 20 in 2008, but there has been no capital reinvestment in the museum during the past 20 years. The total OPT project cost is $23,000,000, and the city was asked for $2,500,000, 11 percent of the total. Cromartie and Davis objected, suggesting their districts had too many small projects already begging to see the city cough up $2.5 million for an observatory, a planetarium, and a theater for the state's and the city's school kids.
Outgoing long- serving members of the Planning Commission (Susie Heyward, James Hildebrand, Jenny Screen, Isabelle Mandel, Jonathan King Vipperman, Nancy Reid- Barksdale) and the Design/Development Review Commission (James Byrum, James Mancini, Nancy McCormick) were recognized by the city's planner, Chip Land. Green Melissa Gentry, the city's public works director, recognized the city's Green Business Members: BP Barber, Carolina Imports, Roof Basket Works, Sonoco Recycling, and Studio 2LR. Last year, the first Green Business Member to be recognized was Cox & Dinkins. Business spotlight University Dental was recognized as the third honoree in the Business Spotlight Program. Dr. Loretta Felder McKelvey, owner of University Dental, accepted a special proclamation from Mayor Coble. University Dental is located at 2329 Devine Street and is a member of the Devine Street Association.
Libby Gober, the city's ombudsman, will hold workshops in three different parts of the city in February to get organizations oriented on how accommodations and hospitality tax funding works. Times and locations will be on the city's Web site by February 1. Public safety City Manager Charles Austin explained to council the necessity for installing a shot spotter, hardware capable of locating the origin of gunfire. A mother of four was killed recently by a bullet in the north section of Columbia. Richland County Leon Lott has arranged to loan the city a shot spotter until the federal funds ($138,000) to buy one can be secured. The federal law enforcement grant has been approved. Water main break A city water main broke along West Buchanan during the weekend's cold snap, and Finlay wanted council to appreciate the city public works workers who responded rapidly and continued to work until the water main was repaired, all in the cold and the wet of the night. Interim measure There was hue and cry over the issue of an interim measure to protect neighborhoods and community character from much alteration while historic designation status was in process. Earl McLeod of the Homebuilders Association was almost alone in his appeal to council. On the opposite side were many vocal neighborhood representatives who objected to the proposed requirement to score a 50% assent vote from any neighborhood applying for historic designation. To get the 50% vote appeared too difficult and, thereby, unreasonable, according to most of the speakers before council. Council agreed, and the interim measure for two years without a 50% support vote would be applied to Cottontown, Hollywood/Rose Hill, Shandon, Wales Garden, and Sherwood Forest.
|
for larger version       |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
)
)
)