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Columbia City Council meets March 5, 2008
Year's favorite Frank Myers, one of Columbia's solid waste workers, was introduced as the city's 2007 Employee of the Year. Myers began working at the city's Solid Waster Division on October 1, 1975. Historic Columbia Cal Watson, president of the board of trustees for the Historic Columbia Foundation, reviewed his current $150,000 marketing program, to include new billboards and a new Web site. The foundation's recent chili cook- off drew 500 people. Seniors Larry Jordan, executive director at the Capital Senior Center in Maxcy Gregg Park, brought council up to date on his center's activities. He described the 14 different exercise regimens and the 16 clubs that meet at the center. Their new transportation initiative has begun with a 14- seat bus. The future fundraiser will be a bicycle race aspiring to become what Athens, Ga., has with its 35,000 spectators. The center's HVAC will soon need replacing, and another $85,000 is needed just for that.
Bruce Trezvant, former Los Angeles police officer and head of Project Unity, described his crime fighting program to council. Mayor Coble invited Trezvant to come forward to accept a proclamation. City manager's report Columbia City Manager Charles Austin outlined his report to council. He discussed the disparity study, but it was the accounting catch- ups that attracted the most attention. By the end of this June, the audit from the fiscal year 2006- 2007 should be complete, finally. The city's accounting methods are getting an overhaul, to include a whole new process, new procedures, and new internal controls, even monthly financial reports. The question remains: Why was this not done all along? The current fiscal year 2007- 2008 should be complete by the end of the calendar year, Dec 31, 2008. The police chief's selection should be announced by the end of March.
Steve Gantt, assistant city manager, is chasing enhancement grants through Central Midlands and applying them to sidewalks and bike lanes. Collections Dana Turner reported on parking fines collections. Apparently, the city is owed about $3.2 million in tickets, and after repeated collection attempts, the city should outsource the collection efforts. Sinclair enthusiastically endorsed the professional collections route, and Finlay offered that the city really should prevent any ticket going beyond 90 days unpaid. Parking John David Spade, the city's parking garage manager, recommended the 5 Points South parking garage (Kenny's site) proposal over the Claussen's Inn garage, even though his preference was for a much more expensive cost per parking space. Council didn't seem to care, prodding the audience to remember the city- sponsored convention center headquarters hotel deal, another project where the costs got out of hand. Finlay suggested the two parking garage proposals should be compared on the basis of finances, on the results of a pro forma for each. Cromartie fell into a stentorian tirade over how irrelevant costs could be in such a situation, just as long as the costs of the city's total number of garages did not exceed the total revenues from the total parking system. As long as the system is sound, according to Cromartie, the profligacy of choosing just one over- priced garage shouldn't matter. With one dissenting vote from Finlay, the rest of council agreed.
Council meets in City Hall on Wednesday morning, March 19, at 9 am. At 10 am, there is a zoning public hearing.
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