Your guide to tomorrow’s City Council meeting

Columbia City Council meets tomorrow at 9 a.m. at City Hall.

You can read the full agenda by clicking here.

Here’s a summary:

1. Emily Douglas Amphitheater

• This $125,000 project put an amphitheater at Emily Douglas Park, next to Hand Middle School. The Hand Middle School Educational Foundation raised $75,000 for the project. The grand opening is Thursday at 10 a.m. You can read more about it in Thursday’s newspaper.

2. Harden Street Honorary Renaming

• Councilman E.W. Cromartie has been leading a push to rename a city street after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. However, the city couldn’t do that because Richland County already has a Martin Luther King Boulevard in Hopkins. Instead, Cromartie and the Martin Luther King Committee have raised money to unveil a historic marker on Harden Street to honor the slain civil rights leader. For background, click here.

3. Ordinance 2009-119

• This raises the city’s stormwater permit fees. The new fees will be:
• Less than one acre: $150 + $50/month inspection fee
• 1-10 acres: $300 +$50/month inspection fee
• Over 10 acres: $500 + $50/month inspection fee
• Linear: $150 + $50/month inspection fee
• Project modifications: $150 one time fee

4. HUD Section 108 Guarantee Loan Program

• The Community Development Department is requesting a $3 million loan from the department of Housing and Urban Development to help pay for a $7 million hotel at 1301 Sunset Drive. This is the same hotel project that mayoral candidate Steve Benjamin was going to develop. Benjamin withdrew from the project once he announced his candidacy.

5. Charles R. Drew Wellness Center maintenance plans

• Officials want to close the wellness center from Dec. 24 to Jan. 3 for maintenance.

6. Funding for Richland County Solicitor’s Office

• Fifth Circuit Solicitor Barney Giese is requesting another $70,000 from the city to pay for a city prosecutor. In 2008 the city decided not to fund this position, but brought it back in January 2009.

7. Unfunded Capital Improvement Projects

• The city has a list of construction projects. Some of the projects have money attached to them, some do not. All of the projects and the money for the projects were thrown into a pot. Some of the projects that did not have money attached to them were paid for with money from the pot. That means some projects that have money set aside for them don’t really have that money anymore. The city’s interim chief financial officer, Bill Ellis, says it isn’t a huge problem because the projects are long term and have not been started yet. Ellis says the city needs to put a little money in each year — for a total of about $2 million — to cover the cost of the projects.

8. Ordinance No. 2009-101

• Granting another sidewalk vending application, this one for Dale’s Hot Dogs and Gyros at 1423 Main Street.

9. Ordinance No. 2009-105

• Earlier this year, the city stopped picking up trash from Dumpster-like containers. Instead, it required all businesses who used the Dumpster-like containers to pay for a private trash service. However, there is a loophole in the city’s law that allows for businesses to apply for dozens of roll carts to make up for the loss of their Dumpster-like container. This ordinance would close that loophole, and only allow two roll carts per business.

10. Resolution No. 2009-090

• Officially announcing the City’s April elections.

Don’t forget, you can get live updates from tomorrow’s council meeting from my Twitter page, which is also available on the right side of this blog.

UPDATE: Officials have added this item to tomorrow’s agenda:

11. Community Assistance Providers (CAP) Inc. Loan Request

• Community Assistance Providers is a community housing development organization that has asked the city for a loan of $327,250 to purchase an old apartment complex. The company’s vice president is Jamie Devine, who is the husband of City Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine. The question: Would it be a conflict of interest? The State Ethics Commission says no. Still waiting on what the Department of Housing and Urban Development thinks. For more background, click here.