City Council – July 21, 2015

By Temple Ligon

 

City Council

Columbia City Council met this past Tuesday, July 21. It was the first regularly scheduled meeting for the new fiscal year, which began July 1. As such, the meeting had 74 items on its Consent Agenda, far more than any other meeting for the past year.

 

Real Money

The Consent Agenda, where all items were approved, came to more than $30,000,000 in contracts for the current fiscal year, or FY2015/2016, as the city staff put it.

One odd subset of the Consent Agenda was the number of contracts worth $75,000, or thereabouts. If you are chasing a city contract for professional services, $75,000 looks like a good fit. For instance, CapitalEdge Strategies, federal marketing services, a k a Washington lobbying, is in for the year for $76,725.50. Main Street attorney Kyle Michel expects $72,000 in the current fiscal year cycle for lobbying inside the state capitol complex. For on-call structural engineering services, Chao & Associates is good for $75,000. Black & Veatch is in line for its $75,000, also for on-call engineering services. Another group, AECOM (formerly known as URS Corporation) of Los Angeles has its contract for $75,000 for on-call engineering services and another $75,900 for safety and storm water consulting services. Brown & Caldwell of Walnut Creek CA is in with the city for its $75,000. That’s seven contracts, each good for about the same $75,000, a very versatile number.

 

Dogs and Cats

A task force of 15 city-appointed people will research and recommend stray pet management on a 90-day deadline. Mayor Benjamin said it was time the public met the private.

Last March Denise Wilkinson, CEO, Palmetto Lifeline, wrote the city to offer animal services at no charge, while City Manager Teresa Wilson answered in June.

To quote the city manager: “I appreciate your frankness about wanting to assume control of our shelter/adoption facility and associated operations. The City is not interested in pursuing that opportunity, however we are very interested in strengthening our partnership with regards to ordinance changes and increased education campaigns that maximize on strengths of both organizations.”

Both sides agreed a 90% survival rate is doable, as illustrated in Charleston, and not too far off in the future. The 15-member task force will issue directions and itemize actions in another three months.

 

Homeless

In September 2014 the city and United Way of the Midlands (UWM) came to terms over the emergency winter shelter for the homeless for the period of November 2014 through March 2015. Recommendations for improved coordination are expected by the end of the fiscal year’s first quarter, the end of September 2015.

A point in time survey in the 14 counties in central South Carolina last February revealed the following:

• 1468 total number of people identified as homeless
• 401 unsheltered individuals
• 182 children counted
• 298 chronically homeless individuals
• 221 veterans
• 204 adults with serious mental illness
• 176 adults with substance use disorder
• 11 adults with HIV
• 445 adults who were victims of domestic violence

 

A far more thorough survey, this one statewide for six years, disclosed over $1 billion in hospital charges, including:

• $321 million in emergency room charges
• $631 million in inpatient
• $105 million in outpatient

 

The next steps, as reported to city council: “Goals for 2015-2016 include final recommendations on meal sharing coordination, new options in housing for homeless youth, and increased housing placement for homeless veterans…”