Before the City Council meeting on December 20, 2022, City Council held a City Council work session to discuss a few procedural items including the timeline/update for pending studies and plans, the 2023 City Council meeting schedule, and the structure of City Council standing committees. During the work session, the City’s Public Works department also discussed the possible installation of a three-way stop control at the corner of Rickenbacker and Kilbourne roads. In addition, the City’s Public Relations, Media and Marketing departments also discussed the City’s ongoing communications plan to effectively provide information to our citizens.
During the City Council meeting, City Council passed various items during the City’s consent agenda including the funding for various resources for our Columbia Fire Department and Columbia Police Department (Items #1-3) and amended various codes of ordinances in regard to building/technical codes as required by the state of South Carolina (Items #7-13).
City Council also approved the funding for Indefinite Delivery Contracts (IDC’s) for waterline/hydrant leak restoration services (Item #6). The purpose of the additional $600,000 funding is to allow the continuation of work by private contractors to repair water distribution features such as service lines, water mains, fire hydrants, pavement restoration, and property restoration.
During the resolutions portion of the City Council meeting, Council authorized the funding of a significant grant that will impact high school students in Richland County School District One (Item #26.) The City approved for the City Manager to sign a memorandum of understanding between the Richland One School District and the City of Columbia to fund up to $80,000 ($10,000 to each Richland One high school) for the Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG-SC) program.
The JAG program helps youth facing significant challenges to reach economic and academic success through career development, job attainment, job survival skills, leadership and teamwork skills, personal skills, life survival skills, and workplace skills. The mission of the JAG program is to empower our young people with those necessary skills and support them to succeed in education, employment, and life.
Mayor Daniel J. Rickenmann also shared a brief video recap of some of the items discussed at the City Council meeting. View the recap here: https://youtu.be/p8IIyfM9bAg.
For more information about upcoming City Council meetings or general information about the City of Columbia, please visit www.ColumbiaSC.gov.