City Council

Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – October 17, 2013 Savannah City Government SUMMARY/FINAL MINUTES MAYOR and ALDERMEN WORK SESSION CITY MANAGER’S BRIEFING October 17, 2013 – 10:00 am PRESENT: Mayor Edna B. Jackson, Presiding Alderman Van R. Johnson, II Mayor Pro-Tem (arrived at 10:45 a.m.) Alderman Tony Thomas, Chairman of Council (arrived at 12:20 p.m.) Alderman Mary Osborne, Vice-Chairman of Council Aldermen John Hall, Mary Ellen Sprague, Tom Bordeaux Estella Shabazz and Carol Bell (left at 12:05) City Manager Stephanie S. Cutter Asst. City Attorney William W. Shearouse ABSENT: City Attorney W. Brooks Stillwell (out of town) Mayor Jackson called the meeting to order Civic Vision Plan West Boundary Canal District City Manager Cutter presented a PowerPoint Presentation on the Civic Vision Plan for the West Boundary Canal District. She began the presentation stating the vision of this project can be accomplished by using existing City owned assets: City owned properties, existing right of way and public uses i.e. Visitor’s Center, Children’s Museum, Cultural Arts Center, CAT, etc. During the presentation the following questions were asked: Alderman Sprague asked how much of the property is currently owned by the City and if the City owns the railroad bridge. City Manager Cutter replied the vision incorporates areas the city already owns and the City does not own the railroad bridge, but it does own the Right of Way. Alderman Osborne stated she thinks the plan is fantastic and very visionary and asked will there be a need to widen any of the streets or acquire any of the properties along the area. City Manager Cutter stated when the design work begins that may be a possibility, but at the moment she doesn’t know if it will be necessary. Alderman Bell stated City Manager Cutter presented a wonderful and creative vision for the City and asked if Council was the first to see the presentation. City Manager Cutter stated yes, Council is the first to see it. Alderman Bell stated she needs assurance that three very vocal Neighborhood Associations will have the opportunity to view the plan as well in an attempt to eliminate vocal opposition. City Manager Cutter assured Alderman Bell and members of Council the next step will be to introduce the plan to the public, but the first step was to get Council’s feedback. Alderman Bordeaux stated he was amazed and impressed by the presentation and believes it gives the City of Savannah an opportunity to shift and gives people an opportunity to say something wonderful is going on in the City. 1  Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – October 17, 2013 Alderman Hall stated hopefully this presentation will dispel some of the negative feelings about where the arena will be located as many citizens were concerned because they felt it was going in a high crime area. He believes this is the most comprehensive idea for the area and hopes Council will back the project. Alderman Bell asked was there any consideration to include a grocery and/or drug store in the area. City Manager Cutter stated on the MLK corridor a drug store has been discussed. Alderman Osborne stated there is a vacant Food Lion building that was unsuccessful, and asked will that be considered. City Manager Cutter stated that is an option. Alderman Sprague stated her concern is that the arena will be used at night and will be vacant during the day; her hope is that when it is built it will be a true part of the neighborhood. She also stated she has heard many things about the Gwinnett County Arena and believes Council should visit it the next time they are together in Atlanta. Mayor Jackson stated she will arrange that when Council goes for Mayor’s Day Conference in January 2014. Alderman Sprague voiced her concerns about public housing in the area and stated they are not nice housing areas and wanted to know if there are plans to redo them so they will be more of an asset instead of a detractor. City Manager Cutter stated she understands the Housing Authority has rehabilitation of those housing areas on the radar. Alderman Sprague stated another concern she has is the flyover and is there any way it can be mitigated because it is a barrier between the vision and downtown. She also stated she hopes public and private partnerships are being considered to help with the project. Mayor Jackson stated Kayton/Frazier became a part of the plan when the MLK corridor was done. The Housing Authority, along with some private and public partnerships and HUD funding will work on the area. The flyover has been a bone of contention for years. She stated it may be something that the Council might want to put on the legislative agenda to see where the project is. Mayor Jackson referred back to the rail line and stated when she visited Harlem they have a rail line similar to the one in the City and it is filled with beautiful flowers. She suggested partnering with the rail line company to do something similar if they don’t plan to put it back to use. She also suggested while in Atlanta instead of coming back stay to lobby with the agencies. Alderman Osborne stated if any parts of the vision need to be brought before CAT please let her know because they are preparing for their legislative luncheon. Alderman Shabazz stated she has concerns about the Stiles Avenue and Gwinnett Street areas in District 1 where there are businesses located (i.e. Jackson Brothers, the old grocery store where the churches are and Sheppard Brothers) and wanted to know if there were any discussions about improvements in the area because they were not shown in the picture. Alderman Johnson stated before this administration people put heavy industrial uses in residential neighborhoods which created an artificial barrier between the neighborhoods and the downtown area. He believes putting the arena in that area is a way to reconnect the area. He feels development spurs development and this is an opportunity to recreate and restore an area back to where it should be. City Manager Cutter stated as this concept came about all of those things were thought about; instead of focusing on the businesses or the arena tell the whole story of how this will impact the City as a whole. 2  Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – October 17, 2013 Alderman Bell stated she believes Alderman Johnson’s concerns are legitimate. Both businesses were present at the Neighborhood Association meeting and believes when the vision is shown to the businesses and the neighborhood at large it will be appreciated. Alderman Johnson stated there is a difference between sight and vision; the sight is the arena and the vision is the connectivity. The community is looking at it as single project, but Council is looking at it as a multiplicity of projects. The goal for Council, if the plan is to be successful, is to articulate the vision which is bigger than just the arena. It is about the greater vision and re- doing and changing the things that happened prior to this administration. Alderman Shabazz asked is Carver Heights being considered in reference to property taxes. Alderman Johnson stated Council doesn’t do a good job telling the story. While at the Neighborhood Association meeting he asked the community members present if they knew Savannah reduced the property tax and everyone looked around. The community saw their taxes increased and assumed the City was responsible, when in actuality property taxes are related to many different factors beyond the values. Alderman Shabazz asked what will be put in the Old Waterworks building. City manager Cutter replied a possible Multi-Use Facility. Alderman Osborne asked is there an allocation for parking in the vision. City Manager Cutter referred to the drawings and stated a possible partnership to create a parking garage. Alderman Bell asked is this an evolving plan. City Manager Cutter stated yes. Alderman Bell suggested to the City Manager when taking the plan to the citizens, allow them to give feedback to dispel some of the negative press as Alderman Hall suggested. City Manager Cutter asked if there was a common consensus from Council to go ahead with the plan. Alderman Bell stated her decision is contingent on the plan being discussed with the community. Savannah Entrepreneurial Center Overview Taffanye Young, Bureau Chief of Community Planning and Development along with Carla Byrd, Savannah Entrepreneurial Center Administrator and Carl Biathrow, Business Development Trainer presented a PowerPoint presentation. Ms. Young stated some of the objectives for the redesign of the SEC were to respond to the current training and support needs of prospective and existing businesses; address the training and support needs of M/WBE; meet the obligation to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; maximize partnerships through joint- training/support activities; include measurable performance outcomes and provide a venue for incubator space to support new business start-ups. Alderman Bell asked over what time period was the survey conducted. Ms. Young replied the survey began before the end of 2012 and went into the first quarter of this year. Alderman Bell then asked has there been any consideration about employing or mentoring individuals. Ms. 3  Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – October 17, 2013 Young stated that portion of the presentation will be given by Ms. Byrd and Mr. Biathrow who will be covering the implementation and informing Council of the things that have already taken place however, when the questions in reference to mentoring was asked on the survey, the feedback was very positive. Alderman Bordeaux asked does the SEC engage in funding businesses or arrange loans. Ms. Young stated the City does not directly provide business loans but has partners. Council sees it each year with SBAC who has a MLK revolving loan fund and other loans they manage on behalf of the City. SBAC is only one partner and the SEC doesn’t limit themselves to one particular organization. Mr. Biathrow determines the needs of individuals and assists them with the completion of the loan applications. Alderman Bordeaux then asked are records kept on the loans received and in the event they go into default what happens. Ms. Young stated yes. Alderman Bordeaux stated he would like to see those results. Alderman Hall asked for clarification of the term “give out money” and Ms. Young corrected the statement “loan the money.” Ms. Byrd continued the presentation discussing the proposed action plan for the SEC. She stated the mission which is simple, is to provide training and technical support; described the target clientele, which are the residents and businesses of Savannah, low and moderate income individuals (CDBG-eligible adults and youth, the micro and small business startup entrepreneurs and the emerging and exiting M/WBE’s. The primary services are classroom training and instruction, one-on-one technical assistance, business mentoring and networking opportunities, business incubator/office space and referrals to business and financial resources. Ms. Byrd then introduced Mr. Biathrow who discussed the Training Tracks at the SEC. The Emerging Micro- and Small-Business Entrepreneurs program has two tracks: starting the business and growing the business. The M/WBE Enterprises program focuses on successfully operating the business and doing business with governmental entities. Mr. Biathrow discussed the different steps of each program track, the business mentoring and networking aspect, and the one-on-one technical assistance he provides at the SEC. Mayor Jackson asked Mr. Biathrow if he has been in contact with the local universities to explore the option of interns at the SEC. He referred to Ms. Byrd who stated they have been in contact with colleges and universities in the area and although they do not have any interns presently it is being considered and will be something that will be utilized in the upcoming future. Ms. Byrd concluded the presentation detailing how the SEC provides instruction, referrals and support to the community, how they market and promote events and track the progress of individuals using the services at the SEC. PIO Overview Bret Bell, Public Information Office Director introduced Michelle Gavin, Community Relations Administrator; Julian Miller, SCMPD Public Affairs Office Director, and Mark Keller, Savannah 4  Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – October 17, 2013 Fire & Emergency Services Spokesperon who all presented portions of a PowerPoint presentation on their departments roles in Public Information. Michelle Gavin passed out the Metro Police Newsline Newsletter which she creates bi-monthly to keep the various City departments and the community informed of news within the Savannah- Chatham Metropolitan Police Department. Ms. Gavin is responsible for working closely with the Chief and Command Staff on formulating messages to the public, serves as an advisor to the command staff on media interviews and public perception, as well as communicate the department’s “message” to all members of the SCMPD which she stated is “moving forward.” Some of the other responsibilities of Ms. Gavin are social media, special events, community and youth outreach, unit collaborations and collaborations with the City’s PIOs. She believes by working closely with City of Savannah’s City SPAN crew to produce news segments which highlight SCMPD offices and community outreach initiatives; coordinating with the City of Savannah’s PIOs on all SCMPD special events; notifying City of Savannah PIOs of media coverage concerning Community Relations events and communicating on a regular basis with City of Savannah PIOs to share information and ideas that will get to the public in a more informative and productive manner. Alderman Johnson asked if possible in the future to change the day of the swearing in ceremony and/or promotion ceremony for Police Officers because Council would like to attend, but can’t due to the time conflict with Council meeting. Ms. Gavin replied she is sure that won’t be a problem under the new administration. Mayor Jackson asked the Clerk of Council office to send the schedule to Ms. Gavin. Julian Miller discussed the focus of the Public Affairs office which is the proactive action of the SCMPD; information coordination; crime incidents; citizen inquiries of crime and events; road closure notifications; crime statics; media monitoring; Chaplain Corps; television/film production and the website and departmental communiques. Mark Keller stated the SFES PIO serves a dual role in the department’s overall protection plan. The media relations and public information coordinates the release of critical information at SFES Operational scenes and coordinates the departments initiated activities and enterprise story inquiries from the media which are all the responsibility of Mr. Keller as the SFES Spokesperson. The SFES Public Information Officer is responsible for the management of the Savannah fire brand, the oversight of use of SFES logos, images, equipment and personnel to position the department as a global leader in fire service, and all marketing, outreach, public information and public relations activities which are geared toward brand awareness. Bret Bell discussed the role of the Public Information Office at City Hall; strategic communications planning; Savannah Government Television; advertising and design; branding and public relations; social, electronic and web media; media relations and training and the engagement of citizens, youth and the community. He asked Saja Aures to come up to discuss a new initiative called Open Savannah. Ms. Aures explained open government is a governing doctrine which holds that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public oversight. She showed some examples of different cities that have implemented the initiative. In addition, she gave ideas of topics that would be discussed on the City of Savannah’s open government. Ms. Aures also presented a Declaration of Local Open Government Principles handout to Council and informed Council what would need 5  Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – October 17, 2013 to be done to get the Open Government initiative started in Savannah. The steps include drafting a City open government policy taking a cue from the City of Chicago; creating an online open records requests log and creating a capital projects spending and updates web portal. Mr. Bell stated if Council is interested in starting the process his office would get with the City Manager’s office to begin the initial steps. Council was interested in the process. Mr. Bell told Council to prepare because the collaboration with the other Public Information departments will increase the amount of information that goes out to the public. Mayor Jackson stated she is receptive to the idea because she wants the citizens of Savannah to know Council is transparent and has nothing to hide. In addition, she would like to suggest appointing or asking three members of Council to volunteer to get with the Ethics Board to review the Ethics procedures. Council broke for lunch City Manager Stephanie Cutter presented the City Manager’s Briefing of the agenda items for the Council Meeting of October 17, 2013. The agenda is attached and made a part of the permanent record. Mayor Jackson adjourned this meeting. Dyanne C. Reese, MMC, Clerk of Council 6