Angelo McBride Columbia City Council convened for its work session on the third floor of City Hall at 9 am, Wednesday, January 13. All members were present: Kirkman Finlay III, Tameika Isaac Devine, E. W. Cromartie II, Mayor Bob Coble, Sam Davis, Daniel Rickenmann and Belinda Gergel.

Strong mayor

Council voted to hold a public hearing on converting Columbia’s structure of government to a strong mayor. The hearing is set for April 21. Rickenmann warned council the change would be profound, so there’s no need to rush into it. He also suggested if a ballot is offered the voting public, the election to decide on a strong mayor for Columbia should be during a general election, not the usual isolated city election when maybe 10,000 show up to vote.

Columbia has 62,914 registered voters. Gergel suggested the statewide primaries in June could be a good time for Columbia to put the strong mayor option on the ballot. The last turnout to vote in the city was about 13 percent of the total number of registered voters. Cromartie reminded council he was around when Columbia shifted to the current 4–2–1, and he said it works fine.

Eric Shytle King celebration

The short stretch of Harden Street commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be dedicated at 3 pm, January 18 at the corner with Greene.

Parking garage

Mary Beth Branham of the Columbia office of LS3P presented schematic designs of the city’s proposed garage at the northwest corner of Taylor and Sumter behind what used to be Berry’s on Main. The design includes 532 parking spaces and 7,200 sq. ft. of retail rental space on the ground level. What appears for now to be a total $14 million project could well drop a bit in cost estimates once the construction documents are let out to bid in an especially competitive construction environment.

Bids should be invited by this June, and construction can commence by August. Finlay and Rickenmann wondered why the city parking garage had retail space on the ground level when downtown retail space had about a million square feet empty. The argument that retail begets retail was not discussed, and neither was the concept of another level of parking to serve a top level of housing. Also, considering high land values relative to the cost of construction, going down into the ground for two or three levels was not discussed.

Tax increment bond financing

Angelo McBride, the city’s senior business administrator, and Er ic Shytle of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd argued in favor of the city’s two proposals for tax increment bond financing: Columbia Renaissance Redevelopment Plan (5.7 sq. miles, 3,664 acres, northeast of the intersection of Bull and Gervais) and Innovista Redevelopment Plan (1.1 sq. miles, 724 acres, between Gervais and Heyward west of Assembly to the Congaree).

The CRRD projects building on the North Columbia Master Plan and the East Central Master Plan total $34,350,000 in public investment (including infrastructure) and $415,369,066, private. Upon completion of all CRRD catalyst projects, CRRD will generate $118 million in incremental tax revenues, and out of that the city will receive $28 million.

The Innovista public investment in infrastructure comes to $153,938,587. At full build-out the Innovista District will generate property taxes up to $25.6 million. Gergel warned council nothing should move forward on either project until the city returns to a respectable reserve fund, something between $12 and $15 million. Devine worried over the feasibility of selling TIF bonds in the current market, and McNair bond counsel Dan McLeod suggested further backup from water and sewer funds might hold down the interest rates.

Next meeting

Council holds its next regular meeting on Wednesday, January 20 on the third floor of City Hall.