City Council - Regular Meeting

How do you feel?

Absolutely. Good afternoon, Mr. Johnson here. Mr. Bailey, present. Miss Herbert here. Mr. Brown, present. Mr. Bron, present. Mr. McDonald, yes. Mayor Rickman

here. Thank you. Not saying a word. Yes.

[snorts]

Your grace and mercies has taught us to be kind in our deliberations. Bless us today and the decisions we have to make, the discussions that will ensue. We pray for that deliberation. We come here today on this day of thanksgiving for those who find themselves devoid of substance. We pray for wholeness and wellness. Our continued prayers of course is for our chief chief and his family. Underguard him with power. undergurt him with grace and allow his duties to be a part of this city's structure and dimensions. Be with the family of Bishop Red Fern Deuce as they grieve his death. We ask it, we claim it in your name. Amen.

Amen. [clears throat] Thank you. Government Dal, Mr. Mayor, we move forward with the adoption of the agenda as outlined. Second motion. There's a second. Any further discussion changes? Hearing none. Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please read the role. Mr. Johnson, I Mr. Bailey, yes. Mr. Brown, yes. Miss Harbert, hi. Mr. Ren, yes. Mr. McDow, yes. Hi. Thank you. Thank you. Our first presentation is an update on the Lorie Center. Mr. Andrew Boozer, executive director with Senior Resources. Hey, Andrew.

Thank you all so much for uh for having me on this nice warm winter day in uh in Colombia. And uh with greetings from uh the board, senior resources members and members of the advisory committee at Lorie Center and the staff here. Uh, I just want to express a word of thanks to the city council and to to all the city for the great support um that the Lori Center and senior resources received. We really appreciate and it's my pleasure today to give you a two-year update on the funding um that was allocated to to the Lori Center back in 2023 and also share with you a little vision and update on the future and hear from some of our members. Now, we got some new faces in the room since last time I was able to present. Uh but back in so I want to give a little background. Back in 2023, the boards at the Lorie Center and senior resources after a uh a lengthy study decided we could be better together as a unified organization and uh in August of 2023 that was realized and created a one-stop senior serving nonprofit organization for all seniors in the city of Columbia and the surrounding areas. really a game changer because for the first time we really have a continuum where where seniors can reach out to us in their their early older adult years uh and be active and and engaged in the Lori Center and then as they need more services as they age for things like our meals on wheels program, home care, transportation, those things. They are already uh familiar with us and we're familiar with them and we can do a better job of serving our senior community in Colombia. So, we're really excited and we've seen a lot of great uh great benefits since that day and I want to go over a few of those things. Now, the first thing we wanted to do uh when that consummated is we wanted to revitalize the Lori Center and so we have done that. Uh the city committed $450,000 over the last three years for the Lori Center and I'm happy to report that we've leveraged that for an additional over $700,000 from other sources. So we have taken uh what you have seen as a

value in the Lori Center and shared that vision with others and got gotten uh others others on board and working with us. So we're really excited on that. All the 17,000 ft of the Lori Center has been completely renovated and we brought a lot of new life into the center. I want to talk a little bit about what's been going on. First thing we did is we took a look at the facility and uh we committed over $600,000 worth of facility improvements. And you'll see some things uh here on this video as it plays maybe. But uh as it goes around um we've created a warm, inviting, friendly environment. If you haven't been to the Lori Center in the last year since renovations were completed, please come by and see us. It's really been a great uh great new life, new energy brought into the building and we're really excited about that. Second thing you don't really see is we found a more efficient way to operate the Lori Center. We realized over a 30% uh cost savings uh through shared administrative and overhead and so we found a way in the senior resources umbrella that we can operate the Lori Center on a more sustainable uh way. We've uh there was a handout that was provided in your packet. You you can look at those details more clearly there. Uh but we've achieved a balanced budget last year and again this year and that's the first time in the last uh 10 years that we we were able to do that and so we've really found a great recipe for success uh that has put the Lori Center on on firm ground and a chance for sustainability as we're moving forward. Something I hope you've seen is more outreach into the community. We have uh emphasized reaching all parts of our city. We've been on uh a podcast with the mayor and uh been able to reach out on social media with targeted ads uh working with our with our media in Colombia to make sure that we're reaching every corner that we can in Colombia. Uh we've created new partnerships with other nonprofits, with our healthc care partners, with all

three major healthc care uh facilities have been involved and also with other public entities like the South Carolina Department on Aging and Central Midlands Council of Governments to get them engaged in what is happening at the Lori Center. Another great thing that we've been able to add to our repertoire is we've started to sign contracts with Medicare Advantage plans. A lot of those advantage plans for seniors will cover the cost of gym memberships. And so it's a great revenue addition. It is still small. Uh we're still working on building that program out. But with a lot of the facility upgrades we were able to do was to get the technology in place. So when a senior scans in their card, we're able to track their attendance, which then turns into a billable uh unit back to the insurance. So we're trying to think creatively on ways that we can can u bring in additional revenue, bring in additional members, and that's one way that we've been able to what I'm most excited about is what we've seen in our programs. Um we've got more classes about three times more classes than what was happening um back in 2023 with over 2200 individual class sessions offered in the last year in addition to the gym being fully utilized. Uh we're started with extended hours recently on the first Tuesday of the month and what we call Lori nights for those seniors that maybe can't come in the middle of the day because they're still working or things going on but they want to get engaged.

Life and health is sponsoring that. Lori Life and Health is engaged in that and the South Carolina Department of Aging and so so it's really been a great thing on uh the first Tuesday of the month to open the doors uh to other folks and to make it more accessible which is really what our goal has been and we've seen increased access uh through a partnership with Prisma Health and the um the Richland County Memorial Board of Trustees. They are uh underwriting our gym. gym used to be a premium add-on for members, but now it's open to everybody, including those who got the free uh city of Columbia membership with the investment from uh council back in 2023 and also scholarship. So, we're trying to lower those burdens, invite as many people, get outreach, lower the burdens, and to uh to get seniors active. [snorts] In that same time period, we've seen a 263 increase in me% increase in membership. So, more people are using it. I mentioned uh over the last two and a half years now we've offered city of Columbia residents free base membership. 287 older adults have taken us up on that offer and have gotten engaged at the Lorie Center. Uh which most of those being new members that have never been to the Lori Center before. So we're really excited about that. And in addition, we've had uh over 2600 folks use the Lori Center who aren't members. So trying to be a community uh hub where activities can go on. We've got a meeting scheduled uh later in February with the Maxi Greg renovations that are that are in the docket. But trying to find those ways that the Lori Center is first and foremost a place for older adults, but also to be an asset for the community. And we're really excited to see those things come. I can talk all day about this, but I think the best thing to do is to hear from some members. So, I got a video here and then uh later on we've got some members present as well. So, hopefully this video will play.

Come back. We'll come back to the video. Fair enough. U. So, this video, we'll get it going. Um, is an example. We got a grant from Central Carolina Community Foundation to help us reach underserved communities in our in our area. And it paid for uh video and social media content that'll help us in our outreach strategies. So, one of those examples where we're able to take what we um received from the city, leverage that with other community partners to pay off. And so it's really been a great thing. And so Miss Virginia, if we can get that video to work later, be happy to show that. All right. Now, to share with you a little bit on where we're headed, uh, looking ahead, as you may know, senior population is booming in America. It is booming in South Carolina, and it is booming here in the Columbia and Richland County areas. For the first time in our history, we're going to have more seniors than youth in America in 2034. In South Carolina, that number is 2030. Richland County is right in the middle of that. And so, we for the first time in our history are going to have more older adults in our population than we're going to have youth. And so, we've got to be ready for those changes.

2030 in South Carolina. South Carolina.

That's right. And and the Richland County, Columbia area is on that same timeline as the rest of the state. maybe a little ahead depending on how many folks decide they want to retire here uh and enjoy enjoy our lovely weather. Usually, Central [clears throat] Midlands Council of Government reports that our 65 plus population is going to double by 2040 in their uh report that they issued back in 2020. So, we've got to be ready for this. Um and we need to be able to grow with it. This is a a compounding because one, we've got folks moving in the community, but also our longtime residents are getting older. Baby boomers are entering entering the generation uh or in their phase of life where they're looking to a place like Senior Resources and the Lorie Center and are going to need these services. And so, this is something we've got to be prepared for and ready for. And I think the Lori Center is in in a prime position to do so. Now you say that the senior population will double in 2040.

By 20 240. [clears throat] Yes sir. By 2040. By 2040. Yes sir. That was in 2012. In 2040. That's right. It'll double. It'll double. Is that is that the movement from north to south or

that? That is part of it is folks are retiring to our community and so they're coming from other places and choosing to retire here for quality of life issues. Uh the other piece of that is our long-term residents are aging. And so as the baby boomers, which is the largest generation to come through America, enters the phase of life where they're over the age of 65, that bubble is shifting. And so they're moving into that. And so it's a compounding issue in our community where we're both attracting um seniors from other parts of the commu uh other parts of the country, but also our community in itself is is aging. Good. Could a factor be because she's getting warmer?

I'll let you decide the uh science on that one. But uh but but it's you know we we have a great place to live. That's no secret. And as the word gets out retirees are going to find have found out about us and most of the Lori Center a lot of the new Lorie Center members are folks who have not grown up in Colombia. A lot of folks [snorts] have moved into our community and are looking for an outreach and a place to go. And that's one niche we've been able uh is to connect them into a new community uh there at the Laura Center. How does medic how does Medicare and that data respond to that?

Sure. So traditional Medicare u fee for service Medicare doesn't really uh have a place that that neatly fits into this. A lot of the new advantage plans that you hear about and uh especially back in the fall when those open enrollments, a lot of those advantage plans recognize the value of a healthy lifestyle to reduce [clears throat] medical care costs. And so they invest in things like the Lorie Center. Um could be meal programs, things that keep seniors active and in the community. uh those advantaged care plans often will have a benefit that covers some of that on the intent that that'll lower medical care costs overall. Yes, sir. Thank you.

You're welcome. [clears throat] So, the uh the Lori Center is in a perfect position to be able to meet this need. Uh one of the studies that came out recently was on social isolation and we all felt that during CO on what it was like to be stuck at home. Nobody likes that. It's actually detrimental to our health. a study uh out of Salt Lake City, researchers showed that social isolation is as dangerous as smoking 14 cigarettes a day.

So, if you don't have a connection in the community, if you don't have people that you interact with on a day-to-day [snorts] basis, it is as dangerous as smoking a cigarette every hour that you are awake. And we all know what it what it feels like um to know those folks who who who have battled with with cigarettes and smoking and how we have as as a public addressed that and and seen that gone down. And now that same attention uh needs to be placed on how do we make sure that isolation doesn't hit particularly our seniors which are most vulnerable for uh for social isolation. That connection doesn't have to just be exercise. Certainly physical health and exercise is part of it, but it's also good for your mental health, for your emotional health and your brain health to offset and delay uh the onsets of dementia and Alzheimer's. Uh things that that can really disrupt life, a healthy lifestyle and getting engaged early in your older adult years or younger um really helps push those things off or delay or even prevent them completely. And so that's what we're aiming to do with the Lori Center programming and with memberships here. So our goals uh moving forward is we really want to keep the momentum that we've captured over the last two years. Uh continue to reach more people to engage all across uh the city to make sure that older adults realize that the Lori Center is a place that they can take uh full advantage of their health and promote healthy aging. So, we want to emphasize in our community the uh the health benefits of healthy aging and also make sure that we're a welcoming hub in the community and be a good asset uh to the city of Columbia to make sure that it's used to the fullest of its capabilities. And what we're asking of cities, we really want to continue to be a partnership with the city of Columbia as uh city initiatives come up and working with directors uh w with the with the

different programs to make sure that healthy aging and the senior citizen population are involved in those and we want to seat at that table and and to make sure that things that the city are working on have consideration on the older adult population because it is a significant part of the growth that we are seeing. We're also on the look still for identifying financial resources for sustainability. As mentioned, we've we've had a balanced budget the last two years and we are scratching or clawing to make next year a balanced budget as well. Uh but if any opportunities exist either at the city or with other partners, uh so more information on that is on your handout and uh we could we could really use connections. Uh and if there opportunities exist within city initiatives as well as funding to help with that.

What is the true need Andrew? So, so our budget that we're budget number we're fighting for right now is about $75,000. Um, this that's about half of what is current an annual um contribution in the 450 commitment. So, so we we've cut that deficit in half from where we were three years ago and we're fighting and clawing uh to get that number is down as far as we can and working with community partners to do that. But that's that's the number we're we're shooting for right now is to identify that kind of additional an additional $75,000 that will help us make next year's budget that'll start July 1 on the balance budget.

Is there some background on the the county's annual funding? I noticed that's ceased to 2023.

Yes. So, back um back in 2023, the county pulled all of its funding uh from the Lori Center. So, it no longer funded the Lori Center, which uh really started the ball rolling with looking for partnerships and senior resources getting involved. Um the county has also revamped how they're doing their community uh dollars out. So, senior resources has been a longtime partner with the county. We've got a good relationship there. Um the maximum amount that we can ask for in the county has been reduced by more than half this year. Uh so rather than $548,000 we got last year, it's $470,000 this year. We have a maximum ask of 200 this year. So we have challenges in uh how to make that up. And that that speaks most of those dollars go to like our meals on wheels programs and other services we're doing. Not the Lori Center specifically, but it does uh it does all fall under the same umbrella. Let me let me just add to that. I know Mr. Johnson has a a question.

Senior Resources is the identified Department of Aging partner for Richland County. Is that correct? That's correct. So So we are uh through competitive RFP with Central Midlands Council of Government's Area Agency on Aging, right? Uh which is a subreient of the South Carolina Department on Aging has identified senior resources as the Richland County service provider for senior services. So what I mean what wake should that have? So that that typically carries with it uh commitment from the communities uh both municipal and county level uh financial commitment that helps with the match of those federal and state dollars that are coming into the community. Um

so let me ask this Andrew. How are the other three counties that all have I think there's two in Lexington County Department of Agings. Yes. [clears throat] How are how do they prioritize their relationship and their financial pipeline?

Sure. So, so Lexington County as a whole has committed um part of their millillage to go towards senior services. They don't have an independent nonprofit like senior resources as part of their parks and recreation. Um and they do have two, one for Lexon Parks and Recreation, one for Armo Chapen Recreation. So, that's how they break that down. And so, it's it's supported by Millage in addition to any external funding uh that may come in or for municipal funding. Uh the other two counties in the region are Newberry and Fairfield. [snorts] Each of those have a line item in the budget uh in the county budget county budget in the county budget and some

some municipalities of course those are much more rural areas also include line item budgets in there. Um that's not the environment that we operate in Richland County where it's a competitive grant situation uh where we're up against every other nonprofit that y'all are all very familiar with I'm sure. Great. Thanks Andrew. Yeah. Well, I'm not surprised to see Fairfield County [clears throat] away. Um, [laughter] um, you got to give us Sorry. I was wondering where you're going. I don't know. [laughter] We'll put that away. Just anytime you hear Ridgeway Wiz. Um,

um, and as a former uh, senior res board senior res board member, I appreciate the presentation and certainly the mayor's question on uh, Richland County, the nature of Richland County's engagement. Um, my question is more around transportation. [clears throat]

So, has there been like partnerships or conversations with the comet about how we can open up center to more seniors? Yeah. So, there have been some conversations with Ree, the director there comment. He and I have had some conversations on how we can do senior transportation in general better [clears throat] uh in the Columbia area. And we do have members at the Lorie Center who rely on the DART transportation to get to and fro. Um today, Makia, one of our staff, brought some of our members on one of our vans. And so so we have some transportation capabilities but the funding uh hasn't been available either from the comet side or the senior resources side to really make that a uh a standing partnership other than a destination for a place like uh the dart uh transit can certainly pick up and schedule a training. So so the availability is there. There's certainly a need for transport, senior transportation all in our community.

Microitwise [clears throat] and finding those ways really needs to be part of that. Micro transit solving a lot of problems in a lot of communities. Spartanberg's launching theirs next week, I think. That's right. Yes, ma'am. Miss Herbert. Um, just a math question. Is that 75,000 on top of the 450 over three years as in 25,000 [snorts] a year or 75,000 a year? No ma'am it is 75,000. So we recognize that that 450,000.

Yes ma'am. A year a year. So our annual budget right now the difference in expenses and revenue is about $75,000 for next fiscal year which is when the city current dollars expire related to ARPA and so those dollars have now expired um and carry us through this fiscal year and so that's what [clears throat] we realize we need to make a net difference for next budget cycle. So Andrew, the you know, we don't typically like to talk numbers in the work session as we're leading into the budget cycle, but this is helpful information for the council to hear and Missy and I'll, you know, get with you outside of this meeting and as the budget process starts up. But again to clarify, it's not that you need $75,000 next cuz this funding cycle that's already been approved by the council ends June 30th.

So you're saying moving forward as you stabilize your budget, you need to still maintain that $450 well $150,000 per year is really what I guess has occurred. So now you're saying $225,000 a year. If you added the 75, it would be 75,000 a year. So we know that 150 per year over the last three years was one time. So you're not I think that's what counts.

So we recognized that that that elevated level of support which was more than the city committed to the Lori Center in the past was one time related to the ARPA funding and our response to COVID making a healthy community. So we recognize that we feel like we've done a great job with that funding. completed that project. Okay,

it continues until June 30th, but we we feel confident that we'll we'll complete that and call that chapter a browsing success. But beginning July 1 is a new chapter on how to continue this and not go back into the the spiral that that was we were seeing in the COVID years and and a few years prior. And we feel like that $75,000 difference keeps us on a balanced budget um and be able to to move forward and continue with all the other partnerships that I was talking about. Well, if we haven't said it, thank you. I mean, the merger was probably the best thing that happened

to to the Lur Center for no doubt. And I think when you see the upgrades, I hear from people all the time, it utilizes much more. Obviously, the membership's up. You're seeing more classes. Uh it's an array of classes that are going on as well. I ran into somebody I think took a Spanish class there not too long ago. And so um you know I think we'll just have to look at how we can continue to support. And I will say Mr. [clears throat] Mayor um we see you at the COG meetings all the time. You know the city of Columbia council has a very active group there and I know department of aging looks for potential programs specifically for grants.

That's right. So, if there's anything that we can put our heads together through that conduit of the cog specifically for the city of Columbia, please please let us know. Absolutely. Right. And if there's things that you see at the Lorie Center is doing well that maybe Mr. Simons wants to bring to another community center, too. Just note that that door that that's a two-way street. I'd love to be at that too. Reaching out to our friends at Chris Towers and Finley House.

We do. And I actually I do actually have a resident here. I would love if if we could have maybe five more minutes. Would that be okay? uh to have a couple Lori Center members to tell you firsthand um and hear directly. So, first uh Sandre Burgerer, if you'll come up. Sandre was on the uh the board of Lorie Center prior to uh prior to the merger and just wanted to let her say a few words. Well, for all the Hi, I'm Sandra. And for all the the ideas that we and the the um updates that we've talked about already, um the uh the especially the facility renovations, those have been strongly positive and they've been well accepted by the membership. Um, also the variety of programs. It's been a great increase in the variety of programs and even the scheduling of programs where we now schedule programs a quarter in advance. So, there's more time to market the programs and more time to uh actually a greater attendance for our programs. Finally, one thing I want to talk about that hasn't been talked about yet and it has to do with a community partnership. Last year we we've had a course that's been continuous since 2018. So this this made the hump from the lur center to the senior resources administration and that basic that course is called the lur that program is called the lur lectures and last year we had a course that was a documentary film course that we partnered with the nick. Well, an outgrowth of that course, it was very popular, half and half, members, non-members. An outgrowth of that course was a formation of a documentary club in the city. It's independent from The Nick. However, it its main one of its main goals is to work with the Nick to basically give more thoughtful documentaries to the Nick and certainly high higher quality. This year we began working with

the Nick. The first two documentaries that we were involved with were both sellouts. In fact, The Nick had to change the venue for the second documentary to upstairs because to accommodate the increased crowd and it was still a sellout. So, I think you can see we've always been gotten the reputation of promoting health and wellness of our older adults, which we do, but I think we also partner with local organizations to bring more traffic downtown and increase the the [clears throat] uh success of local businesses. So, thank you. Thank you. Media Abdin.

Good afternoon everyone. My name is Mahi Abedin and I'm 71 years old and I'm feeling very young because of [laughter] this Lori Center and uh this is my happiest place because for I'm 71 naturally I was until 65 I was struggling with my children grandchildren everything but you know somebody came to me and I said what do you do now because I didn't have my husband for past 4 years so I was just sitting at home feeling sorry for myself what to do where to go where to find a and just cooking and cleaning was not good for me because that not that's not my personality. So somebody um say let's go to Lori center and I said what is this place? I said just come and see you know maybe you like it. So I went for just one class and I said I have too much energy just for the one class. So I signed for two three classes and it just become like my second home. This is the happiest place for me because um everybody needs this place. When you are getting old, you have to feel alive just not living.

So I'm feeling alive every single day and I'm looking forward to going there meeting people mostly not just looking at happy faces dancing and exercising me feeling good mentally and physically that has helped me so much. I'm so so thankful to God and to the Li Center. Uh this is absolutely a success story with my husband. I could not do anything because I was taking care of him. He was in hospice care and I was his nurse. And so I did not see the other part of the world. There are so many good things here and I I love this country and I love South Carolina because I have been here since uh 1970s. Um what what more can I say? I just be very thankful for each day I'm coming here and thank you very much for all of you. this beautiful people has helping me and there so much so much respect so much respect and love everybody's there to help you thank you very much for all of you and we need money [laughter]

thank you very much media [clears throat] I've got one more uh Joseph Adams make your way up here I joke with media that we're just going to um build an apartment in the back and let her just just stay there because she's always coming in but but uh Joseph's always with us too Joseph Good afternoon. Afternoon.

Uh just briefly I want to give you a little history on where I came from and what brought me to the Lorie Center. Uh I'm from up north New Jersey and uh I moved from New Jersey to upstate New York and uh from upstate New York to here. Now I've always loved me some southern cooking. So when I moved down here I was in heaven. I was in food heaven. I was eating everything [clears throat] not knowing that I was doing more harm than good. [laughter] So after about 11 months I started having problems. Now if you all know about your body your A1C it was 8.9. That's no good. Blood pressure sky high gout problems with my joints heart problems. And I had to overcome this. So what I had to do is go see my doctor. And my doctor told me, "You got to stop eating first and get into a gym." Now, I tried the Y. It was good for about a month, but then someone else joined with a wheelchair and it created a problem for me because I got a motorized vehicle. So, after 2 months, I left it alone. I never went back. I tried to join this other place on Forest Drive. Didn't work. another place on the Harden Street across from the Food Lion. That didn't last. But this whole time people were telling me about the Lori Center. So I said, "Let me go and check it out." And they welcomed me with open arms. Now, it raised a question to me, "How often can I come to this place?" And do you know they said, "You can come as much as you want. As long as you're a member, you can come as much as you want all day if you if you if you choose to. Now, I was 385 lbs June of July of 2024.

2025 July. I'm down to 225 lbs. Amen. [applause] Now, most of that goes to proper eating, but a lot of it goes to me coming three, four, and sometimes five times a day to the Lori Center. Thanks. I appreciate it. So, the moral to my story is, and I think in my heart [snorts] that I would not be, and I hate to say this, that's right. I would not be alive.

That's right. I I really wouldn't because if if I was still living the way I was, I'd be sitting down eating, grabbing, and doing nothing. Now, I can come back and forth to the Lori Center. So, thank you. Thank you. And the moral to my story is this. If it wasn't for the Lori Center, I'd be in bad shape. Amen. Amen. Very bad shape. I have COPD, sarcoidosis, emphyma, bronchitis, high blood pressure, diabetes, gout, and all of that. And it was so bad. Now everything is coming back to normal, working out. So, thanks to the Lori Center. AMEN.

AMEN, BROTHER. Got that. I really don't know why I even got up and spoke. I should have just let them handle it all. Um, and I know we've had questions along the way, but I just want to say thank I want to thank the city for their trust in us back in 2023 for the Lorie Center board and the senior resources board that have worked to get us to this point. Our work's not done. We're going to continue to do it and we're going to meet the challenges for Colombia. And uh, any way that we can support the city's efforts in these coming years, uh, just please know we're a willing and eager partner for everything that the city's doing. All right. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Great.

I like the exercise. I like the socializing. I thoroughly enjoy all the educational programs that they offer. There is more to do here than it would be if I were to sit and say, "Okay, let me I want to do this, this, and that." And then I would have to go all over Colombia attending these various things when I can just come right here to one place because they've offered things that I really had not even considered even looking into. It's like wa that's something I need to consider as I'm aging that this is an aspect of my pass through. So why not be prepared for it? They have great instructors. They're knowledgeable and they are in tune to whom [music] they're teaching. If there are things that you have not attempted in life or tried and you think I can't do that or I don't want to do that, this is one place where you can put your toe in the water. You can get a taste of what it feels like. [music]

Thank you. Thank you. Andrew, I just want to say a word of thanks if you would. Just a word of thanks to those residents [snorts] who visit and [clears throat] come to the lur center. Thank you for their stories. All of us are getting older. All of us are going to reach that point in our lives where we need a lur center in our lives. Absolutely.

Once upon a time, [snorts] the lur center was just a building. But you transformed it. And [snorts] in transforming that building, you transform the lives of people. And for that, I thank you. And I thank residents. Thank you all so much. You're welcome. For being a part of of our lives because if you're getting old, we getting old, too. Thank you so much. Thank you, [snorts] Madell. Thank you. Yes, Mr. Herbert.

Just one quick question because some of the city facilities they consider 50 [snorts and clears throat] as senior. I learn Are y'all starting at 50? Well, we like to use older adult when we talk about a 50.

Uh but yes, 50 years old. And but research has shown uh if if you start taking care of the things that we talked about today before you hit that magic 65 number, your life is going to be ex exponentially better. 65, 75, 85, 95. But it takes that early attention. And maybe some of the great gyms and and fitness clubs and things that we have around town are a perfect fit. a board member owns a great gym. I love it. Um, but it's not for everybody. And if the Lori Center fills that niche, and that's what our evening programming is about. How can we capture people that maybe, you know, Orange Theory's a step too far.

That's right. Oh, yeah. You get hurt. But they need but but they need an outlet. then come to the Lori Center where we've got the equipment that that is built for your phase of life to get you engaged so that you can be the next success story. And that's what the goal is. [laughter] Thank you. If anybody wants to come work out with Joseph first thing in the morning, he's opening the door. He's the first guy in the gym. He'll be happy to to show you around. Three to four times a day. That's it day. Great. Is there any other questions? The only one coming in and the last one coming that amount of time in the lower center at coming to that gym three to four times a day every

day. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. And we know if you all need to leave, it is perfectly okay. Got to hit the higher. Absolutely. [laughter] Absolutely. Thank you all. Yes, sir. Andrew, thank you.

Pleasure meeting everyone. [clears throat] [snorts] [snorts] Thank you.

[clears throat] We need another lur center. That's what we need. Mhm. Another lur center. Y'all can keep the door open for me. While we're transitioning for my how do we fund them last year was what P funds did that I come out of the threeear commitment from the federal fund American 15 recovery I forgot what you got X years you spend American rest

recovery You ready, Mr. Mayor? Yes, ma'am. All right. Oh, do we need to wait on Mr. Bailey? Thank you. I think he had to go take care of some.

Oh, okay. All right. Our next presentation is the redevelopment of the former I277 right ofway at North Main Street and River Drive. Mr. Justin Steinman, director of planning and development services, Miss Lucinda Statatler, the planning administrator with planning and development services. And of course, we have virtually our partners uh the consultant who has helped with a lot of the work to date um with some information to share regarding potential real estate direction for this parcel, Mr. Mayor and Council. And those partners are Agora Partners, Mr. Howard Coslov, the founder and principal, and Mr. Ben Donssky, a principal with the with the partnership or organization. So, thank you, Justin.

Thank you [snorts] and glad to be here. We also have Ryan Coleman with economic development with us.

Oh, thank you, Ryan. And um I'll be very brief because uh all the work on this project has been done [laughter] by others today. But I did want to um talk for a minute about why this is I think this is an exciting project for Colombia. Um and fundamentally, you know, a lot of land was acquired for in the 1960s and in that time period um for freeways. And a lot of cities have been looking at ways to reclaim those that land that broke up neighborhoods um and dislocated or forced uh large numbers of people to relocate from their neighborhoods. And so I think this is a really exciting opportunity to kind of renet knit that fabric in Colombia. Um it also has a lot of aside from the obvious health benefits, transportation benefits. That that's one thing um I definitely learned working in Chattanooga was to think about greenway infrastructure as transportation infrastructure. Not it's not just for recreation. It's also to help pedestrians and cyclists get from one place to another as an alternative to roadways. But um there's a lot of economic benefits to projects like this too. Uh on average in the looking at southeast greenway projects, there's an 8 to 10 to one ROI when you look at the amount of public investment that goes into greenways versus the eventual private investment that's made adjacent to them. Um there's also a premium on land value of up to 40% for residential property that fronts on a greenway. So um there's a lot of reasons to be excited about this. And um Lucinda is going to talk about some more specifics about this project. [clears throat]

Thanks Justin and everybody for being here. I'm just going to run through a couple of slides that talk about just the background of this property um really fast before we turn it over to our consultants. [clears throat] So, first of all, just as a brief um background, most of the property here was obtained through condemnation by the DOT back in the late '7s and early 80s with the extension of I277. Um the city acquired 31.32 acres from the DOT in 2022 and currently this project is looking at about um 19 acres of that property. Let's see. [snorts] Do I advance the slides or do you Okay, so just as a um kind of an overview, you can see um these the parcels in yellow are the parts that we're talking about now. And there is some other property on the other side of North Main Street which is not in um part of this discussion. And then this is just kind of an aerial photo that you can see some [clears throat] of the context of the neighborhoods um nearby infrastru for context the the piece north across by buildings and everything. Is that part of the public discussion at all or is that just being kept separate?

It's just being kept separate now. I think the idea is that it's not as developable because of the flood plane. So that was not part of the discussion with the neighborhoods. So in May of 2025, Councilwoman Herbert hosted a community workshop facilitated by tool design. Uh we had uh almost 100 people show up between the two workshop days. There we go. There's some great pictures from the workshop. It was really really great event. Um a lot of participation, a lot of ideas. I mean people are just really really interested in what happens here. Um and so Tulle was the consultant who facilitated this process and they basically came out of it with three concepts with sort of different organizing principles in terms of how the development and the greenway would work together and there were some differences in all of those concepts but and I'm not going to dig into the weeds. I think you all have access to those reports and those those diagrams, but some three concepts sort of came out of that process and uh that were sort of um common to all of those. And one of the most important ones of course is to integrate the Vista Greenway with the new development. Um making sure that the design and the programming of adjacent development um are really integrated and thoughtful uh will benefit both the development and also the greenway by being activated. people really did um appreciate the NMA community garden and also the the open space that's kind of been informally used by uh youth football practices and there was definitely a desire to see some open space um be included as part of the future of this property. [clears throat] Um, and then to balance the areas for density, and this is something we had talked about uh before the neighborhood workshops and and the community seems to agree that more intensive development should go closer to North Main between that um you know, Maine and River and

then between River and Park Street to kind of scale that down and have something that's a little more um on a smaller scale, you know, shorter buildings and that sort of thing to to fit in with the neighborhood context as well. Minimize the amount of space dedicated to parking. Um certainly parking will be required but to reinforce the walkable and bikable nature of the existing neighborhoods and certainly with the larger goals of the city and then finally to tell the story of I277 by reconnecting the neighborhoods um and making sure that these connections to the neighborhoods are um like Justin mentioned sort of knitted back together throughout this process. Um, and that's kind of the end of just the background slides if anybody has any questions, but otherwise we'll just jump right in with um with Howard, our our consultant um to talk about the real estate aspects.

Was there a reason why that they recommended practice fields kind of to me that's that's not the place for it. I mean, honestly, because where it is is is prime where if you want to kind of keep the the the heavier density in Maine, you almost need that. I mean there are plenty of other land there. It was really mostly based on the community feedback. I think people just really liked seeing kids playing out there. There was acknowledgement that with Earl Wood Park so close by there are opportunities for practice fields that are people have just started. There are teams that use that space now. I don't know if we gave him permission.

Yeah. No, but I'm just thinking I mean there are other areas that are I mean if you're going to have higher density I rather see the playing facility maybe closer to park or somewhere in there or even that could be an opportunity with somewhere else but right there seems to me the pocket where the highest density between Main Street and River we should be concentrating if you're going to do if it becomes multi-use you know so if it's apartments and small retail and integrated parking or whatever happens there. To me, that that that area is the most intense. And it also gives you a little more ability for height there than it would if you were on the Park Street or

or even um uh some of the other parcels there. So, I was just curious why. So, just just feedback. And it say it says practice field, too, cuz it's pretty small. I mean, you can't get probably maybe one football field there max. I see kids out there playing, but I don't know if it's enough for practice fields. Then parking is terrible. Yeah. And I I think that's just kind of an example that they put together. I don't think there was any any prescriptiveness to it in that Well, no, they were everybody. That's why I was curious why people thought that was the place. I think they just integrated it visually, but realistically it could shift around the property depending. Yeah,

we do need football fields plural, but I don't know if that's where they ultimately are. I think the other thing was the grading gets complicated the closer you get to Park Street. There is some steep um grade right there. So, they were probably just thinking it's a flat area, but there was definitely some conversations about, you know, is that the best use for the property? And I think it was just, you know, the community is sort of liking that folks were using it. I love the connectivity to Earlwood Park. I think that makes all the sense in the world. [snorts and clears throat] And that also would connect the greenway there, correct? Right. So the rail trail.

Exactly. Yes. So currently um the greenway goes from um you know it goes up to the Elmwood vioduct from you know Lady Street and um our city engineering team has really designed most of it from there all the way to North Main and they're working on the next section that'll go all the way to Bull Street. So, um, and you know, that design could be tweaked obviously according to how this develops, but that connectivity is critically important. And of course, as you also know, the new buffered bike lanes that were installed in 2024 on River Drive would also be a key intersection, you know, where people on that bike facility could get on the greenway and go either to Bull Street or to downtown. So, it does provide some transportation options as well as, you know, the the recreational part. [snorts] I guess if there are no more questions, I'll turn it over to um Howard Kosov and Ben Donsky of Agora Partners. They've been great in working with us. Did you want to say anything, Ryan, before they get on from the economic development standpoint or?

Um, no, I think you on most of it. Um, it is a a really good um economic development and commercial development opportunity for the city. Um, and we'll talk about it a little bit more. I mean, the site is very interesting, which is kind of what's led us to have this discussion. We kind of went in this initially attempting to apply zoning to it and with the way it's broke out between heavier commercial use uh near North Maine, with the residential down near the neighborhoods, with the topography, with the inclusion of Vista Greenway, we kind of we struggled to figure out how to how to kind of put all that together. and Avora has come in and kind of helped us think our way through it. Um, and to be able to put something out there to solicit development that um, I think takes into account how the how the public benefit of the property can be maximized first before then going through the technical process of putting zoning over it. Because if we put zoning on it too early, we obviously have to go back in and change it. We didn't want to measure once, cut twice with that first. So,

you ready? Yeah, I think so. Oh, Howard. Oh, yeah. Okay. [clears throat]

Well, well, thank you. Um, it's great to to be here virtually with everybody. Uh, my name is Howard Kaf. I'm a founder and principal of the partners. My partner Benski, uh, also a principal at Agora is also on. And just by way of very quick background, Ben and I between the two of us have about 50 years of work focusing solely on public spaces. Um that includes privately owned and publicly owned public spaces. Uh urban, suburban, exurban, rural, uh large, small, different ownership structures, different governance structures. Uh and basically uh the the premise of our uh firm is in effect creating what are business plans for public spaces and key to that first is defining what value means and then maximizing value. So need needless to say with public spaces value is not always based on dollars and cents. uh they're they're very often and almost no way civic goals and have and so [clears throat] we look at marrying the different uh revenue development opportunities, management, operations, governance uh with the the public mission of public spaces. Um it's this is our first time working in Colombia, but we have worked all over the country. Um I think we're up to about 40 different states, a lot of different circumstances and scenarios. Uh and we we've done quite a bit of work in the southeast uh both in the past and currently. Um we're actually working in Chattanooga. There's there's mention of Louis Park there. Um Georgia, North Carolina, other South Carolina um of course many other locations. Um the way the way that we framed this and understood uh the greenway opportunity

and potential uh development opportunities was uh first to catalyze uh housing development and and again that can mean different scales different densities which we'll get into uh and really how that can activate the district green. Um we looked at city- owned land as a development lever and as was mentioned earlier uh there's multiples on return of investment that when when catalyzed properly can really have those spin-off uh effects and public benefits and with the land of course there's options to sell it outright or uh to enter into ground leases. um selling it outright, there's a larger uh capital flow that comes as a result of that. Uh but ground leases, you can build revenue over the longer term and maintain more control. Next slide, please. Um so with with the understanding of those opportunities, the key goals again uh were to identify development opportunities along the greenway um generate revenue for the city and foster investment. Uh and then support entrepreneurial planning and city building goals. And what we mean by entrepreneurial planning, that's a a term and concept that that we coined and that we use. And it's the idea of leveraging

[snorts]

both entrepreneurial thinking with the combination of planning goals and objectives as identified by the community and public sector. So understanding that those two should work in concert rather rather than at odds with one another and that uh there's there's they're mutually beneficial gains I think next please. Um, so again, strategy overview given the opportunities and goals, um, leveraging the city-owned parcels, using long-term ground leases and public private partnerships, and really creating sustained funding. And what that means is that it's it's important obviously to come up with the plan and execute the plan, but what happens on day one once it's executed? How how do you sustain the level of activity? How do you provide funding for ongoing operations and management?

Uh next please. [snorts] Um uniqueness of this site and you all know it know it better than we do frankly but we really dug in and tried to understand it as best we we can understand again we're not we're not local irregular parcels and the land is a little more difficult in terms of contemplating how future development might um the mayor had a quick question about um how do you fund ongoing operating cost?

Well, I mean I'm trying to understand where you are headed with that with ongoing funding. What what what are you talking about?

Yeah. So, if if there are public spaces um there's ideas around how do you sustain the management and operations of those? How do you create funds that that come in on an ongoing basis? So, a ground lease, for example, is one way to do that. It's recurring funding. It's not a one-time sale that that provides a single windfall of of money. Um, when we are working with public spaces, we also put together and think about revenue development plans that may come from again ongoing property contributions of one sort or another. Um there there can be mechanisms like tip funding. Um are there are there commercial enterprises or buildings like smaller scale retail in this case that will pay rent that goes back into the management and operations. Uh it's a similar construct to uh business improvement districts that are often set up where the idea again is value capture. And if the the city is putting investment and putting time and effort into creating a public amenity, there will be others that benefit from that that value creation. And so some of that value creation very often comes back into the public spaces to provide that ongoing address your

Yeah, I was just trying to figure out where you're going because you're talking more about ground leases and others and we don't know where we're headed yet. You're just giving us some options. Just sounded like you were directing it there. You you didn't talk about the public spaces, so it makes all the sense in the world. Thank you. Um so a a another unique uh uh attribute here that that is an opportunity is that it's not currently zoned. Uh so that both allows the community and uh public agencies to help shape what can and should go there but at the same time also provides somewhat of of a blank canvas. Um we understand the the investment going into the bridge replacement. Uh the success of the Bull Street District adjacencies to the the downtown grid uh which helps give some form and as Lucinda mentioned uh earlier there's some some topography challenges obviously nothing that can't be overcome but it certainly needs to be considered. uh and then the surrounding communities and that goes back to the notion of the entrepreneurial planning concept where planning is given uh equal credence to to fit into what's already there and understand that this is going to be a a new development that sits in the middle of a number of existing communities. Uh next please. [snorts] Uh very briefly um market snapshot. Um the the rental demand in in the immediate area and also throughout Colombia is relatively strong. Um what has been interesting about the ongoing debate regionally and nationally around the real estate market which um in some cases has been sluggish. Um demand still persist persists. So in in the real estate world, we talk about the fundamentals that being mainly supply

and demand. The fundamentals are are in place. So um that's not to say that hundreds of units should be dumped into the market at the same time. So that that speaks to the importance of phasing. Uh but there's every reason to believe that there is sufficient [clears throat] demand over time to absorb some number of new residential units. um a 7 to 10% vacancy is um reasonable. Um I think ideally you want to see vacancy a little bit lower. Uh that being said, that helps. If if vacancy is lower, that's going to drive cost up. So there there are tradeoffs there. [snorts] Um again, that idea of of defining value and what's important comes into play there. uh existing workforce, the university, uh the opportunity build that that's what we see as [clears throat] primarily driving the market here. Uh next, please. And just touching briefly, Linda uh touched on the tool design concept. Uh we we work with a whole lot of different architects, landscape architects, and planners. Uh we we are not a design firm. uh and this is just one option that uh to have had presented. Um we we think that the the rationale and the thinking behind it is absolutely right on track. Um where and to what extent the different densities go to be determined. Um but we understand that uh density, walkability and again the notion of activation along the greenways was paramount. Next please. Um there was some mention of of other greenway strategies that have been successful and and I want to say first and foremost that [clears throat] Dallas image is about development next to Greenway right that's not a recommendation on um that this should

necessarily be 12 stories of apartments but uh greenways become both a public amenity and a development driver and as mentioned earlier with uh the the zoning and yet to be fully determined that gives the opportunity to shape how development around the greenway um might proceed. Uh Atlanta along the belt line is a national example um that's a a large scale and there's a larger city, but the opportunity again to shape the character of different uh development within different neighborhoods uh was really quite a a big driver of that development. And uh it's it's ongoing. Uh it's meant to be phased over many many years, but it's really been quite successful. Uh next, please. And a snapshot of what different densities might look like, [clears throat] excuse me. Um targets here, students, professionals, uh downsizers. Um, we think that there may be opportunity down the road for lower scale town homes or what we call cottage lots. That's a little bit harder in today's market. Um, mid and high density uh again those bottom two images on the right give you an idea of what we're talking about here. So, not skyscrapers um not even midrise but um uh three [clears throat] four story types of properties. Next, please. [snorts] Um, this is an example, [clears throat] excuse me, of what 80 units per acre might look like. The idea behind 80 units, it's not necessarily a magic number, but why we we zeroed in on that uh is both because it supports walkability in some retail. Uh, and then it maximizes that value capture that I mentioned. um the more

units up to a point that are on a property arguably the more value the the city can can obtain uh on a dollars basis but again that dollars might conflict with some of the public policy basis. So the 80 units is meant to be somewhat of a middle ground that as as you'll see in a later slide that's similar to the Bennett at Bull Street which uh we identified as one local precedence uh for quote unquote the right amount of density at the high end but also as I mentioned previously some lower density as well. Uh next uh just for basis of um comparison and benchmarking these are the numbers that we looked at uh for for construction cost. These numbers are moving constantly. So excuse [clears throat] me these these numbers are not to be taken as uh stake in the ground but more again as a benchmark guideline. I I heard a stat recently that uh construction costs over um a recent 20-year period went up about 60%. So doing doing rough math, that's about 20% a year. Um in the two years following COVID, construction costs went up 50%. And typically once costs go up, they don't they don't really come down. So the market has to catch up. But it's just I tell you that just as an example of how variable construction costs have been. Um, but we wanted to have this out there so you understood where we're coming from in terms of thinking about densities, values, and costs.

High density. Howard, is that on is that on your high density model, Howard? Yes, sir. The 260 per door. Is that on your high density recommended density? Yes. All right. And and that's a again that is a um an umbrella amount that there are going to be a whole lot of variations within that depending on um parking considerations. Is it podium? Is it surface parking? Is it structured garage? What the amenities are going to be? Um it it will vary quite a bit. [snorts]

And as mentioned, Bened uphold uh we saw this as as a good market cop for the higher density product. Um based on available information, we saw those rents at an average of 272 a foot. Um but the the biggest indicator here being that a confirmed uh market demand for this this type of product. So we're not recommending the density go above this. not recommending that the uh all of the parcels be used or be at this density, but to give an idea of what the maximum density might look like is what we employ here. And I believe that's the last.

Yes. [snorts] So I guess I guess it's just um questions and um comments from council

part of what they did is they took what the community had talked about and give us some ideas. So at this stage I mean we have an idea mixed use public spaces wanted I know you know dog park and other things have been talked about. I know I believe uh some of the feedback was integrate parking in it so that there's no big parking structures and wasted land on parking I believe I heard as well. So looking at that from a from a zoning standpoint, I mean, is this something we're going to put out there, get we doing an RFI on this for for a master developer? we going to phase it out? Are we thinking that we want to negotiate a development agreement with potential developer when they come to the table versus trying to because obviously people going to have different ideas obviously incorporating you know what we're hearing because it's it's a lot of what I've heard is a lot of what we've heard before. [snorts] So it's really kind of laying out what [clears throat] the public wants there. They see this as a centerpiece to, you know, really help with that main street development.

Well, why why wouldn't we just concentrate on like the zoning of of the areas? And and my only thing is what if somebody says, well, you know, I'm going to do housing over here. This person goes, no, I want to do I want to buy the parcel, but I'm going to put my green space over here. I'm going to have this more density or I'm going to have it more low. I think I'd like because it's odd a little bit, but also where it's sitted, I think we got to have a little bit of of room. And if we do a development agreement, does that give us a little more ability when it comes to some of the open spaces out there? I don't know. I'm just throwing that out for a discussion because we we we got an open canvas that we haven't had

and I think since bullying. So, um, what we talked about with the staff was doing a request for qualifications because before doing the zoning because how do else do we this is how we get insight into what Joe versus John [laughter] I tried. But to me, that's the best way to get um a idea of what folks are looking at and then we can pick and choose. And does [clears throat] it fit into what we [snorts] know that we've gotten feedback on

and it doesn't limit us to what we know or what we think does have some additional specific recommendations about that that we kind of talk about in executive session. So, we may want to talk about Yeah.

And I think it's for all the points that y'all just made. There's a lot of factors going on with the property, with the input from the neighborhoods, with the greenway. Um, it's large. It's very uniquely shaped. Um, and and we're [snorts] probably not even sure kind of like what the development arrangements may look for this. You may have a master developer that comes in. you may have a joint venture with some folks. This thing could probably get sliced and diced a number of ways. Um, so as Councilwoman uh Herbert said, start off looking at an RFQ type process. Um, see what comes in and then based on the response from the development community that informs how, you know, we as staff can react to that and then look at applying the zoning to match what they're bringing to the table.

A bit of expectations, too. Yes. You know, the one thing I didn't hear and in what they were discussing earlier too is there's an opportunity there for people to have ownership as well. If it's condos or town home, I mean, it's such a unique piece of property and there is a need for that. We need we need condos as well. Um, I think quality of construction is important. It's going to be big 100%. You know, um, this isn't this is what y'all can get. No, this is what we want. [snorts]

Yeah. And that that I think that's some of the input that we want to kind of refine what the um final RFQ looks like and what's included in there for the city's requirements. And I will say one good thing that came out of the public hearings was several people said any of these would be great. So there was no this is awful. I mean everyone whatever all of the designs that were up there several comments were great. Any of these would be great. basic level of openness. Yeah. Very interesting. Well, the other thing I heard was don't drag it out for 10 years. But we'll try. No promises. [laughter]

Thank you. Anybody have any other questions at this point? And from a from a city standpoint, when do you anticipate whatever path we go on put getting this out? Do [snorts] you have an idea? We can talk about it here shortly a little bit more. Yes, sir.

Thank you all so much. Um I think we're going to transition into executive session. Mr. May I want to make a motion to enter into executive session for discussion of matters relating to the proposed location expansion and provision of services encouraging location or expansion of industries or other businesses in the area served by the public body pursuant to SC code 30-4785 former I277 right ofway at North Main Street and River Drive and Bull Bull Street District and then also discussion of negotiations incident proposed contractual arrangements pursuant to SC code 347 A2 busted plug and also discussion of the employment of an employee pursuant to 347A1 municipal court judges

second motion and a second any further discussion hearing none seeing none mad clerk would you read the role Mr. Johnson I yes Mr. Brown yes pervert Mr. Brennan yes Mr. Yes.

I just need a minute. Y'all can start