Columbia Housing Authority CEO Randy Cole will address the Columbia City Council during its regular meeting Monday with updates on the Voluntary Action Team’s progress on planning for a comprehensive homelessness center.
The city awarded the Columbia Housing Authority a planning grant for a comprehensive homeless center, called the Opportunity Campus, in February. Cole’s organization, along with the Voluntary Action Center, Room at the Inn, Loaves and Fishes, Love Columbia and Turning Point, are working together on a report due in August that will outline how the group will use the grant.
Cole said in an email Friday that he will discuss planning efforts, how those efforts relate to the proposal and additional efforts the group will undertake before the report is due to ensure the group has “a well-informed plan that meets the requirements” of their agreement with the city.
The City Council has allocated half of the $25.2 million it received from the federal American Rescue Plan Act to homelessness, workforce development, behavioral health and community violence. The city could put some of this funding toward the Opportunity Campus once the group finalizes their plans.
City Council will also hold a public hearing about the construction of a water pumping station and the establishment of a pressure zone in the water distribution system in southeast Columbia.
In a memo to the council, the Columbia Water and Light Department recommends the council direct staff to move forward with the project.
Residents in the area have resorted to their own methods to increase water pressure, according to the memo, and the establishment of a new station and zone would provide “higher, more consistent” water pressures. It would also enhance fire protection.
Police Chief Geoff Jones will also attend the meeting to speak to the council about a report from the attorney general that shows the Columbia Police Department continues to disproportionately stop Black drivers, said police department spokesperson Christian Tabak.
The report shows that the police department has stopped Black drivers at a rate disproportionate to their share of Columbia’s population since at least 2000. Native American drivers are also disproportionately stopped, according to the report.
In the pre-council work meeting, the council will also receive an update on the electric resource master plan regarding an option to modernize the city’s utilities system.
This system, advanced metering infrastructure, would create a city-wide wireless communication network that monitors utility usage in real-time. Its benefits would include increased efficiency and immediate utility outage notifications.
The council also is requested to provide guidance to city staff on a request from Diggs Meat Packing LLC to split the cost of sidewalk construction along the portion of Hinkson Avenue west of College Avenue. The sidewalk is estimated to cost $98,000, but the city does not have an existing formal process for cost-sharing new sidewalk projects.
“There is an existing precedent for the 50% cost share in the downtown area where pedestrian traffic is the highest in the City,” states a letter from the company. “We ask that the City of Columbia expand the boundary of this program to include this part of the North Central Neighborhood.”
