City Council
Virtual Meeting
Tuesday, August 4, 2020 2:00 PM
1737 Main Street - 3rd Floor, Columbia, SC 29201
Mayor Steve Benjamin and Columbia City Council Unanimously Approves Emergency Ordinance Extending Mask Face Coverings and Temporary Suspension of Meetings

Mayor Steve Benjamin and Columbia City Council unanimously approved an emergency ordinance that extends the temporary suspension of the normal operating procedures of City Council and City Boards and Commissions meetings.

This allows for the Mayor, Council Members, Board Members and Commission Members to remotely participate in voting and operational procedures by telephone or other means of electronic communication and extends the requirement that face coverings or masks be work in public in the City of Columbia.

This emergency ordinance shall be terminated by the issuance of another ordinance or shall automatically expire on the 61st day after enactment of this ordinance.

Read the ordinance here.
Pet Adoption Fees Waived for Clear The Shelters Event

In conjunction with Clear The Shelters, Columbia Animal Services will be waiving all adoption fees on August 14, 2020 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
 
Due to COVID-19, Columbia Animal Services is operating at a maximum capacity of three people at once; if you are planning on attending this event, be prepared to wait in a line. Face masks or face coverings are required for entry. To view pets available for adoption, visit https://https://www.columbiasc.net/animal-services/adoption
 
Columbia Animal Services is located at 127 Humane Lane. For any additional information, call (803) 776-7387 or visit https://www.columbiasc.net/animal-services
See the attached flyer for more details.
The City of Columbia Office of Business Opportunities partners with SCMBDA to host Business Structure Zoom Webinar
 
WHAT: SCMBDA partners with Columbia Office of Business Opportunities to provide a business structure zoom webinar.
 
WHO: MBDA Business Center – Columbia, SC will be hosting a Business Structure Webinar. Realizing the importance to build your business on a solid foundation. Selecting the best Business Structure for your business that will determine many important factors in the future. This Webinar will be led by two distinguish presenters
Ernest W. Cromartie III from Cromartie Law Firm and Harold Singletary from East Cooper Financial Services, LLC. Please see the attached flyer for details.
 
WHEN: August 12th at 4pm. 
 
WHERE: For more information and to register, please go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XXScTyQmQ_SizhXU_VQpmQ
City of Columbia Parks and Recreation to Distribute Free Meals to Youth
 
In an effort to support our youth and families within the community as they return to school, The City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Department would like to provide free meals (which is inclusive of breakfast and lunch) to youth 18 years of age and under. There will be 10 meal distribution sites where families will be able to drive-up and pick-up their meals.
 
Meals will be distributed Monday, August 10th through Friday August 28th 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. The City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Department has partnered with a local faith-based organization who is authorized through the USDA (US Department of Agriculture), providing well-balanced nutritious meals. Families can pick up a lunch meal for that day and also a breakfast meal they can eat the next morning. The (10) distribution sites will cover all City Council districts.
 
WHEN: August 10-28 ; Monday-Friday
 
 
TIME: 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
 
 
WHO: Youth 18 Years of Age and Under
 
 
MEAL DISTRIBUTION LOCATIONS
Booker Washington Heights Culture Arts Center- 2611 Grant Street
 
Greenview Park- 6700 David Street
 
MLK Park- 2300 Greene Street
 
Hampton Park- 1117 Brandon Avenue
 
Heathwood Park- 800 Abelia Road
 
Hyatt Park-950 Jackson Avenue
 
Lorick Park-1600 Lorick Avenue
 
Pinehurst Park- 2300 Pinehurst Road
 
South Edisto Park- 1914 Wiley Street
 
Woodland Park-6500 Olde Knight Parkway
#MaskupColumbiaSC Campaign Gives Columbia Citizens Chance to Wear Expressive COVID-19 Face Masks &Then Share Across Social Media Channels

Tapp’s Outpost, in conjunction with the City of Columbia, is pleased to announce #MaskUpColumbiaSC, a new public education/social engagement campaign to encourage all citizens to protect themselves from potential exposure to COVID-19 by wearing protective face masks when in public. The #MaskUpColumbiaSC campaign gives Columbia citizens of all ages the chance to express their individual imaginations and inspirations by wearing fun and expressive face masks, and then sharing with everyone through social media and on the new maskupcolumbiasc.com  website, hosted by Tapp’s Outpost.  
 
Further, the new #MaskupColumbiaSC Challenge is a photo and video contest that everyone can join in to show off their mask designs, demonstrate mask-making how-tos, or zoom their fun and creative tik-toks. Winning designs will be announced every week through social media and on Tapp’s Outpost maskupcolumbiasc.com
 
To enter the contest, a mask must be shown while being worn in the photo/video in order for consideration. Citizens are also asked to add #MaskupColumbiaSC to their photo and video entries posted to their own social channels. Individuals that do not have social media accounts and would like to participate can submit contest entries to mask@maskupcolumbiasc.com, which will be monitored by Tapp’s Outpost.
  
Image Submission:
Submit images to the maskupcolumbiasc.com website, or post to your own social channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and include #MaskUpColumbiaSC hashtag that include you, family members, or pets wearing a mask that expresses your own creativity. The photos MUST include images of a mask being worn. The photo entries will be featured as previews prior to virtual City Council meetings and shared on social media accounts. To enter the contest, social media users MUST use #MaskupColumbiaSC to identify a contest entry.
  
Video Submission:
Submit videos that include tutorials of how you style, create and design your mask. Participants can also submit dance routines or tik-tok skits. The video CANNOT exceed 60 seconds and a mask MUST be worn. The video entries will be featured as previews prior to virtual City Council meetings and shared on social media accounts. To enter the contest, social media users MUST use #MaskUpColumbiaSC to identify a contest entry.
 
A Resilient Columbia Message from Mayor Steve Benjamin
The City of Columbia Partners with DHEC and Prisma Health to Offer Free COVID-19 Testing

WHO: The City of Columbia, DHEC and Prisma Health

WHAT: The City of Columbia has partnered with DHEC and Prisma Health to host COVID-19 mobile testing clinic in the City limits. Screening and specimen collection is free through the mobile clinics, which is part of DHEC’s efforts to increase testing across the state.

WHEN: Saturday, August 8, 2020 to Saturday, August 29, 2020

WHERE: Pardon and Parole (Old Building) 2204 Lee St, Columbia 29205

To stay updated with current mobile testing clinics, please visit http://scdhec.gov/covid19testing

**please see attached map
Columbia Incident Response Brief
(Reporting data as of August 5, 2020)
Situational Update
  • 4,825,742 Confirmed Cases in the U.S. with 158,300 total deaths
  • 94,837 Confirmed and 635 Probable Cases in SC, all 46 Counties reporting, 1,819 confirmed deaths with an additional 75 Probable in our state
  • 1,175 new cases with an additional 23 Probable cases as of midnight last night
20.7% Positive Test Rate
Source: SC DHEC

  • Richland County
  • 8,164 Confirmed Cases with an additional 180 Probable in Richland County, 145 deaths
  • 150 new cases reported on August 5th
  • Highest Zip Codes activity can be found on the COVID Zip Code PDF provided. (Charleston, Greenville, Horry, Richland, and Lexington counties reporting the highest cumulative totals)
  • City GIS dashboard tracking cases in Richland County by zip code
  • COVID-19 Cases Dashboard: https://colacitygis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/69407604f8114ab880b97b04dea113f1
  • Hospitals
o  Statewide ICU beds: 1,443 total; 311 available; 1,132 in use (78.45% utilization rate)
o  COVID-19 patients hospitalized: 1,469; 363 in ICU; 270 ventilated
o  63.7% in Richland county; 786 beds occupied with 447 available
Source: SC DHEC

City of Columbia Internal Updates/Efforts 
Testing
Employee PPE
  • Contracts & Procurement department continues to increase PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) stocks for all city departments and employees
  • The Fulfillment Center continues to process requests from departments
Office of Business Opportunities
  • SBSF Loan Program - 880 Applications in Portal 
  • To date, we have awarded 323 small businesses, totaling $1,400,000 (All Funds Allocated)
Resilient Columbia (RC)
  • Take the Resilient Columbia Pledge
  • As we reopen our doors or begin offering expanded service, my staff and I are committed to acting in accordance with the recommendations of the public health authorities to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Following guidelines provided by the CDC and DHEC,
  • I hereby declare that we will take the following steps:
  • Monitor the health of our employees
  • Clean high touch areas frequently
  • Encourage the use of face coverings and promote regular hand washing
  • Limit the number of people, both inside our building and in our outdoor spaces (if applicable)
  • Promote social distancing at all times to include the public right of way adjacent to our business
  • To date, 391 businesses that have taken the pledge
Mask Up
  • 4 Departments are currently serving as Ambassadors (Code Enforcement, Customer Care, Parks & Recreation, and Parking Services)
  • All are reporting having good educational opportunities with the general public and customers
  • A high degree of compliance has also been observed
  • Over 765 citizen contacts made
Mask Ordinance
  • Fire Marshal’s continue to educate businesses and citizens on the importance of using masks and the requirements of the Mask Ordinance
  • They are seeing generally overall good compliance
  • 138 visits to date
  • 111 contacts where educational materials were provided
  • 204 individual masks have been provided to the general public by DFM’s
  • 11 warnings have been issued
  • 5 Citations have been issued to date
  • No individual citations issued
Safety & Risk Assessments
  • 47 Risk Assessments of City facilities and departments have been completed by Safety & Risk Management
  • 3 External Risk Assessments have been completed with our external partners
  • Additional Risk Assessments are ongoing
  • Department of Safety & Risk Management/HR composed and implemented a COVID-19 Safety Disinfectant & Cleaning Your Living and Work areas for all employees on the City of Columbia Inner City Intranet Site.
City Facilities Mitigations/Modifications
  • Support Services continues to ensure daily cleaning of City facilities
  • 201 preventive cleanings have been conducted
  • Constructed 109 of 109 protective barriers have been installed
  • Installed 260 of 260 signs
  • Social distancing mitigations and signage have also been implemented at 1136 Washington Square to include all elevators
Disinfecting and Sanitizing Operations
  • Departments continue to clean facilities, offices, workstations and highly touched areas
  • Safety & Risk Management continue to provide guidance and monitor operations to ensure effective sanitizing and disinfecting occurs on a frequent basis
Public & Media Relations
Public Relations, Media and Marketing continues to handle both crisis communications and public information duties on a daily basis. Daily website updates and social media posts are a priority for COVID-19 information and modified City operations. 

Please see the latest press releases and media advisories for specific details below.
·        City Council Meeting | Tuesday, August 4, 2020
·        Dominion Energy to Perform Tree Trimming Activities as Scheduled for 2020

·        Planning Commission | Monday, August 3, 2020
·        Board of Zoning Appeals | Thursday, August 6, 2020
·        City Cautions Drivers to avoid Flood-Prone Streets and Intersections
·        Mayor Steve Benjamin and Columbia City Council Unanimously Approves Emergency Ordinance Extending Mask Face Coverings and Temporary Suspension of Meetings

                        Website and Microsite Updates:
·        City Council Meeting
·        Columbia Incident Response Brief
·        City of Columbia Parks & Recreation to distribute meals to the youth
·        Mayor Steve Benjamin and Columbia City Council Unanimously Approves Emergency Ordinance Extending Mask Face Coverings and Temporary Suspension of Meetings
·        U.S. Census 2020

Media Relations/Requests:

Social Media Updates:
·        #MaskUpColumbia
·        City Council Meeting
·        Census 2020
·        POTW
·        Board of Zoning Appeals
·        August City News
·        Mask Ordinance extension
·        National Night Out postponed

Video Content:
·        PR staff recorded video tutorials for parking services that offer parking facility visitors step by step guides on using the pay systems. PR made individual videos for regular parking visitors, parking validation, event parking, and the walk-up pay stations in the Washington Street garage.

Zoom Operations:
·        Planning Commission | Monday, August 3, 2020
·        City Council Meeting | Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Board of Zoning Appeals | Thursday, August 6, 2020
Social Distancing PSA
Click the link below to watch this Public Service Announcement about the social distancing decals that were placed around the City of Columbia. Visit resilient.columbiasc.gov for more information.
Follow these easy steps to help prevent the spread of COVID-19:

 1.      Wash hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds.

2.      If soap and warm water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.

3.      Clean surfaces frequently with disinfecting supplies (telephones, keyboards, copiers, printers, desks, etc.)

4.      Stay at least 6 feet (about 2 arms’ length) from other individuals

5.      Do no gather in crowds and groups.
6.      Maximize social distancing among co-workers and the public.

Remember, Safety Starts with an “S” but it begins with “YOU”.
Let’s continue to unite and fight the spread of the Coronavirus. 
Columbia City Council

Stephen K. Benjamin
Mayor
Sam Davis
Councilman District I
Tameika Isaac Devine
Councilwoman At-Large
Howard E. Duvall, Jr.
Councilman At-Large
Edward H. McDowell, Jr.
Councilman District II
Daniel J. Rickenmann
Councilman District IV
Will Brennan
Councilman District III
Teresa Wilson
City Manager