Columbia City council approves agenda and votes to enter executive session to get legal advice on Forest Acres, franchise fee and park policies

The Columbia City Council unanimously adopted the meeting agenda and then voted to go into executive session to receive legal advice and discuss negotiations on several matters, council members recorded.

City Manager Adam announced that staff was prepared for the council to adopt the agenda with one addition: inclusion of park policies under item 1 and receipt of legal advice under attorney-client privilege as cited in S.C. Code. A motion to adopt the agenda carried on a recorded voice vote with all members answering in the affirmative.

At the start of the meeting Rod Hedge offered an opening prayer, saying, "Bless us as we deliberate, bless us as we discuss, sensitize us, each one of us to your will and to your way." Mayor Rickerman and the council then proceeded to routine business.

Later, Mayor Rickerman moved that the council go into an executive session “for receipt of legal advice relating to matters covered by attorney-client privilege,” and specifically listed topics to be discussed: counsel communications; Forest Acres; a potential franchise fee; park policies; and negotiations incident to proposed contractual arrangements. A second was recorded and the clerk read the roll. The motion passed with recorded affirmative votes from all members present.

The council did not discuss substance in public; the meeting record shows the body approved moving into the closed session to receive legal counsel and to discuss the items the mayor named. The council then prepared to convene the executive session as permitted under the cited S.C. Code provisions.

The meeting timeline indicates the executive session topics will be discussed behind closed doors; the public record here contains the agenda amendment, the stated topics for advice and negotiation, and the unanimous votes to proceed. No final decisions on the listed topics were made in open session.