City Council Meeting | October 20, 2026

At the October 20, 2026 City of Columbia Council meeting, council considered sales of city properties to two residents through the city’s housing initiative: 5236 Spalding Avenue to Leticia Miles Hall and 5240 Randall Avenue to Deanna Mack. The sale items were taken up following first-reading approval on October 6; the roll-call record clearly shows support for the Spalding Avenue sale, while the vote on the Randall Avenue item is incomplete in the transcript. Staff described the initiative’s use of city property, strategic infill development, and partnerships with Founders Federal Credit Union, Sour Group, and US Brick to expand affordable homeownership. External contributions toward household appliances and home purchases were also announced.

Council considered hospitality-tax and state accommodations-tax allocations, including $500,000 for Finlay Park programming; $250,000 for a hosted sports tournament, pending additional information; $10,000 for the Links Incorporated Christmas brunch; $35,000 for a local-music concert series; $50,000 for the Koger Center Heritage Jazz concert series; and $250,000 each for beautification and litter cleanup. Lake Murray Country and the Visitors Bureau was listed for $126,718, while the Columbia Experience/CVB amount is garbled in the transcript. A motion to accept the proposals was made and seconded, but the resulting vote is not captured clearly. No competitive bids or vendor contract awards were identified. Other discussion included domestic-violence awareness, homeless-services training, and community referrals.