OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Board of Public Works and Safety Meeting – March 24, 2026

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, March 24, 2026
BodyColumbus, Indiana
SessionMeeting Portal
DateTuesday, March 24, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 34:54

Transcript — Verbatim
0:06

I thought he was walking in with me.

0:08

Yeah, I thought he was here.

0:10

Well, good morning.

0:12

It is 10 o'clock, so we can go ahead and get started.

0:16

Start with with today's Board of Public Works and Safety meeting.

0:20

We have some guests here from the IT Prefecture in Japan.

0:26

And we will hear from them a little bit later, but welcome.

0:28

We're glad to have you here.

0:30

And as we discussed with the with our guests, we're going to do a little bit of business so they can see how our board works, and then they've got a presentation.

0:39

So hopefully some of you will be able to stay and watch watch that.

0:42

And you know what?

0:43

I'm gonna make sure that you have to stay in watch because I'm gonna put you after the presentation.

0:49

Yeah, that works.

0:51

Okay.

0:52

So and um we're missing a member.

0:56

He's around here somewhere.

0:57

We'll trap him and bring him in.

0:59

First up, we have a roll call.

1:00

So Melanie Henderson, present John Pickett, Brenda Sullivan President.

1:04

Eric's floating around in the building, and I am here and we'll serve as chair.

1:08

Um first up is approval of the March 17th, 2026 meeting minutes.

1:14

I'll move to approve.

1:15

Oh second.

1:16

So we have a motion and a second to approve the meeting minutes as presented.

1:20

All in favor, please signify by saying aye.

1:23

Aye, opposed, same sign.

1:25

So minutes are approved.

1:32

And these are the minutes from our last session that we have to approve um of what happened at last.

1:40

Okay, so um Paul, we're gonna start with you.

1:43

You have a banner request.

1:44

Yes, ma'am.

1:47

And this is Paul Smith, the assistant director of the community development department.

1:52

Morning board.

1:53

Um banner request of the year for the R Hospice concert in September.

1:59

Um, they wanted to make sure they got their requests in early so that they could um we had head of the line privilege, so they're gonna get that.

2:06

So uh I'm gonna present this to you.

2:08

Um I can't remember.

2:12

Is it is it the same banner?

2:14

Yes, this is the same.

2:15

Yeah, okay.

2:16

Um I'll uh move that we approve the request for the R Hospice concert.

2:21

Oh second.

2:24

So I see we have a member, uh, we've got a hospice on your jacket.

2:28

Yes, that's anything you wanted to say?

2:30

Uh yeah, please feel please for the people online too, right?

2:35

Uh I'm Andrew Burner.

2:37

I am the uh marketing manager for our hospice.

2:39

Um uh this year, the concert.

2:41

Um uh we were in Nexus Park for a couple years.

2:44

We've actually decided to move it back downtown this year to go back to the library steps.

2:48

Um it was originally at 40 years ago when we started out.

2:54

Um the library's been gracious enough to uh have us back.

2:57

Um so the banners are unchanged as they're pretty generic in case of changes like that for dates.

3:04

Yeah, yeah.

3:05

So but um uh the banner remains unchanged from last year.

3:09

Again, explain to our guests if you if you along Washington Street, which runs um north and south, right out here by City Hall, as you go, as you probably do a tour of Columbus a little bit, you'll see that we have banners along the street.

3:22

And so those banners have to be approved um by this board to change them out.

3:28

And I think we have how many Paul?

3:30

70 six 26 banners.

3:33

Okay.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
International Relations████████████████████████████████████████40%
Community Engagement█████████████████████████25%
Engineering And Infrastructure████████████████16%
Public Safety███████7%
Procedural█████5%
Public Works Recognition████4%
Downtown Development███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Board of Public Works and Safety Meeting – March 24, 2026

The Board of Public Works and Safety met on March 24, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. The meeting included approval of routine items, a presentation by a delegation from Aichi Prefecture, Japan, and several operational decisions. All votes were unanimous unless noted.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the March 17, 2026, meeting were approved as presented.
  • Banner Request: Approved a banner request for the R Hospice concert, to be held in September at the library steps. The banners are unchanged from last year, with approximately 26 banner spaces available on Washington Street.
  • Ford Police Interceptor Purchase: Authorized the purchase of a replacement police interceptor using insurance proceeds from two totaled crashes and existing funds. The crashes involved one normal driving incident and one emergency run, both caused by other drivers failing to yield.
  • DORA Designation: Approved a DORA (Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area) permit for Downtown Abbey LLC, doing business as St. Dennis Wine, Books, and Wonder, located at 426 Washington Street. This will be the 17th retail vendor in the downtown DORA.
  • Engineering Routine Approvals:
    • Approved the notice to bidders for the 2026 asphalt overlay program (project 26-05).
    • Approved public improvement acceptance for Taylor Grove Section 2 major subdivision.
    • Approved special use of right-of-way for three requests (Dave O'Mara, 31 Diesel Truck and Rucker, and Bowen Engineering).
  • Claims Dockets and Conflict of Interest: Approved three dockets of claims and accepted the uniform conflict of interest disclosure statement from Jacob Martin, a member of the parking commission.

Presentation

  • Aichi Prefecture Student Delegation: The board welcomed five students and support staff from high schools in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, along with Teresa Colzak (president of the Japanese American Society of Indiana) and a coordinator. The delegation is part of a cultural and educational exchange memorandum between Aichi Prefecture and the State of Indiana, resumed after a COVID-19 hiatus. Teacher Reiko Okochi expressed gratitude, and student Nazomi Okamoto offered remarks. The students then presented on Aichi's history (three great heroes), industry (Toyota, agriculture), pop culture (World Cosplay Summit), local foods (hitsumabushi, miso), and attractions (Inuyama Castle, Osu shopping street, miso factory, Tokoname pottery street, Ghibli Park). The board thanked the students for their presentation.

Discussion Items

  • Bids and Proposals: The board took under advisement bids for concrete street repairs (Ever Road Park West, six bids ranging from $389,600 to $776,000) and quotes for the riverfront tree mitigation project (CRC 26-01, two quotes: $2,967.87 from Williams Creek Management and $11,713 from Milestone Contractors). Proposals for the animal care services new service center (from Forced Construction and Runabom Construction) were publicly unsealed; no action was taken, and a committee will evaluate them.

Key Outcomes

  • All consent calendar items were approved by voice vote with no opposition.
  • The presentation from the Aichi delegation was informational and received positively.
  • Bids and quotes for concrete repairs and tree mitigation were taken under advisement pending further review.
  • The animal care services proposals were opened and will be evaluated by a committee; a recommendation will be brought back at a later date.
  • The meeting adjourned after the conclusion of business.

Meeting Transcript

I thought he was walking in with me. Yeah, I thought he was here. Well, good morning. It is 10 o'clock, so we can go ahead and get started. Start with with today's Board of Public Works and Safety meeting. We have some guests here from the IT Prefecture in Japan. And we will hear from them a little bit later, but welcome. We're glad to have you here. And as we discussed with the with our guests, we're going to do a little bit of business so they can see how our board works, and then they've got a presentation. So hopefully some of you will be able to stay and watch watch that. And you know what? I'm gonna make sure that you have to stay in watch because I'm gonna put you after the presentation. Yeah, that works. Okay. So and um we're missing a member. He's around here somewhere. We'll trap him and bring him in. First up, we have a roll call. So Melanie Henderson, present John Pickett, Brenda Sullivan President. Eric's floating around in the building, and I am here and we'll serve as chair. Um first up is approval of the March 17th, 2026 meeting minutes. I'll move to approve. Oh second. So we have a motion and a second to approve the meeting minutes as presented. All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye, opposed, same sign. So minutes are approved. And these are the minutes from our last session that we have to approve um of what happened at last. Okay, so um Paul, we're gonna start with you. You have a banner request. Yes, ma'am. And this is Paul Smith, the assistant director of the community development department. Morning board. Um banner request of the year for the R Hospice concert in September. Um, they wanted to make sure they got their requests in early so that they could um we had head of the line privilege, so they're gonna get that. So uh I'm gonna present this to you. Um I can't remember. Is it is it the same banner? Yes, this is the same. Yeah, okay. Um I'll uh move that we approve the request for the R Hospice concert. Oh second. So I see we have a member, uh, we've got a hospice on your jacket. Yes, that's anything you wanted to say? Uh yeah, please feel please for the people online too, right? Uh I'm Andrew Burner. I am the uh marketing manager for our hospice. Um uh this year, the concert. Um uh we were in Nexus Park for a couple years. We've actually decided to move it back downtown this year to go back to the library steps.

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