Columbus Board of Works Meeting: March 31, 2026 – Landscape, Canine Transfer, Condemnations, and Bids
Columbus Board of Works Meeting – March 31, 2026
The Columbus Board of Works met on March 31, 2026, with Melanie Henderson absent. The board approved a landscape contract for Parking Lot 10, transferred ownership of retiring police canine Denver to his handler, authorized legal action for demolition of a condemned property at 500 South Cherry Street, and approved multiple contract awards and bidding notices. All votes were unanimous.
Discussion Items
-
Landscape Contract for Parking Lot 10: Jake presented a professional service contract with Randy Royer to develop a conceptual landscaping design for Parking Lot 10, located adjacent to the Armory at Franklin and 6th Streets. The plan is to replace all existing plant material with native plants and trees, including a public meeting for feedback. The project is funded by the streetscape fund. The city is also partnering with First Presbyterian Church on a grant for tree replacement. The contract was approved.
-
Retirement and Transfer of Police Canine Denver: Police Chief announced the retirement of canine Denver and sought authorization to transfer ownership to his handler, John Boosak, via a bill of sale reviewed by the city attorney. The transfer was approved. The chief indicated there are three other canines in service and no immediate replacement for Denver.
-
Animal Care Shelter Construction Manager Agreement Amendment: Eric presented a simple amendment to transfer the construction management contract from Doug Suncle to his LLC, Doug's Project LLC. The board approved the amendment.
-
500 South Cherry Street – Vacate, Condemn, Demolish, Legal Action: Robin from code enforcement reported that after obtaining a warrant for inspection, the property was found to be very unstable and unsafe. The owner refused access. An emergency condemnation sign was posted, and the tenant was given until March 30 to vacate. Water has not been on since before 2000. The board approved the recommendation to proceed with legal action to demolish the property.
-
Annual Salt and Aggregate Bids: Brian Burton presented notices to bidders for aggregates and road salt. The board approved both notices. Discussion noted that despite a salt shortage this year, the city received good deliveries.
-
Fuel Contract Extension: Brian recommended extending the fuel contract with Premier Ag Co-op for one year based on a mutual agreement clause. The board approved the extension. Fuel prices will continue to follow market rates with a discount.
-
2909 13th Street – Vacate, Condemn, and Legal Action: Fred reported ongoing issues with rubbish, garbage, and vehicles. After an inspection, he found holes in the roof, electrical issues, and open leaks near the electrical panel. The house is vacant after tenant eviction. The board approved the order to vacate, condemn, and take legal action if necessary, with an added requirement to obtain a building permit before any work.
-
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The board accepted a conflict of interest statement from Don Richards of the fire department.
-
Engineering Items:
- Riverfront Tree Mitigation Project: Bid awarded to Williams Creek Management Corporation for $296,257.87 to plant mitigation trees for those removed during riverfront work. The trees will be placed at Water and Lafayette Streets. Approved.
- Concrete Street Repairs – Evere Road Park West: Bid awarded to Edward and Jones Concrete for $389,600. Approved.
- Special Use of Right-of-Way Requests: Approved for DPW, All-Star Paving, CCU, and Miller Pipeline.
-
Pothole Repairs: Brian announced that hot mix pothole repairs will begin today (March 31), replacing temporary cold mix repairs. Residents can report potholes to 376-2508.
-
Claims: Two dockets of claims were approved.
Announcements
- City Hall will be closed on Good Friday, April 3. Trash pickup will remain on schedule.
- Thursday, April 2 is First Thursday – Hop and Shop Downtown from 4-8 p.m., with 18 vendors, discounts, and an Easter egg hunt in shops.
- On Friday, April 3, the Parks Department will hold an Easter egg hunt at Nexus Park from 10 a.m. for ages 1-8, free of charge.
- Spring sweep begins Monday, April 6; schedules are on the city website.
Key Outcomes
- All motions were approved unanimously by voice vote (ayes). No opposed votes were recorded.
- Legal action initiated for 500 South Cherry Street and 2909 13th Street.
- Contracts awarded for landscape design, tree mitigation, concrete repairs, and fuel.
- Canine Denver transferred to handler.
- Bidding notices authorized for salt and aggregates.
Meeting Transcript
Melanie Henderson is absent. Approved first up is approval of the March 24th, 2026 meeting minutes. I'll move to approve. We have a motion of second to approve. All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Motion carries. And Jake is here to present a possible possible. So of a landscape contract for parking lot number 10. Yes. Good morning. I'm here to present a professional uh service contract for Randy Royer. We're planning to um his services we use for parking lot 10, which is adjacent to the armory located at uh Franklin Street and 6th Street. Um the plan is for Randy to help us with developing the um conceptual landscaping design to replace all of the plant material in inside parking lot 10. Um and in and part of that process would include a public here, uh public meeting to get uh feedback from the public on the material, the plant material that we would like to replace um the existing trees, brushes, and and plants that are there uh with native uh plants and trees uh with that. So that would be the request is for this uh professional service contract. So the plan is to remove all the existing landscaping and all that. Okay, yes, yeah. It's just the plant material, it's not the infrastructure or anything like that. Right. So just to remind you, parking lot 10. We've talked about off and on for years. It's owned by the city. We have no idea why it's number 10, except it was probably the 10th parking lot. Um we don't have we don't know where nine and eight are. I think we know where three and five are anyway. Just a lot of research has gone into the parking lots. Um we do own it. We so it's it um it's uh we rent out parking spaces and some go to people who live there or who work in the building on Washington Street. Um it has been kind of an ISOR for many of years. Jake managed to get some cleanup done earlier this year, which helped it, but it's on a very visible street, it's on Franklin. Of course, we have a lot of visitors who come and go out of the visitor center, and so we want it and and we have the armory that we have the residence label next door. So we want it to be appealing and um use native plants, and so we we have money in the streetscape fund to cover cover this. We do, and we're also working with it's not we're working with first Presbyterian Church to apply for a grant for the trees to replace the trees. Um the trees on the lot, yeah. Yeah, so we have a partnership uh with First Presbyterian Church on that as well. Whether or not they get the grant or not, we'll we'll find out this summer. Are they replanting trees on their property or what no just before the the parking lot? There's just a partnership that we have with them. Okay, yeah, it's part of that community engagement piece, and they wanted to be part of that. Um we met with the armory already. Um they're very supportive of uh what we're trying to do as well. So yeah. Well, I'll move to approve the contract uh with Randy Royer. I'll second it. So the motion a second to approve the contract with Randy Royer for landscape contract parking lot number 10 is presented. All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye, opposed, same sign, motion carries. Okay, thank you, Randy.
openpublica.com