Columbus Board of Public Works and Safety Meeting - May 12, 2026
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Columbus Board of Public Works and Safety Meeting - May 12, 2026
The Board of Public Works and Safety met on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 10:00 AM. Members present: Melanie Henderson, John Pickett, Brenda Sullivan. Chair noted Eric Fry was absent. The meeting covered approval of minutes, notice to bidders, a Department of Public Works (DPW) update, an engineering special use of right-of-way request, a detailed code enforcement discussion regarding Williamsburg Apartments (including lifting a condemnation order), claims approval, and announcements of upcoming community events.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of May 6, 2026 Meeting Minutes: Moved and seconded; passed unanimously (all ayes).
- Notice to Bidders: Approved unanimously. Bid due date set for June 2, 2026.
- Engineering Special Use of Right-of-Way: Approved unanimously.
- Claims: Eight dockets of claims approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Susan McGinty (counsel for respondent): Addressed changes to the affidavit regarding Williamsburg Apartments, noting that language about GFCI protection was removed because receptacles had been removed. Confirmed that corrective work included regrading, gutter cleaning, grounding of panels, and removal of low outlets.
- Property representative (name not stated): Stated that after receiving the city's notice at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, the property owner worked hard to bring contractors and professional landscapers from Illinois. Reported a 70% retention rate among residents and annual capital budgets in the hundreds of thousands for the property.
Discussion Items
- DPW Update: DPW reported progress on a new facility, expected to be "at least halfway completed" next week. The old facility will continue to be used for some operations.
- Williamsburg Apartments Condemnation Status:
- Robin Chavez (Code Enforcement): Reported on inspections after a meeting the previous day. She stated electrical issues (grounding) appeared addressed, but water system verification depended on rain. She noted the electrical work was done without a permit because the county said no permit was needed. She had not spoken directly with the electrician yet (HNF firm).
- Board discussion: Members expressed frustration with negative social media and newspaper comments about the apartments. The mayor requested monthly updates to the board until all corrective actions are completed. Chief Lane raised the need for a plan to address outdated electrical panels (identified in March 2025/2026).
- Affidavit: Changes were described – removal of paragraph 4 (GFCI verification) and narrowing of indemnification language to only cover work listed in paragraph 4 (items A-G). The board reviewed and accepted the revised affidavit.
- Motion: John Pickett moved to lift the condemnation and vacate the legal action order, with the addition of a monthly update to the board. Seconded. Approved unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Williamsburg Apartments condemnation lifted contingent on the signed affidavit and monthly updates to the board until all corrective actions are resolved.
- Future inspections: Code enforcement and DPW will conduct joint inspections of other garden-style units over the next two weeks.
- Claims: Approved without objection.
- Upcoming events announced: Tour de Trails Bicycle Challenge (May 16, registration at 8:30 AM, rides at 9 and 10 AM), Farmers Market (second week), Columbus Asian Fest (11 AM – 7 PM on Fourth Street), Prevention Palooza at the airport (2 – 6 PM). Also, dedication of new playground at Millrays Park at 3:30 PM on May 12, and Mayor's Work Ethic Certificate event (May 13) with 116 students at breakfast and 130 at lunch.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, Mary. Our attorneys can't hear you. Good morning. I apologize for being a little bit late, but it is still officially 10 o'clock. So we will start. Today is Tuesday, May 12th. Welcome to the Board of Public Works and Safety. First up is a roll call. Melanie Henderson. Present. John Pickett, Brenda Sullivan. Present. I am here and will serve as chair, and Eric Fry is out today. First up is the approval of the May 6th, 2026 meeting. I'll move to approve. I'll second. We have a motion and a second to approve the meeting minutes as presented. All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Motion carries. Notice to bids. So we want to approve the post of it. I'll move to approve uh the notice to bidders. So we have a motion and a second to approve the notice to bidders is presented. All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Sorry. Aye. Opposed same sign. Motion carries. When is the bid due? Just have two. Um June second. Yeah. So anything in the world of DPW that you want to talk about? Well, we're gonna have a ready for a new facility next week. So we're uh very hard to have completed or at least halfway completed. Uh we are projects going down some stuff. So I press on stress and stuff. So uh there's gonna be a very nice facility. And um is uh we're gonna say the point they have new uh cannot be checked out and see what we've got. I'm curious what you're gonna do with your the old facility. Well I'm I'm curious too. We've had discussions about sorry. Well the new facility's gonna be growing uh right helps out a lot of ways um for uh what we have we can't get all out here so we're gonna continue to uh have solutions we're still gonna do some stuff out here as well. We still do some stuff to carry the yard of the site and so on, so we'll still be working in uh outside of those messages. Okay. I'm just curious how um much of your operations are moving. Yes from the new place.
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