OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Columbus City Council Meeting Summary – July 28, 2026

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, July 28, 2026
BodyColumbus, Indiana
SessionMeeting Portal
DateTuesday, July 28, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 22:49

Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

Yeah.

0:03

Yeah, I mean everyone's keeping it out.

0:08

Yeah.

0:10

It is really nice.

0:15

My sister's the only one that really has to fly.

0:20

What do you do?

0:20

If someone wants to go pretty slice from Florida, there's a lot of things.

0:24

Yeah, and she's she's flying from Fort Mike.

0:26

So like if I fill in split shift.

0:34

Alex put my right over.

0:39

They thought uh he'd maybe come out to this change in it.

0:47

Oh, yeah.

0:50

So the shuttle would still be the basketball.

0:52

How many years did you do city attorney?

0:54

I didn't like anything.

0:55

It's just five years.

0:56

It would get each of what they get.

0:58

Either city attorney or deputy.

1:02

Oh, is that three years?

1:03

Good morning.

1:04

It is 10 01 and we are late.

1:07

So I apologize for that.

1:12

We'll start with roll call.

1:13

Don't pick it.

1:14

I'm here.

1:14

Brenda Sullivan here.

1:15

Eric Fry.

1:17

I am here in the service chair and Melanie Henderson is out.

1:21

First up is the approval of the July 21st, 2026 meeting minutes.

1:26

I'll move to approve.

1:27

And I will second.

1:27

We have a motion and second to approve the meeting presented.

1:31

All in favor to signify by saying aye.

1:33

Aye.

1:34

Aye.

1:34

Opposed, same sign.

1:37

First up, we have Paul Smith presenting a POW MIA banner request, and Bob Miller is our special guest with him.

1:44

If you want to give them a question, so we're on the on the road right now.

1:49

Yeah, you want to pop up here, Bob?

1:50

We're up right now.

1:52

We were we were re-acquainting ourselves.

2:02

Bob, I'm gonna ask you to step right over here to speak and there's one there, or there's one here if you want to stand up.

2:09

Yeah.

2:09

I'm not well I can share.

2:12

No, I'll show it.

2:15

All right.

2:16

Well, I I do have these handouts uh that are basically a quick summary of uh what our ceremony is going to be this year.

2:22

Oh, we just heard Friday, September 630 behind the courthouse.

2:26

So I do it this way.

2:32

So Bob, have the banners changed this year at all?

2:36

Oh no, no, it's uh we we have the banners made in 2015.

2:40

Right.

2:40

And we were shorting on ourselves in the last few years we had shorted project is always meant.

2:46

Yeah, I've got a full container for them to join when they're done.

2:50

They're already up.

2:51

Yeah, I know they were doing it up for different reasons, and that's okay.

2:56

Yeah.

2:57

We used them for a July court celebration.

3:00

Yeah, I thought that was really nice.

3:02

You were able to do it with the names up there on the clash.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural████████████████16%
Transportation Safety████████████████16%
Public Safety████████████12%
Code Enforcement███████████11%
Public Engagement█████████9%
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████9%
Parks and Recreation████████8%
Community Engagement███████7%
Technology and Innovation██████6%
Summary of Proceedings

Columbus City Council Meeting Summary – July 28, 2026

The Columbus City Council met on July 28, 2026, at 10:01 AM. The meeting included approvals of routine items, a POW MIA banner request, adoption of a transit rider policy packet, a GIS service agreement, an emergency property condemnation, engineering contracts, claims, a weed letter abatement, and community event announcements. All votes were unanimous unless noted.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of July 21, 2026 Meeting Minutes: Approved unanimously.

Discussion Items

  • POW MIA Banner Request: Paul Smith and Bob Miller presented a request to keep existing POW MIA recognition banners displayed through September, including around the September 6 memorial ceremony at the courthouse. The council approved the banner placement for the requested period.
  • Transit Rider Policy Packet: A city transportation official presented a four-document packet addressing rider expectations, a code of conduct, adjudication procedures for trespass, and driver guidelines. The packet was developed with the safety and security team, Columbus Police Department liaison, and driver input. The official noted an uptick in verbal assaults and that federal reporting is now mandatory. The council approved the packet as submitted.
  • GIS Web Feature Service Agreement: The council approved an addendum to an existing agreement with Schneider Geospatial to extend GIS mapping services to the Parks Department, enabling integration with the OpenGov software system for asset management.
  • 1217 Washington Street – Emergency Condemn Reaffirmation: Code enforcement reported a property in imminent collapse with squatters and active utilities. The owner (in California) was uncooperative. The council reaffirmed an order to condemn, demolish, and take legal action as necessary.
  • Engineering Contracts:
    • Approved a contract with King's Trucking and Excavation Inc. for relocating sanitary sewer at the Airplex Commerce Center to accommodate a new animal care services building.
    • Approved final change order (Change Order #2) for the city overlay phase one project.
    • Approved a special use right-of-way request.
  • Claims: Five buckets of claims were approved.
  • Weed Letter: Approved a continuous abatement for property at 1103 Cottage Avenue (owners: Nicolaus/Alan Nicolaus Purdue and Amanda Joe Tibbs), which had been mowed once earlier in May.
  • Community Activities: Upcoming events announced: Henry Moore's birthday celebration (July 29, library), United Way Riverfest Regatta (July 30, Mill Race Park), Bluegrass Festival (July 30, library plaza), Farmers Market (July 31), and Summer Street Series (July 31, 4th Street).

Key Outcomes

  • All agenda items passed unanimously.
  • Specific votes: POW MIA banners (motion and second, voice vote), transit rider policy packet (motion and second, voice vote), GIS agreement addendum (motion and second, voice vote), 1217 Washington Street emergency condemnation reaffirmed (motion and second, voice vote), King's Trucking contract (motion and second, voice vote), overlay change order (motion and second, voice vote), special use right-of-way (motion and second, voice vote), claims (motion and second, voice vote), weed letter abatement (motion and second, voice vote).
  • Meeting adjourned after announcements.

Meeting Transcript

Yeah. Yeah, I mean everyone's keeping it out. Yeah. It is really nice. My sister's the only one that really has to fly. What do you do? If someone wants to go pretty slice from Florida, there's a lot of things. Yeah, and she's she's flying from Fort Mike. So like if I fill in split shift. Alex put my right over. They thought uh he'd maybe come out to this change in it. Oh, yeah. So the shuttle would still be the basketball. How many years did you do city attorney? I didn't like anything. It's just five years. It would get each of what they get. Either city attorney or deputy. Oh, is that three years? Good morning. It is 10 01 and we are late. So I apologize for that. We'll start with roll call. Don't pick it. I'm here. Brenda Sullivan here. Eric Fry. I am here in the service chair and Melanie Henderson is out. First up is the approval of the July 21st, 2026 meeting minutes. I'll move to approve. And I will second. We have a motion and second to approve the meeting presented. All in favor to signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. First up, we have Paul Smith presenting a POW MIA banner request, and Bob Miller is our special guest with him. If you want to give them a question, so we're on the on the road right now. Yeah, you want to pop up here, Bob? We're up right now. We were we were re-acquainting ourselves. Bob, I'm gonna ask you to step right over here to speak and there's one there, or there's one here if you want to stand up. Yeah. I'm not well I can share. No, I'll show it. All right. Well, I I do have these handouts uh that are basically a quick summary of uh what our ceremony is going to be this year. Oh, we just heard Friday, September 630 behind the courthouse. So I do it this way. So Bob, have the banners changed this year at all?

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