Columbus Board of Works Meeting – August 25, 2026
Columbus Board of Works Meeting – August 25, 2026
The Columbus Board of Works met on August 25, 2026, with members Melanie Henderson, Eric Fry, and others present. The meeting covered approvals of minutes, a DPW equipment purchase, a weed abatement letter, event applications, engineering change orders, a controversial masonry bid for Fire Station 1, rejection of bids for Fire Station 3 roof, task orders for traffic signal and bridge replacement, an MOU with the county, and opening of bids for overlay paving. All votes were unanimous.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of August 18, 2026, meeting minutes: Approved.
- Event applications: Approved for Millrace Cross-Country, Park Foundation Yogas and Mimosas, Millrace Marathon, and First United Methodist Preschool Trunk Retreat.
- Special use of right-of-way requests: Approved for the week.
- Dockets of claims: Two dockets approved.
Public Comments
- Mr. Mullis, contractor for the masonry repairs at Fire Station 1: Expressed concern about being characterized as having performance issues on a prior project (200 South and Terrace Lake Road improvements). He detailed problems with inaccurate plans, a water leak from a county line, and rework performed at his cost. He stated his company saved the city money and withdrew its bid for the masonry project to avoid a negative mark on future contracts. The board acknowledged his comments and accepted his withdrawal.
Discussion Items
- DPW Knuckle Boom Loader Truck: DPW representative Brian presented a bid award recommendation. Two bids were received: Best Equipment Company (higher at $249,000) and Municipal Equipment (lower by $2,211). Staff recommended the higher bid due to 22 exceptions on the lower bid, consistency with existing fleet (three Peterson trucks), training, parts inventory, and long-term cost savings. Motion approved.
- Weed Abatement Letter: For property at 4724 Autumn Ridge Drive, owned by Charles and Wilma Compton. Approved.
- Engineering Change Order (26-09): Final change order for 200 South and Terrace Lake Road improvements, increase of $3,477 (14%). Approved.
- Masonry Repairs for Fire Station 1 (CFD 01): After the contractor withdrew his bid, the board awarded the contract to Western Specialty Contractors for $67,611. The board also accepted a friendly amendment to authorize the engineering department to award to the next lowest responsible bidder.
- Rejection of Bids for Fire Station 3 Roof (CFD 26-02): Due to miscommunication between bidder, specs, and material supplier, bids were rejected. The board approved a new Request for Proposals for a 30-year roof, opening to a wider range of contractors.
- Task Order 26-03 (Strand Associates): Survey, design, and utility coordination for a new traffic signal at SR 46 and Tipton Lakes Boulevard. Approved.
- Task Order 26-04 (Strand Associates): Superstructure replacement for Sunset Drive over the lagoons. Approved.
- MOU with Bartholomew County: Cooperative action for tally road project; county to cover 20% of construction engineering share, MPO the remaining 80%. Approved.
- Overlay Phase 2 Bids: Three bids received: Dave O'Mara ($1,875,854), Milestone Contractors ($1,912,653), and All Star Paving ($2,485,635.65). Taken under advisement.
Key Outcomes
- All motions passed unanimously.
- Board accepted contractor's withdrawal of masonry bid and awarded to Western Specialty Contractors.
- Notice of RFP for Fire Station 3 roof to be issued.
- Bids for overlay paving taken under advisement for later review.
Meeting Transcript
Oh, she's going with you just oh god it she's a good egg. I thought you might she was going to like wow nice yeah people like it I was glad to hear you guys and the bit and the stores okay Tom didn't mess it up I don't think so I'm just that was really 10 o'clock and since like well right I'd like to call the uh uh August 25th uh Board of Works meeting together. Uh and first I'll start with roll call Melanie Henderson. Thank you. I'm here Eric Fry is present, and we will then go to approval of the uh August 18th meeting minutes. I move to approve the August 18th meeting minutes as presented. I will second. All right, we have a motion and a second to approve the August meeting, August 18th meeting minutes. All those in favor say aye. Aye, aye. Opposed. All right. DPW uh knuckle boom loader truck. Again, you gotta tell me what one is. Brian with more toys. I know, right? I like this. Our knuckle boom's got the uh the boom in the back with the claw. So we'll it's the one I want to drive want to use a claw. That's right. Yep, yep. So we got that. So uh so we yeah, we opened that uh bid up a couple weeks ago. Uh we'd uh we skipped a week and we just did some more research because we had two uh bids, uh, two responses, and they were very close is to $2,211 difference in price. Uh the higher bid is from Best Equipment Company Incorporated, and we're gonna ask that we award to the higher bid of 2211. Uh the reason being that the uh municipal equipment that bid the other truck, they had uh 22 exceptions on our bid spec. Um some of them were comparable, some were not. Um so it just depends on which ones that you looked at. And then also the main reason is just consistency. So we have three of these trucks by the brand of Peterson, which is who uh best equipment sales. Um so we've already got training, our operators are familiar with equipment, and we have parts in stock. So one cylinder alone could cost over 2200 for replacement, and we have that in stock for the other three trucks, and they all still use the same the boom is not changed. Um so it's still the same parts for that that boom. Um so that $2200. We could save it up front, but we're gonna it's gonna cost us later. Um, so we do have those parts in stock, and that way all four of our vehicles would be the same manufacturer and be consistent with what we have. So you'll have four o'clock trucks? Well, four claw trucks. So we're eliminating some of the flatbed trucks that we have without the boom, and then just adding uh this would be the fourth one with a boom, and then like the storm that we had a month ago or whatever it was. We wish we had had six or seven of them. So I mean when the time comes, and we run two of them. There's two goes out every day at a minimum. Uh one will pick up all the debris, like couches and mattresses and stuff like that, and then the other one picks up brush, so we have one for each uh application and then announces yes. Well, um is that a fun with the couch in the software? Yeah, okay. So I missed it. And it's in the amount of 249,000 even. And this is in our 26 capital budget. I'll move for approval of the contract or purchase as described. I will second.
openpublica.com