The Columbus City Council neither discussed or acted on Mayor Robert Smith’s street paving proposal during the council’s regular meeting Tuesday.
Smith asked the council on Tuesday to discuss using leftover funds from the city’s street improvement bond revenue to repave three blocks of Fifth Street North, from Second to Fifth Avenue North. He also asked if council members would consider committing funds to repave a portion of that stretch, if they weren’t willing to repave the entire three blocks.
“I’m only wanting to open this up for discussion,” Smith told the council. “It’s in pretty rough shape there.”
City Engineer Kevin Stafford estimated costs ranging from $30,000 to $90,000. He said a simple overlay for all three blocks would cost about $65,000, but a “complete street” plan that would include all new striping and full Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations would cost roughly $30,000 per block.
Following Smith’s prompt for discussion and hearing Stafford’s cost estimates, the council moved to the next agenda item without addressing the issue.
The council approved a 1.1-mill ad valorem tax increase last year to issue a $5 million bond to fund a two-phase, $4.5-million street improvement project — with $3.4 million dedicated to paving and $1.1 million for sidewalks. That money was divided evenly among the six wards — each was allocated $750,000 for paving and sidewalks.
Robyn Eastman, senior project manager for the city’s project management firm, J5 Broaddus, told The Dispatch earlier this week that the city has spent roughly $2.8 million on paving with only six of 71 planned projects unfinished. He expects at least half of the councilmen to ultimately have some paving money left over, and they could then add projects in their wards.
Smith’s proposed project site sits in Ward 5. The ward’s councilman, Kabir Karriem, said he would not have enough money left in his share of the bond fund to undertake it.
“It looks like I’m only going to have $20,000 left in my budget (after the paving phase), and we still have concrete work to do,” Karriem said. “If the rest of the council is willing to help out (in funding Smith’s proposal), I don’t have a problem helping out, as well.”
Ward 4 Councilman Marty Turner said he understood the need on Fifth Street. However, he intends to use his entire share of bond money on projects in his ward.
“I won’t support it,” Turner said. “There are too many other streets in my ward that need paved. I do agree with the idea of paving that street, though.”
Turner noted that he did not agree with the idea of splitting the money evenly among the wards, from the start. Instead, he supported providing more money to wards that needed it most. Under that plan, he said, Ward 5 would have gotten the most money.
Turner’s ward, though, would have also received a greater share using that rubric, so he wants to stretch the $750,000 as far as it can go.
“The streets in (Karriem’s) ward are terrible,” he said. “Ward 4 and Ward 5 are both in bad shape, but Ward 5 is the worst.”
Other council business
The council rejected a citizen’s rezoning request that would have converted a single-family residential (R-1) lot to neighborhood commercial (C-1).
The planning commission had already rejected Mary J. Doughty’s request to rezone her property at 603 8th Ave. N. to commercial because it did not meet the minimum legal requirements for a rezone — there was no error in the original zoning and the character of the neighborhood had not changed. Building official Kenny Wiegel said the lot, which is 70 feet wide, did not meet the city’s 100-foot width minimum for a neighborhood commercial lot.
Yet, the council on April 21 tabled the matter for further discussion before siding with the planning and zoning commission Tuesday.
Wiegel said Doughty wanted to place two portable buildings on the lot. One would have housed a hair salon. The other would have housed a takeout eating establishment.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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