Columbus City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a roughly $630,000 maintenance plan to clean out and improve ditches on Northside.
Money for the project will come from the $3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding the city has set aside for drainage improvements and is contingent on receiving state matching dollars.
The project involves cleaning out ditches and culverts in three stages throughout an area that goes from Highway 82 to 14th Avenue North, explained City Engineer Kevin Stafford.
The first area involves an area on the east side of Columbus Brick, bounded on the north by Highway 82, on the east by 23rd Street North, on the west by 21st Street West and on the south by 14th Avenue North, Stafford said. It bears a total price tag of about $251,000.
The second area is along 14th Avenue North, from Railroad Street to Moss Street, and has an estimated cost of $62,050, Stafford said.
Work would involve collaborating with the C&G and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads to clean out ditches along their rail lines.
The third and final piece of the project is building a detention pond just north of the former I.C. Cousins Center on the east side of Columbus Brick at a cost of $316,150, Stafford said.
“We looked at building a detention pond out there (during former Mayor Robert Smith’s administration) but stopped years ago due to wetlands concerns,” Stafford said. “Some of those conditions have changed, and ownership of some of that land has changed, since then.”
Some of the area was under consideration for work by Waggoner Engineering, which handled the city’s ARPA work until the council voted to part ways with the firm earlier this year. Waggoner’s price tag for similar work was around $1 million.
Stafford and Public Works Director Casey Bush had previously submitted a list of nine areas in the city that should be prioritized, and two of those areas fall within the scope of this work, Stafford said.
Vice Mayor Joseph Mickens, who represents Ward 2 on the council, questioned whether the detention ponds were necessary.
“That is a question,” Stafford said. “If you clean out those other areas, you could get to where those ditches won’t flood as often. Obviously everything from 14th Avenue (to the) south has already been upgraded all the way to Propst Park and the (Luxapalila Creek). If you clean everything along 23rd and 21st (Streets) the pond may be moot.”
Mayor Keith Gaskin pushed back on that.
“We’re already seeing damage in areas where we have just finished paving,” he said. “Does the amount of water standing on the roads affect that?”
“Water is a road’s worst enemy,” Stafford said. “It will accelerate deterioration of roads … Detention ponds will help keep water off the roads and keep it from getting over the road.”
Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard said he was in full support of the proposal.
“Since I’ve been up here, flooding on Northside has been a No. 1 issue,” Beard said. “People on 26th and 27th Street complain that they can’t flush their toilets when it floods. If we go forward with this we’ll have constituents that can flush their toilets when it rains.”
Radios redux
Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacqueline DiCicco failed in an attempt to roll back a $282,000 lease-purchase agreement to buy Motorola radios for Columbus Police Department.
In January the council approved a five-year lease-purchase agreement to buy the radios on state contract from Motorola. Local provider Teletec came to a February work session with its own pitch to provide Kenwood radios for $245,000, but the council voted Feb. 21 to go with the Motorola radios.
The lion’s share of the purchase will come from about $160,000 in a wireless communication fund maintained by the Department of Public Safety. Every time CPD writes a ticket, $3 from the fine goes into the fund.
Chief Financial Officer James Brigham said the money will cover the first three years of lease-purchase payments.
DiCicco moved Tuesday, seconded by Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene, to rescind that motion and go through a reverse auction to ensure the city got the best possible deal.
Columbus Fire and Rescue uses Kenwood radios, and Chief Duane Hughes told the council at a February work session he is very satisfied with them.
But DiCicco got pushback from a surprising source: volunteer firefighter and District 3 supervisor candidate Christopher Moore, who was in the audience and asked to be recognized to speak.
“I’m not here to talk about radios. It’s just funny that it was on here,” Moore said. “I did the research on the radios (for the volunteer fire department) on Motorola vs. Kenwood. … We went with Motorolas because they talk way better. They’re 10 times better than the Kenwoods we tested.”
Moore said that Motorolas were the more expensive choice, but “you get what you pay for.”
DiCicco asked Moore for metrics on how much better the Motorolas were, and Moore said, “They’re 100 percent better.”
Police Chief Joseph Daughtry told the council that the Motorola radios had already been ordered.
“So we have a contract, then, in other words,” said City Attorney Jeff Turnage. “… I don’t see how we could back out knowing that.”
Brigham also chimed in, noting that he had bought the Motorola radios for the Jacksonville State University Police Department while he was at the school.
“They worked great,” he said. “… I won’t always agree with the police chief, but in this particular case I have to agree with him. This is a quality product and our officers deserve to have them.”
DiCicco’s motion failed 5-1, with DiCicco casting the lone yes vote.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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