Committee of the Whole

COLUMBUS COMMON COUNCIL – COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES TUESDAY JULY 20, 2021 – 6:45 PM COLUMBUS CITY HALL 1. Roll Call: Council President Gray called the meeting to order at 6:51 pm. Present: Council President Gray, Mayor Arnold, Alders: Albright, McCabe, Motiff, Reid; Staff: City Administrator Ellefson, City Clerk Goebel, City Attorney Johnson, City Engineer Lietha, Schreiber, Weiner, Lentz, interested citizens. Pyfferoen was excused. 2. Notice of Open Meeting: Noted as posted. 3. Approve Agenda: Motion by Motiff, second by McCabe to approve the agenda with one change; flip #6 & #7. Carried voice vote. 4. Citizen Comments: Ron Curtis, 100 Brookside Lane: feels removing the culvert in the park will help with the flooding in Parkview, while making sure it doesn't cause flooding downstream. Would like an updated study done and asking the Council to obtain bids to dredge and remove the culvert. Max Chu, 321 Fairway Drive: agrees with Ron's comments; costs have changed and feels this is becoming an emergency situation. 5. Department Reports: placed on file: June 2021: DPW, Fire, Library, Lifestar, Police, Senior Center 7. Review & discuss Rezoning Request in Columbus Commerce Center, Lot 7: Jim Hartung, ACS RBHS, introduced his request to rezone lot 7 in the Columbus Commerce Center from 1I to R-4 Multi Family. Would like to build multi family residential buildings. Concerns with apartments overlooking industrial. Gray said he would more comfortable if Lot 6 could be rezoned to multifamily as well. This would require an additional public hearing before coming back before Council. Hartung said he would amend the application to include Lot 6 as multifamily. Forward to August 2 Regular meeting with condition Lot 6 is amended to multifamily. 6. Discussion and Presentation regarding Butterfly Trails Volunteer Park: Oddfellows member Patrick Vander Sanden updated the Council with ideas to continue developing the Butterfly Trails Park. Looking forward to developing a trail and continue with low maintenance plantings. Gray expressed concern the City would be taking on more than what the original approved plan and would like more information before approving additional plans. City Administrator Ellefson noted several items: new agreement with Sennhenn that did not include the City, funding sources, updated MOU. Return to future COW. 8. Review & discuss Stormwater Concerns/Budget Request a. Stormwater Utility Status: City Engineer Lietha responded to comments to remove the culvert in the park would be best solution. Lietha explained choosing between removing the culvert or doing the dredging would not be the best solution, should both be done; and flooding downstream is a concern if culvert is removed, need to improve downstream as well. Return to COW. b. Stormwater Study and Project/Improvements identified for cost estimating: Ellefson briefly reviewed the different ways this project could be funded: bonding, storm water utility, special assessment, grant monies. Questions on how much the utility could general, Ellefson stated he hoped approximately $300,000 annually and the money could be used for other stormwater projects in the future. Should the Council pursue the utility, referendum wording is due in early January for the Spring ballot. Some members considered putting off other capitol projects to get this done. Forward Ruekert Mielke study costs to August 2 Regular meeting. 9. Review & discuss Ordinance Review Ad Hoc Committee priorities: The ad hoc committee hasn't met for over a year. At that time, the CHLPC ordinance was the first topic to review. Other priorities include revamping the zoning code which is very out of date; this would be a huge project. Pieces of the zoning code such as CHLPC, property maintenance, and signs can easily be removed from the zoning code at the appropriate time. Consensus to start with CHLPC. 10. Review & discuss City Council 2021 Budget Priorities: Ellefson asked the Council if they had any priorities or items they are interested in. Motiff suggested putting money aside for CDA to purchase property will grow the tax base. Will also like money to market the downtown TIF. Reid mentioned stormwater is important but not willing to put off road maintenance for a few years to fund it. 11. Adjourn: Motion by McCabe, second by Albright to adjourn at 8:49 pm. Carried voice vote. Submitted by: Pat Goebel, City Clerk