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WATERLINE IMPROVEMENT
A massive waterline improvement project bid was accepted by Columbus city council members at their recent council meeting on Monday, Aug. 26.
A $730,671.95 bid from Mercer, the construction company approved for the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Waterline Improvement project, was accepted after comparing rates with another potential bidder.
The other bid submitted to council was disclosed to be $854,000, almost $130,000 more than Mercer’s bid.
City Manager Donald Warschak says the price difference did not necessarily suggest a difference in quality, but rather the fire hydrants used and what job site the work is carried out on.
A public hearing for a proposed tax rate on Thursday, Sept. 19, was also approved by council members, which would include potentially seeing an increase in property taxes for the 2024 tax year.
A tax rate of $0.2950 per $100 valuation has been proposed by the city of Columbus alongside the proposed no-new-revenue tax rate, voter-approval tax rate and De Minimis rate.
• No-new revenue tax rate: $0.275123 per $100.
• Voter-approval tax rate: $0.284667 per $100.
• De Minimis rate: $0.392065 per $100.
A manufactured home permit requested by Linda Hernandez was also approved by city council members after Code Enforcement Officer Richard LaCourse highlighted to the council his suggestion for installing the manufactured home.
LaCourse and a colleague of his visited the location to verify the manufacturing and do a site visit. According to La-Course, the site is missing five feet on one side of the home emphasizing how it is better to turn the manufacturing on it.
“I verified that manufacturing, we did a site visit,” said LaCourse. “20 feet on one side that is the front yard. It has got plenty of room to put down as the sheet showed. I have no issues with this manufacturer.”
A budget workshop was also held at the council meeting, discussing the general, utility and special revenue funds.
According to Columbus City Secretary and Finance Director Bana Schneider, the general fund’s beginning balance for the coming year will be under a million dollars, which “would be the first time in a while.”
City councilmembers wanted 20% of the city’s proposed fund balance expenditures to equal around $850,000, but Schneider says they need to find another $200,000 plus as the current budget she proposed sat at around $637,000.
The proposed budget for maintenance and supplies according to Schneider was around $450,000, an almost $300,000 decrease from the maintenance and supplies expenditures from previous years.
The next Columbus city council meeting will be held on Monday, Sept. 9.
