City Council - Regular Meeting

The Columbus City Council meeting for August 17th, 2026 will now come to order. In compliance with the Open Meeting Act, a current copy of the act is available in this meeting room on the agenda table. Madam Clerk, would you please call roll?

Bulkley? Here. Alarcon? Here. Barr?

Here.

Hemer? Here. Zablansky?

Here.

Lopez? Polanski?

Here.

Roth?

Here.

Schilling?

Here.

Mayor Bulkley, the roll has been called.

Council President.

Our Father, thank you for the opportunity to serve our fellow citizens. Please give us your wisdom and guidance to make the proper decisions entrusted to this governmental body. May our conduct show respect, honor, and courtesy to each other, as well to all of our citizens. Amen.

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming And of the free and the home of the brave

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Good evening. I welcome everyone to tonight's council meeting. Kind of a unique audience we have tonight. There's actually people out there. We are glad to have you and specifically I'd like to acknowledge our scouts that are in the audience. They're here for learning about government and listening to what's all taking place in the city of Columbus. So we welcome you and we thank you for being here this evening. All right. Also, if at any time during our meeting this evening, anyone would like to address any comments on our agenda, we'd ask that you please come forward. Scouts are included in this if you want to come forward and say anything. Give your name, your address, and we'd ask that you keep any comments to five minutes or less. All right, we'll now move on to the consent agenda.

Item four, consent agenda. The following items are considered to be routine by the city council and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a city council member or citizen requests. In which event, the item will be removed from consent status and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda. Item 4A, minutes of the August 3rd, 2026 City Council meeting. Item 4B, minutes of the August 3rd, 2026 Civil Service Commission meeting certifying police officer candidates Nathaniel Osterhout. Fidel Castro, Jr., and Siobhan Tindall. Item 4C, reappointment of Scarlett Johnson, Amanda Mancini, and Nicole Ripkey to the Columbus Library Board for four-year terms. Item 4D, resolution number R26-97, authorizing payment of various improvement projects. And item 4E, payroll and bills on file. Mr. Mayor and council members, is there anything you would like removed from the consent agenda?

Mayor move the items on the consent agenda be approved as presented second we have a motion in a second to approve any further discussion Seeing none all those in favor signify by aye those opposed nay Motion passes brings us up to public hearings. I

Item seven, a public hearing redevelopment plan for odd Berg redevelopment project redevelopment area. Number six, located to the Northeast of the intersection of North Cali, Colombo street and third Avenue. The planning commission recommends approval.

Is there anyone here to speak against this public hearing? Is there anyone here to speak for this public hearing?

Hi, my name is Donovan Keeler, 371 19th Avenue here in Columbus. I'm owner of LLC, a finding home, and I'm working with Rich Oldbrook there to manage that project with him. So I'm here to represent Rich. He's traveling this week, so he wasn't able to attend. So happy to answer any questions if anyone has any.

Well, I would have a question regarding the application and its use for TIF financing in this regard. Would you be able to address that, or do we need the owner to be able to address that?

That's not my part in the project. Rich is handling that with his lawyer.

Well, my feelings are that we as a council have used TIF as a tool to bring in and look at Specific needs things that the community has been short of and need of housing particular retail development That's pretty well where TIFF has been used in the past I would be hard-pressed to be convinced that storage is a needed thing that TIFF should be supporting So I'm I'm just telling you where I am with this the council can weigh in with any comments they may have and

In regard to that For the public's information The redevelopment plan is the first step towards tax increment financing that is why we are here just so everybody understands that Now actually the one that suggested it to rich because I seen it on the city Mapping that that area was in the TIF, you know

improvement area and stuff and I've known that property for basically Since 1981 Haiti when I moved down here. I knew mr Arnie's well drilling and stuff worked with him on some projects and you know that a property doesn't offer a lot of options with that sewer easement that runs across there. So Rich and I have done a lot of work trying to come up with an appropriate building design and access to it. And it definitely would add aesthetic improvement to that property over there, being the bare lot it is today. And again, with the easement that runs across there, it limits a lot of things from being able to be done there. So be grateful for everyone's approval on that so that we can move forward and make that a much nicer looking property than what it is today.

Well, and you know, one of the things that TIFF is there for is that it wouldn't happen if it was not for TIFF recognizing the application that, you know, there is no other financing taking place under this, which leads me to believe financially that, It's not only going to happen if Tiff is there or Tiff is not there. I can't judge on where he's coming from with that thought. I can just look at the numbers and...

It most likely will not happen without Tiff. I can pretty much assure you of that. The numbers and everything that he's put together and the work that we've done trying to make it come together...

Pretty pretty assured that it won't go forward and it'll just stay what it is today, and he'll move on to another project somewhere else Okay, I Just maybe bring up, but I think in the past we have done or used TIF and correct me if I'm wrong for Storage type units before is that correct?

The only other similar one we've done is ACE, and that was for their business, and it grew their business, and it was commercial units. So there's space in those for, like, offices and businesses to operate out of those. It's not quite the same.

And I think we used it also on the corner across from Earl May.

Same thing. Those are commercial bays. And that was the Granville business. to that project, had both of them.

So, council, do we have any other comments or questions?

Mr. Mayor, I move the public hearing be closed. Second.

We have a motion and a second to close the public hearing. All those in favor signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 7a1 is resolution number r2 6-9 a approving the redevelopment plan Resolution number r2 6-9 8 be adopted second We have a motion in a second to adopt resolution number r2 6-9 8 any discussion?

I think the discussion is wants and needs, or not wants and needs, but is that property just going to sit idly? But is it the best use of our tax dollars to push that project to that point? I guess that's a bigger consideration. It does meet all the criteria. It's in the blighted area. It's a tough call.

Any other comments? All right, seeing none, we have a motion and a second. All those in favor, signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Four to three. Motion passed.

A resolution needs five affirmative votes, so a motion failed.

Motion failed.

Unless you want to cast a vote. Unless you want to vote in favor.

I already spoke that I was not in favor, so motion failed. Item 7b public hearing the one in six year road plan Is there anyone here to speak against this public hearing Is there anyone here to speak for this public hearing Rick do you have anything to add to this public hearing I

Don't believe so. It's just an annual thing that we need to do for purposes of collecting funding through the state It's you know, it's always good thing that you to try to plan stuff out All right We have a motion in a second to close the public hearing Any further discussion seeing none all those in favor signify by aye those opposed nay aye

Motion passes.

Item 7B1, resolution number R26-99, adopting the one-in-six-year road plan.

Mr. Mayor, I move for the adoption of resolution number R26-99. Second.

We have a motion and a second to adopt resolution number R26-99. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 7C, public hearing, the property acquisitions for 8th Street and 12th Avenue intersection improvement project.

Is there anyone here to speak against this public hearing? Is there anyone here to speak for this public hearing? Does anybody want to just give a brief what this public hearing is all about?

Sure. So whenever you are a city wants to look at acquiring some property required by state statute to do a public hearing on the access of interest. And so this is for that 8th Street, 12th Avenue intersection. And there are eight tracks that we need to obtain.

Gotcha. All right. Mr. Mayor, may the public hearing be closed? Second.

We have a motion to second, close the public hearing. Any further discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor, signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes. Brings us up to reports of city update on the Nebraska Department of Transportation Loop River.

Item 9A is the Loop River Bridge update. Rick, would you like to give that?

Sure. So they've now moved on to basically bridge railings over the next couple of weeks, having all the major pours done on that project. They're a little bit ahead of schedule. They still hope to have traffic switched over around by Thanksgiving time to the other side so they can start working on the northbound bridge. And then they will begin to tear out the temporary bridge and hopefully have that done by the end of the year. So hopefully by the end of the icing season. Next year that will be gone and will not be an issue.

Any comments or questions for Mr. Bogus? With them proposed to be open prior to winter, is there any type of concrete seal on there for de-icer? Is it just going to be primarily gravel?

Yeah. No, they'll have that de-icer, a thin de-icer that you see on other bridges around the state put on that by that time. Okay.

Very good. All right. Thank you, Rick.

Item 9B is Columbus in Focus from the Public Safety Team.

Hello. Rachel Pensick, Communications Director. Once again, the Public Safety Team is made up of the Columbus Fire Department, the Columbus Police Department, the Joint Communications Center, and along with Tara, we meet weekly. Our mission statement is posted. I think you've seen it a couple different times, so I don't feel the need to read it again. So same with our vision statement. So we'll start with our upcoming 90-day goals. You've probably seen some of these. As you all know, I was gone for a while, and some of these goals revolved around me being involved. So now that I'm back from my maternity leave, our 90-day goals that are upcoming are emergency button activation, Mayday and firefighter down and shots fired policies. Since switching to the state radio system, we have the ability to put a distress signal by the radio. So that's what that emergency button activation is, is a button on the radio that sends out a distress signal. Conduct radio operations training, just giving everybody who uses the equipment a refresher on how to use it well. especially in situations where emotions can be high. The JCC and the police department is going to continue to work with the engineering department regarding mapping and addresses changing and being added to our area. Continue to work with the public communications manager, Matt Lindberg, on website updates and hold open houses. Individual department updates at the JCC. Continuing implementation of the updated pre-employment testing with remote proctoring, eliminating the need for in-person testing, improving recruitment efficiency. So this expands our ability to test people maybe outside of our region. Otherwise, prior to this, you would have to travel to the office in person. Now we can do it remotely with a company. We were kind of in the middle of building that when I went on my leave. Begin long-term planning for the replacement of the radio consoles, which will be obsolete by 2030. That will be a big project that will take multiple years. So we're kind of starting the planning phases of that. Working with East Central Nebraska Public Safety Answering Points to initiate the planning of the replacement for our 911 call taking equipment. There are eight different PSAPs that are in an agreement that purchased call taking equipment together and that contract will be up in 2028 and that equipment will also potentially be losing support from Motorola, so we might have to continue to look at an update or another vendor for that equipment. Initiate discussions with Central Square Technologies to evaluate migrating everything we have that currently sits on a server at the JCC to the cloud. Seems like most things are moving to the cloud these days, so we're going to start talks with them with our CAD and computer-aided dispatch and report management systems vendor And then the JCC also participated in National Night Out. And then I saw Ryan had some neat statistics, so I thought I'd add some. So these are our call trends out at the JCC for the past five years. The yellow are our non-emergency calls. The red are our 911 calls, which include voiced and text to 911. As you see, the non-emergency calls have been going down, but both the Platt County Sheriff's Office and the Columbus Police Department add call tree like answering to their service so they have automated answer now so that did divert some of the calls from us that we would normally be answering individual department update for the Columbus Police Department National Night Out was a great success except of course for the hot dog eating contest Chief Strucker lost to Chief Gray and I have to say as a witness it was the slowest hot dog eating contest I've ever seen in my life Kudos to investigator Rachel Wendell. She did a really good job of putting that together. Something new this year was LifeNet landed just a block over, and I think that was a huge success, a big hit. So that was a good event. Let's see. Coffee with a cop has been well received by all the locations. They are working with a policy book company to assist in rewriting their policies. They're at the PD. K9 officer is out and working and has already been involved in several incidents, three openings with great candidates, obviously a few that you certify tonight, and working on strengthening their mentorship program. And the Columbus Fire Department, they placed a new ambulance into service at Charlie Lewis, Captain Kluver, working on the implementation of staffing software for the department to better track our daily staffing, vacation, sick leave, and overtime. Captain Kluver also earned the designation as fire officer through the Center for Professional Credentialing, and Chief Gray graduated from the National Fire Academy's Executive Fire Officer Program. Captain Dunn implemented the MedVault narcotic storage system, and they are planning open houses in the fall of 2026. And the fire department's data and trends. I don't know if you had any questions on those. I'd do my best to answer them, but I probably... Okay. Any other questions on anything presented?

Rachel, do you have any updates on how the virtual tours might be progressing?

Well, my department actually isn't likely going to take part in the virtual tours because of the sensitive data. And really, we have one room, and we can't really hide the data. So I know that those conversations have been going between Chief Strzok or Chief Gray. And I believe, have they been?

Yeah, you want to come on?

Yeah. So.

I knew you were itching to get up. That's why I asked.

I'm sorry?

I knew you were itching to get up. I was.

I was ready. Brett Streger, Columbus Police Department. We kind of found, so they charged that by square foot. And with the square footage that we have with the fire department, two stations, and then with the police department, it was going to be quite costly. So I think what we're going to probably look at doing in the meantime is some type of photographic tour instead of the whole thing where you can interact with it. And that way they could see it. And it may spur someone to want to come do an in-person tour or that suffices what they were looking for. But it just came down to kind of a money thing where it was going to be, with the square footage that we have, it was going to be quite a bit of money.

Makes sense.

Any other questions for Rachel? All right. Thank you. Good job. Appreciate it. Move on to reports of council committees.

Item 10A is the Public Property Safety and Works Committee of August 17th, 2026. Item 10A1 is amend the 2027 Pavement Management Plan and Priority List. The committee recommends approval.

Will this report be adopted? Second.

We have a motion and a second to adopt this committee report. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 10A2, acquisition of interest in various tracts of real property by purchase or eminent domain for the 8th Street and 12th Avenue intersection improvement project. The committee recommends approval.

Mr. Mayor, I move the report be adopted.

Second.

We have a motion and a second to adopt this committee report. Any further discussion?

Just a question. You don't think we'll have to enforce eminent domain, do you?

No, but we have to put that wording in there.

I just... Just curious. We're not getting pushback?

No.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 10A3, the Columbus Urban Forestry Management Plan. The committee recommends approval.

Move this report be adopted.

We have a motion and a second to adopt this report. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by aye. Those opposed nay. Motion passes.

Item 10A4, approve prohibited and restricted tree species lists for the City of Columbus. The committee recommends approval.

Move this report be adopted.

Second. I have a motion and a second to adopt this committee report. Any discussion? Nobody wants to tell the public what we're doing with all these trees and why? How about just a little why? There's a list.

The urban forestry management plan was part of a tree inventory that we did in our public park spaces. Through that, we got information about where our tree species are sitting and how to correctly diversify and make sure that we have trees that both fit our ecosystem here in Columbus and will help replenish some canopy that we will need to take down due to dead and decaying trees and so the last time the prohibited or restricted tree species list was updated was in 1999 and And so this is bringing it up to be more modern and in line with the inventory.

Very good. Any questions or comments for Betsy? Thank you very much. All right. We have a motion and a second to approve. All those in favor, signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 10A5, amendment to Chapter 96 of the Columbus City Code regarding trees. The committee recommends approval.

I move this report be adopted.

Second.

We have a motion and a second to adopt this committee report. Any further questions? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes. Brings us up to new business this evening.

Item 13A, application from House of Baugh Foundation for a special designated liquor license at 2500 14th Street from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. September 20th, 2026 for a community dinner.

Mr. Mayor, move the application from House of Baugh Foundation for a special designated liquor license for September 20th of 2026 be approved.

Second.

We have a motion and a second to approve. Any discussion? Anybody here? Yes. Amy is here. Abby, I'm sorry. Well, maybe Amy's here too, but Abby's here.

I don't know who Amy is.

I know we have explanation of what this is, but maybe the general public doesn't.

Sure. Abby Kretz sends respondo. Do I need to tell you my address? Yes. Okay. So we are partnering with the House of Ba Foundation. It's a nonprofit out of Omaha, Nebraska, and they focus on teaching culinary skills to immigrants and refugees and really highlighting those and then highlighting the foods from a lot of those nations where folks come from. So we're working to partner with them and to partner with some local chefs and cooks in this area to kind of highlight some of the foods that come from this area from all backgrounds. And then to bring community members from different walks of life, economic background, country of origin, wherever, to kind of bring those foods together and see the similarities that we share with our food and how we're much more alike than we are different. And so being able to celebrate that with a little wine, a little cocktails would be nice.

Very good. Any questions? Thank you very much. Appreciate it. All right. We have a motion and a second to approve. All those in favor, signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 13B, plan specifications and estimate of cost in the amount of $325,000 and authorization to advertise for bids for supervisory control and data acquisition known as SCADA system upgrades 2026. This is CIP number 25-57.

Mr. Mayor, I move the plan specifications estimate of cost and authorization to advertise for bids for SCADA system upgrades 2026 be approved. Second.

We have a motion and a second to approve. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 13C, comments from the mayor and city council members in compliance with the Open Meetings Act. No discussion may be held on this item.

Do we have any comments from council members this evening? None. I would just remind the public that I, once again, will be available from 9 to 10 on Saturday morning in the library for an open discussion with anyone that wants to come and talk to the mayor about whatever they may want to come and talk to the mayor about. Okay, we'll move on to resolutions.

Item 14A, Resolution R26-100, Authorizing Acquisition of Interest in Various Tracks of Real Property by Purchase or Eminent Domain for the 8th Street and 12th Avenue Intersection Improvement Project. This is CIP 25-35.

Mr. Mayor, I move Resolution R26-100 be adopted. Second.

We have a motion and a second to adopt Resolution R26-100. Any discussions? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 14B, resolution R26-101, ratifying and confirming resolution R26-96, approving the relocation assistance packages for tracks one through three in the combined amount of $383,400 in conjunction with the 8th Street and 12th Avenue Intersection Improvement Project, CIP 25-35.

Mr. Mayor, I move that resolution number R26-101 be adopted.

Second. I have a motion and a second to adopt resolution number R26-101. Any discussion? Just a...

I know we discussed it last time that we just didn't pull these numbers out of thin air. There's a procedure that goes on. The public would probably be interested in understanding that.

Yeah, there's formulas. It follows the Uniform Act. So whatever these relocation costs are, there are various things that depends on what they pay for it if you're a renter or whatever the case might be.

Thank you. All right. Any other comments or questions? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 14C, Resolution R26-102, approving the total acquisition in the amount of $190,100 for plus Excuse me plus closing costs for Lyra Gustavo aka Gustavo Lyra in conjunction with the 8th Street and a 12th Avenue intersection improvement project CIP 2 5-3 5 Mr. Mayor move resolution number r2 6-1 0 to be adopted Second we have a motion in a second to adopt resolution number r2 6-1 0 to any discussion

Seeing none, all those in favor, signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 14D, resolution number R26-103, adopting lists for approved, prohibited, and restricted tree species on public property.

Mr. Mayor, I move for the adoption of resolution R26-103 be adopted.

We have a motion and a second to adopt resolution number R26-103. Any discussion? I'm just sad that you're not eliminating the trees on the golf course. Well, as much as you hit them, they may be damaged and need to get removed anyway. All right, we have a motion and a second. All those in favor, signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 14E, Resolution Number R26-104, Dissolving the American with Disabilities, ADA Compliance Committee for the City of Columbus.

Mr. Mayor, I move Resolution Number R26-104 be adopted.

Second. We have a motion and a second to adopt Resolution Number R26-104. Any discussion? I just think it's important the public know that this has been in front of the committees. It's been discussed. It's basically a need that's not needed anymore. It's a meeting that we have because you have meetings. But many times there's nobody there. There's not a need. And everything that this committee has done over the years will continue to be looked at and followed up if there is a need. So it was just streamlining what we've had in the past. and moving forward with what we'll do in the future.

It doesn't negate the city's obligation to follow ADA laws, and it doesn't change anything about our implementation plan either.

All right. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 14F, resolution R26-105, approving professional services agreement between the City of Columbus and JEO Consulting Group Incorporated in the lump sum amount of $190,000 for the Columbus Area Regional Flood Mitigation Assessment in accordance with the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, DR4778-NE, project number 0005. This is CIP20-03.

Mr. Mayor, I move for the adoption of resolution number R26-105. Second.

We have a motion and a second to adopt resolution number R26-105. Any discussion?

Will we be getting any funding support from anybody, or is this just all on our own?

Yeah, no, the grant is around $142,000 will be the grant, and then one of the partners is Loloop NRD, and they're participating in it as well.

Very good.

Thank you.

Thank you. All right. We have a motion and a second to approve. All those in favor, signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes. Brings us up to ordinances on their first reading.

Ordinance number 26-16, amending city code chapter 96 regarding regulations on trees.

Mr. Mayor, I move the rules be suspended and ordinance number 26-16 be read by number only. Second.

We have a motion and a second to suspend the rules and read ordinance number 26-16 by number only. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Ordinance number 26-16.

Mr. Mayor, move ordinance number 26-16 be adopted. Second.

We have a motion and a second to adopt ordinance number 26-16. Any discussion? We're not there yet.

That's it. Next one. Relax. You're good.

Relax. We have a motion and a second to adopt. Ordinance number 26-16. All those in favor, signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes. Brings us up to ordinances on their second reading.

Item 16A, ordinance number 26-15, amending city code chapters 70 and 71 to include definitions, regulations, and penalties regarding e-bikes, hoverboards, and lightweight e-scooters.

All right, we have ordinance on its second reading, which also would allow for any public comments. Council, have any comments first that they want to add, or would you like to just hear from the audience to begin with? All right, please. We could tell.

I am Natalie Porter. If I may, I'm just going to read what I have.

Give us your address, Natalie, just so we have it, please.

1462 32nd Avenue, Columbus. I'm here tonight not to oppose the ordinance necessarily, but to address some of my concerns. First off, I want to agree strongly that something needs to be done because the safety of everybody in the community, especially the children, It needs to be updated from the, I believe it was the 1999 ordinance that's currently on the books. On the other side of this issue, a lot of adults, including myself, use these devices not as toys, but tools as modes of transportation. As an e-bike owner, I've enjoyed casual rides, but also was using it as a way to get to work and run errands. I purchased my e-bike during the highway construction And it didn't take me much longer to get to work versus driving my vehicle. I had the headlight, the taillight, the majority of the time I wear my safety vest, which I get a lot of guff for, which I always reply, hey, have you seen the drivers out there? I know a lot of people who use these devices for various reasons, whether they don't have a vehicle or theirs is inoperable. When I first got my bike, Councilman Barr, I actually ran into you on the street. You probably don't remember, but we're coming down by the post office and you roll up next to me, put your window down. I didn't know what to expect. I looked up for rules, couldn't find nothing. So I was like, oh boy, what's this going to be? And you said, that thing moves along pretty good. We had a quick chat, the light changed green and we went on our merry way and we just coexisted on the road quite nicely. Um, My biggest concern is the 25 mile an hour speed limit. I have yet to find a way to get to work that is on roadways that are 25 mile an hour or less. My normal route is take down 15th Street or 17th Street. I go to work 4.30 or 5.30 in the morning, so traffic is very limited. But if I were to try to find a different route, it would significantly hinder how timely a manner I get to work. Also, the last little jaunt is 45 mile an hour. And trust me, I want to be safe, and I don't want to hinder traffic. But I also don't quite understand the downtown business improvement district that does not allow the e-bikes on it, or that's in the proposition right now. Because I actually ride my bike to this building to use the library facilities. And I don't know if that's what's included in that district or not. But when I come down here, I try my best to be very cognitive of other people and get off and walk it up onto the sidewalk and lock it. I also feel the comparison in the article to Lincoln and Omaha metro areas is like comparing a town such as Humphrey to Columbus. It's apples and oranges. I looked up Fremont and Norfolk, which I feel is more comparable. And they are regulated, as far as I can tell, compared to pedal bikes, not any other devices. Everyone I've discussed this topic with at work, which I have several, I mean, I work at BD, so I work with hundreds of people, and they all brought up the age issue. If we're all held to what children are doing, we want the children safe, I understand, but I have a motorcycle license and an operator license, why am I being held to a standard with children who cannot operate vehicles. And also I know several adults that ride their e-bikes and scooters with their children and do it in a very safe manner. They have curfews and driving restrictions and I'm not understanding why I would be restricted in my riding of my e-bike. I do have the state statutes on mopeds and e-bikes. And I'm sure you guys already looked them up, but the bike powers can exceed a certain wattage, 750. There's different classes of them. There are no age limits right now or helmet mandates. The mopeds must have pedals, and the motor cannot exceed 50cc. And the speed limit does not go over 30 miles an hour. That's what I have. I trust that the elected officials of this community will come to a reasonable conclusion to this city ordinance. Thank you.

Well, Natalie, just a, no, please, just a few comments. First of all, you referenced Fremont and Norfolk, and you could add in a whole lot of other communities. that haven't changed their rules, because you know what? They didn't have any rules on these. There's not very many communities in Nebraska or around the country that aren't doing exactly what we're trying to do, and that is frame some rules and regulations, because this is a brand new thing. And so we're working from not a lot of history and not a lot of places we can reach and say, well, they had that, and it was good. We can copy that. We're all kind of doing this together. as we move forward. So, I mean, I think if you would talk to these other communities, they don't maybe have it on their books today. They're going to be having, they're going to be having something on their books shortly. You know, the comment, I think the biggest takeaway I have from what you're telling me is, you know, rules of the road. If you're on a bike, whether it's an e-bike or a pedal bike, rules of the road. And that's what we have said all along. And I think that's what you need to recognize this needs to be enforced as rules of the road. You can help me with the comment about the BID, the downtown. I mean, if I want to ride a bike downtown, I can ride a bike downtown. Can I not?

Well, and it might be best for Brett to come up here because they are, the police department is proposing different rules for motorized bikes than they are for pedal bikes. You can have a pedal bike in different places than you can in motorized. And Brett can come talk to this. But this is a conversation we kind of had before this came forward, adults versus adolescents operating these, the 25 mile per hour road thing. I did bring up that too, so maybe Brett can address them and the council can consider your comments. Natalie, thank you.

Thank you. Again, Brett Stryker, Congress, please. You know, the differences are because of the speed of these bikes. A bicycle is going to be, you know, top speed can't be maintained for very long, and these can. And so we needed to limit some of the places that they went for safety reasons. And, you know, I understand her concern with the adult versus kid thing. You know, that is something that, like... city administrator said that we talked about but at this point you know we just want to make sure that we don't have I know there's been significant accidents in Bennington and in another town I can't remember and we're just trying to avoid that from happening here I've worked child deaths and they're one of the worst things I've ever worked and what about the issue of adults versus minors is that something you guys looked into Yes. And I mean, we looked into it, but, you know, we just, with the lack of anything around you, you know, we just felt like we needed to make sure that people were safe. Even adults, because when you see these scooters and things, they're not much there. And when a car hits, your body's going to take all the force. Whereas if a motorcycle, you know, or a larger thing like that, there's going to be some force that's going to go onto the bike. But your body will take the whole thing, and so I think that's why we didn't really differentiate between the two.

So clarify for me what I can ride downtown. Maybe I was totally off base. I was not aware I couldn't, if I had an, I don't have an e-bike, but if I didn't have, if I had an e-bike, I can't ride it downtown? I think we still allow that, is that? I'm asking.

It's up on the board, Brett.

Okay.

B.

Because I think speed was the only thing downtown did.

Was it the problem with the electric scooters?

Yeah. You can't do the sidewalk. Right. If you're on the road, you follow the rules. And I think that's another thing, too. We're looking for predictability, too. When you come up to a stoplight, you know that the car that's crossing you is going to be stopped for the red light. You're going to go through the green light. Sometimes you're not sure with the scooters. They're not necessarily always following the rules of the road. And as long as you're following the rules of the road, then you can ride it. You just can't be on the sidewalks.

And obviously, because we're having questions and concerns and comments, it's an educational process, whatever we do. Right? I mean, the whole thing is trying to educate the public to what we feel is right or wrong. Not right or wrong, but safe.

Safe, not right or wrong, safe.

We're trying to find something that's safe for all involved.

And if this should get passed, we plan on pushing out All kinds of literature, for lack of a better word, but things to educate the public on what is and can be used and where you can use it and all those types of things. I brought examples if anyone's interested in looking at them. But we want to make sure that, you know, should this get passed, we just want to make sure that the public understands what it actually is. Because it's a long ordinance. there's a lot to it. In fact, I had to refer, you know, and I've been in the process from the beginning, but I don't have the whole thing memorized. And so it's just, it's, there's a lot to it and we want to make sure that we, that we get it out to the public as best we can.

So as an example, would that be getting with our schools and working with them with maybe some talking points that, You know, handouts can go home with people and they... I'm just asking what...

Utilize our school resource officers in that fashion. We're also going to put things out on our Facebook page and some stuff like that.

I mean, the reality is, no matter what we do, in most cases, it's the bad apple that makes us have to have these things. It's the people that don't use common sense anymore. And I'll be honest, it's a lot of parents that aren't paying attention what their kids are doing on some of these scooters and e-bikes. And, you know, we're forced to bring together some rules for safety. So, I mean, I think we have to do this. It's one of those things that, you know, we are mandated to help protect our society.

I do... I do want to play devil's advocate a little bit on the adults versus minors. I don't think Natalie should be breaking the law if she goes on a 35-mile-per-hour road to work and is abiding all the traffic signals. I mean, what do you think about that?

You know, I do understand that argument. We give her a motorcycle license. Right, adults ride motorcycles. On the interstate. So I do... understand the concern there. And I also kind of want to stress that we're not going to be sitting waiting for, you know, this is not going to be like, you know, we're going to really work hard to catch people. We just want to keep it safe. Keep it so that, that, you know, Because we all make mistakes, and like I said, your body's going to take all the impact. We just want to make sure it's safe for people. If you're riding it and not causing problems, probably you're not going to get stopped. But if you're whizzing in and out of traffic, that's what we're trying to avoid.

In light of that comment or Tara's thoughts, does there need to be any tweaking done to the ordinance that we're trying to put together? I mean, you've got some specifics. We have some specifics in there. Does that wording need to change so you're not hung out there going, how come I did this to them and didn't do that to them?

And that might be worth looking into as far as, you know, like I said, I think we did look into that a little bit, but, you know, her motorcycle license comment is hard for me to say. I can't take that into consideration. So I think it might be that we say if you have a valid driver's license, valid motorcycle license, maybe that might be a requirement too. You can go on those roads that are, A little bit higher speeds. But then I'm like, do we draw a line at 45? Do we draw a line? You know, I don't know. Because 45, you know, you start changing the dynamics of an accident at 45. Sure. I don't know. I mean, it's like you said earlier, Mayor, this is all brand new. And, you know, I did our phone forensics, our computer forensics for about 17 years. And it was constantly changing. technology and then we would catch up and technology and then we would catch up and this is kind of the same thing where this is brand new very few ordinances out there not a lot of things to compare to and it's been difficult getting through and I want to make sure we do the right thing so if we need to tweak that in the adult I mean I'm I'm not opposed to that.

So adults with motorcycle licenses may be allowed to ride on roadways of 35 mile per hour or less? I mean, that really opens up a lot of roadways, a lot of collector roadways in Columbus.

It does. It does. And I think that I would not be opposed to that.

Chief, UTV's They're not allowed to go past 35 miles an hour by state statute, is that correct? So we wouldn't be totally out of line saying 35 is a max. 35 would be, okay. And they're pretty well protected.

We want to make sure that they can go. We're talking about going on the road that has that speed limit, though, isn't it? I want to make sure I understand.

35 and less, yeah.

So, I mean, you're right. That opens up quite a bit, and it would be comparable to the UTV. Yeah.

So I have a question on the motorcycle license portion. Do we fear that would open it up to people requesting, can they obtain their motorcycle license with an e-bike?

I don't think so. I don't think that the state, you know, cause that's the other thing. The state's behind. Maybe we just go operators license.

You can get an operator's license without a vehicle. You can get an operator's license without a vehicle, but you can't get a motorcycle license without a motorcycle? Is that what we're saying?

No, I think he's saying if you're going to, will the state allow to get a motorcycle license with an e-scooter or whatever? Is that what you're? Yeah. Use that as their item to drive, which.

Right, we're saying the same thing. Okay, maybe I'm sorry. Right, you can't get a motorcycle license without.

A motorcycle, yes.

But you can get an operator's license, a regular license, as long as you're 16 or 18.

Yeah, but they're still driving, or at least you had to have taken driver's ed.

Right, so you need to have ed.

Yeah, sorry.

I was not understanding that. Chief, at the end of the day, do you feel what we're proposing is, first of all, enforceable, and second of all, do you think it's safe enough?

Yeah, it's enforceable. You know, and what may happen if there's a question on if we have a 17-year-old driving on a 35, they may get stopped because they don't maybe, you know, that whole age thing. You know, kids get younger looking for me every year. But, you know, so you might struggle to make sure and stop them and, oh, you're 17, you have a driver's license, be on your way. So, you know, that's, in the world of law enforcement, that puts us in spots sometimes, you know, where all of a sudden now there's something else there involved and, you know, we start wondering about search and seizure because that could lead up to those things. We never know what we're going to be walking up on. So, I mean, I think it's enforceable, but there might be case law made eventually on some of these things that we'll have to adhere to. And I mean, I think, you know, we have the state has taken away motorcycle helmets are not necessary anymore. You know, we're letting adults make those decisions on their own. And so maybe, you know, maybe it's right to have them allow them up to 35 so that there's more areas and they can go. and get to work. We're not trying to keep people from getting to work or getting to something they need to be. This is really not what we're trying to do. We just want to make sure that we don't have a tragic accident.

One of the things also that is for the younger generation is that these are not toys. I mean, that's, you know, some of these kids are riding around and up and down through the streets and out behind cars. I mean, they're having fun. And that's the problem

Yeah, I mean, I'm sure everyone's seen an incident where they're like, whoa. And they pop out of nowhere sometimes. And that's why they wind them off the sidewalks. I mean, like I said, we're looking for that predictability of traffic. You know what's going to happen at stop signs. You know what's going to happen at traffic lights. If they're not following those rules, you know, downtown, for example, then that's when accidents happen.

Well, I think, you know, again, we're trying to find a means of offering something to our public that will provide more safety. It doesn't mean we're always, you know, we're always correct in everything that we do. It's the attempt that we're trying to make. And there are those that don't think we ought to do any of this. I mean, you know, our Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts here are way too young to remember arguments over seatbelts. They can't get in a vehicle today without having a seatbelt, wrap them up, and be able to start the car. So, I mean, evolution brings some of this stuff together. I'm sorry. And we're at a point right now where we're just trying to find a means of providing a safer environment for all our citizens, the young ones and the older ones. And, you know, we'll take a stab at this and see what we got. It's like any other ordinance. If we find some of these things are not working, we bring it back and we tweak it. You know, we're not setting something in concrete here.

Yes, we are. Unfortunately, once you enact something, trying to unenact it is very difficult. I'm wondering if we're trying to do something to make things too safe. Darn it. Yeah, we just wrap everybody up in bubble wrap. No, no, no, no, no. Come on, let's do something that's reasonable, but let's not go overboard. And I think to a degree we've gone overboard. The 25 mile an hour thing limiting isn't the right answer. I think we need to do a little more thinking yet on this.

In light of the discussion, I would recommend you just have a second reading, and this comes back to the next meeting with maybe some recommended language.

Absolutely. I would agree. And being a second reading, there's no motion, there's nothing that has to happen. So I appreciate everybody's thoughts and comments, and it's exactly what you want to get out of this type of reading. Are there more comments? Is there anybody else that would like to comment? Talk about Frankfurt. Well, then you can't do it from back there, ma'am. You've got to come forward.

To talk about Frankfurt Square is that. I'm sorry.

I just, I don't know if I can say anything. I live in Genoa, but I just wanted to leave a thought to think about.

Please give your name and address.

Sharon Unick, 47980 State Highway 39 in Genoa. I'm also a sociology major, mental health major, and things like that. And I work with a lot of, I work with Cub Scouts, and I work with kids and families that are, like, require financial aid. And the thing I want to bring up to keep in mind is sometimes these e-bikes are all some people in our community as adults can afford to get to work. So I just wanted to kind of leave that thought process. And sometimes it's the only way that kids can get to school. We don't have a bus system in Columbus, from my understanding. So just wanted to leave those thoughts on your mind as you discuss this further. That's all.

Awesome. Thank you very much. Those are great thoughts, but As we've said, too, rules of the road. I don't think anybody's going to be looking for somebody doing something wrong unless they are.

Anyone else with comments this evening?

I also don't live here in Columbus, but Zelfia Graham, 409 3rd Street and Silver Creek. I had it while they were talking. I was wondering, everybody's concerned about the kids. How about Is there something you can do like the hunter's education program? My kids all the time, they had to do the hunter's education program before they could go out. So why don't, is there a way we can have a scooter, e-bike education for these kids

I would think that's something that might evolve out of this as we get working with the schools and with the other organizations that that could happen.

It might be something to add into your to help with the kids and the adults.

Your kids don't have to take driver's ed, but it helps. It could be something that could be offered. I don't think I don't think it's our position to have to put that in a rule. I love the idea.

It might be a good idea, and it might help even the police department. Hey, look, I've taken this. Just something to consider.

Thank you. Appreciate it very much. All right. Any other comments or concerns? Again, this was a second reading, time for comments and thoughts, and we appreciate all of them. We'll bring it back at our next council meeting with some revisions and further discussion. All right, with all that, I would say meeting adjourned.