City Council - Regular Meeting

I will now come to order. Please stand for the playing of the national anthem.

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. This evening, Council is grateful to have Pastor Joseph Stanley here from the Greater Mount Calvary Baptist Church to pray with us again. Pastor, welcome back to Council.

Amen. Thank you, Pastor. Clerk, please call the roll.

Can I get a motion to spend for the reading of the journal? Clerk, please call the roll.

Are there any additional corrections or additions to the journal? Hearing none, the journal is approved. This week's communications received by the city clerk's office are listed on the agenda and will be published in the bulletin. Are there any other communications to be read into the records? Thank you, Madam Clerk. We'll go around. Oh, sorry. Are there any additions or corrections to the agenda? Hearing none, the agenda is approved. Are there any, we'll go around the dais for any resolutions or comments from my colleagues. I'll start with Councilman Bankston.

Thank you, Council President. Just two quick announcements. Just as a reminder, tomorrow at 4 p.m. I am holding a hearing. to discuss adjusting the city's wage threshold for its tax incentive offerings. Any residents seeking to submit written testimony should forward it to Jonathan Brown at jbbrown at columbus.gov by 10 a.m. tomorrow with the subject line wage threshold hearing. All persons wishing to speak during the hearing in person must also email Jonathan Brown in my office again at jbbrown at columbus.gov by 10 a.m. tomorrow as well. Each speaker will be limited to remarks lasting no lon

First, I want to acknowledge that this evening we will consider multiple ordinances related to the NWSL expansion franchise deal that Council amended and passed earlier this year. Tonight, Council will be voting on the rezoning of McCoy Park, the design contract for new parks in the Southwest community, and the levying of the additional admissions tax on Crew Stadium, paying for the city's commitment to the franchise deal. I have been very adamant in my opposition to city funds and parks going to billionaires, but I lost that vote. Realistically, I am left with two options. I can rage about it

Oh, wonderful. Thank you again for all that you do for our youth and our city. And with that, I move for adoption.

Congratulations. Thank you, Council President. A couple announcements. One, we are currently in the public comment period for the second phase of Zone In, our zoning modernization initiative. We'll be having our second public hearing this Wednesday on September 16th at the King Arts Complex at 6 o'clock. That will include our friends in the administration from the Zone In team that will be doing an in-depth review of the proposed Phase 2 zoning districts. This is the second of four publicly scheduled hearings. If folks aren't able to make it in person, the hearing will be broadcast live on CTV

Ariel's leaving us. Jeezy Pete. No, we'll see you out there at the King Garth Complex. We're very, very proud of you. Congratulations. Council Member Green. Council Member Remy. Council Member Ross.

Thank you, Council President. One quick announcement this evening. The next Public Utilities and Sustainability Committee hearing will be held this Wednesday, September 16th at 5.30 p.m. It will take place here in Council Chambers and will cover the most recent changes made to the proposed data center policy package. If you're interested in providing in-person or written testimony, please reach out to my aide, Chelsea Goulterman, at C-L-G-O-L-T-E-R-M-A-N at Columbus.gov by noon tomorrow. The hearing is open to all members of the public. Like most of them, if you can't make it in person, it wil

Thank you, Councilmember. I just want to make note of two things in the community. One, I want to acknowledge the passing of Dr. Louis Dodley. Dr. Dodley was someone who has served in many different ways, served at the Columbus Urban League for many years and working with the community, served at Alvis House with the reentry work, but a giant in our community. And so keeping his family and friends and community alive in our prayers, and not a passing, but a changing of times. I saw this morning that Black Arts Plus, led by Dr. Miller, is closing after 40 years on Parsons, and so I'm looking fo

Thank you. Will the clerk now read into the records ordinance numbers of 30 legislation on tonight's agenda for first reading?

Thank you, Madam Clerk. It says we have a speaker on the first meeting, Ms. Chyna Wiley, but I don't see her here, and I think we pulled it. Anyway, so are there, the following ordinance appear on our agenda as consent action. Will the clerk now read those into the record?

Hearing none, may I have a motion of approval of these items designated as consent? I'll move. Second. Clerk, please call the roll.

Consent agenda passed. We'll now proceed with the second reading, 30-day postponement of emergency legislation. The first committee to come before council is the Finance and Governance Committee, chaired by Councilman Bankston. Councilman, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Council President. May I first jump to page 9 on the agenda to read an ordinance? that was pulled off of the Finance and Governance Committee from consent. Thank you. For a second read that was pulled from the Consent Agenda Ordinance 2270-2026. This is to authorize the Director of the Department of Finance and Management to enter into contract with Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority for the purpose of distributing an additional 2% to the 2026 admissions tax proceeds from the facility stabilization fund for the purpose of infrastructure investment in nationwide arena to

that the petition to establish the West Bend Community Authority is sufficient and complies with the requirements of Chapter 349 of the Ohio Revised Code to set the time and place for a hearing on the petition to authorize the notice of such hearing by publication in a newspaper or general circulation for three consecutive weeks or as provided in the Ohio Revised Code Section 7.16 and to declare an emergency. This resolution determines the sufficiency of the petition to create a new community authority at the West Bend development site. Determining the sufficiency of this petition is the first

Thank you. And next we have Ordinance 2321-2026 from the Consent Agenda to authorize the Director of Department of Development to amend the Enterprise Zone Agreement for the first time for assignment and assumption with COI Alkire Industrial LLC to remove COI Alkire Industrial LLC from AS THE ENTERPRISE AND PARTY TO THE AGREEMENT AND TO BE REPLACED WITH COI ALKAIR INDUSTRIAL 2 LLC AS ENTERPRISE AND PARTY TO THE AGREEMENT TO REVISE THE DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT SITE AND TO REVISE THE NOTICE INFORMATION RELATED TO ENTERPRISE WITHIN SECTION 8 OF THE AGREEMENT. AND AS I DESCRIBED IN THE ORDERS AB

Thank you, Council President. Now may I jump to the Rules and Policy Committee for one ordinance to read there? Please. Thank you. Tonight in Rules and Policy Committee for second read, we have Ordinance 2349-2026 to amend Ordinance No. 1687-2025 to correct an error in the text used to amend Chapter 328 of the Columbus City Code's Last year the city amended various sections of Columbus City codes to reflect the updated division of real estate and land Redevelopment within the Department of Development at that time chapter 328 which contained the Land Review Commission Was amended to bring the

Chair. The next committee to come before Council is the Neighborhoods Recreation and Parks Committee, chaired by Council Member Dayakar. Council Member, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Council President. Ordinance 1091-2026 to authorize the Director of the Department of Development with the approval of the Director of Recreation and Parks Department to execute and acknowledge any documents as approved by the City Attorney necessary to quick claim grant Columbia Gas of Ohio Incorporated a non-exclusive easement burdening a portion of the city's real property commonly known as Olentangy Park. This ordinance authorizes the Department of Development to grant a non-exclusive easement to Columbia Gas to install and maintain a gas line through Olentangy Park within the K

Chair, just one quick question. One, appreciate getting all the answers related to those questions. This is really helpful. The only piece I did not see, and I'm just curious, if there will be a post-construction inspection, although horizontal underground drilling can be helpful to prevent trees from being removed, if that drill goes through the root ball of a tree, that tree most likely will still die just based on the actual construction that's going on. So do we intend, or does Columbia Gas intend to walk that route once it is completed so that if there are trees that are lost, we may be a

Director Reuss, if you could answer, please.

If there are no other questions, I move for passage.

Next, we have Ordinance 2202-2026 to authorize the Director of Columbus Recreation Parks Department to enter into contract with Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District to support the Columbus Recreation and Park Department Tree Assistance Program and to authorize the expenditure of $62,200 from the Recreation and Park Special Purpose Fund. The Tree Assistance Program allows private landowners like residents and businesses to apply for grant funds to plant trees on their private property. The Columbus Urban Forestry Team continues to work every day towards the goal of a 40% tree canopy by

Next up is Ordinance 2204-2026, to authorize the Director of Recreation Parks Department to modify an existing contract with Kimberley Horn and Associates Incorporated for the Gender Road Park and McCoy Park Improvements Project to authorize the transfer of $941,941.53 between the General Fund Income Tax Set-Aside Sub-Fund and the Recreation Parks Bond Fund to authorize the appropriation of $941,941.53 in the Income Tax Set-Aside Sub-Fund and Recreation Parks Voted Bond Fund to authorize expenditure of $941,941.53 from the Recreational Parks Voted Bond Fund and to declare an emergency. As I me

And finally, you have ordinance 2490 dash 2026 to authorize the director of recreation parks to enter into contract with Otis elevator company for elevator repair services to waive the competitive bidding provisions of Columbus city code chapter three 29 to authorize expenditure of $135,540 from the recreation parks operating fund and to declare an emergency. The elevator at the Priscilla R Tyson cultural arts center is currently inoperable. A vital component to the power systems of the elevator has broken down unexpectedly and it is inoperable until the systems are repaired. Due to the age of

Chair. So I know recently we just passed the UTC and another contract for another vendor for elevator service repair. I'm just curious, why is this not a vendor under the UTC? Why is this not a contract under the UTC?

The more we learn about elevator contracts, the more we all went into the wrong business. So I appreciate you giving us that feedback. Thank you, Councilmember.

If there aren't other questions, I move for passage.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Next committee to come before council is the Health and Human Services Committee.

Oh, Rules and Policy. We'll go to Rules and Policy then. Council Member Dorrance. Thank you, Council President.

A little out of order, but appreciate it. In Rules and Policy Committee, I have Ordinance Number 2455-2026 to amend Section 107.02, Campaign Finance, the Columbus City Codes. This ordinance authorizes a change to Section 107.02 The Columbus City Coaches limits contributions to and among municipal campaign committees. Over the past several months, council members have engaged with many folks, but particularly people from the Our City, Our State Coalition around council structure reforms, and broader election reforms related to the body. Changes to campaign finance law emerged as a shared priori

Any questions for our speaker? I see none. Thank you. Thanks. I do, again, want to emphasize to my council colleagues, this was born out of, I think, again, that broader discussion. And I certainly don't think that this is the ending place for any of these discussions. We can and should always be thinking about ways to make this body more representative and more transparent to the people. I think at the end of the day, there's a fair point about how do these decisions get made. I think it was important based upon this being part of those broader discussions this council bring this now and not

Pass. And, Council President, that's all I have at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Next committee to come before Council is the Health Human Services and Equity Committee, chaired by Council Member Green. Council Member, the floor is yours.

Thank you so much, Council President. Tonight we have one ordinance on second reading in our Health, Human Services and Equity Committee. It is Ordinance 2243-2026 to authorize the appropriation of $1 million from the unappropriated balance of the income tax set aside or the ITSA sub fund to support crisis response activity costs and to declare an emergency. At this point in time, while actually, you know, I think we're all, I have questions about this ordinance, so I'm going to get to those questions in a minute. I just want to express my ongoing support for this work regarding alternate cris

Thank you so much. A question for the city auditor's office. Can we get an understanding of what appropriate use of it's a funds is. I know that we've been having a lot of conversations about the use of it's a funding, um, for things that traditionally have been, uh, that may or may not have been covered, um, by the, by the general fund. I know last year we had a seven and a half million dollar allocation, which was the outgoing general fund allocation towards our alternate crisis programs. Then we had an additional million dollars. My understanding is that, um, allocation was to be general fu

Madam Chair, that might be a good opportunity to actually have the auditor speak on that, not a representative from her staff. I see what you're getting at, but I think that might be either when we bring – if we take the vote to refer it back to committee, then I think this is an extended conversation. Again, I see where you're going with this, and I think these are credible questions, but I'm just not sure that the auditor's office in its current state is ready to speak to this.

Okay. Director Long, could you talk a little bit about the – about the funding source to fund this work and how we imagine seeing this grow as we are looking to grow the alternate crisis response programs in the future.

Do we have a breakdown of what that million dollars of expenses are anticipated to be? It seems like a high for a program that's total budget is $7.5 million, then to all of a sudden have a $1 million capital cost associated with it. That seems like a large percentage.

We do have one public speaker that signed up to speak on this ordinance, and I'm going to go ahead and call her up. It is Chana Wiley, representing the Columbus Safety Collective. Chana, welcome back to council. Thank you so much for being here and for your work and supporting this program, or THESE EFFORTS. I THINK, AGAIN, WE'RE ALL VERY COMMITTED TO THEM. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE A SUSTAINABLE REVENUE STREAM THAT IS FUNDING THIS WORK SO THAT IT CAN NOT JUST SUSTAIN IT IN ITS CURRENT FORM BUT HELP IT GROW IN THE FUTURE. CHAWNA, THE FLOOR IS YOURS.

Person to get this started and I would like to have an answer like as soon as possible Yeah, I'll kick that over to assistant health commissioner Kraus if you could provide any update on timeline for For the advisory committee and who might be a leading it I know the thank you chair green the community crisis response advisory panel will be led by

Yeah, and I mean, maybe we can work together to figure out, you know, I think there was specific timelines built in in terms of you know, application dates when we need those applications open, when we plan on people being seated. And so thanks for keeping us accountable to that, Shauna. We'll get you updates pretty shortly. Um, okay. So obviously the conversations, I mean, you know, the way that the ordinance was worded, obviously jumped out. You know, I think the focus of this ordinance was, it was just, it's a, and alternate crisis and very little details in terms of what the, it's a money

Clerk, please. What I would like to do, I think that There were two issues that were brought up. Council Chair Greene is bringing up this conversation that truly is a finance conversation. It needs to be a broader conversation around its use, its impact on the capital budget, And that is a very real, and I think a lot of members on council share that concern. But there is also strong support for moving what the voters approved forward and growing this program forward. And I think what Ms. Wiley asked for is equally important, and I don't want to gloss over that. And so as we work, because I do

Thank you, Council President. That's all for me.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Next committee to come before Council is the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee. That committee is chaired by Councilman Remy. Councilman, the floor is yours.

Thank you very much, Council President. Tonight in Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee, I have one item for second read. It is 2281-2026. to authorize the Director of Public Safety on behalf of the Division of Police to modify the contract with ProToe Inc. to add funding for the continuation of towing management services, to authorize an expenditure of $1 million from the Immobility Fund, and to declare an emergency. This ordinance adds $1 million to the Division of Police's existing contract with ProToe to continue towing management services throughout the rest of this year. Earlier

Chair, appreciate the overview. I'm just curious because I'm pretty sure finance has a universal term contract with the same vendor. Is there a reason why there are separate contracts for public safety versus what finance and management is utilizing?

No worries. I appreciate that. I mean, I think a year ago we all got briefed on a strategic budgeting process from the mayor's administration to really avoid things like this where multiple departments need the same service and instead of having six or seven different vendor contracts, we have one universal term contract that everyone can utilize. I think if we do not have departments talking about how they are using the outside vendors, we're always going to run into this where the issues with Columbus Water and Power aren't taken into consideration when these contracts are developed or some

Thank you very much, Council Member. Are there any other questions from my colleagues? Seeing none, I move for passage.

Mr. Chair, next committee coming for council is the Housing, Homelessness, and Building Committee, chaired by Council Member Ross. Council Member, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Council President. Today, out of Housing, Homelessness, and Building, we have four pieces of legislation on second reading. The first three will result in over $800,000 deployed through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control. The mission of the Lead Safe Columbus Program is to create lead-safe and healthy affordable housing to prevent the lead poisoning of children and adults in Columbus neighborhoods. This program provides funding to eligible property owners for lead-based paint hazard control, addressing healthy homes,

Thank you, Director Prosser. First ordinance on second read is ordinance number 2296-2026 to authorize the director of the Department of Development to enter into a plan modification of a contractor with SAVCON Construction LLC to extend the contract term end date from December 31st, 2026 to December 31st, 2027, as well as to increase funding in an amount up to $300,000 for lead abatement and healthy home repair services utilizing an existing auditor's certificate established for this purpose. Are there any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none, I move for passage. Banks, Denda

Final piece of legislation coming out of the housing, building, and housing homelessness and building Committee is ordinance number 2299-2026 to authorize the director of the Department of Development to enter into a plan modification of a contract with Kenneth Burgess, DPA, Savoir, Fair Solutions, LLC, to extend the contract term and date from December 31st, 2026 to December 31st, 2027, as well as to increase funding in an amount up to $100,000 for lead abatement and healthy home repair services utilized utilizing an existing auditor's certificate established for this purpose. I'm going to mo

Thank you, Madam Chair. The next committee coming for council is the Public Utilities and Sustainability Committee, chaired by Councilmember Weiss. Councilmember McClure is yours.

Thank you, Council President. Tonight I have one ordinance in Public Utilities and Sustainability Committee this evening, and that is Ordinance 2320-2026 to amend the background Section 2 and Section 4 of Ordinance 1554-2021, allowing expenditure from the Sustainable Columbus Fund Special Revenue Fund by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. I move to refer this back to committee.

Thank you. That's all I have for my committee this evening. However, I do have a code change in Rules and Policy. May I continue? Please. All right. Rules and Policy have Ordinance 2265-2026 to amend Chapter 1147 of Columbus City Code to streamline industrial billing charges related to sampling, laboratory analysis, and inspection, and to repeal the existing sections being amended. This ordinance removes outdated Columbus City Code references while modernizing and simplifying the billing process Industrial users, in conjunction with the implementation of a new department-wide billing software,

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The final committee to come before council is the Rules Committee, in which I chair. I have the final ordinance. That is Ordinance 1883-2026. This is to amend and enact the various provisions of Chapter 375 of Columbus City Code in order to strengthen the levying, collection, and allocations of emission tax for facility stabilization receipts. This ordinance is associated with the National Women's Soccer League vote that took place back in April. Folks can remember then that the initial plan committed $25 million to support construction of the team's training facility as

Passed. See no further business coming for council. Is there a motion to adjourn? So moved. Clerk, please call the roll.

Can I get a motion to dismiss with the reading of the journal? Second. Clerk, please call the roll.

Are there any additions or corrections to the journal? Hearing none, the journal is approved. We'll now go to the zoning committee. Council Member Doris, Chair, that committee, all members serve on it. Council Member, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Council President. Before we begin our agenda, first a little bit of housekeeping. Would the clerk please read the numbers of legislation in the zoning committee this evening that require a waiver of second reading?

I now move to waive second reading on those items. Second.

Waived. Thank you. As always, I will go ahead and briefly explain our rules. Speaking for rezonings and variances, we only hear staff presentation for ordinance that have a disapproval from a recommending body or if we have a public speaker sign to speak against an ordinance. We permit three speakers on each side, three proponents, three opponents. We ask those speakers to limit their remarks to three minutes for the scene of real city council. All speakers and council variants, including city staff, area commissioners, applicants, and members of the public will be sworn in before they give te

Thank you. Please let the record reflect that Tony Salabrizi and Joseph Rose from the Department of Building and Selling Services have been sworn in. First, we have ordinance number 2452-2026 to rezone 1600 Stilwell Road being 21.3 plus acres located in the north side of Stilwell Road, 310 plus feet east of Harmon Avenue from our rural district, R3 residential district, C1 commercial district, and C4 commercial district, the CPD commercial plant development district. This site consists of... four parcels and the requested rezoning will allow these sites to be redeveloped with an athletic train

Thank you. Thank you. Next, we move into the council variances portion of the agenda. We have council variance 2253-2026, degraded variance provisions of section 34.E.20100A, use tables 3312.09, IELTS 3312.13B, driveway 3312.25, maneuvering 3312.29, Stripping and marking 3312.43. Improvement required surface 3312.45. Wheel stop device 34E2030J1. General requirements miscellaneous 34G20.020C. Lighting and shielding 34G20.030D. Landscaping and parking lot shade trees 34G20.040A. Screening, headlight screening 34G.20.040B. Screening dumpster BULK REFUSE PICKUP SCREENING AND 34-POINT G.20.050A2 VI

The next move to adopt the finance of staff is the finance of council. Second.

Passed. Thank you. All we have tonight is the agenda. No further business coming before the zoning committee. Is there a motion to adjourn?