The Columbus City Council will consider officially creating a Downtown Business Improvement District and more during its next meeting, at 7 p.m. Monday, June 5th.
The proposed Downtown Business Improvement District boundaries go from the alley south of 11th Street to the alley north of 14th Street between 23rd Avenue and 33rd Avenue and the Evans House, 2204 14th St. See the map here.
The BID Board, a volunteer group made of local downtown business/property owners, previously announced after months of collecting public feedback that it was ready to see final approval from the City Council for its proposed assessment. The assessment that was shared with the public and will be presented to City Council is based on a $200 per $100,000 valuation per county records, with a $750 cap per property. It would net $45,827.26 in year one, but the City of Columbus would also match that amount, to give the board a first-year budget of approximately $91,654.52.
Owner-occupied single-family residences would be excluded from the assessment, as would tax-exempt properties such as churches and government-owned properties (businesses that have residential rental units on their second story would still be included).
The City Council will also be asked to provide guidance on how City officials should proceed with ongoing discussions regarding efforts in finding a long-term solution for the City of Columbus to continue providing EMS to Duncan Rural and Columbus Rural fire protection districts.
As previously announced, the two rural fire protection districts offered the City a two-year conditional agreement for $300,000 per year while they consider other long-term solutions. But, City staff has held firm that a solution is $600,000 per year in perpetuity in order to hire and train six additional firefighters/paramedics to staff another ambulance 24/7/365.
Of course, there’s plenty more on the agenda. Other highlights include:
- The reappointment of Robert Elsasser to Planning Commission for three-year term.
- The reappointments of Toby Goc, Thomas A. Loseke, Neil Carnes, Mark Bierman, and Bill Elton (as Alternate) to Board of Adjustment for three-year terms.
- The appointment of Robbin Cutsor to Planning Commission for three-year term.
To see the full agenda, click here.
Please note the Committee of the Whole will meet at 5:30 p.m. that same day. You can see that agenda here.
The meetings will take place in the City Council Chambers, 1369 25th Ave. in downtown Columbus.