COLUMBUS -- The City of Columbus’ councilmen were generally positive about the proposed $45.6 million budget and $14.3 million capital improvement plan for 2008-09 presented to them Monday evening.
Acting as the Committee of the Whole, the councilmen unanimously voted to advance the proposed budget and plan to the council in August. The public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18.
One objection arose from Councilman Ron Bogus pertaining to a $50,000 item, a regional transportation study. He opposed the item on the grounds that local sales tax should not be used on a study for potential county roads that would benefit Platte, Butler and Colfax counties.
“I think it is irresponsible to spend money for roads five miles outside the city. The responsibility should be counties and not city money,” said Bogus, who motioned to withdraw the item, with a second on the motion from Councilman Joe Jarecke.
City Administrator Joseph Mangiamelli said the intention of the study is to determine if there is a need for roadways and highways in and around Columbus.
“This is a bigger picture look at how to resolve (traffic) problems in Columbus,” Mangiamelli said. “I think it would be a well spent investment of Columbus tax dollars.”
Mayor Mike Moser supported the study and said it would be presumptuous to try to predict the results of the study.
“We should see what there is justification for” in terms of potential road improvements in and around the city, Moser said.
Mangiamelli said the city is currently working toward developing an agreement to present to the three counties, and potentially Schuyler and Bellwood, to recruit enough interest to try and get Nebraska Department of Roads on board with a potential project.
When asked if all three county boards would contribute to the study, he said if they don’t show interest, the item probably would not proceed.
Following the discussion, Bogus withdrew his motion and Jarecke withdrew his second, but Bogus reiterated “my opposition is that it is irresponsible to spend city money on Butler and Colfax counties.”
The renovation of city hall, a three-year, $1.3 million dollar expenditure with $250,000 allocated in the proposed capital improvement plan, also raised some questions.
Mangiamelli said the cost to completely gut the facility and start anew was estimated at $2 million, but that was a decade ago.
“We believe we can renovate for substantially less” compared to the 10-year-old figure, he said.
When asked what the comparative costs to build a new City Hall would be, he said a new building probably would be in the $7 million to $8 million range.
The mayor said he was unsure about the item, especially because other areas in the city could use that funding.
“There are other things that are higher on my priority list,” Moser said.
A request by the Columbus Fire Department for paving around the fire training tower also caught the attention of Jarecke.
Spending “$120,000 just to put paving out there, is that really necessary?” he asked.
Fire Chief Dean Hefti said the $120,000 expenditure is an accumulation of three years of requests to build up enough money to pave around the tower, with the final $35,000 expected to be requested in the 2009-10 budget.
“We had $40,000 in ’06 and $40,000 in ’07 and we are adding another $40,000 (this year) to get something done out there,” Hefti said, because “we have not been able to use the facility this year. We can’t drive in there because of mud and soft terrain.”
If the pavement is installed around the tower, the fire department would be able to hold their weekly training at there.
An item in the Community Development department caught the eye of Councilman Joe Held, a request for $12,000 for a pickup.
The justification in the plan states, “The Ford Ranger is too small for drivers.”
Mangiamelli said the front seat of the pickup is broken and the current vehicle is too short because Dan Curtis, the community development director, is quite tall.
Held said the reason for the request intrigued him.
“I am just making light of the situation. The justification brought some humor to me,” he said.
Whitney praised the efforts of staff and administration for maintaining the tax levy and helping to control the property tax request.
He said he would change some items if he had control of the budget but said: “I don’t need to micro-manage ... this budget met my expectations.”
Council President Jim Bulkley echoed Whitney’s support.
“The staff has done an excellent job on the budget with the directions given,” Bulkley said.
The mayor noted this is the first of multiple steps for the council on the budget and that the public will have plenty of time to make their opinions known before the budget is approved. Final approval is anticipated at the council’s Tuesday, Sept. 2 meeting.
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