Monday, June 23, 2008

How can I help people affected by the flood?

There will be a volunteer day on Saturday, June 28th. Those who need help and volunteers to provide help should register at the library. This will be a day of cleaning and hauling away damaged items. Please come wearing tennis shoes that can be washed when you are finished. We will provide a cleaning bucket with rubber gloves, cleaning supplies and eye protection.

We are a community that helps each other. Let's all pitch in and help our neighbors.

Where was the Emergency Operations Set up

The EOC was set up in the fire station. We were in the process of moving all of the equipment to the fire station because it is a central location with plenty of room for sand bag operations, meetings, has a kitchen to prepare food, and tables and chairs to feed volunteers. An EOC can be set up anywhere. The physical location is immaterial to the job that needs to be accomplished.

What type of aid is available to the citizens affected by the flood?

FEMA, the Small Business Administration and the American Red Cross are all set up at the High School to provide aid to citizens affected by the flood. They will be there for about 3 weeks, opened every day including Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am - 7:00 pm. Stop by and file an application if you have been affected.

Was Columbus Prepared for the recent flooding

No. There is no way to prepare for a flood that is as extensive and so far above our previous records. We have a disaster plan, but it addresses all kinds of disasters. A flood of this magnitude was not predicted. We did however do a fabulous job of responding to the flood and ensuring that the citizens of Columbus were safe. There was no loss of life, the key measure of success in a disaster of this size.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Roof on City Hall

The capital improvement plan includes a new roof on City Hall... why?

There have been several engineering studies done indicating that the roof on City Hall is in dire need of repair. City Hall is over 100 years old and the structure that holds up the roof is no longer strong. The timbers have been stressed for many years, and need to be replaced with a steel structure. This is a historic building that has been the landmark of our community since it was built in 1892. We need to take care of our history and preserve this building.

It is used as the home of city government, the police station, the city clerk and treasurer. This grand old building has served our city for over 100 years and will continue to serve us for many more. The investment in a new roof structure is much less than the cost of building a new facility to house all of these city departments. We also have the responsibility for caring for our heritage.

A request for proposals will go out later this year, and the roof construction should happen in 2009.

What about those roads?

It seems like the roads in Columbus are bad... why, when will they be repaired?

We do have a lot of roads in Columbus that need repair, and many of those roads are the ones that everyone travels every day... James Street and Farnham to name tow. Last year we did a major road, stormwater & sewer project in the Main Street area and many of those roads have been repaired.

At the next Commitee of a Whole meeting on June 10th, we will be looking at the history of road repairs in the City. Going back about 10 years it looks like the city has averaged about 1% of the roads repaired each year. This means that the city has counted on streets lasting 100 years... they don't. We need to get to a program that addresses about 5% of the streets each year to keep them in decent shape. This is much closer to the real life of a street... about 20 years.