Get AI Briefings, Transcripts & Alerts on Local & National Government Meetings — Forever.
Columbus City Council approves loans, contracts and calls June special election on 1% sales tax
Summary
At its April 7 meeting the council approved multiple loan agreements, design contracts, public-works contracts and a resolution calling a June 10 special election to seek voter approval to continue a 1% local sales tax; the council also approved routine IT and maintenance quotes.
Columbus City Council on April 7 approved a range of loans, contracts and routine quotes affecting workforce housing, park facilities, sewer work, airport funding and the schedule for a special election on the city’s 1% local sales tax.
Key approvals included two workforce housing loan agreements totaling $2 million, design-phase contracts for Gerard Park restrooms and a cemetery maintenance shop, a contract for sanitary sewer rehabilitation, an agency agreement to pursue federal airport funding, and a resolution setting a June 10 special election to ask voters to continue the 1% sales-and-use tax and to amend the city’s economic development program if the tax continues.
The council approved the following items (amounts and CIP numbers where provided): Quail Meadows LLC loan agreement, $800,000 for workforce housing and infrastructure (Resolution R25-48); Kay Herman Development LLC loan agreement, $1,200,000 for two workforce housing projects including units at Vitality Village subject to previously adopted affordability covenants (R25-49); a $100,000 design-phase agreement with BD Construction Inc. for Gerard Park restroom and concessions design (estimated construction cost cited in staff documents: $1,200,000; R25-50); a $33,500 design-phase agreement with BD Construction Inc. for a cemetery maintenance shop addition (R25-51; estimated total project cost discussed at $250,000); a $168,208 contract award to Midlands Contracting d/b/a Johnson Service Company for Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation 2025 (R25-52); and an agency agreement with the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics to obtain federal funding assistance for construction of an eight-place T-hangar at Columbus Municipal Airport (R25-53).
Routine quotes and purchases approved include a Cisco HyperFlex subscription renewal from Sirius Computer Solutions LLC for $22,196.94; Microsoft Office and Access licenses from CDW Government for $11,466.94; annual fire pump, ladder and hose testing from Danco Emergency Equipment and Firecat Precision Service Testing totaling $16,956.05; test-well drilling and data collection from Downey Drilling Inc. for $29,306.50 (North Wellfield, CIP 25-67); and an emergency backup generator from High Plains Power Systems for $27,700 for well number 16 (CIP 25-58). The council removed from the agenda a $10,352.24 quote for replacement parts for the aquatic center air handling unit after staff identified a less expensive alternative.
Council discussion was generally brief. A council member asked whether the workforce housing loans include income-based units; staff clarified that one of the Kay Herman projects is within Vitality Village and must meet previously adopted affordability covenants, and that both loan packages are structured as lower-interest (2%) loans to be repaid into the economic development fund. "With interest, these are lower interest than a prime rate," staff said, describing the loans as a revolving fund to be repaid and reused for future projects.
On the Gerard Park project, staff said the design-phase contract is based on a schematic design with an estimated construction cost of $1.2 million and a planned building footprint around 4,500–5,000 square feet. That estimate implies an approximate construction cost of $240 per square foot based on the $1.2 million figure and a 5,000-square-foot footprint.
Council approved a resolution (R25-56) calling a special election for June 10, 2025. Proposition A would ask voters to authorize continuation of the 1% sales and use tax for property tax relief, public safety, capital improvements, annual aquatic facility operating costs and funding the economic development program. Proposition B would permit the city to amend the economic development program’s term and funding provisions, which may be amended only if Proposition A is approved.
During council comments Mayor James B. Bulkley announced a series of brown-bag lunch events and town halls on April 10 at the Charlie Lewis Fire Station, the airport and Pawnee Plunge to present information about the 1% sales tax and answer questions. Councilmember Charlie (surname not specified in the transcript) and others noted the city’s role as final approver of economic development recommendations and discussed interest-rate practices at the Citizens Advisory Review Committee.
All listed motions and resolutions carried by voice vote as recorded in the minutes; individual roll-call tallies were not recorded in the meeting text.
