Columbia City Board approves digester repairs, skatepark payment and a house-side fence encroachment

Columbia City’s Board of Works and Safety on Tuesday approved two wastewater-repair contracts, authorized the first contractor payment for the Eagle Park skatepark and granted an encroachment agreement allowing a homeowner to place a fence partially in the right of way.

The board voted unanimously to accept a variable proposal from Merrill Brothers to clean a wastewater digester and to award a $248,080 contract to Spectra Tech for coating the same digester. Public works staff told the board the exact cleaning cost will depend on how many gallons of sludge must be hauled away. The board also approved the payment of $98,610 to Hunger Skateparks for work at Eagle Park and retroactively approved a street/sidewalk closure related to façade work at 219 West Van Buren.

Why it matters: the digester work is part of a multistage repair and lining project the board has been planning; the cleaning step must be completed before a new cover can be installed. The skatepark payment signals active construction at Eagle Park, and the encroachment approval clarifies how the city handles small fence intrusions into public right of way.

Digester cleaning and lining Public works staff described the digester job as a multi‑phase project already underway. Mike (last name not specified in the record) told the board he solicited three bids for the coating…