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Columbia City council approves minutes, hears water, police and holiday operations updates
Summary
The council approved Nov. 12 minutes with minor corrections and received department reports on a small payroll-range discrepancy in the water department, repairs to a park water main, police staffing and plans for point-of-sale registration and holiday operations; Ordinance 2025-21 was read by title with no recorded vote.
It is 6:00 p.m. on Nov. 25, 2025, when the Columbia City Common Council convened and approved minutes from its Nov. 12 meeting after two corrections to spellings were noted. "We'll call the common council meeting to order," the presiding official said at the outset.
The council approved the Nov. 12 minutes after a motion by Kenny and a second by Brent; the presiding official recorded the action as unanimous. The presiding official said the minutes corrections included fixing the spelling of Reese Perry and changing the acronym previously written as "REDI" to "READI" in Resolution 2025-23.
Council members also asked that Ordinance 2025-21 be read by title. "Ordinance 2025-21... the 2026 salary range benefit ordinance," a council member stated; no vote on the ordinance is recorded in the provided transcript segments.
Department reports focused on routine operations and several near-term projects. The presiding official said a payroll-range review in the water department found one employee about "three cents" outside the proposed 2026 salary range and that the discrepancy "could easily be rectified." Water staff also winterized seasonal restrooms, shipped a pool pump motor for rebuilding, and planned a repair to a leaking main serving Morris Parks ball fields.
Technology and customer service upgrades were discussed: Terry has installed six point-of-sale devices at the pool and Eagle Park office to support online registrations, and the council aims to have the system available in December. IT and security work included installing a new computer for a department desk and replacing four failing video cameras.
Public safety updates noted that four individuals passed public-safety medical screenings and staff are working to onboard them into department systems. The council also said it is working with staff (Sean referenced) to add battery boxes to tornado sirens.
Maintenance and utilities updates included city-wide leaf and leak pickup, ongoing tap inspections, and salt-box repairs ahead of expected snow. Mike Cook reported that Graywolf completed a new ‘‘dye store’’ installation on Nov. 14 and that Donahue and water pollution control staff completed programming of a new control panel on Nov. 17. Christmas decorations were installed and scheduled to be turned on over the Thanksgiving weekend; staff also discussed timing for the annual tree lighting.
The presiding official said they attended the National League of Cities conference in Salt Lake City the prior week and that the city remains "waiting on the contractor" to complete the railroad trail crossing project. The meeting concluded this portion of the agenda with the presiding official thanking Jenny "for your service" and saying, "Jenny, you've been a great asset to our community."
