| News from Campus Partners | |
| July 7, 2000: Trustees Authorize Additional Campus Partners Support |
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| Changes in Campus Partners Board |  |
| Update on special improvement district | |
| Crime statistics may be compiled by neighborhood | |
| Bulk pick-up scheduled for student move-out | |
| Second dumpster zone to be implemented in July | |
| City sweeps streets in southwestern portion of district | The intersection of
West Ninth Avenue and Highland Street on June 14 after the city's special program of
street sweeping. See the "before sweeping" image, below. |
The Campus Collaborative places a monthly director's report on its Website. This report contains a wealth of information about initiatives involving the schools serving students living in the University District, economic development and job readiness programs, the university's Community Outreach Partnership Center, and much more. The Website address is: www.osu.edu/campuscollab/reports.html.
David Williams, vice president for student and urban/community affairs at Ohio State and chair of the Campus Partners Board of Trustees, will be leaving the university at the end of this month to become vice chancellor, general counsel and secretary of Vanderbilt University. He has chaired the Campus Partners board since the organization's incorporation in 1995 and has been Campus Partners' primary liaison with the university. Mr. Williams; George Skestos, Campus Partners board member and chairman of the university's Board of Trustees; and Terry Foegler, president of Campus Partners, will make a recommendation to the Campus Partners board for a successor to Mr. Williams as chair. Two other members of the Campus Partners Board of Trustees are stepping down from their positions. Judith Smith Koroscik has resigned from the Campus Partners Board, effective immediately. Her two-year term as co-chair of the Campus Collaborative ended June 30. Jessica Weeks, undergraduate student on the Campus Partners board, will participate in an internship in Washington, D.C., this fall and has decided to resign from the board effective in September. Her term runs to June 30, 2001. Steve Sterrett will work with student leaders on a process to select a successor to Ms. Weeks. Meanwhile, Sharon Austin is chairing the selection committee for a neighborhood resident to succeed Don Pearson on the Campus Partners board. Applications for the board position were received from 11 neighborhood residents. The selection committee will make its report at the next meeting of the Campus Partners board, probably in August.
The eight-page newsletter on the proposed special improvement district has been widely distributed in the University District, including mailings to some 500 property and business owners in the area targeted for the SID. A PowerPoint presentation on the SID was made to the luncheon meeting on June 14 of the University Community Business Association and to a meeting on July 18 called by FMA (Fraternity Managers Association) for fraternity and sorority house corporation officers.
The Steering Committee for the University Uptown Improvement District met June 6 to consider a number of issues related to the planning of the SID. Steering Committee Co-Chair Wayne Garland told of the visit to the University City District in Philadelphia. Steve Sterrett discussed the proposed articles of incorporation for the SID and the process and timetable for a SID petition. Larry Fisher noted that each of the three zones proposed for the SID would have to meet the test of support with signatures representing 60% of the front footage or 75% of the area. The failure of one zone to gain enough signatures, however, would not prevent the other zones from implementing their own services and assessment.
Over the next few weeks, the Steering Committee leadership will assess which property owners support the proposed SID and which must be approached personally to ascertain their interest. Meanwhile, Mr. Fisher is working with Bill Courson to clarify the form of the petition and prepare a complete list of property owners.
Mark Hatch is chairing an ad hoc committee that will meet for the first time on July 25 to identify neighborhood boundaries within the University District for the reporting of crime statistics. Columbus Police Commander Jay Evans told the Campus Partners Safety Coordinating Committee last spring that his division has the capability of tracking crime statistics by sub-areas within a precinct. The University District is almost entirely within the police division's Fourth Precinct. The University District, however, is composed of widely varying neighborhoods. The ability to track crimes by neighborhood could be valuable to neighborhood civic associations and others interested in public safety.
While some of the neighborhoods within the University District are well-defined, others are not. The ad hoc committee will recommend some logical boundaries for the crime statistics. Serving on the committee are residents from various parts of the University District. The Campus Partners Safety Coordinating Committee normally meets on the second Wednesday of each month. The committee did not meet in July due to a light agenda and may not meet in August. For more information, call the Campus Partners office at 294-7300.
Julie Boyland is working with property owners and the city's Refuse Collection Division to identify locations for the "roll-offs" (large dumpsters) as part of the annual bulk pick-up program in the University District. The program will run Monday, Aug. 28, through Monday, Sept. 11. This coincides with the move-out of students at the end of summer quarter. The city will place the "roll-offs" in six or seven locations in the student neighborhoods to encourage the placement of bulk items in these containers. The Refuse Collection Division also will assign extra bulk collection crews to the University District from Sept. 11-25.
The next meeting of the Public Service Committee on refuse collection will be Wednesday, Aug. 2, at 4 p.m. in the community meeting room of the Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High St.
 A view of litter and other debris at the intersection of West Ninth Avenue and Highland Street on June 12 prior to the street sweeping. See the "after sweeping" image, above. |
The city
conducted a special sweeping of the south campus area on June 13 and 14 and of the
Dennison Place and NECKO neighborhoods on June 15 and 16. The city posted temporary
"no parking" signs, and Community Crime Patrol staff and volunteers organized by
Campus Partners distributed leaflets announcing the sweeping. The communication efforts
were about 85% effective in removing parked cars. Compliance was better in Dennison Place
and NECKO than in the south campus area. The sweeping, however, was highly effective in
improving the appearance of the streetscape. At the Campus Partners Public Service Committee meeting on street sweeping June 21, the city staff asked that neighborhood residents and volunteers take greater responsibility for placing the temporary "no parking" signs for the special sweeping next year. Diana Clonch and Ray Browning of the city's Engineering and Construction Division estimated that the special street sweeping totaled about $14,000 in direct costs, indirect costs and administration. The next meeting of the Public Service Committee on street sweeping will be Wednesday, Aug. 23, at 3:30 p.m. in the Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High St.
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Campus Partners for Community
Urban Redevelopment, Inc.
1824 N. High St., Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 294-7300; fax (614) 294-7333