South Campus Gateway remains on schedule
The
five-story steel frames for Building A on the west side and Building
B on the east side of High Street are in place, and the crane this
week moved south of East 11th Avenue to begin erecting the steel
frame for Building C. Construction remains on schedule for
South Campus Gateway to open in the fall of 2005.
Elkus-Manfredi
Architects and Campus Partners presented architectural renderings and
elevations for the housing to be built along the Gateway parking
garage on East 11th and East Ninth avenues to the University Area
Review Board on June 24. They are scheduled to go back before
the review board on July 22. This housing will blend with the
residential character of the neighborhood, while disguising the
parking garage from the sidewalk and street. Each of the two
buildings will contain the same configuration of 13 apartments: six
one-bedroom flats; six two-story, three-bedroom townhomes; and one
three-story, three-bedroom apartment. Included with the
apartments will be security systems and laundry facilities.
Parking in the Gateway garage will be available to residents at an
additional cost.
Campus Partners and the Gateway leasing team held a reception for
retail brokers in central Ohioon July 13 to explain the Gateway
merchandising plan and to promote the inclusion of local and regional
businesses in the project.
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Evans Scholars donate to Crime
Stoppers
Evans
Scholars last month presented a check for $1,000 to the University
Area Crime Stoppers Board to support crime prevention efforts.
The contribution came from the proceeds of Evans Scholars’
annual Stephanie Hummer Memorial Golf Tournament held in May.
Evans Scholars also made a contribution to the Community Crime
Patrol. Evans Scholars is a co-ed scholarship fraternity with a
house at 52 E. 14th
Ave. The Crime Stoppers Board will
resume its monthly meetings this fall.
The
University Area Safety Committee will hold its next meeting on
Wednesday, Aug. 11, at 3:30 p.m. in 33 W. 11th Ave. At that
time, the committee members will review public safety plans for
autumn quarter. The committee has not met in June and July.
Special collection of bulk refuse begins Aug.
27
The
Columbus Division of Refuse Collection, in cooperation with the
stakeholders of the University District, will conduct the eighth
annual special collection of bulk refuse from Friday, Aug. 27,
through Monday, Sept. 13. This program has been critical to
keeping the alleys of the University District clean during the busy
days of move-out and move-in at the conclusion of OhioState’s summer
quarter. Joining forces with the Refuse Collection Division are
SWACO, Campus Partners, and half a dozen rental property
owners. A dozen drop-off sites for bulk refuse will be
identified throughout the predominantly student neighborhood.
Residents also will have the option of calling Material Assistance
Providers, central Ohio’s non-profit furniture
bank, to donate reusable furniture and small appliances. A
publicity flyer with a map of the drop-off sites should be available
by late July.
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Tight city budget affects refuse service
The
city’s tight municipal budget is having a negative affect on
the regular garbage collection in the University District. The
Campus Partners Public Service Committee discussed the problem at its
meetings on refuse collection and recycling on May 19 and July
14. In recent years, the Refuse Collection Division had
increased pick up of dumpsters and 300-gallon containers from once a
week to twice a week in a large portion of the University District in
response to demand. Due to budget cuts, the division has
returned service to once a week. In addition, the division has
lost staff and, at times, has had to assign less-experienced drivers
to the narrow and often confusing alleys of the University
District. Trash collection normally scheduled for Tuesday
sometimes slips to Wednesday or even Thursday. Alleys are
occasionally missed. Dumpsters blocked by parked vehicles
won’t be visited again by a refuse truck for another
week. As a result, overflowing dumpsters and debris left around
emptied dumpsters are much more common eyesores throughout the
University District than they were a year or two ago.
“Skip”Parks, operations manager for the Refuse
Collection Division, told the committee on July 14 that the division
remains committed to providing the best service possible, but that he
can’t do more without staff and resources. Steve
Sterrett, acting chair of the committee, Pasquale Grado, executive
director of the University Community Business Association, and
Catherine Girves, director of the University Area Enrichment
Association, plan to meet with Larry Hines, new administrator of the
Refuse Collection Division, to discuss the situation. The
committee members then likely will take the case for additional
resources to Columbus City Council.
OhioState’s Students for
Recycling held the giant “move-out yard sale” called
Dump & Run on June 19 at the recreation center on West
Campus. Although the students haven’t completed their
final report on the event, they raised about $7,000 and feel the
event was a success. Items for the yard sale were collected as
students moved out of the residence halls in early June, then the
items were sorted and priced by volunteers. The proceeds from
the event will go to several community non-profit agencies and will
be used as “seed money” for next year’s yard
sale.
The
Campus Partners Public Service Committee will meet next on Wednesday,
Sept. 29, at 4 p.m. in the Northwood-HighBuilding, 2231 N. High
St.
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Code Enforcement Task Force awaits
action on couch ban
Columbus
City Council hasn’t taken any action on legislation proposed
by the city administration that would prohibit the placement of
upholstered furniture on open porches, balconies, roofs and
yards. Andy Baumann, a supervisor with the city’s Code
Enforcement office, told the University District Code Enforcement
Task Force on July 13 that his understanding was that some council
members may prefer to have the prohibition in the city’s fire
code, rather than the housing code. While the legislation was
being drafted, however, representatives of the city’s Division
of Fire recommended that it be placed in the housing code.
Task
force members on July 13 also discussed problems with the appearance
of the University District, including the decline in the level of
refuse collection service. When the problem of litter was
discussed, code enforcement officer Rick Tammer said he has written
orders to tenants to clean up litter following a party. He
suggested that property owners turn in the names of tenants for
litter violations. Catherine Girves and Patricia Steane
suggested that stakeholders in the University District follow the
example of East
Lansing, Mich. Each autumn when
MichiganStateUniversityresumes classes, the East
Lansingcommunity strictly enforces noise,
litter and other laws for the first month to send a clear message
about appropriate behavior.
Roger
Deal reported that he knows of no noise problems for several
weeks. In addition, the City Attorney’s office recently
distributed “roll call information” to all police
officers, informing them about enforcement of the entire city noise
ordinance. There may have been some confusion among officers
because a portion of the ordinance had been declared
unconstitutional, but was later upheld by a higher court.
The
University District Code Enforcement Task Force will meet next on
Tuesday, August 10, at 2 p.m. in the Northwood-HighBuilding, 2231 N. High
St.
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City and neighborhood meet on street lighting
Staff
members of the city’s Division of Electricity discussed
improvements to the street lighting in the predominantly student
neighborhood at a meeting on May 19 with representatives of
Undergraduate Student Government, Campus Partners, University
Community Business Association and the Community Crime Patrol.
This meeting was a follow-up to a meeting in April where students
outlined the results of a USG survey that found a number of street
lights out and others blocked by vegetation. The Division of
Electricity responded by making the necessary repairs and trimming
trees. Everyone was pleased that the division responded
promptly.
At the
May 19 meeting, Linda Scothorn, street light engineering coordinator
for the Division of Electricity, reported that the division is in the
process of placing a number on each of its poles. (A sticker
with the number will be attached to metal poles; a small metal sign
will be attached to wooden poles.) With each pole having its
own number, citizens may more easily report problems with specific
lights. One suggestion made was to place a message on the
sticker that would encourage citizens to call the division if there
were problems with the light. Ms. Scothorn said the division
would try to have the numbers on all of the poles in the University
District by this fall.
The
issue of alley lighting was discussed. The University District
has the highest level of alley lighting in the city. In
general, people seemed satisfied with the level of alley
lighting. It was noted that security lights on private property
sometimes go out and may not be serviced quickly. In those
cases, American Electric Power may be the provider, rather than the
city.
In
response to USG's request, Ms. Scothorn estimated that replacing all
of the lamps in the University District would cost about
$35,000. This action would replace all lamps, whether or not
they were burned out, and likely would mean very few burned out lamps
for three to four years. There was general agreement, however,
that it was not cost-effective to replace all lamps, as long as there
was ongoing maintenance to replace existing lamps as they burned
out.
Ellen
Moore explained that Community Crime Patrol staff members regularly
call the Division of Electricity to report street lights that are
out. CCP keeps a log of those reports and checks to make sure
repairs are made. CCP will continue to do that and also will
report lights that are blocked by vegetation. USG member John
Rensink thought the Community Ambassadors could be trained to call
property owners when security lights on their properties are
out. Community Ambassadors also could report street lights that
are out.
One
concern that the USG representatives had expressed earlier was that,
on occasion, all the lights on a street are out. This seems to
be a particular problem on East 15th Avenue. Ms.
Scothorn acknowledged that the street lighting system in the core
student neighborhood is antiquated. She estimated that it would
cost $900,000 to replace the existing street lighting with an
up-to-date lighting system. Her estimate was for an area
bounded by East 12th
Avenue, High Street, Woodruff
Avenueand Summit Street. People were
interested in pursuing the possibility of seeking city capital
improvement funds to replace the lighting. Ms. Scothorn will
investigate further the justification for replacing the system.
A date was not set for the next meeting, but it likely will be in the
fall when there is more information on upgrading the lighting
system.
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Planning continues for
WeinlandParkand High Street
The
Working Committee which is directing the city’s WeinlandParkneighborhood planning process
has established five committees which are meeting through the summer
to consider various aspects of a neighborhood plan. The
committees are: housing; infrastructure and municipal services;
community involvement and public safety; human services; and
land-use, economic development and aesthetics. The results of
these committees’ deliberations will be presented to the next
meeting of the full Working Committee on Monday, Sept. 27, at 6 p.m.
at Godman Guild, 303 E.
Sixth Ave.
The
committee that will oversee the preparation of a streetscape plan for
High Street from Chittenden to Lane Avenue met for the first time on
July 20. MSI Design, the firm selected to prepare the plan, met
with the committee to discuss its scope of services and work
plan. The preliminary recommendations for the plan are
scheduled to be presented at the luncheon meeting of the University
Community Business Association on Wednesday, Oct. 13. The
planning effort is jointly funded by the university and the
city.
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Graduate student selected for Campus
Partners Board
The
Campus Partners Board of Trustees on May 20 approved the
recommendation from a student selection committee to appoint Vicente
Mantero as the new graduate and graduate-professional student
representative on the Campus Partners Board. Mr.
Mantero’s term runs from July 1, 2004, through June 30,
2006. He is enrolled in the Ph.D. program in City and Regional
Planning. He succeeds Kara Marshall, a third-year law
student. Campus Partners advertised the position during spring
quarter and received 17 applications. The selection committee
reviewed the applications and interviewed six applicants before
making its recommendation.
President Holbrook speaks at UCA’s ice cream social
Ohio
State President Karen Holbrook spoke to about 75 neighbors at the
annual ice cream social sponsored by the University Community
Association on June 23 outside the TuttleParkRecreationCenter. She was well
received. As part of the event, UCA placed a bronze marker in
the community’s memorial garden in TuttleParkin memory of Dr. Charles Pavey, life-long
resident of the University District and retired OhioStatefaculty member and
physician. UCA also presented its annual Community Service
Award to Sharon Austin, a long-time civic leader in the University
District, and its Oscar Award for service to the community by a
non-resident to Ken Klare, Columbuscity planner and staff member
to the University Area Review Board.
President
Holbrook delivered the opening plenary address on July 18 to the
annual conference of the Society for College and University Planning
(SCUP) in Toronto. Her speech focused on
the work of Campus Partners and the development of South Campus
Gateway. Immediately prior to her address, SCUP presented one
of its five major awards to OhioStateand Goody Clancy &
Associates for the planning and implementation of A Plan for High
Street: Creating a 21st Century Main Street.
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