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Refuse Collection Division to conduct special
collection of bulk trash
The
City of Columbus Refuse Collection
Division will conduct a special collection of bulk
items in the University District from Friday, Aug. 27, through Monday, Sept.
13. The goal is to keep your streets and alleys clean during the annual
move-out and move-in of students. The division has designated nine
collection sites for you to place bulk items, such as furniture, mattresses
and carpet. The locations are:
-- rear of 51 W. Ninth Ave.
-- rear of 175 W. Ninth Ave.
-- 98 E. 11th Ave.
(west of Indianola Ave.)
-- rear of 31 Chittenden Ave.
-- rear of 104 E. 12th Ave.
-- rear of 107 E. 14th Ave.
-- East Woodruff Ave. at Tuller St.
-- rear of shopping center parking lot on North Fourth St. at East 18th Ave.
(This site also will accept "white goods," such as metal
appliances, but no refrigerants.)
-- West Patterson Ave. next to Tuttle Pool
The non-profit
organization Material Assistance Providers (MAP) will accept reusable
furniture and small appliances to help people in need. For more
information and to arrange for pick-up, call MAP at 853-9355.
Support for
this special collection comes from SWACO, Rumke Waste Removal and Recycling,
University Community Business Association and Campus Partners.
Meanwhile,
there are increasing reports of missed collections and overflowing trash
containers in the University District. The city's metal dumpsters,
300-gallon containers and 90-gallon containers are scheduled to be picked up
on Tuesdays. If your container is not dumped on Tuesday, then report
the problem to the division's customer service center at 645-TRSH.
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Community Properties works to improve public safety
Community
Properties of Ohio Management Services (CPOMS) has installed the "CPO
Tip Line" to receive information anonymously about criminal activity,
drug activity, problems on CPO property or neighborhood concerns. CPOMS
will investigate these tips. The management company has Columbus police
officers working special duty 20 hours per week to deal with public safety
matters on its properties. The "CPO Tip Line" is (614) 722-7233
(722-SAFE). If there is an immediate threat to public safety, a crime
in progress or some other emergency, call the police at 911.
CPOMS
continues to make gains in the management of this housing. Among the
recent activities are:
· The CPO property at 228 E. Eighth Ave.
is now vacant, and CPO will move ahead with demolition after consulting with
the University Area Commission. This has long been a problem property
with numerous police runs and reports of criminal activity. The
building’s design makes it difficult to manage and it is out of
character with the rest of the neighborhood.
· CPOMS received a $30,000
grant from Nationwide Insurance to send children of CPO residents to summer
camps.
· CPOMS is establishing
“neighborhood coordinator” positions. Neighborhood
coordinators will be CPO residents, each responsible for several nearby
buildings, who will receive a small stipend (that won’t affect their
rent subsidy) to encourage other residents to participate in neighborhood
civic groups and block watches, to take advantage of CPO services and to make
other connections to neighborhood services. More residents have applied
for these positions than CPO had expected.
· CPOMS is promoting voter
registration and hopes to institute a campaign to get residents to the polls.
· There is anecdotal
evidence that CPOMS is attracting new tenants who are intending to stay in
the units longer, leading to a more stable resident population.
· CPOMS is making a very
strong effort to keep children in their schools as families are relocated
temporarily during renovation. Columbus Public Schools is cooperating
in this effort. So far, no child has been transferred to another school
as a result of the temporary relocation.
· CPOMS has been successful
in including a large number of locally owned and minority-owned businesses in
the renovation of the portfolio and in maintenance contracts.
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University and city to
enforce liquor laws on football Saturdays
William H.
Hall, vice president for student affairs at Ohio State,
convened a meeting Aug. 11 of key university and city staff and law
enforcement personnel to discuss public safety strategies for football
Saturdays this fall. He reaffirmed the university’s support for
enforcement of the state’s open container and other liquor laws on Ohio State’s
campus. University and Columbus
police are prepared to enforce the laws, as was done last fall. A key
element of their public safety strategy is to keep Lane Avenue open to
vehicular traffic as one way to prevent large gatherings in the street and
reduce the “party atmosphere.” The law enforcement
personnel recommended that street vendors not be permitted on Lane Avenue so
the flow of pedestrians on the sidewalks is not impeded.
The University
Area Safety Committee also convened Aug. 11. Committee members
discussed the group’s primary purpose as a communications and
networking committee, suggested agenda items for the committee’s
meetings in 2004-05, and heard about the city’s neighborhood planning
process in Weinland
Park. Robert
Caldwell, president of the Weinland Park Community Civic Association, asked
that law enforcement personnel consider expanding the patrols of the
Community Crime Patrol into Weinland
Park.
The University
Area Safety Committee will hold its next meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 15, at
3:30 p.m. in 33 W. 11th Ave.
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Code Enforcement Task Force seeks comprehensive
approach to “appearance of order”
At the meeting
of the University District Code Enforcement Task Force on Aug. 10, members
agreed to develop and implement a comprehensive approach to “appearance
of order” issues that would involve both education and
enforcement. Members cited the example of East
Lansing, Mich., which strictly enforces
noise, litter, public intoxication and related laws at the beginning of each
academic year for Michigan
State University.
The enforcement sets a standard for behavior. The task force agreed
that some measures might be put in place this fall in the University
District, but that members would work over the next year to implement a
comprehensive approach in the fall of 2005.
Columbus City
Council still 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. Pasquale Grado
reports that a city council aide indicated the legislation may come before
council in mid-September.
The University
District Code Enforcement Task Force will meet next on Tuesday, Sept. 14, at
2 p.m. in the Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High St.
Students search for volunteer opportunities on
Oct. 30
Ohio
State’s Student Activities office is seeking several work sites for community
service on Saturday morning, Oct. 30. Students from Ohio State
and Penn State
are willing to work on a variety of projects for several hours prior to the Ohio State-Penn
State football game
later that day. If you know of any agencies or organizations which
might use this student labor, contact Renata Opoczynski in Student Activities
at 292-8763.
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