"Memo blames plumber" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: Memo blames plumber
Barbara Carmen
The Columbus Dispatch
July 2, 2008

When Franklin County commissioners bypassed a low bidder to hire an out-of-state plumber for the new baseball stadium, Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy said they had to stick to their standards "to employ reliable contractors."

Ones, she said, "who will work effectively, on budget and in compliance with the law."

But a report obtained after The Dispatch filed a public-records request places blame on that plumber for as much as $200,000 in damage to Huntington Park.

W.G. Tomko Inc., of Pennsylvania, was working without permission and without supervision in the affected section of the stadium, according to a memo Turner Construction sent commissioners Thursday...

"City Ready To Repair German Village Brick Streets" nbc4i.com

Link: City Ready To Repair German Village Brick Streets
Denise Yost
nbc4i.com
July 2, 2008

...Next week, the city is set to gear up again, starting a $200,000 project, aiming to fill in holes and clean up the streets.

But why spend the money on rehabbing brick streets when there are other streets to pave and fix? The city said it's a matter of safety and that just because the process is more expensive, it can't be ignored.

Several areas that are on the list to be fixed include parts of East Kossuth Street, Bruck Street and South Wall Street...

"Study: Freight rail can reduce traffic congestion" Memphis Business Journal

Link: Study: Freight rail can reduce traffic congestion
Memphis Business Journal
July 1, 2008

Moving freight by rail has the potential to save Americans hundreds of dollars and time in the car, according to the Congestion Relief Index, a study of traffic congestion in 82 major urban areas.

"With gas prices at an all-time high, Americans can't afford to waste money and time sitting in traffic. Because one intermodal train can take nearly 300 trucks off our highways, shifting freight from trucks to trains reduces competition between commuters, drivers and freight traffic for space on the road," said Wendell Cox, author of the study and principal of Demographia, a market research and urban policy consultancy.

The study claims that if 25% of the volume moved by trucks was moved to rail transport by the year 2026, each American commuter could save, on average, $985 -- and 41 hours of time in their car -- a year. The survey also estimates that each year, a commuter could save 79 gallons of fuel and reduce air pollution by 920,000 tons...

"Gentrification: Not Ousting the Poor?" TIME

Link: Gentrification: Not Ousting the Poor?
Barbara Kiviat
Time
June 29, 2008

People tend to think gentrification goes like this: rich, educated white people move into a low-income minority neighborhood and drive out its original residents, who can no longer afford to live there. As it turns out, that's not typically true.

A new study by researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Pittsburgh and Duke University, examined Census data from more than 15,000 neighborhoods across the U.S. in 1990 and 2000, and found that low-income non-white households did not disproportionately leave gentrifying areas. In fact, researchers found that at least one group of residents, high school–educated blacks, were actually more likely to remain in gentrifying neighborhoods than in similar neighborhoods that didn't gentrify — even increasing as a fraction of the neighborhood population, and seeing larger-than-expected gains in income...

"Vacant homes spread blight in suburb and city alike" csmonitor.com

Link: Vacant homes spread blight in suburb and city alike
csmonitor.com

...From Atlanta's urban core to leafy neighborhoods filled with chirping crickets in Charlotte, N.C., some 2.2 million homes are expected to go through foreclosure – and stand empty – by the time the mortgage meltdown ends, according to Global Insight, an economic research firm. As the housing dominoes fall far from Wall Street, growing urban "ghost towns" of vacant houses are resulting in a costly crush of weeds, trash, and dereliction on a scale unseen in American cities since the Great Depression, economists say.

      

As a $4 billion package to help municipalities deal with foreclosure-related blight hangs fire in the US Senate, US mayors met last weekend in Miami to vent about the scourge of abandoned homes. Cash-strapped cities are now scrambling – often using on-the-fly ingenuity – to rescue neighborhoods suddenly vulnerable to crime and stunned by millions of dollars in lost equity wrought by loose credit, opportunistic speculators, and predatory lending...

...Some 44.5 million homes in the US now stand next to an empty house, resulting in a drop of at least $5,000 in property value per house. By that calculation, a total loss of home value of $220 billion across the US can be attributed to the vacancy problem...

"Columbus' 5-Year Vision Takes Shape" nbc4i.com

Link: Columbus' 5-Year Vision Takes Shape
Donna Willis
nbc4i.com
July 1, 2008

The city council finance committee will meet with the seven city department directors Tuesday night to ask what projects need done in the city during the next five years, NBC 4's Mikaela Hunt reported.

According to a council spokesperson, the Capital Improvement Program is a five-year vision for city projects.

After the directors make recommendations, council will vote on the program Monday, July 14...

"City Cuts Overtime To Save Budget" nbc4i.com

Link: City Cuts Overtime To Save Budget
Jason Mays
nbc4i.com
June 30, 2008

Millions over budget. The city's divisions of police and fire are headed toward red ink, and it's partly because of excessive overtime hours.

The Department of Public Safety said factors such as court appearances, help with multi-jurisdictional arrests, special security and residential-alarm responses are driving the overtime budget into the red.

The city aims to save money by reducing court time, curtailing mandatory residential-alarm responses -- 95 percent of which are false -- and sharing the cost of protecting presidential candidates with the campaigns, NBC 4's Ana Jackson reported...

"State OKs $24 million in NetJets tax credits" Business First of Columbus

Link: State OKs $24 million in NetJets tax credits
Business First of Columbus
July 1. 2008

State officials have approved tax credits for NetJets Inc. and its sister company as the aviation business readies for a $200 million expansion in Columbus.

The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved the tax credits for the New Jersey-based private aviation company, which are tied to creating and retaining nearly 2,800 jobs in the region. NetJets and FlightSafety International were awarded 75 percent credits for 15 years to help them expand their Columbus operations.

The value of NetJets' tax credit over its term is $24 million. The private aviation company would be required to maintain operations in Columbus for 30 years. The company proposes to expand its 192,554-square-foot complex by 415,000 square feet. The $73 million project is expected to create 735 jobs and retain 1,865 positions within the first three years of the project's start...

"Rich meter, poor meter" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: Rich meter, poor meter
Jeffrey Sheban
The Columbus Dispatch
July 1, 2008

...Go figure

The Transportation Division of the Columbus Public Service Department decides the locations of parking meters, the length of permissible parking time, hours of enforcement and fees. The department's Parking Violations Bureau empties the coins from meters and issues parking tickets for expired meters. Some related facts:

4,335
parking meters maintained by the city

$675
cost (in 1998) to buy and install one meter

1 to 12
range in hours of meter duration

$3.1 million
meter revenue generated last year for the city's general fund

$722.86
average take per meter last year

$2.3 million
ticket revenue generated last year, for the general fund, from expired meters

"NetJets gets state tax credits to create jobs" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: NetJets gets state tax credits to create jobs
Marla Matzer Rose
The Columbus Dispatch
June 20, 2008

NetJets Aviation and sister company FlightSafety International were formally awarded state job-creation tax credits valued at $26.4 million today.

The credits were part of $67 million worth of incentives offered in March to persuade NetJets to keep its base in Columbus.

The Ohio Tax Credit Authority took the action today while also approving tax credits for nine other companies.

Retaining the two companies, both controlled by billionaire Warren Buffett, is expected to save 2,000 jobs in Ohio and generate more than 800 jobs in the next several years...

"The cracks are showing" Economist.com

Link: The cracks are showing
Economist.com
June 26, 2008

...For the past few years it has been hard to ignore America’s crumbling infrastructure, from the devastating breach of New Orleans’s levees after Hurricane Katrina to the collapse of a big bridge in Minneapolis last summer. In 2005 the American Society of Civil Engineers estimated that $1.6 trillion was needed over five years to bring just the existing infrastructure into good repair. This does not account for future needs. By 2020 freight volumes are projected to be 70% greater than in 1998. By 2050 America’s population is expected to reach 420m, 50% more than in 2000. Much of this growth will take place in metropolitan areas, where the infrastructure is already run down.

If America
does not act, says Robert Yaro of the Regional Plan Association (RPA),
a body that plans for the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region, it
will have the infrastructure of a third-world country within a few
decades. Economic growth will be constricted, and the quality of life
will be diminished...

"Ballpark damage could cost $200,000" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: Ballpark damage could cost $200,000
Barbara Carmen
The Columbus Dispatch
June 30, 2008

The bill to repair Franklin County's damaged baseball park could reach $200,000, and commissioners are preparing to sue if the contractor that sank a section doesn't pay up.

The county won't say who that contractor is.

“We may not release the (preliminary investigation) report until we've gotten confirmation that the contractor's insurance bond will cover the incident,” County Administrator Don L. Brown said...

"Home prices in 20 cities down 15.3% in April from year earlier" USATODAY.com

Link: Home prices in 20 cities down 15.3% in April from year earlier
Anna Bahney
USATODAY.com
June 27, 2008

Home prices are poised to fall further in coming months, economists said Tuesday after a closely followed index showed that prices in April had fallen at their steepest year-over-year rate since at least 2000.

The price of a single-family home in April was 15.3% lower than in April 2007, the S&P/Case-Shiller index of 20 metro areas indicated. That was the largest year-over-year drop since the index was created eight years ago.

The sharpest declines were 26.8% in Las Vegas and 26.7% in Miami. For the first time, prices were down in all 20 cities; Charlotte saw its first year-over-year drop...

"Rickenbacker might face new rival in Wilmington" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: Rickenbacker might face new rival in Wilmington
Marla Matzer Rose
The Columbus Dispatch
June 29, 2008

...At stake are 8,000 jobs in a state that's already reeling from thousands of layoffs this year. The move could also put Wilmington Air Park, a former Air Force base that's been a privately owned air-cargo hub for 30 years, in competition with other regional airports, including Rickenbacker in Columbus, for cargo and possibly even passenger service...

..."Dayton has an empty cargo facility. Cincinnati has empty cargo space. The last thing that region can support is another cargo operation," Boyd said.

Boyd cautioned that investing in such a facility can be expensive.

"Mid-America airport in St. Louis was an Air Force base, and that's been a disaster," Boyd said. "They tried for passenger service; now they're trying to be a big international cargo hub. They've spent $200 million supporting it. … Someone in Wilmington will probably come along with a $50,000 study, some clown study, and say this is a great idea. I'll tell you right now, for free: It's not going to work."...

"DHL to take back 23 aircraft from ABX Air" Business First of Columbus

Link: DHL to take back 23 aircraft from ABX Air
Business First of Columbus
June 27, 2008

ABX Air Inc. will lose 23 DC-9 aircraft as its primary customer, DHL Network Operations, reduces its business with the cargo airline.

According to a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, DHL notified ABX on June 20 that it would reduce the services ABX is providing by 23 aircraft by the end of 2008. That will affect 16 of ABX's scheduled air routes, the airline said.

Deutsche Post World Net announced in May that its DHL subsidiary planned to partner with UPS to handle its North American air shipments. ABX currently provides that service, along with Astar Air Cargo, which DHL partially owns.

Both operate from Wilmington's DHL Air Park, a privately owned airfield. The move will likely cost 6,100 jobs at the Wilmington operation...

"Group Tries To Save GM Jobs" WBNS-10TV

Link: Group Tries To Save GM Jobs
WBNS 10TV
June 26, 2008

While it may seem like a done deal, local leaders in the Dayton area hope to save some General Motors jobs at the Moraine plant.

GM Moraine Task force co-chair Judy Dodge is just one of dozens of people working to find a solution for devastating job loss in the Dayton area.

"Find out what we can do if we can't keep GM here what we can do with that plant," said Montgomery County Commissioner Judy Dodge. "26-hundred jobs we can't possibly hope to lose in this region."

Wednesday was the first time this forty member task force has met, ONN's Lot Tan reported.

Dodge says they have specific goals.

"Retain GM here or redevelop the area," said Dodge. "If GM can retrofit that factory and put smaller cars especially with high gas mileage."

Around three weeks ago GM officials announced its plans to shut down the plant in Moraine forcing around 2,500 workers out of a job...

VIDEO: Columbus Metropolitan Club: Developments on the Urban Frontier

The Columbus Metropolitan Club just recently started to post their forums online after they occur. In May I moderated a discussion for the CMC about "Developments on the Urban Frontier" that was geared to talk about what opportunities lie downtown now that the downtown "boon" has subsided.

Not that anyone is going to have an hour to watch the whole forum, but there are definitely a few chunks in there worthy of viewing. Ken Danter talks about downtown boundaries and his studies on the proposed downtown streetcars and downtown housing. Marilyn Vutech discusses the state of the downtown housing market and Liz Lesner offers some thoughts on opportunities for entrepreneurs in downtown Columbus' Central Business District.

In case you do watch I bit, in case you can't tell, I had a blast :)

"Columbus Voters To Decide Levy On November Ballot" WBNS-10TV

Link: Columbus Voters To Decide Levy On November Ballot
WBNS-10TV
June 27, 2008

Columbus City Schools board members voted on Friday to place a levy and bond on the November ballot.

The board approved the measure to place a 7.85 mills operating levy and $164 million bond on the ballot, 10TV's Tracy Townsend reported.

If passed, the owner of a $100,000 home would pay an additional $275 a year...

"Not enough rooms" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: Not enough rooms
Editorial
The Columbus Dispatch
June 29, 2008

No matter how hard city leaders work to compete for convention business, without enough full-service hotel rooms near its convention center, Columbus will be disadvantaged, regardless of what else it has to offer.

Every year the city loses a bid for a major convention because planners can't offer enough top-flight rooms to participants, the leaders of Experience Columbus, the city's convention bureau, say. This costs the community millions in sales-tax revenues, bed taxes, restaurant spending and shopping dollars that end up going elsewhere.

Columbus City Council and the Franklin County commissioners hold the key to easing the problem: allowing the borrowing authority of the city and county to back the bonds that would pay for the hotel. Both have been asked by the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority to support a hotel project. They should work with the authority to craft a plan...

"Small hotel is possible on High" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: Small hotel is possible on High
Mike Pramik
The Columbus Dispatch
June 26, 2008

Jim Jackson's latest off-the-court move could help transform a sleepy Downtown block into a place where people would sleep in style.

The former Ohio State University basketball star is looking into developing a boutique hotel at the northwest corner of Gay and High streets. His Toledo development company is trying to make the numbers work for a four-story, 150-room property on what is a parking lot.

Jackson's Q3 Development has an option on the land controlled in part by local developer Bob Long. Jackson said he is working with Diversified Development Group and Daimler Group of Columbus.

"We're taking our 120 days to see what's under the ground and what would work," Jackson said yesterday. "It's a great idea, but at the end of the day, it has to make economic sense."...

"Tight city budget doesn't stop capital spending" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: Tight city budget doesn't stop capital spending
Robert Vitale
The Columbus Dispatch
June 25, 2008

...Columbus is the biggest U.S. city with top-of-the-line bond ratings from the three Wall Street firms that pass judgment on municipal finances. It has a 23-year winning streak at the polls for bond issues.

But Bruce Weinberg, an associate professor of economics at Ohio State University, said distinctions between capital and operating budgets are arbitrary. Government needs to weigh spending priorities just as people do when money is tight, he said.

"You want to really keep your debt service going," Weinberg said. "But, clearly, you don't want to take on a lot of new projects."...

...City officials say they're reining in capital spending, even though the November bond issue is 2 1/2 times larger than any other put before Columbus voters. Dorrian said recently that he will halt bond sales for the rest of 2008, and he was among a group that worked to pare the list of projects in this year's package...

"Ballpark damage prompts search for the cause" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: Ballpark damage prompts search for the cause
Barbara Carmen
The Columbus Dispatch
June 25, 2008

A second-story floor is cracked and a crane is holding up a steel supporting column at Huntington Park after a concrete footer sank over the weekend, causing an undetermined amount of damage to the new home of the Clippers.

"There is a structural issue, and they're working on it right now," said Tina Guegold, spokeswoman for Nationwide Realty Investors. As the owner's representative for Franklin County, Nationwide is guiding construction of the $55 million ballpark in its Arena District back yard.

Structural engineers were scrambling over the ballpark late yesterday to determine how the damage was caused. A plumbing contractor had been digging a trench by the footer late Saturday to install drainage pipes that will carry waste cooking oil from food vendors to a disposal tank. Renee Colbert, a manager for W.G. Tomko Inc., said everything was fine when its plumbing crew left that night. When workers returned early Monday, they found "the dirt under the column had eroded away and there was a significant amount of water around."...

"Brick street rehabilitation slated to start next week" This Week News

Link: Brick street rehabilitation slated to start next week
David J. Cross
This Week News
June 25, 2008

German Village residents can expect to see crews marking and working on brick streets next week.

Barring poor weather, contractors are expected to start the city's brick street rehabilitation project July 8. The contract is with G&G Concrete Construction.

"What the people will see is we will be going out and putting markings down on the brick," said Mary Carran Webster, Columbus' assistant public service director. "It doesn't necessarily mean they are digging up the whole road."...

...There are 32 miles of brick streets in the city and German Village will be the first area worked on. Webster estimated the entire cost of the program will be about $200,000...

"Group Pushes Rail For Columbus" WBNS-10TV

Link: Group Pushes Rail For Columbus
WBNS 10TV
June 26, 2008

...Research groups are looking for alternatives to paying for gas laid out a plan they think could work for anyone.

"Columbus, Ohio is the largest city in the United States without a passenger rail service," said Andrew Bremer of All Aboard Ohio. "Being the 15th largest city in the country I find that absolutely shameful."

Bremer and others are pushing alternative transportation in the capital city and throughout the state.

"Did you know (there are) more cars than people in Franklin County," said Maryellen O'Shaughnessy of Columbus City Council...

"Home sales climb, but big picture still dim" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: Home sales climb, but big picture still dim
Steve Wartenberg
The Columbus Dispatch
June 27, 2008

...A total of 2,064 central Ohio homes were sold in May, a 15.7 percent increase over April's total, the board announced yesterday. However, the number represents a 17.2 percent decline from the previous May.

For the first five months of the year, home sales in central Ohio were down 14.1 percent compared with the same period in 2007.

"We're still going through a market correction," said Greg Parsons, president-elect of the board, adding that sales in the next few months could come close to those of last year.

"But will we see the numbers we saw in 2005 and 2006? I don't think so," he said. "Those were record-breaking years."

Nationally, home sales rose 2 percent in May compared with April, but were 15.9 percent below May 2007 figures, according to a National Association of Realtors report. Nearly 5 million homes were sold in May; 4.49 million homes currently are on the market...

"May housing sales fall and listings decline" Business First of Columbus

Link: May housing sales fall and listings decline
Business First of Columbus
June 25, 2008

Sales of existing houses in Central Ohio dropped more than 17 percent in May, the second largest percentage decline this year, the Columbus Board of Realtors reported Thursday.

The board said sales of single-family houses and condominiums in the region fell to 2,064 from 2,492 in May 2007. It marked the largest monthly decline since January, when sales tumbled 19 percent to 1,225 homes.

Indeed, May sales have fared better in previous years. In May 2006, sales totaled 2,579 homes. In 2005, sales reached 2,653 homes, and 2,486 homes were sold in May 2004 - years when the region's housing market was robust...