COLUMBUS, Ohio – Columbus leaders will focus on maintaining investments in public safety and city neighborhoods instead of launching new major public projects in 2015.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
Mayor Michael B. Coleman (pictured below) and members of City Council will highlight key pieces of the capital improvement budget today, including about $6 million to maintain the city’s fleet of fire equipment and a little more than $33 million for city streets, at a presentation to be held at the Driving Park Recreation Center on the city’s South Side.
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The location was chosen in part because the city also will unveil new renovation plans for the facility as part of the budget, Coleman’s spokeswoman Tyneisha Harden said, adding that she didn’t want to spoil the surprise by releasing too many details before the event.
City officials did not release total budget numbers yesterday.
Coleman, who is presenting his last capital budget as the city’s mayor, focused this year on maintaining investments in parks, recreation and city streets — all quality of life issues for city residents, Harden said.
“We want to make sure that kids and families have safe places to play after school,” she said.
Harden said the city had to shutter many of its recreation centers in 2009, and now that most have reopened it’s time to make additional investments to ensure that they remain a vital resource for city residents.
While the city is spending about $250,000 more this year on road resurfacing, alley improvements and curb cuts, Ken Paul, chief-of-staff for City Council President Andrew J. Ginther, said there’s a limit to how much roadwork the city can accomplish in one year.
“Unfortunately in Ohio there are only so many months where we can complete road projects,” Paul said.