Columbus Police, who work with state and federal agencies, are required to activate body cameras while issuing arrest warrants or making arrests, according to laws approved by Columbus City Council on Monday.
However, they would be exempt from a municipal ban on search warrants without knocking while working with these authorities on investigations into fourth-degree crimes or less, marijuana possession, or having minors at home under another ordinance issued by the Council.
Ned Pettus Jr., the city’s public safety director, told councilors that both parts were necessary in order for Columbus to continue to work with state and federal agencies.
The city announced this month that it is expanding its partnership with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to help solve gun-related crimes. By Monday afternoon there had been 111 homicides in Columbus that year. The city didn’t hit that number until September 24, 2020, in a record year of murders at 175.
Columbus officials are now facing criminal charges for not turning on their body cameras, part of a new set of requirements under “Andre’s Law,” named for Andre Hill, 47, who was fatally shot and killed by former Columbus officer Adam Coy on December. 22nd
Also on Monday, the council approved a free broadcast of just over half an acre from the city to the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority. The 27-story Hilton Tower rises on the property on the east side of North High Street.
Don Brown, executive director of the Convention Facilities Authority, said prior to the meeting that the transfer was necessary to protect bondholders’ interest in the $ 220 million Hilton expansion at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. The tower will add 463 rooms and is due for completion in 2022.
“We want the ownership structure to be identical to the ownership structure of the existing hotel,” said Brown.
The property would return to the city when the hotel closes. Brown said he expected the hotel to last 30 to 50 years.
Franklin County’s accounting firm estimates the 0.57 acres adjacent to the Convention Center at $ 1.025 million.
When asked about the property’s free transfer, Brown said, “CFA is investing over $ 200 million in the hotel. I think that’s more than enough.”
At its penultimate meeting before the annual summer break in August, the Council also:
• Approved a $ 6.9 million contract with Ohio-based Elite Excavating for new storm sewers and aqueducts in the historic Old Beechwold neighborhood, where residents deal with street and yard flooding. It also approved an additional $ 1 million for Resource International to administer and inspect the Old Beechwold projects.
• Approved $ 9.2 million for new storm sewers and sewers for a section of Franklinton bounded by West Broad Street, Grubb Street, Dodge Park and Lucas Streets, an area prone to sewer overflows and backwater.
• Approved a 10-year 75% property tax reduction for Shook Road Storage LLC to build a 165,000 square foot cold store building near Rickenbacker Airport. The company plans to invest $ 20.9 million and create 10 jobs. The company is a partnership of three members of the local real estate company Crawford Hoying.
Joe Motil, a former council candidate and critic of the tax cut, said the tax cut was unnecessary. “It’s in a risk-free development area,” he said.
• Re-zoning of the former site of the Alrosa Villa in 5055 Sinclair Rd. To create space for a residential complex with 180 residential units. The $ 3.3 million Sinclair Family Apartments project is being built through a partnership between the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority and Cleveland’s NRP Group.
At the beginning of the meeting, there was a minute’s silence for Tearicka Cradle, 45, a member of the city’s public service commission, who was found shot dead in her home on the Northeast Side early Sunday morning. Cradle was the coordinator of the city’s Restoration Academy, now known as the EDGE (Empower Development by Gaining Employment) program, which helps people in the criminal justice system find and keep jobs.
“She loved changing people’s lives,” said Councilor Priscilla Tyson.
mferench@dispatch.com
@MarkFerenchik