The Columbus Redevelopment Authority will soon have some start-up money as it begins its mission of minimizing blight in the city.
The city of Columbus will allocate $50,000 to the newly established, five-person group that was formed to oversee the city’s urban renewal district. That area consists of blighted and abandoned commercial parcels along Fifth Street, between Second Street and Sixth Street, between 12th Street and 19th Street, North Seventh Avenue, The Island and the Warehouse District.
During Wednesday’s meeting, the authority approved to advertise for a bank that would manage the authority’s general fund account.
The authority receives the $50,000 from the city when the upcoming fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
The bulk of the meeting, which was the authority’s second, took place in executive session. The board considered areas of the city it wanted to target first for redevelopment but did not take any action.
The authority consists of members John Acker, Mark Castleberry, Andrew Colom, Tommy Lott and Robert Rhett. City planner and director of community development Christina Berry answers to the group.
Establishment of the district and authority was initially brought to the council in January by Tripp Muldrow, a planning consultant from the South Carolina-based Arnett Muldrow firm, who worked with Columbus Director of Community Development and City Planning Christina Berry on the urban renewal project. Muldrow said at the time that the authority could act as a conduit to the council but also act as a private corporation to redevelop blighted parcels.
The committee is authorized to acquire and sell property, rehabilitate and improve structures, pursue public-private partnerships, demolish buildings that can’t be rehabilitated, consolidate titles and acquire and distribute funds and grants. It does not have authority to exercise eminent domain.
At the first meeting, Acker was named chair, Colom vice-chair and Lott secretary and treasurer.
Acker said all discussions by the authority to this point have been preliminary, but the board seeks to be as prudent with its start-up money as possible as it seeks grant funding going forward.
“The city is giving money to us to re-invest in itself from a redevelopment standpoint,” Acker said. “We want to to make sure the money is spent wisely. In the long run, we want this to to be positive. We’ve just got to get there.”
Columbus Mayor Robert Smith, Golden Triangle Development LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins and Visit Columbus Executive Director Nancy Carpenter were also present Wednesday.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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