The city council voted unanimously at its regular meeting Tuesday to accept a $17,989 bid to put surveillance cameras along the Riverwalk.
The bid was awarded to Knight Hawk Security, which will put up 12 cameras at strategic locations throughout the park following a final survey today.
The council rejected the other bid of $19,900 from ATGix in Ridgeland.
Although camera feeds can be monitored by Columbus police, the feeds will not be constantly watched, said Chief Joseph St. John.
While he does not anticipate any major problems with the walk, Ward 6 Councilman Bill Gavin said the cameras were necessary, preventative measures.
“They”ll add a sense of security for those who want it and use (the Riverwalk),” he said.
The cameras are just the first of several phases to beef up security in the downtown park, he said.
In future phases, the city could add emergency telephones and more cameras, although no decisions have been made.
The placement of cameras along the serene Riverwalk, which winds 2.2 miles along the Tennessee-Tombigbee River, follows the arrests of three juveniles for spray-painting graffiti on the old Highway 82 bridge.
Two 15-year-old girls and a 16-year-old boy were charged with malicious mischief after they were arrested July 19 by officers staking out the area.
The city has “invested a lot of money in the Riverwalk” and should protect its investment, Gavin said.
In other business, the council heard the appeal of Janet Morris, whose request to rezone her property at 804 Warpath from residential to commercial was denied by the Columbus Planning Commission.
At Mayor Robert Smith”s recommendation, the council sent the case back to the planning commission for further inspection.
Morris is trying to add a 20-by-20 foot addition for a shoe store to her beauty salon, which has stood on the property since 1970.
When she bought the property in 2004, she did not know zoning laws prohibited the addition, she said.
But neighbors said rezoning the property could open it and the neighborhood up to other businesses, including liquor stores.
The planning commission said they rejected the rezoning request because it violates state laws against spot zoning, or rezoning when the neighborhood remains residential and there is no pressing public need.
“It”s cut and dried,” said neighbor Cliff Loden, who was at the meeting with other homeowners to show opposition to Morris” proposal.
The council also went into executive session, closing the meeting to the public, to suspend a Columbus firefighter for three shifts.
The name of the firefighter and why he was being disciplined were not released.
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