Columbus Dispatch: Lining installed to halt Goodale Park pond leak

By  Pamela Engel

The Columbus Dispatch Friday June 15, 2012 7:24 AM

Contractor David Dumm, second from left, discusses his company’s installation of a rubberized lining around the new fountain in Goodale Park’s leaking pond.

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City officials and volunteers at Goodale Park are holding their breath to see whether the latest attempt to fix the park’s leaking pond works.

The newest fix is a rubberized lining around the base of the pond’s 750,000-pound fountain. The idea is that it will stop the leak or at least rule out the fountain as the cause.

“It appears that should solve the problem with any possibility of the base of the fountain leaking,” said David Dumm, president of Procon Professional Construction Services, which installed the lining.

The pond has been unable to hold water since the Friends of Goodale Park installed a fountain topped by two spouting elephants last year.

The city spent $144,600 in April to line the bottom with a clay called bentonite.

Jason Kentner, president of Friends of Goodale Park, said: “In the spring, given that we had done the amount of work adding clay to the base, the leak was much different. It was at most 2 inches a day.

“Previously, it had been as much as a foot a day. We knew that we had addressed some part of the issue.”

Friends of Goodale Park is paying Procon $8,500 to complete the repair project, Kentner said.

“We certainly hope this fixes the problem,” said Alan McKnight, Columbus Recreation and Parks director.

Contractors will use the well there to slowly add water to the pond. If the water level rises, a fire hydrant will be used to completely fill it on June 25.

“We’ll run (the pond) off the well while festivals are going on,” Kentner said. “If we see 10 inches of water, then we’d feel like we’re addressing the issue and feel confident that putting water back in would be the appropriate next step.”

But not until after the Columbus Pride Festival this weekend and ComFest the next weekend. A fence has been put up to keep people out.

“The city (is) ... concerned about people falling in,” Kentner said.

It hasn’t completely worked.

“You can see all kinds of shoe prints all in the bottom of the pond. It’s clear people have been in there,” said Terri Leist, assistant director of Columbus Recreation and Parks.

“There’s a possibility they could compromise the surface of the pond floor and potentially cause another leak.”

Columbus Dispatch - New group formed in Short North

By: Mark Ferenchik

The Columbus Dispatch - June 06, 2012 05:33 PM

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The Short North Business Association is combining with the neighborhood's special improvement district to form a new group to steer the vision for the area while dealing with problems it continues to struggle with.

The new Short North Alliance will concentrate on safety, parking and other issues and improving access to the popular retail and entertainment district, said John Angelo, the new group's executive director and former director of the Short North Business Association.

"These problems have been here for a long time," he said.

The special improvement district was formed 12 years ago to build the arches along High Street. Now property owners want a new group to take a new tack, he said. So the business association will become dormant, while the special improvement district will continue to raise money to maintain the area. Angelo takes his new position on June 15.

Columbus Dispatch: Don't walk in the Goodale Park Pond!

Don't walk in the pond!

By: Mark Ferenchik

The Columbus Dispatch - June 05, 2012 05:17 PM

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Curious visitors to the Goodale Park pond are now walking in the pond as a mysterious leak continues to drain water, leaving some areas completely dry.

City officials worry that people traipsing through the pond near the Short North will create even more leaks on the bottom they'll have to find and plug.

Those walking through the pond could damage the bentonite clay that crews put down in April on the bottom in an attempt to fix the leak, said Terri Leist, assistant director of the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department. The city spent $144,600 for the bentonite and to repair the pond walls.

The Friends of Goodale Park hired a company to put concrete and a rubber liner around the base of the fountain at the pond in the hopes of finally plugging the leak. That work should start by late this week or early next week, Leist said.

Columbus Dispatch: Work to begin soon on next Goodale Park pond fix

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By: Mark Ferenchik

The Columbus Dispatch - May 30, 2012 04:33 PM

We should know by the end of June whether the latest attempt to plug the leak at the Goodale Park pond will work.

The Friends of Goodale Park hired a Circleville company to place concrete and a rubber "skirt" around the base of the pond's fountain which some suspect is the source of the leak.

Last week we reported that the friends group was considering this fix. It will cost the group $8,500, said Jason Kentner, who leads the friends organization. Weather permitting, it should be finished by June 21, he said.

The project requires workers to pump out enough pond water to do the job. Concrete will be poured around all the piping beneath the fountain, and stones will be placed over the rubber skirt.

Columbus Dispatch: Jury awards damages over failed Short North condo project

Jury awards damages over failed Short North condo project

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By  John Futty

The Columbus Dispatch Friday May 25, 2012 8:24 PM

A company that failed to build a proposed condominium tower in the Short North defrauded the people who deposited money to reserve homes in the building, a Franklin County jury ruled today.

The Common Pleas Court jury awarded $200,000 in damages to 17 plaintiffs who lost a combined $191,000 when the Ibiza on High project went bankrupt.

The judgment was against RMRW Limited, a company owned by Short North developers Ray Brown, Michael Council, Rajesh Lahoti and Wilbur Ischie.

The jury found, however, that the company’s four owners were not individually liable. Afterward, the jurors told the attorneys that they were unable to attribute any single acts of fraud to any of the individuals.

“In our minds, a fraud verdict against RMRW is as good as a fraud verdict against the individuals,” said Brian Laliberte, attorney for the plaintiffs. “RMRW has assets.”

Tim O’Neill, one of a half-dozen plaintiffs in the courtroom when the verdicts were announced, said he was glad that the “long, drawn-out process” is over.

“We’re relieved the jury realized that we were wronged,” he said.

Terrence Wheeler, who represented the defendants, said his clients were “pleased that the jurors found that, individually, they did not commit fraud. In my mind, the jurors wanted to find a way to give (the depositors) their money back. My clients are OK with that.”

The developers bought land at N. High Street and Hubbard Avenue in 2006, cleared the site in 2007 and began taking deposits in 2008 for a $35 million tower that was supposed to open in 2010.

The proposed 11-story, 135-unit building, with a rooftop pool and adjacent parking garage, was to be the biggest condominium development in the Short North, with prices ranging from $159,999 to $1.5 million per unit.

The developers pre-sold more than 70 units, collecting about $1.2 million in deposits. But construction never began on Ibiza, buyers didn’t get their deposits back, and the developers’ real-estate company, Apex, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2011.

It is unclear whether other depositors now will come forward with additional claims.

The jurors deliberated for more than four hours after hearing three days of testimony from 13 witnesses in the courtroom of Judge Richard A. Frye. Brown was the only defendant to take the stand.

In closing arguments this morning, Laliberte said it was clear to the developers by July 2008 that they couldn’t get a construction loan from a bank, yet they continued to tell depositors that the project would happen. In the end, he said, they spent all the depositors’ money “to keep the lights on at Apex” and on other items unrelated to construction.

Wheeler told the jury that his clients were acting in good faith, but the collapse of the stock and housing markets in 2008 prevented them from getting financing for the project. He said the plaintiffs failed to identify “one penny” that was spent improperly.

Columbus Dispatch: Another fix considered for leaky Goodale Park pond

By  Mark Ferenchik

The Columbus Dispatch Friday May 25, 2012 7:40 AM

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The Friends of Goodale Park hope the next fix will be the last they’ll need to plug the persistent leak at the park’s pond.

Members of the group are discussing hiring a company to place a rubberized liner around the foundation of the sculpted fountain that the group installed last year, said Rick Miller, the design manager for Columbus Recreation and Parks.

The friends group will pay for the fix; the cost has yet to be determined.

The pond has been unable to hold water since the Friends of Goodale Park installed a fountain topped by two spouting elephants last year.

The city already has spent $144,600 to put down a clay called bentonite on the pond’s bottom and fix the walls in hopes of sealing the leak.

The pond’s water level has dropped about 2 feet since the city completed filling it on April13. From May 18 through Monday, the rate of water loss had slowed to about a half-inch a day, Miller said.

The Friends of Goodale Park are talking with Procon Professional Construction Services of Circleville, the same company that put down the bentonite, for the new fix, said Jason Kentner, who leads the group.

The group’s board still needs to vote on the plan.

“We certainly want to move on it quickly,” Kentner said.

Retired engineer Peter Korda, who has been advising the friends group, said it isn’t known whether the leak is in the sculpture’s foundation.

But Korda said that the city will have to accept responsibility for the leak if the friends group seals the foundation and the water level continues to drop.

Alan McKnight, the city’s recreation and parks director, said he’s hopeful that the seal will do the trick. The friends group recently bought dye to drop into the pond to try to find the hole draining the pond.

The results were inconclusive.

“It’s like a needle in a haystack with this,” McKnight said. “It’s such a small leak.”

Columbus Dispatch: Clintonville returns to turn-lane issue that caused so much drama

By  Mark Ferenchik

The Columbus Dispatch Friday May 25, 2012 7:50 AM

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For a commission drowning in controversy, it would seem like an issue that new members might want to avoid.

Yet members of the Clintonville Area Commission are putting the controversial turn lane at North Broadway and N. High Street back on the agenda.

Clintonville commissioner D Searcy and three newly elected commissioners met yesterday with city officials to discuss the turn lane and other issues, said Dan Williamson, Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s spokesman.

Williamson said the area commission would have to vote in favor of the turn lane from westbound North Broadway to southbound N. High Street for the city to consider the issue again.

“If they get the votes for it, the mayor’s committed to it,” Williamson said. “He supports the turn lane.”

City council would have to approve the money for it.In 2009, the commission voted in favor of the turn lane. The next year, members voted it down.

Now, the commission has three new members — Dana Bagwell, Jason Meek and Daniel Miller — and another will be needed to replace Chairman John DeFourny, who resigned last week amid conflict-of-interest accusations.

“There are many people in Clintonville that want the turn lane done,” Searcy said. “Until the turn lane is done, the community cannot be settled.”

Bagwell favors the turn lane. She said it would help the area of High Street south of North Broadway thrive while cutting down on speeders who use side streets to get around the intersection.

Meek said he still is considering the issue.

The mayor had planned to make a decision on the turn lane himself. But in March he said he would leave it up to the commission.

The turn lane, a bus turnaround, gateway signs and a rezoning for a parking lot are among the laundry list of issues that have divided the community.

Bickering among commission members as well as name-calling and other bad behavior have given the commission a bad reputation.

A Columbus resident who doesn’t even live in Clintonville fired off an email to commissioners this month, writing that “it is quite embarrassing to read about the drama, self-interests, selfish/personal motives and what appears to be an overall lack of true commitment to YOUR community about many of the issues.”

Clintonville is a place where residents take pride in their leafy streets, well-kept yards, and for many, their progressive views. Columbus City Council President Andrew Ginther, a Democrat, lives there, as does state Sen. Jim Hughes, a Republican.

Ginther, who said he favors the turn lane for safety reasons, said that an at-large council system in a city as big as Columbus works only with organized and effective area commissions. Commissions advise the council on neighborhood priorities and zoning issues.

Meek said he worries that the commission has hurt its reputation and weakened its relationship with Columbus officials.

Neighborhood politics can be messy, and that isn’t unique to Clintonville, Williamson said.

“City Hall is never going to turn its back on Clintonville because of instability in the commissioners,” he said.Bagwell said she and others will work to restore the Clintonville Area Commission’s reputation.

“We’re going to have to prove to (City Hall) that we can be taken seriously again,” Bagwell said.