City Council members discuss ways to shave down audit price

UPDATE, 1:04 a.m.: Council members voted unanimously to demolish the home at 509 Clinkscales Road.

On the topic of the audit, some members were in sticker shock over the $500,000 price tag for a statewide audit but still agreed to continue the conversation.

The audit would be done over a two to three year time period which also gave some council members pause. Ward 3 councilman Karl Skala said he was concerned about whether certain bond issues might get delayed because of it.

Mayor Brian Treece said the cost of an audit is only one tenth of one percent of the entire budget.

The council agreed to have City Manager Mike Matthes look into ways to fund it.

“How do we pro rate the cost of this audit across all departments. so if Water and Light makes up half the budget, do they pay for half the audit?” he said. “Should the custodial department that makes up a very small percentage, should they pay their percentage of that?”

The public would also get involved, but council members didn’t know if that meant a public hearing or some other mechanism.

“If council members have concern about the price of it, I’d like to hear from the public,” said Treece. “Is the price too high and would we rather spend $500,000 on something else, or is this a good investment in the foundation of that public confidence that I want so hard to restore?”

Council members reported they had mixed reactions from constituents.

UPDATE: The city will also consider a downzoning request from 38 West Ash neighborhood residents. You can find that story here.

ORIGINAL STORY: Community Development officials want the Columbia City Council to approve the demolition of a central Columbia property that they said is “dangerous” and “uninhabitable.”

In a memo to the City Council, staff details the multiple attempts it made to contact the owner of the home at 509 Clinkscales Road, Heather DeMian. Those attempts apparently went unanswered.

The home has been vacant for more than five years and the initial investigation of the house began in 2012. In Sept. 2017, a city code enforcement specialist served a search warrant on the property and discovered more than 10 violations, including the presence of trash everywhere and raw sewage backing up the basement.

On Jan. 26, the Community Development Department held a hearing. DeMian did not attend and staff ordered that the house be demolished within 30 days of mailing the permit for demolition. The deadline was April 9.

Staff also requested a tax bill against the property as needed.

City Council members will also hear a report about the cost and process of receiving an audit from state auditor Nicole Galloway. Mayor Brian Treece requested staff look into an audit to find possible cost-saving measures, and restore voter trust.

According to a council memo, an audit could cost the city $500,000 to $750,000 or more. According to the description attached to Monday’s agenda, the audit cost could increase according to “initial survey work” that would be completed by Galloway’s office.

ABC 17 News will have live reports on the property and the audit at 9 on Fox 22 and 10 on ABC 17.