COLUMBUS — Two city garages in downtown Columbus are expected to see about a 1% increase in revenue in 2020 compared to 2019.
Gary Thompson of REI, which manages the city’s parking garages, revealed the 2020 budget summary for the Jackson Street and Second Street parking garages to the Columbus Redevelopment Commission on Monday.
New this year to the Jackson Street parking garage, Thompson said an off-duty officer has been hired to patrol the garage after a number of incidents during the spring and summer months warranted the addition of security detail.
The officer will be on site through January, with a three-month recess between February and April, then will resume patrolling the garage in May through December. The security detail will cost the city an estimated $18,480 in 2020. Johnson said the garage’s 1.14% increase in 2020 operating expenses is primarily due to the addition of security.
Johnson also announced plans to install a vestibule, or a small enclosure around the elevator, on the second and third floors of the garage. Currently, the elevator is enclosed by a vestibule on both the first and fourth floors to prevent weather conditions from harming the elevator.
The second- and third-floor elevators, however, are not enclosed. Johnson said the elevator is subject to rain, sleet and snow on those two floors. He proposed installing a vestibule on both floors to maintain healthy operation of the elevator. That project is slated in the budget for July.
Johnson also highlighted the major projects completed during 2019.
In February, redevelopment commissioners approved a request to retrofit more than 200 light fixtures in the city’s parking garages with LED light bulbs. Through a partnership with REI, Duke Energy purchased and installed the new bulbs as opposed to hiring an electrician.
The Jackson Street garage has 120 internal fixtures that previously ran 150 watt bulbs and 12 external halogen bulbs. Duke Energy replaced the internal bulbs with 45 watt LED lights and the external bulbs with 14 watt LEDs.
After rebate, the city paid about $5,060 for purchase and installation of the bulbs. The cost savings is over $13,000 a year.
The Second Street garage has 80 interior fixtures and nine external lights. Duke Energy retrofit those lights with 27 watt LED bulbs indoors and 42 watt LED bulbs outdoors.
The city’s cost after rebate was $3,915.18. It will save $11,576.76 each year after installation.
Crews also sawed out cracks and deficiencies in the concrete across both garages and filled the areas with caulk. That project cost the city about $31,690 in the Second Street garage, and about $9,300 in the Jackson Street garage. Given the garages’ ages, Johnson said those expenses are “incredibly low.”
One of the two staircases at the Second Street garage was also repainted in 2019. The second staircase is slated to be repainted in 2020 for an estimated $12,000.
Information about Columbus’ two city-owned parking garages, including hours of operation and daily parking rates, is available at columbus.in.gov/redevelopment/parking-garages.
