The city is planning environmental testing on a Jackson Street property that the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department is considering purchasing for storage.
A summary of the Phase 1 environmental report on the property, the former site of Machinery Moving Inc. at 1360 Jackson St., showed no evidence of contamination, Parks Board president Mark Levett said.
Records indicate that underground storage tanks were taken out of the 3-acre site 40 years ago, but no documentation exists to confirm the removal of the tanks, parks and recreation director Mark Jones said during a special parks board meeting Wednesday at Columbus City Hall.
“We want to make sure we have due diligence in this area,” Jones said.
A Phase 2 inspection, which is what the city plans to pursue, would determine the status of the storage tanks and any other other type of contamination such as the presence of asbestos in the building, he said.
If the property contains any contamination that is beyond the scope of the city to remediate, “we don’t want the site,” Jones said.
Permission to pay $300,000 for the property won approval from the park board in October and the Columbus City Council on Nov. 6, but with contingencies.
A second offer has been made on the property by another potential buyer higher than the city’s $300,000 bid, city officials said.
The property, owned by Norma Lienhoop, the aunt of Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop, has two structures that combined are about 9,000-square feet:
- An office building was constructed around 1971.
- A shop facility was built around 1973.
Lienhoop has recused himself from all consideration and deliberation about the purchase, and said he has no financial interest in his aunt’s property.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
