Explanation
Background: This Ordinance will authorize the Director of Recreation and Parks to accept a grant and enter into agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service to remove invasive plant species within Wolfe and Nelson Parks and plant native vegetation along the banks of Alum Creek. This grant is being administered by the USDA through the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP).
Invasive plants are taking over the natural areas within our parks destroying the native vegetation and consequently effecting the wildlife that depend upon them. These plants make conditions along the bike paths unsafe as they create blind spots and hiding areas for unsuspecting and deviant behavior. Invasive plants also increase the effects of erosion, particularly along the waterways because they eliminate other plants that help to hold back the banks of streams and rivers.
This grant will allow the Department to remove invasive plants such as honeysuckle and garlic mustard thereby increasing the safety of the area by creating clearer lines of site along the bike paths and through the woods. It will also aid in the restoration of Alum Creek within Wolfe and Nelson Parks by enabling us to plant native woody vegetation which will enhance the quality of the riparian areas.
The Friends of Alum Creek Tributaries (FACT) will be partnering with the Recreation and Parks Department to implement the plantings to secure the bank and to remove the invasive plants within the forested buffer along Alum Creek.
Emergency action is requested in order to comply with the terms of the grant and to have funding available for necessary expenditures.
Title
To authorize and direct the Director of Recreation and Parks to accept a grant and enter into agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, to authorize the appropriation of $65,667.00 from the Recreation and Parks Grant Fund, and to declare an emergency. ($65,667.00)
Body
WHEREAS, the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, has awarded the City of Columbus, Recreation and Parks Department a grant to restore the riparian areas along the Alum Creek in Wolfe and Nelson Parks and remove invasive plants that are taking over the natural areas within our Park; and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the Recreation and Parks Department, in that it is immediately necessary to accept and appropriate said grant funds in order to comply with the terms of the grant; now, therefore
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
SECTION 1. That the Director of Recreation and Parks be and he is hereby authorized and directed to accept a grant and enter into agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service in the amount of $65,667.00 for improvements to Alum Creek in Wolfe and Nelson Parks.
SECTION 2. That from the unappropriated monies in the Recreation and Parks Grant Fund No. 286, and from all monies estimated to come into said fund from any and all sources and unappropriated for any other purpose during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2008, the sum of $65,667.00 is appropriated to the Recreation and Parks Department, Department No. 51-01 as follows:
Fund Type: Grant; Dept. No.: 51-01; Fund No.: 286; Grant No.: 518044; Object Level 3: 6621; OCA Code: 518044; Amount; $65,667.00.
SECTION 3. That the monies in the foregoing Section 2 shall be paid upon order of the Director of Recreation and Parks, and that no order shall be drawn or money paid except by voucher, the form of which shall be approved by the City Auditor.
SECTION 4. That for the reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof, this ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency measure and shall take effect and be in force from and after its paassage and approval by the Mayor, or ten days after passage if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes the same.