City Council Round-up

Columbus City Council last night approved legislation to purchase a multi-acre tract of land on McKinley Avenue for 880-thousand dollars.The City last month  threatened to seize the property through eminent domain after learning the owner agreed to sell to another party at a higher price. The city plans to move some of its code-enforcement and public-utilities operations from the Arena District to the property. Council Development Committee Chair Zach Klein cast the lone dissenting vote last night. Last month he said he did not agree with the city's threat of eminent domain without holding a public hearing. Council also voted to give a tax break  to a company that reported a third quarter profit of more than 3-billion dollars. IBM is getting an income tax break, as well as a tax break from the state, to build a data-analytics center in the Tuttle Crossing area, promising to create 500 jobs.