City to vote on settling accident claim

City leaders are set to shell out $71,658.61 today to settle the claim of a Columbus man injured in a 2007 car wreck involving a police officer.

The payment's to compensate Timothy McCray of 2249 Mahan Drive for the costs of his medical treatment, said his attorney, John Martin of The Martin Firm.

Martin called the settlement "fairly routine," saying city leaders would pay no claims for pain and suffering. "All they're doing is paying the medical bills," he said. "The guy just had a pretty nasty compound fracture of the arm that had to be put back together with pins and screws, and that's the reason for the amount."

According to a police report on the July 27, 2007, crash at Rigdon Road and 10th Street, here's what happened:

McCray, then 40 years old, was a passenger in a 1990 Buick LeSabre driven by Sebastian Bernard Rogers of 4818 Conner Road, Columbus. The LeSabre was southbound on Rigdon Road when a 2005 Ford Taurus being driven east on 10th Street by Columbus Police Lt. Gil Slouchick pulled into the intersection. The LeSabre's front end T-boned the driver's side of the Taurus, sending both cars skidding south.

Each vehicle had extensive damage. Slouchick was pinned in the wreckage and had to be extricated. Both he and McCray were seriously injured. Investigators said Slouchick had failed to yield to oncoming traffic at a 10th Street stop sign.

Columbus Council is to vote by resolution to settle the claim during its meeting today at 9 a.m. The funds would come from the city's 2009 fiscal year risk management budget for uninsured losses.

BRAC update

Also on council's agenda today is an update from Fort Benning commander Maj. Gen. Walter Wodjakowski on the post's anticipated growth. The expansion expected as a part of the military's Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC process, is estimated to bring about 30,000 newcomers to Columbus in the next few years.

Councilors also are to get a briefing from the local Development Authority and an update on city revenues and expenditures from the finance department. And they'll hear about a federally funded neighborhood stabilization program designed to deal with home foreclosures.

Folks awaiting further progress on some leftover 1999 city sales tax projects might want to tune into the meeting broadcast on the Columbus Consolidated Government TV channel, CCG-TV. Deputy City Manager David Arrington is to update council on the planning for a new ice rink at the civic center, and an aquatic center and citizens service center to be built near the city's Macon Road library.