Columbia Spy

JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY 

Problem #1: Mosquitoes at the quarry

A borough resident is raising concerns about standing water at the former McGinness property, warning that the site’s quarry may be breeding mosquitoes that are affecting nearby homes and businesses.

Tom Steiner brought the issue before Columbia Borough Council on Tuesday, saying he had spoken beforehand with Derek Rinaldo, borough engineer, and Heather Zink, council vice president. Steiner said that over the past three to four years he has seen a noticeable increase in mosquitoes near his home, despite having no standing water on his property. He noted that he hired a pest control service to spray his yard and has resorted to running fans on his deck and front porch to keep the insects away.

Steiner, who said he has years of firsthand experience with the quarry from swimming there, pointed out the west end of the quarry as a potential problem area. He described that section as largely untouched, overgrown with trees and vines and filled with debris — conditions he said make it a prime breeding are for mosquitoes. He noted that mosquitoes are capable of traveling one to four miles in search of food and pose a health risk to people as well as pets. He also pointed out that the local fire company has a deck just 300 to 400 yards from the quarry.

Steiner asked council to arrange for someone to inspect and analyze the quarry to determine whether it is a breeding ground. He added that certain government agencies and the board of health may be able to conduct such an assessment at no cost to the borough.

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Problem #2: The 60-day rule

The borough’s attempt to sell the property is facing challenges, because a provision in the borough code requiring the sale to close within 60 days of the bid award is raising concerns that it could cool buyer enthusiasm and drive down the final sale price.

“This whole 60 days to close from the bid award is killing us,” Zink said. She added that the 60-day requirement is “ironclad in the borough code.” Under the rule, a buyer must submit full payment within 60 days of the bid being awarded. Zink said that timeline is discouraging potential buyers and could adversely affect the price.

According to Zink, if the first round of bidding fails, the borough still has options. After the property is bid twice without success, council is permitted to work outside the bidding process, directly with a realtor or a buyer.

Bids for the property are due on Friday, May 15 by 4:30 p.m. Bid openings are scheduled for Monday, May 18 at 10 a.m. Resident Frank Doutrich noted that only one potential buyer attended the recent pre-bid meeting, meaning just one person is currently eligible to submit a bid.

[Photos: Lape Brothers Photography]

A woods fire erupted Thursday afternoon near the Breezy View Overlook at Chickies Rock County Park in Lancaster County, prompting a significant response from area fire companies.

The blaze was reported shortly after 1 p.m. in the wooded area around the park. 

A digitized edition of the front page of The Columbia Spy from April 16, 1853 reveals the preoccupations, commerce, and moral culture of mid-19th century small-town America.

A front page of The Columbia Spy, a weekly family newspaper from Columbia, Pennsylvania, dated exactly 173 years ago today, is shown above. Printed by Brown & Greene and devoted to “Literature, Science, Morality, Education, and General Intelligence,” the issue paints a vivid portrait of life several years before the Civil War.

Patent Medicines Dominate the Ads

Much of the paper’s commercial space is given over to patent medicine advertisements, reflecting a booming industry that preceded modern pharmaceutical regulation. Holloway’s Pills are promoted through testimonial letters claiming cures for disordered livers, rheumatic fever, dropsy, and gout. Alongside them, Dr. Houghton’s Pepsin — billed as “Another Scientific Wonder” — promises relief from indigestion and dyspepsia, with a pointed disclaimer: “No Alcohol, Bitters, or Acids.”

Moral and Religious Reflection

True to its mission, the Spy devotes considerable space to devotional content. 

An essay addressed to skeptics invokes Bacon, Newton, and Locke as defenders of the Christian faith, while a German-translated meditation on contentment uses a thirsty bird and a foraging bee as lessons in gratitude. A father’s parting advice compares the faithful life to a patient sailor working with wind and tide until he reaches his destination.

Humor and Community

The paper also finds room for levity — a judge laments two laborers whose legal dispute cost three times the disputed sum, and Dr. Irving famously silences a restless congregation by sitting down mid-sermon to “wait until the chaff has blown off.”

Priced at $1.00 per annum, The Columbia Spy blended patent medicine advertising, moral instruction, local commerce, and gentle humor — a distinctly Victorian American mix in which science, religion, and community were still being actively negotiated.

[This article is AI-generated.]

A York County man died in a motorcycle crash Saturday in Columbia Borough, according to the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office. 

Amos Stoltzfus, 78, of Wrightsville, was operating a trike-style motorcycle when he crashed near the intersection of Lancaster Avenue and South 12th Street around 6:15 a.m. No other vehicles were involved in the crash, the coroner’s office said. 

Police found Stoltzfus on a sidewalk where he was treated by emergency medical personnel before being taken to Lancaster General Hospital where he died of his injuries. 

The coroner’s office ruled the cause of death as multiple blunt force trauma and the manner of death as accidental.

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/coroner-identifies-man-killed-in-columbia-motorcycle-crash/article_4edde93d-75bd-415f-bfbb-88820c09213e.html

The Zoning Hearing Board of the Borough of Columbia will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building at 308 Locust Street to consider variance and special exception requests from two applicants.

In the first case, Yamil M. De Jesus is seeking a special exception to establish a place of worship at 40 N. 4th Street, a property zoned Downtown Commercial. The applicant is also requesting variances from two sections of the Borough Code — one governing the minimum lot area required for a place of worship and another covering the required number of parking spaces.

The second application involves 148 Church Ave., where property owner Jeffrey Sugden is requesting a series of variances to allow development of a single-family home on the High Density Residential-zoned property. Sugden’s requests target code requirements for minimum lot size, side yard setback, and minimum lot width, along with the required number of parking spaces.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the meeting.

[Source: Columbia Borough legal notice issue published in LNP/LancasterOnline on April 13, 2026]

FMJ Real Estate LLC conveyed 144 S. Sixth St. to Nathaniel W. Perry for $205,000.

Daniel M. Armold conveyed 522 S. 10th Street to 522 S. 10th LLC for $131,000.

Overstreet Christopher, Overstreet Sarah conveyed 238 S. Fourth St. to Gobran Guirguis for $130,000.

Valley View Capital LLC conveyed 162 S. Fifth St. to Hutchinson James, Hutchinson Elizabeth for $220,000.

Stoltzfus Steven Lee, Stoltzfus Lillian, Stoltzfus Lillian Rose conveyed 430 Avenue K to Union Grove Enterprise LLC for $245,000.

Wagner Marlena Therese, Markey Marlena, Markey Nathan conveyed 152 N. Seventh St. to Natnael Thehaye for $250,000.

This week’s photos of Columbia 

Click on photos to see larger, sharper images.

JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY

Cops and dogs . . .

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Raven Ridge brought their birds to Columbia Crossing on Saturday . . .

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This surveyor, sporting an Amtrak jacket, was working on the 100 and 200 blocks of Walnut Street for a couple of days. Surveyors were also on the Veterans Memorial Bridge. A project to revamp the first two blocks of Walnut is slated  to begin in about two months. A major rehabilitation project for the bridge is scheduled to begin in 2027.

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A train cab out for a ride

Air-drying the laundry 

Man at work 

When you can’t decide what lane you’re in, just go for the middle. 

There’s a guy drilling into the bridge. 

New store on the first block of North 4th 

Tiny tulips

New display at Columbia Curiosities 

*Two more doggos*

These two were running loose the other day until police caught them and returned them to their owners.

Yes, it’s crumbling. 

Here’s the evidence. 

Visitors on the 300 block of Chestnut 

Several people assembled at a pre-bid meeting at the former McGinness property on Tuesday. 

Part of the old canal system . . .

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Scene of a fatal motorcycle crash

Public works vehicle logo

Out for a trot

[Photo by Sharon Lintner]

Half-hidden bunny at Columbia Crossing 

A lone explorer at the former McGinness property 

Men at work at the Von Hess building 

Flowers and more flowers . . .

Thanks to Lancaster historian Randy Harris, the Civil War bridge piers – along with a nearby lock of the old Pennsylvania canal – have been recognized as an authenticated site on the National Underground Network to Freedom run by the National Park Service. Unfortunately, some people defaced this pier. Many stones are missing, also.

Sunset clouds 

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