Year: 2015

Columbia Borough is beginning a study about consolidating police forces, just as the issue is popping up in more and more communities across the region.

The state Department of Community and Economic Development will run the study at no cost to the borough.

It will look at the department’s operations – call volume, staffing and costs – but it will also evaluate whether some type of merger or consolidation with neighboring communities makes sense.

MORE:
http://www.witf.org/news/2015/10/lancaster-county-borough-studying-future-of-police-department.php

The National Physical Activity Society—a nonprofit organization promoting public health approaches and collaboration to create active communities—has recognized Columbia, Lancaster County, in their “Stories from Small Towns” report. The report is part of a project to demonstrate that structural changes to make walking easier can be carried out in America’s thousands of small towns and not just its big cities.

The society’s report was particularly impressed with Columbia’s Susquehanna River Park, with four acres now refitted with a trail system and a new building with educational center. The borough obtained several grants to fund this project, including from DCNR.

From the report:
Several parks in the borough of
Columbia were run down, and a
master plan identified the need for
improvements. Mayor Leo Lutz
started revitalizing, purchasing
more land for the park system. One
example is the Susquehanna River
Park, four acres now refitted with a
trail system and a new building with
educational center. The borough
obtained several grants to fund this
project.

Another project was carried out
amidst concerns from residents,
who thought the new basketball
courts and play apparatus would be
destroyed. Residents came around
to the idea and now even support
the new park projects.
The important aspect seemed to be letting them have their say and be heard by the town leaders.
The borough’s changes have taken place over 12 years. Columbia was listed as one of the 20 best small towns to visit in 2014 by Smithsonian Magazine and in the same year among the top 16 small Pennsylvania cities by Cities Journal.

Key Lessons
● Funding can be cobbled together from multiple places. Columbia obtained Urban
Enhancement Funding from the county, along with funds from the Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and the Department of Environmental Protection.

● Involve everyone you can think of, from the very beginning. The more people and the more public, the better your chances of success.

MORE:

According to Borough Manager Ron Miller, seven or eight trees along the river bank at Columbia River Park are slated to be removed in the near future. Miller announced the plan at Tuesday night’s budget meeting and added that reforesting will be undertaken in the spring to replace the lost trees. The existing trees are dying from the top down and pose a public safety concern.

Police from two Lancaster County departments are seeking information on an individual who stole thousands of dollars worth of jewelry from antique vendors since last week.

The individual, a white male with a pony-tail, targeted three stores on Oct. 8, in East Cocalico Township and Columbia Borough.

They are:

– Adams Antiques, Route 272, East Cocalico Township;

– Route 272 Antiques and Collectibles, Route 272, East Cocalico Township;

– Burning Bridge Antiques, Walnut Street, Columbia.

Surveillance images of the individual are attached. If anyone recognizes the man, or was a victim of similar theft, contact East Cocalico Township Police Detective Keith Neff at 717-336-1725.

The man is believed to be driving a gray sedan, possibly a Chevrolet Impala or something similar.

Police believe the pony-tailed man is acting alone, stealing jewelry of all sorts: rings, necklaces, bracelets. He’s been defeating locks on cases/displays to get to the jewelry, which he then puts in pockets. He is doing so inconspicuously, so police believe he’s done this type of activity before.

He stole an estimated $11,000 worth of items from the Columbia store, and an estimated $5,000-plus in items from the East Cocalico Township locations. Many of the items were being sold under consignment, so the amounts could increase as owners do inventory and realize what they lost.

Police believe the same man targeted an antique store Oct. 12 in Harrisonburg, Va., stealing jewelry there as well.

“There is a lot of history in this cemetery,” noted Mount Bethel Cemetery board member Claire Storm. The cemetery dates from the 1720s, and it is known as the oldest burial ground in continual use in the Columbia area.