Month: June 2016

On Monday night, Columbia Borough Council accepted the resignation of Barry Ford, a longtime councilman. Barry allowed us to share his resignation letter, shown below. We will miss his presence on council and wish him all the best.

Penetradar Corporation used ground-penetrating radar to scan the Veterans Memorial Bridge today. Several radar devices were used to investigate aspects of the bridge’s construction, including the location and condition of rebar buried within the bridge’s concrete deck. Two technicians used a portable device to scan sidewalks. They also used a van with four units mounted on the front to scan the roadway. Columbia Spy caught up with them on the Wrightsville end of the bridge.

According to the technicians, a month-long process will follow today’s collection of scan data about the bridge. All information will then be relayed to RK&K, an engineering firm, to be analyzed in conjunction with PennDOT, as a possible first stage in an upcoming bridge renovation project. According to PennDOT officials, the planning phase could take four to six years.

A much-needed and long-awaited painting project was underway at Columbia River Park this afternoon. Using duct tape, cardboard stencils and a small paint roller, this intrepid painter began reviving the faded numbers and level marks on the river level depth marker scale on the first river pier of the Veterans Memorial Bridge. He stood on the deck of a pontoon boat to access the lower numbers.  The higher ones will present more of a challenge. 

The last photo below shows the height of 1972’s Hurricane Agnes at 241 feet. Numbers indicate height above sea level. Not shown here but indicated on the pier is a mark denoting the normal height of 227 feet at this location.

It was announced at the beginning of the meeting that Items II.10.i. and II.16.a. were removed from the agenda.

Now’s the time to think about what kind of country we want. 

With that in mind, here’s some food for thought from around the web:

Last Tuesday, June 7, local leaders and others held a community discussion at Columbia Jr./Sr. High School to address the heroin epidemic in the area. Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz and Columbia Borough Police Chief Jack Brommer led the discussion. An audience of about 70 people listened to a panel of six describe their encounters with the drug and users under its influence. Audience members also addressed the panel in a subsequent question-and-answer session.

Go HERE for more information on the community conversation.