Month: April 2017

A few takeaways from Borough Council meeting April 10, 2017

The McGinness property at 1020 Manor Street
1) Council voted 5-1 to purchase the McGinness property which contains eight tracts of ground constituting approximately 58 acres of land located within the Borough of Columbia and West Hempfield Township. The sale price is $1.625 million, and the appraisal is $1.71 million. Councillor John Novak was the only NO vote. Details to follow.
Recent listing for 208-210 Locust Street

2) Council is considering an offer from Sam and Cindy Bigler to deed the property located at 208-210 Locust Street to Columbia Borough to satisfy borough liens currently associated with the property. Borough liens total $51,911.17. The Biglers will need to satisfy mortgage debt and other liens before the borough would acquire the property.

According to realtor.com the property is listed with SHEPH Real Estate for sale at $49,900. Details to follow.

Dr. Sherry Welsh at May 11, 2015 Borough Council meeting
3) Council accepted the resignation of Dr. Sherry Welsh, effective March 17, 2017, according to her resignation letter. Welsh was appointed by Council on May 11, 2015 to fill a seat vacated a few months earlier by Jody Gable. Dr. Welsh was to serve out the remainder of the term, which is 2-1/2 years. Welsh, who holds a doctorate in social work, is operations manager for York-Adams Transportation Authority and also works part time as a therapist.

4) Council approved purchasing 31 Dell Optiplex personal computers from Staples Business Advantage at a cost of $18,356, and two Dell Power Edge Servers from EZ solutions at a cost of $15,957.

5) Council approved the purchase of a brine machine at a cost not to exceed $45,000, a Kubota RTV with blade attachment at a cost of $20,508, and a snowblower attachment with chute for current skid steer unit at a cost of $7,836.

6) Council approved purchase of a street sweeper at a cost of $221,877, a snowblower at a cost of $124,547, and a compact trackloader with bucket attachment at a cost of $51,463.

MORE TO FOLLOW

Graffiti vandals caught!

Two people believed to be responsible for the recent rash of graffiti in Columbia have been arrested.

The two were arrested by police recently for an unrelated incident and confessed to spray painting the graffiti when questioned by Officer Bryan Keyser and another officer. Several buildings on North Second and North Front were vandalized during the last week of March. If the suspects are found guilty, they will be made to provide restitution, among other penalties.

Mayor Lutz announced the arrests at Monday’s Borough Council meeting.

More information will be posted when it becomes available.

About Town

Recent photos . . .

 Two guys metal-detecting where storage units will soon be built along Front Street 

 Plaques are back. Memorial plaques on River Park benches have been replaced. Some had been taken by thieves last year.

Thursday’s heavy rains raised the water level to 4-1/2 feet above normal at River Park:

 Straw was recently added to the landscaping at the bridge plaza.
 A train took a rest on the tracks along Shawnee Run.

This tractor-trailer emblazoned with CHINA SHIPPING has been parked at the Columbia Shopping Center for the last few days. Wonder if Trump knows about this:

Some sort of work was being done on Saturday at the bridge across Route 30, on Malleable Road:

Smaller on the outside

Three fire departments practice river rescue

Three Chester County Fire Companies took advantage of the high water and fast current to practice river rescues on the Susquehanna this afternoon. The companies carried out exercises for several hours near Columbia River Park.

PA Water Rescue Instructors Todd Stahl (L) and Alex Myers (R) provide instructional training to the Chester County Rescue Taskforce members. Students representing Alert Fire, Lionville and Fame Fire Companies attended the 16-hour training of Boat Operations.

Stahl, a former Columbia resident and Myers (Craley) are pioneers of the water rescue instructing industry. Both instructors have been providing safety, training and education to our First Responders since 1997 throughout the Keystone State and surrounding states.

Six takeaways from the school board meeting

At Thursday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting:

1) Keith Ramsey, acting business manager, gave a detailed presentation on the budget and a budget preview for the 2017-18 school year. He also promptly posted the budget online, which can be viewed at the school board website or HERE. Ramsey said, “It’s a different type of budget presentation. It’s kind of the state of the district if you will, things I’ve seen, I’ve found, and some issues I see, and what it looks like for next year.”

2) Rachael Smith Kedney was appointed to the board. Board President Keith Combs said there was only one letter of interest. The position was not advertised, and the applicant was not interviewed.

3) School counselors were present to talk about a program called “339 Plan” for grades 8-12 to promote career and college readiness.

4) Board director Barry Ford asked what the deadline for applications is for the football coaching position. Tom Strickler, director of operations, said the deadline for applications is April 14. Strickler added, “A former coach has stepped forward, has no interest at all in the position. He’s retired and wants to remain that way. However, he is very concerned about our student athletes.” The coach will meet with Dr. Smith, the high school principal, to discuss assisting with physical activities that the players need so they don’t fall behind.

5) Board director Kathleen Hohenadel requested returning to the former practice of having administrators attend committee meetings to facilitate discussions and have immediate answers in person rather than through emails. President Combs said he does not want to bring in the full administrative staff, but if the need arises to bring an individual in, he would be willing to do so. Hohenadel cautioned against using too much discussion-and-answer through email.

6) The board voted to approve the Land Bank acquisition of 551 Avenue H contingent upon appropriate funding. If the property is acquired, the plan is to demolish it, according to Combs. Afterwards, the land could possibly be sold to adjacent property owners with the aim of getting it back onto the tax rolls. The blighted property has been condemned and is shown below: