Several residents demanded action on various property issues – public and private – at last week’s Columbia Borough Council meeting.
Borough Manager Rebecca Denlinger said the borough is aware of the problem and that the next step is to identify that the water is coming specifically from a “homeowner’s home.” The borough will then determine what role, if any, it has in fixing the problem.
Gerald Hawn, who owns a building at 501 Walnut Street, said water is running into his property from a neighboring property. He said a code enforcement officer responded to his concern “but nothing ever happened.” He said he has called the borough office several times but got no results.
Hawn also said that drain pipes were improperly installed on the 500 block of Walnut Street during a recent road and sidewalk reconstruction project. He cited one example in particular, in which a drain line leading from a building to the storm sewer was two inches lower than the sewer inlet. Hawn said he pointed out the problem to a job foreman who told him the curb would be replaced. Instead, workmen jack-hammered through the curb to fit the pipe in, according to Hawn. “A lot of the drains have been put in wrong,” he told council.
Hawn also said that drain lines leading from downspouts are supposed to have a “positive grade,” but water in some pipes doesn’t make it out to the curb due to an incorrect grade. Hawn also said elbows have been added to some lines that don’t line up with the hole in the curb, which increases the likelihood of clogging. In other cases, lines were run crooked, Hawn said. He said the engineer is supposed to inspect all the forms and all the drains. “My sidewalks look pathetic, and nobody is checking them,” he said.
Council President Kelly Murphy said that if it is found that the job has not been done correctly, it will have to be redone. “We’ll look into it,” he said.
Nick Meley once again reminded council of ongoing issues with slumlords in the borough as he has at several recent meetings. He said there have been three recent tenant changes at rentals in his neighborhood and asked if property inspections are on hold, claiming none of the properties were inspected after tenants moved out. He said one property in particular has bathroom problems.
Joanne Fritz told council about problems with an Air bnb in her neighborhood. She has been vocal about the issue at several recent borough meetings. She said the borough is allowing a business to operate in a low-density residential neighborhood and said the house at 1102 Locust Street is supposed to be rented out as a single family home. She cited an incident from the Friday before Labor Day, in which raw sewage was running down the street from the house and said the issue wasn’t addressed by the homeowner until Sunday. She said people are still renting the house – most recently four women from Florida, who she said are not a single family. Fritz also cited noise problems associated with visitors at the property.
Frank Doutrich cited an improperly installed drain line at his property on Lancaster Avenue that he said he had to fix. He said contractors sometimes do work incorrectly and it is not checked afterwards. “When they come to do a job, they just get the job done,” he said. “They don’t care.” He agreed with Gerald Hawn that the borough engineer is responsible for inspecting jobs when they are completed. He blamed council for signing off on jobs without proper follow-up. “Is it wrong for the citizens of this town to ask that they be done right?” he asked.
Doutrich also complained about both street sweepers often being out of operation at the same time, claiming the problem is due to mismanagement. He also cited a weed and grass problem at 1020 Ironville Pike, where the weeds are over six feet tall. He said a neighbor of the property told him she came to the borough office three times to report the problem, because she couldn’t see above the weeds to back out of her driveway safely. Allegedly, an employee at the borough office told her to back into her driveway so that she could see to pull out onto Ironville Pike.
Columbia Spy 