Year: 2018

About Town

This week’s photos from around Columbia . . .
The lion’s share of the morning light
(Chestnut Street)
Hurt sign
(7th Street and Purples Lane)

Mirror, Mirror
(4th & Locust)

Looks like Warren Buffett will make a few more bucks.
(Front & Bridge)

Back door to Lazy K
(Avenue H)

All decked out
(Walnut Street)

Sign of fall
(Walnut Street)

Another Knox Box takes hold.
(Walnut Street)

Rinse and spit.
(Locust Street)
Architectural features
(Locust Street)
More of the same

Go home, Weather Vane – You’re drunk.
(Bank Avenue)

Seams, it seems.
(South 2nd Street)

Workin’ on the railroad
(2nd & Mill)

At the controls

All aboard

A couple standing far too close to a fast-moving train on a rainy night

Summer’s end

Don’t cry over spilled paint.
(Florence Street)
Ditto
(South 5th)

Ignore the sign. Looks like he made a break for it.
(Mill Street)
Datestone at Mt. Zion AME Church

And another

Over at Ashley Tabernacle – two datestones

Ashley Tabernacle
(South 5th)

12:44 p.m., Eastern Backyard Time
(South 5th)

A lot to unpack here
(Walnut Street)

Even the spiders got rained out.

Another fog photo

So, who’s supposed to be mowing this?
(North 2nd)

Boot . . . 

Leg
(Bridge Street)

Golden Arches
This flagpole is dedicated to veterans.

And here it is.
This one at the post office needs some looking after.

Not the Uffington White Horse – just one of many decorative hitching posts that seem to be everywhere around town.
(Union Street)
(Nope, don’t do it.)

Stars on the side
(Concord Avenue)
More signs of fall
(Concord Avenue)

Cracking/peeling paint with a sign underneath
(South 6th)

Sorry, guys – Ya gotta go!

Doorway arch
(North 3rd)
Bridge arch

Confederate flag plate and Yankee candle
(Bridge Street)

The sinkhole is sinking again.
(Bridge Street)

Date step?
(2nd & Walnut)

Unattended equipment – What could possibly go wrong?
(Walnut Street)

Really?

Signs down on North 7th

Datestone
(Locust Street)

OK – That works.
(Walnut Street)
That’s one way to rope ’em in.
(By the way, what’s that SCCA sign still doing there?)
In Heaven, there is no beer.
(Laurel Hill Cemetery)

Building materials?
(North 6th)

Moon trapped in a treetop
(Laurel Hill Road)

Trailer park?
(Purples Lane)

We received the following two photos, accompanied by the caption: “320 South 2nd Street. The hole gets bigger every time the street sweeper goes over.”

Columbia Police are looking for a man charged with stalking and making terroristic threats

On 9/27/18 the Columbia Borough Police Department obtained an arrest warrant for Austin Dean Hoffman, 22, of Columbia for charges of stalking and terroristic threats.  Anyone with information as to Hoffman's whereabouts should contact the Columbia Borough Police Department at 717-684-7735 or text LANCS to 847411.  Note:  All parties are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Date: 

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Case Status:

Case Type:

Case Region:

https://lancaster.crimewatchpa.com/columbiapd/10552/cases/arrest-warrant-stalking-and-terroristic-threats

About Town

This week’s photos from around Columbia . . .


Bikers from several motorcycle clubs attended the funeral of Tim Williams on Saturday morning at Holy Trinity Church. He was a Life Member of the Thunderbird Motorcycle Club.
His obituary is HERE.
About 30 bikes belonging to visitors lined up in the lot.
(Holy Trinity Church is on the right.)
Burial was at Holy Trinity Cemetery.

Visitors lined up to pay their respects.

*********

More of Columbia’s historic houses – topped by various spindles

 They come in different shapes.

 Pointy

Pointier

And MIA

This one came with a red-tailed hawk.
Shown here observing a moment of silence
*********

 New net needed

 Relaxation’s Transportation – Says it right there.

Sign in the alley
 Where did that come from?

 It sprang up recently – and suddenly – at the intersection of Franklin Street and Franklin Road. The previous structure at this location burned down a few years ago.

 Rock-solid watchdog
 Rock-solid watchfrog

Lion in town square
 Shadow cat?

Owned by this “shadow” person?
(Note the missing fingers.)

 New rockers at Columbia Crossing
 Across the river

 A wink and a nod

 Possible Mitch McConnell sighting?

 FREE – 
Wood you believe it?
 Power washing the boat ramp 

 Men In Black

*********
A walk up the river trail . . .
 The tube runneth over.

 Flutterby on flower

 Under the bridge
 Up at the old furnace

 A look inside

 Hiding place?

 Entrance and exit

 Sunlit

 Looking up

 Back outside

 West Hempfield

Spare rails?

Onward to the tunnel!
Up close

Right on through

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

 Blubbery growths on a rotting log

Lichen City . . .

*********
 We’re told this is a mechanical tire changer.

Another one of those painted rocks

 For your kitchen counter

 New sidewalk on the 500 block of Walnut
Tuned in

 Once again, but a different driver this time
(See last week’s “About Town.”)

Tube near the tracks

 This might set a precedent.

 Fallen stone slabs on the 500 block of Chestnut

 Fancy fence

 Ornate gate

 Another view of the Market House

Catnap

 Busy window

 Busy scene

 Escort service

 BBQing the chickens at CBFD

 Diplomat
*********
 Out on Purple’s Lane- Foam was found in the water here on Friday.

 Supposedly, fish were killed here due to exposure to the chemical foam from a fire department training exercise at Columbia High School.

 In other news, looks like things at this outfall have fallen apart.

Here too.


The following photos were submitted to Columbia Spy:

At CVS

Poor housekeeping uptown

Poor housekeeping downtown

Market House could become wedding and event venue under new proposal

Joshua Hankey, CEO of Royal Square Development and Construction, presents a proposal for use of the Market House to the Public Works and Property Committee at its September meeting. 

A second proposal for the Market House envisions it as a venue for weddings, corporate events, and special occasion parties.

Joshua Hankey, CEO of Royal Square Development and Construction, made the proposal at the September Public Works and Property Committee meeting. Hankey had originally been invited to this month’s borough council meeting when CHI presented its proposal but was unable to attend.

Hankey said Royal Square wants to engage with the borough to develop and manage a wedding and event venue at the Market House. Under the proposal, Columbia Borough would retain ownership of the building and keep it available to the public Sunday through Thursday but would set aside Fridays and Saturdays for weddings and events. Hankey said the undertaking would require an investment in construction and redevelopment of the property from Royal Square. The company’s partner, JDK Catering, would also be involved.

Hankey explained that he was approached two years ago by Janice Nikoloff of the Columbia Economic Development Corporation to look at the vacant Hotel Locust building on Locust Street. His first thought was to open a boutique hotel there, but he had reservations due to the lack of retail and restaurants in Columbia and felt that redeveloping the property was “a little risky.” Nikoloff subsequently directed him to the Market House which he thought could be redeveloped and could drive traffic to Columbia and then increase the developability of Hotel Locust and other Columbia properties.

“You’re looking at more than a half a million dollars of economic development directly to the locale from something like this,” Hankey said of the Market House project. He cited the building’s location: right in the middle between York and Lancaster, 35 miles south of Harrisburg, 65 miles north of Baltimore and a little less than 100 miles from Wilmington and Philadelphia. “It’s a good location,” he said.

According to Hankey, the venue would be named, appropriately enough, “The Market House.” For the proposal to work, the building would need to be able to seat 350 guests. A catering area would also be required. Currently, the building is not big enough to accommodate such an area, so a catering tent would be erected in the alley (Sadie Lane). The alley would need to be abandoned and would become part of the venue. The historic integrity of the building would be kept intact, except for HVAC condensing units that would be “hidden” on the building’s south side.

Inside, brand new bathrooms would be added, as would a groom’s room and a bride’s room. The existing brick floor would be pulled up and relaid to make it flat, and a sprinkler system would be installed. The entire interior would also be repainted.

JDK Catering would take care of all marketing. Renters would be required to use JDK for catering when renting the venue. Renters could provide alcohol, but it must be served by JDK. Tables and chairs would be stored on site.

Hankey said there are 34 parking spaces in borough lots around the building, plus more than 70 spaces in and around Columbia River Park to accommodate visitors to the venue. He added that Holy Trinity has a 70-space lot that could be used on Friday nights only. (The lot would not be available on Saturday nights due to Mass.) Visitors would walk or be bused from the more distant lots, with expenses to be borne by the renter.

Since Royal Square is a construction company, it would carry out construction but would waive development fees (5%) of the total project cost, which in this case would be $46,000, according to Hankey. He estimates a total cost of $930,000 “to do what needs to be done.” Choosing to use a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) would add another $157,000 to the cost, due to state requirements. Borough Manager Rebecca Denlinger explained that a RACP is a grant from the state for economic development projects. “We put a line item in for three different projects for potential RACP funding. We did name the Market House in that application,” she said.

Hankey predicted a total revenue of $51,000 for 2019, with a net to the borough of $8,000. Utilities and maintenance are not included in the projections.

“We’re proposing this, because we think economic development-wise, it makes sense. Return on investment – it’s low,” Hankey said. “We’re not proposing that we buy the building and do this because of two reasons: One, we’re told that the borough doesn’t want to sell it; and Two, it’s too risky.”

Hankey proposes a development agreement with an attachment specifying the management agreement for a term of 5-years, with a possible option to renew. Mayor Leo Lutz estimated it would take 15-20 years to see a return on investment, and Hankey concurred.

Hankey said that if the proposal is approved in the near future, construction could begin in early 2019 and be completed by late April, in time for the wedding season.