Year: 2018

Quick takeaways from September's borough council meeting

MARKET HOUSE PROPOSAL

Philip Goropoulos

Philip Goropoulos of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) presented a proposal for use of the Columbia Historic Market House, currently vacant. The proposal focused on four main areas: Food, Restaurant, Social, and Gathering.

  • Food: 9-20 vendors would provide fresh food at custom-built stands Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; an “after-market” Thursdays and Saturdays.
  • Restaurant: Seating for 40-50 people, lunch and dinner, open Tuesday through Saturday; breakfast might be an option, as would “Pay-What-You-Can Tuesdays,” to be underwritten by CHI.
  • Social: Venue for events, activities, movies.
  • Gathering: Hub within the community, town halls, large meetings, safe spaces, etc.

The building will remain the property of the borough, and CHI will be responsible for management and operations. Goropoulos foresees using a management agreement, similar to that used for the operation of Columbia Crossing. The borough will be responsible for restoration of the building.

Another proposal for the Market House, from Royal Square Development & Construction, will be presented at the Public Works and Property Committee meeting on Tuesday, September 18.

(More details to follow)

LIGHTING PROJECT, MULTIMODAL GRANT

Council approved the application of a Multimodal Transportation Grant in the amount of $1.45 million to be used for the Columbia Streetscape Program. The funds will be used for the purchase and installation of lights along Route 462, safety enhancements on Front Street (Route 441), and overall design and engineering of streetscape improvements. The borough will contribute $1 million to the program.

In February, council approved the purchase of 60 lights at a cost of $347,000 to be installed along Route 462, from the bridge plaza to Bully’s. (Columbia Spy reported on the purchase HERE.) If the grant is approved, additional lights will run to Malleable Road.


TRASH, STREET SWEEPER

Mayor Leo Lutz said the street sweeper is getting “beat up” from picking up plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and metal objects. He said borough employees must sort out these items from the regular sweepings that are picked up. “The gutters in Columbia are not open trash cans, and we need to do a better job of picking up that debris in our community,” Lutz said.


FULL-TIME PROPERTY INSPECTOR FOR CODES DEPARTMENT
The borough is looking to hire a full-time property inspector for the codes department to replace two part-time inspectors, one of whom retired, the other having resigned.

NEW COMPTROLLER POSITION
Council voted to direct the borough solicitor to draft an ordinance to create a “comptroller” position. Borough Manager Rebecca Denlinger said the position is being created to allow the borough to “dig a little deeper on the financial front.” She cited funds, bond issues, and additional capacity within the finance department as reasons the position is needed.

ADDITIONAL INFO TO BE POSTED