2018 – Page 26 – Columbia Spy

What happened to our streets? (A Friday morning walk through town)

Recent excavation on our streets has left an ugly assortment of patches, seams, and steel plates. Although some of the work has been completed, excavating is still going on. UGI and its subcontractors, and the Columbia Water Company are the worst offenders. Over the past few weeks, some areas of town were virtually impassable due to lack of planning and overlapping projects. At this point, it’s unclear if flowable fill has been used after excavation. It’s also unclear who will repave the streets once all projects are finished, or if anyone in the borough is overseeing any of this.

Following are a few of the streets we saw this morning.

North 5th Street near Walnut

The 500 block of Walnut

The 200 block of South 8th Street

On Wright Street looking towards South 8th

Along South 9th Street

South 9th Street

South 9th and Mifflin

South 9th

South 9th Street and Ridge Avenue

South 9th

800 block of Locust

800 block of Chestnut

Knox Box: WITF hosts discussion with councilman, fire chief, and business owner

This morning’s Knox Box discussion on WITF-FM’s Smart Talk is scheduled to be re-broadcast tonight at 7 o’clock. The discussion includes Councilman John Novak, Fire Chief Doug Kemmerly, and business owner Keena Soukup, and focuses on Columbia Borough’s ordinance requiring business owners and others to install the boxes. The discussion can be heard online HERE and at 89.5 FM on the radio.

The following synopsis is from the WITF website:

Also, at the end of last year the Columbia Borough Council unanimously voted to enact an ordinance that requires Columbia businesses, apartments and nursing care facilities to have lock boxes, also known as Knox Boxes, installed outside their buildings. The boxes are intended to contain keys and building blueprints to be used by emergency personnel responding to events like fires.

Business owners are pushing back against the ordinance, citing concerns about cost, security and privacy. The boxes cost hundreds of dollars up front, and workers are also worried about who will cover the expense of repairing or replacing the boxes if they are tampered with. In addition, some Columbia residents and business people oppose the lock boxes because they fear they will be easy to break into and might give people unwanted access to their buildings.

We’re joined by Columbia Borough Councilman John Novak and Fire Chief Douglas Kemmerly. Keena Soukup, business owner of Soukup Automotive in Columbia, created a petition opposing the lock box ordinance. She joins us on Friday’s Smart Talk to discuss the legislation.

Is Colonial Metals having a garage sale?

A recent craigslist post lists various foundry items for sale. The accompanying street map shows the location of Colonial Metals, 217 Linden Street, which closed in June. The posting is HERE.

And still another one bites the dust

Doug’s Tree Service cut down an oak tree along the sidewalk at Mount Bethel Cemetery this afternoon. Mount Bethel spokesman Ron Mable said it was necessary to take the tree down, because it was dying. Several other trees have been cut down inside the cemetery over the past few years.

The river's on the rise again

Due to recent heavy rains, the Susquehanna River was more than 5 feet above normal at Columbia River Park this morning (Thursday, August 16th).

Facade re-bricking to begin at 208 Locust Street

Narcan Training Session Thursday, August 16, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Rockin' Reptiles on the Library Terrace Thursday, August 16, at 6:30 p.m.

Council president says no to "opt-out" on Knox Box ordinance

At last night’s borough council meeting, Council President Kelly Murphy read from a prepared statement expressing his opinion that the so-called “Knox Box ordinance” should not contain a provision to opt out. At recent meetings, business owners and others had asked that such a provision be considered. Murphy’s full statement can be heard at Columbia News, Views & Reviews HERE.