CMX TO REOPEN COLONIAL METALS IN MAY

California Metal-X (CMX) plans to reopen in May the Pennsylvania copper foundry it recently acquired from Colonial Metals, marking the company’s first foray into the east coast.

CMX will produce high-quality copper casting alloys at the Columbia, Pennsylvania, facility. In addition to acquiring Colonial’s assets, CMX paid the company’s remaining debts to allow the company to avoid bankruptcy, president Tim Strelitz told Argus.

Colonial Metals shuttered in June 2018 because of financial difficulties. Its Columbia foundry is the only brass and bronze manufacturing facility with a submerged electric arc furnace, which was used to recover low-grade copper scrap.

At the time of its closure, the facility was processing an estimated 90mn lbs of scrap metal per year.

CMX is the largest red metal, brass and bronze ingot manufacturer on the west coast, with an annual production capacity of more than 36mn lbs.

[SOURCE]

Former borough manager urges repeal of Revolving Loan Fund and tax hike to avoid costly legal battle

Former Columbia Borough Manager Norm Meiskey is urging borough council to repeal its recently created Revolving Loan Fund and municipal tax hike, in order to avoid a lengthy and costly court battle at taxpayers’ expense. The letter, which was submitted to council members last night, references a previous letter to Council from the law firm of Stock and Leader challenging the legality of the fund and its accompanying tax increase. Meiskey’s letter also accuses Council of overspending and questions the justification for the tax hike.

Code fees take big jump on council's new fee schedule

2019 Fee Schedule, page 1 of 6
Columbia Borough code fees have gone up – drastically. According to council’s newly released 2019 fee schedule, the borough’s condemnation fee is now $750, a 275% jump from 2018’s fee of $200. 
The cost to appeal any decision of a code enforcement officer or police officer is now $250, up from $100 in 2018. In addition, the zoning hearing fee is now $700, as compared to last year’s $600. Other fees have seen similar increases, while some have increased marginally or have held steady.
The complete 2019 fee schedule can be found HERE.
The 2018 fee schedule is HERE.