JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY
Contract pays $120 an hour for up to 30 hours a week; council says outside help will stabilize operations as it searches for a permanent manager
Columbia Borough Council voted Tuesday night to hire Keystone Municipal Solutions LLC to serve as interim borough manager, handing day-to-day management of the borough to the firm at $120 an hour for up to 30 hours a week.
Keystone will provide Chad Saylor, its executive director, as interim manager. Council chose Keystone over a competing proposal from Stonehill Ratliff LLC of Chambersburg after interviewing both in executive session.
What the agreement says
Under the agreement, Keystone’s interim manager will perform the duties of borough manager under borough policies and report directly to council. Those duties include supervising departments, overseeing purchasing and contracts, handling complaints, administering the adopted budget and grants, and attending meetings as directed. The manager must also give council a weekly summary of “accomplishments, issues, failures, problems, staffing issues, etc.”
Terms:
• Rate and hours: $120 an hour, billed monthly, for up to 30 hours a week. The borough sets the hours, and mileage for in-person work is reimbursed.
• Advance payment: The borough must pay a $5,000 advance, applied to the final invoice. Any unused portion is refunded.
• Exit: Either side can end the arrangement with five business days’ written notice. Council members described the contract as one year with an early out.
• No benefits: Keystone is an independent contractor, so the borough pays no health, pension or other benefits.
• Open records: The interim manager will not serve as the borough’s open records officer. Council separately appointed Ron Youtz to that role Tuesday.
Council members praised Saylor, who most recently served as interim manager of Steelton Borough in Dauphin County. Heather Zink, vice president, said she watched him present at the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs conference in June. “He was extremely knowledgeable and I was very impressed by him,” Zink said.
Saylor is a former township supervisor and has about 15 years of county administration experience. His firm’s client list includes Swarthmore, Bellefonte and Honesdale boroughs and West Brandywine Township.
Stonehill Ratliff’s proposal would have made the firm itself the interim manager, with about 24 hours a week on site, at $24,000 a month.
“We get someone in here without an emotional connection to this borough, to the citizens, to actually look at what we’re doing, tell us where we’re going wrong and get us on the right track,” Zink said. Councilman Ethan Byers later added,”Ideally, he’s here for as little time as possible, because he fixes everything immediately.”
The vote follows a turbulent stretch at Borough Hall. Council on November 5 approved a resignation and settlement agreement with former manager Paula Diffenderfer and accepted the resignation of Councilman Thomas Ziegler. “It’s a hectic turnover,” President Eric Kauffman said, “and it’s budget season.”
Tuesday’s meeting also approved outside contractors for finance (Brown Plus) and for rental, fire and zoning inspections (Commonwealth Code Inspection Service), as part of a broader shift toward contracted services.
What it means for taxpayers
The contract is not cheap. It costs somewhat more than the current manager’s pay, but avoids paying benefits. The borough’s 2026 budget includes $104,000 for the manager’s salary, with about $77,100 spent through early November, according to budget figures in the packet. That figure excludes benefits.
By comparison, Keystone’s maximum cost is $3,600 a week, or about $15,600 a month. If the borough used all 30 hours every week for a full year, the total would be about $187,200.
Several terms limit the cost, and one could raise it:
• Hours are flexible. Because the borough sets the hours and the contract says “up to” 30, spending depends on how many hours council asks for.
• Short exit. A five-business-day notice period limits the borough’s exposure if the arrangement does not work out.
• Hiring penalty. The agreement bars the borough from hiring or contracting directly with any Keystone employee for three years without Keystone’s consent. If it does, the borough owes the greater of 20 percent of the person’s annual salary or three times what it has paid Keystone. As an example, three months at full hours would cost about $46,800, which would make the fee about $140,400. Council did not discuss that clause Tuesday.
• Mutual non-disparagement. Both parties agree not to make statements that reflect negatively on the other, during and after the engagement.
• No legal protection. Although Keystone is a subsidiary of the law firm McNees Wallace & Nurick, the agreement states the borough is not a client of the firm and has no attorney-client privilege.
The next budget meeting is Thursday, November 19, at 7 p.m., and the next regular meeting is November 24.
