Author: SPY

LNP applauds Columbia residents for questioning Borough Council's private meetings

Sunshine needed
We applaud the Columbia residents who recently questioned why the Columbia Borough Council was holding information sessions in private prior to most of its public meetings.

Resident Sharon Lintner helped create the Columbia Concerned Citizens group and is seeking a seat on council in this year’s election. She filed a complaint with the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office alleging council violated the state’s open-meetings law — known as the Sunshine Act — when it voted in a closed-door meeting in November to fund a proposed new position. (Lintner is a former LNP correspondent.)

The DA’s office decided not to investigate, saying it could not prove there was intent to violate the law. But it sent the borough a letter warning that future allegations would be investigated.

“We are suspicious of how much is going on behind closed doors,” Lintner told LNP last month.

Council President Kelly Murphy told LNP the board doesn’t deliberate or vote during information sessions.

We hope this is the case. And we’re cheered that folks in Columbia are keeping an eye on the workings of their elected officials.

This is a good moment to point out that Sunday is the start of Sunshine Week, an annual celebration of access to public information. According to  sunshineweek.org , a website filled with great tools, ideas and resources, “Sunshine Week lasts seven days, but it’s up to all of us to keep the sun shining on government all year.”

SOURCE:

https://lancasteronline.com/opinion/editorials/our-hearts-go-out-to-alabama-tornado-victims-opinion/article_244efbd2-412e-11e9-86e4-1bc3ec7d5641.html

COLUMBIA BOROUGH POLICE ARE CRACKING DOWN ON UNPAID PARKING TICKETS | Columbia Borough Police Department

Effective immediately the Columbia Borough Police Department will begin placing “Boots” on vehicles that have outstanding parking warrants against them. Contact the District Justice Office at 341 Chestnut Street, Columbia, PA 17512:  Ph: 717-684-2761 to pay your outstanding warrants and to avoid an additional fee of $35 to have the “Boot” removed from your vehicle. See the attached list to determine if you have outstanding parking warrants. Attachments:  HERE

Source:  Columbia Borough Police Department

Sourced via CRIMEWATCH®:

Cheaper by the Dozen? How many people live there anyway?

117-119 North 5th Street

119 North 5th Street might be an exercise in determining how many people can fit into a house. The answer in this case appears to be a dozen. It also might be an exercise in determining how such alleged overcrowding could occur – apparently without the borough’s knowledge.

Gerald Hawn, as he has done on several previous occasions, once again brought the issue forth, this time at Tuesday’s work session. Hawn owns 501 Walnut Street, right next to the parcel in question. In earlier meetings, he had asked Borough Council about the status of 119 North 5th, since so many young women entered and left during the day and vehicles were being illegally parked in his lot. Council seemed dumbfounded at the revelation and offered no definitive answers. Hawn finally took matters into his own hands and asked the owner of one of the parked vehicles what was going on in the house. The man replied that it was a “rehab house” that had space for 12 women, although only 11 were staying there at the time. The man said his girlfriend was one of women. 
Hawn presented this information at a recent council meeting. According to Hawn, Borough Manager Rebecca Denlinger subsequently contacted him just before the February 26 meeting to tell him a zoning enforcement action is pending.

At this past Tuesday’s work session, Hawn asked for an update and was told by Zoning Enforcement officer Jeff Helm he will be meeting with the property manager/lessee of the building on Friday morning, March 8, to discuss elements of the zoning enforcement notice. According to Helm, the person will be given an opportunity to address issues discovered during an inspection done on Monday of last week. Helm said if an agreement is not reached this Friday, the lessee will have 30 days to “fix” the issues. If this is not done by the deadline, the lessee will have the right to appeal the issue to the Zoning Hearing Board. Hawn asked what the zoning issue is, and Helm replied, “The zoning issue is the number of people.”

The parcel includes two structures, one of which, at 117 North 5th, is currently unoccupied. The other structure, at 119 North 5th, has three bedrooms and 2-1/2 baths as well as the other accommodations listed below. (The Lancaster County Tax Assessment Office lists the parcel simply as “117 N FIFTH ST”.)

According to public records, the property was acquired by ACEMAC LLC on February 28, 2018 at a cost of $210,000. Interestingly, the company was created only 12 days before, on February 16, 2018. Additional information is shown below. 

Columbia Borough Council looks into social media options for better communication

Borough Council took a few more tentative steps into the world of social media at Tuesday night’s work session. As was the case at the previous meeting, Borough Manager Rebecca Denlinger recorded the meeting via cell phone as another practice run towards the eventual livestreaming of meetings.

Council also continued hammering out a policy for its planned Facebook page. Cleon Berntheizel, chair of Community Development, presented an update draft of the policy.  Denlinger said the update was the third draft and was reviewed by the borough solicitor, who made changes to the policy. Also discussed were options to connect to Twitter and Instagram, both of which were considered premature at this point. The Facebook issue will be placed on the agenda for the March 12 council meeting.

The draft presented at Tuesday’s meeting is shown below.