Fast and loose with the truth or just inaccurate? A recent Crimson 5 flyer suggests that an article about a tax hike appeared on a Columbia Spy post on 6/19 of this year. In fact, the article appeared on May 28, 2019. True, a tax hike was approved on June 20, 2019 (by two current Crimson candidates), so in that respect 6/19 could be considered correct, but in essence, they’re touting their own tax hike.
The Crimson 5 (formerly Crimson 6) Columbia School Board candidates are complaining about school taxes, but the last tax hike was in 2019, during the tenure of current Crimson candidates Cole Knighton and Fred Thomas when they served on the board. In fact, Knighton was Finance chair at the time, and Thomas seconded the motion and both voted for the tax hike, according to minutes of the June 20, 2019 Columbia School Board meeting.
There’s also been speculation within the community that the purpose of the Crimson 5 is to bring back former Columbia School Superintendent Tom Strickler, who is now CFOO of the Elizabethtown School District. This theory is partially supported by Knighton’s sudden resignation a few years ago, in protest of the board not renewing Strickler’s contract. Knighton is now the de facto leader of the Crimsons.
One wonders if Knighton’s only goal is Strickler’s reinstatement. He hasn’t seemed too interested in serving on the board otherwise. For example, his attendance record was abysmal – only 40% – according to a recent post by the Columbia School Board Candidates for Continued Growth.
Reportedly, only two of the Crimson candidates have attended any school board meetings this year – and only sparsely at that.
So how interested are they in serving our school district if they don’t even show up? How could they know and understand recent issues?
Currently, our school district is moving in a positive direction: Taxes are stable, while attendance and test scores have risen. So, why would the Crimson group want to disrupt this forward momentum, unless they have an agenda, which apparently they do.
Columbia voters would do well to keep the current momentum going by voting for a board that’s already brought success: Sandy Duncan, Sonya Duncan, Kathleen Hohenadel, Charles Leader, Lauren VonStetten – and Sharon Lintner.
At last night’s Columbia Borough School Board meeting, School Board Director Kathleen Hohenadel responded to recent public remarks by borough council members criticizing the school district.
Hohenadel said she was disheartened by the comments from council members, which she described as “an abuse of their public position.” Hohenadel challenged council to reinstate combined meetings with the school board and work together to find solutions.
The last joint meeting between council and the school board was in the spring of 2021.
In October of that year, Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz wrote a scathing letter to LNP critical of the board. Several council members have since made public comments criticizing the board.
Here’s the text of Hohenadel’s statement:
“I was disheartened by the comments made by members of Borough Council at a recent public meeting. Their swipes and jabs at the School District were not productive, did not foster good working relations, and were an abuse of their public position.
I challenge the members of Borough Council to reinstate the combined meetings of these two governmental bodies. Even though we both represent the same constituents, Council members decided those meetings were not productive. Yet, the very issues they grandstanded about could have some solutions that take a partnership of these two entities. It is easy to make derogatory comments about a group of people when you aren’t looking them in the face. I propose the much more difficult route of sitting down together to find solutions, of working collaboratively without the bluster and political positioning.”
Fire Chief Scott Ryno and volunteer firefighters from the Columbia Borough Fire Department thanked the Columbia School Board Thursday evening for passing a tax credit program that benefits firefighters and their families.
The board voted recently to adopt a “Volunteer Firefighters Tax Credit Program” with the goal of encouraging membership and service in the community’s volunteer fire company.
Lancaster Distilleries, 230 N. Fourth St., Columbia, opening, Oct. 26. Pass. The restroom does not have a covered waste receptacle for sanitary napkins. Food facility does not employ a certified food employee as required. The food facility has 90 days to enroll an employee in a state-recognized food safety course for managers.
Rob Misciagna, Columbia district leader for the Lancaster County Democratic Committee, said he believes many Columbia residents received illegally delivered political materials this weekend. Misciagna said Republican campaign literature was found in mailboxes across the borough as GOP candidates canvassed the area.
“These are all folks that really should know better,” Misciagna said. “It’s kind of just the latest instance of our local Republican campaign feeling like the rules don’t apply to them.”
Federal law prohibits anyone from putting materials into a mailbox without postage, according to the United States Postal Service — that covers anything from Christmas cards to cupcakes. Essentially, Postal Service staff members are the only people who can put things in mailboxes. Mail delivery without postage is a criminal offense.
“Any materials placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle must have postage,” Postal Service spokesperson Mark Lawrence said via email.
As part of plans to move its production to Columbia, Lancaster Distilleries will be opening a taproom later this month in a former auto garage in the riverside borough.
The new Columbia taproom at 230 N. Fourth St. will have seating for around 50, including at a small bar. The roughly 1,000-square-foot taproom is connected to a 7,500-square-foot warehouse that will eventually become the new production area for Lancaster Distilleries.
Currently, Lancaster Distilleries produces its vodka, whiskey, gin, rum and brandy in downtown Lancaster at Zoetropolis Cinema Stillhouse, 112 N. Water St.
Nate Boring, one of the managing partners of Lancaster Distilleries, said the owners had been eyeing a move to Columbia so they could expand their production area and secure future warehouse space.
The other managing partners at Lancaster Distilleries are Cheila Huettner, Leigh Lindsay, Todd Smith and Matt Hostetter. Taylor Kinney, a Lancaster native and star of NBC’s “Chicago Fire,” is an investor in the project.
An anticipated grant for the drone company set to anchor McGinness Innovation Park has not been approved.
During the October 24 Columbia Borough Council meeting, Councilwoman Sharon Lintner inquired about the progress of DR1’s SMART Grant application. (DR1 Group is a drone company looking to develop an aerial-technology business in the McGinness Innovation Park and is expected by borough officials to become a major endeavor there.)
In an update, Borough Manager Mark Stivers revealed that the grant application submitted last year was denied, because the proposal was deemed “too broad.”
The grant has now been resubmitted with a more refined focus. Instead of solely emphasizing the use of drones exclusively for long-distance purposes, the new proposal centers on urgent delivery of medical supplies, specifically AED units, to remote areas.
It is anticipated that a decision on the grant will be made early next year, according to Stivers.
Background: According to the October 25, 2022 meeting minutes, council voted to authorize Columbia Borough to partner with DR1 and the Lancaster EDC to apply for a SMART grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the first phase of developing the drone program at the McGinness Innovation Park.
Last year, Columbia Borough Council discovered it’s in a deep financial hole. The cause: An $11 million debt from a municipal bond project undertaken by a previous council. (Additionally, there is the looming possibility of taxpayers owing millions for the McGinness Innovation Park project, further exacerbating the financial strain.) The burden of this debt has fallen directly on borough taxpayers.
The bond issue arose again at the October 24, 2023 meeting when a resident asked if there will be a tax hike for 2024. Borough Manager Mark Stivers said the municipal tax rate will stay at 8 mills for 2024, but Council President Heather Zink stated that council can’t say that definitively, because the budget hasn’t been finalized. (The plan is for the budget to be adopted at the first voting meeting in December, according to Zink.)
Backtracking to the October 20, 2022 council meeting: Zink said that property taxes will go up, along with obligations.
Here’s another reason for concern:
Last year, council had to resort to borrowing $1.358 million from reserves to balance the budget and avoid a tax hike. At that time, there was about $2 million in reserves.
The current financial crunch dates back to 2016 when council, with Kelly Murphy as president, voted to approve a series of general obligation bonds totaling over $9 million to pay off debt and for capital projects. Unfortunately, the debt has since been draining borough coffers, leading Stivers to admit at the 2022 meeting, “We’ve been borrowing money to pay the bond” and describing it as an “albatross.”
Stivers asked council to consider a “16-year plan” to pay off the debt. As an option, Zink suggested a special tax levy, which could entail raising taxes 1.5 mills to make annual payments of $691,000 for 16 years. ($691,000 multiplied by 16 equals $11,056,000.) Currently, no plan has been enacted. Bizarrely, Stivers said council has been “blessed” with the opportunity to solve this problem.
A budget meeting scheduled for November 16 has been canceled. The budget will now be discussed at the November 9 work session.
Columbia Spy 