Columbia Spy

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced that a bridge inspection is scheduled to begin next week on the Route 30 (Wrights Ferry) Bridge spanning the Susquehanna River between Hellam Township in York County and Columbia Borough in Lancaster County.

Weather permitting, there will be daytime lane restrictions on the Route 30 Wrights Ferry bridge from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Tuesday, November 7, and Wednesday, November 8.

[Source: textmygov]

The following letter appeared in the October 31, 2023 edition of LNP/LancasterOnline:

I am writing this letter to support Columbia Borough school board candidates Charles Leader, Sandra Duncan, Sonya Duncan, Kathleen Hohenadel, Lauren VonStetten and Sharon Lintner.

As a lifelong Columbia resident and taxpayer for many decades, I firmly believe that these candidates are the right choice to continue to lead our school district into the future.

The current board, which includes five of the candidates, has not raised taxes for the fourth year in a row — a notable achievement that demonstrates a commitment to fiscal responsibility.

In the June 15 board meeting, it was noted in LNP | LancasterOnline’s reporting that “Columbia High School’s attendance rate increased from 87% to 91%, with a goal of 95% during the past school year. In addition, Columbia Middle School Taylor Campus’ literacy rate jumped from 3% in the first quarter to 29% by the end of the school year based on the rate of students scoring proficient or higher on Text Dependent Analysis exams.”

Another notable decision by this board was the hiring in late summer of a district safety and security manager, along with the addition of safety officer positions to provide a safe environment for students.

I encourage my fellow school district residents to join me in voting for Charles Leader, Sandra Duncan, Sonya Duncan, Kathleen Hohenadel, Lauren VonStetten and Sharon Lintner to ensure that the Columbia School District continues to move forward.

Joe Lintner

Columbia

M&M Realty Co. Inc. conveyed 232 S. Second St. to Anthony W. Sahd and Darrell L. Martin for $113,500.

Amos S. Stoltzfus Jr. conveyed property on a public road to Steven Andrew Stoltzfus for $260,000.

E. Kathleen Johnston conveyed property on South Ninth Street to Wilber Benito Lopez and Sarah E. Diffenderfer for $230,000.

Here are some hints of Halloween about town . . .

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Meanwhile in Washington Boro, the ever-changing skeletons . . .

And others

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Here are a few more signs of fall . . .

When the leaves begin to fall, this comes out.

Parking lot paving at the Moose

Down at the bridge plaza . . . 

The “stater” checked another one to see if it violated the weight limit.

Also at the bridge plaza: discarded tech

A few more crazy crows at the Mifflin House

A look at the DAC

A praying mantis came to visit.

Fragments of the Past is moving.

More progress at the Wright’s Ferry Mansion

There’s that train engine again, this time crossing Route 462.

Progress continues at the old drive-in site.

Here’s how to get rid of an old fire hydrant.

Campaign signs

Nice rooftop garden, but what happens when the heat comes on?

Heron on his island

All lined up and ready to go

Doug’s trimmed trees in the park this week.

There are no parking permits on these carts.

Happy Halloween!

It’s not just illegal, it’s also a felony!

The two photos shown above were taken Saturday afternoon (10/28/23) on Locust Street. 

According to the United States Postal Service:

“No part of a mail receptacle may be used to

deliver any matter not bearing postage

including items or matter placed upon,

supported by, attached to, hung from, or

inserted into a mail receptacle.”

Also, it is a federal crime for anyone other than a postal carrier to put anything in a mailbox.

These two photos were taken Saturday afternoon (10/28/23) on the 800 block of Blunston Street.

In a county-wide first for a school district, the Columbia Borough School Board has voted to adopt a “Volunteer Firefighters Tax Credit Program.”

At its October 19, 2023, the Columbia Borough School Board voted to adopt a “Volunteer Firefighters Tax Credit Program” with the goal of encouraging membership and service in the community’s volunteer fire company.

Program criteria must be met in order to qualify. Details are shown in the screenshots below:

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, 866-366-3723, uses a risk-based inspection reporting process for restaurants and other food handlers.
Griddles Malt Shoppe, 315 Locust St., Columbia, Oct. 20. Pass. Food employees observed preparing food, not wearing proper hair restraints, such as nets, hats or beard covers. Observed raw shell eggs stored above raw beef in the reach-in cooler. Observed single-service, single-use articles stored in the back hallway, directly on the floor, and not 6 inches above the floor.

Stover’s News, 24 N. Third St., Columbia, Type 2 follow-up, Oct. 20. Fail. The person in charge did not demonstrate adequate knowledge of food safety in this food facility as evidenced by this noncompliant inspection. Prepackaged subs, sandwiches, sliced cheese, and sliced ham are not labeled to clearly indicate any “Big 9” allergen ingredients and/or the allergen warning statement; repeat violation, March 31, 2022, and Oct. 13. Prepackaged subs, sandwiches, sliced ham, sliced cheese, and packaged ice are not labeled properly with the name of product, ingredient statement and distributed by statement; repeat violation, March 31, 2022, and Oct. 13. Food facility does not have available sanitizer test strips or test kit to determine appropriate sanitizer concentration; repeat violation The inner lid of the chest freezer is missing leaving exposed insulation, risking food and ice to possible physical contamination. Observed a slimy, black residue inside the ice maker; repeat violation, Oct. 2 and 13. The hand-wash sink in the food preparation area is being used as a food preparation sink as evidenced by observed roll and a bag of liquid from deli meat in the sink.

We have brought you 4 years with 0 school district tax increases, yet we were able to ensure the financial stability of the district. Despite no tax increase we were still able to offer our teachers a new contract with competitive wages and benefits as well as placing a renewed focus on curriculum and instruction.

After years of neglect when it comes to curriculum, we have laid the necessary groundwork and are poised to continue to see improvement in student growth and performance.

What we are doing is working and to stop the forward momentum now would be detrimental to our students and community.