Confusion causes Columbia advisory meetings to be canceled
When: Columbia Council meeting Sept. 5.
What happened: Borough Council members and Parks and Recreation advisory board members discovered that a misinterpretation about the number of advisory board members needed to make a quorum has led the advisory group to unnecessarily cancel several meetings.
Numbers: Confusion occurred because most people thought the advisory board needed four members to make a quorum, since the board can accommodate seven members. However, only five people have been appointed to the board, which means that only three members are needed for a public meeting, said Evan Gabel, borough solicitor.
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Deeds Recorded – Columbia Borough – September 11, 2023
RBLD Properties I. LLC and Rick Degeorge conveyed property on a public road to Columbia Borough for $1,350,000.
ITT LLC and Grinnell Corp. conveyed property on a public road to Andreas Heisey for $1.
Dajo Properties LLC and John M. Stoltzfus conveyed property on Malt Avenue to Palmer Investment Properties LLC for $116,000.
Andreas Heisey conveyed property on a public road to Ais Leasing Co for $1,500,000.
Matthew McCormac and Brittany McCormac conveyed property on a public road to Vickie Everhart and Gregg Everhart for $240,000.
Keith A. Yordy conveyed property on North Sixth Street to Heather Gascon and Mathieu Gascon for $240,000.
Kevin M. Laicha conveyed property on a public road to Jem Real Estate Properties LLC for $400,000.
Columbia Borough school board appoints safety officer, approves mentor program for middle school students
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When: Columbia Borough school board meeting, Aug. 24.
What happened: The board approved the hiring of Randolph Hernandez as the district’s safety and security manager.
Background: In lieu of the borough council not renewing its school resource officer contract, the district hired Hernandez to oversee security measures and promote a safe and secure environment within the borough’s three school buildings.
Cost: Hernandez’s annual salary will be $60,000 per year. By email Sept. 1, Business Manager Keith Ramsey said this is not an additional cost because the district “repurposed position(s) both internal and external to fill this position.”
Quotable: “The Columbia Borough Board of School Directors remains committed to providing a positive, safe and supportive environment in our schools,” Vice President Lauren VonStetten said. “Due to the borough council’s actions, the district has established district safety and security positions. The district will continue to work with the local police department for any law enforcement needs.”
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Agenda – Columbia Borough Council Meeting – September 12, 2023
State lawmakers must release school funding without delay [Column]
It breaks my heart that $100 million of Level Up funding that was already appropriated and approved with bipartisan support in both chambers of the state Legislature is now in jeopardy. I call on leaders and members in the Pennsylvania House and Senate to stop playing politics with my students’ futures and release the Level Up funds to create a level playing field for all students in Pennsylvania. Please send my students the same message my son receives: “You matter. Your future matters. Your dreams matter. Your education is important and worth investing in.”
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CCAT NEEDS VOLUNTEERS – NEXT MEETING: SEPTEMBER 13
About Town – September 10, 2023
House on the river
Docking procedure
A harbinger of Halloween?
Maybe
Another harbinger of Halloween?
No, just a worker removing lead paint from a house.
There’s a sign at the site.
Morning feline
Diving ducks
Truck, dumping at Rail Mechanical at 4th & Manor
Speaking of trucks, here’s one that got caught crossing the bridge.
The write-up
After the “weigh-in”
More bridge inspection this week –
PennDOT must really be worried.
A missing corner.
Rebar showing through
Possible leaching
(or maybe just seagull poop)
A crack down through the field of mystery numbers
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Sparrow convention
Draw your own conclusions.
A new sign for Flow the rock snake
Did someone swipe Flow’s head again?
Buzzard birthday
Many buzzards
Ready for winter
Game over
There are always interesting “artifacts” at Tollbooth Antiques . . .
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The roof’s on, and porches are sprouting at the Habitat project.
Beginning of the South 2nd Street CDBG project
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Todd Stahl of WhiteCap Water Rescue Training directed the Lionville Fire Company and Fame Fire Company (West Chester) in a rescue boat training session this morning (9/10/23) at Columbia River Park.
[Photos by Todd Stahl]
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‘Til next week . . .
[Submitted photo]
Columbia might help sponsor 12-foot-tall sculpture in Marietta inspired by Susquehanna River
For $26,000, Marietta could become home for 12-foot-tall statue inspired by the Susquehanna River
A sculpture titled “River Spirit” was commissioned in 2002 by the late Harrisburg Mayor Stephen Reed. The artist, Steven Dolbin, has completed the sculpture but, according to Haneman, “he doesn’t know what to do with it.” The sculpture weighs 7,000 pounds and is 37 feet long, five feet wide and 12 feet tall.
More: Dolbin said he created the sculpture, which is made of high-grade stainless steel, to “honor our Native American brothers and sisters” and to “speak sculpturally” about that heritage of the Susquehanna River and region. Embedded in the steel, which is shaped like a winding river, are “sacred images of various cultures, tribal wisdom and tributes to original cave paintings,” according to an article from The Burg News website.
The cost: Dolbin is willing to donate the piece, but it will cost approximately “$26,000 to move it and to finish it when it gets to a new home,” Haneman said. In an email, Haneman explained that Rivertownes, “does not have a budget to support this project” and that it “was suggested that a fundraising campaign be organized to fund it.”
Sponsorship needed: Haneman reported that Create Columbia and Columbia Borough approached Rivertownes about sponsorship for the project. According to their website, Rivertownes is a nonprofit that “manages and preserves the Musselman-Vesta Iron Furnace Center and surrounding iron furnace remains” and cultivates “art, heritage, and recreation in the river towns of Columbia, Marietta, and Wrightsville.”
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View the sculpture HERE.
Restaurant Inspections – Columbia Borough – September 8, 2023
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, 866-366-3723, uses a risk-based inspection reporting process for restaurants and other food handlers.
Bootleg Antiques, 135 Bridge St., Columbia, Aug. 30. Pass. No violations.
Columbia VFW, 401 Manor St., Columbia, Aug. 30. Pass. Old food residue on the potato slicer.
Garth, 22 S. Second St., Columbia, Aug. 30. Pass. No violations.
Columbia Borough Fire Department (Hambones Social Club), 726 Manor St., Columbia, Aug. 29. Pass. Food facility does not have available sanitizer test strips or test kit to determine appropriate sanitizer concentration of chlorine bleach for the mechanical glass washer at the bars.
Columbia Borough Fire Department (kitchen), 726 Manor St., Columbia, Aug. 29. Pass. No violations.
[Source: LNP]
Columbia Spy 