Columbia Spy

JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY 

Columbia Borough Chief Holly Arndt presented a report to council at its July 14 meeting, noting that officers took two wanted suspects into custody, recovered two firearms, and responded within minutes to a shooting that left one victim hospitalized.

Bus Suspect Arrest

On July 1, Officer Frank Ember spotted a suspect wanted in connection with a Lancaster City police shooting riding a Red Rose Transit bus during daytime hours. Ember called in the sighting and took the suspect into custody without incident. A search turned up a stolen firearm in the suspect’s possession. Charges related to the weapon are pending.

Shooting at 4th and Cherry Streets

On July 4, Columbia Borough police responded to a shooting at 4th and Cherry streets. Sergeant Snyder and Officer Nate Miller arrived at the scene within two minutes and rendered aid to the victim, who has since been released from the hospital and is recovering.

The ensuing investigation led Sergeant Snyder to file criminal attempted homicide charges, along with several other felony counts, against Skyler Barr.

Traffic Stop Leads to Second Arrest

The following day, July 5, Officer Ember was on patrol when he spotted another wanted suspect in a vehicle. After Ember conducted a traffic stop, the suspect fled on foot. Officer Ember pursued and took Joshua Hussein into custody following a brief struggle.

During the arrest, Ember recovered a bag Hussein had discarded, which contained multiple narcotics-related items. Hussein was also wanted on separate firearms charges out of Columbia Borough.

Attempted Homicide Suspect Apprehended

On July 7, Officer Ember and Officer Krauss spotted Skyler Barr — the same suspect charged in the July 4 shooting — near Turkey Hill on Chestnut Street. Barr had an active warrant for attempted homicide at the time.

Officers moved to take Barr into custody, and he resisted, but was ultimately arrested without further incident. A search conducted during the arrest turned up a loaded firearm in his book bag.

“We Are Trying Our Best”

Summing up the department’s work over the two-week span, Arndt praised the officers involved despite ongoing staffing shortages.

“Even though they are short staffed, they got two guns off the street and have just been doing a phenomenal job,” Arndt told council members. “So I just wanted to bring that to everyone’s attention. We are trying our best.”

JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY 

Columbia Borough Council voted 4-3 Tuesday night to advance an ordinance that would remove data centers from the list of permitted uses in light business zoning districts. The move could block a data center from being built on the long-vacant former McGinness airfield property. (Byers, Cooper, Ziegler, and Geesey voted for the motion. Kauffman, Zink, and Murphy voted against.)

The motion was introduced by Councilman Ethan Byers and seconded by Councilman Tom Ziegler. If ultimately adopted after review by county and municipal planning commissions, the ordinance would designate data centers as “Not Permitted” in light business zones and shift them to “Conditional Use” status in general industrial zones instead.

In a written statement dated July 14, Byers laid out his reasoning for pressing the issue now rather than waiting for a broader zoning overhaul. He said the one-page ordinance had already been reviewed by borough solicitor Evan Gabel and drew on language used in the borough’s past zoning ordinances. He also said he had briefed councilors Jeanne Cooper and Tom Ziegler, who lead the community development committee overseeing zoning and planning.

Byers said he’d been mulling the change for weeks as delays piled up around re-advertising the McGinness property, and that data centers had come to dominate public discussion of the site’s future. He wanted the property sold without the complications data centers bring, he said, adding that a legal appeal could tie up the sale for years.

Byers had originally hoped to raise the change at a workshop session ahead of a separate, more comprehensive ordinance (numbered 966) covering the same topic. When that workshop was canceled and 966 got pushed to a future meeting, Byers said he decided not to wait: “I believe we should not wait and instead get this simple zoning change in now.”

He said he’d asked council President Eric Kauffman twice to add the item to the agenda — first for the July 7 workshop, then again on July 9 for Tuesday’s regular meeting — and that both requests were turned down before he brought the motion directly to the floor, asking that it be placed at the top of New Business.

The motion didn’t go unchallenged. Councilman Kelly Murphy questioned whether it had followed proper legislative procedure. Byers defended the move, arguing that introducing legislation is not the exclusive domain of any single council member and that, as an elected councilman, he is himself part of that legislative process.

Supporters of blocking a data center at the McGinness site are treating the vote as an early win, but the matter isn’t resolved. The ordinance still needs to clear review at both the municipal and county planning commission levels before it can come back to council for a final vote.

The zoning fight follows a contentious meeting earlier this year involving the McGinness property itself. In May, Saadia Holdings LLC — a New York-based company that runs a distribution center in West Hempfield Township — submitted a $6.35 million bid as the property’s only bidder. News that the deal involved a data center drew hundreds of residents to a four-and-a-half-hour meeting at the Columbia Borough Fire Hall, where residents voiced concerns about noise, water and power demand, and impacts on property values.

Council ultimately rejected the bid 7-0 on procedural grounds: Saadia’s offer didn’t guarantee full payment within the 60-day window required by state law for sealed-bid sales, since the company wanted to wait for borough approval of its site plans first.

JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY

At Tuesday night’s council meeting, Councilman Ethan Byers introduced a motion to remove data centers from the list of permitted uses under light business zoning. The change could potentially prevent a data center from being built on the former McGinness Airfield property. The motion received a second from Councilman Tom Ziegler before the 4 to 3 vote in favor of the motion. 

The proposal sparked discussion among council members, including some pointed exchanges. Councilman Kelly Murphy raised concerns that the motion hadn’t gone through the proper legislative process. Byers pushed back, arguing that as a councilman, he himself represents part of that legislative process, and that crafting legislation isn’t the sole responsibility of any one council member.

While the motion is being viewed as an early win for residents opposed to a data center at the site, the issue is far from settled. The proposal must still move through planning review at the municipal and county levels before returning to council for a final vote.

MORE DETAILS WILL FOLLOW 

JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY

Eli Krouse was sworn in as a Columbia Borough police officer by District Justice Miles Bixler during the July 14 borough council meeting. 

The swearing-in follows Krouse’s graduation from the Reading Police Academy on June 26. The Columbia Borough Police Department announced he completed the program’s demanding 919 hours of training over six months to earn his certification.

Krouse’s path to law enforcement includes both military and academic credentials. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army National Guard, having served from 2018 to 2024. He also graduated from Antietam High School before going on to earn a bachelor’s degree in emergency management from Millersville University.

The meeting packet is HERE.

Carolyn A. Kauffman conveyed 1140 Chestnut St. to Justin Misal for $345,000.

Awad Raouf R, Awad Janis B. conveyed property on a public road to Jiddos Garden LLC for $500,000.

Spring Valley Partners LLC conveyed 465 Locust St. to Nabilco Management LLC for $175,000.

Spring Valley Partners LLC conveyed 469 Locust St. to Nabilco Management LLC for $285,000.

One Stop Properties LLC conveyed property on South Third Street to PDC3 LLC for $515,000.

Esbenshade Dean A, Esbenshade Tracey L. conveyed 375 Kinderhook Road to Redding Ryan B, Noll Alyssa for $289,900.

River Side Real Estate LLC conveyed 232 Locust St. to JBS Homes LLC for $270,000.

See all photos here:

https://columbiapa-17512.blogspot.com/2026/07/about-town-july-12-2026.html?m=1

Dearest Gentle Reader,

This author returns to her writing desk this week not with a quill dipped in scandal of the romantic variety, but in something considerably more grave, for it seems our fair Borough has, in the span of a few short days, furnished enough drama to fill an entire season.

Let us begin, with the matter of the Borough Council, that most dignified assembly of civic gentlemen and gentlewomen who convene each fortnight to debate ordinances and whether the chambers can withstand the weight of an engaged citizenry. 

The Council meeting scheduled for the 7th of July was postponed, on account of an expected crush of attendees so numerous that the modest chambers could not properly accommodate them. One is given to understand that a great many of these eager souls intended to voice their opinions — rather loudly, one presumes — on the matter of a certain proposed data center. 

The Borough was caught rather flat-footed by the scale of public interest. One might say the Council has confused “the people’s business” with “business the people are not meant to attend.” 

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But Gentle Reader, if only civic squabbling were the whole of it. In the small hours of Independence Day itself, a woman fleeing for her life was shot at by a man who fired eleven rounds from a 9mm handgun with what police describe as an intent to kill her. Eleven rounds, Dear Reader, discharged at a fleeing woman, striking not only her but an occupied home and nearby vehicles. 

The gentleman in question was taken into custody on the 7th of July and now faces charges including attempted criminal homicide and aggravated assault — this, despite the rather inconvenient fact that he was not licensed to carry a firearm, previous convictions having disqualified him from ownership altogether. 

One recalls, with some bitterness, the official assurance that this “isolated incident” poses no further risk to the public — a phrase this author has heard uttered so often it ought to be embroidered on a sampler.

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And yet, as if the Borough had not suffered indignity enough, Wednesday morning, a young man was found murdered in the street, may he rest in peace.

One shooting and one death most foul, within a single week, on top of a Council meeting too popular for its own furniture. This author does not know what the Borough put in the water this July, but whatever it was, she rather wishes they hadn’t.

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Which brings this author, reluctantly, to a gentleman who cannot escape mention: His Honor, Mayor Leo Lutz. Readers will recall that the mayor campaigned last autumn on a recycled promise of “safe streets” for Columbia. A tidy slogan, rather more easily promised than delivered. 

One does hate to be the bearer of unkind arithmetic, but a fortnight in which a woman is chased down and shot at eleven times, a young man turns up in the street, and the Council itself must flee its own residents and others does not strike this author as the picture of safety the Mayor painted for the electorate. 

This author does not pretend to solve in a single column what vexes an entire Borough, but she shall say this: a promise made on a campaign trail is a debt owed to those who believed it, and debts, unlike gunfire, do not fire themselves off into the night and disappear. 

Until next we meet, Gentle Reader, do lock your doors and mind your street corners.

Your most devoted correspondent,
Cassandra Whistletown

https://columbiacourier.blogspot.com/2026/07/columbias-troubled-week-gunfire-grief.html?m=1

[Reprinted with permission]

According to a July 10, 2026 LNP/LancasterOnline article, Columbia Borough Council is postponing debate on its proposed data center ordinance until a special meeting sometime in the next month, at a location still to be determined, due to anticipated high public turnout.

A council workshop meeting scheduled for July 7 was canceled because expected attendance would have exceeded the council chambers’ capacity. Rather than finding a larger venue for next Tuesday’s regular meeting, the borough opted to hold a separate special meeting later, according to borough manager Jack Brommer.

Council Vice President Heather Zink, who helped draft the data center ordinance, noted that some changes suggested by Saadia Holdings LLC had been incorporated into the draft. Saadia is the developer interested in buying the 41-acre former McGinness property for a possible data center.

https://www.si.com/high-school/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-fans-have-chosen-their-high-school-baseball-player-of-the-year-01kww814c27y?fbclid=Iwb21leAS8yQRjbGNrBLzJAmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHmbwdRH6fz0tCSufpxdVzuwq7wzpf306SfRygS11W44u6lmXKwtdbrU0GXCW_aem_SNvFIgcATkbxRbOPabfpQQ