Columbia Spy

On Wednesday, June 28th, Family First Health will offer free and confidential HIV tests from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm at the Family First Health Columbia Center, 369 Locust Street in Downtown Columbia, as part of National HIV Testing Day. These tests are available to members of the community ages 13 and up and take only 10 minutes to complete after a quick finger prick. For more information or questions, please call 717-846-6776. HIV testing is recommended for everyone between the ages of 13 and 64.

National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) is an annual campaign coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to encourage people of all ages to “Test Your Way, Do it Today.” Early HIV diagnosis is critical, so people who are infected can fully benefit from available life-saving treatments. Currently, one in seven people in the United States are not aware they are HIV positive and the only way to know if you are positive is to get tested. Finding out whether you have HIV is the first step to improving your health, the health of your partners and family, and the health of your community.

People who are HIV positive have unique needs and challenges in accessing medical care, case management and other services. Caring Together, a collaborative partnership of Family First Health and WellSpan Health, provides a seamless system of coordinated, high quality care for people who are HIV positive so they can easily access the services they need.

Clients or medical providers can contact the Program Manager, Rebecca Wilson, at 846-6776 Ext. 4855 to find out more information or to schedule an intake. Upon intake nurses will assess the client’s needs, schedule a medical appointment and contact other Caring Together team members who will provide other services as needed.

Code Enforcement Manager Steven Kaufhold explained the borough’s quick ticket system at Monday’s borough council meeting. Kaufhold said residents have 30 days in which to pay a quick ticket fine. If it is paid within the first 15 days of issuance, the fee is $25. If the fine is paid within 16-30 days, an additional $10 is added. After 30 days, a citation will be issued and the matter will be entered into the court system within a year. A resident may appeal within that time. Kaufhold said that once a ticket has been issued, he is the only one who can rescind it.

Another quick ticket can be issued for the same offense upon re-inspection if the violation has not been corrected. The length of time before re-inspection depends on what the offense is. For example, a parked/abandoned car is allowed seven days before re-inspection. A trash violation, four days.

Council President Kelly Murphy explained the purpose of the quick ticket program: “It’s not meant to be punitive. The real outcome is – fix the problem. The whole point of quick ticket or being cited by codes is to enact some action to get it done.”

The borough’s “codes book” provides this information:

§ 1-19Issuance and serving of tickets.
Upon finding a violation of any of the above code and/or Borough Code sections, any Borough of Columbia Code Enforcement Officer, police officer, fire official, or similar officer hired by or appointed by Borough Council or the Borough Manager, or any other public officer authorized to enforce the ordinances of the Borough of Columbia, may issue violation tickets to the owner and/or occupant of the property at issue or to the individual known to have violated the code and/or Borough Code section. Violation tickets shall be issued in the amount of $25 and shall be served by mail. The Borough may, however, serve the violation ticket by handing it to an adult member of the household or other person in charge of the residence at the residence of the person to be served, by leaving or affixing the violation ticket to the property where the violation exists, or by handing it at any office or usual place of business of the violator, to his/her agent or to the person for the time being in charge thereof. Any person who receives a violation ticket for a violation of this article may, within 15 days, admit the violation, waive a hearing and pay the fine in full satisfaction of $25, as indicated on the violation ticket.

Kaufhold said there are four codes officers besides him, each policing one of four quadrants in town, and the codes department issues a monthly report to council. The quick ticket ordinance was passed at the July 28, 2014 borough council meeting.

More information on quick ticket codes can be found HERE.

On 06/14/2017 at approximately 12:30 am. Columbia Borough Police were dispatched to a residence in the 200 block of Cherry Street for a domestic disturbance. When police arrived, they made contact with the a 21 year old female victim. The victim stated her ex-boyfriend Terrance Faus Jr. “beat” her and placed his hands around her neck and “choked” her. The victim sustained visible injuries to include scratches on her arm and redness around her neck. Terrance Faus Jr. fled the residence before police arrived.

A Joint Feasibility Study group, consisting of representatives from Columbia Borough and Columbia Borough School District, will meet in the Council meeting room, 308 Locust Street, on Wednesday, June 14 at 5 p.m. to consider whether there is sufficient interest to pursue a study on the possible consolidation of school district, borough administration offices and the borough police department at the District Administration Center, 200 North 5th St, Columbia.

That was Public Works Director Ron Miller’s response to a resident’s question about the borough’s street sweeper at Monday’s borough council meeting. Austin Hogentogler asked why it’s been nine weeks since the sweeper has run by his house. He said he has had to sweep by hand in front of his house despite various health concerns.

“The other one blew up. The motor blew up,” Miller said of the street sweeper. Hogentogler asked why a newer, recently purchased street sweeper was not running.

Mayor Leo Lutz replied, “The street sweeper is not running, because the company we’re buying the street sweeper from has not released it to the borough, because they will not release it until they train operators on how to use it.” Lutz said that it is incumbent on the company to train the borough’s operators.

At its April 10, 2017 meeting, council approved the purchase of a street sweeper at a cost of $221,877.