Columbia Spy

The Columbia Borough Public Works Department has released its monthly operations report for March 2025.

Paving Projects Face Rising Costs
According to Jake Graham, manager of the Columbia Borough Public Works Department, 2025 paving projects are facing price increases.

Co-Stars pricing through Heidelberg Materials, formerly Highway Materials, has increased significantly. The 2025 pricing for 9.5mm is $78.95 per/ton, compared to $69.90 in 2024. Pricing for 25mm is $66.55 per/ton compared to $58.55 in 2024.

These streets are scheduled to be paved:

Walnut St (Front to Third)
Walnut St (900 &1000 blocks CDBG) 

Chestnut St (800 block)
*S 2nd St (Locust to Cherry)
*S 3rd St (Locust to Cherry)
*Maple St (500 block)
*Poplar St (600 block)
*13th St (Ironville Pike to Chestnut)
*Locust St (600 block)
*Tann Ave (Lancaster Ave to Elbow Ave) (*Indicates streets to be paved by Public Works staff.)

Street Maintenance Activities Underway
Crews have been actively performing crack sealing on borough streets to prevent water erosion and pavement failure. 

Street sweeping operations began on March 10th, with 44.66 tons of debris collected from borough streets during the first three weeks.

Yard Waste Services Resume for Spring
Curbside yard waste collection resumed on March 31, 2025, with crews collecting 9.18 tons of yard waste on the first day alone. Collection will continue every Monday throughout the borough, with Tuesday pickups scheduled when Monday falls on a holiday (Memorial Day on May 26 and Labor Day on September 1). The final curbside collection for the season is set for November 10, 2025.

Starting in April, the yard waste recycling facility will open twice monthly—on the second and fourth Saturdays from 8 am to 12 pm—through October 25, 2025.

The report notes that four participating municipalities deposited 31.02 tons of yard waste at the borough yard waste recycling facility in March. Crews have completed processing materials from last season and are currently screening compost material.

The report also mentions that two public works employees recently completed a PennDOT flagger recertification course.

JADE CAMPOS | LNP Staff Writer

A downtown Columbia bus shelter was removed in March after borough officials determined it had become a public safety issue.

Police Chief Jack Brommer said the borough received multiple reports of human feces at the Locust Street shelter in addition to a growing amount of litter. Brommer contacted the South Central Transit Authority, which operates the bus route, to assess the state of the bus shelter. Ultimately, he said, officials agreed the shelter was in poor condition.

An SCTA statement shared online by the borough resident who runs the Columbia Spy blog, noted Brommer requested SCTA remove the shelter because of “vagrancy, safety and hygiene issues.”

“I think the shelter itself was limited in size and didn’t really accommodate the number of people using the bus stop,” Brommer said. He added that he told SCTA that one solution could be to relocate the shelter.

The bus shelter was erected 20 years ago, Brommer said, and had not been properly maintained. Maintenance fell to SCTA, though Brommer said the authority contracted workers who did an “insufficient” job that left borough staff cleaning up afterwards.

Greg Downing, SCTA executive director, said the shelter was removed at the borough’s suggestion. He said a cleaning service stopped by the shelter once a week, but the conditions would become so bad in the interim that people wouldn’t wait inside of the shelter unless it was raining.

Brommer said the borough would be open to adding a new shelter at the stop in the future, though nothing is concrete. He noted that buses still stop at the location, which has two benches.

MORE: HERE

Relive the magic of a book fair

With a focus on sustainability and an opportunity for community connection, several organizations are coming together to host “Go Green, Columbia!” The all-day event will be held on Friday, April 25.

Organizers include Sahd Metal Recycling, LCSWMA, Columbia Borough, Columbia Borough Police, Columbia Borough Shade Tree Commission, Columbia Park Rangers, Columbia Merchants Association and the Susquehanna National Heritage Area.

MORE:

Residents encouraged to “Go Green, Columbia!”

The 40-page meeting packet is HERE.

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM)– The Lancaster County Coroner’s Office and Pennsylvania State Police are attempting to identify human remains found on Weise Island in the Susquehanna River on March 18, 1986.

MORE:

https://www.abc27.com/local-news/lancaster/lancaster-county-coroners-office-psp-attempting-to-id-human-remains/

Following is the text of an April 7, 2025 email sent to Sharon Lintner by the South Central Transit Authority in response to a request for information on the recent removal of the Locust Street bus shelter by SCTA. It is reprinted here with the permission of SCTA.

Ms. Lintner,

Thank you for contacting SCTA about the shelter removal in Columbia.

SCTA was contacted by Chief Brommer to request that the shelter at 3rd & Locust be removed due to vagrancy, safety, and hygiene issues.

Since this shelter was funded with federal funds, we are required to keep the shelter in service for its useful life which is 15 years. This shelter has met its useful life so it was eligible for replacement or removal.

SCTA contacted rabbit transit to make them aware of the shelter removal and hear any concerns they had. They had no concerns.

SCTA has a contract with a company to installs and removes our shelters. SCTA had our contractor remove the shelter.

While SCTA had ownership and maintenance of this shelter, we fully support Columbia in their decision to request that SCTA remove the shelter. We always want to coordinate with the needs of the municipality.

It is unfortunate that the poor choices of a few people have resulted in the loss of this amenity for the rest of the community.

Lauri P. Ahlskog, AICP

Manager of Transit Planning & Compliance

South Central Transit Authority

Anthony Rios conveyed 241 N. Second St. to Dana C. Wiggs for $243,500.

Proverb Realty LLC conveyed property on Locust Street to Wilchcombe Schantel, Neal Amin Davenport for $280,000.

Benjamin R. Reisinger conveyed 811 Ridge Ave. to Pazmino Liberio Alfredo, Liberio Alfredo Pazmino for $230,000.

Valley View Capital LLC conveyed 429 N. Third St. to Kim D. Fossett for $190,000.

Cfh Holdings LLC conveyed property on a public road to CFH Holdings LLC for $1.

Manor Street Apartments LLC conveyed 745 Manor St. to WG Sponsor LLC, WG Manor I. LLC, WG Manor II LLC, WG Manor III LLC for $1,500,000.

Trusted Property Group LLC conveyed 533 Manor St. to Blakely Marcus, Hammock Kiera S. for $240,000.

Cimarron Investments Llc, Cfh Holdings LLC conveyed property on a public road to Cfh Holdings LLC for $1.

Swift Robert Jr, Swift Robert A. Jr, Swift Virginia conveyed 258 S. Fourth St. to Swift Robert A. Jr, Ortiz Swift Francisca, Swift Francisca Ortiz for $1.

Joshua D. Broomell conveyed 479 Walnut St. to Kelsey N. Aument for $190,000.