Council interviews three for market house

Borough council heard proposals from three market manager candidates at a special meeting Monday, September 26. Renee Sears, Beth Troxell, and Chris Vera answered questions from council and borough consultant Rebecca Denlinger about their respective plans for the Columbia Historic Market House, if hired. Troxell previously submitted a written proposal to council, which is published with this article. Vera gave a power point proposal at the meeting. His proposal was also posted on Columbia Spy HERE. Both Sears and Troxell managed the market house previously. Vera is president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society. Teresa Allen has managed the market house since Troxell’s resignation earlier this year.

At the conclusion of the interviews, Borough Manager Greg Sahd announced that council would not make a decision that evening. Instead, a decision will be made later at a public forum. If council does not choose one of the three candidates, the opening could be reposted to invite other applicants.

 Renee Sears

 Beth Troxell

Chris Vera

Beth Troxell’s proposal to council:


Contractors stopped from making unapproved changes on historic buildings

Earlier this week, a contractor tried to remove a dormer from atop 147-149 Locust Street.  Said contractor did not have a permit to perform any such work within the historic district, of which this address is a part. A code enforcement officer stopped the procedure and posted a STOP WORK notice on the property.  The notice is shown below.
 A contractor attempted to remove the dormer shown above.

 The work was halted, and a STOP WORK notice was posted by Code Enforcement Officer George Weis.

The very next day, a contractor began work – again, without a permit  – at 212-214 Locust Street, another property in the historic district, this one owned by Samuel Bigler. The work was halted, and a STOP WORK sign was posted on this property as well. Any such work in the historic district must first be reviewed by the Historic Architectural Review Board to maintain the integrity of structures with historic value in the borough.

The STOP WORK notice at 212-214 Locust that no longer appears on the property.
The Columbia Borough Historic District

Doolittle property at 10-12 N. 2nd to be auctioned

A public auction for the property at 10-12 North Second Street will be held on December 6, 2016.  The auction notice describes the structure as a “3-story Historic Warehouse.” Terms are $10,000 down on the day of sale with settlement within 45 days.  The property was recently listed for sale for $350,000. The building was formerly home to Becker’s Potato Chip Factory and is currently owned by David and Suzanne Doolittle.