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Joe Lintner
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Columbia's decision to ban former employee from its property may be 'unconstitutional' [Lancaster Watchdog]
Chris Vera [Columbia Spy file photo] The following information is excerpted from a December 6, 2025 LNP Watchdog article by LNP | LancasterOnline reporter Jade Campos. Still reeling from an abrupt firing from his role as head of the Columbia Market House in March, Chris Vera was surprised to get a letter in the mail from a Columbia Borough attorney two weeks later telling him he was banned indefinitely from borough property. The letter gave no reason for the ban. Nine months later, Vera, who has served as president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society for more than a decade and has helped with the borough’s comprehensive plan, is still banned from borough property. He believes the ban includes borough parks, which is part of the reason he moved his annual Albatwitch Day festival, which celebrates the myth of a local cryptid, to Wrightsville. Vera said he’s not sure why the borough went to such lengths to keep him away from public spaces given his termination from the borough s...
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Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
Updated Sep 10, 2013 16:01
Columbia
By STEPHANIE BRADFORD
Correspondent
Columbia Borough Council made progress Monday with two public utility projects.
The speed of the progress is currently being gauged, however, by how quickly plans can be put on paper, and legal documents produced.
Council approved two resolutions regarding the deal with the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority to act as a financial middleman for the sale of electricity from the Susquehanna Resource Management Complex (formerly the Harrisburg Incinerator).
The formalities put the borough in the position, attorney Robert Pfannebecker said, of "acting as a conduit and getting paid."
Under the agreements, between the borough and LCSWA, the borough will (on paper) operate the power plant portion of the complex. The authority cannot, according to the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities act, commercially resell power. But a borough can do so if it owns or operates the power plant.
LCSWA will pay the borough an annual fee of $50,000, with staged increases for the next 20 years.
The sale of Columbia Borough's aging wastewater treatment plant to the Lancaster Area Sewer Authority is also solidifying.
A confidentiality and exclusivity agreement, approved by council on Aug. 26 will, it states, "to the extent permitted by law ... keep information provided by LASA which is related to the potential purchase of the Columbia sewer system confidential."
Borough Manager Sam Sulkosky said that the planned sale has "transitioned from the information (sharing) stage to the negotiations."
To facilitate the negotiation, the borough has put together a committee that includes two council members — President Mike Beury and member Kelly Murphy — as well as two members of the Columbia Municipal Authority — Chair Mike Schober and Norm Meiskey.
The authority manages the financial side of the plant. Sulkosky, Georgianna Schreck and public works director Ron Miller will also participate on the committee.
Dave Busch, of Keystone Alliance Consulting, has been retained by the authority to review LASA's evaluation and financial assessment of the plant.
The exclusivity agreement also states that the borough will negotiate with LASA in good faith, and will not enter into negotiations about the sale with any other parties for six months.
Sulkosky said that he believes a "real proposal" will exist within the next 30-60 days. It would, he said, be beneficial to have one before setting the budget for 2014.
Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/893448_Columbia-proceeds-with-incinerator--wastewater-plans.html#ixzz2ea5tlPnt