What I Saw - Thursday, December 19, 2013

By -
 A clash (or compromise?) of cultures at the Columbia Plaza

 Yes, this van was actually being driven like this - two days after the last snowfall.

 Pulled over on 462 near Royer's

 When I went to pay the water bill this afternoon, this is what I found - an expanse of ice I had to tread across cautiously just to reach the parking meter.  If the borough wants us to pay for parking, it could at least afford us a full, clean parking space.  Otherwise, what are we paying for?

 The other side of the street had the same problem.

 Drivers had to park their vehicles on an angle.


Meanwhile . . .



 Ice is forming on the river.

And there's another stash of phone books.

Comments

Anonymous said…
do you really expect the Borough to send out crew to clean that little bit of ice off the parking areas of the streets when they are calling for 50 degree weather in two days ? Get real.
December 20, 2013 at 11:00 PM
Anonymous said…
That little bit of snow has interfered with passengers being able to exit a car safely. That little bit of snow has narrowed the lanes of travel significantly. That little bit of snow can cause a major injury from a fall. Safety has to be part of the mindset. It's supposed to warm up by June so why not wait to plow till then. Lazy.
December 21, 2013 at 6:15 AM
Anonymous said…
the Boro DID plow the streets...businesses have to pay someone to clean their parking lots, etc....it ain't like the Donald can't afford it...shame is someone will fall and break something because of ignorance. just saying....its NOT the boros job to clear snow from everywhere. its a shame we have sooooo many lazy people who can't or won't clear out a sopt or the sidewalk or anything.
December 21, 2013 at 10:51 AM
Anonymous said…
First of all, how are they supposed to remove ice between cars when cars are parked there ? The nature of these storms cased solid blocks of ice. If done by hand it would take jack hammers. Otherwise, you would have to tell all of the cars to move one street at time to run plows, and where are they going to move to ? You need to think a little before coming down so hard on the Borough employees. It's a pretty low blow to be so critical when you have probably not even asked the Borough Manger for an explication.
December 21, 2013 at 3:03 PM
Anonymous said…
maybe you should run for Mayor then I'm sure the town will be perfect since you are so good at finding problems
December 21, 2013 at 3:11 PM
Anonymous said…
The lazy ass pays taxes to the boro to provide this service. There is a snow emergency route which is on locust street and cars are to be moved. Is it being enforced? Sure doesn't look like it. I spoke at a council meeting years ago about the need for proper snow removal due to the on street parking which is already tight even during dry weather. The taxes are high enough here and now people with full time jobs have to not only shovel their own parking space but go over town, pay to park and shovel that space out too.
December 21, 2013 at 8:05 PM
Anonymous said…
25 cents per hour is a gift
December 21, 2013 at 11:10 PM
Anonymous said…
this is a problem..i think they try but fall short. maybe they need a class on snow removal. or common sense. first stop riding around with your plow up....put it down & move the 2 inches of slush that will freeze by sundown & cause a huge headache to ALL who drive & walk.. that's a huge part of the problem. second, i agree downtown should be cleared more...if you have to pay to park at a meter than it for darn sure must be plowed. third...local businesses are responsible for their own parking lots, etc....there are properties on Locust St downtown that NEVER even shovel. seriously.
December 22, 2013 at 10:01 AM
Anonymous said…
i'd have to say those are all good points! even if we only get an inch or two...if the trucks are out with plow on it...use theplow....our streets are ALWAYS horrific for weeks because you don't plow and the ice is atrosious to drive on and walk on.
December 22, 2013 at 6:04 PM
Anonymous said…
I think that a little snow and ice around the parking spaces and lots makes it feel more like a home town and less like a big organized city
December 22, 2013 at 9:50 PM
Anonymous said…
yeah thats all fine and dandy until you or an elderly relative of yours falls and breaks their hip on the pretty snow and ice.....i agree...if you have to slug the meter then ALL the parking at meters better be PLOWED. ridiculous.
December 23, 2013 at 9:42 AM
Anonymous said…
I think the correct decision was made here. We as citizens complain when we have to pay taxes but when it comes to services, we want eveything. We can't have low taxes and the best services. When there is over a foot of snow the boro does remove snow on Locust by bringing in dump trucks and scoping up the white stuff and getting rid of it all. This to me was a small amount of snow and someone going to locust street should expect to come across some snow. In this picture I can see the street was plowed. The sidewalk was shoveled.
December 23, 2013 at 10:03 AM
Anonymous said…
I managed to clear the ice from my patio, driveway & sidewalk. You go out & remove it the next morning. That ice was from Sat night storm so Sunday you could go out & remove it. Make the cars move down in the business area until they are cleared from street to curbside or ticket them. Taxes are too damn high in this town (2nd in all Lancaster county) & that should not be an issue to send a crew out even on a Sunday to take care of it. The streets are terrible w/out the snow as it is. I can bitch & complain since I was born & raised here, not like most in this town that have only moved here from god only knows where & call themselves Columbians.
December 23, 2013 at 3:12 PM
Anonymous said…
On my payroll deductions there is one for Columbia borough income tax. Deducted each pay all year long totaling over 400.00 dollars at years end. This is on top of the property tax and per capita tax I already pay. I am not about to start shoveling a space in order to park safely so that i can pay my sewer and water bills. I must shovel a place in front of my property to park and am not permitted to " mark" that space in any way as being mine. My contribution to this borough via my money should be paying for something.
December 23, 2013 at 5:10 PM
Anonymous said…
ok, then there should be a DID tax, a "Downtown Investment Tax", an extra tax on every property within two blocks of Borough Hall. They do this in Lancaster City and it works just fine. This is mostly law offices, banks, restaurants, and slum lords. Also raise the meter rate in this area to $1.00 per hour, yep !, just like in Lancaster. A quarter for every 15 minutes. Then use some of the DID money and the meter money to sweep every little snow flake and piece of garbage away from the precious area, and advertise for more business and more fancy cars, so that the precious area can keep spreading.
December 23, 2013 at 5:29 PM
Anonymous said…
that's a great idea !, especially if the space could be "leased" to the home owner to help generate more revenue for some future pay raises.
December 24, 2013 at 3:57 PM
Anonymous said…
If we're going to "lease" spaces, then they should be auctioned off. Highest bidder wins. If you can only get a space 4 blocks away, then so be it. That way I could buy a few dozen spaces then rent them out. Instant win.

I'd rather have a few inches of snow on the street than a nice coating of ice. Nor do I need every space cleared of every snowflake. That's why I drive a truck.
December 28, 2013 at 1:14 PM
Anonymous said…
no one minds snow on the streets BUT if they are not cleared they freeze and now our streets are an ice rink...happens EVERY time it snows. commen sense would tell you to CLEAR the streets with the PLOW BEFORE it turns to ice. duh..
December 29, 2013 at 9:59 AM
Anonymous said…
in ref to parking spaces...at the VERY least, 1 parking spot per address should automatically go with that house/property/address.....at the very least. its ridiculous, these lazy lazy ignorant younger people and some adults too have absolutely NO common sense and NO respect fro treir elderly or sick neighbor. its NOT like it was back in the day. TOO many transients who care about nothing. and guess what?? as THE homeowner its YOUR responsibility to repair the curb your neighbor continually hits and breaks apart, etc.
December 29, 2013 at 10:03 AM
Anonymous said…
better yet, take down ugly warehouse behind the post office and build a nice big parking garage and everyone can park indoors !
December 29, 2013 at 3:21 PM
Anonymous said…
yeah, how about this - the Borough plants a tree in my sidewalk, then over time the tree grows and lifts up the sidewalk, and the Borough sends me a fine and tells me to fix my broken sidewalk !
December 29, 2013 at 9:51 PM
Anonymous said…
Convert the market house to a parking garage for the borough workers/police. That would free up a few spaces (and keep our taxpayer-owned police cruisers more secure).
December 30, 2013 at 12:24 PM
Anonymous said…
While on the subjects of icy streets:

Forecast calls for a couple of passing snow storms this week. So why is the borough running around the street sweeper and sucking up all the cinders? So not only did we remove the cinders, we now have to lay more down when it snows. (*We* being borough taxpayers, of course).

Silly me - I know the reason. They were able to give out a ton of tickets today. Have to love the Columbia revenue generat....errr...$treet $weeper.
December 30, 2013 at 12:31 PM
Anonymous said…
or maybe because between every two cinders lies three bubble gum wrappers ! Here's a question - does anyone know when the last time that a pedestrian in Columbia was cited for littering ? And for example, look down the alley along Stover's next to Hinkle's parking lot on any given day, and ask yourself how many people were littering today ? , or any one of the back Alleys in Columbia. Do we not have laws against littering ?, or do just figure that none of the low life's can afford the fine ?
December 30, 2013 at 8:51 PM
Anonymous said…
really ? , Covert the oldest farmers market in the USA to a parking garage ?? after spending two million dollars of tax money on renovations for a Farmers Market ? That would be the laughing stock of the Lancaster County Planning Commission ! How about taking $100,000. , just 10% of the last round of grant money for the Farmers Market building and ADVERTISE AND PROMOTE DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA ! ! as a shopping destination.
December 30, 2013 at 9:03 PM
Anonymous said…
Most planning commissions are already a joke. Esp. a county agency in this state since the counties themselves are pretty much powerless. Besides, the real joke is spending millions in tax money on a market house in a dying downtown - a market house that hardly has any standholders or shoppers. At least if the building was converted into a garage, it would have half a chance of surviving. Nothing wrong with a little adaptive reuse. I don't know how long they can keep the current market going.

We have to come to the realization that the local cities/towns are dead and they are not coming back. The rise of suburbia and highways and the loss of industrial jobs (and to some extent, the loss of local banking) have made this so. The sooner we realize this, the better we will be.

As far as advertising - what are we going to advertise? The lucrative drug trade? The awesome slum rental properties? The homeless camps? The failing school district? I hope we aren't placing all bets on the little hobby type "unique" antique stores that every other dying town is also promoting.

--FMB.

December 31, 2013 at 10:50 PM
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