Bridge work in progress

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Seen today on Veterans Memorial Bridge

Comments

Anonymous said…
just read columbia news views and reviews. could you please put the councillors invitation here to for ALL Columbia and West Hempfield sewer residents.....thank you. this same thing was done 5 years ago (maybe 6) there was tremendous turn out at council mtgs for months against LASA buying Columbia sewer plant. with persistance the point was made and council backed off. it was supposed to be settled. a dead issue. guess what. the norm is the one who brought it back to the table and council was kind enough to appoint norm to the municipal authority where he could brainwash others. the 1 gentleman who attended mtgs had NO IDEA what he talked about. he did NOT do his homework. he was ONLY interested in HIS COST. period. and he repeated the same thing month after month. it was extremely clear he had NO idea of what transpired for years leading up to this point (which was supposed to be done with) and the Boro was suppose to KEEP OUR SEWER PLANT EITHER BY UPGRADING OR BUILDING NEW. COST WOULD BE CLOSE. ONLY THING IS-THE BORO WOULD CONTINUE TO OWN IT AND CONTROL IT. THAT IS WHATS IMPORTANT. wise up. MINIMUM sewer with LASA is $83 for 3 mts. Boro is $58.32...we lose more control of our lives every day. its time to stand up and fight.
May 8, 2014 at 7:10 AM
Anonymous said…
yeah i remember reading about all this....tsk tsk...another nail in councils coffin. they all lie. we don't WANT to sell to LASA and councillors if you are smart and if you have done your homework you will say NO....NO to LASA...the Boro SHOULD indeed keep its own sewer plant and either upgrade or build new. period. done deal. end of story. step up and do the RIGHT thing. tell LASA ....NOOOOOO not now, not ever.
May 9, 2014 at 6:52 AM
Anonymous said…
my first concern would be the large majority of residents who pay the boros minimum of $19.44 a month. Most of these residents are already on a fixed income and can NOT afford it...they can't afford their meds either. do you realize that thenorm is for the elderly to stay in their homes and get care rather than go to nursing homes. because they and the family can't afford it. what will happen to the hundreds and hundreds of these residetns????????? does council or mgr even care?
May 9, 2014 at 12:15 PM
Anonymous said…
my biggest thing would be "why in the heck sell the sewer plant when you already own it? it just doesn't make good common sense." you have to pay to either 1. upgrade 2. build new plant or 3 sell to LASA......1 or 2 is the only choice-we already own it...why why would we sell it...we could never ever get it back. it would be too late. please go to LASA website........their minimum is $25 MORE for 3 months than ours.
May 9, 2014 at 9:57 PM
Anonymous said…
i remember too well the many many monthly municipal authority mtgs AND a few PUBLIC MTGS (THAT WERE ADVERTISED!!) ...a LARGE number of residents attended 5 years or so ago....there was MUCH discussion, tempers flaring and even some raised voices. etc from both sides, there were reps from LASA who made presentations, etc. *THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS AMT OF TIME AND ENERGY PUT INTO THE WHOLE LASA THING BACK THEN....the right questions were asked AND I might add -answered....the Boro consiously decided to wise up and stop the craziness. NO LASA. Done deal. now here we go again, that past boro mgr Norm put this back on the table....why? WHY??? this is nonsense. the Boro SHOULD keep the sewer plant that they OWN (ALL the taxpayers are part owers). Then the Boro retains control over ALL sewer matters/issues. LASA does NOT care about little Columbia...ALL they really want is West Hempfield (that was stated at those mtgs long ago) Did you know that??? (you see West Hempfield still has room to grow, to build new houses, developements, etc..) and a West Hempfield rep stated at the first new mtg held in 2013 that they (West Hempfield) do NOT want to be in the sewer business....folks you see they (West Hempfield) are serviced by Columbia Boro...they purchase sewer thru the Boro...are there no minutes or even notes from any of these mtgs? I think Council needs to read them and talk to people like municipal authority, past council members, even residents who attended all those mtgs, read the old newspaper articles!!!! THE PROOF IS THERE. to find out the real deal. a done deal. LASA go away. WE SHOULDN'T EVEN BE WASTING ALL THIS TIME, ENERGY AND MONEY ON THIS RIDICULOUSNESS. WAKE UP. Say NO to LASA.
May 10, 2014 at 8:59 AM
Anonymous said…
And if we upgrade / build a $xxx million dollar sewer plant, do you *really* think the rates will stay the same?



--FMB
May 10, 2014 at 12:15 PM
Anonymous said…
NO,,,, BUT AT LEAST WE THE (next to) HIGHEST TAXPAYING HOMEOWNERS IN ALL OF LANCASTER COUNTY WILL CONTINUE TO 1. OWN OUR OWN SEWER PLANT AND 2. REMAIN IN CONTROL OF OUR OWN SEWER PLANT 3. CONTINUE TO BRING MONEY INTO THE BORO 4. CONTINUE TO OWN AND OPERATE THE SEWER PLANT-WHETHER ITS UPGRADED OR BUILT NEW----YOU SEE THE COST IS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME!!!!! YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT. WHAT DO YOU THINK LASA ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT THIS BORO, ITS RESIDENTS, THE ELDERLY. HELL NO. ALL THEY'RE INTERESTED IN IS THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR AND CONTROL...AND WEST HEMPFIELD IS REALLY WHAT THEY WANT! AND 5. WHY IN THE HE-- WOULD YOU GET RID OF THE ONLY YES ONLY THING IN THIS BORO THAT AIN'T BROKE. WE ALREADY OWN IT. WHY GIVE UP OWNERSHIP TO SOMEONE ELSE AT THIS POINT INTIME. HORRIBLE, IRRESPONSIBLE, WRONG DECISION. (just remember the boro could already be charging almost $28 dollars a month for the minimum AND THEN BE IN THE BALL PARK as LASA is...so YES YES YES....THE BORO WOULD BE IN A MUCH BETTER PLACE TO CONTINUE TO OWN AND CONTROL THE SEWER PLANT. COSTS THE SAME.
May 11, 2014 at 9:01 AM
Anonymous said…
First: please turn off your caps lock.

Second You really think the borough gives a poop (heh..) about the residents either? What do we have to gain with owning the sewer plant? Besides being on the hook for its operations, personnel, etc.

If the borough upgrades the plant to current standards, I'm sure we will be paying the same as LASA, if not more. You are talking about multi-millions of dollars (that's like putting new lights on 10 bridges!). So really, whether LASA or Columbia, I see little difference.

Then again, I think we should get rid of all these little outdated fifedoms and go to county-wide governments. This isn't 1700 anymore.

--FMB
May 11, 2014 at 3:51 PM
Anonymous said…
then i guess maybe the boro should not have police.....they cost millions each year....and what about code enofrcement? they do nothing anyway. and they are hiring another one. this is wrong. i hold boro council accountable. they do nothing. say nothing. they do not listen when the taxpaying residents and homeowners talk. they should not sit on council if they are not willing to do their OWN homework and research. why bother? i could care less what they do here anymore. its fighting a losing battle with a bunch of losers at the wheel.
May 12, 2014 at 12:38 PM
Anonymous said…
I want to say to the ALL CAPS poster, sell it! It's not a money maker for the taxpayers. I've had my rates raised 3 times in the last 5 years to pay for this upgrade that has yet to take place, only to recently find out that the money needed for the upgrade required a bond to be taken out. So I've been charged 3 increases for what?????
May 12, 2014 at 3:49 PM
Anonymous said…
Why do we need police? Let's be like so many other townships and let the PSP cover us. Or go to a county-wide force like Dauphin is considering.

Most of the borough codes are a joke. Nobody holds the slumlords accountable, yet they want to harass some old lady putting new windows in her "historic" row home. I don't even understand why we have a local government anymore. It's outdated.

--FMB

PS,,, is it just me, or are these captcha images getting downright impossible to read anymore? Guess I'll need to create another google account or something to post on here.
May 13, 2014 at 11:01 AM
Anonymous said…
your full of it.
if your gonna tell a story...tell it correct.
May 13, 2014 at 12:50 PM
Anonymous said…
i agree codes is a joke...but so is council after all they are thier bosses....i also say yeah let the psp patrol.... millions of dollars cheaper a year......local gov't.....nada
May 13, 2014 at 12:51 PM
Anonymous said…
The article in the Lancaster News lately on school district funding sums up the results of a lot of these bad decisions made by those in charge of Columbia. This towns median house price is now only $80, 000. We are far below any other school district. Lancaster city which is a great comparison & going in a completely different direction than Columbia with regards to revival, has a median above $120, 000.
I know there are those who want to keep their own school, their own police force, their own sewer plant. These are not practical decisions & columbia residents are paying for the results. There are only 3, 500 tax paying residents in this boro trying to pay for all this. This is why our taxes are so high, & why people don't want to move into this town which in turn drives down housing prices making properties priced for investors.
May 13, 2014 at 4:02 PM
Anonymous said…
They need to sell the sewer plant so, they can put the money down at the river park!
May 13, 2014 at 8:03 PM
Anonymous said…
In the first place the minimum payer is not the majotity. The families in this town are the majority. Ask how many of them are paying more than $28/mo. That is what residential payers are paying at LASA. Doesnt matter how much water they use, its $28/mo. Also compare the increases in the past few years LASA has been almost nothing, deffinitely not true for Columbia & that's before they spend all this money on an upgrade. Theres a reason Manheim Township, West Hempfield, Mountville & all the other townships went with LASA costs now & in the future will be much cheaper. More customers paying in make it cheaper for everybody.
May 14, 2014 at 9:22 AM
Anonymous said…
Shhhhhhhhh..... Don't tell the section 8's Land Lords!
May 14, 2014 at 7:54 PM
Anonymous said…
I did tell it correctly. If I'm wrong in your opinion, you should research the facts and tell me where I'm wrong. So tell me in the past decade how many increases have there been, the percentage of increase and when.
May 14, 2014 at 10:06 PM
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