The regular monthly meeting of the Columbia Borough Council Committee of the Whole was held Monday, August 25, at 6 p.m. at Borough Hall, 308 Locust Street. Highlights of the meeting are as follows:
Community
Development
Councillors
Steph Weisser and Jody Gable are coordinating with Columbia Historic
Preservation Society President Chris Vera to give guidance to new
businesses and otherwise help promote Columbia Borough. Although the
borough is not directly involved in the endeavor, Weisser and Gable
will serve as a conduit back to the borough.
Vera
had previously given a presentation with goals for marketing the
town, especially focusing on Locust Street storefronts. He is
also developing a website featuring storefronts available.
Quarterly seminars will be part of the plan in providing business
guidance. The board of directors is to be announced. Councillor Barry
Ford said, “I want to be make sure all businesses are going to be
involved.”
Gable
said, “It's going to be all-inclusive.”
Kathy
Hohenadel, executive director of the Susquehanna Valley Chamber of
Commerce, stated there was a $4,000 request in May of this year to
purchase banners and billboards promoting the Smithsonian's 20 Best Small
Towns recognition. She thanked council and noted money is left over.
The final bill was $1184.30. She also noted that there will be an
article about Columbia in October's Lancaster County Magazine.
Community
Yard Sale
A
community yard sale is scheduled for September 13, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Councillor Ford stated he was leaning toward not having it until next
year, because September is the end of the yard sale season and that
it will be too scattered. Another borough employee stated the
notification was already printed on sewer bills, so it is too late to
cancel the event.
Council
discussed having a central location for next year's event, comparing
it to Hellam's and Mountville's, since Route 462 runs through both
those municipalities, and people can walk along the street from one
sale to the next. In Columbia, this is not feasible, since the
sale would be scattered over town.
Public
Property
Council
declined a request for a river baptism scheduled for August 30, 2014.
The deadline for the request was not met, and full details were not
provided by the requestor.
Market
House Trust Concerns
Market
House vendor Jen Stoutzenberger made an emotional appeal to council
regarding the Market House Trust. She reported that trust members refuse to talk business when they are in the market. She held up a form that must be completed and submitted with any questions or concerns regarding the market. She questioned the secrecy surrounding the trust.
“I don't know what all the hush-hush is with this trust.” she said. “They don't want to hear my questions or concerns. If they don't want to hear anything, how can they fix anything?”
“It's not the trust. It's the people on the trust,” she said and told council they should be removed.
“What are they trying to do?” she asked.
She
said that the president of the trust [Cleon Berntheizel] apologized
to her for not being at the market more often but that he is very
busy with his own business. In a question pointed at
Berntheizel, she asked, “What about the businesses in the market
house?”
In
regard to Berntheizel, she told council, “If you don't have the
time, you should resign.”
She
urged everyone to embrace the fact that this is a low income
community and people like to "sit a spell and reminisce.”
She said she does not see that any more and that people do not want
to stay.
“There is no tradition at the market anymore. The trust made sure of that.”
Mayor
Leo Lutz that said the trust refused to attend any public meetings,
because they do not want to respond to negativity.
Councillor
Barry Ford said, “ I thought the purpose of the trust was to get us
[the council] out of the market business.” He said he is in favor
of a Thursday-only market. He said that day was originally chosen so
as not to be in competition with the Green Dragon on Friday and
Central Market in Lancaster on Saturday.
Councillor
Mary Barninger said she's not getting the sense that they want help.
“I
don't think they're open to a lifeline at this point,” she said.
She stated that Lancaster Market has a different philosophy, in that
there are no seats at stands. She said the expectation is that you
get your stuff… in and out.
Council
President Mike Beury said that the trust “is not one of our
crowning achievements.”
He
added, ”There comes a time when it's too expensive to fix it, so
tear it down and redo it.”
Handicapped
parking request
Carol
Snyder from Grace EC Church, 36 North Eighth Street, asked council
for two additional parking spaces for Sunday services.
She said cars are parked in designated handicapped spaces on
Sundays. Currently, cars cannot be towed, only ticketed.
She said cars get ticketed but stay there anyway. She said that
church officials previously placed notes on the cars reminding them
to be moved during Sunday services. One note was
duct-taped to the church door with a rude reply.
Currently,
reserved hours are 12 a.m. Sunday through 12 a.m.
Monday, which the mayor said is unreasonable in that residential
area. The proposed hours will be 8 a.m. to noon on Sunday, with
signage stating that violators will be towed. The motion will
be on the agenda for and voted on at the September 8 meeting.
Locust
Street Park
Mayor
Lutz said there have been significant troubles in Locust Street Park
and officers have responded there routinely. He said fires have been
set against the building, and recently a fire was set in a storm
sewer. He
also said people are entering the grounds during school. He added
that most of the “go-ers” have been identified and that he
recently told the kids there, “If this park is trashed again, I'm
going to issue a proclamation. I'm going to shut it down from 4 p.m.
to 6 a.m.”
Currently,
the borough cannot enforce park regulations, because the property is
owned by the Old Columbia Public Grounds Company, which must lease the
property to the borough [for $1] for regulations to be enforceable by
the borough. He said the Grounds Company is agreeable to the
arrangement and must draft a formal proposal and present it to
council. He said that under the agreement, the company will continue
to perform park maintenance. Former Borough Manager Norm Meiskey
advised council to pattern the agreement after that of the Columbia
River Park.
Renter
Complaints
[Names and addresses are being withheld in this article while the matter is under investigation, due to vandalism, threats, and other retaliation from neighbors.]
Acting
on advice from Police Chief Jack Brommer, a resident brought her
concerns to council about extreme problems with renters in her
neighborhood. She
stated there are parties occurring at that address all night with
fires that are extremely close to her fence. She said the
renters are confrontational and disrespectful, adding that there are
several families living at the same address. She said the
police have responded many times, but the situation has not been
resolved. She expressed concerns over quality of life, due to
distress caused by the neighbors. She said her husband, who
works 12-hours days, gets up at 4:30 a.m. for work, and the
noise often prevents him from sleeping. She also said she is on
disability. She stated that she has only six years left to pay
on her mortgage and does not intend to move.
A
second neighbor also told council about the same situation. She
implied that prescription drugs are being sought by the neighbors in
question and that drugs are being sold in the area. She also said
possible welfare abuse is occurring.
“Where
do I go with this? Nobody wants to help,” she said.
Council
told the women that there is a new ordinance about fires in the
borough. Mayor Lutz strongly urged the women to call 911 rather than
go through the local dispatch number, because calls to the local
station sometimes do not have all details recorded. He said callers
to 911 can request to have their names withheld. Mayor Lutz was
holding paperwork listing all of the police calls to the address in
question.
Other
Norm
Meiskey asked a question about a $50,000 shortage and offered
suggestions regarding a bank note and payoff, as well as investing
money wisely. He added that part of the LASA agreement is to
pay off the loan. “If we can pay off the loan, it saves us 2% of
interest.”
Barry
Ford asked if council is aware that there are propane tanks at the
end of Blunston Street. He said a resident had expressed concern
that the tanks could explode. Barninger said that they belong to
Kleen-Rite.
In
regard to the first day of school, Lutz said Park School was in chaos
that morning, due to traffic issues.
Beury
proposed using Cherry Street from Bethel to 6th as a
parking lot for Park School. He said doing so would also allow more
parking for Janson's Park in the evening.
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