Meeting of the Whole 9-22-14

The regular monthly meeting of the Columbia Borough Council Committee of the Whole was held Monday, September 22, at 6 p.m. at Borough Hall, 308 Locust Street. 
Highlights of the meeting are as follows:

Near the beginning of the meeting, there was a discussion by citizens and councillor about the property at 631 South 13th Street. Details can be found HERE.
UPDATE: The property owner has applied for a variance, and the issue will now go before the Zoning Hearing Board on October 29 at 7 p.m. at the Borough Hall.

Highway:
Public Works Director Ron Miller said there will be additional costs for the Northwest River Trail Services Building at Columbia River Park for heating and electricity and that the amount is currently unknown.  Councillor Jim Smith asked if there had been any outreach to other members of the Northwest Trail to share costs. Borough Manager Sam Sulkosky said that it is the borough's building.  Finance Manager Georgiana Schreck said the building could be rented out for functions that would generate income. Sulkosky said there is interest in the building and until it is rented out, it's hard to project what that revenue will be. Smith said the building is available for all communities to use.

Miller said one way to generate revenue for the borough would be to sell compost from the borough farm, which would be fairly lucrative. "The farm has the potential to make money," he said.

Miller suggested trading in the current JLG lift for a bucket truck.  He said the JLG (which he calls the "creepy crawler") is "like new" but is too slow. He also said Columbia Borough maintains the bridge exclusively (including the maintenance of lights) but is reimbursed by PennDOT.  He added that there are over 1000 lights in the borough and a bucket truck could manage the whole borough.

Resident Mary Wickenheiser asked if it would be possible to get a person for landscaping.  She said the borough can't rely on volunteers, because the numbers are dwindling. Miller said the borough could get people trained, but the problem is resources. Smith mentioned that it was originally said that we have the volunteers to handle this but that everyone knew the volunteers would dwindle. "We have to be careful what we take on," he said.

The highway department also reported that it paved 10 blocks this year, probably the most it has done in that amount of time. A milling machine from outside saved two weeks. Miller said paving takes a day, but preparation (milling, etc.) takes a long time. Miller said the two blocks of Manor Street that were paved recently took 12-1/2 hours as compared to the two weeks it would have taken the borough with its own milling machine.  He added that an outside milling machine costs 13 cents per square foot, as compared to the $1.30 per square foot it would cost the borough to do the same work.


Police:
Details about the discussion on the police budget can be found HERE.
During the discussion, Councillor Smith said 8 mills generates 2-1/2 million dollars. "We're asking to spend $300,000 over the eight mills for public safety, he said.
Mayor Leo Lutz replied, "Public safety is the reason you have a municipal government."
He added, "The safety of the people who live here is the number one reason for existing here."
Smith said his deepest concern is for the taxpayers and that he knows some of the people who have lost their homes. Lutz said the safety of the people who live in the community is the number one priority and that you must improve the value of your community by bringing in business and increasing the value of housing.  "The bottom line is you must increase the value of your community," he said.


Codes:
Code Enforcement Officer Jeff Helm reported that the Codes Department has new computer software for the tablets in the field but that there may be a lag due to a learning curve and testing in the field, revisions. etc.  He said some municipalities take a year or more to get up and running. He said new EMA radios will enhance the ability to do field communications.  A base station will be located at the Hambones. The goal is to mimic emergency response to a situation in the field. He said there is an emergency button on top of each of the two portable radios that opens communication with 911 when pressed for two seconds.