Items from Columbia Borough Council Meeting of the Whole, Monday, November 23, 2015:
Judy McKonly is willing to fund the construction of an animal rescue facility on a one-acre parcel of the borough farm. Council is currently awaiting a proposal plan for the facility.
LCSWMA funding slated for Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area (SGHA) has decreased by $25,000. (On July 27, council approved SGHA to enter an agreement to manage Columbia Crossing.) Taxpayers are currently paying utilities for the building. SGHA wants an office to be constructed in the building.
All road paving is done for the year. 13 blocks were paved, representing a 30% increase over last year.
New playground equipment will begin to be installed at Rotary Park next week.
Leaf pickup will end on December 11.
$14-15,000 of material (salt and anti-skid mixture) is needed to keep roads salted and safe.
Sewer refunds are done. Bills for delinquent accounts will be sent out.
Council approved a $5,000 donation to CBAA to remodel restrooms at Glatfelter's Field.
"In-car" laptops for police are $6,000 each and need to be replaced every five years.
New Borough Manager Gregory Sahd becomes "official" on December 14.
Don and Becky Murphy received a Community Revitalization Award for the Susquehanna Center for the Arts, 224 Locust St., Columbia.
Preliminary plans were presented to the Planning Commission at its September meeting for the installation of two large propane tanks near Fourth and Manor Streets.
Three vacancies for 2016: Civil Service (6-year term), Police Pension Board (1-year term), Tree Commission (5-year term).
The Lancaster County Housing and Redevelopment Authority will be taking over the blighted property at 208-210 Locust Street.
Norfolk Southern and PennDOT still have not reached an agreement, further delaying the opening of the Route 441 bypass. Further information has not been made available.
CEDC will sell the fire company building along Front Street. The fire company cannot sell the property, because it belongs to Columbia Borough. By law, the borough cannot donate the property to the fire company. By law, a realtor may not sell the property.
95 comments:
Judy Mckonly should lease the land for a price! That land is tax payers money!! Also, Kleen- Rite moving to east donegal< food for thought!!!!
Why the CEDC? Nothing being done on the old Hotel Locust!!!!
No leasing the land, she is investing her own money to help this borough and the borough cannot stop giving to other organizations. We cannot pass up this opportunity.
Exactly, WHY?
Council recently voted to give them $20,000. Maybe that will spark some motivation.
We the tax payers should stop giving to the higher ups! The only ones that prosper are them! through the years in this town its a sham to see these people get rich off of tax payers! It must STOP! Want whats best for them and not others!! Low paying jobs in this town to BOOT!
Wish i could get land because of who i am! This land is TAX PAYERS!! What can you not see here! If anything let it be voted on by TAX PAYERS!!!!!!!
Thought they had $86,000.00 Thousand dollars in their bank account! Why and Why again must the TAX People pay and pay and give and give to those who only will benefit themselves!!
Instead of waiting for penndot and the railroad company to come to an agreement on the trsffic lights at front and walnut, why not take the stop signs down on front street and let it be a throughway. At least until they get the politics figured out.
Why way up on the Hill at Blue Lane? Why not in town? Must be a reason.
About one year ago, there was a dumpster being placed in front of The Hotel Locust. This took place during the holiday season, in spite of shop owners disapproval. It is still vacant. No doubt a special type of investor will have to come forward in order to sell this building. Meanwhile, what has the CEDC been doing?
I believe they were given $20,000 last year too and that did not motivate them then.
SGHA wants an office built in the building! How big? How much money? What is their plan as a whole?? Let them EAT CAKE!!
Why is not the Gladfelter Foundation repairing the rest rooms. The foundation has the money. Having been involved in the CBAA many years ago I can tell you the Foundation pays for very little improvements at this park. Either they start paying up or give up the foundation!
$6,000. for a laptop? Sorry, that is way to high. I spoke to someone who works works for another police department and they are using Dell semi-rugged laptops at a cost of $2500 per computer. Why are we paying $6,000. Just another example of tax payer dollars being wasted with no oversight or investigation into the cost of equipment.
Barking dogs... is the reason why it would be out there, with less impact to neighbors.
Thank you!
wake up people. Kudos to Judy for wanting to FUND this venture. Another GOOD for the Boro. VOTE YES
in NO way, shape or form should theBoro give SGHA its OWN OFFICE SPACE!????? you people are nuts. NO NO NO theres NO room for an office.
and Norfolk Southern SHOULD BE MADE TO BUILD A SAFETY QUIET WALL (like on turnpike) for apparent safety reasons and also to quiet the speeding trains.
THANK YOU to Don & Becky Murphy!!!!!! So appreciative of ALL the good you are doing in the Boro. This folks, is the way to set an example...there are others who could step up. Job well done! Thank you!
Why should anyone care there is not one penny of the tax payers money going into the project good thing for Columbia people are never happy know wonder the town does not get any where just for one time let's work together
Here's the organization's 990:
http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/236/236394173/236394173_201412_990EZ.pdf
No reason Judy can't have the. building put there we do not get tax money from that land because the borough owns it!!!!!!!!
Here's that organization's 990 for 2014:
http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/201/201464297/201464297_201412_990EZ.pdf
The borough cant sell the land! They have to have a 2nd party involved!! The borough is not in real estate business!! Also, the fire department on front st. IS for SALE!! That would be a very good place for what she wants to do!! Thank you for reading!!
If the borough owns it, then its TAX payers LAND!!
How about their contribution to the pool. Or should I say quick buck.
Won't happen. The stop signs are in place on Front St. so traffic can keep moving off of the railroad crossing.
You keep bringing up this safety and speeding issue. What are your credentials? What do you know about railroad speed limits and safety?
And why should a company be made to build a wall? Maybe the crossings should just be closed off. NO PUBLIC river access allowed!!!!!
The real take away here is, how in the heck did a propane tank off-loading station get approved here?
A town in New Hampshire had to have a year long site study prior to any approval because it was a block away from homes. This construction is already well underway and sits in the backyard of several homes, one being an elderly highrise. Where was our year long site study or for that matter where's the permit?!!
Really? You are worried about Judy McKonly getting a small piece of land to help animals, when there is a propane off-loading station being constructed at Fourth and Manor.
How would the people get there boats in the river if there. was. Know public access to.the. river?
I agree 100%, who gave the approval of this? this must be looked into!!
" $14-15,000 of material (salt and anti-skid mixture) is needed to keep roads salted and safe."
Here's a wild idea: How about not running the street sweeper in the wintertime? There's no sense in sweeping up the salt and anti-skid between storms.
Wrightsville? We're talking about safety here, since the OP is so concerned. Nothing would be safer than eliminating those public crossings.
hello. wake up. the Boro WANTS to rent out "Columbia Crossings" bldg at the River Park for weddings, etc (get your head out of the sand!). How in the he-- would or could they EVER make that haappen with the trains. Someone pays $$ to rent & have their wedding right in the middle of the service...OH WAIT STOP....HAVE TO WAIT TIL THE TRAINS THRU...CAN'T HEAR ONE WORD THE MINISTER IS SAYING!!! oh yeah. THAT"S WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The Boro 's plan is to RENT IT.
uh there IS a ZONING DEPT for a reason!
Yes why does the street sweeper run in the winter years ago it did not run in the winter why now?
I am thinking that it would be illegal (on a federal level) to restrict or prohibit public access.
Uh, no one on the zoning board has to live near it.
Guess it was a stupid idea to build the "Columbia Crossing" building near a crossing, then. I'm still wondering how you plan to build a sound barrier and yet have a crossing at the same time. Enlighten us.
Ticket revenue.
maybe if you'd get enough people to attend a council mtg and complain about the st sweeper running ALL year...they'd HAVE to do something about it. oh wait.....that would cost a ton of money because then ALL the signs would be incorrect. The street sweeper SHOULD NOT RUN IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY AT THE VERY LEAST.
The over paid borough employees would have nothing to do then!
The railroad tracks will be put in next to this propane site! Sparks from these tracks will be a problem!! I wonder who let this to be built?
Good point. They will be sitting right next to an area zoned high-density residential.
What could possibly go wrong?
We hear that a propane off-loading facility is planned for the "field" at 4th & Manor in conjunction with several local businesses. 67 cubic yards (about 7-1/2 cement mixer trucks) of concrete was poured for a slab 20' x 40' - large enough to hold two 30,000 gallon storage tanks.
Here's what happens when a mere 1,000 gallon tank blows (at 1:25 in the video):
https://youtu.be/UM0jtD_OWLU
In Rapho Township in 2013, a 30,000 gallon tank car containing butane blew, causing a large fire in which a man was badly burned:
http://m.wgal.com/news/lancaster-county-train-car-fire-forces-evacuations/20801988
Work has been proceeding at 4th & Manor for over a month and a half with no permit displayed.
Sparks from the tracks? Really? Some people on here need to get away from their computers and out into the real world once in a while. Many propane terminals are rail served (there's a couple in the county already).
And there was no tank car blowing up at Rapho, Cole. Just a fire. Stop spreading ignorance and fear - there's enough of that already. LPG is one of the commodities that is needed around here. Let's support a *REAL* Columbia tax-paying business for a change.
-FMB
"Just a fire." 150 firefighters responded. It took 23 hours to extinguish the blaze. Hospice and several homes and businesses were evacuated. Amtrak service was delayed. The heat from the fire was so intense that it warped the surface of the tank car.
But a car didn't "blow up" as you said.
--FMB
I spoke with a former HazMat volunteer and he said yes, it is safe until there's a fire or a leak!
And think of it this way: There were more people killed trying to cross 3rd St. in Columbia than at that Lancaster Propane fire.
Nothing is 100% safe. But we live in a world where we are dependent upon fossil fuels. To keep a terminal away because of one accident is simple fear mongering.
--FMB
Most streets in this town have natural gas pipelines running under them. One of them blew up in Millersville when hit by a construction crew. So I guess we should remove them?
Nothing is 100% safe. But we weigh risks vs. rewards every day. It's the real world.
-FMB
I wonder if "FMB" is willing to live within 50 feet of the tank itself.
Too late after an accident and that's why hindsight is 20/20. The borough has a chance to say no to this location. Were the residents (living near this) invited to a public meeting to be educated and ask questions?
Actually, there is a WGAL video of a person living in the Rapho Township evacuation area. That person stated it was an explosion. Kaitlyn Smith reported it as being propane.
We should all relax, living here between the pipeline and the propane tanks is perfectly fine.
The "rewards" are found lining someone's wallet. Talk about the real world to the guy that was severely burned during the accident in Rapho.
In the summer of 2014, a home in Lower Windsor, York County was leveled by a propane tank explosion. It sent debris 100 yards in all directions. The family was not at home, otherwise there would have been casualties. This home Sat in a rural area on a large lot, yet neighboring homes shook. This tank did not hold anywhere near what these will.
"FMB" spends many work days near large propane tanks. FMB doesn't live in fear. FMB also is aware of simple statistics and doesn't fall prey to emotion. I just love how so many on this site swoon over someone selling popcorn at the market house as a way of reviving Columbia, yet want to deny another (far larger and contributing) Columbia business from being able to succeed. Double standard much?
For the record, FMB has nothing to do with the proposed propane facility or its owners. FMB is just glad to see Columbia businesses thriving.
And last I heard, the guy at Rapho is back to work at the same place. Yes Virginia, he is actually aware of the real world, unlike many of the keyboard warriors on this site.
--FMB
Yep. More likely to be killed by heart disease, car accident, or a fall in your own home. But hey, if people want to live in fear, then so be it.
-FMB
Natural gas pipelines, now there is another disaster waiting to happen with the installation of the horrific looking monstrosities all over this borough. One on Union, another on Cherry. The smaller, unsightly ones installed on sidewalks in front of homes are a tripping hazard and detract from any hope of curb appeal. Lots of fire calls for investigation of gas odors.
Keep adding more "fuel" for a fire, it won't be IF there is an accident, it will be WHEN.
Some one is putting GAS ON THE FIRE HERE!! Lets not keep doing this Propane site! Huge mistake here!! I would like to know NAMES of who left this being built!!
This is why nobody decent will ever run for council. Having to put up with the ignorant residents that freak out about everything.
I think its ashame for the borogh or whoever ok'd this propane site!!
Now that Susquehanna Gateway has lost some of its funding will we the taxpayer be expected to come to the rescue?
What will we get for the $20,000 Borough Council gave to CEDC?
Some residents care about what's going on in this town and aren't afraid to speak up. Others sleepwalk through life, eyes closed to what's going on around them.
To bad Columbia can't have free parking down town during the Christmas season all of the other towns can do it and don't say it is because of the people who live down town that will park there that is just a excuse real reason might loose alitte money on tickets years ago we had free parking during the Christmas season.
I clearly recall a council person questioning the tanks just off Blunston Street and the potential for an accident there. This statement was met with an outburst of laughter. I hope they still think it's funny in the aftermath of a serious problem.
the propane tank HAD TO BE APPROVED BY THE ZONING OFFICER. Duh.
That was unclear, but it sounds like we are not to be concerned about this either, they know what they're doing!
The pole barn on Thirteenth Street was also "approved" !
One Columbia Borough commission states it prefers to maintain "local control" , we need not wonder why.
A 20# cylinder can do a lot of damage if it blows. Should we ban all gas grills in Columbia? What about residential-sized tanks? Where do we draw the line?
Hey, people are more than welcome to move out in the middle of nowhere if they don't want to worry about natural gas lines or propane tanks. And I'm not 'sleepwalking' through life. Quite the contrary, I realize that there is a risk to living in an area convenient with services. What I'm not going to do is live in fear because I'm afraid of some propane tanks, while at the same time lamenting that we can't get tax-paying businesses to come/stay in Columbia.
--FMB
This has to stop!! this town is letting some people do what they want!! How much will be going in the AIR, this Propane fill up?? It should NOT BE BUILT!!!
The people that moved out in the middle of nowhere are having a pipeline raping their land.
It should not be built WHY? Because you personally don't like it? Grow up. If we want this town to survive, we need real industry and business. And that includes something more substantial than a popcorn vendor at Market.
-FMB
You keep mentioning the popcorn vendor. Forgive me for asking, but why the obsession?
The money is for the CEDC to pay their manager.
Yes, it does seem Scrooge-like.
Yes, why was that?
Not obsessing. I just use it as a example of the quintessential small retail business that so many believe will be the key to Columbia success. While it may help, we also need other industrial and non-retail businesses to succeed if we are to survive as a town in the future.
You have to admit, many on this site want to ballyhoo the vendors in Market, yet denigrate the other tax-paying (non-retail) businesses that call this boro home.
-FMB
This crying about Judy is crazy .I am not her employee or even get along with Mike but I have to step in here and defend this lady , everyone talks about taxes how much do you think she pays to this borough a year? I am a business owner also and I understand what business owners pay a year in this town.also your other article talks about propane tanks on manor street is this town so stupid or just under educated cause if this town does not welcome the big tax payers that provides the financial means to operate this borough you will be just like the guy that runs this site . Sit around all day and think of bad ideas that don't pay the bills.
The guy that runs this site is a college educated, full-time employee. He totally supports Judy in her efforts. If you cannot see that the people writing comments do not necessarily represent his opinion, then you need an education. The people have every right to question what is going on with the propane tanks. The guy that runs this site was notified by a concerned citizen about the propane tanks and the citizen asked him to check on the matter. This is a well respected person that wished to remain anonymous, and we can see why. Anyone that questions the actions of this borough is crucified.
I forgot one thing, "the guy that runs this site" doesn't care if you like his site or not. "LIKES" are for Facebook. This site does not operate for money, advertisers, or likes.
Big tax payers? A vacant lot with propane tanks is not bringing in as much tax as if a factory was being built there. It's not bringing in lots of jobs either. What it is bringing, is risk.
Whoa I am just starting read all these comments and I have to say factory . Really .....this borough ran them out years ago. Where were you at ? And taxes yeah this borough needs all the help they can get. Why don't you run Sharon , sounds like your another genius in this town.
FMB I have read everything that you wrote and you are 100% correct these people are just uneducated about propane . I have it and work beside it everyday. I support the rail terminal and the jobs it will create , and everyone says how many jobs ? If it's 1 or 10 it's better than any other business in our town is doing. I'm a concerned resident and know we been this business here.
Nothing. We get nothing. Who is involved with cedc anyway Cole?
I do not qualify by numbers to be genius, however my husband actually does and I have been encouraging him to run for council. At least I am willing to sign my name here and not hide behind anonymous. I do not recall resorting to insults and name calling when someone disagrees with me. Sharon
I sign a name on here, too. May be my real name, or it may not be. But since we don't know whether Sharon is your name or not (and not like a first name is really revealing) , it doesn't make a difference.
I remain,
--FMB
My name is Sharon Lintner, I do not have an alias, nor do I have a problem with my name being attached to my comments.
Can we close AVE J????
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