Takeaways from Monday's Meeting of the Whole
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.
Comments
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!
http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/236/236394173/236394173_201412_990EZ.pdf
http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/201/201464297/201464297_201412_990EZ.pdf
And why should a company be made to build a wall? Maybe the crossings should just be closed off. NO PUBLIC river access allowed!!!!!
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?!!
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.
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.
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
--FMB
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
Nothing is 100% safe. But we weigh risks vs. rewards every day. It's the real world.
-FMB
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
-FMB
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
-FMB
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
I remain,
--FMB