Recording, Roadbotics, and Ruffled Feathers at the February 26 Borough Council Meeting

By -
In another step towards livestreaming, Borough Council recorded Tuesday's meeting via a cell phone mounted on a small tripod and operated by the borough manager from her seat at the conference table. The tripod proved to be a more stable option than the suction cup used at the previous meeting when the phone fell from its perch above a window ledge and crashed to the floor 15 minutes into the meeting.

Columbia Borough has enlisted the aid of Roadbotics , a company that assesses road conditions via cell phone and special software. Previously, the assessments were done manually. The borough will use Roadbotics in a one-time contract at a cost of $5,000. The data gathered will be loaded into a program of the borough's called CSDatum. A previous study was done manually about five years ago, and the borough has since based its road program on this data. Borough Manager Rebecca Denlinger said, "Now it's time for us to get a new set of data on how the streets are - the conditions of the roads - so that we can put in place a new road program."

Breakdown in decorum? An exchange between Jim McGinness and Councilman Cleon Berntheizel became a bit heated:



TO BE CONTINUED 

Comments

Anonymous said…
Good for Jim McGinness does Cle think he's the president he speaks more than Kelly does. Hope he wil be gone at the next election. We need people to speak up at these meetings. Frank, Sharon and Jim Heather and more.
March 1, 2019 at 3:15 PM
Anonymous said…
Yes why do council members not know Robert's Rules of Order? Any members other than the president are to ask the president if they may respond, not just blurt out responses. Don't get me being, it's about time council starts to answer the concerns of residents but please do so by the proper guidelines.
March 1, 2019 at 5:19 PM
Anonymous said…
Agree 100 per cent
March 1, 2019 at 6:09 PM
Unknown said…
Good for Jim McGuinnes.
How can someone sit on Council and owe back taxes?
March 1, 2019 at 10:40 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Columbia's decision to ban former employee from its property may be 'unconstitutional' [Lancaster Watchdog]

By Columbia Spy -
Image
Chris Vera [Columbia Spy file photo] The following information is excerpted from a December 6, 2025 LNP Watchdog article by LNP | LancasterOnline reporter Jade Campos. Still reeling from an abrupt firing from his role as head of the Columbia Market House in March, Chris Vera was surprised to get a letter in the mail from a Columbia Borough attorney two weeks later telling him he was banned indefinitely from borough property. The letter gave no reason for the ban. Nine months later, Vera, who has served as president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society for more than a decade and has helped with the borough’s comprehensive plan, is still banned from borough property. He believes the ban includes borough parks, which is part of the reason he moved his annual Albatwitch Day festival, which celebrates the myth of a local cryptid, to Wrightsville. Vera said he’s not sure why the borough went to such lengths to keep him away from public spaces given his termination from the borough s...
Read more

East Donegal man charged in Columbia hit & run

By Columbia Spy -
Image
NATHAN WILLISON | LNP Staff Writer An East Donegal Township man is facing criminal charges after police say he struck a 13-year-old with his truck and fled the scene last month.  Derek Scott Mohr, 28, is charged with causing an accident involving death or injury without a license, failing to stop to render aid, driving at an unsafe speed and related charges.  Mohr had been driving a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado through Chestnut Street in Columbia around 8 p.m. March 20 when he struck a 13-year-old boy riding a motorized scooter and continued driving, according to charging documents filed by police.  When police arrived, they found the boy with a broken leg and a cut to his forehead. His scooter was lying nearby, its handlebars completely snapped off.  Another teenager who witnessed what happened described the truck to police and said that the driver made no attempt to stop after striking the boy. Surveillance footage collected from the area shows the truck striking the b...
Read more

Mayor Lutz must accept responsibility

By Columbia Spy -
Image
  GUEST COMMENTARY [Name withheld by request out of fear of retaliation] For two decades, Leo Lutz has occupied the mayor's office in Columbia, and his supporters are quick to credit him with every positive development in our borough, but leadership is a two-way street. If Mayor Lutz is going to accept praise for Columbia's successes, many of which, frankly, he had little direct involvement in, then he must also be held accountable for our failures. The facts paint a troubling picture. Despite the mayor's repeated assurances that our streets are safe, we've witnessed a disturbing rise in assaults, shootings, and vandalism. His promises have fallen by the wayside: the foot patrol we were promised never materialized, nor did the bike patrol that was supposed to increase our sense of security. Fiscally, the situation is equally dire. Taxes have increased at least twice during Mayor Lutz's tenure, yet the borough now finds itself millions of dollars in debt. This isn...
Read more