COLUMBIA SPY: About Town - January 8, 2023

Sunday, January 8, 2023

About Town - January 8, 2023

Recent photos of Columbia

(Click/tap on photos to see larger, sharper images.)

The crew from Henkels & McCoy that was working around town last week was installing fiber optic cable. Finally, Columbia joins the 21st Century.

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Heron in the fog

Feisty groundhog in the 400 block of Avenue G

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A cozy little cottage (actually a section of The Elks)

You can post as many signs as you want and sometimes they'll still get ignored.

Markers like this one were painted at various locations along Route 462 for placement of detour signs for the Malleable Road overpass project a few months ago. The markers were painted on August 9, 2022 by the Atlas Flasher & Supply Company, 430 Swedesboro Avenue, Mickleton, NJ 08056.

Unfortunately, the company did not remove the paint after the project was completed and left it for residents to deal with. Under other circumstances, this would be considered vandalism.

Meanwhile, down at the Columbia River Park cul-de-sac, rubber tires have been placed under the tracks of this excavator to prevent damage to the asphalt, which leads to the question . . .

. . . how much damage are these machines doing to the road surface, and who will pay for it?

The 900 block of Barber Street will be closed weekdays 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. through 27, as Columbia Spy reported previously. Some residents of that block were not notified of the closure until after the project had begun. The same thing often happens at various locations around town when utility companies begin a project.

The Holy Trinity Catholic Church will be asking HARB to consider demolition of these three properties on the 400 block of Cherry Street. According to the January 11, 2023 HARB agenda:

New Business
a Consider motion to recommend to Borough Council for the COA - 427, 429, 431
Cherry Street
APPLICANT/OWNER:
Holy Trinity Catholic Church

AGENT:
DC Gohn Associates Inc

CONTRACTOR:
TBD

ALTERATION:
Demolition of three neighboring, wood-framed, residential row home type structures located at 427, 429 and 431 Cherry Street.

Demolition of back yard and side yard concrete walkways and miscellaneous slab areas. Demolition of metal fencing. Backfill, compaction, fine grading, seeding and tree plantings and installation of new concrete curbing and sidewalk.

Here's the notice.

Almost sunset - Thursday, January 5, 2023

Sunset - Saturday, January 7, 2023

Graffiti at Rotary Park (censored)

More graffiti at Rotary Park

Trashcan in a trashcan - Somehow this makes sense.

Graffiti on an old bridge pier

(This is one of the piers that supported the bridge that was burned in the Civil War.)

This was growing out of one of the mortar joints there. As Dr. Ian Malcolm said, "Life finds a way."

Demolition, almost done, at 332 Locust

This is how it looked the other day but has since been filled in with dirt. It will ultimately become a courtyard.

Foggy morning. Some visitors still think this road at Columbia River Park is the way to the trail.

Time to hose down the steps again.

What's happening at the old Columbia Drive-in site?

Here's what:

"A planned development that will include 18,000 square feet of retail space, a 3,000 square foot restaurant, a 3,500 square foot bank, 163 mid-rise apartments, and 9 low-rise townhomes, according to West Hempfield Township Planning Commission meeting minutes of May 16, 2019. The project was also discussed at the February 2, 2021 and October 5, 2021 West Hempfield Township Supervisors' meetings."