Friday, January 3, 2025
Pa. State Rep. Brett Miller enters 36th District race, opposing Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons for GOP nomination | Politics | lancasteronline.com
PA State Rep. Brett Miller
[Columbia Spy file photo]
State Rep. Brett Miller said Thursday he will run for the vacated 36th Senate District seat in an upcoming special election, putting him on a collision course with Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons for the Republican nomination.
Miller, 63, of East Hempfield Township, cited his experience serving as a lawmaker since 2015, saying he would “hit the ground running” if elected because he understands the General Assembly’s rules and procedures.
Columbia tax hike came after multiple councils ignored fiscal warnings [letter] | Letters To The Editor | lancasteronline.com
[NOTE: The following letter was published in the December 25, 2024 edition of LNP/LancasterOnline]
Columbia Borough Council's sorrowful "regrets" over the recent 25% property tax hike ring hollow ("Property taxes in Columbia Borough will increase by 25% next year," Dec. 11 LancasterOnline.com).
Council members need to stop with the hand-wringing and crocodile tears, because the borough's fiscal crisis was entirely predictable. Multiple councils ignored warnings from successive borough managers about overspending.
Instead of addressing the underlying problems, these councils continued to spend, spend, spend — leading to today's situation, which may require yet another tax hike for 2026.
Given council's track record of "kicking the can down the road," it seems unlikely that members will have the courage or will to make the tough decisions and cut unnecessary spending.
Council's current course of hiking taxes will continue to hamper economic development, discourage home ownership and devalue property.
With the borough council unable to fully account for all past spending, it may be time to consider state oversight through receivership to restore the borough's financial stability.
Joe Lintner
Columbia
McGinness Innovation Park Plans Still in Conceptual Phase
No final plan for the McGinness Innovation Park currently exists. Instead, there are only concepts of a plan.
At the December 17 Columbia Borough Planning Commission meeting, officials confirmed that plans for the McGinness Innovation Park are only in the conceptual stage. Engineer Derek Rinaldo recommended that the Planning Commission collaborate with borough council to establish deadlines and objectives, a process he estimates will take 6 to 9 months.
According to Rinaldo, major earth-moving operations are scheduled to begin in the spring, with no immediate plans for lot creation in the next six months.
“The bulk of the earth-moving is slated to start in the spring,” Rinaldo said, “so there isn't any plan in the next 6 months to be creating lots.”
Once earth-moving commences, the project team will transition from their current focus on environmental permits, earth-moving, and demolition to developing more detailed plans for the site's future. A house at 700 Franklin Street is slated to be demolished.
A house at 700 Franklin Street (shown above) is slated for demolition as part of the process of developing the innovation park.
According to Rinaldo, the next phase will involve creating subdivision and land development plans, including decisions about street layouts and lot sizes. After that, the project team will begin serious discussions with the “economic development core” and potential buyers or tenants, according to Rinaldo.
Borough council previously approved submitting subdivision plans to the Lancaster County and Columbia Borough planning commissions at its May 14, 2024 meeting to lock down the outer boundaries of the business park.
Two conceptual plans have already been prepared by ELA Group, a Lititz-based engineering company:
- One that accommodates a runway
- One that focuses on business park expansion
Rinaldo emphasized that these plans are preliminary, noting that the final layout and lot sizes will be determined by the types of businesses and uses the borough aims to attract.
At the December 23 borough council meeting, when resident Frank Doutrich inquired about whether the parcels would be sold or leased, Heather Zink, council president, indicated that while no final decision has been made, the preference is to sell the parcels. “We have not come to a final determination yet on any of that,” Zink said. “The hope is that they'll be sold, and I don't think that's going to be an issue.”
Columbia Borough paid $1.5 million (plus closing costs) in August 2021 to buy the 58-acre former airport property, looking to turn it into a business and technology center. The cost to develop the site has been estimated at $10-12 million.
Restaurant Inspections - Columbia Borough - January 3, 2024
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Union Station Grill, 171-173 S. Fourth St., Columbia, Dec. 23. Pass. Food facility does not have available sanitizer test strips or test kit to determine appropriate sanitizer concentration of the chlorine bleach used in the mechanical dish washers. Chlorine chemical sanitizer residual detected in the final sanitizer rinse cycle of the low temperature sanitizing dishwasher at the bar was 10 ppm, and not 50-100 ppm as required. The facility will utilize the large mechanical dishwasher in the back until the chlorine sanitizer of the low-temp dish washer at the bar is repaired. Old, dried food residue observed on the potato slicer. Observed several cracked and broken floor tiles at the cook line.
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