COLUMBIA SPY

Two of the proposed duplex-style townhomes, at 5th Street & Avenue K. Another duplex will be built at Church Avenue and Avenue K.  Columbia Borough Council unanimously approved the construction of four new townhomes at a meeting Tuesday, marking another step forward in efforts to revitalize vacant properties in the borough. The development, proposed by the Lancaster County Land Bank Authority, will be built at 154 and 156 S. Fifth Street and 461 Avenue K. The project received approval with no conditions after the borough's Historical Architectural Review Board recommended council's endorsement.  Photos showing the locations of the proposed townhomes  The Land Bank Authority, a subsidiary of the Lancaster County Housing and Redevelopment Authority, specializes in transforming abandoned or deteriorated properties into functional housing and commercial spaces. The organization's mission focuses on neighborhood improvement and reducing urban blight. Sean Krumpe, represent...

Columbia Borough is moving forward with a soil remediation project at the former McGinness Airport, where decades of fill and buried debris have created conditions that must be addressed before development can proceed. The borough is currently accepting sealed bids for the Phase I soil remediation work, with proposals due by on Thursday, June 19, 2025, through the online PennBid Program. Engineering assessments have found issues at the site, according to Jason Best of ELA Group and Derek Rinaldo, the borough's engineer who has overseen the project since its inception. During a February 25, 2025 Columbia Borough Council meeting, Best described the scope of the problem as including "deleterious materials, including whatever junk was buried through the course of all the flattening for the runways years and years ago." According to a borough legal notice published in LNP/LancasterOnline (10/13/22), "the site has been found to be contaminated with metals which has contami...

JACK PANYARD/LNP Staff Writer A Columbia man will spend up to five years in state prison after pleading no contest Wednesday to stabbing a Pennsylvania State Police trooper with a kitchen knife. Michael Allen Smith, 55, of Union Street, attacked the trooper on Aug. 31 last year after officers tried to take him into custody at his home during an involuntary mental health commitment, according to police. Smith pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and four other offenses Wednesday. Lancaster County Judge Thomas Sponaugle sentenced him to two to five years in state prison as part of a plea agreement. While not an admission of guilt, a no-contest plea is considered a conviction. Smith acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence that a jury could convict him had the case gone to trial. MORE: https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/columbia-borough-man-charged-with-stabbing-state-trooper-pleads-no-contest/article_8ba43907-a448-4514-82af-fc8ab8b2168e.h...

MORGAN HUBER | FOR LNP | LANCASTERONLINE When: Columbia Borough School board meeting, May 15. What happened: Columbia Borough school board approved an amount of $610.85 per home in property tax reduction in 2025-26 under the state Homeowner Tax Relief Act, an increase from $522.85. What it means: This state funding source means 1,815 qualifying properties in Columbia Borough should expect the highest tax reduction rate in recent years. The impact of this state tax relief measure is considerable for Lancaster County's smallest and one of its poorest districts. The funding allowed the school board May 6 to approve a proposed final budget that will cut taxes by 3% for the 2025-26 school year. Background: The goal of the homestead and farmstead exclusion legislation passed in 2006 is to reduce school district reliance on the real estate tax; this is achieved by putting in place new funding options, including local personal or earned income taxes and funds from gaming. Tax rate: The rea...

Former Finance Manager Michelle Jenkins At Tuesday's meeting, Columbia Borough Council voted to ratify the termination of Finance Manager Michelle Jenkins, ending her six-month tenure with the borough. Council also voted to advertise for a new finance manager. During citizens' comments at the beginning of the meeting, resident Sharon Lintner asked if Jenkins was banned from borough property as the market manager was. Heather Zink, council president, replied that she couldnt answer that, because she didn't know. At the March 27, 2025 council meeting, Mayor Leo Lutz said a property ban is "standard procedure" that had occurred "quite a few times in the past." In answer to a resident's question about who had been banned, Lutz replied: "Probably everybody that left, including officers. It's a standard management decision." (Former Market House Manager was banned from borough property when he was terminated earlier this year.) Jenkins, who b...

  The meeting packet is  HERE .

Meteer Thomas, Meteer Janet Marie conveyed 149 S. Fourth St. to Swope Angela, Boone Derek for $285,000. Diehl Schiable Rebecca B., Schiable Rebecca B. Diehl conveyed 121 S. 10th St. to Ferguson Thomas James, Diehl Schiable Rebecca B., Schiable Rebecca B. Diehl for $1. Kathy S. Williams conveyed 133 S. Fifth St. to Jason Velazquez for $141,000.