New sign at Columbia Plaza

Workers installed a sign at Columbia Plaza today for the Medicine Shop, which will be moving in next to Dollar General. Among the other changes at the plaza is an auto parts store that will be moving into the space recently vacated by the Columbia Family Restaurant when renovations are completed at the north end of the mall.

River Park trees marked for cutting

Trees at Columbia River Park that are slated to be cut down have been marked with spray paint.

Are these code violations?

We know there's a stairway to heaven, but a doorway to nowhere?

How about several?

These were seen today:

 100 block of Avenue H

(Note the plastic step stool beneath the threshold.)

 100 block of Avenue H

 On Bank Street, near Locust

(There are at least two issues shown.)

Not a door, but a window.

Not just any window, but one with a dryer vent stuck through a piece of plywood.

(200 block of Locust - third floor)

About Town

Some shots around town today . . .

Columbia's a busy town, and today it was bustling:

 Pole work on Barber

 "Fixing a hole where the rain gets in" on Locust

 Installing sidewalks on Eighth

Trimming trees at Locust Street Park

Meanwhile . . .

 This truck appeared in the parking lot of a local business. Among other things, it contained portable electrical boxes attached to hand trucks.

What?

 Time to break out the Geiger counter to count rems and rads?

Yes, probably. 

TMI: It's never good when those letters appear together, whether they stand for "Too Much Information" or . . . something else.

Route 441 bypass might take longer than expected

At Columbia Borough Council's October 26 Meeting of the Whole, Acting Borough Manager/Public Works Director Ron Miller announced that the Route 441 bypass project might not be finished by Monday, November 2, as previously planned, and could take an additional week for completion. A walk-through is still planned for Sunday, November 1, 1-3 p.m.

Here are some shots of the project from today:

Agenda - Meeting of the Whole October 26, 2015

About Town

Some scenes from around town today . . .

Checking a light at the plaza

Route 441 bypass work

 

The commemorative bench in front of Stover's is gone.  Sources tell the Spy it was taken away due to ongoing vandalism and loitering.

Work continues at 855 Chestnut.

Leaf pickup

Now, that's interesting.

Meeting of the whole tonight

Columbia Borough Council will hold its monthly meeting of the whole tonight at 6 p.m. at Borough Hall, 308 Locust Street. Department managers are scheduled to be present to discuss the 2016 budget.

The next budget meeting will be held Tuesday, November 17th.

Takeaways from the budget meeting

A proposed 2016 budget was presented at Columbia Borough Council's Tuesday night budget meeting. Among the items discussed were the following:

• The annual police department budget of $2.8 million is approximately equal to the annual amount of property tax revenue. The borough is exploring various options, including regionalization, to contain costs. Several councillors noted that the current situation is "not sustainable" and services may need to be cut in the future if no other options are implemented. According to council, infrastructure improvements and various services have routinely been paid for largely by grants and earned income tax revenue. 

• The borough is looking at filling several positions: full-time codes department employee, highway one level employee, borough manager.

• The proposed millage is 7.75, a reduction of .25 mil, as recommended by the borough auditor. (.25 mil generates $85,000 per year for the borough.)

• The borough was recently informed by their solicitor that the fire company cannot sell the former Columbia No. 1 building on Front Street, because it is on borough land and is therefore borough property and must  be sold through a bidding process or other means.

• Pam Williams requested $6700 to show a series of four movies. The proposed series is an expansion of the recent Movie Under the Stars presentation held at Columbia River Park. Council referred her to the Parks and Recreation Board December 1 meeting.

• Beth Troxell of Susquehanna Center for the Creative Arts requested $3900 for a series of free art classes for Columbia students.

• Department managers are scheduled to attend the meeting of the whole, Monday night, October 26, at 6 p.m. for further budget discussions.

Columbia Happenings today Saturday, October 24

1-4 p.m.

Walk-through on new bypass Sunday, Nov. 1

UPDATE: There will NOT be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of the road.

Columbia Happenings today Friday, October 23

And Fourth Friday:

Fight involving baseball bats reported in Columbia, woman reportedly suffers traumatic injury

Police were responding to reports of a fight involving baseball bats and a traumatic head injury shortly after 9 p.m. in Columbia Borough.

According to dispatches on Lancaster County-wide Communications, the fight involving bats took place at or near 134 S. Third St., close to Avenue J in the borough.

MORE:
http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/fight-involving-baseball-bats-reported-in-columbia-woman-reportedly-suffers/article_b9215380-7923-11e5-9b74-abcfe232b4b0.html

Police: Student, 18, arrested after threatening shooting at Manheim-area school

An Intermediate Unit 13 student on Wednesday threatened to stab a teacher, bring a bomb and gun to school and shoot people, police said.

Austin Tyler Osborne, 18, of Bethel Street, Columbia, made the verbal threats at the IU 13 school at 8 Fairland Road in Penn Township on Wednesday, Northern Lancaster County Regional police said.

MORE:
http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/police-student-arrested-after-threatening-shooting-at-manheim-area-school/article_daf9b748-78c1-11e5-a332-5b23e438d303.html

One in custody

An officer questioned several youths in front of CVS Pharmacy this afternoon. One was taken into custody for possible involvement in a spray-painting incident.

Ready for the parade

         500 block of Locust this afternoon

                                 4th & Locust

St. Peter Apartments

Dates announced for Rte 441 bypass tour, ribbon-cutting

The public will be permitted to walk the Route 441 bypass on Sunday, November 1, from 1 to 3 p.m.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Monday, November 2, at 9 a.m., after which the road will officially open at 10 a.m.

Columbia Borough studying future of police department

Columbia Borough is beginning a study about consolidating police forces, just as the issue is popping up in more and more communities across the region.

The state Department of Community and Economic Development will run the study at no cost to the borough.

It will look at the department's operations - call volume, staffing and costs - but it will also evaluate whether some type of merger or consolidation with neighboring communities makes sense.

MORE:
http://www.witf.org/news/2015/10/lancaster-county-borough-studying-future-of-police-department.php