COLUMBIA SPY

Monday, July 11, 2016

Borough council appoints Novak and FitzGerald

Mayor Leo Lutz swears in new councillor Fran FitzGerald at Monday's meeting.

Columbia Borough Council voted Monday night to appoint John Novak and Fran FitzGerald to council to fill seats recently vacated by Barry Ford and Mary Barninger. Other candidates who applied for the position were Frank Doutrich, Jeanne M. Cooper, Joseph H. Nikolaus, and Alan Barninger. Candidate Michelle McFarland was not present. John Novak was unable to attend the meeting and was interviewed via phone after listening to the interviews. He was sworn in by Mayor Leo Lutz via phone.

Ford resigned due to health issues. His resignation was effective May 31, 2016. Barninger resigned due to employment obligations. Her resignation was effective June 30, 2016.

Columbia School Board - Unanswered questions

Unanswered questions have been swirling around town since the June 16 Columbia Borough School Board meeting. Changes, resignations, and appointments are making the actions of the board look like a veritable chess game.

Board President Tom Strickler resigned after announcing his intention to apply for an administrative position with ELANCO.
Strickler's resignation is effective July 18 at 11:59 p.m.

In a unanimous vote, the board appointed board member Cole Knighton as president, despite his less than desirable attendance record over the past four years, specifically:

In 2013: Twelve regular board meetings: He attended seven. (58%)

In 2014: Eleven regular board meetings with recorded attendance: He attended four. (36%)

In 2015:. Twelve regular board meetings: He attended seven. (58%)

In 2016: Six regular board meetings to date: He has so far attended all six. (100%)

In 2015, board members Alysa Poindexter and Cole Knighton both missed the first three consecutive meetings of the year. By the March 2015 meeting, both Knighton and Poindexter had reached a point in which their attendance was an issue, according to bylaws. They both remained on the board, but Poindexter eventually resigned in June, having missed a total of six consecutive meetings. Knighton kept his seat.

According to Section 319 of 1949 Act 14, adopted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly:

"If any person having qualified as school director and any qualified school director who is a member of a joint board or who is selected as a member of a joint school committee or who is a member of a joint school committee by virtue of the provisions of a joint board agreement shall neglect or refuse to attend two successive regular meetings of the school board, joint board or joint school committee, unless detained by sickness, or prevented by necessary absence from the district, or if in attendance at any meetings shall neglect or refuse to act in his official capacity as a school director, the remaining members of the board may declare his office as director vacant. His office shall be filled from the qualified electors of the district."

No other candidates - including Board Vice President Kathleen Hohenadel - were considered for the position vacated by Strickler. (According to our records, Hohenadel has had 100% attendance at meetings.)

A vacant position will be created when Strickler's resignation becomes effective and Knighton steps in as president. The position was advertised in the June 29 edition of the Merchandiser:

The deadline to apply for the position is August 1, 2016.

On a related note, board member Fran Resch resigned effective May 31, and the board appointed Keith Combs to fill the vacancy.

Strickler recused himself from part of the regular board meeting of May 12 due to his intention to apply for a Director of District Operations position, the posting for which is shown here:

The director will oversee operations at Columbia School District but will be an employee of ELANCO and will report to the ELANCO superintendent. Columbia taxpayers will foot the bill for the director and a four-day-a-month interim superintendent to the tune of $165,000 annually . . . $85,000 to $99,000 of which will be paid to the director. Reportedly, the superintendent will not receive additional compensation except for travel expenses, etc.

Part of Strickler's resume publicly available on the internet, shows the following:

His resume also lists 18 positions and titles he has held over the past 37 years, as well as a BS in Business Administration from Elizabethtown College and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

MORE TO FOLLOW . . .

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Former school board member clarifies reasons for resignation

As Columbia Spy reported HERE, former Columbia School Board member Francis Resch resigned from the board effective May 31, 2016. According to LNP, Resch resigned for health reasons. His resignation letter to the board, however, alludes to additional reasons. The letter is published here with permission of the author.

Mr. Resch has requested that the following comment be published:

"For the record I would like to say that health issues were not the main reason I resigned from the board.

However, I was disappointed that Iris Garrido was not chosen to fill my vacant position, since she had the 2nd highest number of votes in the Nov. election. She would have been a valuable asset to the board. Hopefully she will be considered for the current vacant position being advertised."

Saturday, July 9, 2016

9-year-old reporter gets book deal

Hilde Kate Lysiak

Hilde Kate Lysiak, who reports from Selinsgrove, PA, recently signed a book deal with Scholastic. She reports on news in her hometown at her site The Orange Street News.

MORE HERE

Friday, July 8, 2016

Another wave at River Park

This summer's mayfly invasion isn't over. In fact, it's barely begun. These photos were taken this morning (July 8) at Columbia River Park (and uptown) and show the results of last night's assault.

Reader-submitted photo

Arrests between 7/2/16 & 7/4/16

The link is HERE.

Draft Agenda for July 11, 2016 Columbia Borough Council Meeting

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Criminal mischief at Makle Park

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

UPDATE: Woman dragged by truck, injured

Following are more details about an incident Columbia Spy reported on yesterday:

Christopher Picard

According to West Hempfield Township Police:

Christopher Picard, 26, was arrested and charged by West Hempfield Township Police for Aggravated Assault (Felony) and Recklessly Endangering Another Person (Misdemeanor). Charges stem from an incident that occurred on Monday, July 4 at approx. 8:50 am in the area of the 100 block of Stonehouse Lane. He was allegedly involved in a child custody dispute when the mother of their 3-year-old child attempted to remove the child from its car seat. As the she was doing so, Picard started to drive away, and the mother’s arm became stuck in the seatbelt, causing her to be dragged by Picard’s pick-up truck.

Despite the victim and numerous witnesses shouting at Picard to stop, he continued to drive away until the victim fell from the moving truck. Picard allegedly stopped a short distance away but only to shut the door that the victim had been hanging from.

The victim was transported to Lancaster General Hospital by Susquehanna Valley EMS for injuries to her knees, head, neck and hips.

MORE: HERE

Longtime Columbia school board member Tom Strickler steps down

LNP ARTICLE ON A NEWS STORY FIRST REPORTED BY COLUMBIA SPY ON JUNE 19:
GO HERE:
http://lancasteronline.com/insider/community/longtime-columbia-school-board-member-tom-strickler-steps-down/article_f858bd86-42b3-11e6-ac90-fb8f0d8aab28.html

Council positions open

The Borough is accepting letters of interest until 4:30pm on July 8, 2016 for Councilpersons Mary Barninger and Barry Ford's term of office due to their recent resignations.

Eligible citizens are encouraged to submit a letter of interest and a brief statement of qualifications or resume to Greg Sahd, Borough Manager at gsahd@columbiapa.net.

The basic qualification to serve on Borough Council is to be a registered voter and resident of the Borough. Councilors must have resided in the Borough continuously for at least one year before being elected. To qualify as a voter, a person must be eighteen years of age and a resident of the election district.

Council will invite candidates to the next scheduled Borough Council Meeting on July 11, 2016 at 7 pm and will interview the candidates at that time. They will then vote to appoint 2 people to fill the open positions.

Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Greg Sahd at 684-2467 x7318.

Monday, July 4, 2016

The Best Playground

Columbia Spy is privileged to publish several articles by Columbia native Mike Clark, the first of which appears here, with permission of the author. The essays were previously published in The Globe Leader and 50-plus Senior News and will be reprinted in the Spy over the next few weeks.

The Best Playground
by Mike Clark

Up until I was eleven years old, I lived right across the street from the most imposing playground that God, railroads, and rivers could ever devise. It wasn’t necessarily safe, but isn’t that the essence of adventure?

A rocky field stretched from the back yard walkway of a small row house, to an obsolete railroad reservoir. This field was our baseball diamond. It was roughly configured, and it was in use daily, as weather permitted. The designated pitcher was most always Shorty Lehman, a small, middle-aged man who worked for the local telephone company. Shorty not only pitched, but he coached and encouraged each child who stepped up to the plate. He never berated or ridiculed, but his good-natured razzing was constant. Shorty was the positive influence that helped to turn rough-and-tumble boys and girls into good men and good women.

The reservoir sat atop a low hill, and a circular concrete wall topped with a pointed iron fence kept us out of harm’s way. The stagnant water within the small basin was covered with algae and was polluted with old tires, discarded wood, tree limbs, baseballs, and other unidentifiable debris. Fish, caught in the Susquehanna River, mysteriously found their way into the filthy stew, along with some snapping turtles and snakes. We actually tried catching those creatures with a fishing rod (sumac limb) and dough balls made from wet bread. We caught a lot of foul carp and unidentifiable crud in that mess.

At the base of the reservoir, a large cellar door led to a dark and dank earthen floor where an intake pipe and valve that fed the reservoir stood dormant. The valve had been locked off for many years as there was no longer a need to pump water; steam engines hadn’t run this line in ages. But we found enough toads down there to amuse ourselves for hours.

The back hill of the reservoir descended farther into the railroad beds, making a decent slope for sledding and rolling to the bottom in large cardboard drums that had been discarded by a metal smelting plant a block away. I don’t know that these drums were as much discarded as they were pilfered. This hill was like the dark side of the moon; we were hidden from the watchful eyes of parents, which instilled in us a sense of freedom.

But the best part of this playground lay beyond The Rezzie, as we called the reservoir. The tracks of The Reading Railroad, once the Columbia & Reading, often presented box cars and flatbeds at rest. These marvelous carriages hauled the most interesting freight. We were constantly snooping around the cars hoping to find new and fascinating cargo. Our favorite was the military equipment that sat proudly above the tracks on the flatbed cars. My brother and I have a black and white photo of us standing on top of an army tank while sporting boat shirts and clam diggers, the fashion rage in the late 1950s.

Just slightly south of the train yards, the rusting framework of an iron bridge that once carried steam engines across the river and points beyond, beckoned the more adventurous among us. The thick, wooden plank decking on each side of the remaining track was riddled with large gaps that threatened the careless runner with a steep plunge to the water below. Iron ladders along the way offered much safer access to the river and the muddy foundations of the piers, from which we could swim and bask in the hot summer sun.

Not too far over the tracks of the railroad yard, just before the actual banks of the mighty and treacherous Susquehanna River, lay a shallow, timeworn channel of the Pennsylvania Canal system, a part of Columbia history that began in 1832. We never gave history a thought, though, as we played on the banks and in the muddy water of that ancient waterway.

One of my my last adventures on the river happened the day we “found” a canoe and paddled our way up the canal toward a narrow inlet. There were maybe four or five junior explorers on board the craft that day, anxiously looking for action.

There was unexpected action, though, as we were flung into the drink from a wildly rocking canoe, which became unstable from all the movement within. At least that's what I thought caused the mishap.

I just found out recently, after over fifty years, that my brother intentionally sabotaged the boat; he was the unstable element within. I lost a sneaker in that prank. I don't remember how I explained it to my parents, as they had just bought those shoes for me. You see, we were forbidden from playing anywhere near that river. I can only assume that I told a real whopper of a story about how I lost a shoe while being somewhere that was dangerous and off limits. The consequences, I knew, would have been much worse had I told the whole truth.

I can't recall many adventures after that, if there were any. My mom passed away in 1962 and my life thereafter took some unexpected turns. But up until then, this is how we spent our days in the best playground ever.

As published in The Globe Leader, New Wilmington, PA; and 50-plus Senior News, Lancaster PA.

Mike Clark lives in Columbia, PA. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Psychology/Organizational Behavior from Albright College in Reading, PA.

Contact: mikemac429@aol.com.

Borough replaces storm sewer line

Last week, the borough's highway department replaced a storm sewer line on the 400 block of Locust Street. The old pipe was replaced with a new corrugated polyethylene pipe, and the trench was filled in with a load of stone. Steel plates have been placed over the trench until asphalt can be applied. The 300 and 400 blocks of Locust are slated to be paved.

An old gnarled sewer pipe was removed.

A new corrugated polyethylene pipe was installed.

About Town

Recent pics around town . . .

Birdhouse village at last week's arts and crafts show at Locust Street Park

Many dead fish have been spotted alongshore lately, including this carp. We're told that chartered fishing boats have been taking customers out in the evening to shoot fish with bow and arrow. Once shot, the fish are thrown back into the river - dead.

Wide open

At least the sign looks better this time.
A similar sign was recently removed from this very pole along Route 462, between Second and Third Streets, as shown HERE on Columbia Spy. We wonder if the sign's owners got permission form the borough to hang the new one here.