COLUMBIA SPY

Answer: There are at least two blatant violations of park regulations.

This photo was taken at Columbia River Park this afternoon. During the discussion of River Park at Tuesday night's Meeting of the Whole, residents and councillors noted that people are using one of the docks as a home base for swimming in the river. This particular dock is designated for boat loading and unloading only, and is clearly marked "NO SWIMMING." Installing additional signage to address the issue was suggested, although the problem is not poor signage, but lack of enforcement. If the existing park regulations are not being enforced anyway, why not designate an area alongshore for swimming at one's own risk? Now that Locust Heights is gone, Columbia needs a swimming area. What better place than this great resource running right along our shore?

A lot of folks have been wearing pajama bottoms around town these days - in public, during the day, as some sort of socially acceptable rebellion, or simply out of sheer laziness. Do they wear the same clothes to bed, after tromping around the streets, sitting in public places, and possibly using public restrooms? Let's hope not. A few decades ago, Frank Zappa wrote a song that might be seen as a backhanded tribute to the public pajama wearers of today:

Loreto's tomato sauce - from Columbia

On May 27, 2015, the Columbia Borough and Municipal Authority sold the sewer collection system in the Borough to Lancaster Area Sewer Authority (LASA). LASA is now responsible for operations and maintenance of the sewer collection system. LASA is a regional sewer authority that provides sewer service to 33,000 customers in the townships of East Hempfield, West Hempfield, Lancaster, Manor, and Manheim and the boroughs of East Petersburg and Mountville. For more information about LASA, visit their website at  www.lasa.org . Sewer Problems or Emergencies To report a problem or emergency with your sewer service, contact LASA at the following numbers: Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 4:30 pm – Call 717-299-4843, select Option 3 Evenings, Weekends, and Holidays – Call 717-396-9619 (24 hour Call Center) Billing You will receive one final sewer bill in mid-June from Columbia for sewer service through the end of May. After that, you will receive your sewer bills from LASA. LASA's bil...

At last night's meeting of the whole, several residents questioned borough council's intention to back a proposed call center at Columbia #1 Fire Company.  Resident Cleon Berntheizel expressed concern about parking needed for the endeavor, since parking is already limited in the borough. He cited  SGHA's proposal for Columbia Crossing which would require a large number of parking spaces.  He noted that the borough would be taking away three parking lots in the downtown for one business. He also questioned the amount the borough will spend if awarded the project. "If the borough's going to spend close to a million dollars on helping one business developer create 135 jobs, I would think you could probably give about 20 businesses - mine included - in Columbia a couple thousand dollars to have an extra employee or two or five," he said. He questioned the wisdom of taking away most of the available downtown parking that other businesses now rely on, including ...