Police chief wants replacement vehicles

Columbia Borough Police Chief Jack Brommer informed council Monday night that two of the department's police vehicles need to be replaced. Brommer said Unit 4 (a 2011 model) needs to be replaced due to ongoing maintenance and other issues. According to Brommer, the vehicle has $3,000 in body damage due to a minor accident and has incurred an additional $1,400 in repairs in the past year or so. Councillor Sherry Welsh questioned the need to replace the vehicle, since the mileage is only 53,000. Brommer said the vehicle appears older than it is and offered to show it to her. Acting Borough Manager/Public Works Director Ron Miller stated that the average life expectancy for police vehicles is five years. Unit 4 replacement is scheduled for next year's budget.

Brommer said another police vehicle is a total loss - a 2014 Ford Interceptor (Unit 6) recently involved in a head-on collision at North Fifth and Walnut. He added that he found a possible replacement vehicle on the lot at New Holland Ford for about $25,000. He said the lights, etc. can be transferred from the wrecked vehicle, since it appears they were not damaged. An outfitter will check all equipment to be transferred, and non-functioning items and installation of any replacement items will be paid for through insurance. Brommer wants Unit 6 replaced this year.

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