The Land Bank: A new way to tackle troubled properties

 Matthew Sternberg, executive director of Lancaster County Housing & Redevelopment Authorities at last Monday's meeting

There's a new way for Columbia to confront vacant, abandoned and blighted properties: the Lancaster County Land Bank.

Matthew Sternberg, executive director of Lancaster County Housing & Redevelopment Authorities, gave an "information only" presentation about the Land Bank last Monday night at a joint meeting of the Columbia Borough Council and the Columbia Borough School Board.

Sternberg described the concept as a collaboration of the borough, the school district, and the Land Bank, providing a means for remediation of blighted and other troubled properties. The entity does not have eminent domain powers (as a redevelopment authority does), but it can assemble funding for blight remediation and site upgrades, and can acquire, develop, demolish, or otherwise dispose of real property. A land bank also has the ability to buy a property prior to a tax sale to properly revitalize it and can even extinguish outstanding liens. According to Sternberg, the objective of the land bank process is to rehabilitate a property and get it back on the tax rolls at a much higher level.

Columbia Borough currently has 26 properties in various stages of blight.

Sternberg said that no other municipalities have finished the process of joining the Land Bank yet, which entails a one-time membership fee of $5,000 and an annual fee of $1,000. 

Council interviews three for market house

Borough council heard proposals from three market manager candidates at a special meeting Monday, September 26. Renee Sears, Beth Troxell, and Chris Vera answered questions from council and borough consultant Rebecca Denlinger about their respective plans for the Columbia Historic Market House, if hired. Troxell previously submitted a written proposal to council, which is published with this article. Vera gave a power point proposal at the meeting. His proposal was also posted on Columbia Spy HERE. Both Sears and Troxell managed the market house previously. Vera is president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society. Teresa Allen has managed the market house since Troxell's resignation earlier this year.

At the conclusion of the interviews, Borough Manager Greg Sahd announced that council would not make a decision that evening. Instead, a decision will be made later at a public forum. If council does not choose one of the three candidates, the opening could be reposted to invite other applicants.

 Renee Sears

 Beth Troxell

Chris Vera

Beth Troxell's proposal to council:

River Trail on track to completion in 2018

The 11-mile Northwest Lancaster County River Trail is nearing completion.
MORE:
http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/rail-trails-in-lancaster-county-on-track-to-completion-in/article_50138288-870e-11e6-95c6-f3154ef7db60.html

Columbia library seeks volunteers

Man arrested in stabbing death of boy with clown mask | PennLive.com

READING (AP) — Police say a dispute over a mask like one featured in the "Purge" horror movies contributed to the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old Pennsylvania boy.
MORE:
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/09/man_arrested_in_stabbing_death.html

Contractors stopped from making unapproved changes on historic buildings

Earlier this week, a contractor tried to remove a dormer from atop 147-149 Locust Street.  Said contractor did not have a permit to perform any such work within the historic district, of which this address is a part. A code enforcement officer stopped the procedure and posted a STOP WORK notice on the property.  The notice is shown below.

 A contractor attempted to remove the dormer shown above.

 The work was halted, and a STOP WORK notice was posted by Code Enforcement Officer George Weis.

The very next day, a contractor began work - again, without a permit  - at 212-214 Locust Street, another property in the historic district, this one owned by Samuel Bigler. The work was halted, and a STOP WORK sign was posted on this property as well. Any such work in the historic district must first be reviewed by the Historic Architectural Review Board to maintain the integrity of structures with historic value in the borough.

The STOP WORK notice at 212-214 Locust that no longer appears on the property.

The Columbia Borough Historic District

Clown threat to Columbia schools found to be bogus

Shown below is a notice from Columbia Borough School District regarding a supposed "clown threat" to Columbia schools. The district also notified residents via an automated phone call. The threat was found to be bogus.