Councillors and borough officers sworn in at Tuesday's re-organizational meeting

 

District Judge Robert Herman (foreground) swears in, left to right, Pamela S. Williams, Marilyn Kress Hartman, Frances FitzGerald, Todd Burgard, and John Novak at Columbia Borough Council's Re-organizational Meeting Tuesday night. Burgard is the newest member of council.

After several previous appointments to fill vacant seats, Columbia now has a fully elected borough council for the first time in over a year. At Tuesday's Re-Organizational Meeting, Senior Magisterial District Judge Robert Herman administered the oath of office to the following newly re-elected members of Columbia Borough Council: Pamela S. Williams, Frances FitzGerald, M. John Novak, and Marilyn Kress Hartman. Newly elected Councillor Todd Burgard and newly re-elected Mayor Leo Lutz were also sworn in.

 District Judge Herman administers the oath of office to newly re-elected Mayor Leo Lutz.

District Judge Robert Herman swears in, left to right, Georgianna Schreck, Marlene K. Geltz, and Rebecca Denlinger.

Herman also administered the oath to Marlene K. Geltz as tax collector, Georgianna Schreck as deputy tax collector, and Rebecca Denlinger as economic and community development/assistant borough manager.

Mayor Leo Lutz presided over the election of the following officers:

President of Council - Kelly Murphy
Vice President of Council - John Novak
President Pro Tem - Cleon Berntheizel

Re-appointments for 2018 were as follows:

Zimmerman, Pfannebecker, Nuffort & Albert, LLP as borough solicitor
C.S. Davidson, Inc. engineer to the borough
Greg Sahd as borough manager
Greg Sahd as borough secretary/treasurer
Georgianna Schreck as assistant secretary/treasurer William Kloidt to the vacancy board

The following committee assignments were also announced:

Summing up, Robert Pfannebecker said of Columbia, "It's democracy in action. Everybody complains how messy democracy is, but Columbia's one of the few places in this county where it still exists in spades."

About Town

The last of the shots from 2017:

Hovering

 Posted allegations

 Lost rosary found

 Endless labor, the plight of the working man - and woman

Guess they didn't see the sign.

 The time of day at SVCC

 Christmas cow

(Here are some relatives - from a few years ago.)

 Blowing off steam

 How cold is it?

So cold that these workmen at the library had to cover up (with plastic).

 Every truck should come equipped with a horn...

...or two.

 At the quarry across the river

 Ridin' along

(Note the elevated tires.)

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

 Friday's pretreatment panned out pretty well.

 Lancaster Fitness and Performance

 It's at 1280 Franklin Street.

 So that's what it looks like in Sanskrit.

Here's the definition:

in·fi·del

ˈinfədl,ˈinfəˌdel/

noun

archaic

1.

a person who does not believe in religion or who adheres to a religion other than one's own.

 Well that's one way to repurpose your Halloween decorations.

Steamed pineapple at NAWCC

Snow exceeds expectations, Columbia digs out

Columbia Borough got a bit more snow than the weatherman predicted.

From pennlive.com :

While the actual accumulation didn't seem to vary all that much from the early projections, in some places in the Susquehanna Valley region, we got a bit more snow than anticipated.

MORE INFO HERE

Residents have 24 hours after end of snowfall to clear sidewalks

According to Columbia Borough ordinance:

§ 186-49Removal requirements.

[Amended 12-16-2003 by Ord. No. 726; 9-11-2017 by Ord. No. 887]

Each tenant, owner or person in charge of any property fronting on or adjoining any street in the Borough of Columbia shall clear a pathway of at least three feet in width on the sidewalk in front of or adjoining such property within 24 hours after the snow which is the cause thereof has ceased to fall, or to be formed, or after the same as been deposited thereon in any manner. The snow cleaned from the pathway shall not be deposited in the street after the street has been plowed. As used herein, "snow" shall mean any precipitation depositing any accumulation on the street and sidewalks, such as snow, sleet, hail, ice and freezing rain.

Editor's Note: Regarding enforcement, see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II, Enforcement of Certain Ordinances.

§ 186-50Violations and penalties.

Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding before any District Justice having jurisdiction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600, plus costs of prosecution, and, in default of payment of such fine and costs, to be subject to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 days.

Borough pretreats streets in advance of winter weather

The borough pretreated its streets with an anti-icing product this afternoon in anticipation of inclement weather. The product helps keep snow and ice from adhering to the road surface and makes it easier to remove.  The forecast is for snow showers tonight and into tomorrow, with continued sub-freezing temps.

Generous county residents and organizations give hope a home in Columbia [opinion]

Since 2001, Roxanne Simonson has operated the facility for low-income residents in a Victorian-era house at 223-225 Cherry St.

MORE: 

http://lancasteronline.com/opinion/editorials/generous-county-residents-and-organizations-give-hope-a-home-in/article_c9b47890-ec11-11e7-a925-0362f41cffe3.html

Draft Agenda - Borough Council Re-Organizational Meeting Jan. 2, 2018