About Town - April 23, 2023

This week's photos of Columbia

(Click/tap on photos to see larger, sharper images.) 

Over 30 volunteers honored the fallen at Mount Bethel Cemetery on Saturday, April 22, by cleaning veterans' headstones. Almost 700 veterans from the Revolutionary War through the Vietnam War are buried there.

Shown above are volunteers for the event.

Ryan Sexton, veteran and cemetery superintendent, organized the event. Sexton is also a Columbia School Board director.

Sexton showed volunteers the proper procedure for cleaning headstones.

A few of the Democratic candidates for Columbia School Board cleaned several headstones, including - appropriately enough - this one memorializing former Columbia School Superintendent Samuel Harper Hoffman. Hoffman was school superintendent from 1887 to 1889 and was also a military veteran.

Candidates, left to right, are Lauren VonStetten, Kathleen Hohenadel, Charles Leader, and Christine Misciagna.

State Representative Brett Miller, left, cleaned a headstone with Columbia School Board President Charles Leader.

Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons, right, and his two sons undertook this cleaning job as Brett Miller addressed the other side. 

Mount Bethel Board President Jane Moore checked the numbers.

Flag girls provided new flags for finished headstones.

Volunteers worked for several hours and cleaned about 70 headstones . . .

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This restored vintage Ford was parked at Columbia River Park on Thursday.

The guy on the left said he thought it's a 1932 model.

Two Hometown Heroes

Luminescence Medical Esthetics on the 500 block of Locust

An old piece tooling through

Artist Stacia Hummel continued restoring the entrance of the Columbia School of Music at 401 Walnut Street this past week.

A few more artists were hanging around town this week.

The Christian Flag and the U.S. Flag

A diver was employed to check an issue at the Columbia Water Company's intake project on a cold and overcast Tuesday.

Despite all the commotion, this bird stood his ground and didn't budge.

Detail of a mausoleum at Mount Bethel

Signs are not to be posted at the Veterans Memorial Bridge plaza. 

Still waiting for that upcoming bridge fix

This Batmobile-looking 3-wheeler rolled through Columbia River Park Thursday.

Work continues on the former Subway store at 149 North 3rd, which is being turned into a convenience store, according to borough documents.

Waving in the wind

At Locust Street Park is the backstory of Columbia.

There are those who stand out in a crowd.

When a horse head becomes a flag pole holder

Heavy equipment has been moved to the site of the former Columbia Drive-in. Here's what's supposed to be going in there:

"A planned development that will include 18,000 square feet of retail space, a 3,000 square foot restaurant, a 3,500 square foot bank, 163 mid-rise apartments, and 9 low-rise townhomes, according to West Hempfield Township Planning Commission meeting minutes of May 16, 2019. The project was also discussed at the February 2, 2021 and October 5, 2021 West Hempfield Township Supervisors' meetings."

Calls grow to expand $50,000 grants to homeowners for critical repairs | fox43.com

While most counties have not yet opened applications to homeowners, officials expect demand will far exceed the program’s initial $125 million in funding.

Legislation passed last year is taking aim at blight and hundreds of thousands of homes in desperate need of repair and weatherization.

The Whole-Home Repairs program helps assess home repair needs and find contractors and community organizations to perform the repairs.

Homeowners can be granted up to $50,000 for each unit. Small landlords can be granted a forgivable $50,000 loan per unit.

Lancaster Stands Up organized a rally featuring Representative Smith-Wade-El, Senator Nikil Saval, CASA, POWER Interfaith, and dozens of supporters who pushed for the Whole Home Repairs program.

MORE:

https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/50000-grants-homeowners-critical-repairs/521-28f5a6d0-9ad4-47b3-9f16-3b2a28760de2

Columbia hosts spring cleanup

Columbia, Lancaster County, hosted its second annual spring clean-up.

About 40 volunteers came out Friday to help with this year's beautification efforts in the borough's downtown area and parks.

MORE:

https://www.wgal.com/article/columbia-lancaster-county-hosts-second-annual-spring-clean-up/43670448 

Council candidate asks for apology to residents

Gayle Johnson, For LNP | LancasterOnline

Columbia resident and Democratic Borough Council candidate Brad Chambers asked Eric Kauffman, council vice president, if he wanted to apologize to residents for saying that he believed the borough has too many handicapped parking spaces during the April 4 meeting, when council members discussed adding additional language to the ordinance that governs accessible parking.

Kauffman, who said he was happy to answer the question, did not apologize.

“I don’t have a problem with handicapped parking,” Kauffman said. “I have a problem with the abuse of handicapped parking.”

The council vice president reiterated that he thought the borough has issued too many parking-accessible placards or license plates. That number stands at about 102. Kauffman said he knows of two instances in which residents continue to use handicapped parking designations even though the medical reasons that allowed those uses have been resolved.

“My whole beef is with us as a borough not verifying every year,” Kauffman said during an April 19 phone interview. “All the borough does is send out a renewal letter.”

Celebrate Earth Day at Sahd Salvage - Friday, April 21, 2023

 

Restaurant Inspections - Columbia Borough - April 21, 2023

 

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, 866-366-3723, uses a risk-based inspection reporting process for restaurants and other food handlers.

Andy's Market Inc., 310 N. 11th St., Columbia, April 14. Pass. Raw chicken stored next to raw beef in a common container in the walk-in cooler with no barriers to prevent cross-contamination. Assorted boxes of food stored directly on the floor in the walk-in freezer, rather than 6 inches off of the floor as required. Food facility does not have available sanitizer test strips or test kit to determine appropriate sanitizer concentration of quaternary ammonia of the three-compartment sink. The test strips were wet previously and no longer react.

Smoke & Chill, 353 Cherry St., Columbia, follow-up, April 14. Pass. Food facility is offering for sale: The Demon Delta 8 Gummies; Stonehead HHC infused apple, berry, pina colada and watermelon Gummies, California; Stonehead Delta 8 infused apple, berry, pina colada gummies, California; Cake Delta 8 sour citrus gummies, Orange, California; Canna, Cali melon, tropical punch Delta 9 gummies, California; DB Strawberry CBD gummies, distributed by Virag, Pompano Beach, Florida; Torch Delta 9 Live Resin chili lime gummies, that contain an unapproved additive as specified in 21 CFR 170-180 relating to food additives. Such products are under U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation and at which time CBD is not recognizable as a safe substance to be added to food.

Columbia Mini Mart, 26 N. Fourth St., Columbia, April 12. Pass. Four pints of reduced-fat chocolate milk beyond the sell-by date being offered for sale. Pirates Treats Cherry Rings CBD Gummies, Wicked Delta 8 Gummies and JUST CBD Honey Sticks contain an unapproved additive as specified in 21 CFR 170-180 relating to food additives. Such products are under U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation and at which time CBD is not recognizable as a safe substance to be added to food.  Food facility does not have available sanitizer test strips or test kit to determine appropriate sanitizer concentration of the three-compartment sink. Paper towels are not available at the hand-wash sink in the back. Ceiling tiles missing and broken in the restroom and above the hand-wash sink in the small hallway and need to be replaced.

Our Lady Of The Angels School/Holy Trinity Church, 404 Cherry St., Columbia, April 11. Pass. Mops hanging over the hand-wash sink in the restroom, contaminating the hand-wash sink and contacting the soap dispenser. Rodent feces on the floor throughout the facility. The facility has pest control.