Processes needed. Councillor Kelly Murphy suggested that issues can be stemmed if first there is a definition of the processes … for the actions involved with tree removal; for tree maintenance; for citizen notification … or anything that happens within the borough. His inference is that a checklist for processes for practically everything, rather than relying on individual decisions on every action, will clarify issues for everyone. For instance, during the discussion about the tree removal, the council president, said, “They (the Tree Commission) thought they were doing you a favor.” Therein, lies the dilemma, without checklists or standardized written processes.

Councillor Mary Barninger asked the homeowner who brought the tree removal decision to the attention of council, what he hoped for in the way of a resolution.

He responded that he hoped that there would be procedures put into place so that all homeowners will know what to expect when the Tree Commission, or any borough office, communicates with citizens there will be consistency in the application.

The mayor said the borough has an ordinance, and the Tree Commission is supposed to have a set of operating procedures, too. “Where the problem lies … the Shade Tree Commission does not have that enforcement authority.” The Commission is supposed to turn “violations” over to the codes department and they’re supposed to follow the ordinances with regard to notification and follow through. The mayor continued that codes never follow up on the situation from there.

The mayor also said there is no appeal process in the tree ordinance; he believes that every process should include an appeal process. The mayor and the council president chimed in that the Tree Commission never gets a response from the codes department.

There was much more discussion about the lack of consistency or procedures; the only practical way citizens will know what was discussed is for citizens to attend these meetings. Obviously, another way would be for the borough to either audio record or video record these meetings and place these recordings on the borough Website.

Top Gun: Councillor Barninger lauded Troy Engle, Columbia Police Department officer, received “honorable mention” notice at the county’s “top gun” awards program sponsored by the DUI Council of Lancaster County.

Columbia K-9 Campaign members frustrated and “ready to quit”: That’s how Connie Beury of the K-9 Campaign phrased it as she stated that all 14 members of the team frustrated that there’s no signed K-9 vehicle. She said that its three months beyond the six month reprimand and probation period since the “punishment” for the K-9 officer. She suggested that the incident that led to the reprimand was related to a crash resultant from “hydroplaning.”

According to the borough Website: “In late 1997, a group of citizens formed the Columbia Citizens Action Committee as a watchdog association. Membership was open to all local residents. The goal was to take interest in the methodology of the local government and bring Council the concerns and questions for all residents in Columbia. The group was formed and incorporated as a 501 C4 Non-profit organization. In 2002 the K-9 campaign broke from its parent organization and reformed as its own 501 C-3 organization. This became permanent and official in 2007.”

“You can’t put a price on intimidation.” She said the K-9 unit provides that dynamic.

The mayor retorted that the situation with the K-9 vehicle has “nothing to do with disciplinary action with the officer.”

The mayor said the delay in getting a replacement vehicle for the “totaled one” has to do with the borough purchasing. A lease vehicle has just been approved; when that new vehicle comes it, the chief is exploring “some options” to use the currently assigned vehicle. “The K-9 is in a vehicle right now,” said the mayor. The mayor said the vehicle is large enough for “four or five of them (dogs)” in response to Connie Beury’s question about whether the vehicle is large enough for the dog to stretch out.

She pressed the council to get a K-9 vehicle outfitted for the K-9 patrol unit into play. She also said, “It’s time to get another dog.” She said that Max, the dog, is getting older and the borough council president, Michael Beury, said that Max is “too old.”

The mayor said there was a decision on a second dog, and the answer was, “No.” The search for a replacement dog will come about when Max is ready to be removed from service. The mayor said there must be community support.

Beury countered, “This is our baby.”

The mayor continued that the community support initiative is a helpful one.

Again, there was so much conversation about this topic, to get the full perspective, inflection, gestures, etc., citizens have to attend the meetings.

Sewer talk. Lancaster Area Sewer Authority (LASA) representative, Mike Kyle, spoke about the current status of the due diligence process. In his comments he related the planned “what-if” rate schedule for residential, multi-unit and commercial sewer Customers. Kyle invited the council to “look at the ‘what-if’ rates.”

Fire department consolidation. Councillor Barninger reported that the fire resources consolidation steps are producing results. A citizen asked why the massive debt load of one department is being incorporated into the consolidation talks when the other two departments are solvent. The councillor said the departments will have a meeting (on Tuesday night) and she invited the citizen to introduce his observations there. This discussion featured strident tones and lecturing; again, citizens need to attend these meetings.

Why don’t the public safety (fire and police) chiefs attend these meetings? The public safety chairperson said while that was the case a long time ago, this has not been the practice since the change of meeting formats. The citizen asked why the mayor is responding to questions that the police chief might answer better. Following a pause, the mayor said that he speaks for the police department. “How is the operation of the police department run. The (police department) operation is run by the mayor.”

This meeting was so long, and it takes time to listen to the audio recording. Columbia news, views & reviews will pick up on these notes in a few days.