The August Columbia Borough Council meeting was convened at 7:03 pm in the borough hall council chambers last night by council president Michael Beury. All the councillors, the mayor, the borough manager, the borough financial officer and solicitor Barry Handwerger were in attendance, as were a half-dozen or so citizens. The elected public servants and the borough conducted the borough’s business following the agenda (below).

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Columbia news, views & reviews attended the meeting and digitally audio recorded the proceedings; a correspondent from Lancaster Newspapers, Inc. also attended the meeting.

At last night’ s meeting, the mayor read a borough resolution in support of National Recovery Month. “Recovery Month promotes the societal benefits of prevention, treatment, and recovery for mental and substance use disorders, celebrates people in recovery, lauds the contributions of treatment and service providers, and promotes the message that recovery in all its forms is possible. Recovery Month spreads the positive message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, that prevention works, treatment is effective and people can and do recover.” – RecoveryMonth.gov

The mayor also said he was interviewed for an article and that, while authorized by state law to perform marriages, he will not perform “same sex marriages’ because he does not believe in same sex unions. An addition to the Pennsylvania law states: “Article X-A (New) This new article consolidates the provisions for the office of mayor. Section 1003-A mandates that the oath of office be given in compliance with 53 Pa.C.S. 1141, and Section 1004-A(b) provides that no change in compensation or salary be implemented until the next term of office. However, Section 1005-A(b) would incorporate provisions of House Bill 931, Printer’s Number 1000 of 2011, and Senate Bill 938, Printer’s Number 1016 of 2011, which would permit a mayor to accept a monetary fee of up to $150 to solemnize marriage ceremonies. The mayor would be required to notify council of the mayor’s intention to perform marriages and further be obligated to keep accurate accounts of fees accepted. Quarterly reports to council on monies received would also be required. The purpose of these bills was to overrule a Commonwealth Court decision holding that a mayor’s acceptance of a fee for solemnization of marriages was a violation of the Ethics Act.10 The amendment also expressly sets forth that any such fees would not be considered compensation. Because the amendment itself is enabling in nature and involves transactions in which the mayor is an agent of private parties rather than the municipality itself, we do not believe the amendment would be a prohibited mid-term “change in the salary or emoluments” of the mayor as proscribed by Article III, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.”

He lauded the efforts of Columbia’s police, public safety personnel, borough employees, sponsors and Columbia’s citizens for their support of Columbia’s National Night Out last Tuesday evening. It was pointed out that the Columbia event was not mentioned in a newspaper article that featured several other county National Night Out’s.

He praised the vendors at the Columbia Historic Market House for their providing of food for the responders who were conducting search operations for the young child over the weekend.

Councillor Mary Barninger added that citizen participation and support for events as “National Night Out” are indicators of “pride of community.

Questy Soto

The councillors approved the hiring of Quetsy Sota as a full-time clerk effective today. Soto is a Columbia resident, who just “loves Columbia.” Financial director Georgianna Schreck praised Sota’s ebullience and fervor in her duties (she’s been working in a temporary status for several months) and her language skills. She noted that Sota’s Spanish-language skills have been particularly helpful in building positive communication with the borough’s Latino citizens.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:27 pm; Columbia news, views & reviews will address the “more-discussed” topics from the agenda in the coming days.