While Mr. Roberts didn’t show for the special meeting advertised as “LEGAL NOTICE Notice is hereby given that a Special Meeting of Columbia Borough Council will be held on Monday, May 18, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. in the Borough’s Columbia Crossing Building, 21 Walnut Street, Columbia, PA to discuss a Request for Proposals for a Human Services Call Center and any other necessary Borough Business. If you are a person with a disability wishing to attend and require an accommodation to participate in the meeting, please contact the Borough Office at 684-2467,” his representative did.

Local real estate person and member of the Columbia Economic Development Corporation (CEDC), Jeff Seibert did and he pitched a scaled-down version of the program that was introduced a little over a year ago.

As last year, the Solicitation For Proposal  is posted and lists the specifications, including:

“The purpose of this Solicitation for Proposal (SFP) is to obtain proposals to provide 13,620 net usable square feet of office space, to house approximately one hundred twenty nine (129) Commonwealth employees. The space must be located within the following boundaries: Lancaster County. Proposals which offer space outside of these boundaries cannot be considered for award of the lease. Proposers should prepare and submit proposals to be considered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Commonwealth) for a ten (10) year lease (with options for two (2) five (5) year renewal terms) to be occupied by the Department of Human Services. Alternate proposals may be considered. The availability of private and/or public parking should be included in proposals.”

As last year, the council jumped at the beck of Mr. Roberts to hold a special meeting. Tonight’s meeting at the Columbia Crossing building attracted nearly two dozen community members as the meeting was convened at 6:02 pm. It was necessary because, the SFP was announced on May 7 and the response is due by June 12. The bids will be opened on June 15.

All the councillors, except CEDC member Jim Smith were present, as was the mayor, interim borough manager, financial officer and the solicitor. A missing ingredient, the real estate presenter, arrived at 6:10 pm.

This year’s proposal reduced the amount that Mr. Roberts was willing to pay for the building occupied by Columbia No. 1 Fire Company. Last year, the offer was over $800,000; this year the offer was $200,000. The thrust of the meeting was to have the Borough pony up some $832,000 needed to obviate the outstanding balance of the loan the fire company has. The reason cited for the diminished offer is that “We can’t afford … ” the offer made last year.

According to the pitch, Mr. Roberts’ last-year offer was not at all competitive when the bids were opened; the offer, last year was two and one-half times higher than the other proposals submitted by other competitive bidders in Lancaster County.

Conditionally, the councillors voted unanimously to pick up the tab that will help to attract, not the 300 potential employees of last year, but some 129 or so “entry-level call center jobs who will be “college graduates” and will earn some $50,000 a year according to the pitch. Interestingly, Salary.com pegs the average call center representative’s annual earnings at around $29,000 while PayScale.com puts the range “from $20K on the low end to $38K on the high end.”

Of course, government jobs may have higher pay scales.

The location of the promised leased space to house the Department of Human Services call center can be anywhere in Lancaster County. Mr. Roberts, it was disclosed is preparing a proposal for another Columbia venue in the Turkey Hill Exeprience – another of Mr. Roberts’ initiatives.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:28 pm following the mayor’s reading of a proclamation announcing National Emergency Medical Services Week. NOTE: A contingent of QRS personnel in dress uniforms were in the gallery, but all but one had gone by the time the mayor read the proclamation.

NOTE: Many of those attending the meeting had extreme difficulty hearing the conversations. There was no audio system and the hard interior surfaces made hearing very difficult. “Access to civic life by people with disabilities is a fundamental goal of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). To ensure that this goal is met, Title II of the ADA requires State and local governments to make their programs and services accessible to persons with disabilities. This requirement extends not only to physical access at government facilities, programs, and events — but also to policy changes that governmental entities must make to ensure that all people with disabilities can take part in, and benefit from, the programs and services of State and local governments. In addition, governmental entities must ensure effective communication — including the provision of necessary auxiliary aids and services — so that individuals with disabilities can participate in civic life.” – US Justice Department, Disability Rights Section