The monthly council meeting of the whole took up the entire night last night as the borough’s elected public servants proved their mettle during discussions of a myriad of agenda and non-agenda items. Six of the seven councillors were in attendance (Mary Barninger was not), as was the mayor, the contracted surrogate for the acting borough manager who is on illness leave and the borough financial officer. (NOTE: Though Ronald L. Miller’s name appears on the agenda as the Borough Manager, his title is “acting” Borough Manager.)

The meeting lasted four hours and 50 minutes. At times throughout the night as many as a dozen people filled the gallery chairs, though when the adjournment gavel was tapped at 10:50 pm the gallery chairs were nearly empty.

Among the items discussed were these:

• Call center on hold – In an “oh, yeah” moment, the mayor said that none of the five bids for the Lancaster County call center were accepted and a re-bidding process will begin. Appears the new bid opening date is July 6.Someone suggested that there may be an element of “favoritism” in the process. The mayor said that the state elected public servants who represent Columbia had sent letters of support of the Columbia developer’s bid to the governor’s office.

• There’s now one – The councillors beamed as Jay Barninger reported that the borough will have one fire department. In practice, he said, personnel and other resources of Columbia No. 1 and Susquehanna Fire and Rescue and the Columbia Fire Police have begun to merge will merge personnel and other resources and will operate as a single municipal fire fighting resource. The Columbia Borough Fire Department will complete the final documentation processes over the coming weeks. Columbia will have one fire department.

• Not yet Paris, but it’s a start – Council did a “hurry-up” assessment of the Columbia Kettle Works request for outdoor, sidewalk seating as it ran the discussion through the seated members of the council public safety committee and ultimately voted to allow sidewalk seating. The borough’s code allows for outdoor dining (“A new Section 8-201.20, Outdoor Dining, shall be added:”). Last night’s vote approved six feet of the 12 foot wide sidewalk to be used for sidewalk dining. Under the banner of “economic development,” the mayor and the councillors endorsed outdoor dining as a positive move. Hinkle’s already has outdoor seating on Locust Street, though no outdoor server is serving food at the tables there.

• “We’re dying,” gasped someone, a provider of services, in the public gallery during the conversation whether to allow sidewalk dining. Despite the recent editorial optimism, the reality of adding sidewalk dining is seen as a step towards economic development.

• London Bridge is not the only thing that’s falling down. The structure at 210 Locust Street has been in disrepair for years some said. The building has “no beams in the basement” and is being supported only by the walls. A neighboring building owner said that “two boys and not a certified contractor” had done the alleged mitigation on the structure. And there’d been “insufficient plans for over two years.” Lots of discussion about this building and the one at 421 (rear) Walnut Street ensued. Apparently the residents living at 421 Walnut who are impacted by the back of the building will be asked to leave by Friday as the building will be condemned. 421 Walnut Street property owner. – 210 Locust Street property owner.

• More stop signs coming? Council approved a motion to have traffic studies accomplished to determine whether four-way stop signs are merited at a bunch of Columbia intersections: 10th and Chestnut – 10th and Manor – 4th and mill – 8th and Chestnut.

• Save the dates: August 4 – National Night Out. Citizens will be asked to bring food to “fill a police car.” The food contributions will be contributed to the Columbia Food Bank. September 12 – Columbia’s Yard Sale.

• Sewer sale profits. Susquehanna Bank – soon to be BBNT folks were at the meeting pitching the councillors to invest the sewer sale profits to capture more yield with their “wealth management” companies. They touted their investment philosophy that included Certificates of Deposit and government agency bonds and their “relationship” style.   [NOTE:  One of the members of the Municipal Authority is a branch manager with Susquehanna Bank.] Will other financial entities with Columbia footprints make presentations, too? Wells Fargo? Union Community Bank? Norwest Savings Bank? Others?

• Another bid to manage Columbia Crossing. Chris Vera, executive director of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society, delivered a presentation that would have him and Daisy Pagan be the management entity for the new building at the River Park. Pagan is the principal of Perfect Settings. Showing a presentation on the wall (one that was mostly not legible to the gallery), he made a presentation touting their plan to manage the facility. The councillors approved a motion to have them vetted as a provider of professional services. In Pennsylvania, professional services contractors are asked to provide scope of work details and credentials including proof of delivery and educational / background competence. This serves to “invite competition, to guard against favoritism, improvidence, extravagance, fraud and corruption in the awarding of municipal contracts, and to secure the best work or supplies at the lowest price practicable, and are enacted for the benefit of property holders and taxpayers, and not for the benefit or enrichment of bidders, and should be so construed and administered as to accomplish such purpose fairly and reasonably with sole reference to the public interest.”

• And, yeah, there’ll be a new police car.

Agenda page one

Agenda page two