Last night’s council work session meeting | 700 plus people tuned in to the live streamed or archived meeting; you can find it at the Borough’s facebook page. So far more than citizen comments provide some evidence that recording the meetings improves citizen involvement beyond the fewer than 20 people who attended the meeting in person.

Grant coming? | The borough is on the list of state awarded Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RCAP) grant awardees. Yep, there’s a grant coming in the amount of $1,750,000 according to Rebecca Denlinger, borough manager, that the borough will have to acknowledge in the process. Check it out here.

Circle speak | Check out the long “circle speak” from the person who has been doing the food serving facilities in Columbia when a councillor asks him to speak to the food serving inspection “warm handoff; it begins around the 26:00 mark on the video. While the rest of the state finds it normal practice to ask food serving establishments to complete the application online, Jeff Helm  will be “guiding” Columbia’s food serving establishments. Another councillor asked Helm why the follow up inspections are not appearing on the now posted inspections, he simply states, “Yes, they were not posted.” Citizens can find some of the inspections posted at the Website by going here and scrolling down to the the Board of Health area, and, voila, there they are.   

Ode to weed(s) | Last night’s meeting generated conversation about the omnipresence of weeds, not only in the borough but seemingly everywhere as a councillor and the mayor noted. As you watch the video of last night’s meeting you’ll learn that there was some discussion centering on the prospect of having the borough have a certified person who could spray the down’s sidewalks and curbs and other areas where weeds have sprung.

As the councillor observed, weeds are everywhere. During yesterday’s walk, we snapped these in West Hempfield Township. Weeds, indeed are everywhere.

Weeds thrive | Other than spraying pesticides, there are other ways to control weeds. The Internet is replete with non-toxic week killer applications.

Old fashioned way | We prefer the old-fashioned weed control method. About every 10 or so days, we try to stay in front of the weed curve by pulling them. An arduous, sweaty task to be sure but there’s something cathartic when digging in the dirt.

Past-due taxes | When you watch the video recording for the discussion and you can see the Municipal Claim & Tax Lien Law here.

Condemnation | “Lancaster City condemns 7 row houses, displacing 17 people; cites structural flaws” – Lancaster Online

There’s more | including discussion about following and flaunting borough codes and ordinances concerning the Historic District, booze in Market House and more; just watch the video.