Tuesday, August 3, 2010

National Night Out, except here

A number of communities and police departments are celebrating National Night Out tonight. I saw our neighbors from West Hempfield Township did a program Sunday in Mountville and Manor Township had a program at the Manor Middle School.
Columbia? They haven't had a National Night Out celebration since John George served as police chief. As I remember it, there were a couple of block parties and a number of people sitting out on their front porches. It was a good public relations tool for our police department and something that was well received.

Code Enforcement issues

One of the major topics of discussion at last night's town meeting, which we will do again in September, was Columbia's code enforcement.
We have heard time and time again how the borough's Code Enforcement employees are over worked -- more than 1,300 complaints. So the council hires two part-time code people to go with the current full-time person and one part-time person. In addition, the borough changes its ordinances concerning outsourcing inspections for buildings, etc.
During the discussion last night, how the borough enforces its codes were discussed.
The bottom line is that residents want to see code enforcement, not selective code enforcement but consistent code enforcement. In other words, treat everyone the same and not pick on different groups or individuals.
Also discussed was the need for the borough to clean up its own house when it comes to weeds and trash.