Wednesday, April 27, 2011

River cabin purchase moves forward

By a 6-1 vote, Columbia Borough Council moved forward with the proposed sale of the cabin area along the Susquehanna River to the River Cottage Owners Association.
The sale, which was first proposed late last summer, will net the borough an undisclosed amount of money, believed to be $350,000, that will be used for infrastructure improvements.
The borough, who was gifted the land from the Safe Harbor Water Power Corporation, will use the Columbia Economic Development Corporation, as the middle man in the proposed sale. This is similar to the approach used when the borough sold the property at Third and Linden streets, which will become the Turkey Hill Experience late this summer.
Council vice-president Mary Barninger expressed concern on any potential financial impacts the transaction will have on the borough. She didn't the borough to get into the real estate business again. Borough Manager Norm Meiskey explained the impact would be minimal.
Resident Frank Doutrich, under citizen comments, questioned the deal and wanted to know about any hidden costs. He was given a copy of the two documents approved last night.
Voting for the two motions to accept the gift of the land and then to proceed to sell it were Barninger, Mike Beury, Jim Smith, Mary Wickenheiser, Sandy Duncan and Renae Sears. Voting against the motions was Kelly Murphy, who explained his "no" vote.
Murphy said it had to do when he first moved to Columbia back in  2002 and he and his wife were walking around the cabin area and were told to get "off private priperty."
He also said the borough should have explored other opportunities for the area.
"It was a tough decision for me, but 10,000 residents of this community would love to have an opportunity like this. There wasn't enough thought given to this process and I know my position is unpopular," Murphy said.
After the vote, Doutrich also questioned Smith's vote as a potential conflict of interest. Smith is a board member of the CEDC. Solicitor Barry Handwerger said there was no ethics violation.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Once again inside trading! The people of this town should have voted on this issue! Also, does the columbia water company own their own land or do they lease it!! Scott

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness this deal is finally coming to fruition. It has been long overdue. As far as the "10,000 residents loving an opportunity like this", they will be, by virtue of receiving the monetary benefits from the deal. It is a winning situation for all, Safe Harbor, the Borough and the cottage owners.