QRS to merge with York County EMS

The Columbia Quick Response Service has been serving the borough since it was formed out of need back when Lancaster General Hospital closed the former Columbia Hospital back in 2003.

Now the QRS is looking to lend a helping hand to another organization that needs help.

 Monday, Frank Splain, Jr., the executive director of the QRS, said at the council meeting, the Columbia organization will be merging with the Eastern York County Emergency Medical Service.

 “We are working on an agreement to assist them with staffing,” Splain said.

 Because of the pending merger, which could happen in a few months, Splain said the QRS is pulling out of consolidation talks in Columbia with the three fire departments.

 The EMS merger, Splain said, will not affect QRS activity in the borough.

 “The ambulance service was ready to be shutdown,” Splain said.

 “The QRS is our priority and when we can, we will staff their ambulance out of Columbia,” he said.

 “Eastern York will donate their transport money to the QRS and will give us monthly revenue,” Splain said.

 “We are pretty excited about this,” he said.

Detz named Regional Player of the Week

From Max Preps: http://www.maxpreps.com/news/BicSWXp8EeCkhgAcxJSkrA/two-perfect-game-performances-highlight-nfca-maxpreps-awards-for-the-week-ending-may-9th.htm

Fire service receives grant

This is from the Columbia No. 1 Fire Department webpage: http://columbiafire.com/fullstory.php?136111

Grant discussion dominates council meeting



If a grant application is successful, Rotary Park could see improvements.

 Monday's Columbia Borough Council meeting lasted a tad more than three hours, however, 78 minutes of that was spent sometimes heatedly discussing a grant proposal that could leave to physical at both River Park and Rotary Park.

After the lengthy discussion, a 5-2 vote passed to take $75,000 from the borough's Capital Fund Balance as a local match to a $1.28 million DCNR grant application for those projects. Voting against the proposal were councilmen Jim Smith and Mike Beury. During the discussion, all but two members of the council, Mayor Leo Lutz and Norm Meiskey, borough manager, chimed in.

It was the second time in two weeks, the application was discussed. Two weeks ago at a special meeting, the council discussed filing the application. Monday's discussion centered on the matching funds.

Meiskey explained the need to add the local match for the grant, saying it will help complete Phase I and II at River Park. Those phases, Meiskey said, are to construct a marina building and make the Walnut Street crossing ADA accessible and also add a pavilion, benches and restroom facilities and create a link to the Northwest Trail.

“We need to maximize the points for the grants,” Meiskey said.

At Rotary Park, the plans call for a new basketball court, pavilion, improved parking area and playground equipment. The Columbia Rotary Club will lend a hand with a financial contribution for that part of the project.

Mary Barninger, council vice-president, was the first to speak out. She was concerned about taking money out of the capital budget for this.

“This will complete all three projects,” Mayor Lutz said.

:”If we don't get this, River Park will not be completed, the Northwest Trail will be in limbo and Rotary Park won't get done,” he said.

Kelly Murphy, another member of council said, the lack of the grant could cause some red flags to be thrown up.

Said Beury, “I don't see the need for the marina building and the trail. I want to see Rotary Park.”

Smith said he talked with officials in Marietta about the trail's impact and it was minimal at best.

The pros and cons of the discussion centered on the needs and wants of the boorough and other entities involved.

York County official busted

For incident at Chickies Park: http://www.yorkdispatch.com/ci_18032180

Lions receive honors

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