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Find out what is happening in your community and get involved! |
October 10, 2006
| First public meeting will be held at 6:00pm in the Borough Hall Chambers |
| February 2007 | The second Watershed Advisory meeting will be held on February 13, 2007 at 10:00am in the Borough Hall. We will be planning a stream cleanup for the Spring of 2007. All residents are welcomed and encouraged to attend! |
| April 2007 | Watershed meeting: April 10th, 2007 at 10:30am in Borough Council Chambers. The purpose of this meeting is to finalize the group's plans for a Columbia Pride Day Stream Cleanup. THE CLEANUP EVENT WILL BE HELD AT RIVER PARK ON APRIL 28TH FROM 8:00am-12pm. ALL RESIDENTS, VISITORS, AND INTERESTED PARTIES ARE ENCOURAGED TO JOIN US ON THIS DAY. STOP DOWN TO THE RIVER PARK AND TAKE PART IN THIS FUN AND IMPORTANT EVENT!!! |
| June 2007 | Watershed meeting: June 19th at 10:30am. The location of this meeting will be announced in early June. Please call (717) 684-2654 x 57 if you have any questions. |
September 2007
| Watershed Meeting: September 25th at 10:30am in the Borough Hall Chambers.
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October 2007
| SHAWNEE RUN CLEANUP - OCTOBER 13, 2007 FROM 8:30AM-12:30PM. Interested in volunteering?? Stop by the Musser's Market parking lot between 8:00-8:30am to sign up. Gloves and bags will be provided but please remember to dress suitably for the event (no sandals, shorts, etc.).
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| What a success!! Thanks to the 52 volunteers who devoted their time, we recovered over 3 tons of debris from the Shawnee Run and the adjacent trail!
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For three and a half hours, volunteers filled trash bags and pulled large debris from the stream. When all was said and done, the volunteers recovered enough debris to fill one large dump truck and two pickup trucks!
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 | The group would like to extend a big "Thank You!" to the Columbia Public Service Department, Park Rangers, and local boy scout and girl scout troops for all of their assistance with this event. Great work everyone!
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Columbia Borough would like to recognize the following businesses for sponsoring this event. We cannot thank you enough for all of your support and generosity!
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Frank Sahd Salvage Center Anvil International Musser's Market Susquehanna Valley EMS Edie Waste |
Columbia Borough would like to recognize Boy Scout Troop #35 for doing a magnificent job with the River Park stream cleanup!! Thank you all so much for your hard work and your admirable dedication to a clean environment. Great job guys!!
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| "Bay Group Cites Borough as a Partner Community" Photo by Rick Hiduk Chesapeake Bay Partner Community representative Ann Simonetti (left) presented the Gold Partner Community Award to (continuing from left) Columbia Planning Commission Chairman Fred Abendschein, Assistant Public Service Director Michelle Longenecker, and Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz, recognizing the community for its commitment to protecting and restoring the Chesapeake Bay and the rivers which empty into it.
By Rick Hiduk
A break in humidity on the first day of summer provided for a pleasant gathering of local dignitaries, river enthusiasts, and representatives from several agencies that work toward bringing river communities into compliance with recently legislated criteria on river usage and watershed protection.
After paddling from the Accomac Inn in York County to Columbia’s River Park with members of the Columbia Canoe Club and the Susquehanna Sojourn, Columbia mayor Leo Lutz accepted a Gold Bay Partner Community Award on behalf of the borough for its commitment to reducing pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.
The Chesapeake Bay Partner Community was established in 1997. According to Ann Simonetti, Pennsylvania delegate to the Local Government Advisory Committee for the Chesapeake Bay program, the committee is comprised of three representatives each from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, D.C. The delegates are appointed by their respective governors and meet quarterly in different locations.
The group evaluates the progress of towns and cities along the Susquehanna River in achieving benchmarks in four categories: improvement of water quality, the promotion of sound land use, the protection and restoration of living resources and habitat, and the active participation of each community. Since its inception, 73 local governments have been recognized by the agency.
The Chesapeake Bay Partner Community has marked 2010 as a deadline for bay restoration, which, Simonetti noted, will allow for safer recreation and safer consumption of blue crabs and other marine life. Basic concepts, such as erosion control and preventing the direct access of farm livestock to streams, she said, can have an enormous impact on the success of the program.
Simonetti asserted that recent improvements in water quality point to an increased public awareness. “I think that the farmers have in particular become much more conscious of the issue,” she remarked.
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) representative Leslie Ferguson said, however, that certain segments of the Lancaster County farming community have yet to embrace the concept.
Another challenge, Simonetti related, is to bring waste water treatment facilities along the Susquehanna River and its tributaries onto the same page. According to Simonetti, the process has been suppressed due to discrepancies over allowable levels of phosphorous and other nutrients.
“They are redoing their tributary strategies,” said Ferguson, who was among investigators who tracked the nutrients from such facilities over a five-year period and presented their data to EPA. “They’re going to go up through and break down the tributaries and watersheds in Pennsylvania and come up with a better way to allocate those limits. The goal is to get these plants to achieve better effluent (discharge).”
In addition to the Chesapeake Bay Partner Community, the award was sponsored in part by the Local Government Advisory Committee, which was created in 1988 to oversee the watershed practices of more than 1,600 local governments.
“It’s about having communities like Columbia make the effort to clean up areas along the river and its tributaries,” Simonetti said of the combined efforts of these and other agencies.
Specifically, Columbia was cited for its success at managing stormwater runoff and waste water, implementing better plans for land use and recycling, and initiating a number of components that some might take for granted, such as employing street sweepers to prevent pollutants from reaching the Chesapeake Bay and engaging high school students in water management projects.
“The significance of the award is the fact that we have shown the Chesapeake Bay Alliance that, with our comprehensive plan and zoning laws we have in place, we are controlling what is going into the river and into the Chesapeake Bay. By applying for the award and going through all the steps that we needed to go through, the winning of the award shows that Columbia borough is doing very well at addressing those issues.”
The participation of the Susquehanna Sojourners and the Columbia Canoe Club on June 21, Ferguson related, helped to bring awareness to the efforts of hers and other groups to clean up the Susquehanna.
“It’s an outreach to the communities to demonstrate that you can enjoy the Susquehanna,” added Simonetti. “It’s not the dirty river of 10 or even 20 years ago. It’s safe for your children to go into.”
Deborah Rudy, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay staff member and Sojourn organizer, enjoyed the opportunity to socialize with members of other river-loving organizations. The alliance, she noted, has also initiated several long-term proposals with borough officials.
“Columbia has been wonderful to us,” Ruby asserted, adding that she has been working with the mayor on an urban forestry project.
“Mayor Lutz is a delightful individual and was ecstatic to receive the designation from the CBP,” added Simonetti, who, along with Ferguson, related that she was impressed to learn that borough staff member Michelle Longenecker is also a full-time environmentalist. “I hope that she steps up to help receive this award,” Simonetti said to Ferguson, “because she deserves it.” According to information provided by Simonetti, Longenecker heads the borough’s stormwater management, recycling, and stream cleanup programs.
“Michelle basically put the whole application process together after a collaboration with (Columbia Planning Commission chairman) Fred Abendschein and myself,” Lutz explained. “Just being out of school, she is up to date with all of the regulations that are coming down from the various agencies. She’s the leader for the borough in that area, making sure that we have all the compliance information in order.”
Readers who would like to know more about the Chesapeake Bay Partner Community and criteria for the Partner Community awards can log on to chesapeakebay.net.
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Where is Columbia Borough's Watershed? |
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