COLUMBIA, Pa. — With no borough manager, finance manager or codes manager on staff, Columbia Borough Council on Tuesday turned to outside firms to keep the borough running.
Council approved three contracts at its Nov. 10 meeting: an interim borough manager, a finance contractor and an outside codes and zoning service.
Interim manager
Council hired Keystone Municipal Solutions to provide an interim borough manager at $120 an hour, for up to 30 hours a week, according to the agreement in the meeting packet. The firm recommended Chad Saylor, its executive director, for the job. The borough also pays a $5,000 advance and mileage, and either side can end the deal with five business days’ notice.
Council members said the interim manager’s job is to “settle the ship”: update borough policies, get staff positions filled and help recruit a permanent manager. Saylor has served as interim manager in Steelton and other boroughs and townships, a council member said, and has worked on both the manager and elected-official side of local government.
“One of the benefits of this arrangement is that we get someone in here without an emotional connection to the borough… to actually look at what we’re doing, tell us where we’re going wrong, and get us on the right track,” a council member said.
Council members said the hourly arrangement costs a little more than a manager’s salary, but the borough doesn’t pay benefits. They said they are not advertising for a permanent manager yet.
Outgoing Borough Manager Jack Brommer’s last day is Nov. 13. Ron Youtz, hired in October as acting manager, is helping with the transition. Council also named Youtz the borough’s Open Records Officer, who handles Right-to-Know requests.
Some residents pushed back. “You guys haven’t had any discussion with us about this,” one said. Another asked why the borough was paying both the outgoing manager and Youtz. “You need somebody in place to make the transition,” a council member answered.
Finance and codes
Council also approved a contract with the accounting firm Brown Plus to handle the borough’s finances, instead of hiring a finance manager. Rates in the agreement range from $190 an hour for an associate accountant to $385 an hour for a partner, billed as needed. The contract can be ended with 60 days’ notice.
A council member said contracting is cheaper than paying a finance manager plus benefits, and keeps work from stalling when staff leave. The firm already handles the borough’s payroll. Another member said they still prefer having a finance manager on site and called the contract a bridge until the borough can hire one.
Council also approved an agreement with Commonwealth Code Inspection Service for codes and zoning work. Zoning administration is billed at $65 an hour, according to the packet.
Columbia Chronicle editor Jesse Sweigart, speaking during the meeting, warned that hourly contracts could be run up by residents filing repeated complaints, and urged council to make sure the borough could get out of them quickly.