TJ Carrozza has spent the past few years building what he calls a “one stop shop to write, record, and perform”: part rehearsal space, part recording studio, part music venue, and part community art and craft studio, all rolled into one.
JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY
A small nonprofit is trying to turn a hidden venue into the creative heartbeat of Columbia.
The Susquehanna River Creative Conspiracy (SRCC), a registered 501(c)(3) based at 156b Lancaster Ave., has spent the past few years quietly building what co-founder and CEO TJ Carrozza calls a “one stop shop to write, record, and perform”: part rehearsal space, part recording studio, part music venue, and part community art and craft studio, all rolled into one.
“Bridging creatives to community,” is how Carrozza sums up the mission. In practice, that means offering musicians and artists something often hard to find: an affordable, fully equipped place to actually make things.
Jack Brommer sat quietly while being discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.
The announcement of Borough Manager Jack Brommer’s resignation was met with praise and criticism at Tuesday’s Columbia Borough Council meeting.
Council President Eric Kauffman praised Brommer’s dedication to transparency, saying he tried to be “as open as possible” and answered questions honestly even when the answers were difficult. Kauffman said he had planned to deliver a “state of the union” address touting the borough’s progress the same weekend Brommer’s resignation letter arrived.
Mayor Leo Lutz framed Brommer’s departure as the latest in a long line of borough managers, finance managers and other staff who have left the borough. Lutz argued that these people are professionals who won’t tolerate being labeled “a thief, a liar” in council chambers, offices or on social media, and warned that any future manager will face the same fate “unless some changes are made.”
Lutz credited Brommer with helping pull the borough out of what he called “one hell of a mess,” while acknowledging the transition “took its toll.” He said rumors of impropriety by employees have long circulated in the borough without any employee or council member ever being found to have done anything wrong. “People need to start respecting the people that are put in positions to take care of the job,” Lutz said.
Lutz: “Columbia people think worse of Columbia than the people outside.”
Lutz predicted the manager’s office will remain a revolving door if the treatment of staff doesn’t change. He added that Columbia’s reputation suffers most from its own residents’ negativity, rather than from outsiders’ opinions. “Columbia people think worse of Columbia than the people outside,” Lutz said.
Council Vice President Heather Zink backed that view, describing being confronted by peers from the state boroughs association who were surprised the resignation had become news at all.
Not everyone in the room agreed with the mayor. Longtime resident Frank Doutrich, who said he’s attended borough meetings for more than 60 years, argued that council made a mistake elevating Brommer, given his close ties to Lutz, and suggested the position itself — distinct from running a police department — may not have suited him.
Doutrich: “Until the mayor ends his position here, this town will never turn around.”
Doutrich called on council to explain publicly why Brommer was trained by two former borough managers, hired as acting manager, then promoted to borough manager. He concluded with a dig at Lutz: “Until the mayor ends his position here, this town will never turn around.”
Thompson: “You look at how you left our police department.”
The exchange grew more contentious when resident Robert Thompson told Brommer, “I don’t think you’re a dishonest man. Personally, I do think you’re an incompetent man. You look at how you left our police department.” Lutz shot back that the staffing shortfall dated back years, to a grant-funded hiring push the borough couldn’t sustain after the grant expired, and pressed Thompson on his own conduct, referencing a recent arrest and a batch of right-to-know requests Thompson reportedly has filed with the borough. (Earlier in the meeting, there was a discussion on how the abundance of right-to-know requests — more than 50, not all of which were from Thompson — added to attorney’s fees.)
For more than 16 years, Columbia has worked with Lancaster-area security integrator App-Techs to develop and expand a distributed wireless video network serving its downtown, public buildings, parks and other borough facilities.
Today, the system supports roughly 83 camera feeds, including 4K multi-lens and PTZ cameras, primarily from iPro.
Columbia Spy has learned that the borough received zero bids for the second round of its attempt to sell the former McGinness Airport property.
State law limits the borough’s options going forward. Borough Solicitor Evan Gabel has said at a previous meeting that if the borough receives no bids in two consecutive rounds, council would then be permitted to negotiate directly with prospective buyers rather than restarting the sealed-bid process a third time.
Council officially released its most recent Request for Proposals (RFP) for the sale and redevelopment of theproperty on April 17, 2026, with a deadline of September 18 for bids.
This second RFP was put out after council unanimously voted in May 2026 to reject an initial $6.35 million bid by Saadia Holdings, which had proposed converting the 41.388-acre site at 1020 Manor Street into a data center campus.
A landmark 1860s building at 425 Union Street is set to become a pregnancy resource center after clearing a historic preservation review. The plan must now be approved by Columbia Borough Council.
Align Life Ministries, based in Lebanon, PA, is renovating the building, long used as a gentlemen’s club (most recently “Club Good Times”), to be used as the Align Life Ministries Pregnancy Center. The $1.5 million project, submitted through Speedwell Construction of Manheim, calls for a complete overhaul: new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, a reconfigured interior layout, and new exterior windows, roofing, doors and siding. The plans also include an accessible ramp to the main floor topped by a metal-framed canopy, with a similar canopy proposed for the rear of the building, between the main structure and an attached garage.
Align Life Ministries is a faith-based, pro-life nonprofit that provides pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, parenting classes and other support services. The organization currently operates out of a smaller office at 462 Chestnut Street in Columbia. The ministry, which recently purchased the building for $275,000, said it had outgrown its former space and needed a larger facility (the Union Street building is roughly twice the size) to accommodate a growing number of clients and expand its services in the Columbia community.
Because the property sits within Columbia’s historic district, the borough’s Historical Architectural Review Board (HARB) was required to weigh in before any exterior work could proceed. The board held a public meeting on September 9 to review the application, which had been submitted August 13.
According to the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County, which submitted comments ahead of the meeting, 425 Union Street is a two-and-a-half-story, four-bay Italianate commercial building dating to 1860, featuring a bracketed cornice, arched attic windows, spaniel-ear hoods, and original shutters on its first-floor windows. Two attached brick carriage houses sit at the rear of the property.
After considering that information, HARB recommended approval of a Certificate of Appropriateness for the project, with conditions.
The matter now heads to Columbia Borough Council, which is scheduled to vote on final approval of the Certificate of Appropriateness at its regular meeting on September 22.
