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Before the end of the month, council agreed to send letters to leaders of fire companies in Marietta, Wrightsville and Mountville. The letters will ask to neighboring officials to respond by Dec. 18.
Council did not set a timeline for contacting area police departments, instead asking Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz to send out letters.
"We are a at a critical point with our volunteer fire departments. A lot of the communities around us are joining together and regionalizing their services, and, unless we get on the bus, we're going to be left behind," Mary Barninger, a councilwoman, said Monday.
If Columbia doesn't start to act now, she said, "we'll be left as an island. We need to take steps while we can before any chance at regionalization passes us by," she said.
Sandy Duncan, council president, said Tuesday the borough has been discussing the idea of consolidating its three fire companies — Columbia No. 1 Fire Company, Susquehanna Fire & Rescue Company No. 4 and Columbia Consolidated Fire Company — since 2008.
Earlier this month, she said Rob Brady, a representative of the state's Department of Community and Economic Development, spoke to council's safety committee about the proposed consolidation. She said Brady suggested the idea of regionalizing the fire companies with departments in nearby communities.
At least one resident, however, raised objections to the idea of joining with other fire departments.
Herbert "Cubby" Spiese of Columbia said, "What's good for a place like Washington Boro might not be good for Columbia. We don't seem to be gaining much by doing this."
Resident Shirley McBride said that looking into regionalization "can't hurt. It used to be that employers encouraged firefighters. Employees got paid to leave to go and fight a bad fire, and even the ladies went out to get food for the men. Now, those days are long gone," she said.
"Today, fire companies are struggling for funding and volunteers. … I think we should at least look into this. Nothing ventured, nothing gained," she said.
After council voted to begin contacting regional fire companies, Lutz brought up the idea of doing the same thing with area police departments.
He said, "In this economic climate, we have to look at doing things cheaper. Costs are skyrocketing, and the money is just not there anymore."
The issue of joining forces with nearby police departments, Lutz said, "may not go anywhere. But at least we can say we tried," he said. "We won't know where it goes until we sit down and talk about it."
