Trappe Council Tables Public Works, CTMA Merger

Trappe Borough Council voted on Tuesday night to table a proposed resolution merging the Collegeville-Trappe Joint Public Works Department (CTJPWD) and the Collegeville-Trappe Municipal Authority (CTMA) into the latter, opting instead to request a meeting between Trappe and Collegeville Boroughs and the municipal authority for a discussion.

Trappe Borough Council Fred Schuetz read the resolution, authorizing the dedication of a certain public water system to the CTMA, and the termination of the CTJPWD.

According to the resolution, which was provided by Collegeville Solicitor Mark Hosterman to Trappe Borough on Thursday and has been a topic of discussion in both borough since 2008, the merger will save “administration expenses and time” for the two bodies—CTJPWD which currently controls the water system and borough maintenance, and CTMA, which runs the sewer.

While Trappe Borough Solicitor David Onorato said he "didn't care" how the borough voted on the merger, he made a strong objection to passing the resolution as it was presented.

When the resolution was first presented in 2012, Onorato said that he made two amendments to the proposal; the most important being that passing the resolution would not automatically dissolve CTJPWD, as there are so many unanswered questions and terms to negotiate.

“The resolution as I amended it starts the ball rolling,” said Onorato, stating that it would authorize the boroughs to start preparing the documents for a merger.

The resolution provided by Collegeville Borough for consideration by Trappe Council Tuesday mostly reverted to the original proposal.

Concerns from the Solicitor

If the resolution were passed as presented by Collegeville, Onorato said, it would stand court challenges because the initial vote will take the process out of the public eye.

“What I’m fearing [Collegeville] wants to do is ask you to make that decision tonight and then never have you discuss this stuff in public again,” said Onorato, to applause from the audience.  “That, to me, is the cart before the horse, and that is wrong.”

Onorato said that all documents requiring a signature of a council member – agreements, ordinances, resolutions, pension plans – should be proposed and discussed in public and voted on.

“If you do things not according to the sunshine act, and not according to protocol, regardless of what Collegeville wants you to do, you will have things challenged in the future,” said Onorato.

Council voted to request a public meeting between Collegeville and Trappe at the CTMA meetings in June and July to further discuss the issue, particularly the pension costs.

Onorato was authorized to create an agenda of items that need to be negotiated before any votes should be case on dissolving CTJPWD.

“Gather us together, let’s discuss what we want to get out of this,” said Councilman Paul Edwards.

Attorneys Investigate Merger Questions

CTJPWD authorized Hosterman and Onorato to answer questions regarding the merger, mostly raised by Trappe Borough Council members - Many of the questions revolved around pension and state funds lost if the merger occurs.

According to Onorato, CTJPWD receives roughly $25,000 in state funds toward employee pensions, which would be lost if the employees transferred their pensions to the authority, and employees would have the option to keep the pension with Collegeville or move to the CTMA plan.

There is currently a $350,000 unfunded mandate in the pension plan, which is not uncommon, according to Onorato.

“That unfunded liability has to be dealt with regardless of what we do,” said Onorato.

Questions also revolved around income from a joint cell phone tower that was previously going to the boroughs, but would be shifted to CTMA – Onorato said that can be negotiated, as well as potential revenue for each borough coming from the CTMA.

Continued Debate on the Merger

While the current resolution was tabled, the board and the public still debated the merging of both bodies into an authority, which consists of three appointed positions, one of whom must be a borough council member, as opposed to CTJPWD, which is comprised of elected officials from Trappe and Collegeville.

"The benefits to combining the two would be that both boroughs would save time and money,” said Councilman Paul Edwards when the 2012 resolution was presented. “We would only need one audit, one insurance policy, less time at monthly meetings, fewer banking fees and one solicitor.

“We’re spending all of this money, and redundancy, and quite frankly it’s frustrating to be at the committee, and then have to go back and forth,” said Edwards.

“I’m very concerned that this resolution says ‘we’re going to an authority,” said Cathy Johnson.  “Well, I’m not convinced that an authority is the way to go.”

Resident and candidate for borough council Pat Webster called the resolution “ill-conceived and pre-mature,” and referenced a 1990 signed settlement agreement between the two boroughs and the CTMA stating that the sewer system was to be transferred to CTJPWD, which could be amended with agreement from both boroughs and the CTMA.

Trappe resident Stu Strauss asked the council to look at both alternatives— merging into CTMA and merging into CTJPWD.

“This changes is a very, very important change before the borough of Trappe,” said Strauss.

According to Strauss, merging into CTMA will cost money, will allow the authority to raise rates without approval from both boroughs, and it takes power away from elected officials.

Councilman Nevin Scholl reiterated that the merger to CTMA would take power away from the public.

“The elected officials lose their votes on rate changes,” said Scholl.  “That’s clear.”

Currently, water rates are decided by the boroughs though CTJPWD, and CTMA decides the sewer rates with no vote from the boroughs.

Schuetz and Edwards argued that it’s up to the boroughs to appoint qualified people.

“Borough council has a responsibility to appoint qualified people to an authority or to a committee,” said Schuetz.

Edwards argued that the zoning hearing board is made up of a group of appointed individuals.

“Why is it that those people are competent, and the people on the authority are not competent? Why is it that the people on the regional authority are competent but these are not?” said Edwards.  “It’s almost insulting to say that”

Webster and Strauss also brought up that communication was lacking between the borough and the residents regarding this issue, but Onorato said that there was sensitive information in the analysis going over the merger.

“There are some things that are sensitive relative to the bargaining unit, and we have to be careful that we’re not compromising the borough’s position relative to the employees," said Onorato.

For more on the merger:

  Council Debates Future of Public Works and Municipal Authority