Peace Through Weakness - Trappe's "Trusted Team"

http://perkiomenvalley.patch.com/articles/heated-discussion-over-future-...

Every Trappe resident should read the above article but I’ll summarize it.  Currently, the Collegeville/Trappe Joint Public Works Department provides public water and other services to both boroughs, and the Collegeville/Trappe Municipal Authority provides sanitary sewer services.  The intention in the 1990’s was to dissolve CTMA, which owns the public sewer system, when its debt was retired. Collegeville Borough now wishes to dissolve Public Works instead.

Scholl, Johnson and Liberi have suggested to stick with the original plan and fold CTMA into Public Works.  Their reasoning: why have two monthly meetings, pay two solicitors and two engineers to attend joint meetings, maintain two insurance policies, pay for two audits.  To do so would save ratepayers of both Trappe and Collegeville $200,000 over 10 years.  Simple enough. 

Trappe’s Trusted Team of Schuetz, Stomel, Edwards and DiPrete always vote to give Collegeville what it wants, and last October 2 – in a surprise move - were about to vote to do the opposite: fold Public Works into CTMA.  “In going in this direction, we would be sacrificing funding from the state (for the pensions), in the range of $20,000-40,000 per year,” said Scholl. "We are also moving responsibilities off the shoulders of the public onto the shoulders of those who do not face the voters. I think that is a step in the wrong direction." 

In other words, instead of Council members of Trappe and Collegeville retaining the right to increase water rates, doing in the Trusted Team-Collegeville way would take water rate voting rights completely out of the hands of both Councils and the voters who elected them – and instead deliver the right to raise water rates into the hands of six “appointees.”  These six would answer to no one.  They could sell our assets to Aqua and instead of us paying near the lowest water rates in the county like we do now, these six could have us paying a minimum $80 per month or more like many neighboring communities, because they can. 

Edwards kept saying at the Council meeting, “I feel this is the right thing to do… in my opinion this makes the most sense.  Edwards stated that Collegeville is adamant to move toward CTMA as the authority.  He said he believes it to be a more efficient way to provide services.

“Personally, I don’t agree,” said Councilwoman Cathy Johnson.

Councilwoman Tammy Liberi wanted more information before passing the resolution.

“We need more information,” said Liberi. “In business we don't make decisions based on opinions about facts, we make them based on the facts. We need the facts.”

Thanks to Scholl, Johnson and Liberi demanding a deeply detailed cost-benefit analysis, this decision is currently delayed.  If they had not opposed the Trusted Team, our water-sewer rates would now be decided by three cronies appointed by Schuetz-Stomel-DiPrete-Edwards in Trappe, and three Collegeville appointees.