Trappe Borough Council Thanks Fire Company

"We had 25 to 30 personnel working 48-hour shifts throughout Hurricane Irene," reported Chief Brian Long at the 's monthly meeting Sept. 6.

Long continued, “I also want to thank several people and businesses who helped us out: Joe Hastings for providing signs; Bill Wilfong, assistant fire marshal, who stayed on duty for the duration; the who sent food, even though they had closed down their kitchens; and Bob Godshall, who got our saws back in service at 2 a.m."

The fire company conducted visual inspections of the borough every two hours throughout the storm, cleaning debris from storm inlets and roads as necessary. More than 200 homes lost power during the storm. Check out the fire company's site for pictures of their efforts.

While Mayor Connie Peck was unable to attend the council meeting, as she was representing the borough at a Lutheran Seminary dinner, she did ask President Fred Schuetz to pass along information about . The event will be held this Saturday, Sept. 10, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Water Works Park. All are welcome.

During the public forum section of the meeting, Trappe business owner Phil Lehman spoke as a representative of the Trappe Business Association.

"Our association has been meeting regularly with Trappe Today and Tomorrow (TTT) since April," Lehman said. "We want to provide an interface between the community, Trappe Council and the Trappe businesses."

Lehman plans to attend future council meetings and invited council members to the Business Association meetings, noting that Peck is already a regular attendee.

In other business, Trappe Borough Manager Jacqui Guenther reported that the borough sold a total of $4,198 in summer amusement park tickets. That sale has ended for the year, but ski pass sales will begin in December. Movie Tavern tickets are currently available for $7 each (cash or checks only) at Borough Hall.

Borough Engineer John Sartor and Guenther reported that they have completed a visual evaluation of the borough’s storm drains.

“Thirty-three storm inlets are in need of further assessment,” said Guenther.

Council approved a proposal from the Collegeville/Trappe Joint Public Works Department in the amount of $640 to further evaluate those 33 inlets, and to provide estimated repair costs tocouncil. Public Works may be able to complete minor repairs, but major work will probably go out for bid.

The Borough Engineer has also completed a preliminary assessment of borough roads as directed by council. Each roadway was rated visually and given a PCI (Pavement Condition Index) rating. PCI scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better road conditions. Ten roads in Trappe got a PCI score of less than 50.

“Less than a 50 means that failure has either already occurred, or it is imminent,” said Engineer John Sartor. “In addition, there were eight roads that rated “marginal,” which means failure will occur in one to five years if no action is taken to improve them.”

Trappe Borough Council authorized the expenditure of $6,000 for the engineering firm to conduct core borings on the 18 roads from the unsatisfactory and marginal list. This will allow the firm to provide council with a more detailed evaluation of each roadway’s needs. During the month of September, a vehicle count will also be conducted to add more data to the initial assessment.

Under committee reports, Councilman Paul Edwards reported that there were 126 ambulance calls, 73 state police calls and 36 fire calls during the month of August.

In the Property & Open Space report, Schuetz reported that several shrubs have been stolen from our area parks.

“We all need to be the eyes and ears of the community,” Schuetz said. "Please contact Borough Hall if you see something suspicious.”

Under new business, council directed the borough manager to visually assess the need for repainting of faded street striping. She will report on her findings at the next borough meeting, which will take place Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at Trappe Borough Hall.

The public is invited to attend monthly council meetings and to comment during the public forum times.