Collegeville, Trappe Parting Ways on Snow Removal Providers

Collegeville and Trappe Boroughs decided to part ways regarding snow removal and bid for services separately, due to discrepancies in billing and contractor performance.

According to Trappe officials, the issue was brought up in January, when Trappe township staff deduced that 58 miles were being plowed in Collegeville and 42 miles were being plowed in Trappe, but they were being billed evenly.

According to township staff, this has been the billing process for at least the past decade.

Trappe council, which had been witholding payment to the vendor due to billing issues, voted to pay January’s bill while they worked to sort out the rest of the billing, which included increased hours because the plows were "called out and given no direction on when to stop plowing, so [they] kept going until the storm stopped," Guenther said.

According to Guenther, the snow removal provider offered to reduce Trappe’s bill due to the billing issues, and Trappe Council members said that it was the responsibility of the provider to seek the remainder of the bill from Collegeville Borough.

Subscribe to our free daily newsletter | Follow us on Facebook | Follow us @PerkiomenVPatch

Collegeville Township Manager Geoff Thompson recommended at the borough’s meeting on the following evening that the borough go out to bid separately

“Apparently Trappe has issues with the current contract with billing and equity in the contract,” said Collegeville Borough manager Geoff Thompson. “ My recommendation is that this year go our separate ways so there won’t be any issues in the future with billing or contractor performance.”

Collegeville council members noted that going to bid separately may allow for them to require a smaller arsenal of plowing equipment, which cound lead to increased bids; over the past few years, only one bid was received for Trappe and Collegeville snow removal.

Vice-Chair Arnold Mann said that the boroughs might get a better rate if they work together, but the council voted unanimously to bid separately.