Cumru Gives Blosenski Four-Year Manual Trash Deal

Cumru Township's trash will be collected by hand for the next four years, and by the same company. The commissioners voted unanimously Sept. 29 to give A.J. Blosenski, the township's current hauler, a four-year manual refuse contract, passing over a lower price from Good's Disposal Service for automated-truck pickup, according to signed minutes the township posted Thursday, Oct. 22. The same batch of minutes records the Sept. 15 meeting at which Terrence James was sworn in as township manager, auditors reported a clean 2025 audit and a developer sketched 537 homes and apartments along Route 10.

The trash vote

This was the second round of bidding. On Aug. 18 the board rejected every bid and ordered a re-bid with a manual option for the whole township. The Sept. 15 minutes list the item as "Refuse/Recycle Contract 2027-2030" and say the specifications "were redone, advertised, and sent out to the same bidders," with bids opened Sept. 25 (p. 5).

The re-bid asked for prices in six categories (Sept. 29 minutes, p. 3). Mechanical collection uses a truck that lifts the containers; manual collection means crews lift them by hand. Flying Hills was priced separately.

• A: mechanical refuse, about 4,690 homes
• B: manual refuse, about 491 Flying Hills homes
• C: mechanical recycling, about 4,690 homes
• D: manual recycling, about 491 Flying Hills homes
• E: manual refuse, about 5,181 homes, the whole township including Flying Hills
• F: manual recycling, about 5,181 homes, the whole township including Flying Hills

The bids, as printed in the minutes (p. 2):

Bidder	A	B	C	D	E	F
J.P. Mascaro & Sons	$1,356,792	$162,276	$533,700	$104,640	$1,460,508	$665,160
Good's Disposal Service	$849,241	No bid	$356,245	No bid	No bid	No bid
Jax Disposal	No bid	No bid	No bid	No bid	No bid	$479,946.70
Waste Management	$881,344.80	No bid	$579,684	No bid	No bid	No bid
A.J. Blosenski	$892,038	$162,030	$391,146	$58,920	$978,090	$382,530

The minutes do not say whether these figures are for one year or for the full contract.

Manager James "highlighted the lowest cost for manual collections (refuse and recycling) to be A. J. Blosenski, and the lowest bidder for mechanical collection to be Good Disposal Service" (p. 2). After President Andy Donnell asked about the low bidders, "Commissioner Miller reiterated the point that A.J. Blosenski is the lowest bidder and the current contract holder" (p. 3). The vote followed: "ON MOTION OF MR. MILLER, SECONDED BY MR. DONNELL, A UNANIMOUS VOTE TO APPROVE A.J. BLOSENSKI MANUAL REFUSE CONTRACT FOR FOUR YEARS."

The motion names manual refuse only. It does not say whether recycling (category F) was awarded, states no dollar amount, and gives no dates beyond "four years." It also does not say whether the award is the township-wide bid (E, about 5,181 homes) or Flying Hills alone (B); Manager James's summary of "the lowest cost for manual collections (refuse and recycling)" and the Aug. 18 instruction to re-bid "a manual option for the entire township" point to the township-wide bid. The 2027-2030 term appears only in item headings, "Refuse/Recycle Contract 2027-2030," in the Sept. 15 minutes (p. 5) and the Sept. 29 agenda; the motion does not give dates. The minutes shade Blosenski's B, D, E and F bids and Good's A and C as the lowest in each category (p. 2).

Some arithmetic, which is ours and not the township's. Blosenski's township-wide manual pair, E plus F, totals $1,360,620. Good's mechanical pair, A plus C, is $1,205,486, but Good's did not bid on Flying Hills, where the cheapest manual pickup was Blosenski's B plus D, $220,950. The cheapest mix of automated pickup outside Flying Hills and hand pickup inside it comes to $1,426,436, or $65,816 more than Blosenski's all-manual pair; the home counts match, since 4,690 plus 491 equals 5,181. On that reading the board took the cheaper package for the whole township, though the minutes do not lay out the comparison. Good's $849,241 bid was $59,681 below the $908,922 low mechanical bid the board rejected in August; Blosenski, which held that August low bid, came in at $892,038 for the same category this time, though the specifications were redone for the re-bid (Sept. 15 minutes, p. 5).

Commissioner Greg Miller then asked Assistant Manager Kristin Yoder about a flat fee for trash and recycling. She "discussed the administrative burden associated with verifying household records for single and family dwellings" and said "there isn't a clear correlation between household size and trash and recycling production" (p. 3). Solicitor Kelsey Frankowski "stated the Board would have to submit a new ordinance in conjunction with the new refuse and recycling contract." The board directed the manager "to conduct an analysis on the refuse fees and incorporating a flat fee." The minutes record no vote and no fee amounts.

A new manager and a clean audit

On Sept. 15 the board voted unanimously, on a motion by Donnell seconded by Lisha Rowe, "TO APPOINT TERRENCE JAMES AS THE CUMRU TOWNSHIP MANAGER/SECRETARY" (p. 1). James was sworn in, and Donnell thanked interim manager Peter S. Marshall "for his hard work in the search." The minutes give no salary; the board approved James's employment agreement Aug. 18 with Rowe abstaining, as we reported. Yoder was reappointed treasurer and Kathleen George appointed deputy treasurer (p. 1), and Patricia Wylezik-Pfeiffer was named Open Records Officer, the official who handles Right-to-Know requests, with Yoder as backup (p. 5).

Nick Bieber of Cherry Bekaert said the 2025 audit "received a clean opinion from independent auditors, which is the highest level that can be issued" (p. 2). Revenues "came in $153,000 over budget (1.5%)" and expenses "$90,000 under budget (0.8%)." The minutes also say "The General Fund was budgeted for $648,000 and the actual results were $411,000," without explaining what those two figures measure. The year-end balance "was just under $3 million," and the carryover was 28 percent of operating expenses, inside the 20 to 30 percent range Bieber called usual. He also "reported some material weakness in the internal controls such as miscommunication and delay in actual recording," said "there were no major issues that needed to be reported," and Miller asked James and George to meet on the internal controls and report back (p. 2).

537 homes sketched along Route 10

Attorney Beth Kohl of Barley Snyder and Michael Hartman of Schlouch Inc. presented a sketch plan for Route 10 Realty (p. 3). A sketch plan is an informal early review to get the board's reaction; nothing was approved. The plan covers a 170-acre tract between Morgantown Road (Route 10) and Valley Stream Road, with an 88-acre traditional neighborhood development of "537 mixed units (consisting of 256 apartments, 175 townhouses, and 106 single-family homes)," 9,270 square feet of commercial space and 30.30 acres of open space (p. 6).

Fire Chief James Beane said one full entrance and two emergency entrances were not enough: "entrances are key and this is a lot of development for only 1 access" (p. 3). A Pine Woods Court resident asked about the effect on the school district; Donnell said the township is working with the district. Hartman said he "will probably submit another sketch plan based on the feedback."

Grants, software and sewer money

Miller announced a $350,000 state Local Share Account grant, with no local match, for "the SR222 high-level redevelopment study" (Sept. 15, p. 3). The township's own record is inconsistent on the source: the Sept. 29 agenda listed the same $350,000 as a "PennDOT Multimodal Transportation Grant – awarded $350,000 with no match," and on Sept. 29 resident Barbara Dietrich asked that "the minutes and agenda should reflect this Master Plan is not associated with the PennDOT Multimodal Transportation Grant" (p. 4). The board voted unanimously to apply for an LSA grant for full-depth reconstruction of Bare Avenue, estimated at $282,511.13 with no match, and for a PennDOT Multimodal grant to upgrade three older traffic signals on Routes 222 and 724 (p. 4). The grant amount for the Angelica Interceptor sewer project "is on hold until at least December" (p. 3).

On Sept. 29 the board unanimously chose Edmunds GovTech as its new financial software over Intellitec/Microsoft Dynamics 365, citing lower cost; James put the current system's cost at "approximately $30,000 annually" (p. 4). It also voted unanimously to advertise a request for proposals for a Lancaster Pike (Route 222) master plan and approved a $42,173.80 escrow release to the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood (p. 4). The rental-property program RFP drew "no proposals"; the board will review Kraft Municipal Group's framework proposal in October (pp. 3-4). Sept. 15 payments included $53,606.51 to MDX Site on the Ardmore Avenue sewer replacement and $20,160 to Sewer Specialty Services for lining paid for in advance by Ocean State Job Lots (p. 8).

Data centers, towing and the rest

The board reviewed a Data Center Review Protocol, meant "to be prepared for if/when we receive a Data Center plan," and voted unanimously to advertise RFPs for engineers to review data center applications, with costs "paid by the developer" (Sept. 15, p. 8). That RFP, and the proposed data center at the former Titus plant it anticipates, are in our data center tracker.

• Police Chief Madison Winchester asked that one of the township's three authorized towing garages be removed for late responses, attempted overcharges for storage and failing to clean up crash scenes; the vote was unanimous. The minutes do not name the garage (p. 5).
• Winchester said the incident at a Mifflin high school football game was in Shillington's jurisdiction and Cumru officers "played a supporting role" (p. 4).
• Frankowski reported that District Attorney John Adams "sent letters to Sencit," that Sencit's second elevator "will be worked on in Nov. 2026" and that it has "agreed to pay the $1000 fine" (p. 10).
• The board accepted Andrew Yetter's resignation as an alternate on the Civil Service Commission (p. 10).
• On solar financing, Marshall said Sept. 15 that "the previous quote was withdrawn so we need to start over" and that a lease-purchase agreement would be cheaper (p. 10); on Sept. 29 he said the township "had contacted six potential financial institutions" (p. 2).
• An executive session on potential litigation and personnel ran from 9:22 to 10:01 p.m. Sept. 15; "No motions were made" (p. 10).

What happens next

The commissioners hold 2027 budget meetings Nov. 5, 12 and 19 at 6 p.m. and their next regular meeting Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. (Sept. 29 minutes, p. 5), all at the Township Building, 1775 Welsh Road, Mohnton. The Zoning Hearing Board's Oct. 27 meeting is canceled; the township homepage lists it as "CANCELED - NO APPLICATIONS." Minutes of the Oct. 20 meeting are not yet posted, so that meeting is recorded for now only on the township's video. Public comment is in person, limited to three minutes per speaker and 60 minutes in all under Resolution 301 (Sept. 29 minutes, p. 1). Our guide covers every Berks municipality's meeting schedule.

Corrections: corrections@berksbeat.com.