Shoemakersville Locks $372K Trash Deal, Eyes Hamburg Police

Shoemakersville Borough Council agreed to pay Republic Services $262,967.56 a year for trash and $108,825.09 a year for recycling in 2027, a one-year contract extension approved unanimously on July 21, according to minutes the borough posted Nov. 2 along with five more sets covering August through early October. The batch also records the mayor telling council that Hamburg's council had approved a police-coverage contract, a split vote that made council's own vice president a paid temporary bookkeeper, a $167,922 state-grant payment for accessibility work at the borough office, and the county's move of the borough's polling place to that office. Council met again Tuesday night; no record of what it decided is posted yet.

Shoemakersville is a borough of 1,360 people on Route 61 between Reading and Hamburg, according to its website. Its municipal property tax rate is 8.5 mills, per the county's 2026 tax table and our guide to rates by municipality.

Trash and recycling: $371,793 a year

The two Republic Services figures add up to $371,792.65 a year. The trash and recycling contracts expire in December 2026, and on July 7 council President Chris Kline asked the secretary "to research the escalation clause, to determine the costs for 2027 if the contract were to be extended for 1 year," the July 7 minutes say (p. 2). On July 21, Public Works chair Joseph Wertz Jr. reviewed the quote, "Council discusses the current CPI rate" and the extension "carried unanimously" (July 21 minutes, p. 2).

None of the minutes say what the borough pays Republic now, how much the 2027 price rises, or what a household's bill will be. The borough bills residents for trash along with water and sewer through an online payment portal, and its trash page sets a weekly limit of four 30-gallon bags or cans and one bulk item, with no rate listed.

Hamburg police coverage: approved on one side, by one account

Shoemakersville has no police department of its own today; the Sept. 15 minutes note that "previous Police Chief Ron Yocum passed away" and that Botwright "is reaching out to pension providers to determine benefits for next of kin and steps for the Borough" (p. 2). Its emergency services page lists the State Police station in Hamburg for police calls, and the July 7 minutes say "The PA State Police responded to 96 calls in the borough last month" (p. 2).

That is the background for the mayor's report in the Sept. 1 minutes, which covers the subject in two sentences: "Hamburg Borough Council approved contracting with Hamburg Police. Mayor Numbers will be submitted for budget workshops" (p. 1). Later that night, resident Richard Geschwindt "asks for more information regarding Police coverage proposal from Hamburg," and "Mayor Kisha summarizes the recent discussions" (p. 2). The minutes record no Shoemakersville vote, price, patrol hours or start date.

The proposal was laid out two months earlier. On July 7, Hamburg Police Chief Kuklinski and Hamburg Mayor Holmes came to Shoemakersville's meeting, and the chief "distributes information describing services and the associated costs that the Hamburg Police Department can provide to Shoemakersville Borough," the July 7 minutes say (p. 1). The focus "would be on quality-of-life issues, such as ordinance enforcement, as well as vehicle code violations," and the chief "has been in Shoemakersville to determine peak hours where officers would be beneficial." Hamburg officers "would have jurisdiction when patrolling the borough, with any fines issued being given to Shoemakersville," and solicitor Chip Haws said the boroughs "would enter into an intermunicipal agreement to move forward" (p. 1). The minutes do not record the costs the chief handed out.

Hamburg's own record does not yet show the approval the mayor described. Hamburg council meets monthly and numbers its meetings: the July 28 minutes open with "The Seventh meeting of the Hamburg Borough Council for 2026" and the Aug. 25 minutes with "The Eighth meeting," so those two were its only council meetings between the July 7 presentation and the Sept. 1 report. Neither set lists any vote involving Shoemakersville, and Aug. 25 is the newest set posted. Hamburg's Sept. 22 agenda has no Shoemakersville item either, only a note that an executive session was held that day "to discuss personnel matters and contract negotiations." As of Nov. 4, Hamburg's minutes listing stops at Aug. 25, so its Sept. 22 and Oct. 27 meetings are not in the public record. Until they are, the only account of a Hamburg approval is what Shoemakersville's mayor reported. Shoemakersville's Nov. 3 agenda lists no police item.

The secretary leaves, and the vice president is hired

Secretary-Treasurer Melissa Wagner left at the end of July; Kline "believes everyone knows Ms. Wagner will be leaving the borough at the end of July," the July 7 minutes say (p. 4). On July 21, after a 31-minute executive session on employee relations, council voted unanimously to advertise the full-time secretary-treasurer job, to appoint Borough Manager Paul Gruber as secretary-treasurer starting Aug. 1 "until another full-time Secretary/Treasurer is hired," and to advertise for a road crew foreman (July 21 minutes, p. 3).

The fourth motion split the board. Wertz moved "to hire Amy Botwright as a temporary bookkeeper for $29.10/hr., for a maximum of 25 hrs./wk., until a full-time replacement is found." Botwright is council's vice president and chairs its Admin and Finance Committee. The motion "carried by a vote of 4 yes to 1 no and 1 abstain, with Vice President Botwright abstaining" (p. 3). The minutes do not say who voted no.

Rusty Wagner, whom the minutes list as the borough's fire chief, spoke during public comment. He said Ms. Wagner gave six weeks' notice after 23 years with the borough "with no public acknowledgement from Council, which he feels is disrespectful to her," asked why council "waited over 4 weeks after her resignation to advertise for the position," and said he disagreed with Botwright "receiving the same hourly rate for the newly hired bookkeeper position, that Ms. Wagner is currently being paid" (p. 3). Kline answered that Gruber "will not be paid anything additional" for the treasurer's duties and agreed council "should not have waited 4 ½ weeks to advertise" (p. 4).

By Aug. 4 the secretary ad on Indeed had drawn 49 responses (Aug. 4 minutes, p. 2). On Sept. 15, after another executive session, council hired Scott Sell as road crew foreman at $32 an hour and Sara Duh as secretary-treasurer "at an hourly rate of $27 to $29," both unanimously (Sept. 15 minutes, p. 2). The Oct. 20 agenda listed her appointment as secretary-treasurer and Right-to-Know officer, and the Nov. 3 agenda carries a motion to update the pension-plan trustees, "removing Melissa Wagner and adding Sara Duh."

$167,922 of grant money for the office's ADA work

Council voted unanimously Oct. 6 "to approve payment of invoice for ADA upgrades from LSA grant $167,922," on engineer David Kee's recommendation (Oct. 6 minutes, p. 2). LSA is the state's Local Share Account program, which the Department of Community and Economic Development says distributes gaming revenue through the Commonwealth Financing Authority "to support projects in the public interest." The project is the accessibility work at the borough office at 846 Main St. The Nov. 3 agenda lists "final payment application 2 in the amount of $3,460.00." Kee also reported Oct. 6 that a separate LSA grant for park stormwater upgrades "does not appear to be granted" (p. 1). The borough did win $100,000 from the state conservation department for a park pavilion, walkway and parking, listed in our October grants report.

Data centers and the polling place

Solicitor Haws "Suggests putting data centers in Zoning ordinance with definition possibly in industrial zone," the Oct. 6 minutes say (p. 1). No motion followed. Perry Township adopted its data-center rules Sept. 8; our data-center tracker, which now lists Shoemakersville, tracks which Berks municipalities have adopted or are drafting data-center rules.

The same minutes note the "County has tentatively approved moving polling to the Borough Office" (p. 1). The county Election Board made it final two days later: its Oct. 8 minutes record a permanent change for Shoemakersville Precinct 1 from Perry Elementary School, 201 4th St., to the Shoemakersville Borough Office, 846 Main St., and the county's polling list revised Oct. 14 shows the office for precinct 78-1. We previewed the Election Board vote.

Pensions, water and the rest of the spending

Council set its 2027 minimum municipal obligations, or MMOs, the pension contributions the state requires, on Sept. 15 at $38,069 for the non-uniform plan and $25,540 for the police plan (Sept. 15 minutes, p. 1).

Other votes, all unanimous:

• Fire hydrants, twice: three from Ferguson Waterworks for $11,790.36 on July 21, after Gruber said Ferguson was "20% - 60% less expensive than Exeter Supply" (pp. 1, 3), then three more from Exeter Supply for $14,085.00 on Aug. 18 (Aug. 18 minutes, p. 1). The minutes do not explain the second purchase.
• Sewer lines: $13,600 to Pipe Data View Services to televise and clean 6,426 feet of pipe and inspect 28 manholes, at a 2025 price the company agreed to honor (July 21, p. 3), and $1,800 to cut roots from the line on the 800 and 900 blocks of Main Street (Sept. 15, p. 1).
• Water: "Water discoloration from manganese has increased," the Sept. 1 minutes say (p. 1), and on Oct. 6 council authorized the engineering firm Arro to research the permits needed to add treatment at the wells (p. 1).

Two threads with PTMA, the Perry Township Municipal Authority listed on Perry's site, run through the minutes. Kline "has been speaking with Lance Adam regarding a joint authority with PTMA" (July 21, p. 2), and the Aug. 18 follow-up list includes "Agreement with PTMA" and "PTMA Reconciliations" (p. 3). On July 7, Botwright said she was "unsure of the amount owed to the borough" from those reconciliations, and Rusty Wagner "estimates the amount to be $200,000" (p. 4). The minutes give no figure of their own.

What's next

Council's Nov. 3 agenda listed a motion "to approve advertising of the 2027 Budget," the $3,460 final ADA payment, the pension-trustee swap, a $1,600 agreement with HR Resolutions to update employee manuals, water-plant and meter purchases, and a motion "to move forward with electricity provider and term as selected by council." The electricity contract expires in December (July 7 minutes, p. 2); the bid was held Sept. 15 "pending clarifications of terminology" (p. 2), and no document names a supplier or a price. No minutes from Nov. 3 are posted, and neither is the budget. The borough's calendar lists a council workshop at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17 at the borough office, 846 Main St., and the next regular meeting Dec. 1.