Chairman Warren Reiner opened the Penn Forest Township board of supervisors meeting with a summary of the expenses incurred by the township over the past few years related to using township-owned trucks and employees for snowplowing.

"In three and a half years we spent something like $136,000 on those trucks," Reiner said. "I think we could have paid contractors and we could have saved money."Reiner said that after paying $260,290 for the trucks in 2012, the trucks needed constant maintenance and needed new tires with less than 15,000 miles on them."These were commercial vehicles, so the repairs aren't under warranty," Reiner said. "We are going to try this for this year and then we are going to re-evaluate and see how it goes."Five bid packages were picked up at the township building for the snowplowing contract, but only two contractors actually submitted bids: Locust Ridge and Shiffer Bituminous.Shiffer Bituminous was the lowest bidder at $125 per hour for the 8-ton dump truck with spreader and two 2-ton dump trucks with spreader at $85 per hour each.The Shiffer Bituminous bid was accepted with supervisor Judy Knappenberger voting no. Knappenberger has been opposed to selling the township vehicles and the use of outside contractors for snow removal.Other businessThe supervisors also voted to close thePennsylvania Local Government Investment Trust account and reinvest the money in certificates of deposit with Mauch Chunk Trust at a higher interest rate.Phase II of the recreation park will be complete by the end of this week. The only outstanding item will be the top coat on the tennis courts. The board agreed to give the contractor until Oct. 28 to finish the tennis courts.Starting this Wednesday, the board will be holding a budget workshop at 6 p.m. at the township building. There will be three additional workshops each Wednesday evening in October.The municipal building will be closed onMonday in observance of Columbus Day. The transfer station will be open.