WHEATLAND 4 attend municipal merger meeting

No one on council expressed a desire to drop out of the study.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
WHEATLAND, Pa. -- Borough residents apparently are not concerned about an intergovernmental study that could recommend the consolidation of their municipality with four others.
Only four people showed up at a town meeting called by borough council Monday to discuss the subject, and two of them serve on that study committee.
Both recommended that council not vote to drop out of the study, which is looking at municipal services in Wheatland, Farrell, Hermitage, Sharon and Sharpsville.
"We have an obligation to follow through to the end of this," said Tom Lewis, who has been active on the study committee since it began its work three years ago.
Still too early
No one can make a qualified decision on the study at this point because the facts aren't in, Lewis told council.
"I think it's premature to pull out. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose," said Atty. Joann Jofery, who has also been representing the borough on the study committee since its inception.
"Quite truthfully, I've been to most of the meetings, and I think it's gone on too long," Jofery said.
Nevertheless, Wheatland should participate until the study is done. There could be useful recommendations for shared services short of a complete consolidation of municipalities, she said.
The study was to be done in 18 months but is now in its third year.
2003 ballot
The Shenango Valley Intergovernmental Study Committee has said it plans to have its work done in time to put a recommendation on the November 2003 election ballot, but Wheatland Mayor Thomas Stanton isn't sure it can keep that schedule.
It was Stanton who pushed for a town meeting on the subject, suggesting that the public should decide whether the study should continue.
He proposed that Wheatland council take a vote insisting that the study committee complete its work within one year and promise to put the issue directly on the ballot for the voters to decide.
Council was reluctant to take that action. Councilwoman Lorraine Jones pointed out that council has no authority to direct the study committee to do anything.
She said it makes sense to follow through with the study, though she has been hearing from people in the community that Wheatland should pull out.
Voting by councils
Council President David Cusick said that once the study committee makes a recommendation, the five individual municipal councils can vote to kill it or put it on the ballot.
However, if a council votes it down, the residents of that community can still file a petition with the county election board to get the issue on the ballot, he said.
Lewis said the study is nearing its end.
The subcommittee proposals for joint fire, police, community development and other services are nearly complete, and the full committee will then vote on a recommendation to the five municipalities, he said, adding that the process should be completed in four or five months.
Individual council members said they fear Wheatland, the smallest municipality in the study with a population of just 750, will get lost in the shuffle if there is a consolidation.
However, none expressed a desire to drop out before the study is done.
Representation
Each municipality has five voting members on the study committee, but only Jofery and Lewis have remained active on Wheatland's behalf.
Cusick said council will consider making new appointments to give Wheatland full representation.