HERMITAGE Commissioner will forgo more talks on merger

The commissioner said he has enough information now to make his decision.
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- City Commissioner Joseph Augustine said he doesn't want to go to any more Shenango Valley Intergovernmental Study Committee meetings.
Augustine, a member of the committee since its formation in 1999 to look at the possible merger or consolidation of five Shenango Valley municipalities, said he has enough information to make his decision.
Communities involved
The study, looking at Farrell, Sharon, Hermitage, Sharpsville and Wheatland, was supposed to be completed in two years but has continued for four.
Just when, or even if, the committee will make a recommendation for merger (one municipality absorbing another) or consolidation (two or more municipalities forming a new entity) is still unclear.
The committee has been putting together a model plan for a consolidation of all five municipalities and will be holding an all-day session Aug. 23 to summarize its findings.
If it makes a consolidation recommendation, the issue will have to go before the councils of all five communities as well as appear as a referendum question for voters to make the final decision.
Augustine isn't saying what his position is.
He said he wants to discuss it at the next commissioners' meeting.
Commissioner Pat White, also a member of the study committee, said the Hermitage representatives on that panel plan to come back to the full board of commissioners with a recommendation on the issue after the Aug. 23 meeting.
That recommendation could be presented at the Aug. 27 Hermitage commissioners' meeting, he said.