HERMITAGE City will stay involved in merger study

The two city commissioners on the study committee voted to get out.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- The city will stay in the Shenango Valley Intergovernmental Study despite a recommendation from most of its study committee representatives to drop out now.
The committee is looking at a consolidation model that would create one new municipality from the five in the study -- Hermitage, Sharon, Sharpsville, Wheatland and Farrell.
The study began in 1999 and was to be done in 18 months but isn't finished yet. Projections are that it will wrap up its work next month.
But four of the five Hermitage representatives on the committee say they've seen enough. They made a recommendation to the city commissioners Wednesday to drop out of the study right now.
Two of the five are city commissioners -- Pat White and Joseph Augustine -- and it was White who read a statement recommending that Hermitage end its involvement.
Support for position
He said that Augustine and two other members, George Kraynak and James Cardamon, support that position.
The fifth representative, Robert Jazwinski, doesn't. He wrote his own letter to the commissioners, urging them to stay in the study until the end even though a consolidation is "not currently feasible based on my financial analyses."
Jazwinski is chairman of the finance subcommittee looking at the new municipality model.
Still, there are ways that communities can reduce the cost of government and those could still come out of this study, he wrote, saying that withdrawing now would prevent Hermitage from reaching those conclusions.
White said the five municipalities already have extensive sharing of services.
"It has been apparent for some time that a consolidation for the city of Hermitage would have no advantages, only disadvantages. Every department of the city would be affected adversely by a consolidation," he said.
Fire department
White warned a consolidation could spell the end of the city's volunteer fire force, most of whom said they would quit if the consolidation plan called for some firefighters in the new municipality to be paid. Under the plan, Sharon would retain its paid department.
It is also apparent that a consolidated city would have "a significant shortfall in revenues to meet the anticipated expenditures necessary to operate the new city," White said, adding that could mean tax increases.
Dropping out now would free the remaining four municipalities to begin looking at a consolidation of a smaller nature, Augustine said.
White made a motion to drop out of the study, but it failed 2-3 with Bill Scanlon, Larry Gurrera and Sylvia Stull opposed.
Although none of the three said they favor consolidation, all said Hermitage should stay in until the study is complete to see what recommendations are offered and then make a decision.
Scanlon said the committee is expected to make its final report and any recommendations Sept. 25.
"I'm done. I'm not going to any more meetings," White said. Augustine said he will continue to go to the meetings.
Members of the audience split over the issue. Gregg Buchanan of Sample Road said the study should be seen through to its conclusion, but Jim Bralski of Fairfield Drive, who at one time organized a petition-signing drive against the study, urged the commissioners to end it now.
There was never a demand by city residents to change the form of government, and Hermitage's involvement from the beginning has been a public relations move to avoid an appearance of not caring about its neighboring communities, he said.