Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Subcommittees will be appointed to expedite the study process.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. -- Borough and Shenango Township officials have resumed discussions that officials say could lead to an eventual merger or consolidation of the two municipalities.
Initial talks began in February with the borough suggesting it might want to buy police services from the township. However, talks were put on hold when the township decided to join the Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Department instead.
West Middlesex is already a member of that department.
Robert Lucich, borough council president, said the talks resumed Tuesday and officials at first discussed the possibility of joining efforts to work on sanitary sewer projects.
However, the consensus was to concentrate on smaller issues first, such as joint efforts on public works projects such as street maintenance and repair, he said.
For example, the borough could contract with the township to have it provide street maintenance, he said.
Lucich said the long-term goal is a merger (where one municipality absorbs another) or a consolidation (where two municipalities form a new entity) sometime in the future.
"I think it would save taxpayers a lot of money," he said.
To expedite the effort, each municipality will appoint a two- or three-member subcommittee to investigate areas of potential intergovernmental cooperation, he said.
It will be easier for the subcommittees to meet, collect data and run potential budget numbers than for the full council and board of supervisors to handle those issues, he said.
"We're going to push forward on this," Lucich said.
The subcommittees are to be appointed at the next regular council and supervisor meetings, he said.
The two municipalities have applied for a state planning assistance grant to fund a study of merger or consolidation, and consultant Allen Kugler of Pa. Futures is handling the application.