43
Officials hope to retry for township creation
Most officials supported the ballot merger that failed.
WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. — The failure of a merger question on last week’s ballot in Shenango Township and West Middlesex may not mean the issue is dead.
Encouraged by the fact that the merger lost by only 271 votes in Shenango, township supervisors chairman Bob Palko said Monday he hopes the issue could be put back on the ballot.
Most officials in the township supported the merger, as did all officials in West Middlesex Borough. The issue made it to the ballot as a joint government agreement, with the borough council passing it unanimously and the township supervisors voting 3-2 to get it on the ballot there.
Consultant Alan Kugler of PA Futures in Erie prepared an analysis of the merger, which would have created a second-class township called West Middlesex.
Kugler explained the details of his analysis in three public meetings over the last three months leading up to the election.
The merger would have meant a tax cut for borough residents, and taxes would have stayed the same for township residents under the merger, according to Kugler’s study.
Officials touted the benefits, such as increased money from the state, which looks favorably on mergers, they said, and money saved by shared services.
Officials said that one larger community would present a unified appearance to businesses looking for a location.
Businesses would keep jobs and younger people in the community, which isn’t replacing its aging population now, Kugler said.
It was not to be.
The merger had to pass on ballots in both communities. It passed overwhelmingly in the borough 365 to 77. But in the township, the question was defeated 1,033 to 762.
Still, that means that only 136 votes would have needed to swing to “yes,” said Palko and Kugler.
In Pennsylvania, the borough and township governments would have to wait five years to bring the exact same question back to the ballot.
But the question could be reworded and brought back, Kugler said.
He also said it could make it onto the ballot as a citizen initiative with a petition drive.
Another merger analysis would not be needed, he said. But merger proponents would have to find out why their neighbors voted “no” and persuade them otherwise.
Meanwhile, Palko said, the borough and the township will be looking at other ways to save money and grow. “We can’t just sit here,” he said. He said shared services could include road crews or fire departments.