The project was originally included in the 2017 Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency Competition plan put forward by the county to New York State to qualify for $20 million in funds. The county ultimately did not win the grant, but County executive George Borrello had said he wanted to continue to pursue as many projects in the plan as possible.

The Water and Wastewater Cooperative would include small municipal water and wastewater systems throughout the county. The primary purpose would be to develop a model to share staff coverage as the nationwide shortage of certified operators continues, and many local operators near retirement.

It would potentially also help small systems reduce staff, as most of the time one employee is all that is needed, but they must employ two so there is coverage in case of emergency or time off for the main operator.

In addition to a shared staffing model, the Water and Wastewater cooperative would organize similar purchases and contracted services such as treatment chemicals and laboratory testing services.

According to a media release from the county, the funding will be released in phases with the phase I award of up to $50,000 to develop a formal project plan and structure.

Late last week Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County was the winner of the Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency Competition.

According to the Governor, the winning plan is expected to produce savings of more than $120 million for Suffolk County taxpayers over the next 10 years.

Chautauqua County’s proposal included 23 municipalities and potential consolidations and was crafted in 2016 and 17 by the county’s Joint Task Force on Efficiency and Cost Reduction, which was led by the then-county legislator George Borrello, who is now county executive.

Among the items on the list was the proposed shared services agreement between the city of Jamestown police department and the county sheriff’s office, the unification of police operations between the town of Busti and Town of Ellicott, along with consolidation of services among several rural towns in the county.

Borrello said he was disappointed that the county didn’t win, but added there are other funding programs available and many of the consolidation efforts will be moving forward.

The forum will be hosted by County executive Vince Horrigan and legislator George Borrello, who also chairs the county’s Regional Solutions Commission Chairman.

During the meeting, attendees will learn more about the county’s roughly 10 projects that are being developed for its Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency Competition (MCEC) grant application. Through the competition, the county was awarded $50,000 in February 2017 to further develop its proposed projects. It is competing with five other counties in the state to receive up to $20 million to help facilitate consolidation, shared services, and efficiency proposals throughout the county.

Horrigan said he’s looking forward to getting a plan finalized and submitted to the state.

“The conversation is really growing,” Horrigan told WRFA following the May County Legislature meeting. “We’re seeing more and more interest. In order to be able to successfully share services and merge, you’ve got to have seed money to get that done and that’s what this does.”

Horrigan also offered an example of how the funding could possible be used.

“It would provide the ability to build a new, state-of-the art shared facility,  rather than pumping money into separate ones,” Horrigan said. “If you don’t have that, everybody comes up with the same challenge, ‘Where do we get the money to build a new facility?’ So we think it’s a great idea.”

The  county executive also said that today’s meeting is important, because the deadline to submit a final plan is later this month.

“June 28 is when the grant application is required. We have resolutions from all the partners now, we just had one passed by the legislature. So that will go in,” Horrigan said. “The department of state has set up a process to evaluate the applications and then the awards will be made. We don’t know the exact time frame but we think September or somewhere around then is a possible time.”

The Wednesday event is free and open to the public. Anyone interested in attending, should register by calling (716) 753-4672.

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Chautauqua County Legislature during the May 24, 2017 meeting.

MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua County Legislature Wednesday night voted in favor of a plan that would assist with any future government reduction initiatives taken place between two or more municipalities in the county.

By a vote of 17 to 1, the legislature approved its Government Reduction Initiative (GRI) plan, which outlines the parameters for how the county would assist other municipalities in the county to accomplish the consolidation and dissolution of local government entities. Proponents of consolidation say it would result in reduced property taxes, improved business climate, and spur economic development.

The plan comes forward as a result of the county being a finalist in the state’s Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency Competition for local governments, which involves a competition for $20 million in grant awards, where counties in the state were encouraged to submit government reduction proposals. Chautauqua County is one of six counties in the state to be a finalist for the money.

Bonnie Peters

During the earlier public comment portion of the meeting, Cassadaga resident Bonnie Peters, who also serves as president of CSEA Local 807, said that any consolidation effort put forward as a result of the plan wouldn’t necessarily save taxpayers money, citing the recent dissolution of the village of Seneca Falls, which resulted in residents taxes going up, not going down. She said that in early every dissolution that has taken place across the state, the actual tax savings have been significantly lower compared to what was promised before a vote took place.

“Hopefully you see that passing a resolution which predicts all dissolutions and mergers to be beneficial to the county is premature at best,” Peters said. “The last thing we need is the county legislature here in Mayville telling the residents of Silver Creek, Fredonia, and Lakewood – just to name a few – what’s best for them.”

Peters also said that if saving money for residents was the top priority, the legislature should instead focus its attention on the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency, which recently cancelled a $1 million loan for the failed Jamestown MVP Plastics.

“As a taxpayer, I wholly applaud the county’s attempt to save tax dollars. However, I would encourage the county to look at all the waste in the IDA, before you encourage towns to strip away the vital services their residents have come to depend on,” Peters said, adding, “The Chautauqua County IDA uniform tax exemption policy and guidelines number F addresses the recapture of benefits. Has the IDA ever utilized this clawback of funds? Did we get any of the money back from the aforementioned Jamestown MVP plastics?”

The only legislator who voted against he plan was Dunkirk Democrat Robert Bankoski, who said that while he appreciated the work put into the plan by fellow legislator Terry Niebel, he agreed with Peters.

In response to Peters’ statements, legislator George Borrello, a Republican from Hanover who chairs the county’s Regional Solutions Commission and is running for County Executive in the 2017 election, said that consolidations and dissolutions have been successful in Chautauqua County and have also resulted in saving taxpayer money. Borrello, who is also a member of the county IDA, didn’t respond to Peters’ criticism of the IDA.