MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua County Legislature got an opportunity to review 13 different proposed shared services and consolidation projects that will soon be formally presented to the state as part of a Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Countywide Shared Services Initiative (CWSSI). The initiative involves Chautauqua County and five other counties in the running for a $20 million competitive grant.

County Executive Vince Horrigan (left) gives a presentation to the county legislature on the county’s proposed Shared Services plan during a meeting on Aug. 23, 2017.

On Wednesday night Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan walked legislators through each of the 13 proposals, which include consolidating the Jamestown Police Department with the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, developing a more regional plan for coordinating and operating the county’s 42 fire departments, dissolving and merging the towns of Gerry and Charlotte along with the village of Sinclairville, and improving shared services and offices spaces between Dunkirk and Fredonia as well as between the village of Lakewood and the town of Busti.

• VIEW THE COMPLETE LIST OF PROJECTS

The projects were point together through the county’s Regional Solutions Commission.

The public will also have the opportunity to learn more about the proposals during a series of three scheduled public hearings that Horrigan will host next week.

The hearings will be held on:

• Tuesday, August 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the Fredonia Technology Incubator in Dunkirk;
• Wednesday, August 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the County EMS Office in Mayville;
• and Thursday, August 31 at 6:30 p.m. in the CCIDA Board Room, 201 W. Third St. in Jamestown.

Each hearing will include a brief presentation of projects and an opportunity for county citizens to ask questions and give input on the plan.

The shared service initiative establishes panels in each county across the state, which was tasked with developing a shared services plan. That plan must be reviewed by the Legislature for comment and presented to the public before it can be sent to the New York State Division of Budget for consideration of the $20 million in funding.

For more information on the plan or next week’s hearings, contact the County Executive’s Office at (716) 753-4211.