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Consolidations could save communities money
(by Sali McSherry - March 11, 2010)
Consolidations could save communities money
By SALI McSHERRY
The mayors of Moreland Hills, Orange and Pepper Pike want to analyze the potential and gauge public support for "merging borders as a single united municipality."
The communities want to consider consolidation and a "new shared identity with the goal of increasing efficiencies while maintaining or improving safety and other service levels within high-quality neighborhoods" affecting about 13,250 residents.
The three communities applied for an "Efficientgovnow" grant recently, Moreland Hills Mayor Susan C. Renda, Orange Mayor Kathy U. Mulcahy and Pepper Pike Mayor Bruce H. Akers told their respective councils last week.
It would be the first municipal merger within Cuyahoga County in decades, according to the mayors.
Mr. Akers said the proposal of merging the communities could be seen as "controversial" and "revolutionary." The budget for the project, which would be to gauge public support for consolidation, is estimated at $120,000.
The three communities submitted an abstract two weeks ago as part of the application process and are seeking a $96,000 grant. Each community would pay an estimated $8,000 for the project, Ms. Renda said. As of the deadline, the sponsor of the grant, the Fund for Our Economic Future, received 50 project ideas from partnerships in 15 counties.
The project partners participating in round two of the contest must submit full proposals by April 19, Ms. Renda said.
Winners of the grant awards will be determined by the most number of residents who vote for them. Residents are encouraged to make comments on the proposals on the organization's Web site.
While a study by Baldwin-Wallace College about the feasibility of sharing services among the three communities and Hunting Valley initially was expected to be made public in November or December of last year, it wasn't available at last week's meetings as scheduled.
Ms. Mulcahy said there were errors in the study that needed to be corrected by the college before it is shown to council and the public. The report was expected to be available this week, she said.
Pepper Pike Councilwoman Jill Miller Zimon asked if the integrity of the report should be questioned, considering the mistakes.
Mr. Akers said the draft report spoke about the potential for fire and police districts in the communities as well as Pepper Pike contracting with Chagrin Falls for emergency dispatch, which already dispatches for Orange, Moreland Hills, Hunting Valley, Woodmere and several other communities.
Mr. Akers questioned why the report didn't look at Pepper Pike dispatching emergency services for the five communities that comprise the Orange School District, that include those same municipalities.
Preliminary results of the Baldwin-Wallace College study suggest annual savings from coordinated and consolidated dispatch, police, fire and services could be in the vicinity of $660,000 to over $3 million, Ms. Mulcahy said. Further evaluation is necessary, she said.
The working group of mayors and a council member from each community sought Efficientgovnow assistance to move forward in implementing the Baldwin-Wallace College's recommendations, according to the abstract. Costs that might be incurred include "legal and consulting expenses, transitional and contracting expenses, possible equipment purchases, communications and public information expenses, and refitting of existing equipment and facilities, among other miscellaneous costs," according to the proposal.
The working group would like to "explore and evaluate the benefits of and engage the public to determine support for merging the communities, according to the abstract. To meet these goals, the working group envisions a model process encompassing public meetings, constituent focus groups and surveys, and feasibility analyses, according to the proposal.
Ms. Renda told council the Baldwin-Wallace study discusses the possibility of identifying fire districts in Moreland Hills that could be covered by Orange and Chagrin Falls fire departments depending on location.
The Efficientgovnow program is a competitive grant awards program that encourages and accelerates government collaboration, cooperation and efficiency by providing rounds of funding to government collaboration projects as selected by the residents of Northeast Ohio, according to the organization. It could provide as much as $330,000 total in funding to as many as four collaborative government projects.
The first round of the program, held in 2009, attracted more than 255 local governmental entities from across the 16-county region to submit proposals to implement a wide array of collaborative projects.
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