Communities pitch shared-services venture

BY KATHY MELLOTT
The Tribune-Democrat

PORTAGE April 20, 2008 12:17 am

— After nearly two decades, talk of closer working relationships among communities in the Portage Area School District is making a difference.
Officials of Portage Borough and Portage Township – and perhaps Cassandra Borough – are developing an equipment-sharing program that could include joint purchasing. Some officials hope the relationship will be a step in the direction of shared police services.
The proposed Portage Area Regional Alliance, officials hope, also will mean more access to state grants.
“The township can get equipment and we can use it,” said Dick Rice, chairman of the Portage Regional Planning Commission.
In return, the borough could get equipment which can be used to benefit the township.
“The best thing for me as a taxpayer is that we’re not duplicating services,” said Rice, whose group was instrumental in starting a formal initiative for a shared-service pact.
Rice moderated a meeting Thursday among representatives of the township and Portage Borough.
George Shuniak of Cassandra Borough, who supports the effort, also attended but has to convince other council members to join the effort.
“I’m going to be at every meeting and take the information back to my council, Shuniak said.
The two municipalities already share a joint planning commission, recreation board, sewer authority, water authority, fire company and ambulance service.
“It’s the same thing that’s going on now,” said Portage Supervisor Elwood Selapack.
One big advantage of a shared-service agreement will be the clout each municipality will have when it seeks state grants for equipment, said Portage Supervisor Ken Trimbath. Such pacts can be valuable, he said, because they let the state know that municipalities are working on a regional basis.
“The whole idea of this is to put something together where we’re cooperating, even if it’s just to get grants,” he said. “That alone is a reason why a little borough like Cassandra should want to join in.”
Local officials have been told by the state Department of Community and Economic Development that grant applications geared at benefiting more than one municipality rise to the top of the priority list at funding time.
Portage Councilman Jim Kissell said he is cautiously supportive.
“It’s a good idea, but we need to go slowly,” Kissell said.
In the mid-1990s, a vote on consolidation between Portage and Cassandra boroughs and Portage Township was defeated by Cassandra and the township.
A second attempt to merge Portage Borough and Portage Township four years ago was defeated by the township.
The Pennsylvania municipal code mandates that a majority of all of the voters in the impacted communities must approve any such initiative.
Officials from the three municipalities stressed that the shared-services coalition under consideration would allow each municipality to remain independent with its own governing board, workers and tax rate.
Portage Township Supervisor James Kovach, a staunch opponent of consolidation, said he is concerned that a shared-services initiative could open the door for a merger.
Representatives of the three municipalities will meet again on May 15 at the Portage municipal building.
Members are looking at the structure of the alliance in the hopes of keeping the initiative as simple as possible.
Portage Borough Manager Bob Koban will seek out copies of shared-service agreements in place elsewhere for review next month.
The draft agreement eventually developed will have to be approved by each of the governing bodies of the participating municipalities, but not by voters through a referendum.