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Portland, Brocton officials discuss shared services

BROCTON — The Portland Town Council and Village of Brocton Board of Trustees attending one another’s meetings has seemed to keep one particular avenue of discussion open — that of shared service.

Portland Supervisor Dan Schrantz attended the close of a recent Brocton Village Board’s meeting to report on topics of interest that could be tackled with shared service. Mayor Richard Frost thanked the supervisor for attending, adding he is always interested in areas of “shared service, not consolidation.”

Some of the topics touched on by Schrantz were the combining of billing and leak detection components, among others, to be undertaken during the future regional water system. Schrantz also raised the topics of sharing the judicial and zoning and code enforcement departments. Frost also queried who the active members of the local industrial development agency were and whether that might be an avenue for the town and village to stay active with.

The two leaders agreed to keep weekly discussions going and Frost thanked the town supervisor for attending. Trustee Bryan Woleben is slated to attend the March 15 meeting of the town council.

Prior to Schrantz arriving, the board discussed another avenue of shared service — that of possible future police protection of the village. With the most recent contract with the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office in the process of signature, the trustees have been reviewing the monthly reports provided to them at their meetings by the village clerk to see exactly what is happening in Brocton during the Sheriff’s paid hours.

Trustee Gary Planty raised the question of how the leaders know what hours cars are actively riding in the village limits.

The mayor noted items and questions such as Planty’s do need to be discussed by the leaders, especially to see if any issues could be accomplished by utilizing a shared service agreement with Westfield Police, and as Trustee Craig Miller suggested, potentially Fredonia’s. Upon suggestion from the mayor, the committee members for police protection will be meeting to discuss items for the board.

In other matters, the village board officially gave their support for the July 29 Darren Manzella-Lapeira Memorial Run and Walk. Fire Chief Phil Gerace stated he had been briefed on what will be needed from Brocton’s fire department and will be prepared to assist with the annual fundraising event.

The board also unanimously agreed to pay annual dues for the Concord Grape Belt Heritage Association and to approve the purchase of necessary electric transformer equipment for the electric department.

Planty and Frost commended the electric department and Lineman Joe Majkowski for a job well done keeping things working and service maintained, even during high winds affecting the area recently.

The board will reconvene on March 1 at 6:30 p.m.

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