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Tires fall off county’s regional push

Submitted Photo Alan Kugler, consultant for the Council of Governments in Warren County, Pa., works to find regional solutions across the state border.

WARREN, Pa. — Chautauqua County would be lucky to have an Alan Kugler among us. As someone who considers himself as an individual who helps citizens, public officials and civic leaders to improve community vitality and quality of life through collaboration backed by sound information for policy decision-making, Kugler sees himself as a bit of a visionary.

Serving as the consultant to the countywide Council of Governments, he works to get all the entities in Warren County connected. Currently, 21 of the 27 municipalities and the county are a part of the council. That accounts for 22 members.

While acknowledging the city of Warren — with a population of 9,000 of the total 39,000 county residents — remains the hub, it is obvious a majority of those who formerly lived within the borders of the municipality have moved to the outlying communities of Russell, Clarendon or Scandia. While those smaller boroughs and townships see their tax base grow from the investment, there’s an opposite impact on the largest population center.

“The city of Warren is the principal municipality driving the success, or failure, of the entire Warren Countywide community,” Kugler wrote recently in a series of articles in the Times Observer. “Serious challenges lie ahead. The outcomes will determine the future for all who live, work, and do business here.”

This is no different than what is happening in Chautauqua County where the two largest population centers — Dunkirk and Fredonia in the north county and Jamestown in the south county — face a plight similar to their neighboring Pennsylvania city. All four have seen significant population declines while continuing a mission of providing top-notch services to their taxpayers and residents as well as neighboring towns and villages.

As the smaller rural regions continue to grow, it creates an added stress that becomes a countywide burden — in both Chautauqua and Warren — to deliver Emergency Management Services, law enforcement and fire response. This is not a criticism of dedicated volunteers, but a reality.

All four entities have paid firefighters and police officers. When something happens within those centers, response times are phenomenal.

Beyond those borders, the clock ticks — with those paid departments possibly called in for support.

Kugler is well aware of the stress for all involved. “Declining population and wealth are not the only reasons for distress in the city of Warren and beyond,” he wrote. “Other factors compound it. Central among these is that Warren finds itself providing significant services to the larger community. These services directly benefit those who reside outside of Warren largely at the expense of city taxpayers. The services include police, fire, and emergency medical response by the city outside its boundaries when called upon to do so.”

At one time not too long ago, Chautauqua County was taking the lead on working to consolidate services and government. Once all the federal American Rescue Plan Act funding came during the COVID emergency, however, those priorities have taken a back seat.

In 2018, county officials were aggressively promoting regional efforts. Officials here were part of a Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency Competition for $20 million from New York state. Though Suffolk County ultimately won the award, what then County Executive and current state Sen. George Borrello proposed still looks impressive today.

Borrello and his team’s plan included 33 municipalities. Some of the objectives included: Dewittville, Hartfield, Mayville and Maple Springs fire companies exploring closer coordination; a county fire services study and coordinated efficiencies; city of Dunkirk and village of Fredonia sharing one facility for their police forces and courts; the city of Dunkirk and village of Fredonia implementing wastewater treatment efficiencies; the town of Gerry and town of Charlotte consolidating into one town and then the village of Sinclairville dissolving into the single town. They would then have a unified highway and administrative building on the Cassadaga Valley Central School grounds; continued discussions with the Sheriff’s Office and Jamestown Police Department project; the village of Lakewood, town of Busti and town of Ellicott exploring one unified police force.

While many of these initiatives have never come to fruition, there were some ideas that have happened. Silver Creek and Hanover currently share courts while the North County Water District, which serves Brocton, Portland, the town of Dunkirk, Pomfret and Sheridan, continues to grow.

Last year, after an effort of finding only $500,000 in countywide efficiencies, officials in Mayville decided to opt-out of pursuing any updated shared services efforts. One effort that still needs attention involves a regional code enforcement effort. This month, Silver Creek and Hanover are working on an agreement to share the positions. Why not expand those throughout other locations.

As for Kugler’s efforts, buy-in from a majority of the Warren County communities in the council is progress. “No existing governmental entity or organization need be threatened by the changes that could take place,” Kugler said. “The changes would serve to put everyone on the same team and enable the Warren Community to have the best chance to be truly special.”

We need that same foresight in Chautauqua County. At the moment, it is definitely missing.

John D’Agostino is the editor of The Post-Journal, OBSERVER and Times Observer in Warren, Pa. Send comments to jdagostino@observertoday.com or call 716-487-1111, ext. 253

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