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The push for consolidation of local municipalities moved ahead slightly at the Pomfret Town Board's most recent meeting.
The town board approved a contract with the Center for Governmental Research, aka CGR, for a study on consolidating local highway departments. Pomfret Town supervisor Dan Pacos said the town was designated lead agency for the study.
Pacos mentioned that another study on a wider consolidation of municipal operations is upcoming. CGR will analyze the operations of four municipalities: Pomfret, the town of Dunkirk, the city of Dunkirk, and the village of Fredonia. The non-profit will then come up with five proposals, Pacos continued.
"When CGR comes back with our report, they may or may not include all of us," Pacos said.
In other business from the August Pomfret Town Board meeting:
-- The national flock camera controversy was brought up by town resident Mary Deas. She was critical of the devices, which are mounted near public places allegedly by law enforcement agencies to read license plates.
Pacos said all flock cameras within the town of Pomfret are technically on private property. He did not state how many are in the town.
Town board member Mike Lee is an opponent of flock cameras, and is doing research on them. He stated that the local cameras are contracted through the Chautauqua County District Attorney office.
Lee acknowledged he had little information on the flock camera program in Pomfret or other individual municipalities. He promised to submit a report to the OBSERVER after completing his research.
Lee said he wants the DA's office to cancel the flock camera contract. If it does not do that, he will ask the Chautauqua County Legislature to step in.
-- Pioneer Cemetery is set to get a New York State historical marker.
Town Historian Lillian Pacos said the Pomeroy Foundation is offering $2,000 for the sign. It will include the fact that the earliest graves in the cemetery were found to be from 1810, she said.
There are hundreds of the distinctive blue-and-yellow markers throughout the state, including at least 28 in Chautauqua County. New York "does not currently manage a historical marker program. Instead, local authorities are responsible for the approval, installation, and maintenance of historical markers," according to the Office of State History's website. "Anyone interested in placing or repairing a marker should thus check with appropriate county, city, town, or village historians or officials."