CHENANGO COUNTY – Despite the findings in a study released in April that encouraged consolidation or shared services between the towns of Norwich, North Norwich and the City of Norwich, local government officials can’t seem to agree on a course for moving forward.
The Division of Local Government is holding a series of workshops around New York to discuss the Department of State’s shared municipal services program, which would provide funding for a consolidation study. But with few local leaders planning to attend the workshop, the issue of government efficiency might be at a standstill.
City of Norwich Mayor Joseph Maiurano will be attending a workshop on Oct. 22 in Binghamton. He said he hoped the workshops will open the door for discussion of shared services efforts. “The key to consolidation is opening the door,” Maiurano said. The mayor explained he hopes the workshop will provide some ideas. “We need to start talking and keep an open mind. The time has come to start looking into the future and asking where we see ourselves,” Maiurano said.
The mayor said consolidation or shared services could benefit all of the parties involved. “You can’t develop without water and waste water,” Maiurano said. “The airport and the industrial park need to be hooked up if you want to bring in businesses. There are a lot of issues as you get more developed.”
Town of North Norwich Supervisor and Chairman of the Chenango County Board of Supervisors Richard Decker said he thought the word ‘consolidation’ scared people away from the idea, but he acknowledged the need to explore ways to become more efficient. “Any information we can pick up for the future we have to look at,” Decker said.
While consolidation may not be in the immediate future of Chenango County, Decker said there is room for shared services, and despite the current standstill, he said “there is absolutely the possibility of shared service here. It all depends on how serious we want to get.”
Despite the difficulties that have ensued, Decker said he feels out of this study, the towns have gotten an idea of how they can help each other in the future. “Our fire contracts and ambulance contracts work well. We have to look to the future and find other things that could work. Hopefully we’ll find a reason to sit down at the table.” Decker said he was interested in the workshops, but was not sure he would be able to attend.
Town of Norwich Supervisor David Law said he had not planned on attending any of the workshops because he doesn’t feel there is anything he can get out of it. “We’re already working with the city on our water hook-ups ... We have our fire contracts in place. There’s nothing really that we can learn,” Law said.
