Regionalism is gaining momentum in areas of the U.S. surrounding major urban hubs, and Southwestern Pennsylvania may be next to consider the concept.
Erasing borders between municipalities became the prevailing theme of the Fay-Penn Economic Development Council annual meeting this week at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa.
Several officials addressing the crowd were critical of having 551 cities, boroughs and townships in the 10-county region, with 30 percent boasting fewer than 1,000 residents.
"This set-up has failed over and over again in our small municipalities," said J. Bracken Burns, chairman of the Southwest Regional Commission and a Washington County commissioner. "And yet, they struggle day in and day out to do a job they simply cannot do."
Burns said there have been nine municipal mergers in the region in the last 30 years.
"That's the good news," he said. "The bad news? There have been 13 new municipalities created."
And small municipalities are left with weak tax bases that cannot support infrastructure improvements, such as updated sewage systems, Burns added.
"Let's take advantage of the economics of scale that come from having a few million people connected to a sewage system, instead of a few hundred," he said.
Within the 551 municipalities in Southwestern Pennsylvania, there are 850 agencies that manage sewer systems. A similar geographic area surrounding the Minneapolis-St.Paul region of Minnesota has only one sewer authority.
"It's just not acceptable," Burns said. "We have to work as a region."
F. Michael Langley, CEO of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, said regionalism could improve Southwestern Pennsylvania economics, though partnerships between development agencies have already begun the process.
"We have the formal ties, but proof of real partnership is the way we roll up our sleeves and work together," he said. "We have a lot to be proud of in this region that we should talk about more."
Fay-Penn on Thursday reported a net worth of $31.4 million, with assets of $20.7 million. Support and revenue in 2005 totaled $4.4 million.
With 13 projects completed in 2005, the agency created or retained 651 jobs in the county and increased annual payroll by $16 million. Of that, $674,318 was added to the tax base.
"There is a lot going on in the county," said Mike Krajovic, president and CEO of Fay-Penn. "We don't have to beg for development anymore. Growth is coming our way and will be much faster and much more dramatic over the next 10 years."
Larger text
Smaller text
Print this article
E-mail this article
