ALBION —
The Orleans County Legislature finalized a formal alliance with their Niagara County counterparts Wed-nesday, a move leaders from both counties said will lead to reduced costs and increased services.
Three legislators from each county will serve on the Niagara-Orleans Regional Alliance, a committee charged with advancing local priorities in a number of shared areas of concern.
“Leadership in both legislatures have determined that the time has come for such a partnership,” said Legislature Chairman David Callard, who along with Niagara County Legislature Chairman William Ross will head up the new alliance. “This is a more formal approach,” he added later, “that exceeds what we’ve done in the past.”
The resolution approved unanimously by the legislature calls for the examining of topics like mandate relief, emergency services narrowbanding, lakeshore protection, agriculture, economic development, tourism and regional promotion.
Ross said the committee, which includes Orleans County representation from Legislators Bill Eick and Lynne Johnson and Niagara County representation from Legislators Michael Hill and John Syracuse, will likely meet at locations throughout the two counties in order to better understand local ideas.
“The idea is to get everyone together, we have so many ideas in common,” Ross said.
Johnson, who along with Niagara County Legislator David Godfrey started the discussions that led to the alliance, said the partnership should aid both counties in the same way that fire and police departments on the county’s borders serve for a mutual aid.
“The county border does not need to inhibit us,” Johnson said.
Johnson and Godfrey both highlighted the savings from a plan to share the costs of constructing mandated radio towers for emergency service communications. Towers constructed at an estimated cost of $250,000 each in the Town of Somerset and in Shelby would remove a tremendous cost and allow each county to co-locate their signals on the other county’s tower.
“We located where our sites will be, two were close to Orleans County,” Godfrey said. “Why would they build towers nearby?”
The co-located towers and other proposals will still need to be formally agreed upon by both legislatures, but the committee would allow more communication between legislatures and possibly speed up the process of approving large-scale projects.
State Sen. George Maziarz, who under a proposed redistricting legislation would represent the whole of both counties, attended Wednesday’s meeting. He said the initiative is an strong example of the type of collaboration between governments that has been a priority of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Johnson said the alliance is a response to the cries of many residents angered by the costs of governance.
“The taxpayers call out for less government,” Johnson said. “This is a step in the right direction.”
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