dissolution grant work plan

8/8/2019 Dissolution Grant Work Plan

1/5

1

APPENDIX D

PROGRAM WORK PLAN

Contractor: Village of East Aurora

Project Title: East Aurora Dissolution Study

Contract No. T-098830

1) UProject Descriptiona) Project: The Village of East Aurora will retain a Project Consultant to study the

feasibility of achieving cost savings through all available options, such as improved

efficiency of operation and shared services within existing Village & Town

governments, dissolution, and annexation.

b) Geographic Area: Erie Countyc) Partners: Noned) Goals and Objectives: The projects goal is to provide taxpayers with high quality

services while reducing costs to taxpayers. The objective is to study the fiscalimplications of municipal options for change. Tax rates help to capture annual

financial concerns, in addition, current infrastructure conditions will be considered.

This work will benefit from previous SMSI and LGE grants outlined below.

e) Studies: N/Af) History of Project: In recent years, the Village of East Aurora and Town of

Aurora have made steady progress toward consolidating government services withthe objective of maintaininga high level of service while reducing costs for taxpayers.

The two communities have a long history of cooperation, dating back more than 75

years and encompassing numerous administrations. During that time, the Townand Village have merged numerous functions, recognizing the financial savings and

improved service delivery resulting from shared services and cooperation. The

Village provides the Town with the following services: Police protection, ambulance

service, fire dispatch, fire protection to Town Fire Protection District #1, water serviceto Town Districts #6 & 6A and billing for residents on South Street, drainage

service to Town District #1, and ownership of the building housing the Senior

Citizen Center (all programming, utilities, and staff are Town responsibility). TheVillage has turned over management of sewer operations to the Erie County

Division of Sewerage Management. The Town of Aurora provides the Village

with all justice court services, animal control, property assessment services, andbuilding and zoning inspection services.


2/5

2

g) Relationship to Other Projects: The Village and Town are currently involved incompleting the Aurora Public Works and Highway General Efficiency Planning study

funded by the LGE program to study the feasibility of a consolidation or merger

of the Town Highway Department and Village Department of Public Works.

2) UProject Componentsa) Objectives: The project objectives are to review the feasibility of additional service

sharing options, and the feasibility of consolidating remaining village services and

departments. An outline of service, fiscal and organizational elements of a dissolutionplan will be developed, including: the fiscal (tax rate) impacts on the Village, Town and

Town outside Village areas. The study will also examine ways and associated costsavings in which the Village and Town could participate in a more advanced level of

shared services should the dissolution not be achievable.

b) Problems: The New N.Y. Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Actof 2010 requires the signatures of only 10% of the voting public in a given municipalityto place the issue of dissolution referendum on the local ballot. If the referendum

passes, the municipality must then develop a dissolution plan within a set timeframe.

However, the law makes no provisions for educating the voting public regarding the fiscalimpacts of the dissolution prior to the referendum. This study will provide essential

information to the residents of East Aurora.

c) Tasks: The dissolution study will consist of the following tasks:UTask #1: Project Start-UpU - The Village Administrator, under the supervision of the Village

Board, will prepare a Request for Proposals and hire a qualified Project Consultant to conductthe feasibility study. The Project Consultant will be supervised by the Village Administrator.

UTask #2: Citizen SurveyU - The Project Consultant will conduct a Village-Town survey tomeasure current satisfaction with services, trust in local officials, support for change in

service delivery and administration, support for dissolution and other potential changes,

and key demographics (age, income, home ownership, etc.)

Task #3: Examination of Outstanding Debt - The Project Consultant will examineoutstanding debt and develop mechanisms to address the debt upon Village dissolution.

The Village has incurred debt and has outstanding bonds for water, sewer, and roadway

reconstruction and large equipment purchases.

Task #4: Disposition of Existing Agreements & Creation of New Service Districts - TheVillage has numerous agreements with the Town of Aurora for the provision of services to

Village residents. The Village and Town of Aurora have agreements pertaining to:

1. Village responsibility for all police protection in Town since 1971;2. Village responsibility for all ambulance service since 1990;


3/5

3

3. Village responsibility for all fire dispatch since 1975;4. Village responsibility for fire protection in Fire Protection District #1 since 1938;5. Town responsibility for justice court and rental of court room space from the

Village since 1975;6. Village responsibility for water service to Town Districts #6 & 6A since 1988 and

1991 respectively and billing for residents on South Street;7. Village responsibility for drainage service to District #1 since 1990; and8. Town responsibility for programming, utilities, and staff for Village-owned Senior

Citizen Center.

The Village has agreements with the Erie County Water Authority and the Erie County

Division of Sewerage Management. The Project Consultant will conduct a review and anassessment of each of these agreements to ascertain whether the agreement needs to be

terminated, or reassigned. In addition, the Project Consultant will determine special districtsthat may need to be created as part of a dissolution plan, for example: lighting, sidewalk

maintenance/replacement/snow removal and leaf pick-up. The fiscal impacts associated

with such arrangements must be determined.

Task #5: Volunteer Fire Department - The Village Fire Department provides fire

protection services to Town Fire Protection District #1. The Project Consultant will assessthe fiscal implications associated with creating a special district to provide the Village with

fire protection services and/or with expanding the geographic limits of Town Fire

Protection District #1 to include the Village proper.

Task #6: Public Works and Police Departments - The Project Consultant will review theVillage services provided by the Police Department to determine the ability of the Town

of Aurora to absorb this function and the resources needed to accommodate this

consolidation. The Project Consultant shall review reassignment of law enforcement duties

to the Erie County Sheriffs Department. The Project Consultant will reference the results

of a LGE study currently in progress which is studying the consolidation or merger ofthe Town Highway Department and Village Department of Public Works.

Task #7: Buildings and Other Assets - The Project Consultant will evaluate key

infrastructure issues/conditions, and address the disposition ofall buildings and other assets,including equipment, vehicles, and property owned by the Village, as well as any associated

debt.

Task #8: Impact on Current Employees - The Project Consultant will examine employmentopportunities for current Village employees with the Town of Aurora in accordance with

staffing requirements following both the expansion of shared services, dissolution and other

considered options. The Project Consultant will also examine the costs associated withanticipated buy-outs and retirements.

Task #9: Impact on Retirees - The Project Consultant will examine the costs associated withretired Village employees and the impact of all options on those costs.


4/5

4

Task #10: Local Laws and Ordinances - The Project Consultant will perform a generalreview of the local laws and ordinances and a more detailed assessment of those deemed

most relevant, related to incorporation into Town of Aurora laws and ordinances and the

associated costs.

Task #11:General Government Services -

The Village Administrator's office handles

most general administrative government services provided by the Village. The Project

Consultant will examine both the consolidation of and the transfer of administrative services

to the Town and the costs associated with such a transfer. Services to be considered

include those associated with the Village Board of Trustees, including Mayor's office,

special oversight boards and committees, the Village Administrator's office, and services

pertaining to, but not limited to, taxation, records management, historic preservation,

permits, registrar and zoning.

Task #12: Survey/Public Meeting/Presentation The Contractor and Project Consultant

will hold a public meeting and presentation at the completion of the project to present thestudy findings.

Task #13: Project Close-Out The Contractor will prepare Final Project Summary Reportand any other close-out materials requested by the Department of State.

Task Deliverable Budget Schedule1. PrepareRFP&SelectConsultant CopyofRFP&Contract 1/112. CitizenSurvey CopyofSurvey&Results $15,000.00 2/113. ExamineOutstandingDebt $2000.00 3/114. DispositionofExistingAgreements $6,000.00 3/115. VolunteerFireDepartment $5,000.00 5/116. RemainingDepartments $5,000.00 5/117. BuildingsandOtherAssets $4,000.00 5/118. ImpactonCurrentEmployees $4,000.00 7/119. ImpactonRetirees $2,000.00 7/1110. LocalLawsandOrdinances $5,000.00 9/1111. GeneralGovernmentServices $6,000.00 9/1112. PublicMeeting/Presentation CopyofPresentationand

FinalReport

$1,555.55 11/11

13.ProjectCloseOut FinalProjectSummaryandotherCloseOut

Materials

12/11

TOTAL

$55,555.55a) Procurement: In securing contractual services, the Village of East Aurora will

comply with Municipal procurement policy and General Municipal Law section 103.

(See Appendix A-1 Attachment 4).


5/5

5

b) Other:i. Documentation: All documents created as part of grant funds must specify the

following This (document, report, map, etc.) was prepared with funds

provided by the New York State Department of State under the LocalGovernment Efficiency Grant Program." See page 11, Section III.

ii. Environmental Review: An environmental review will be completed asrequired in Section XV of this agreement and transmitted to the Department of

State.

iii. Deliverables: The principal deliverable of this planning initiative will be theProject Consultants final report, entitled East Aurora Dissolution/Service

Consolidation & Efficiency Study that will summarize major findings

an d recommendations to the Vill age Board. The Contractor shall submitdrafts of studies/reports prepared with this grant to the Local Government

Efficiency Grant Program for review and comment.

The Contractor shall notify the Local Government Efficiency Grant Program of any

meetings/hearings to be held regarding this project in advance.

The Contractor shall submit on a semi-annual basis (Appendix A1, Section II-I) orwith each request for reimbursement, whichever comes first, a Project Status Report

(Appendix A1, Attachment 3) which provides detailed project information including a

report of each project task as listed in this work plan.

The Contractor shall provide all plans and/or reports developed as part of this projectto the New York State Department of State. The Department of State may make these

items available as part of its technical assistance program. (Appendix A1, Section IV).

c) Schedule: This project shall commence upon execution of the agreement with NewYork State for these grant funds and shall be completed by March 31, 2012.

3) Review and Statusa) Department of State shall review Project Components for consistency with the

applications.

b) Contractor shall provide Project Status Reports every six months or when payment isrequested.

dissolution grant work plan

Documents