Shenango Valley Intergovernmental Study Committee will discuss a draft report publicly at 6:30 p.m. today in the Hermitage City Building.

The committee is studying the feasibility of Farrell, Sharon, Hermitage, Sharpsville and Wheatland merging or consolidating.

Committee consultant Alan R. Kugler will go over the report, which he wrote, and Dennis Puko, who facilitated two private retreats to conclude discussions on a model city, will lead the talk on the committee's next steps and possible recommendations.

Puko is executive director of Mercer County Regional Planning Commission and a nonvoting member of the committee.

The committee could recommend consolidation or merger of all or some of the municipalities, the greater sharing of services or no change.

Once the study is concluded, the elected officials in each town may choose to follow the committee's recommendations, such as placing a merger or consolidation issue on the ballot, or to ignore them.

No consolidation or merger could occur without approval through voter referendum.

The report includes a review of how the committee has gone about its work, the legal basis for a boundary change, a draft resolution should a recommendation for a boundary change be made and a draft petition for residents who want to force a vote on a boundary change if their elected officials do not want it.

Also included are a roundup of approved and rejected boundary changes in the state, a demographic analysis of the valley municipalities, an outline of the current government structures of the municipalities, the structure of a consolidated city, possible tax structures in a consolidated city, the possible next steps the committee could take and a proposed timeline for future action.

The report is available online at www.mcrpc.com/svisc

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