The Herald has published the complete preliminary Report of the Shenango Valley Intergovernmental Study Committee on pages A5-A10 today.

[The study committee has the report and other related info on its web site: htpp://www.mcrpc.com/svisc]

We believe it contains vital information not only for today, but for future generations.

While it is a draft report, with a final report expected to be completed by consultant Alan Kugler in November, it nonetheless includes new, important and timely information that we believe residents should be able to digest and react to, if they so choose.

From the answers and conclusions offered Thursday night to the public in Hermitage City Building, it's not expected that the final report, in substance, is likely to change the major points in the draft study.

While other studies have preceded it, this report and the proposal of consolidation or merger in the Shenango Valley comes at maybe the most crucial time in the area's history.

Why?

   » Thousands of manufacturing jobs have evaporated throughout the years, with them the accompanying salaries and potential community leaders who have been forced to move.

   » The property tax base, especially in Sharon and Farrell, has eroded because of the loss of jobs in their back yards, namely Sharon Steel Corp. in Farrell and Westinghouse Electric Corp. in Sharon. Such losses have placed greater, if not impossible, tasks on governing bodies to provide a balanced budget with satisfactory services. It has been projected that several of the communities will post general fund budget deficits to end 2003.

   » The median age of residents of the Shenango Valley continues to increase with the loss of youth to other areas that provide greater employment opportunities. The double-whammy is that we are losing hundreds of potential leaders who could have replaced the many that have moved away because of the plant closings.

   » Because of the loss of industrial jobs, the area has become for the most part, with the exception of jobs provided in education and health-related areas, one of service and retail-based employment, affecting the health of average salaries.

For these main reasons and others, we encourage the reaction by readers to information in the draft report during the next two weeks. Who knows? Such reaction could find its way into, or have some impact on, the preparation of the final report.

Readers are urged to respond to the information in the draft report in three ways:

   » The Community Forum on the Herald's Web site:
http://www.sharonherald.com/phpBB2/index.php

   » E-mail:
merger@sharonherald.com

   » Letter to the editor mailed to: Merger Study, c/o The Herald, 52 S. Dock St., Sharon, PA 16146

Letters require a name, address and daytime telephone number for confirmation.