Hermitage Commissioner Joseph Augustine said the Shenango Valley Intergovernmental Study Committee stopped short of its goal.

The committee, which was studying whether Hermitage, Farrell, Sharon, Sharpsville and Wheatland should merge or consolidate, decided not to make a recommendation on the matter.

Augustine, a consolidation opponent, said he thought the committee's failure to make a recommendation wasted the four years he put into the study.

Because of that, he voted Tuesday not to accept the committee's report.

Commissioners Pat White, Bill Scanlon and Sylvia Stull voted to accept the report. Commissioner Larry Gurrera was absent.

By accepting the report, the board also accepted two recommendations: