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<br />.'10. . <br />(:j: . <br /> <br />TUESDAY <br /> <br />MARCH 24, 1981 <br /> <br />City-County Merger <br /> <br />In 1970, a serious look was given to the possibility of merger of <br />Martinsville and Henry County. A Merger Study Committee was formed, <br />composed of the following persons: <br /> <br />J. Frank Wilson, Chairman <br />James Rimmer, Vice Chairman <br />William F. Franck <br />Wade Lawrence <br />A. L. Philpott <br />Dudley Walker <br /> <br />Dr. Richard M. Yearwood, a V.P.I. professor, was retained to serve <br />as a consultant to the Merger Study Committee, and a feasibility <br />report was delivered by Yearwood to the group in February, 1971. <br />Yearwood considered the report to be "a pragmatic appraisal of <br />the feasibility of a possible merger...", and he recommended a <br />variety of alternatives. <br /> <br />On March 29, 1971, the Merger Study Committee formally announced <br />its own recommendations, including the following language: <br /> <br />"The Merger Study Committee does not feel that total <br />merger is feasible at this point in time. The situation <br />is too complex to indicate a favorable prospect for <br />overall merger. <br /> <br />The Committee does feel, however, based on information <br />provided in the consultant's report, that the concept <br />of functional consolidation should be thoroughly examined. <br />Certain City and County systems could be more easily <br />combined than others; it seems that some could be combined <br />quickly and efficiently, with the result that City and <br />County residents would receive better services for their <br />tax dollar investments. <br /> <br />The Committee feels that the most likely areas for <br />partial or functional area consolidation include welfare <br />agencies, policy systems and water and sewerage systems." <br /> <br />As the Council knows, however, no such functional consolidation has <br />occurred in these "likely areas", except for the partial marriage <br />forced by EPA in construction of the secondary treatment facilities <br />at the City's wastewater treatment plant. The matter of mutual <br />water supply concerns has been in focus in recent months, however, <br />with the Council's commissioning of Wiley & Wilson to prepare a <br />report and recommendations as to the City's most practical source of <br />an additional 4.0 MGD. This report is now in the Council's hands <br />and is to be referred to the County for review and comment. <br />