Last Tuesday the City of Merrill took the first steps toward merging some services with their Lincoln County counterparts in an effort to save money for both units of local government.
The City Personnel and Finance Committee reviewed a draft of an agreement that would have the County Highway Department to take over supervision and administrative functions of the City Street Department.
County Highway Commissioner Randy Scholz told the committee members that the process is part of a concept known as regionalization that is being studied in other counties but Lincoln County is the furthest along in the process.  If the agreement is implemented, it would be the first of its kind in the state.
The agreement would mean the elimination of the elected city street commissioner position currently held by Ralph Sturm. Scholz and County Highway Supervisor Al Fox would share the duties Sturm currently has under the agreement.
The city would pay $101,200 to the county for the road services for May 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011 under the draft proposal.
The city had explored the possibility of eliminating the street commissioner position in favor of a director of public works who would handle streets, water and a few other merged department head positions. City Administrator Tony Chladek told the committee that such a position would actually cost more than the current structure and the proposed agreement with the county would cost less.
The agreement is on the agenda of the County Highway Commission meeting set for Thursday. It is also to be discussed by the Merrill Common Council meeting as the Committee of the Whole on July 28.