As anyone watching what happened recently in the United Kingdom knows, Brexit has not been an enormous success. There are many lessons to be learned from Brexit and the disastrous 44-day reign of Liz Truss, the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. As she put it, she “… set out a vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit.”
Like the toddler screaming, “I do it by myself!” those embracing isolationist policies, like Brexit, are far more likely to find themselves dealing with more significant problems, not better outcomes. This is why countries, small communities, and people that work and play well with others do better than the less cooperative among us.
Thankfully, there are some shining examples of neighboring communities working well together for the greater good courtesy of relationships formed between neighboring communities in the center of Chautauqua County. Ripley and Westfield have been working well together for years. They began partnering on plans for their neighboring waterfronts, including working together on an opportunity plan for the New York Department of State long before embarking recently on a Local Waterfront Revitalization Program plan.
Their town supervisors have figured out ways to share highway equipment, including sharing the costs associated with purchasing expensive new equipment. They bought a vacuum truck for cleaning sewers and catch basins, each contributing around $25,000. Those funds were combined with a $180,000 grant from New York state to make the purchase affordable for both municipalities. This vacuum truck is housed in the village of Westfield, but when Ripley needs it, Westfield sends it to them along with a highly trained operator. The same vacuum truck has also been shared with other Chautauqua County communities, including Brocton. Westfield has also partnered with the village of Mayville to purchase a $20,000 topsoil screener. Each community paid half.
The Town of Westfield also shared the cost of an asphalt roller with the Towns of Ripley, Portland, and Chautauqua, each contributing 25% of the total cost. Westfield reports the sharing of all of this equipment has gone smoothly. Even sharing personnel across communities to work on projects has been successful.
For instance, when Ripley recently lost their assessor, Westfield stepped up and loaned Ripley their assessor until Ripley could fill their vacant position. People would likely be surprised by the number of municipalities that reach out to their neighbors to make similar arrangements, like in these examples. Sharing equipment and personnel is becoming increasingly popular as costs increase everywhere, and it gets harder and harder to find qualified people to fill vacant positions and take on volunteer roles.
Consider how much more could be saved if more fire equipment, like expensive ladder trucks, sometimes needed for only one or two facilities in a community, could be purchased and shared between neighbors.
The Local Economic Development committee of the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation strongly supports communities that are open to sharing and making agreements like these. They help residents and businesses get much more for their tax dollars.
Many communities send people and equipment to nearby and far away disasters, like when multiple fire companies respond to a massive factory fire in another community or when first responders race to another state to help after a hurricane, never hesitating to act for the greater good. They are often repaid in kind. However, the communities that don’t wait for major disasters to figure out new ways to work with their neighbors benefit the most.
Patty Hammond is Economic Development Coordinator at the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation. The Local Economic Development (LED) Initiative is a standing committee of the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation. Send comments or suggestions to Patty Hammond at phammond@nccfoundation.org