About the study
The Towns of Ridgeway and Shelby encompass a 97-square-mile area in the southwestern corner of Orleans County, New York. The Village of Medina is a 3.3 square-mile area contained wholly within and divided nearly equally between Ridgeway and Shelby – which creates a complex municipal structure. About 11,700 residents live in the Towns, with 52% of the population residing inside the Village boundaries.
In 2010 and early 2011, the Village and Towns conducted a feasibility study focusing on dissolution, merger and shared services. The final report of that project was presented to a joint meeting of the Towns and Village boards on May 31, 2011. The Village and Towns have convened regularly for the better part of the last year to implement findings from that study and explore other ways they might share services.
However, discussions of dissolution have also continued within the community, and leaders want to be proactive in developing a dissolution plan for the residents of the Village. Rather than wait for a possible dissolution petition to force a vote that would not be based upon a plan, the Village successfully applied to the state's Local Government Efficiency (LGE) program for a planning grant to create a "dissolution plan." The Village wants to create a dissolution plan that may involve merging both towns, and could ultimately be voted on by the public.
In August 2013, the Village engaged CGR to develop a dissolution plan that will be based on the work of the first study, and will involve the input of new committee members as well as those of key stakeholders. The plan is scheduled for completion no later than March 2014.
The Study Members are:
Don Colquhoun, Chair
Charlie Slack
Thurston Dale
Cindy Robinson
Andrew Meier
Mark Irwin
