Formation of the Merger Commission

By David Kepple· DAYTON DAILY NEWS

The Randolph Twp.-Clayton Merger Study Commission will hold its first official meeting at 9 a.m. Dec. 4, but that will just be a "quickie" to comply with state law.

The real action is expected to begin the following night, when the 10 commission members -five from each community roll up their sleeves for their first working session as an elected body.

It's not like they'll be starting from scratch. An "ad hoc" version of the merger study group has been meeting since early this year to lay the groundwork for the merger study panel.

The time turned out to be a good investment, as voters in both communities gave overwhelming approval to the idea of studying a possible merger of the village and the township.

The initiative passed with support from '15 percent of voters in the township and 80 percent of the electorate in Clayton.

"We've been given a tremendous mandate by the voters," said Clayton Mayor John Beattie. "The 80 percent (voter support) in the village really makes me feel good."

Randolph Twp. Clerk Don Imbus said support for the merger study exceeded expectations. "Appareiltly people are very interested and concerned to have a say in the future of their community," Imbus said. "Apparently we got that message out."

Beattie and Imbus served as co-chairmen of the ad hoc version of the study group and are a good bet to be elected to those positions again when the panel holds its first session expected to last about ten minutes on Dec. 4.

Depending on what the study group comes up with during the next several months, it's possible voters in Clayton and Randolph Twp. may be returning to the polls in November 1998 to decide an actual merger proposal.

One of the commission's first orders of business will be setting a time line for its work. The commission will cease to exist 75 days before the 1996 general election, or roughly in mid-August.

"John (Beattie) and I are thinking we ought to be pretty far along by late May, early June, to start putting together our final reports to the community and recommendation," Imbus said.

Beattie said the commission also hopes to continue committee work begun by the ad hoc group, which will deal with aspects such as governmental structure, finance, safety, services and facilities.

"We're also going to invite additional people to sit in with us and help us, just like we had at the ad hoc group," Beattie said.

Imbus said it's expected that most of the work is going to be done in the committee meetings, as opposed to the general meetings, which probably will be held monthly.

In addition to the Dec. 5 session, tentative plans call for commission meetings Jan. 9, Feb. 6, March 5, April 2 and May 7.

With the exception of the brief Dec. 4 session, all the meetings will be at 7:30 p.m. at the Randolph Twp. Government Center and will be open to the public.

Union Mayor Bob Packard said he's'glad the merger study commission was approved by voters so all the financial ramifications of a Randolph-Clayton merger can be fully explored. Packard said Union has no interest in consolidating with any of the other communities. "What I want to see brought out as far as one of the studies is the truth - not a partial truth," Packard said. "That's where I believe an impartial study from the outside would come in handy. "I wish them (Randolph Twp. and Clayton) God speed as far as the study," Packard said, adding, "We're satisfied being the city of Union - kind of proud of what we've got."