Water agreement could pave path for closer relationship

Necessity is the mother of cooperation.

On Monday, the Medford city council took the first step in approving an agreement to help the village of Stetsonville operate its water system. The agreement will formalize what has been taking place since late 2019.

Faced with the loss of an employee, the village’s leadership asked the city’s public works department to help out in a pinch and ensure the water system ran smoothly. Longstanding mutual aid agreements are in place which cover situations where one municipality needs additional short-term help from another. They are most commonly used during severe weather events when time is of the essence to get things cleaned up.

The agreement with the city and Stetsonville is a longer-term arrangement where the city will do the work and bill out their employee’s time to the village. If approved by both entities, the agreement would be for a year at which time the city and village will have the opportunity to see if it is still in the best interests of both communities.

This sort of inter-governmental cooperation should be encouraged on all levels of government as a way to maximize staffing resources and prevent unnecessary duplication.

The current arrangement is a straightforward hiring out of an employee’s time. It is also a great opportunity for the city and village to determine if there are other places where they can cooperate to the benefit of tax and rate payers.

In the longterm, both communities could benefit from the creation of a regional utility authority which would be able to spread the labor charges of running the system over a larger pool of customers while sharing in its governance. This sort of relationship could occur in the future. In the meantime, it is necessary to take baby-steps such as hiring out city workers to do work in the village. This builds experience and a track record much like dating prior to jumping into marriage.

Given the changing demographics of the region and the real challenge of finding quality employees, these types of cooperative relationships serve as a way to continue necessary services for residents in a cost effective and practical way. Medford and Stetsonville leaders are to be commended on working together for the best interest of their communities.