STAR LAKE – With a public meeting set for Wednesday, July 20, the Towns of Clifton and Fine take another step in their investigation of consolidating the two towns, which could go up for a vote in November.

The meeting, at 6 p.m. at Clifton-Fine Central School, will introduce the Town Efficiency/Consolidation Study that is underway.

The appointed Efficiency/Consolidation Committee has been conducting a study since January 2015 with assistance from the study consultant, the Development Authority of the North Country and the New York Department of State, according to Carrie Tuttle, director of engineering at the Development Authority of the North Country (DANC), who is assisting the towns with the study.

Tuttle will be at the meeting to provide information on the process and will answer questions to try to help people there decide if cost savings can be realized by consolidating the two town governments into one.

The Clifton-Fine area, Tuttle said, has lost 2,000 jobs in the last 40 years largely due to a decline in mining and manufacturing there.

DANC and Tuttle have been helping with research support to the Village of Hermon, which decided in a vote by citizens last October to give up its village government, and the Village of Richville, which is considering dissolving village government.

In January, the committee presented the results of the first phase of the study which described how services are delivered to taxpayers in each town and the costs of those services, Tuttle said in an email. The second phase of the study evaluated viable alternatives for delivering municipal services through both potential shared service opportunities and municipal consolidation.

The purpose of this second public information meeting is to summarize the work done by the committee, which is detailed in the draft Alternatives Report; explain the next steps in the study process; and provide an overview of the municipal consolidation process and the incentives offered to communities through the Citizens Empowerment Tax Credit program.

Study committee members are Chuck Hooven, Sue Westbrook, Jerry Cooper, Joe DeMart, Cory Perrault, Kelly Smith, Mark Hall, Sherm Craig, Brian Donovan, Roger Folsom, and Chris Westbrook.

The committee is posting information developed during the study at http://www.danc.org/operations/engineering/clifton-fine-efficiencyconsolidation-study

Committee members are urging town residents to attend the July 20 session and to visit the website to learn more about the consolidation process and next steps.

The town boards anticipate the committee will be finished with the study by Aug. 1.

The committee is recommending a vote on consolidation be put on the Nov. 8 ballot.

For those tax payers/residents that are unable to attend the meeting, copies of the presentation will be made available online and at the Town of Clifton and Fine municipal offices.

The efficiency and consolidation study is being funded in part through a state grant.