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CEDC Merger with County to be Delayed Again

April 20th, 2020 by WCBC Radio

The long discussed merger of the Cumberland Economic Development Corporation with Allegany County’s Economic Development Department will be delayed once again- this time- officials say is due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus. While the city of Cumberland, Allegany County and the CEDC board have all signed off on the merger- final details of the new arrangement are still being negotiated. During the regular meeting of the County Commissioners last week, Commissioners President Jake Shade made a motion to temporarily halt negotiations until all things relating to the virus have calmed down and there is more fiscal stability being demonstrated…

5 Responses to “CEDC Merger with County to be Delayed Again”

  1. April 20, 2020 at 7:37 am, LRH said:

    WOW, I thought Mr Shade said last week that we needed to look for and fast track even more opportunities for City/County “efficiencies”. This is NOT and Apple/Google merger we are talking about here. Why is it sooo #$%$#& hard to get this done? Should have been up and running 9 months ago. Perhaps it could have been in a position to help in response to the recovery instead of being just “another piece of the puzzle” to pick up after the COVID is over.

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    • April 20, 2020 at 7:50 am, Jay said:

      And I think you can probably kiss this downtown renovation project good-bye for 2020 and probably way beyond that. There are still several million short and that number will increase as time goes by.

      Reply

  2. April 20, 2020 at 8:24 am, Welchy said:

    I think this is the right call for now… and it takes some leadership to call something off like this temporarily. Believe it or not consolidating services should NOT be government’s top priority during this crisis. And I would assume Shade still wants consolidation… both of these facts can be true at the same time

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  3. April 20, 2020 at 2:25 pm, mac said:

    Yes, consolidation can certainly wait. For now.
    My prediction; There will eventually be a complete consolidation of the City of Cumberland with Allegany County.
    The City will revoke it’s charter and merge lock,stock and barrel with the County.
    This is a poor area, getting poorer and consolidation will simplify and streamline services for the entire County.
    If nothing else they will save money on payroll of employees. No more Mayor, City Council and so on down the line. People will lose their jobs, heads will roll.
    This will be the new lean, mean Allegany County or Cumberland County, whatever.

    Reply

    • April 20, 2020 at 5:31 pm, Jay said:

      This pandemic will have an even more devastating affect on our area in comparison to the rest of the country. We have been in a downward spiral for going on 4 decades. Other than WalMart will the mall even reopen? How many downtown businesses will survive this? Not that there are than many down there anyway. This will hit us hard.

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