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City Officials To Discuss Proposed Consolidation Of CEDC With Allegany County

December 3rd, 2019 by WCBC Radio

The Cumberland Mayor and City Council, during a work session this afternoon, will discuss the proposed consolidation of the Cumberland Economic Development Corporation with Allegany County. The idea of combining the city and county’s economic development efforts under the umbrella of the CEDC seemed like a done deal early on with all parties expressing an interest and enthusiasm for the effort- however in the past few months several hurdles have developed including a $1 million budget being sought by the CEDC.  Other sticking points include: questions of where the operation would be headquartered; how much influence the county would have versus the city; and whether it would be a public or private venture.  County Commissioners President Jake Shade…

 

He said if these issues can’t be resolved in short order, the county is prepared to move on…

 

In a recent interview with WCBC News Cumberland Mayor Ray Morriss said he remains optimistic that an agreement can be finalized, although he suggested that might not occur until the early part of next year.

6 Responses to “City Officials To Discuss Proposed Consolidation Of CEDC With Allegany County”

  1. December 03, 2019 at 6:20 am, Steve said:

    Huge Mistake, Watch the outcome if it happens!

    Reply

  2. December 03, 2019 at 6:59 am, Zufall said:

    Jake & Ray please please please don’t do this! The CEDC hasn’t done anything to deserve the promotion to control the county economic board. Paul and Matt have destroyed the downtown and keep rolling out more and more halfbrained ideas without any financial results. This would be a huge mistake!

    Reply

  3. December 03, 2019 at 7:49 am, David said:

    It doesnt seem like Ray and Jake can get along to get this done. Nobody wants to pay the bills. Surprise surprise. It sounds like history replaying itself and it sounds like the same things that Ray complained about the former city administration doing by not getting along with the county all of the time. Get used to Ray talking out both sides of his mouth one from before he was elected and the new one now that he is elected. Promises promises always seem to fail when people make big ones just to get elected into office.

    Reply

  4. December 03, 2019 at 8:47 am, Zufall said:

    Dave just said on air that people are begging for a consolidation of services.. I would agree that they are interested in consolidation of services when it would be in best interest of both city and county tax payers. However giving economic development to the two idiots at the city’s CEDC would be a huge mistake just take a look at the uncompleted rolling mills project and ballooning Baltimore Street Repaving (that no one wants) budget. Consolidation of consolidation sake isn’t a wise move, it must work for the betterment of both parties for it to be beneficial to the taxpayers.

    Reply

  5. December 03, 2019 at 9:03 am, Kevin said:

    This strikes me as a horrible idea from the get go. The city established the CEDC because there was a feeling the country was not making the city a priority and wanted an agency to focus on the city itself. PERIOD. City tax payers already give taxes to the county to pay for the broader service of economic development. Under the new proposal what has become a clown car will be a county agency that the city pays about a third of its budget – to help develop jobs outside the city. The CEDC recently announced an initiative to work with other counties – including West Virginia counties. No. Not just no, hell no. This has become Frankenstein’s (Paul Kelly?) monster.

    Bad idea. Really bad.

    Reply

  6. December 03, 2019 at 2:22 pm, Ed Dodrill said:

    Why would you give the CEDC a $1 million budget when in 5 years they have not brought one nickel of business to the area? They only spend money on attempts to upgrade infrastructure which shouldn’t be there job.

    Reply

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