One City Manager Might Serve Nederland & Port Neches

The high cost of doing business is once again forcing local governments to look for ways to save money.  This time two mid-county mayors are thinking outside of the box.. looking at the possibility of hiring one manger to oversee both cities.  While Nederland and PN-G may be known as one the most heated contests on the football field across the Golden Triangle.

The one place that rivalry does 'not' thrive is within the walls of both city halls. The two municipalities have worked hand-in-hand on several projects, including the combined dispatch center, for more than thirty years. Now that working relationship may be strengthening.

"Football is out, school district's would stay the same and the cities are going to keep their individuality."

But Nederland Mayor Dick Nugent says the two cities are tossing around the idea of sharing a city manager.

He said, "It's a thought, it's not a done deal of any sort but it is a thought where we can save some salaries."

Ever since Nederland lost its long-time city manager Andre Wimer to Port Neches in March, Nederland has been searching for a replacement, nation-wide. But a recent conversation between officials from the two cities, as well as Wimer, presented an option neither city had considered, until now.  Port Neches Mayor Glenn Johnson told KFDM the possible move is not about merging cities. It's a way for local government to get around 'business as usual' and help combat rising expenses.

He said, "Everyone's getting hurt, gasoline's going up for the city just like it is for everybody else."

Nugent says both cities would also benefit by taking this different approach because Wimer has been in the area and involved with both communities, and joint efforts for years.

He said, "It's a win-win but yet like i said earlier, it's not a done deal, just kind of anticipating looking at it and our search us still ongoing."

And so is the treasured mid-county madness tradition both cities will keep alive... separately.

City leaders will discuss the plan further this week.  The issue is expected to come up during the Nederland City Council meeting Monday at three o'clock, and Port Neches council members will consider the idea during their meeting Thursday at four o'clock.

CITY OF PORT NECHES - CITY OF NEDERLAND PRESS RELEASE

The City of Port Neches and the City of Nederland anticipate initiating preliminary discussions regarding the feasibility of employing one City Manager to serve both communities. In doing so, both municipalities recognize this potential opportunity as a means of reducing costs as well as an extension of long standing cooperative efforts between the two cities.

The City Councils of both Port Neches and Nederland believe that options to minimize expenditures, while maintaining service levels, should be explored in order to maximize the use of taxpayer funds. With the current national economic situation and constantly rising costs for gasoline, utilities, and other consumer goods that are impacting our citizens, the City Councils have a strong interest in minimizing the tax burden on residents. Just as these price increases have impacted citizens personally, so to have they affected City operations. The costs necessary to provide basic municipal services such as the police department, the fire department, street maintenance, and garbage collection have risen dramatically in the past year. In order to maintain these essential operations, the City Councils are committed to evaluating opportunities that allow for cost savings that could be shared by both communities. In response to the existing economic conditions, many cities throughout Texas and the United States are having to consider potential service reductions and possible tax increases. Recognizing that either of these situations would have a detrimental impact on our citizens and their quality of life, it is important to analyze potential opportunities that may not have been considered in the past. The possibility of employing a single City Manager for both cities is one such option that appears to merit further discussion.

Port Neches and Nederland have a long history of working together to achieve cost savings and minimizing the unnecessary duplication of efforts. In maintaining and actively promoting this philosophy, the following programs have been implemented:

• a combined emergency/911 dispatching operation that has existed since 1972

• Fire Department automatic mutual aid response that allows personnel and equipment from both cities to respond to emergencies

• jointly bidding employee heath insurance benefits

• jointly bidding and purchasing Public Works supplies and materials

• jointly bidding landfill services for disposal of garbage and trash

• jointly bidding disposal services for green waste

• sharing of personnel and equipment for street maintenance

• sharing of personnel for building inspections

• interconnection of water distribution systems in the event that either City suffered problems with water treatment capabilities

• jointly utilizing personnel and equipment to read water meters

In addition to these examples, it is important to recognize that staffs from both Port Neches and Nederland communicate and interact on a daily basis to provide assistance and guidance on the numerous issues and concerns that are common to both communities.

In discussing the issue of a single City Manager for both municipalities, it is important to note that there is no consideration of combining Port Neches and Nederland into a single entity. Both communities would remain as separate, independent cities that would simply utilize a single City Manager to oversee operations. The on-going cooperative efforts to save tax dollars and minimize the tax burden on our citizens would continue and potentially be enhanced by this proposal. It is also important to clarify that this discussion has absolutely no impact on the Port Neches-Groves Independent School District or the Nederland Independent School District as the school districts are entities that are separate and apart from the cities.

The potential opportunity to utilize one City Manager to serve both Port Neches and Nederland is certainly unique. This concept is clearly "outside of the box", however, it merits evaluation due to the ever increasing cost of providing municipal services while recognizing that our citizens are also impacted by constantly rising prices. Conducting business as usual is no longer an option for local governments. City Councils have a fiduciary obligation to examine available alternatives to reduce expenses while not reducing services. The ultimate intent in considering this partnership is to work towards minimizing the burden on our taxpayers just as both Port Neches and Nederland have done through many other cooperative efforts.

Glen Johnson R.A. "Dick" Nugent

Mayor Mayor

City of Port Neches City of Nederland