The Yorkville City Council is moving forward with plans for the sharing of some public works equipment and services with the village of Oswego.
At a recent meeting, Yorkville officials approved an intergovernmental agreement on the program in a unanimous vote.
The measure is part of an initiative that will allow Yorkville, Oswego and Montgomery to share and consolidate services between the three municipalities.
Yorkville City Administrator Bart Olson said approving the pact makes sense on a number of levels.
“It’s cheaper and better to purchase one piece of equipment and share it between the three of us,” he said.
The idea behind forming the pact first started in 2015 when representatives for the three towns participated in a Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning workshop.
Olson noted that the collaboration is designed to promote efficiency between the three neighboring municipalities, and said they “do expect it to be used on an as-needed basis.”
Olson said the idea behind sharing equipment or services is nothing new. There are several examples of municipalities in Illinois that join together to save costs, including joint purchasing programs, shared public transportation systems and dispatch systems, he said.
“The biggest component is trust and community proximity,” Olson said. “It’s about establishing the foundation of shared service. It’s a lot easier to work with someone when you understand their need for shared services.”
Yorkville, Montgomery and Oswego have discussed a number of possible collaborations in the last two to three years.
“The first trade of services and equipment has not been finalized,” Olson said of the agreement. “Hopefully, in the next couple weeks, there will be some sort of trade for sharing of equipment.”
He added that possible projects could include catch basin work and fall season cleanup.
“At the end of the year, it has the potential to save thousands of dollars in direct services or staff time,” Olson said.
Olson said as part of the pact, each municipality will complete either quarterly or yearly reports to monitor and keep track of spending.
The village of Montgomery will join the pact at a later date, Olson said.