July 17th meeting is ON

The commission has indicated that the meeting for the 17th of July is on, 7:30pm at the Community Center.

June 5th Commission Meeting canceled

The Commission has announced that the May 1st Meeting has been canceled while the letting of the RFP continues to be worked on.

Apparently what is happening is the new Cherry Hill administration has refused to be the fiscal agent for the RFP and consultant contract claiming concerns about liability. To our knowledge the liability surrounding this RFP is no greater than the other numerous contracts let by either township, so we must conclude that this is an excuse to block the Consoidation Study by political interests. This is a clear thwart of the legal Consolidation Study process which is underway, and reflects poorly on all the politicians involved.

Stay tuned for developments.

May 1st Commission Meeting canceled

The Commission has announced that the May 1st Meeting has been canceled while the letting of the RFP continues to be worked on.

Video of March 6th, 2012 Commission Meeting

The video of the Commission meeting is broken into 10minute segments. This Link gives you an index of all of the videos from this meeting, and will play them for you in sequence:

Meeting videos

This meeting was short and there are only two segments. Here is the first one:

March 2012 Commission Meeting Reminder

The Merchantville / Cherry Hill Consolidation Study Commission will hold a public meeting on March 6, 2012. The Meeting will be held in the Merchantville Community Center located at the intersection of Somerset Avenue and Greenleigh Court, Merchantville New Jersey. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Video of January 17th, 2012 Commission Meeting

The video of the Commission meeting is broken into 10minute segments. Follow the link to the Merchantville Voices YouTube Channel and they will be listed in sequence, and numbered in the title.

South Jersey Sun provides detailed report of Jan 2012 Commission Meeting

The Merchantville-Cherry Hill Consolidation Commission regrouped last week at the Merchantville Community Center to begin the process of seeking out a consultant to study a possible municipal merge between the two neighboring communities...

read more:
Residents regroup, discuss merger

January 2012 Commission Meeting Reminder

Message posted by the Commission:

The Merchantville / Cherry Hill Consolidation Study Commission will hold a public meeting on January 17, 2012. The Meeting will be held in the Merchantville Community Center located at the intersection of Somerset Avenue and Greenleigh Court, Merchantville New Jersey. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Study Consultant Proposals due 20Dec11

information from Courier Post Article here:

Ad for merge consultant gets just three responses

Fact Checking:
The RFP was first advertised on 18Nov, with a due date of 20Dec. The article published on 1Dec characterizes the 3 responses 2 weeks into the proposal period as "light", while 3 weeks remain for responses.

Video of December 6th, 2011 Commission Meeting

The video of the Commission meeting is broken into 10minute segments. Follow the link to the Merchantville Voices YouTube Channel and they will be listed in sequence, and numbered in the title.

Commission Meeting brief

The first meeting of the Commission took place on 6 December 2011. This meeting was primarily an organizational meeting and included the swearing in of Commissioners, election of chair and vice chair, establishment of sub-committees, and a proposed schedule.

Preliminary Commission Meeting Schedule Proposed:
17 Jan 12
7 Feb 12
6 Mar 12
3 Apr 12
1 May 12
5 Jun 12
17 Jul 12
7 Aug 12

There was a brief period of Public questions with people from both Cherry Hill and Merchantville speaking. A video of the meeting of the Commission on 6 December 2011 was made, and will be posted. We'll put a link up when its known.

Meeting Notes:

Neither the Merchantville Mayor nor any of the outspoken Councilmen attended the meeting.

First Study Commission meeting set for 18 Oct. - rescheduled to 6 Dec.

The first Study Commission meeting has been set for December 6th at 7:30pm at the Merchantville Community Center. The Commission meeting is an organization meeting.