ZELIENOPLE — The Harmony and Zelienople fire departments are organizing a committee to discuss a possible merger.

The proposed Fire and Emergency Services Task Force would include one elected official and one citizen at large from each municipality the departments serve.

The Zelienople Volunteer Fire Company serves Zelienople and the Harmony Volunteer Fire Company serves Harmony, Lancaster Township and Jackson Township. To organize the task force, the officials of all four municipalities must pass a resolution supporting its creation.

Zelienople became the first municipality to do so when borough council voted on a resolution Monday night.

According to the resolution the goal of the task force will be: “to examine those fire and emergency services commonly provided by the participating fire companies and local governments that will improve service delivery, reduce duplication of effort, promote the preservation and enhancement of volunteer fire and emergency services in the cost effective manner possible.”

The task force would have a voting officer and a nonvoting alternate chosen from each fire company and a third-party citizen at large who would have a vote and make the voting membership an odd number to avoid ties. The task force also plans to hire an attorney and a secretary.

The idea of consolidating the two departments has been discussed informally for more than 20 years, said Scott Garing, Zelienople’s assistant fire chief, in an interview Monday afternoon.

The decision to create a task force and formally explore the possibility came after the departments underwent a study by the state Department of Community and Economic Development a couple years ago, Garing said.

The DCED has done studies, created guidelines and assisted fire departments across the state with consolidation in recent years. However, the state cannot mandate consolidation; it is only done on a voluntary basis.

Garing said he anticipates the firefighters themselves to be supportive. One of the most challenging parts of the task force’s work will be to determine the finances, taxes and organization for a new joint department.

“We’re trying to save on our operating costs, bring our people together and consolidate equipment. To better serve the area and it’s all being done in a positive manner,” he said.

Consolidating the departments would allow them to combine equipment, manpower, administrative staff and operating costs. The goal would be to bring the departments together which would include combining its two stations.

To research the benefits of a possible consolidation many Zelienople and Harmony firefighters have talked with members of the Butler Township Fire Department, which underwent a consolidation of three departments last year. The Adams Area Fire District also is an example of a successful consolidation done in the area, Garing said.

The task force will take October to get assembled and hopes to meet for the first time in early November, he said.

Organizers don’t know how long it would take to make a decision, though a new fire department would require paperwork to be filed with the Internal Revenue Service for a new 501c3 tax designation, which can take about a year to complete, he said.

Cindy Watson, supervisor for Lancaster Township, said the board of supervisors plans to discuss a resolution that would support the creation of the committee at its meeting Wednesday night.

Harmony and Jackson Township officials, who meet in coming weeks, are also supportive of forming the task force, Garing said.