Richard Moody is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media three public hearings were held Wed., Aug. 16, by the Columbia County Board of Supervisors to gather comment on its proposed plan to consolidate several county, town and village services. The hour-long hearings were spread throughout the day at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Under the proposal, towns and villages would be allowed to use the county’s resources in data storage, training, IT services, personnel, insurance and purchasing agreements. Two parts of the county’s consolidated services plan — allowing municipalities with fewer than 50 employees to participate in a health insurance plan and collaborating with the city of Hudson to purchase the John L. Edwards building on State Street for use as an operations center — are still tentative. Some form of consolidation was mandated by the state and the county has two years to implement its plan. Columbia County expects the proposal to save $1.88 million, once implemented. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.