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Blair County planners have helped Altoona's municipal leaders make the right decisions and choices on numerous projects and issues over the past half-century.
It is logical for that partnership to continue in every way possible -- of course, within the planning office's manpower and financial capabilities.
Another opportunity has arisen for the county planning office and the Blair County Planning Commission, which oversees it, to provide the city with valuable advice and guidance capable of heading off problems that might otherwise surface, if not immediately then, possibly, in future months or years.
The issue involves reviews and recommendations tied to proposed land-development plans.
According to an article in the Mirror's Sept. 8 edition, the county planning office is evaluating how the proposal, originating with the Altoona Planning Commission, would fit into its overall operations and work schedule.
The county planning office is dedicated to helping all of the county's municipalities, as needed, not just the city and a few of the larger municipalities.
It is to be presumed that county planners will have no objections to helping the city on the important land-development front, if there is a window for the help available.
What might be the main uncertainty at this point is whether the county planning office will need additional reimbursement from the city for accepting the additional duties.
The city already pays county planners for certain services already being provided.
The city's need for the help in question stems from the municipality's' elimination of its only two certified planners from its Planning and Community Development Department at the beginning of 2021 -- a move aimed at avoiding a tax increase.
When the city eliminated the planning positions, land-development-review tasks were added to the workload of the city's Codes & Inspection and Public Works departments, despite none of the Codes and Public Works employees being formally trained for carrying out the planning tasks.
Not only is the availability of trained planners important from the city's standpoint, but local decisions must align with the Pennsylvania Planning Code.
It is understandable that the setup in place for more than a year can multiply the challenge of ensuring that "alignment," although a consulting engineer retained by the city is tasked with much of the basic review work for land development.
According to city officials, those engineering reviews would continue, as would the city planning department's consideration and approval of land-development proposals.
City Manager Omar Strohm rightly observed that the outcome of the discussions with county planners would have implications for the 2023 city budget, which will have to be adopted by the end of December.
Again, considering its positive half-century-long record, it is unlikely that the county planning office ever would turn down such important work.
The only question is whether the work will fit into the budget under which the planning office works, without an additional city financial contribution.