It looks like the city and the county will part ways in their law enforcement services contract. For many years the city has contracted with the county for space in the law enforcement center and services such as phone, dispatch and transcription.
Last year the city council was looking at budgets and decided they were paying too much for the services they were receiving. They went into discussions with the county, and the county offered a $29,000 per year contract, down from $34,000.
The city counter offered $12,000 per year, or $1,000 per month. At the time, the two agencies had been meeting often, with little promise of compromise. The county board members decided to let the issue cool down a little and accepted the city’s offer for six months only.
That contract is set to expire August 31st.
In July the city council members talked about the contract, and agreed that they could not afford to pay any more than $1,000 per month. They recently sent a letter to the county board stating that fact and that they were happy with the current arrangement.
The county board, on the other hand, was not happy with $1,000 per month. They discussed the issue at their meeting last Tuesday. This time, they did not accept the city’s offer. They did not make a counter offer. Instead, they took no action, which means the contract will not be renewed and the current set up will be dissolved.
At a special meeting Monday, August 18th the council decided to move the police department to the city maintenance building where there are two offices available.
They are on a short deadline to get equipment and get the new office set up – about a week and a half.
The county is required to provide some services to the Baudette Police Department, such as emergency 911 dispatching. For non-emergencies, people who need services in the city may have to call a separate number or city hall to request services. The city staff is checking with the phone provider to work out the phone details. During the hours that city hall is not open, the calls will be forwarded to the officer on duty’s cellular phone.
City council members and the mayor have suggested that they will look at the needs of the police department and the community and possibly build a community center in the future.