Talks between cities to reopen for police services

Grand Coulee and Electric City will soon be back trying to negotiate a new police contract.

Earlier in the year, the Electric City Council decided to make an agreement with Coulee Dam for police services. But the agreement was never signed.

The issue took a turn when meetings with regional law enforcement officers revealed that problems with how the Okanogan County dispatch is set up might cause delays in Coulee Dam’s ability to make rapid response to emergencies.

Last Tuesday night Grand Coulee Mayor Pro Tem Paul Townsend instructed his law enforcement committee, composed of council members Erin Nielsen and David Tylor, to contact Electric City and get negotiations going again.

Grand Coulee’s police contract with Electric City runs out Dec. 31, 2015.

The tentative five-year agreement with Coulee Dam called for Electric City to pay $122,223 for police services. Electric City, on its fifth year of its current contract, pays Grand Coulee $115,000.

A meeting between Grand Coulee’s council committee and Electric City’s committee, made up of council members Aaron Derr and Richard McGuire, are scheduled to meet sometime this week.

A source in Electric City stated that if Grand Coulee would agree to what Coulee Dam had agreed to provide services for ($122,223) then it would likely move forward.

Townsend stated last Tuesday, “They are our neighbors and friends, so we should be able to work it out.” He also said it “would be good for Grand Coulee’s police department.”