Cheshire Seeking Funds for Merged Police Agency
CHESHIRE, Mass. — The town's Police Department may be a step closer to merging with Lanesborough.
Earlier this month, Select Board members said they spoken with state Sen. Paul Mark and Lanesborough officials to see if there are state monies or grants available for a regionalization-type arrangement.
"Senator Mark is very willing to help us, however he can, whether that be with grants or with an earmark into the budget, he would like to see that be over a two-year time frame, but we have some leg work to do, crunching numbers," said Town Administrator Jennifer Morse at last week's meeting.
She and Lanesborough Police Chief Rob Derksen are working on numbers to give to Mark by March for him to put in the state budget.
"We would have funds by September, October, if the earmark was put in. He is looking for commitment from the town," she said. "He wants some form of commitment, whether it be a special town meeting vote saying yes, this is the way we want to go, before he goes and asks for $450,000, that's the rough number that we were looking at over a two-year time frame."
There are a lot of unknowns how this collaboration might work, and Select Board members are wary about how this might be implemented based on the town's budget or through grants.
Morse said Mark has spoken to the chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee but she was unsure how their discussion went.
Cheshire has five police officers and a chief; Lanesborough six full-time officers and multiple part-time officers and a chief. Both departments are seeking to construct new police stations.
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