If all goes as expected, the Blaine County Sheriff's Office will assume law enforcement responsibilities in Ketchum beginning July 1.
The Ketchum City Council on Monday unanimously approved a contract for service with Blaine County that gives control of the Ketchum Police Department to Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling, at least until October 2010.
The contract still needs to be approved by the Blaine County Commission, which will vote on the matter next Tuesday. To this point, commissioners have been supportive of the negotiations.
For the remainder of the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, and the entirety of the next year, Ketchum will pay the county $1.56 million for police services.
Ketchum City Administrator Gary Marks said the cost of the 15-month contract is $200,000 less than what the city would spend to keep the department "in-house" and fully staffed.
As soon as the contract goes into effect, the city will gain another full-time officer, bringing the number up to nine, along with a chief to be appointed by Femling.
"There's no question we're getting more for less," said Councilman Baird Gourlay, who participated in the meeting via speakerphone. "Before we were very top-heavy and paying for more managers and fewer officers on the street."
The city has seen plenty of change at the head of the department in the past year. Last October, former Ketchum Police Chief Cory Lyman stepped down to take an emergency services position in Salt Lake City. Former Assistant Chief Mike McNeil was promoted to serve in the interim and then negotiated an early retirement in April, 16 months before he was officially eligible. McNeil was followed by Ketchum Police Sgt. Dave Kassner, who was tapped to take over while the city looked at options for a permanent replacement.
Although it has yet to be made official, it's likely that Blaine County Sheriff's Detective Steve Harkins will be the fourth person to hold Ketchum's top cop position in less than a year. At a meeting in May, Femling said that Harkins, who was in the audience Monday night, would be his choice for the chief position. Harkins is chief detective for the sheriff's office and director of the Blaine County Narcotics Enforcement Team.
The contract will be up for renewal every fiscal year and both the city and the county have the right to terminate the contract after giving a 120-day notice.
Marks estimated that the cost savings from the contract will amount to $1.16 million over four years. He calculated the savings by looking at what it would cost the city to re-staff its police department, currently down from 12 officers to eight and without a full-time chief or assistant chief.
The deal includes an annual $41,000 expenditure to provide existing Ketchum police officers with the higher insurance premiums they have received while employed by the city. In addition, all Ketchum officers will be retained at their same wages.
Despite the projected savings, some members of the public have expressed opposition to the deal.
"I feel it's worth the extra money to keep local control," former Ketchum Mayor Ed Simon said.
This sentiment was echoed by Ketchum resident Barbara Amick, who said the contract could give too much power to one person, Femling, having a negative impact on the democratic process and giving Ketchum constituents less say in the operation of city services.
Councilman Larry Helzel said he is sympathetic to Amick and Simon's concerns, but that the current economic situation necessitates a different approach for maintaining and improving the department.
"The council has to look at the present and future, not the past," Helzel said. "The budget situation is not looking good and it will take hard work to climb out of this hole. We cannot persist with the wishful thinking that we can grow the department without making any changes."
Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com
