North Huron Council voted Monday night to receive a report from CAO Dwayne Evans regarding the service costs discussed by the Ontario Provincial Police during a presentation on September 25.
The OPP proposal is valid until March of 2018, so council members have discussed the possibility of holding public meetings in the near future so citizens can be heard on the issue of potentially abolishing the Wingham Police Service.
If council should choose the OPP as a policing service for Wingham, they would enter into a three-year transitional contract which would expire in December of the third year of the contract.
Councillor Trevor Seip put forward the possibility of North Huron staff looking at expanding the Wingham Town Police, saying that residents deserve to have all options on the table to let them make an informed decision.
In 2015, council directed Police Chief Tim Poole to prepare a costing model for the Wingham Police Service to patrol Blyth and East Wawanosh. But this was deferred at the request of the OPP, when they indicated they would not offer their proposal if North Huron was simultaneously pricing another policing option.
In July, a motion was passed to defer the possible Wingham Police Service expansion until the completion of the OPP costing process.