By Jodi Hausen,Staff Writer

RANGELEY – Rangeley has never had a 24-hour police department, but Chief Philip Weymouth thinks it’s time that it does, he said Wednesday.

“It’s time for the town of Rangeley to take care of itself,” he said.

At their meeting Tuesday, selectmen authorized Weymouth to operate full-time until issues with Franklin County Sheriff’s Department can be ironed out, according to the chief.

In June 2004 the town requested that the Sheriff’S Department cover two overnight shifts on Sundays and Mondays, he said. A recent letter to Franklin County Sheriff Dennis Pike signed by Weymouth and Town Manager Perry Ellsworth said that Rangeley officers could no longer provide mutual aid beyond their scheduled shifts or to surrounding plantations.

Pike said he was surprised by the letter and that he hadn’t spoken with Weymouth since they signed the two-shift agreement in 2004.

“I perceived it was working out well,” he said Wednesday.

The town has spent a significant amount of its Police Department budget responding to calls in areas that include Dallas, Sandy River and Rangeley plantations, which are Sheriff’S Department jurisdictions. The Sheriff’S Department has an agreement with state police to patrol the northern half of the county on alternating weeks. But distance and other factors sometimes increase response times, Weymouth said.

“It’s not derogatory to the county,” he said. “This area is growing and it’s not going to get better. The county’s not going to get better. They’re spread as thin as we are.”

Rangeley and Carrabassett Valley have the only municipal police departments north of Farmington, and because of distance, Rangeley police have been asked to respond to county calls and Weymouth said he’s stuck in the middle.

“I’m discouraged that the county wants us to help out in the plantations and the town is asking me not to respond,” he said. “We’re washing their hands more than they’re washing ours.”

Pike said he intends to work things out with the town but said he can’t because he is constrained by the county’s budget, which is already stretched thin.

“I’m very willing to do this but I can’t until funding is provided,” he said. “The budget is set in stone,” he added.

He estimated that providing round-the-clock police protection for Rangeley would cost the county more than $90,000 annually. Rangeley pays about $386,000 in county taxes based on property valuation.

Meanwhile, selectmen authorized Weymouth to operate his department full-time until the issue is resolved. They also asked him to prepare a proposal for adding an officer to cover the two shifts and one for an additional full-time officer.

The Police Department budget currently is about $176,000. It would cost an estimated additional $25,000 to $30,000 to cover the two open shifts and about $60,000 to $65,000 for a full-time officer but, Weymouth said, he is still crunching the numbers. He said that with another full-time officer, the town may also need a third cruiser.

“I believe the problem will be imminently resolved in an admirable way,” Pike said.

He’ll have an opportunity to do so at a meeting with Weymouth and Rangeley selectmen scheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Rangeley town office.