WILTON — The Select Board on Tuesday discussed a request from Dixfield Town Manager Alicia Conn for police services.

Wilton Town Manager Maria Greeley said Conn “is asking for us to submit a proposal and provide them with our thoughts and any additional requirements.”

Greeley said she, Conn and Wilton police Chief Ethan Kyes met Monday to go over the proposal.

“We just need more information before we are going to spend any more time on researching and putting numbers together and presenting to you all,” Kyes said at the Select Board meeting. “I just don’t want to waste time if we don’t really know what we’re going after.”

Selectperson David Leavitt said if they entered an agreement with Dixfield, they would effectively be doubling their service area.

“Looking at the bigger picture,” he said, “I can see the chief coming to us and saying, ‘OK, I need more officers’ because how can we double the demands of our force with what we have.”

Selectperson Keith Swett said the time and resources to come up with a proposal would also be a significant cost to the town.

Selectperson Mike Wells said it could provide some cost-saving measures down the line and the idea was worth looking into.

“I would say that to have Dixfield reach out to the town of Wilton is a feather in our cap,” Wells said. “It says a lot about our police force, it says a lot about the reputation of our police force, and another town trusting Wilton to take on that responsibility says a lot for the town of Wilton, as well.”

The Dixfield Police Department closed in August 2020 after Chief Aaron Mick, who had only been with the department since September 2019, resigned after citing difficulty recruiting officers, according to then-Town Manager Dustin Starbuck.

Following the closing, which left the department with just one full-time police officer, the department was dissolved by voters in November that year. Since then, Dixfield has been contracting with the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services.

Richard Pickett, chairman of the Dixfield Select Board, said at the meeting that the town was exploring its options. He said they also reached out to Jay and Mexico to find any interest.

“We can provide whatever you need,” he said. “If you need another meeting, we can have another meeting. If you need something in writing or something, just let us know what it is and we will provide whatever you need,” he said.

Pickett was previously the Dixfield police chief before stepping down to serve as representative of House District 116 in the Maine Legislature.

He said at the meeting that he was against dissolving the Police Department, but he was in the minority.

The board agreed to meet with the Dixfield Select Board, along with the town managers and other relevant parties, to discuss creating a proposal.