JAY — Residents heard details May 11 regarding the four possible options for future police coverage, including a potential collaboration with Wilton. The public hearing came ahead of a nonbinding advisory vote scheduled June 9.

The hearing focused on a ballot question that will ask voters which police service model they want town officials to explore further. It was noted repeatedly that the June 9 referendum would not commit the town to any immediate change.

The four options include maintaining separate police departments, contracting policing services through the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, having one town provide police services for both Jay and Wilton, or creating a jointly governed quasi-municipal corporation.

Select Board member Lee Ann Dalessandro said, “Option A is to take no action, maintain the existing individual town of Jay Police Department” and avoid pursuing any other options.

She said option B would involve contracting with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, while option C would involve one town providing police services for both communities.

Dalessandro said option D, the quasi-municipal corporation model, would establish a separate entity jointly governed by both towns. “This option means that you want this board to explore community and quasi-municipal cooperation,” she said, adding that the arrangement would create “a separate entity from the town of Jay” with its own governing body made up of representatives from both communities.

One resident responded that the concept “sounds like a lot of red tape.”

Residents also questioned how a quasi-municipal structure would be organized and funded.

Dalessandro said many details remain undecided because officials are still in the exploratory phase. “How that’s going to all be developed, that would be decided and also probably voted on,” she said. “It could be Select Board members. It could be a town manager. It could be residents, but that would all be something that still needs to be decided.”

Jay Police Chief Joseph Sage said the town began exploring alternatives during budget discussions and while confronting recruitment and retention challenges facing law enforcement agencies. “We started exploring some options and the question that got raised is, could we provide police service that was equal to or better than what we’re doing now,” Sage said.

Sage said departments increasingly compete with larger agencies offering stronger pay and specialized assignments. “We’re competing with agencies that have bigger departments where people want to be a part of,” he said.

Dalessandro said committee members spent nearly a year researching different policing structures and reviewing models used in other states. “It was eight months, almost a year. Eight hundred hours,” she said. “Six hundred documents, it’s all on the town website.”

She emphasized that the committee has not hired attorneys or accountants because officials first wanted to know whether residents supported exploring any of the options.

“If the town says we don’t want you to explore, why would you spend the money?” Dalessandro asked. “We’re all pretty sensitive to the cost.”

Residents also raised concerns about response times and whether changes in police coverage could affect homeowners insurance rates.

Dalessandro said the committee had not reached that level of analysis. “We didn’t even get to that at this point,” she said.

Sage said some options likely would not affect response times while others could, depending on how services were ultimately structured. “There’s several options that are listed up to vote that would change nothing,” Sage said. “There’s a couple on there that probably decreases.”

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