By JOE LOGAN  (7/13/2010 1:51:25 PM)

Last night the Aurora Town Board voted unanimously to approve a new contract with the village to procure the village run police services.  The new contract is almost identical to the old one, however the Town now has a "formal" seat at the table to discuss all issues related to the contract including financial terms.

Town Supervisor Jolene Jeffe said that because of the nature of the service the town can not have a formal vote on the contract with the police, but will now be involved in discussions prior to the vote on the contract between the village and the East Aurora Police Department.

The new contract has a change in the coordination section which requires an advisory committee made up of 2 officials and 2 town officials to meet upon request from either municipality.  They will have no formal say, similar to the village planning commission which also acts as an advisory board but does not have any formal decision making authority.

One village board member with whom we spoke stated that "This is nothing different than what was in place prior to this whole charade.  The town always had a liaison and always acted in an advisory role....I think some on the town board initially wanted to try and lower the cost of the service to the town and quickly had to do an about face when they realized that they did not have a vote on the police contract."

The contract is for 3 years as of June 2010 but the Town can opt out after 2 years.  There was some discussion among board members that the town should take over police services since they will be paying for the majority of the service.

Village trustees Randy West and Pat Shea negotiated the new contract with Town Board members Jeffe and Sue Friess.

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