Seven North Bend City Council members will cast important votes tonight that could lead to a switch in the city’s police service from the King County Sheriff’s Office to the Snoqualmie Police Department. That North Bend City Council Meeting is scheduled for tonight, September 4th, at 7PM in the Mt. Si Senior Center at 411 Main Ave S in North Bend.
Two weeks ago the North Bend City Council voted 4-3 to authorize Mayor Hearing to finalize negotiations to contract North Bend’s police services with the City of Snoqualmie Police Department. Since then, Mayor Hearing and the City Administrator completed the negotiations with the City of Snoqualmie and created an Interlocal Agreement (ILA). Tonight, that ILA is being presented to the North Bend City Council for its consideration.
The North Bend Finance and Administration Committee were to review the ILA today. The Snoqualmie Public Safety Committee reviewed it on August 30th and moved the agreement to the full Snoqualmie City Council for review and approval.
The Interlocal Agreement for Police Service is a Dedicated Model. According to the North Bend Council Agenda Bill that means the ILA “provides a dedicated model of police coverage and requires Snoqualmie to hire 6 police officers so North Bend has ‘a minimum of one (1) officer on duty within the corporate limits of North Bend at all times (24 hours per day, 365 days per year.)'”
The ILA says Snoqualmie will provide a level of service that is equal to all police services currently provided by the Snoqualmie Police Department (SPD) to their citizens. The agreement recognizes that the “North Bend Council and Mayor priorities may alter emphasis in enforcement areas.”
If North Bend experiences big growth changes, the agreement states the parties will discuss the level of service and that North Bend is allowed to request additional officers above the six discussed in the contract. This provision was added after council members discussed (at August 21st meeting) using the contract savings from the King County Sheriff’s Office to allow for additional officers in North Bend during certain times of the day.
If the agenda bill is approved, North Bend will give King County an 18-month notice of termination of the Interlocal Agreement between it and North Bend for police service. The next steps would be then to authorize Mayor Hearing to execute the Interlocal Agreement with Snoqualmie for police service and work cooperatively with King County during the transition period.
The contract with Snoqualmie is for five years and the earliest Snoqualmie Police could begin patrolling the streets of North Bend would be around March 15, 2014.
To read the full September 4th North Bend City Council packet, including all details of Agenda Bill regarding the ILA between North Bend and Snoqualmie for police services, visit the City of North Bend Meeting and Documents website page.
