Perth Mayor John Fenik is promising to have settlements in place with soon-to-dismissed police staff by December.
“We are intent on having negotiated settlements with everybody before the OCOPS hearing on Dec. 5,” said Fenik during the Perth police services board (PSB) meeting in the Perth council chambers on Thursday, Nov. 8.
“We’ve started discussions with the chief (Pat Capello),” as well as with dispatchers and uniformed staff. “We are hoping to conclude it (the meetings) tomorrow,” Nov. 9.
The so-called Section 40 OCOPS (Ontario Commission on Police Services) will be held at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at the Best Western Select hotel in Perth. Two days later, the Perth police services board will be touring the OPP’s Lanark County detachment on Highway 7.
Chief Capello also informed the board that he has met with Bell Canada regarding the transfer not only of fire calls to the Lanark County fire dispatch centre in Smiths Falls in the new year, but also about transferring police calls to Smiths Falls as well.
“Now we are looking at the police side of the (dispatch) service,” said Capello.
The composition of the Perth police services board may stay the same, but only if the PSB lobbies as such.
Insp. Gerry Salisbury, the Lanark County OPP’s detachment commander, reported that Perth’s five-member PSB “can remain the same,” but it will have to apply to keep it that way.
“Usually, for a town of this size, it (the PSB size) would normally be three members,” said Salisbury, though he noted that there were two other PSBs in Lanark County that also had five members.
Salisbury also said he had dates in mind for the Perth officers to receive OPP training, and other transition dates, but he would prefer to discuss them in camera.
“I am not at liberty to disclose that,” said Salisbury of the ongoing contract negotiations. “The mayor will be reporting on that in future.”