The City of Dryden is officially moving ahead with an OPP costing study.
Councillors have awarded the $35,000 contract to MNP LLP, who conducted the last study 18 months ago.
Council has also approved the creation of a Police Costing Committee and its Terms of Reference.
Councillor’s Norm Bush, Martin MacKinnon and Michelle Price as well as the City CAO, City Treasurer and acting City Clerk will sit on the committee.
The general scope of work for the group includes:
-Update the service offering comparison with any known changes
-Consult with other Ontario municipalities
-Consult with primary stakeholders as defined by the Police Costing Committee
-Update the existing financial model with additional available years
-Update Call for Service modelling with 2019 and 2020 data and OPP and DPS Comparison
-Develop additional benchmarking analysis
-Development of a clear and concise executive summary/conclusion
-Presentation of Findings to Dryden City Council.
A Committee document indicates “The public will have the opportunity to submit questions throughout the process as well as a Town Hall meeting, adhering to COVID-19 protocols or held as a virtual meeting, to take place at a later date.”
A web page will also be developed, where information will be posted.
Councillor Shayne MacKinnon voted against the new development, stressing he’s concerned the public won’t have amble opportunity to provide input.
“It’s a bit foggy and of course we are living in 2020 so nothing’s easy. But certainly a survey, where people are at home now, may yield some interesting results.”
MacKinnon is also upset the general scope of work for the group doesn’t include investigating response times for both the OPP and Dryden Police Service.
“I think that’s really important for our community to know. And this is the second go around for both these services. So you would think that maybe they would have put some time and attention to create some kind of matrix to deal with response times.”
Chief Administrative Officer Roger Nesbitt, who will sit on the Committee, explains why response times wasn’t included in the Terms of Reference.
“I’m not a law enforcement professional but I do know what we were told the last go round at this by both services. They do not track response times. They could be anywhere within the municipal boundaries and dealing with numerous calls and that is something that they track.”
Nesbitt notes it’s the intention of the Committee to proceed with the study on policing in a timely and fully consultative fashion.
