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Mount Pleasant council approves interlocal merger with Fairview to form joint police agency
Summary
The Mount Pleasant City Council voted to approve an interlocal agreement to merge the Mount Pleasant Police Department with the Fairview City Police Department, creating a jointly governed police entity, with a change that the citizen board member be appointed by the governing board rather than the chief. Council members voted unanimously.
Mount Pleasant City Council voted Wednesday to approve an interlocal agreement to merge the Mount Pleasant Police Department and the Fairview City Police Department into a single, jointly governed police entity.
The council’s motion, offered by Councilmember Katy Hall and seconded by Councilmember Paul Cutler, included a change to the draft interlocal agreement specifying that the citizen board member would be appointed by the governing board rather than by the police chief. The council passed the motion by roll call vote: Lynn (yes); Paul (yes); Russ (yes); Rodney (yes); Kate (yes).
The council and speakers described the merged department as a separate entity funded by each city’s quarterly contributions. Officials said the new department will be governed by a board made up of elected officials from each city (the mayor from each city and a councilmember from each city) plus one citizen member. Under the agreement, either city may withdraw with six months’ notice or wait until the next budget year to separate.
Police leaders and council members said a primary benefit is full 24/7 uniformed coverage: "The biggest benefit is you'll have an officer out 24/7," a police official said during public comment. Officials said combining staffing would reduce reliance on on-call responses and improve response times in both directions between the cities.
Council discussion noted additional operational advantages anticipated from consolidation, including potential eligibility for larger grants and a full-time school resource officer at the high school where the post had been part time. One council member identified a software cost as a near-term shared expense: "The eForce update... was gonna cost each city about $30,000," a council member said during discussion.
Council members also discussed transitional logistics: vehicle markings may remain on older units until replacement, assets contributed by each city will be listed in the interlocal agreement and revert to the original city if the partnership dissolves, and the merged department’s permanent name would be selected in the coming weeks.
The council’s action directs staff to finalize the interlocal agreement with the approved change and move forward with implementation steps described at the meeting. No additional ordinance or budget appropriation was adopted on the council floor; council members said each city will continue to fund its portion of the joint department from its existing budgets.
Votes at a glance - Motion: Approve proposed merger of Fairview City Police Department and Mount Pleasant Police Department with change that the board appoints the citizen member. Mover: Katy Hall; Second: Paul Cutler. Outcome: Approved by roll call (Lynn: yes; Paul: yes; Russ: yes; Rodney: yes; Kate: yes).
