BELLE — A town hall meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 4 to discuss contracting the Belle police duties to the Maries County Sheriff’s Department.

Mayor Josh Seaver called the meeting.

“I will say the board is putting some thought into it,” Seaver said. “It is not a snap decision that they are making. They are putting every bit of thought they can into it.”

Seaver said they are hosting the meeting to give the public a chance to voice their opinions and concerns to aldermen.

“This will be your (the public) opportunity to voice your opinion, concerns, ask questions on this subject,” Seaver said via Facebook. “This item will appear on the agenda for the regular session meeting held on Dec. 10, however it will NOT be open to public discussion at that time.”

There will be rules of conduct at the town hall meeting, which include:

Patrons wishing to speak must sign in prior to the call to order.

Patrons wishing to speak will be given three three minutes to address the aldermen. At the end of the allotted time they will be asked to stop and return to their seat.

Patrons wishing to speak must wait to be called upon. At such time they will be asked to approach the podium and their time will begin.

Comments/opinions must remain on topic, be respectful, refrain from the use of vulgarity, and be addressed directly to the board of aldermen.

Outbursts or disruptive behavior from the gallery will not be tolerated. Violators will be asked one time to cease. Failure to do so will result in being escorted from the building.

When asked why the board was considering outsourcing the Belle Police Department to Maries County, Seaver said it was due to the city’s finances.

“We are going to end this budget year in the red again and we can’t continue to do it — to over spend,” he said.

If the board votes to pass the contract at the Dec. 10 meeting, they will decide then when it takes effect. The contract would be instituted for two years.

“If it goes through the first time, we just have to make sure they can provide what they say they can and that the city is happy with it,” Seaver said. “If it goes good, we will have to make some amendments. If not, will have to work something else out.”

The board held a closed session meeting with Maries County Sheriff Chris Heitman on Nov. 20 to discuss the possibility of contracting with the sheriff’s department. It was then that Heitman requested if the board approved the contract it be for at least two years.

“Because they would have to train and equip the guys,” Seaver said. “We will have an out if we don’t like it. We can go year-to-year after the first two years.

Heitman said he does not plan on keeping any of the Belle Police Department’s equipment if the contract should go through.

“If it passes, I think we will be able to provide a good service to the city and increase law enforcement presence,” Heitman said.

Heitman said the new equipment he would have to purchase for Belle would hopefully be paid out of the county’s half of the fine revenue. The city plans to work with the same proposal the sheriff’s department submitted last year, which amounted to $155,588 for an annual contract, and half of the fine revenue from tickets written in the city limits.

That amount does not include Belle Marshal Joe Turnbough’s salary of about $36,000 annually over the next two years.

“We know we will have to eat it just for a couple of years,” Seaver said. “But we are hoping our half of the fine revenue will cover that.”

If the contract goes through, the city is not in a hurry to get rid of the police department’s equipment.

“The stuff that is worth saving will be locked up and put away somewhere,” Seaver said. “Outdated stuff not worth saving or that will be outdated will be sold as surplus. Or maybe donated.”

Turnbough said he learned about the meeting when his wife saw the notice at city hall about the meeting.

“Then the sheriff contacted me, and the mayor the following day,” Turnbough said. “It is truly an honor to be elected into office for the community that I serve. The town of Belle has treated myself and my wife during the past six years, as I have been the town marshal, with open arms.

We are truly blessed. I want what’s best for the town of Belle and the community that I serve and will support the people’s decision, whatever that may be.”

“The Board of Aldermen are making every attempt to see that this subject gets it’s due diligence before making a final decision,” Seaver said. “They are carefully weighing the pros and cons, financial implications, as well as what is in the best interest of our community, it’s citizens and businesses.”

Despite the rumors, this has not been voted on and will not be decided upon until such time, said Seaver.