The time frame for a potential shift in policing services in Amherstburg looks to be getting bumped up.
The town is set to get its requested costing from Ontario Provincial Police by the end of the summer.
Coming out of a closed session, council approved a Request for Proposal be sent to LaSalle, Windsor and OPP as the town looks to nail down policing costs. The RFP follows a Request for Interest which was issued by the town in December 2014.
DiCarlo wasn't expecting the final decision on policing services to be made until after the municipal election in 2018.
"It was really shaping up to be the next council's decision, but for various reasons — the main ones as I understand it: other municipalities dropping out of costing requests — Amherstburg moved up to the top of the list," says DiCarlo.
He says the town has some key sticking points it wants to see in its policing offers.
"Most people I think know by now police officers will be offered a job with a different police force, we will still be looking for the same policing standards that we have now," says DiCarlo.
Despite a decision on policing services in Amherstburg coming sooner than expected, DiCarlo stresses the transition to a new service isn't going to happen all at once.
"Six months to a year — if not a little bit more — transition period," says DiCarlo. "So, it's not something that's going to happen overnight by any means."
DiCarlo says once the town receives the OPP costing, it can only defer the issue for up to six months.