FARMINGTON — The Farmington Police Department will provide police services for the Farmington Fair this September.
The job was handled by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department for many years.
The Board of Selectmen unanimously agreed Tuesday to allow the department to maintain a presence at the fair for three years.
“The Farmington Police Department will provide more coverage at a lesser price than was formerly paid,” Police Chief Jack Peck wrote in a request to the board.
Discussions have been ongoing between the department and the Franklin County Agricultural Society, he said.
The society has agreed to pay $12,240 for 306 hours of coverage during the September fair. Any extra costs that occur will be paid for by the society on an hour-to-hour basis, Peck said.
For the most part, the Sheriff’s Department seems happy to hand it over, Peck said.
The Police Department is involved with the fair anyway, with coverage most nights and if something happens, we respond, he said.
“In the past, the Police Department was reimbursed by the society for half of our incurred overtime. Now we will be paid in full, and we will have a full-time presence at the fair,” Peck said.
Peck expects the 306 hours to amount to 50 shifts. With 13 officers available, those hours cannot be filled, Town Manager Richard Davis told the board.
Members of the department have signed on for coverage of 40 shifts, Peck said.
Four or five officers would need to be hired for the week to fill the 10 open shifts, he said.
Peck will look for Police Academy graduates from surrounding towns and expects the slots will fill easily. They would be sworn in as Farmington police officers for that week only, he said.
It’s a savings for the fair association, Buildings and Grounds Superintendent Tom White told the board.
Selectman Michael Fogg inquired how the town would benefit.
The department won’t make money, but they also won’t have to pay officers to be there, which amounts to a savings, Peck said.
The board wanted something in writing with the Agricultural Society for the three-year agreement.
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