Council members in Saint Clair unanimously approved a deal that would have the borough provide police coverage to Palo Alto starting in 2025.
The contract must be approved by council members in Palo Alto before it’s official. Palo Alto Borough Council meets Monday at 7 p.m.
On Thursday, Saint Clair made some last-minute changes to a preliminary deal worked out between borough solicitors Ed Brennan (Saint Clair) and Eric Prock (Palo Alto).
As it currently stands and if it’s ratified by Palo Alto, Saint Clair would provide police coverage for the next 5 years, through 2029. Originally, Saint Clair wanted Palo Alto to enter into a 10-year deal. And although Palo Alto council members were OK with that, they did express reservations before telling Prock to enter into negotiations with Brennan.
Apart from the length of the deal, Palo Alto council members expressed more concerns with the cost to their borough. That hasn’t changed since they were first approached with the terms of a deal with Saint Clair.
In the first year, it would cost Palo Alto $130,000, payable in monthly installments. The cost goes up 5% each year. So, in 2026, Palo Alto’s cost would be $136,500. By 2029, the annual cost would be $158,015.81.
Before giving the contract its OK, Saint Clair council members met in executive session and emerged to say they were removing two sections of the plan, as written.
One of them reads, verbatim: “All revenues resulting from or imposed in connection with arrests, parking tickets, restitution, or prosecutions in Palo Alto, by St. Clair, or any other law enforcement agency with jurisdiction, shall be paid to Palo Alto. This includes, but is not limited to, periodic District Justice and Schuylkill County Clerk of Courts payments received by Palo Alto.”
Another term that was altered from the original version is the opt-out timeframe for either side to exit the deal. On paper, it has a 60-day opt-out clause but Saint Clair officials say they want a one-year notice.
Earlier this year, Palo Alto officials began exploring an alternative to its current inter-municipal police agreement with Port Carbon and Mechanicsville. Essentially, Palo Alto felt it could get a better arrangement with Saint Clair.
The only reservation on this deal from Saint Clair comes from the borough’s Mayor, Richard Tomko, who worried about stretching the police force too thinly.
“We have to protect the citizens of Saint Clair,” Tomko said.
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