Details of a deal between the councils of Morton and Pe Ell to provide the Town of Pe Ell police coverage have come to light after The Chronicle received a copy of the contract through a public records request.
Pe Ell will be required by the contract to make payments of $27,500 to Morton on a quarterly basis, for an annual total of $110,000 to be paid to the city. Payment by Pe Ell to Morton for a portion of a quarter will be on a per diem basis at a rate of $300 per day.
Under the contract, all prosecution powers will remain in the hands of the Pe Ell city attorney’s office.
Under the new agreement, both Morton and Pe Ell will be able to terminate the contract without cause at any time provided each gives the other municipality’s government at least 120 days notice.
The contract requires Morton to provide law enforcement through a designated police officer; however, the contract also recognizes that police officers may not be able to provide service due to “unscheduled events,” such as sickness, or “scheduled events,” such as training or court appearances.
The contract further stipulates police coverage be given seven days a week for four to five hours per day. The contract requires designated Morton police officers to respond to emergency calls from Pe Ell regardless of officers being on- or off-duty.
The contract was originally proposed by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, which began providing coverage to Pe Ell after the town’s marshal departed in September 2020. However, due to staffing shortages, the sheriff’s office began looking for another agency to administer law enforcement in the town, Sheriff Rob Snaza previously told The Chronicle.
Snaza originally reached out to the Toledo Police Department, whose former police chief, John Brockmueller, was open to the idea of the Toledo Police Department covering Pe Ell.
Brockmueller left his Toledo position to become the Napavine police chief in October 2021. The Toledo plan fell apart after that.
Snaza then reached out to Morton Police Chief Roger Morningstar and began developing what he referred to as a “collaborative idea” for the Morton Police Department to provide coverage to Pe Ell.
“Sheriff (Rob) Snaza recommended Morton because they were handling Mossyrock and that seemed to be working out there,” Willey told The Chronicle in July.
In July, Morningstar told the Morton City Council the contract would benefit the city by allowing the Morton Police Department to receive more revenue.
“(Under the contract) we become a regional agency, we can get regional grants,” Morningstar said. “Locally, it gives us a bigger seat at the table (for negotiations).”
According to Morton Mayor Dan Mortensen, there were concerns about the administrative challenges of the contract, particularly worries about Morton officers having to commute across the county. However, those concerns were apparently addressed by having a Morton police officer who lives closer to Pe Ell volunteering to cover the town.
“We have some people on board currently here in Morton that have voiced some interest in working in (Pe Ell) who live much closer to that area than we currently are,” Mortensen said.
Pe Ell Mayor Lonnie Willey told The Chronicle earlier this month the Morton police officer who is now responsible for covering Pe Ell lives in Chehalis.
The Pe Ell Town Council approved the contract on July 5. It was then reviewed and unanimously approved by the Morton City Council on Sept. 26.
Mortensen told The Chronicle earlier this month the contract would be reviewed after 90 days in January to ensure it is working effectively.
