After years of providing police dispatching services for free to the village of Buchtel and Hocking College, Nelsonville officials have decided to charge a fee.

The fee would cover the cost of paperwork and the dispatchers' time.

Nelsonville originally was set to charge $150 per month for the services, but Buchtel officials said the village might not be able to pay that fee.

In order to allow Buchtel and HC time to adjust to charging a fee for the use of dispatching services, members of Nelsonville's City Council moved yesterday to put an ordinance on the floor at the next council meeting that would set up a fee of $75 per month for the remainder of the year.

That fee would increase to $150 per month at the beginning of next year.

"We're willing to work with them if they are having this kind of financial problem," said Mike Perez, Nelsonville's acting police chief. "What we are not willing to do is let the city of Nelsonville pay (Buchtel's) way."

John Sullivan, is Buchtel's Village Council president and soon-to-be acting mayor, said he will take the offer to Buchtel's council May 1, and it will decide if Buchtel will receive its dispatching services from the Nelsonville Police Department or switch to Athens County Sheriff's dispatching services, where there would be no fee.

But switching could cost Buchtel more money in the long run, Perez said.

More than $150 will be spent on gas per month driving to Athens to pick up paperwork if Buchtel's council decides to switch to the county's services, he said.

Sullivan said his main problem with switching is Buchtel's portable radios that police officers carry, which might not be strong enough to reach the county's dispatchers.

Because of the fee, Sullivan said he does not think Buchtel's council will choose to stay with Nelsonville's dispatching services, even with the fee reduced to $75 per month for the rest of the year.

Nelsonville City Councilman Clinton Stanley said $75 is a fair amount and that Buchtel should accept the offer.

Buchtel Police Chief Chris Smith said he is not sure whether Buchtel should have to pay a fee.

"It's not necessarily fair," Smith said. "If we owe it, we probably need to pay, but we haven't been paying it, so what's the problem now?"

Perez said regardless of whether Buchtel chooses to receive its dispatching services from Nelsonville, both police departments should still supply mutual aid.

"I think agencies that are close together should work hand in hand," Perez said.