Discussions about regional police coverage between Marlborough Township and Red Hill have officially ended. On Wednesday, Oct. 12, Township Supervisor Brian L. Doremus announced that the municipality received a letter from Red Hill officials stating that they are not interested in contracting with the township for police coverage.

                Doremus thanked borough officials for their participation in the discussion, according to Eleanor Sadorf, Marlborough Township's manager/secretary.

                "I was hoping we could work things out," Doremus said. "Maybe sometime in the future we can revisit this again."

                Red Hill informed Marlborough of its decision in a Sept. 28 letter.

                "While the entire borough council and Mayor Schiffgens feel that the level of service provided by Marlborough Township would be more than reliable, we must remain focused in the needs and desires of Red Hill Borough," states the letter, addressed to Doremus.

                According to Sadorf, the municipalities discussed the concept of contracting police coverage in the borough for approximately for two months. She said Doremus and police Chief Darren Morgan met with Red Hill officials.

                Red Hill has relied on coverage from the Pennsylvania State Police for about 18 years.

                In a survey released last month, borough residents expressed a preference to maintain the current public safety arrangement. More than 78 percent of the respondents said they liked the coverage currently provided the state police, according to information provided by borough officials. The survey was prompted by the discussions between the municipalities, Sadorf said.

                In the letter, borough officials expressed great appreciation to Marlborough for "answering questions and developing a well-thought-out plan."

                In other news, township officials kicked off the process to approve the 2017 budget. Sadorf said she provided preliminary budget figures to the supervisors prior to Monday's meeting. Municipal officials expect to ratify the 2017 budget before the end of the year, according to Sadorf.

                Supervisors expect to start discussing the budget at their next workshop meeting.

                "This is the very beginning of the process," Sadorf said following the public portion of the meeting and before the board entered an executive session.

                According to the supervisor, the board has not raised taxes in several years. The elected officials approved the current budget with a rate of 2.15 mills.

                "We're trying not to raise taxes," Doremus said before entering the executive session, announced to consider contract with officers from the township's police department.