Following a vote Monday, Dec. 11, Seven Fields Borough Council announced Northern Regional Police Department would officially begin local service Jan. 1, 2024.

The department’s new four-year contract with the borough comes amid the ongoing dissolution of the Evans City-Seven Fields Regional Police Department.

In a statement released by the borough Monday evening, Mayor Dean Galitsis expressed praise for its officials’ handling of the situation.

“I applaud the borough council members and borough manager Tom Smith for their dedicated work over the past two years,” Galitsis stated, “bringing our prior police contract to an agreeable ending and securing a quality new partner for law enforcement services.”

The $650,000 agreement is expected to be ratified by the Northern Regional Police Commission on Thursday evening.

But officers have already been present in the borough, according to the statement, with several joining the borough’s annual Light Up Night on Dec. 2.

Based in Allegheny County, the regional department represents Pine, Marshall and Richland townships, as well as the borough of Bradford Woods.

Dan Dimond, chairman for the Northern Regional Police Commission, said he was “proud to welcome a new municipal partner” in Monday’s statement.

“The addition of Seven Fields to our expanding service area is a clear endorsement of the quality, dependable and resident-forward service that our officers provide tirelessly,” he stated, “each hour, day, month and year.”

Council President Kimerley Regan-Koch stated in Monday’s release that the officials were “excited to begin a new era” for Seven Fields.

The department brings over 50 officers and personnel to the borough, according to Regan-Koch, including a full-time detective bureau, a K-9 unit, a special response team and a traffic enforcement detail.

The borough’s current regional department has been operating with the assistance of state police since early March, with two remaining full-time officers on staff.

By late summer, Seven Fields had entered talks with Cranberry Township and Northern Regional police departments, accepting the latter’s $650,000 bid on Sept. 11.

Efforts by both Seven Fields and Evans City to dissolve their regional department have been ongoing since August, with buyout negotiations continuing for the two remaining officers — Chief Joe McCombs and Sgt. Donald Meyers.

“Our residents have been rewarded with an agreement that is both fiscally sound and unsurpassed in quality of service and capability,” Regan-Koch stated in the borough’s release.

At Monday’s council meeting, Smith said the difference in cost between the departments was about $50,000, accounting for increases from the dissolving regional department.

“If you figure that the Evans City-Seven Fields Regional Police Department was due for a 5% increase in personnel cost and an additional 16% in the health insurance, we would have been in and around $600,000,” he said.

Monday’s vote to ratify the agreement was 3-1, with councilperson Jeff Smouse dissenting — wishing the change had been more transparent — and councilperson Morgan Hardesty absent.

“I am thrilled to welcome the Northern Regional Police Department and to begin a relationship I believe will benefit the department, the Borough of Seven Fields, and, most importantly, our residents,” Galitsis stated, “who deserve the increased police coverage and expanded capabilities that this agreement provides.”