COOS BAY — Their law enforcement agencies are on the same page, but the city of Coos Bay and Southwestern Oregon Community College appear far from agreement on a plan to hire more police officers to patrol the campus.

The city wants the college to help pay for the additional personnel, as much as $470,000 a year, while college representatives have expressed reluctance.

If implemented, the funding could allow the city to bolster its patrol staffing and post a resource officer at the college.

At a meeting Tuesday involving city councilors and college board members, Coos Bay Capt. Rodger Craddock explained why the city was making its demands. He noted that the college’s on-campus housing generates a large volume of calls, more than any other similarly populated area in the city.

In the past, campus public safety officers had helped by serving as Coos Bay reserves, issuing citations for crimes including thefts, criminal mischief and minor in possession of alcohol. The city ended the arrangement in December, however, citing a lack of communication with the college and concerns about liability.

Craddock said he had spoken with public safety officials and crafted a new response plan. Public safety will handle incidents involving possession of empty alcohol containers and drug paraphernalia, both of which are violations of campus conduct, not crimes. Incidents involving theft, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, criminal trespassing and car clouting may be handled by the college unless the victim requests police involvement. All other crimes, including alcohol-related incidents, must be handled by the police, Craddock said.

Given these conditions, Craddock estimated the police would spend about 635 hours dealing with campus matters during a school year. A review of the 2006-2007 school year found at least a quarter of calls from Southwestern involved minor in possession cases, for which the police will now be responsible. Given the department’s current staffing levels, Capt. Gary McCullough said the city couldn’t provide sufficient coverage.

“When they are not running from call to call, they are running from follow-up to follow-up,” he said. “They are just swamped.”

Craddock offered three options for the college to consider. If the police hired an additional officer, at a cost of $117,500, he would be added to the general patrol. As a result, the police would be able to add patrols on campus and aide the college in compiling crime statistics from on-campus incidents.

By hiring two officers, the city would add one to patrols while the second would be posted as a resource officer. The latter would do follow-up work, serve as a liaison with the college and help with emergency response planning, Craddock said.

The third option is to hire four officers, allowing the city to provide a 24-hour a day, seven-days a week presence on campus. For this last option, the city would ask the college to pay about $470,000.

The two board members at Tuesday’s meeting said they would take the proposal back to their board, but they said they were skeptical it would be approved.

David Bridgham said his read is the board would be reluctant to take out $117,500 from its budget, which he described as “tight.”

The city had previously proposed entering into an intergovernmental agreement with the college with the latter paying $117,500. Although the board never formally voted on the item, Harry Abel said discussions among the board had been negative.

“I heard at least two, ‘No, we are not doing that,’” he said.

Mayor Jeff McKeown said he had investigated the possibility of acquiring a grant to help defray some of the costs. Although there were no guarantee, he said he thought a grant might be available to cover half the costs for at least a few years.

McKeown’s preference was for the second option, especially getting a resource officer on campus. He pointed to the success of the program at Marshfield High School, where the resource officer averted problems by establishing relationships with students.

“He knew what was going on before it went on, most of the time,” he said.

City Manager Chuck Freeman said the fee was appropriate because the college receives police coverage without paying property taxes. The previous arrangement was put in place in lieu of taxes, so since it has been discontinued, something else must take its place, he said.

After the meeting, he suggested one way the college might generate revenue would be to impose a public safety fee on students living in on-campus housing.

Craddock said the police are currently responding to calls on campus and sending patrols through the campus on Friday and Saturday nights. Bridgham said there was no need, citing the presence of the college’s public safety.

“It’s not our expectation to have patrols on campus,” he said.

McKeown said he would like to see them continue.

“I want to get through the interim safely,” he said.

Abel said the city’s proposal would be discussed by the college’s board at its April 28 meeting. He didn’t offer any promises, though he said the statistics provided by Craddock were illuminating.

“I can understand the need,” he said.