COOS BAY — Officials from the city of Coos Bay and Southwestern Oregon Community College agree when it comes to public safety on the college’s Coos Bay campus, the best solution is to find someone else to pay for it.

At a joint meeting Tuesday, Mayor Jeff McKeown said he has spoken with a nonprofit organization that might be willing to provide funds to the college over five years, which would allow the city to hire an extra officer. It would only be a short-term solution, McKeown said, but it would give the two sides time to hammer out a more permanent arrangement.

“The grant’s a bridge,” he said.

Board member Harry Abel liked McKeown’s funding suggestion, then offered another: impose a fee on students who break the law.

“I think if they cause the problem, they ought to pay for the problem,” he said.

Abel suggested the nonprofit might be more interested in providing a grant if the proposal included a fee system. He left it to campus security to determine appropriate fees for crimes.

Campus safety has been an issue with the two agencies since the city rescinded an agreement at the end of 2007 that allowed campus safety to issue citations on behalf of the Coos Bay Police Department. The city cited liability issues for its decision and asked the college to pay for Coos Bay to hire new officers. The city’s reasoning is that the college doesn’t pay property taxes, yet requires frequent police responses to its on-campus housing.

“It creates a problem,” McKeown said.

The college is exploring whether it could get state law changed to allow campus safety officers to issue citations without city oversight, College Chairman Lonny Anderson said.

“We want to craft something that doesn’t limit Coos Bay to do all the work,” he said.

Councilor Mark Daily liked that idea. He also suggested that if the college pays the city for police service, it shouldn’t be a fixed amount. Rather, the college and city should examine the demand for police service on campus and adjust what the college pays accordingly.

“I don’t see any reason to lock it in so in the future you are paying too much or not enough,” he said.

In addition to discussing the issue of paying for police, the two sides agreed it was important for police and public safety to meet to discuss what issues officers will respond to on campus. Anderson said he would bring the issue up at today’s special board meeting.

A previous meeting between city and college staff ended in confusion about what crimes the college reports to the city.

College staff presented a policy that listed how public safety officers would respond to a variety of student conduct violations. For some, such as possession of a firearm, harassment and hazing, the response was listed as “possible call” to CBPD.

McKeown said the city found that unacceptable.

The board members present said they had never seen such a policy and assumed the college was reporting all crimes.