Shelburne council unanimously decided Wednesday night to keep the local police force, which has been serving the town since 1879.

“There were really two factors at play, one was level and quality of service and the other was financing,” said Mayor Wade Mills. “We know the level of service that they provide and that’s something that we can bank on and rely on.”

Shelburne's previous town council requested the OPP costing after it became clear the local force needed a new police station, which would cost between three and six-million-dollars. The station is currently located in the town hall, and Shelburne Police say it doesn’t meet provincial standards.

Council has heard the OPP was the cheaper option with a projected savings of six-million-dollars over the next 10 years.

Prior to the vote, each councillor gave their reason for keeping the local police service instead of switching to the OPP.

“When it comes to community safety for our families and our residents these are things we can’t put a price tag on,” said Deputy Mayor Steve Anderson.

Some councillors expressed concerns that the OPP wouldn’t be able to provide the same level of service through its base model.

“The OPP does a wonderful job, but it’s not the level we currently experience here – response times for example are a lot longer,” said councillor Lindsay Wegener.

Shelburne’s police chief says tonight’s decision is a big relief for the force.

“We can move on and continue to provide policing to the Town of Shelburne with pride and professionalism that they’ve become accustomed to," said Chief Kent Moore

As the focus now shifts to the police station issue, council passed a second motion requesting the police services board conducts a service delivery review.

“See if we can find some efficiencies and limit the amount of physical space that we made need for a police station”, said Mills.

The comprehensive review will consider everything from staffing to technology.

“We will have to sit down with our police services board and our council and figure out what we will require over the next 20 to 25 years in order to provide adequate and effective policing to the town,” said the police chief.

There is no timeline for a decision on the police station issue.