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As it stands today, Electric City will be out of police coverage for its residents on Dec. 31.

It’s a money issue. Electric City pays for police protection from Grand Coulee, which wants more.

Council committees of the two cities met a couple months ago and agreed to a price for coverage in 2015 at $115,000 — up from $77,000 in 2014. That would give the two cities time to come up with a comprehensive plan that could lead to a two-city police department.

A week ago, Grand Coulee sent a contract offer for that amount to Electric City and to date there hasn’t been a response.

Although committees from the two council had agreed on the price, Electric City Mayor Jerry Sands said the price “is still is too much.”

Councilmembers Aaron Derr and John Nordine comprise the Electric City committee. They have tried to get Grand Coulee’s David Tylor and Erin Nielsen back to the bargaining table, to no avail.

At its last council meeting in November, Mayor Sands instructed Derr and Nordine to pursue other avenues for police coverage.

Sands met with Coulee Dam officials to see if they were interested and they agreed, the Star learned, to send a proposal by the end of the week.

If that offer prevailed, Coulee Dam officers would have to go through Grand Coulee to answer calls or to patrol.

An agreement between Electric City and Coulee Dam would likely mean that Grand Coulee would have to lay off at least one police officer, officials there hinted.

Electric City wanted to get Grand Coulee back to the bargaining table to see if some kind of compromise was possible.

Tuesday, Sands said he is still hoping that the two cities can get together on the cost of police coverage.

The setting for serious negotiations was upset when Grand Coulee’s initial offering for a five-year proposal would rise up to nearly $250,000 for the fifth year.

That was quickly rejected and led to the two council committees meeting.

Electric City is frustrated in trying to get a meeting, but its phone calls go unanswered, one councilman stated.

So frustrated in fact, that Electric City Councilmember Brad Parrish commented at a recent council gathering, “Let them pack sand.”