There continues to be concern about the cancellation provisions of the Region 26 contract, as Jack Van Slyke talked about the most recent contract that Valley County did sign: "(the contract) shall terminate under the provisions of paragraph 6 of the original contract. The original contract says 90 days. The original contract says 90 days. This contract that they handed me out, item 6 is a 2 year period. We have to pay them for the other 2 years going out but they don't have to give us service." Jack Van Slyke added that not only does Valley County not have a signed contract - Region 26 has not been able to furnish a copy of that contract with the 2 year cancellation signed by any other entity it serves.

Nevertheless, Jack Van Slyke says Region 26 is showing some willingness to negotiate on the way it charges Valley County. Jack Van Slyke said he is on a committee with Doug Wrede and Kevin Hood. That committee is planning to sit down in late August. Van Slyke said Region 26 is looking at raising the base per county from the current $1,000 to 7, 8 or 9,000 per county. According to Van Slyke the new formula would have decreased this year's $45,000 charge for Valley County down to about $35,000 per year. Van Slyke also said Region 26 was discussing putting all of the charges on the counties and none on the Cities and Villages it serves. This brought vociferous opposition from the County Supervisors and County Attorney Glenn Clark. Glenn Clark said tongue-in-cheek, "I think the city police chief needs a new car - why don't we just pick it up, the county has an unlimited source of funds." Several other supervisors expressed thoughts about the counties in Region 26 not being treated fairly - according to Bob Sevenker Region 26 does not pay mileage to Jack Van Slyke or other county officials to travel to the meetings while representatives from the villages in Region 26 do receive mileage reimbursement. Several other supervisors felt the representation system does not give the counties representation in ratio to the amount of money they pay - and that the counties are already paying more than their fair share of the Region 26 budget.

County Attorney, Glenn Clark said he had gotten Stapleton out of a contract with Region 26 and said, "There's ways to get out of the contract." Valley County already has dispatchers in the sheriff's office and could use the money it sends to Region 26 along with 911 Phone taxes, any fees charged to Ord and other Valley County villages plus possible grants to fund a communications center.

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