Although the Dexter Village Council listened to a preliminary report on contracting out the operation of its water and wastewater operations earlier this week, the village has no immediate plans to do so, President Shawn Keough said.

“At this point in time, the village of Dexter hasn’t determined that there’s a defined reason for going down that path,” Village President Shawn Keough said. “We are not in any position as a village ready to make a switch to contract out those services. That’s not on the table, and we didn’t hint it at on Monday.”

In May, council trustee Joe Semifero asked that an item be added to the June agenda, asking staff to investigate contracting out the services of the wastewater treatment plant.

At its June meeting, the council voted 5-2 to instruct staff to look into the possibility of contracting out the operations of the water department and the wastewater treatment plant.

Assistant Village Manager Courtney Nicholls presented her findings Monday after talking with six communities in southeastern Michigan (Milan, Dundee, Leoni, Marette, Rockwood and Grosse Ile) which privatize similar services. Nicholls also consulted with three companies (United Water, Wade Trim and Infrastructure Alternatives) which provide those services.

Dexter privatizes many of its public services, contracting out its waste management, information technology, engineering, legal services, payroll and police, fire, and emergency services.

“It was simply a summary of research that (Nicholls) did the past six weeks, and the reasons why they did it, the benefits, how they went about doing it, and we got some sample contracts,” Keough said.

According to the report, one benefit of privatization was that it simplified staffing. Communities cited the difficulty in finding licensed operators.

Some communities reported privatization provided savings from $25,000 for Marlette to $300,000-$400,000 for Milan.

Contracts with companies typically range from three to five years.

“Anytime you look at any providing service, you certainly try to understand what it costs to provide that service,” Keough said. “We didn’t investigate deep enough on whether it would be a cost-saving measure for us.

“The council has been open-minded about providing services before. We’re not trying to get rid of employees. That’s not the story.”

Currently, Dexter has 3.5 union employees for sewer operations whose expenses total $385,000. In the water department, the village has 1.5 union employees whose expenses total $155,000.

Brian Vernellis is a reporter for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-4617 or brianvernellis@annarbor.com.