While officials from four Lakes Region towns see the potential benefits of regionalizing public safety services, they are leaving what exactly it will look like up to the experts.

The process of looking to merge public safety departments started with meetings between officials from Casco, Naples and Raymond. Last month Gray representatives joined the mix.

At Tuesday’s meeting, selectmen, town councilors, town managers and fire and rescue chiefs from the four towns talked about hiring a consultant to assess the feasibility of merging the departments.

During their next meeting, with a date not yet determined, the group will likely start looking at information from companies interested in doing the feasibility study. After assessing the qualifications of potential consultants, town officials hope to include the cost of the study on town meeting warrants next June.

The cost of hiring a consultant was on the minds of several selectmen at Tuesday’s meeting. Casco Selectman Calvin Nutting asked if there was any way of knowing what it would cost ahead of time.

“We’re all pretty conservative,” said Naples Selectman Rick Paraschak.

Raymond Town Manager Don Willard said it would be difficult to estimate a cost, but he guessed $50,000-150,000. Willard said he hoped to cover a good part of the cost with state and federal grants such as a Community Development Block Grant.

“You get what you pay for,” added Gray Town Councilor Tracy Scheckel. “It’s a huge move.”

Creating a regional public safety department is a new idea in New England, though there are large regionalized departments in the Midwest and West, some of those present commented.

Given that no one is quite sure of the scope of the feasibility study or what questions to ask consulting companies, the group decided to send out a request for qualifications instead of a request for proposals. Interested firms will describe their experience and expertise with similar projects.

Though they operate independently, the four towns’ public safety departments have a history of working together. They participate in mutual aid agreements and the towns of Raymond and Gray already share the costs of billing and a fire station. Fire and rescue chiefs from the towns have said regionalizing services could save money and improve quality of service.

The feasibility study will explore issues of level of service, cost and diminishing numbers of volunteers. A consultant will assess each town’s facilities, vehicles and equipment and attempt to determine whether combining resources and departments might offer enhanced service and save money.

The next step for the group will be to make a few changes to the request for qualifications before sending it out. Officials from the four towns will then move forward with assessing responses and interviewing the most promising applicants, a process that will be facilitated by the Greater Portland Council of Governments.

Raymond Fire Chief Denis Morse, a long-time advocate of consolidation, said looking at the age of the equipment and price of new equipment will show that merging is common sense.

“It’s a matter of when, not if,” Morse said.