WATERVILLE — Waterville police will receive a $3 an hour pay raise Jan. 1 and another $3 pay hike July 1 if the City Council on Tuesday approves union contract changes for patrol and commanding officers.
One vote by the council is needed to finalize a contract between the city and National Fraternal Order of Police, which represents six employees in the commanding officers unit. The same goes for the contract with National Fraternal Order of Police representing 25 patrol officers.
The meeting Tuesday is scheduled for 7 p.m. at The Elm at 21 College Ave. and those wanting to view the meeting or take part remotely may do so via links on the city’s website, www.waterville-me.gov.
The council is scheduled to vote on memorandums of understanding between the city and National Fraternal Order of Police that would involve opening two contracts already in place so as to give police much-needed raises, according to City Manager Steve Daly. Daly said the raises also are intended to help the city recruit and retain officers, making Waterville more competitive with area communities than it has been.
“In order for us to turn the tide with the exodus of employees that we’ve been experiencing over the last year or two, this has been necessary,” Daly said Monday.
He said he thinks the council will favor the changes.
“We worked closely with the council in developing our bargaining strategies and goals, and I think those are likely to pass,” he said.
The Police Department still has three or four openings, one of which is a sergeant’s position the department is considering making a civilian post — a supervisory position in the emergency communications center, according to Daly. The change must be bargained with the union, he said.
“The Police Department, as of today, hired four new people, two experienced and two rookie (patrol officers) to deal with the list of applicants to fill seven openings we had at the time,” he said.
The contracts with the police union would be retroactively effective July 1 and extend to June 30, 2025.
The council also will consider approving a three-year contract between the city and Teamsters Local 340 for 25 employees in the public works and parks and recreation departments.
The contract represents all full-time public works employees, including custodians, and parks and recreation employees, according to Daly. The contract would reflect a new pay scale based on the 60th percentile data collected in a salary study, and all the employees would receive a minimum increase in pay of 2%, which was the same amount for nonunion employees, he said.
“The union, and we, are very happy with that settlement,” he said.
The pay scale for employees represented by all three union contracts vary according to position, steps and number of years worked.
The council also is scheduled to consider referring to the Planning Board for public hearing and recommendation a request by Kennebec Water District to rezone 6 Cool St. from Residential-B to Residential-D. The water district was allowed to build an office building in the Residential-B zone because it is a public service facility, according to a memo on the agenda. Once the district moves to its new building at 131 Drummond Ave., office use will no longer be permitted at 6 Cool St. unless it is rezoned, and the Residential-D zone allows for office use.
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