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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 02/23/1977CITY COUNCIL FEBRUARY 23, 1977 The South Burlington City Council met with members of the Police Department Union for contract discussion on Wednesday, February 23, 1977, at 7:00 p.m. in the Conference Room of the Municipal Office Building at 1175 Williston Road. This was followed by a meeting with a representative of the Highway Department, also for contract discussion. The Council then went into Executive Session at 8:00 p.m. for further discussion of these two contracts. MEMBERS PRESENT Paul A. Farrar, Chairman; Frank H. Armstrong, John B. Dinklage, Michael D. Flaherty, Catherine M. Neubert POLICE DEPARTMENT MEMBERS PRESENT Gregory E. Mitchell, Robert Hawke, David Smith, Wendell North HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT MEMBER PRESENT Gary Rounds The meeting was opened at 7:10 p.m. by Chairman Farrar. He referred to a memo received from the Police Department Union regarding salaries, asking that this request be clarified. David Smith explained they were asking that each man be placed at the next higher grade over where he is in the present fiscal year, plus an increase of 6½% over that adjusted grade. Chairman Farrar stated that Council would not be discussing salaries or benefits until a report is received by Council from the Salary Review Committee. The Chairman then reviewed the modifications made by Council the previous evening to the proposed union contract. The reason for the request to turn in the target following practice was because Council was under the impression such practice was not supervised. Mr. Smith explained such training was never unsupervised. Mr. Smith then said he felt a policeman should have the same coverage in off-duty work as when he is on duty. Mr. Farrar said there is no restriction on the type of work a man may accept for off-duty work, and he was not sure Council could agree to the same coverage. If a man was hurt on the job, as a brick layer for example, the City would certainly help him to get Workmen's Compensation. Mr. Smith felt the coverage should apply to working as an officer off-duty, not for such work as bricklaying or driving a truck. Mr. Farrar felt it would be the duty of the person hiring the officer to provide insurance coverage. Mr. Smith then asked about protection in the case of false arrest. Mr. Farrar said he would have to consult with the City Attorney on this, before Council could properly respond to this question. He felt, personally, that acting as an off-duty police officer was a different situation from acting in a non-police capacity, and something might be worked out, but he did not think it would be fair to the City to be liable for what a man did in other types of employment. Mr. Smith then asked, if an impasse was reached which they certainly hoped would not happen, would the City be willing to forego fact finding and mediation and go directly to arbitration. The Chairman said he didn't think Council was in a position to respond to that at this point. It would depend upon the situation they arrived at as to what the outstanding issues were. The union's point of view might change. He said a previous Council did agree to waive fact finding and mediation and go directly to arbitration, and but he would hope this Council would not get to that point. Mr. Smith said they would be glad to discuss the contract starting with page one if Council wished. Mr. Farrar explained there could be other areas to be modified and at this time Council was not ready to hand the union a complete proposal. It would be difficult to negotiate without having the whole package in front of everyone. It will not be complete until a report is received from the Salary Review Committee. It was decided that Council would meet again with the union representatives on Wednesday, March 9th, at 7:30 p.m. Meeting with the Highway Department —7:45 p.m. Gary Rounds represented the Highway Department. He stated he had four things to be considered by the Council. First, the 150 days of sick leave should be extended. Mr. Rounds said that while some men take sick leave, others try to save it and the present limit that can be accumulated is 150 days at which time a man's benefits would stop. They were asking that this restriction be modified. Second, they were requesting coveralls, nothing as heavy as snowmobile suits, but something for protection in winter work such as flooding skating rinks, getting down in the snow to repair a truck or plow, or working on equipment in the garage which is not a very warm place in which to do repair work. Third, the holiday question. He explained they used to get 12½ days with a half day on Good Friday and a floating holiday. Now they have no floating holiday and they were requesting 13 holidays, with one of them to be a floating holiday. The City Manager explained that everybody now has the same number of days off, 12 days, that the office no longer has any time off for Good Friday. Fourth, salaries. Mr. Rounds said they felt the progress the Salary Review Committee was making was favorable and for now they would go along with whatever recommendation the committee made to the Council. It was decided that the Highway Department representatives would also meet with Council on Wednesday, March 9th. The Chairman asked the City Manager to provide Council with comparative salary and benefit figures from the surrounding communities. Mr. Dinklage then moved at 8:00 p.m. to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing the information received at this meeting and anything else pertaining to union contracts, and to adjourn without any further business. Seconded by Mrs. Neubert and voted for approval. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.