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02-02-1995 FSTFSR MIN MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER FIRE DEPARTMENT • COMPENSATION TASK FORCE HELD AT THE ELK RIVER FIRE STATION THURSDAY,FEBRUARY 2, 1995 Members Present: Tom Dillon, Cliff Skogstad, Lori Johnson, Randy Sykes, Hank Duitsman, Bob Pearson Members Absent: None Also Present: Bruce West, Fire Chief, Rob Dreissig Randy Sykes called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. The minutes of the January 10, 1995, meeting were reviewed. There was discussion on the total hourly pay rates as previously calculated by Randy and whether or not actual hours were now available. Lori indicated that the 1990 actual hours were 5,039, which equated to pay of$19.18 per hour. Prior to that time, (1986 to 1989) Mary Dreissig, as Treasurer of the Elk River Fire and Ambulance Corporation, paid the fire fighters. Mary will gather the hour information so it is available when the fire department and City Council hold their joint meeting. • There was a question regarding vesting. Bruce indicated that vesting in both plans is the same and that there is a required minimum of five years of service before becoming fully vested. It was indicated that both the City Council and the fire department had seen the proposed compensation package. Hank informed the task force that it was distributed at a Council meeting; however, it did not generate a lot of discussion. He stated that the Council is happy that this is progressing, and the Council is anxious to meet with the department to complete this project. There was no discussion on the total hourly pay rate; it was assumed that once actual hours were available, the hourly rate would be negotiated between the department and the City Council. Hank indicated that night call out pay may be an issue; he stated he was not sure what the City Council's thoughts were on that portion of the proposal. Everyone felt that it was appropriate to have a joint meeting to bring this issue to a conclusion. After a per hour rate is agreed upon, the Council will be in a position to approve the proposal and the fire membership can then vote on the plan. Hank stated that the City Council feels that the allocation of the City contribution should be based on individual hours earned, but that is up to the Fire Membership. Since the by-laws need to be reviewed in order to incorporate the change in the retirement plan, it was agreed that the City Attorney, Peter Beck, should review the by- laws to incorporate any other changes and updates that need to be made. Lori will send a copy to Peter for his review, 1111 Randy gave an overview of the Department meeting on the proposed compensation • package. Again, the hourly rate was an issue and how the pie is split was an issue with the fire membership. The$8.00 per hour rate is not an issue at this time. There was a question on how the two different revenue sources would be split. It was indicated that state aid needs to be split equally and the City portion could be split equally based on hours or account balances as long as it is equally split. That issue will be resolved in the by-law changes and will be determined by vote of the fire membership. It was indicated that the fire department members overwhelmingly voted to continue with the process to change the retirement plan and to implement a new pay system. It was agreed that the Council and fire fighters would schedule a work session for 5:00 p.m., Monday, March 6, at City Hall to discuss the Task Force's proposal. Prior to that meeting, Cliff will make contact with other cities to see if they pay night call-out pay and Lori will check to see which methods of splitting the pie are legal. There was discussion on how the conversion would take place and on eligibility dates. Bruce indicated that eligibility and conversion dates can be different; that issue would be discussed when the by-laws are amended. Bob Pearson questioned whether clothing replacement was something that should be considered as part of the compensation package. Bruce said that he was not aware of any department that offered a clothing replacement allowance. The meeting of the Elk River Fire Department Compensation Task Force was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, • A Lori Johnson Finance Director • • REMINDER The next meeting of the Fire Compensation Task Force is scheduled for Thursday,February 2,at 7:00 p.m. at the Fire Station. Attached are the minutes from the last meeting for your review. Both the City Council and the Fire Department Membership have had an opportunity to comment on the draft compensation proposal;hopefully,we can discuss some of their comments and concerns when we meet on Thursday. If you are unable to attend this meeting,please contact either Randy or me so we II • can reschedule if necessary. See .ou on Thursday. Y •