Local police officers and the Wayland City Council have agreed to a new five-year employment contract.
The City Council Monday night unanimously approved the pact, which covers the years 2016 to 2021. The negotiating teams included Police Chief Steve Chief Harper, Finance Director Cherie Parish, and City Manager Tim McLean. Wayland Police Officers are represented by the Police Officers Labor Council (POLC).
“Negotiations were very amicable and we were able to reach consensus on a contract with just two meetings with the POLC,” McLean said.
The Wayland Police Department includes Chief Steven Harper, Sgt. Mark Rookus and officers Jay Anderson, Jason Beckwith, Tom Newberry, Mark Riemersma and Bernard Austhof.
Under the terms of the new pact, which takes effect July 1, police will receive a 1% increase in each of the first three years of the agreement and 1.5% increases in each of the last two years.
The pay at entry level will be $20.80 per hour. At the end of five years, that same officer would get get $21.85 per hour.
An officer at the highest level (at least five years of experience on the job) will get $25.98 per hour on July 1. As of July 1, 2020, that same officer would get $27.30 per hour.
The sergeant will receive a 10 percent differential increase from the top step officer’s pay.
McLean added, “There were some non-economic changes to the contract. There were some language changes that clarified policies for addressing scheduling, vacations, and personal leave time. There was one new section that addresses how internal investigations and interviews shall be conducted.
“For comparables, we looked at contracts for the City of Allegan, City of Plainwell, and Village of Sparta. They are similar sized communities.”
