Wayland selectmen finalize three-year police contract with 2-2-2.5 percent raises
WAYLAND -- August 28, 2020, Wayland selectmen announce tentative three-year police union contract and rework warrant articles. Chair Cherry Karlson said the board reached a memorandum of understanding with NEPBA/Wayland Police Officers Union Local 176, with cost-of-living raises of 2 percent, 2 percent and 2.5 percent, a single $55-per-hour detail rate in four-hour segments, comp-time accumulation cut from 50 to 40 hours, and a broadened educational incentive covering degrees beyond criminal justice. The board voted 5-0 to reduce the Article 4 OPEB appropriation to $250,000 and recalculate per-capita contributions to $14,960, and 5-0 to amend the capital budget, trimming the Old Sudbury Road bridge line from $400,000 to $320,000, zeroing a $40,000 high school sound system, and adding $120,000 for COVID-19 ventilation work in public buildings. Town Administrator Louise Miller said Wayland is "one of the top" municipalities in the state for OPEB funding. "This is a unique time and I think that it is a reasonable act," Karlson said.
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WAYLAND -- The Board of Selectmen on Friday announced it had reached agreement on a three-year contract with the town's police union, voted to amend two annual town meeting articles to soften the tax impact of pandemic-era costs, and approved a special town meeting warrant for mailing.
Chair Cherry Karlson said the board had finalized language for a memorandum of understanding with the New England Police Benevolent Association, Wayland Police Officers Union Local 176, after talks that began in March were suspended when the town declared a COVID-19 state of emergency. The MOU is to be signed at the board's next meeting.
The contract runs from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2023, with cost-of-living increases of 2 percent, 2 percent and 2.5 percent. Karlson said all language changes are funded within that increase. Among them: a single detail rate of $55 per hour billed in four-hour segments, a reduction in accumulated comp time from 50 hours to 40, holiday pay limited to July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, and shift bids by seniority that the chair said should reduce overtime. Step increases at years 15 and 25 are added but not funded until year two of the contract. The educational incentive, previously limited to criminal justice degrees, was broadened to recognize degrees in fields such as business, social work and psychology.
"I think it's a good result," member Doug Levine said, thanking Town Administrator Louise Miller for her work on the agreement.
The board voted 5-0 to revise its motion on Article 4, the OPEB funding article, after discussions with Finance Director Brian Keveny and the Finance Committee. The amended motion reduces the Section B appropriation to $250,000 and recalculates the per-capita Section A contributions, removing the Children's Way and full-day kindergarten enterprise funds, which Miller said do not have funds available this year. The recalculated Section A total is $14,960, drawn across the general fund, food service, recreation, wastewater and water budgets. Miller said Wayland remains among the best-funded municipalities in the state for retiree health liabilities, which are not required to be pre-funded under state law.
"This is a unique time and I think that it is a reasonable act," Karlson said of the reduction.
The board also voted 5-0 to amend the capital budget on page 38 of the warrant. The Old Sudbury Road bridge design-and-construction line was reduced from $400,000 to $320,000, and a $40,000 high school sound system line was zeroed out after repairs were completed. The freed free-cash money is being reallocated to a new $120,000 line for COVID-19 ventilation work in public buildings, including the high school and the library. Miller said Town Moderator and Town Counsel had agreed the existing motion text need not change; voters will receive updated summary sheets as handouts at town meeting.
Miller also outlined a proposed advisory working group, requested by the Board of Health, to evaluate COVID-19 surveillance testing for school staff and students. The group would include representatives of the town manager, health director, public health nurse, school superintendent, Board of Health, School Committee, Board of Selectmen and, at Karlson's suggestion, the Finance Committee. Miller cited Wellesley, where officials have estimated a $3.5 million cost for such a program. Selectman Tom Fay volunteered to serve as the board's representative.
The board approved publication of two press releases, one updating residents on the COVID-19 relief fund and one advocating for Article 11, the community center proposal, and unanimously signed the special town meeting warrant for mailing this weekend.
The next meeting is the warrant hearing on Sept. 8. Annual and special town meeting are scheduled for later in the month, with planners expecting roughly 400 attendees and 500 chairs set up for social distancing.