MinutesMINUTES OF THE HEARING HELD IN ATLANTIC BEACH COMMISSION CHAMBERS AT
5:15 PM ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2002 TO SETTLE THE IMPASSE INNEGOTIATIONS
BETWEEN THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH AND THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE
Present: John S. Meserve, Mayor
Richard M. Beaver, Commissioner
Mike Borno, Commissioner
Paul Parsons, Commissioner
J. Dezmond Waters, III
Also: Jim Hanson, City Manager
Alan C. Jensen, City Attorney
Maureen King, City,Clerk
Gary W. Evans, Union Negotiator
George Foster, City Negotiator
The Mayor called the meeting to order and asked the City Attorney to explain the purpose of the
hearing.
The City Attorney explained that the parties were at impasse on four issues and both parties had
waived the right to go to a Special Master for resolution. The matter was therefore, brought before
the City Commission to resolve all issues.
The Mayor indicated that each party would have ten minutes to present its case and three minutes
would then be allowed for rebuttal, following which the public would be given an opportunity to
address the City Commission and were asked to limit .their remarks to two minutes. The City
Commission would then act on the four issues at impasse.
Gary Evans presented the union's position on the items at impasse, namely,. Article 12.1 holidays,
Article 13.3 personal leave accrual rates, Article 17.4 compensatory time accrual, and Article 17.10
"call back" time. He said Atlantic Beach had fewer holidays than other jurisdictions and the union
was requesting that Police Memorial Day and Christmas Eve be added to the existing paid holidays.
Mr. Evans requested the city increase the rate at which personal leave is earned and requested that
employees be allowed to accrue up to 480 hours of compensatory time instead of the current 50
hours. He said the union was also requesting that officers be paid a minimum of three hours at time-
and-a-half if called back to work for any reason. ~ ~. ..
George Foster complimented Mr. Evans and the police officers for their work during negotiations
and summarized the current benefits under the four articles at impasse. He said city employees
currently have ten paid holidays and since police officers work 10-hour days they are paid for 100
holiday hours while other city employees who work 8-hour days receive 80 hours of paid holidays.
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Minutes of Impasse Hearing
October 28, 2002
Regarding the leave accrual, Mr. Foster felt the city's plan was generous, and pointed out that twice
per year the City pays employees for unused leave that exceeds the maximum accrual limit selected
by the employee.
Mr. Foster reported that employees may currently accumulate up to SO hours of compensatory time
and can harry 10 hours over from one year to the next. He felt it would be better to pay overtime
than to increase the compensatory time limit which would result in a funding liability.
Regarding call-back pay, Mr. Foster reported that police officers were paid at the rate oftime-and-a-
half for the actual hours worked, including travel time to and from their homes when they are called
back.to work. He pointed out that "call-back" was not very well defined and it could sometimes be
difficult to determine whether call-back pay would apply. He suggested that if the bargaining unit
wished to address and refine the four issues at impasse, they should bring them back to the bargaining
table next year.
Following rebuttal by. both parties, the Mayor opened the floor and invited comments from the
audience. Since no one wished to speak the Mayor closed the floor to public comments.
The City Commission then discussed the four issues and compared Atlantic Beach's benefits with
neighboring communities. It was felt that while the City should have a benefit package that would
attract employees, the entire benefit package, not just certain parts of it, should be compared with
other communities. The Commissioners also agreed that the language in Section 17-10 regarding
call-back time needed to be clarified and it was suggested that if the bargaining unit wished to pursue
this issue that they clarify the language and bring the matter back to the table next year.
Following further discussion, the Mayor moved to add Christmas Eve as a paid holiday; leave
the personal leave accrual rate as is; increase compensatory time from 50 to 100 hours; and
pay a minimum of one hour on any call back. The motion was seconded by Commissioner
Borno.
Director Thompson reiterated that the term "call-back" needed to be defined to make sure its meaning
was clearly understood and following brief discussion Mr. Evans offered a suggested definition of
"call-back" time; however, Dir. Thompson felt the suggested language was open to different
interpretations. Following brief discussion, the Mayor moved to defer action on Section 17.10; to
add Christmas Eve as a paid holiday; leave the personal leave accrual rate as is; and increase
compensatory time from 50 to 100 hours. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Borno.
Commissioner Beaver inquired whether budget was available .for the increased benefits under
consideration and Mr. Foster said he did not know what the budgetary impact would be since other
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Minutes of Impasse Hearing
October 28, 2002
employee groups would probably also ask for the same increases in benefits. Following brief
discussion the question was called and the motion carried on a vote of 3 - 2 with the Mayor and
Commissioners Beaver and Waters voting aye and Commissioners Parsons and Borno voting
nay.
The City Commission agreed to continue the impasse hearing for the purpose of acting on Section
17.10 as'soon as the new language was drafted. Mr. Evans inquired when the contract would become
effective and was advised that the contract would be effective when all items were agreed upon and
the contract signed. At this point Mr. Evans stated that the union would withdraw Section 17.10
from further consideration. The Mayor declared the impasse resolved and adjourned the meeting
6:40 p.m.
John S. Meserve
Mayor/Presiding Officer
ATTEST:
Maureen King, CMC
City Clerk