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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. Page Two 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 Page Three 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