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Waterville council rejects sergeants’ raise, approves Police Chief contract and emergency management pay bump
Summary
The council denied a mid-contract 15% pay increase request for sergeants, approved a one-year Police Chief contract that includes phased wage increases and a take-home squad car provision, and raised emergency management team pay to $15.36/hour.
Administrator Teresa Hill told council that Law Enforcement Labor Services (LELS) requested a 15% base wage increase for sergeants mid-contract. The Personnel/Human Resources Committee recommended against the increase because the contract had been recently negotiated and no job-description changes justified a mid-contract change. Council voted to follow the HR committee recommendation and denied the MOU request (motion carried 4-0).
On a separate personnel item, council approved a one-year Police Chief contract effective May 4, 2026, which includes an initial 2% wage increase for the first six months and an additional 2.5% plus a take-home squad provision for the following six months. Council clarified the take-home applies to a single squad vehicle and will end when the vehicle is retired. The HR committee had recommended the take-home provision with a split 3-2 vote; the council approved the full contract (motion carried 4-0).
Council also approved a cell phone allowance for Jordan Edwards (Wastewater Supervisor) in lieu of a city device, approved a vacation and leave accrual policy amendment (to incorporate former AFSCME schedule items), authorized a seasonal part-time public-works posting, approved posting for a new Emergency Management Director, and approved raising emergency-management team member hourly pay to $15.36 (motion carried 3-0 with Councilor Scott Potter abstaining due to committee membership).
