October 29, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 3 Midland Park Borough, PBA agree on new three-year pact The Midland Park Borough Council and the Policemen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) Local 79 have reached agreement on a three-year contract that also settles a previ- ous contract going back to 2012. “The local is thrilled that now we can move forward with both contracts,” said PBA President Steve Vander Pyle. He noted that neither contract is yet actually signed but said he expects that will take place by the end of November. “I think it’s a fair contract both for Midland Park and the PBA, and we were able to accomplish it without going to arbitration,” said Councilman Nick Papapietro, the coun- cil’s police committee chairman. The agreement provides salary increases of 2 percent for 2015, and 1 ½ percent for 2016 and 2017. Papapietro said a vital feature of the new agreement was adjusting the beginning step to allow for the difference between a recruit attending the police academy and a more experienced rookie. “Our concern was trying to retain our existing officers. We wanted to keep them from leaving,” Papapietro said. Under the terms of the memorandum of agreement approved by both parties, the 10 steps in the 2012 salary guide, increased to 13 by an arbitrator’s decision, will be reduced to eight, which was the number of steps up to 2006. But an interim step will be added for new hires, who will receive a $33,000 salary while at the police academy but be bumped to $42,000 once on the road working on their own. This date will then become the recruit’s anniversary date for salary guide purposes. The 60-day terminal leave to which new hires are now entitled will be reduced to 40 days, payable in three equal installments at the discretion of the employee. Sick leave for employees hired after April 1, 2013 will be reduced from the current 96 days to a graduated number based on the years on the force: 15 working days for those employed under two years; 25 days from two years to less than five, and 40 days for five years and over. Minimum court hours will be reduced from three to two; and recall hours will be increased from two to three. According to Borough Administrator Addie Hanna, who served on the negotiations team, the negotiations for the 2015-17 agreement also resolved issues in the 2013- 14 contract awarded by an arbitrator in March, 2013. The arbitrator, Susan Osborn, limited raises for officers going through the salary steps to a total of $47,966 over the two- year period, and opted to divide that amount unevenly among the union members so as to be as equitable as pos- sible given built-in disparities in the expired contract. The salary of all other officers were frozen at 2012 rates until Sept. 1, 2014, at which time they were to receive a 2 per- cent raise. This contract was never signed by the parties, however.