Monday evening the Plymouth City Council unanimously approved two ordinance amendments on second and third readings.
The first amendment will provide an increase in pay for volunteer firefighters. Fire calls will increase from $12 per to $15 per and goes into effect May 1st. City Attorney Sean Surrisi said a change in the way volunteers are paid was also included in the ordinance amendment. Previously volunteer firefighters were paid annually in December. A change in policy makes those payments monthly instead of annually.
The second ordinance amendment finishes the pay increase for full timers in fire department. Also included in the amendment is the ability to waive the 90 probationary pay for a new hire. Surrisi said the tight labor market is making it difficult to find qualified candidates and having their pay reduced for three months is a bid detractor. This amendment will allow the department head to waive the 90% pay if necessary to hire a good candidate.
Mayor Mark Senter has asked the task force: councilmen Don Ecker, Bill Walters and Gary Cook, that looked into the issues at the fire department to meet again and look at the police department’s wages. The committee presented a comprehensive look at wages and work hours compared to other communities in the area.
