THE FAIRMONT CITY COUNCIL AT MONDAY’S MEETING APPROVED NEW AGREEMENTS WITH THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MINCIPAL EMPLOYEES (AFSCME) AND THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS (IBEW) UNIONS REPRESENTING CITY WORKERS.
THE NEGOTIATED AGREEMENTS WITH BOTH UNIONS ARE TWO YEAR CONTRACTS THAT PROVIDE FOR A 2.25% WAGE INCREASE IN 2021 AND A 2.75% WAGE INCREASE IN 2022.. THE NEW CONTRACTS HAVE ALSO ADJUSTED THE WAGE SCALES FOR THE TWO UNIONS PUTTING A TEN-STEP SCALE IN PLACE THAT IS CONSISTENT ACROSS BOTH UNIONS AND AND WILL BE ADOPTED FOR NON-UNION EMPLOYEES AS WELL ACCORDING TO CITY ADMINISTRATOR CATHY REYNOLDS.
THE CITY COMPLETED A WATER AND SEWER RATE STUDY IN 2020 THAT CAME UP WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RATE INCREASES OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS.. PUBLIC UTILITIES USED THAT STUDY TO SET THE WATER AND SEWER RATES FOR 2021. THE BUDGET THAT WAS PASSED INCLUDED A 17.1% INCREASE TO WATER RATES AND A 6.4% INCREASE TO SEWER RATES ACCORDING TO CITY FINANCE DIRECTOR PAUL HOYE. THE COUNCIL APPROVED BOTH RESOLUTIONS
NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS MICHELLE MILLER AND BRITNEY KAWECKI PARTICIPATED IN THEIR FIRST COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY NIGHT AFTER BEING ELECTED TO THOSE SEATS IN NOVEMBER.