Arnold Council sets the framework to agree to a new police contract next month

Arnold Council will vote at its April 9 meeting on several measures involving the police department, including contract revisions.

Five actions were listed on council’s March agenda when it met this week, but all were tabled.

Those items included:

• A four-year contract for newly hired police Chief Josh Stanga;

• Removing the chief of police from the bargaining unit;

• Changing the police contract from a four-year agreement to a two-year one;

• Changing the number of full-time police officers;

• Increasing the starting wage for full-time officers.

City Solicitor Jacqueline Shaw said the police items were being tabled “pending a memorandum of understanding from the police bargaining unit.”

“Everybody agrees with them; it’s just that they needed to be put in writing,” Shaw said, adding that attorney Robert McTiernan, the city’s labor counsel who handled the police negotiations, agreed.

Stanga, who was hired last month, will be paid a salary of $82,000 with a provision for overtime, if necessary, at a time-and-a-half rate. The contract will run through Jan. 15, 2028.

Stanga said he had no objection to being separated from the bargaining unit.

“The chief should never be included in the bargaining unit,” he said.

Shaw agreed, saying the chief being included was a mistake that had to be corrected.

The contract will affect seven full-time officers and three part-time officers.

In the previous contract, which was approved in December, 10 full-time officers and one part-time officer were included.

Improving the wages for officers was something that Stanga cited as a priority when he was hired. Council apparently agrees.

The starting wage for full-time officers was increased from $38,339 to $45,848 in the contract approved last year.

It will be boosted again to $53,708.

Wages for part-time officers also will be increased from $22 per hour to $25 per hour.