New fire contract in Summit
Hurckes: Pay hikes “in line” with nearby towns
By Steve Metsch
The Summit Village Board, at its monthly meeting on June 15 , approved a new contract with Teamsters Union Local 700, which represents the firefighters.
The contract, which runs retroactively from July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2022, includes slight pay hikes for all positions in the department.
For example, firefighters who are now paid $13.75 per hour will get $16 per hour on July 1, 2021.
Increases are also scheduled for engineers, medics, lieutenants, captains and paid-on-call firefighters.
The highest pay will be $21.35 per hour for captains, effective July 1, 2021.
Summit’s Executive Director Jerry Hurckes, in a text June 16, said that the pay increase “puts us in line with surrounding villages to be able to keep our firefighters/paramedics.”
The contract includes a non-discrimination clause, and a no-stroke commitment. Staffing per shift will be one officer, one engineer and two paramedics.
Annual physical exams will be required of each fire department employee.
Village board members during the meeting—that was conducted by phone because of the coronavirus pandemic—said they were pleased with the contract.
Trustee Art Sullivan asked if all went well with the contract negotiations.
Hurckes replied that “the union is very happy; our fire chief is very happy.”
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A section of newly paved alley in Summit. (Photo by Carol McGowan)
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In other business, trustees unanimously approved a business license for a Farmers Insurance Agency at 7424 Archer Ave.
The board approved a lease agreement with First Midwest bank for a parking lot at 7640 W. 63rd St. The board approved paying M&J Asphalt $165,710 for paving.
The board considered a recommendation for the village engineer to provide notice of intent to award a contract for water meter replacement and fixed based automatic radio read installation to Calumet City Plumbing in the amount of $1,149,045 pending approval from the Illinois EPA.
But that was put on hold.
Trustee Sam Dardovski moved that the payment be tabled pending further review. All the trustees agreed and voted unanimously to delay action on that.
The board did approve a payment of $343,395 to MQ Construction Co. for work completed on the Green Alley Program. Two alleys were worked on. The MWRD reimburses the village a portion of the price.
“It’s fantastic that we have the reimbursement,” Dardovski said. “That’s a great thing.”
Village officials congratulated Trustee Mayra Ortiz, who recently gave birth to her first son. She and her husband have two daughters.
The next village board meeting is planned for July 20. Prior to that, trustees plan to hold their committee meetings on July 1.
— Desplaines Valley News
Email Steve Metsch at sm4610@sbcglobal.net
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