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Date: 3/9/2022
CHICOPEE – During the initial months of 2022, the city announced pay raises for the Fire and Police Departments respectively with a desire to align with other community rates. The council and Mayor John Vieau continued that initiative by approving raises for Police Department supervisors during their March 1 meeting.
Vieau introduced the topic as a part of his Mayor’s Briefing, sharing that the appropriation of $94,688 will go toward retroactive pay bonuses for supervisor service during the pandemic while the infusion of $72,455 into the police account will represent raises in their new contract. Similar to the police patrolmen, the supervisors established three-year contract runs from 2021 to 2024, according to Vieau.
The new contract also features similar raise structure to the patrolmen contract, with supervisors receiving an initial 3 percent increase followed by further 2 percent increases for each year.
Interim Deputy Chief Jeffrey Gawron and Captain Patrick Major both expressed their support for the newly ratified contract.
“We’re here to support the backing of this contract for our supervisors. Just the same as I said for the patrolmen’s union, they are the hardest working staff around,” said Gawron.
Major said, “I want to thank the mayor and the mayor’s negotiation staff. We worked together very well I thought to get this contract completed. We are also asking for the council’s support.”
Ward 1 Councilor Joel McAuliffe expressed his support for the new contract, citing it as an effort that was in discussion for a “long, long time.”
“We’ve talked a long time about how underpaid these cops are. We still aren’t where we should be, but we’re taking steps for the first time in a long while,” said McAuliffe. Ward 2 Councilor Shane Brooks also acknowledged the new contract as an important step toward equity with other communities regarding police compensation.
After brief discussion, the City Council approved the new contract and the retroactive pay bonus in a unanimous vote.
Closing of RiverMills COVID-19 Testing Site
With COVID-19 cases dwindling across the city, Vieau also discussed the future of the city’s COVID-19 testing site at the RiverMills Senior Center. The mayor shared that activity at the testing site has dwindled considerably over the past few weeks, with only 14 people testing on Feb. 28 and each receiving a negative result. At the time of the meeting, Vieau said the city only has 50 active cases.
Due to the circumstances, the mayor shared that the RiverMills testing site will be closing because of the decrease in activity. “We are seeing a continuing decrease in the numbers of COVID [19] cases. I encourage people still to get vaccinated,” said Vieau.
The City Council will meet again on March 15.