PORTAGE — Firefighters are getting 15% raises over three years, the City Council has decided.
The new agreement, already ratified by members of firefighters union Local 3151, calls for increases of 6.2% in 2023, 5% in 2024, 3.8% in 2025. This year’s raise is retroactive to Jan. 1.
Among a series of smaller issues addressed by the contract is that major medical coverage runs consecutively with family medical leave, but one doesn’t trigger the other, City Attorney Dan Whitten said.
“It’s a good contract. I think it’s a fair contract. I think both sides compromised,” he said. “We had professional bargaining, so I congratulate them on that.”
Councilman Collin Czilli said this contract is the last for a few years for city employees.
The city completed two years’ worth of bargaining for the various departments, and he’s happy with the results, he said.
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Councilman Ferdinand Alvarez asked whether the contract would be available to the public. Just put in a records request through the clerk-treasurer’s office, Czilli replied.
In other business, Mayor Sue Lynch invited the public to the groundbreaking for the new Portage library garden, scheduled for 1 p.m. July 20. “COVID kind of slowed us down, but we’re very excited to see this project take off,” she said.
The library garden will provide outdoor learning and relaxing opportunities, following on the heels of its Valparaiso counterpart.
The garden will be built on the site of the old police station, south of Portage Public Library.
Streets and Sanitation Superintendent Randy Reeder said June was a busy month, with 1,079 people dropping off grass clippings, leaves and limbs or to pick up free mulch.
“We literally gave away 3,000 cubic yards of mulch from our yard-waste site,” he said. With the materials dropped off, more will be available in the fall.
A newly acquired bucket van will be useful for the city’s banner program as well as exterior repairs on city-owned buildings, Reeder said. This will mean no longer having to borrow or rent equipment.
The city’s recycling program is still suspended as the city works to get into compliance with recycling guidelines, he said. One recycling tote last week had a cat tree in it, a definite no-no.
He also warned that the city’s policy for picking up bulk items allows for up to 40 square feet on the first trash day of the month. More than that, and the city will charge a fee for picking it up.
Someone who cleaned out an entire house could have been charged $400 for putting everything out by the road, he pointed out.
Valparaiso just began charging for picking up bulk items, he said. Lake Station already does, and Hobart will as well. Those cities don’t offer any free pickup of bulk items, Reeder said.
