On Dec. 14, the Aquinnah select board signed a patrolman contract with the Aquinnah Police Department.
“It was a long, drawn-out process. But we got it done,” Aquinnah select board chair Gary Haley said.
“On behalf of the Patrolmen’s Association, thank you for seeing this process through,” Aquinnah Police Sgt. Paul Manning said to the board.
According to the contract, Aquinnah Police officers and sergeants will be getting increases in their pay. Police officers will receive between $66,240 and $86,434 a year in 2022, an increase from the $60,064 to $83,554 a year pay rate in 2021. Sergeants will receive a 2022 rate of between $75,857 to $99,389 a year, an increase from the 2021 pay of $73,674 to $96,138 a year. Officers and sergeants will receive annual increases in their pay steps.
Officers assigned to “on-call shifts” (12 am to 8 am) will receive a flat rate of $100 an hour, which is added onto their regular pay if they are called upon for service. During detail assignments, the base pay rate is $60 an hour, and $90 an hour at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital because it is “deemed hazardous.” Officers with active EMT (emergency medical technician) certification will receive an annual $3,000 stipend.
The town is required to hold a revolving account of at least $4,000 to pay officers on detail assignments. Other town compensation and reimbursements include up to $800 a year per officer for uniform and equipment replacement, $100 a month for electronic equipment used for work, $35 a day for meals while working away from home for the department, and $500 for fitness and health club membership dues.
The contract also listed how the town and the police department will act during the duration of the contract. For example, the town will not reduce salary or other forms of compensation or benefits during the duration of the contract, and officers will not hold strikes.
In other business, Aquinnah town administrator Jeffrey Madison said the state approved the single tax rate that was decided during the select board meeting on Nov. 30.
Aquinnah select board member Juli Vanderhoop said the Aquinnah parks and recreation committee will be hosting a small gathering of Santa’s helpers for Island children on Christmas Eve.
The board unanimously approved Forrest Filler to be the temporary building inspector.
The board unanimously approved a recommendation from the Aquinnah shellfish committee to open Menemsha Pond for commercial scalloping, with a limit of two bushels per person. The season started on Dec. 16.
