ROCHELLE — City workers with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 196 have a new three-year contract after Rochelle City Council members unanimously approved the deal during a meeting on Monday night.

The agreement calls for an across-the-board wage increase of 2.25 percent each year, retroactive to May 1, 2019 when the previous contract expired.

In addition, standby pay was increased to match the street department with an annual increase of $1 per year for the length of the contract, while language that allows for up to 30 hours of compensatory time in each calendar year was also approved, including paying employees for any remaining hours on Dec. 31.

The residency requirement for employees was extended from 15 miles to 21 miles from city limits, and language was also added that guarantees employees eight consecutive off-duty rest hours after working 16 consecutive hours. An exception to this clause is in the case of emergency situations.

Under the new contract, employees are now responsible for their own uniform laundering, but the city will provide up to $1,000 per year in a uniform allowance for any uniforms that are not arc flash rated. According to city manager Jeff Fiegenschuh, the city is currently spending more than $1,500 per year for each employee by using a uniform provider and cleaning service.

The agreement calls for a one-time stipend for water department and water reclamation employees who obtain the operator in training status with the ILEPA for a Class B license for water ($2,500 stipend) and a Class 1 license for water reclamation ($3,500 stipend).

“We started negotiating about four months ago and things went smoothly with both parties making compromises,” Fiegenschuh said on Monday night. “This is a good contract and is in line with the other city departments.”

 Fleet agreement

The council voted 6-1 in favor of a new city vehicle leasing program with Enterprise Fleet Management that is expected to not only provide city staff with new leased vehicles on a rotating basis, but also save money over the period of the contract.

Street superintendent Tim Isley explained that the city has a light duty vehicle fleet of varying ages and capabilities, and has employed a “drive it till the wheels fall off” approach that can be costly over time.

For the past year, city staff have been investigating options of leasing vehicles and performed an analysis to determine the best leasing and purchasing options. Isley said the lowest life cycle costing method was the most economical, including depreciation, insurance, fuel, maintenance, repair, downtime costs and market conditions.

“Over time, city staff anticipates significant financial and practical advantages such as improved cash flow, greatly reduced maintenance costs, reduced fuel costs, improved safety features, an optimal vehicle replacement schedule and increased fleet management support,” Isley stated. “By implementing the Enterprise Fleet Management program, the city can expect to see a conservative net savings of over $200,000 within the first 10 years.”

Isley added that by partnering with Enterprise, the city can expect to have a cost-effective fleet that is safe, reliable, efficient and well managed. He also added that the agreement will include more than 30 vehicles, but that does not include the police squad cars at this time.

“We will look at possibly adding the squad cars to the program down the line,” Fiegenschuh added.

Following further discussion, the council voted 6-1 in favor of the agreement with Don Burke voting against the proposal.

“I just believe that we can run the same type of replacement program internally and don’t need to pay premiums with an outside company,” he said. “I had worked on a similar program for vehicle replacement that I think our staff can manage.”

At the beginning of the meeting Burke was officially sworn in as an appointed council member. He will be filling the vacancy that was created when John Bearrows was elected mayor. Burke, who will serve in this term until the spring of 2021, previously was on the council for four years.