Lower Makefield Township has a new four-year contract with its police.
The deal, which covers all 41 sworn officers in the department, was approved 4-0 by the board of supervisors at its Nov. 2 meeting after previously being ratified by the Lower Makefield Township Police Benevolent Association.
The new contract will succeed the current agreement that expires at the end of the year, and will kick in Jan. 1 and extend through Dec. 31, 2026.
It has salary increases totaling 17.25% over the four years, with a hike of 4.75% in the first year, 4.25% in both the second and third years, and 4% in the final year.
“We’re moving forward to fund a professional police force, and I’m happy with what we’ve come up with,” Supervisor Daniel Grenier said.
For the first time in township history, according to Solicitor David Truelove, police will start contributing toward their health insurance premiums, something that’s becoming more and more common in the public sector and has been pretty much standard practice in the private sector for many years.
Lower Makefield officers will contribute between $5 and $20 per pay, depending on the specific health insurance plan they are enrolled in.
“On balance, a very fair contract,” Truelove said.
Township Police Chief and Interim Manager Ken Coluzzi said the new contract was worked out with the help of former Manager Kurt Ferguson, who resigned in early July to take the same job in Upper Dublin Township but has continued to work for Lower Makefield as a part-time consultant under an agreement that expires at the end of the year.
In other actions from the Nov. 2 meeting, the supervisors on the recommendation of township Engineer Andy Pockl, voted to reject low bids totaling $327,000 for renovation of part of the township administration building on Edgewood Road. The bids came in at almost three times the project’s estimated cost of $130,000, Pockl said. The township will reevaluate the project and possibly rebid at a later date, he added.
Also rejected was a low bid of $89,925 for Phase Two of the Maplevale drainage improvements project that came in almost $30,000 over the cost estimate of $60,000. The township will reevaluate and look to rebid, probably early next year, Pockl said.
Board members also approved on the recommendation of the Environmental Advisory Council the planting of 30 Sugar Maple trees along Mirror Lake Road at a cost of $5,550 to be funded from the township tree bank.
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