Beach fire department closer to agreement

Navarre Beach Volunteer Fire Department employees and board of directors are one step closer to a contract agreement after a collective bargaining session last week.

The collective bargaining unit sat down with board members, the board’s lawyer Ralph Peterson and Fire Chief Mike Howard on Sept. 21 in an effort to iron out details of the firefighters’ contract.

Tommy Ward, a contracted consultant for the firefighters, told the board of directors that the firefighters were willing to sign the current contract if the board would consent to five conditions. The conditions include maintaining the current nine positions in the department, a minimum 3-percent raise for employees, differential pay for shift lieutenants, increasing the IRA contribution match from 3 percent to 5 percent and the addition of vision insurance coverage.

For more on this story, see the Sept. 29 issue of Navarre Press or subscribe online.