The Yachats Rural Fire Protection District and its newly unionized firefighters will start negotiations for the first time Monday, Feb. 18.
The seven full-time Yachats firefighters voted to join the Newport chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters last August. Yachats was the last fire department in Lincoln County to unionize, but there had been no contract negotiations yet.
IAFF chapter president Andy Parker of Newport previously told YachatsNews.com that the union will propose starting negotiations using a “template” of contracts used by other departments in the county, focusing on pay, benefits and working conditions.
The Yachats Fire District Board announced the first negotiation session at its meeting Monday, Feb. 11. The board will be assisted by its attorney in the negotiations.
The board also said it hopes to proceed with a large storage building behind the $8.3 million fire station it is constructing on the north edge of Yachats. The building was part of original plans but put on hold as a cost-saving measure after problems with the six-acre site resulted in at least $800,000 in additional costs. The district has reserve and contingency funds totaling $937,000 for the station project; the building was originally projected to cost $287,000.
The station contractor, DSL Builders of Salem, was to submit a bid for the storage building this week. The board will consider the contract at its Feb. 28 meeting.
The board also continued its discussion of how to upgrade its website to allow email contact from the public and become a place to post board meeting agendas and minutes.
