Columbiana, police continue to negotiate

The current contract expires Dec. 31.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
COLUMBIANA -- City officials and representatives of the Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association are negotiating the second police contract in city history.
City Manager Keith Chamberlin said the city and OPBA have met twice. Two other meetings were canceled and no others scheduled yet because the city's negotiator had surgery, he said. The police contract expires Dec. 31.
Jeff Perry, business agent for the OPBA, said he did not want to discuss any details of the negotiations, but did confirm that the two recent negotiation meetings were canceled.
The OPBA represents Columbiana Police Department's full-time police and dispatchers, including two sergeants, nine patrolmen and four dispatchers. The union membership has not changed since the current contract took effect three years ago.
First contract
The city and police reached an agreement in April 2002, with the contract retroactive to Jan. 1 of that year.
OPBA and city representatives began negotiating that contract in October 2001 and reached impasse in December with 23 issues unresolved.
After a mediation period, both sides agreed on all but six points, which then became the focus of a fact-finder's report.
The parties met 16 times, often in all-day sessions.
The three-year contract was the first union-negotiated contract in the city's history. Before that, police had been anticipating union representation for years but could not until the city's population topped 5,000, which is necessary for city status.
In the 1990 Census, the population count was more than 4,900. The 2000 Census showed Columbiana's population at 5,635.
Columbiana was declared a city after the 2000 Census, making city employees eligible for union representation.