By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Sea Isle City’s police officers will be able to make some extra money on the side by providing traffic control at construction sites when they are off duty.
City Council introduced an ordinance Tuesday establishing a formal policy for outside employment for police officers. A public hearing and final vote on the ordinance are scheduled for the Aug. 22 Council meeting.
City Business Administrator George Savastano explained that for many years, contractors and utility companies have asked for Sea Isle’s police officers to direct traffic around their construction sites.
Sea Isle usually accommodates those requests, and then bills the contractor for the cost of paying police officers overtime for working during their off-duty hours, Savastano said.
However, the new ordinance establishes a standard rate of $70 per hour that will be paid to the officers for their services. The city will also charge the contractors an additional $29.50 per hour to help defray administrative and overhead expenses, such as having a police car assigned to a construction site.
Savastano said the ordinance stipulates that outside employment for police officers cannot interfere with service for any other of the city’s operations. It must also be approved by Police Chief Anthony Garreffi.
“The implementation of this ordinance will formalize the policy of off-duty employment and will ensure that the city, in addition to the officer, is fairly reimbursed for these services,” Savastano said.
City Solicitor Paul Baldini said Sea Isle’s new ordinance is similar to the policies of other towns that allow police officers to provide traffic control at construction sites during their off-duty hours.
“It was really designed, in a fair fashion, for how those services will be provided,” Baldini said in an interview after the Council meeting.
Having police officers directing traffic at construction sites will also help the city to maintain safety, Baldini said.
“Safety is paramount to the city,” he said.
Road contractors are required by law to have some form of traffic control at their construction sites. The options include having a flagman, setting up detours or paying for police officers.
In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, Council authorized advertising for bids for the repaving of Central Avenue between John F. Kennedy Boulevard and 36th Street. Bids will also be sought for the repaving of 40th Street between Central and Landis Avenue.
The city plans to do the paving projects in the fall to avoid traffic disruptions during the bustling summer tourism season.
Also at the meeting, Council approved a new contract agreement with the union representing the city’s professional emergency medical technicians.
The contract runs through Dec. 31, 2023. Full-time EMTs and part-timers will be paid $20.50 per hour in 2023, compared to $18 for full-time employees and $17 for part-timers in 2022.
Savastano said the short-term contract for the EMTs will carry them through the year and put them on the same timeframe as other labor unions in the city. The city plans to begin negotiations with all of the labor unions in the fall and winter for new contracts for 2024 and beyond, he said.
In 2017, Sea Isle established a professional EMS unit instead of continuing to rely on the dwindling volunteer ambulance corps that has served the town for more than 50 years.
