Boothbay Harbor and Teamsters Local Union No. 340 for Boothbay Harbor Police Department officers have reached a standstill for a collective bargaining agreement, said No. 340 President Brett Miller. Talks began in mid-July with the last meeting in the first week of November.

BHPD’s proposal going into negotiations was to catch the pay scale up to the standards of surrounding towns, but after opting for mediation and coming together for one meeting, the town called off the mediation process, said Miller. “… Lincoln County’s pay-scale is higher, a number of police departments in the vicinity, Waldoboro, have increased (wages) over the years for retention.”

Retention is also a big worry for BHPD, said Miller. Many of the officers could move on to other area police departments for $3 to $5 more per hour than they make now, he said.

“The wage scale presently does not reflect that type of experience. It's antiquated and it needs to be raised and that's what the officers want to do … It's not real pie-in-the-sky rates so to speak, but they wanted to be around the surrounding communities so they won't lose any officers. And they are in danger of losing at least three of their officers right now because of the issue.”

The next step in the negotiating process will be fact-finding, when the parties present evidence, Miller said. The process is basically an arbitration board and will likely cost the town $5,000 to $7,000 in legal fees. Said Miller, “They don't want to alter the published wage-scale and they didn't want to bring everybody up to reflect their years of service … They're basically trying to fund their wage increase by making the officers pay more in insurance. That's not OK … They're not negotiating in good faith.”

Selectman Denise Griffin, the lead for the town in the negotiations, said she cannot comment due to the mediation. The Boothbay Register also reached out to BHPD officers, who declined comment.