West Chester Board of Trustees met on September 24, 2019. Here is a detailed update about the requisitions at that meeting.

$167,734.00 Cincyautos, Inc. – Purchase six 2020 police vehicles

$79,385.00 Tri-State Public Safety – Purchase and install equipment to outfit six police vehicles. $30,972.50 Jake Sweeney Chevrolet Imports, Inc. – Purchase one 2020 police vehicle

This week we approved the purchase of seven new police vehicles to maintain our fleet and keep our fleet running safely and efficiently. Two of the vehicles in the proposed purchase are replacement vehicles that were totaled by the insurance company. The charges were from Cincyautos and Jake Sweeney. The payment to Tri-State Public Safety was to outfit the cars with the lights and inside fittings.

$13,182.99 Gemalto Cogent, Inc. – Renew one-year maintenance agreement for the Automated Fingerprint Identification System

This is the annual renewal of the maintenance agreement for the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). The current annual maintenance agreement expires on September 30, 2019. The West Chester AFIS system has been in operation since 2004. This system is used by the Police Department to house and search local arrest prints and to remotely search crime scene impressions of databases housed by BCI&I as well as the FBI.

This week we hired three new part-time Firefighter/EMTs to fill vacant positions effective September 30, 2019 at the hourly rate of $18.11. We are allotted a total of 47 part-time employees. Currently, the department employs 35 part-time firefighters which is 12 under our maximum allotment. The hiring of these firefighters will reduce this number to nine and bring our part-time strength to a total of 38.

Request for proposals and request for qualifications was made for a classification, compensation and benefits study. The 2019 – 2020 Strategic Plan includes several goals related making sure West Chester Township is able to attract and retain exceptional employees. One of these goals is to conduct a classification, compensation and benefit analysis in 2020. A compensation analysis was last conducted in 2016. HR professionals recommend conducting a compensation/salary analysis every 3 to 5 years. Conducting a classification, compensation and benefits analysis in 2020 aligns with this best practice. Also, the focus of the 2016 analysis was solely on wages and did not provide guidance for addressing the human resource challenges facing West Chester. The workforce is changing, and strategies that enticed a high performing workforce in the past are no longer relevant. West Chester needs a strong HR strategy to remain competitive in today’s quickly evolving employment environment. Conducting a thorough and high-quality classification, compensation and benefits analysis is one tool to help develop this strategy.

The Board voted to sell the West Chester Activity Center to Regency. Learn more about that sale here.