Reynoldsville police contract update

The police contract that was negotiated last summer is invalid. So says the Reynoldsville Borough Council, and its members want to renegotiate. The union disagrees.

In an interview Reynlow News last week, Council President William Cebulskie said that Borough Solicitor Joe Ryan and another unnamed attorney agreed the contract was invalid.

First and foremost, he said, it was never signed by Mayor Peach Caltagarone. Caltagarone said he was excluded by the former council and never got to review it. Cebulskie added that both borough police officers didn’t sign the contract as well, only their representative from the Teamsters Union.

Once the council began to review the pact, Cebulskie said, there were other areas of disagreement, including the hours officers are on duty.

“It’s not beneficial to Reynoldsville Borough,” he told Reynlow News.

Council would like to redesign the force to one full time officer instead of two. The other shifts would be covered by part time officers.

At the last borough council meeting the regionalization of the police force was discussed, possibly combining with Sykesville.

When contacted, Chief Troy Bell said he had no comment at this time. However, Reynlow News has learned from several sources that the Teamsters Union believes the contract is valid, that the Mayor or the officers themselves do not need to sign it, only a borough representative, who, at the time, was then council president TJ Sliwinski. Word is the officers are continuing to work under the terms of this contract.

More details are expected to be discussed at the next regular council meeting set for February 12 Since that meeting will be held on the day of publication of Reynlow Community News, look for more on this story on reynlownews.com.