Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

St. Charles aldermen unanimously approved a new, four-year contract with the St. Charles Professional Firefighter’s Association I.A.F.F. local 3322. The agreement is retroactive to May 1. It expires April 30, 2020. The deal locks in raises of 2 percent each of the first three years. The final year calls for a 2.5 percent raise.

 The department has about 50 full-time employees — around 18 percent of the city’s 269-person workforce. A new, $29,640 study will help determine if all those employees receive a competitive wage.

The city first put its current compensation philosophy in place 20 years ago. The idea is to pay wages higher than 75 percent of comparable communities within 20 miles of St. Charles. The study will determine who the city’s competitors are and what current best management practice is for employee wages.