The Northwest Herald has an article about a new fire chief in Crystal Lake and ratification of anew contract for firefighters:

Crystal Lake city officials ratified a new four-year collective bargaining agreement with the city’s fire department on the same day it officially swore in a new chief.

Moments after longtime Crystal Lake firefighter Paul DeRaedt was sworn in Tuesday as the new chief, the city council approved a four-year deal with the department that includes a roughly 7 percent increase to salaries over the life of the deal.

Salary ranges for firefighter/paramedics will range from $60,249 a year to $88,899 a year in 2014-15 before increasing to a floor of $64,591 and a ceiling of $95,306 in 2018. Lieutenants will see their maximum earning power increase from $101,990 in 2014 to $109,341 in 2018. The increase to each level occurs every six months. The agreement also included many of the previous provisions about the 24-hour work shift, education reimbursements, no strike clauses and overtime policies.

DeRaedt takes over for James Moore, who announced his retirement in June. Moore had served as chief of the fire department since 2005 with DeRaedt in the deputy role for eight of those years.

 thanks Dennis