By Linwood Outlaw III -- Daily Staff Writer

WINCHESTER — After several months of heavy debate, city officials have finally agreed on a new pay plan they feel will help boost police salaries enough to compete with those in surrounding localities.

At its meeting Tuesday night, the City Council voted 7-2 to approve a pay plan that will raise salaries by 10 percent for all positions from police officer through captain. The plan will increase starting salaries for officers to $36,100 "and maintain the same relative spread between grades and positions," a description of the plan reads.

Councilmen Richard S. Helm and Timothy Coyne voted against the plan. Council members Stewart R. Masters and Carolyn Griffin were absent from Tuesday's meeting.

The Winchester Police Department, which had as many as a dozen vacancies in recent months, has been dealing with a high turnover rate among its officers, according to a memo circulated at a meeting earlier this year, due largely in part to less-than-competitive salaries.

After council members rejected an initial proposal to give all sworn officers a $5,000 pay raise across the board, City Manager J. Brannon Godfrey and the panel debated several alternatives for raising salaries. The finance committee endorsed the most recent pay option during its meeting on July 29.

However, Coyne said on Tuesday he still had doubts about moving forward with the pay option because it is uncertain how the plan — which will cost the city about $451,000 to implement — will be funded after this fiscal year.

Nevertheless, Councilman Evan H. Clark said, a boost in salaries was sorely needed.

"We're down several officers, and this is a critical time for us to be fully staffed. I think this is one piece of the puzzle that will help us with recruitment and with retention," Clark said.

Though Clark admitted that how the plan will be funded in future years is "a great concern of mine," he said officials will "address that in our next budget cycle, and we'll find a way to pay for it."

With salary issues finally addressed, the council can shift most of its attention to hiring a new police chief. The job has been vacant since the previous chief, Eric Varnau, resigned in October. Following Varnau's resignation, Maj. David White took over as acting chief.

Officials were seemingly on the brink of naming a new chief in the spring. Instead, following a closed session with City Council members on May 27, it was announced the city would not appoint a police chief from a group of finalists interviewed the previous month. Officials may look to hire a chief from a new pool of candidates as soon as next month.

Also on Tuesday, the council:

* Approved a request by officials with the George Washington

* Adopted a resolution authorizing amendments to the Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission charter. Amendments that were proposed by the commission include reducing the number of voting representatives from 34 to 23 and transferring decision-making functions from the executive committee to the full commission. Each jurisdiction of the commission also would be allowed to appoint an alternate voting representative.

* Announced that Mayor Elizabeth Minor's term on the Regional Jail Authority has expired.

* Approved a motion authorizing the use of funds from the 2007 State Homeland Security Program grant. The Winchester-Frederick County Regional Hazardous Material Team was awarded a $130,923 grant. Fire and rescue officials said part of the grant — which Councilman Michael Butler said does not require a local government financial match — will be used to update and purchase new equipment for the hazardous materials program. Remaining funds will be used to train the program's team members.

* Contact Linwood Outlaw III at loutlaw@nvdaily.com