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East Grand Forks council adopts annual resolutions, approves multiple labor agreements and personnel hires
Summary
At its Jan. 6 meeting the East Grand Forks City Council unanimously approved a package of annual governance resolutions, three multiyear labor agreements and several personnel actions, and authorized payment of $444,764.44 in accounts payable.
The East Grand Forks City Council on Tuesday unanimously adopted a slate of routine annual resolutions, approved multiyear labor agreements with three bargaining units and confirmed promotions and a hiring decision.
The council adopted Resolution 26-01-01 setting the time and hour of regular council meetings and Resolution 26-01-02 designating the Exponent as the city’s official newspaper. It also designated American Federal, Francen Bank & Trust, RBC Wealth Management and the PMA-4M Fund as official financial depositories and authorized specified city officials for origination and online banking under Resolution 26-01-04. Mayor Mark Olstead read the roster of authorized signatories, which included himself and city administrator Reed Hutton.
In personnel and labor matters the council approved three labor agreements covering 2026–2028: with Law Enforcement Labor Services, Local 152; the International Firefighters Association, Local 3423; and AFSCME Council 65, Local 3452 (department heads). Council then approved a memorandum of understanding related to a post-employment health care savings plan; city administrator Reed Hutton told the council the MOU “has no financial impact or no change in financial impact to the city,” and that the MOU lets covered employees choose how certain severance/leave payouts are directed.
The council also adopted Resolution 26-01-09, authorizing the compensation plan and cost-of-living adjustments for non-union employees for calendar year 2026, and Resolution 26-01-10 setting the non-union employee insurance contribution schedule for 2026.
On personnel actions, the council approved the promotion of Jack Croker to equipment operator in Public Works (grade 11, step 7) and authorized hiring Renee Olsen as city clerk in the administration department (grade 14, step 3). The transcript records the hiring motion with a stated pay rate of "$3122 per hour"; that figure appears inconsistent with typical municipal pay scales and was noted for clarification during the meeting.
The council authorized payment of accounts payable invoices totaling $444,764.44 and approved the Dec. 26, 2025 payroll.
All formal motions and resolutions recorded in the meeting passed on roll-call votes with all council members recorded as voting yes.
What happens next: The mayor and city administrator are authorized to sign the labor agreements and other documents as approved; staff will carry out the personnel onboarding and implementation steps described in the motions.
