Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Police Merger topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Osceola officials report stalemate in talks to combine police with St. Croix Falls over command structure
Summary
Negotiators told the board that merger talks with St. Croix Falls are nearly complete except for department structure and administrative-fee allocation; Osceola is pressing to preserve a lieutenant post so a current officer (AJ) would not take a demotion or pay cut.
Osceola officials received an update on talks to combine police services with neighboring St. Croix Falls but said negotiations remain stalled over the structure of the merged department and the allocation of administrative fees.
The board heard that the sticking point is whether the combined department will include a lieutenant-level second-in-command. The negotiator who briefed the board (identified in the transcript as Arvind) said the community wants “to keep the lieutenant position and keep AJ at his current rank,” arguing that a second-in-command provides command redundancy and a person to step in if the chief is unavailable.
The negotiator described the impasse as structural: St. Croix Falls has proposed a model with a chief, two sergeants and a detective/investigator; Osceola’s negotiators said that would effectively eliminate their lieutenant post and could force an existing employee into a lower rank or reduced pay. “The issue … is that 1 of our employees should not have to take a demotion or a potential loss in pay by this combination,” the negotiator said.
Another participant who discussed staffing history (recorded as an agency official in the transcript) noted St. Croix Falls “has never had a nonunion supervisor. They’ve only had a sergeant in the past,” describing why the other community resists inserting a nonunion lieutenant role.
Board members explored compromise options. Negotiators said one proposal under consideration would combine the investigator and lieutenant duties into a single role to accommodate both communities’ priorities; negotiators reported St. Croix Falls responded with a “hard no” and said it would take the proposal back to its council for further discussion. The board had earlier delegated authority to named negotiators to continue talks.
No formal action or vote on the merger was taken at the meeting. Staff reported the remaining open items are the department structure and how administrative fees will be split; the negotiator said those are the last two issues before an agreement could be completed. St. Croix Falls will revisit the matter with its council, and Osceola negotiators said they will keep working to find a compromise.
The update did not include a timeline for final approval or a detailed breakdown of administrative-fee proposals. The transcript alternates spelling of the mover’s name (appearing as both “Arvid” and “Arvind”); the meeting record credits the motion on the agenda to “Arvind.”
