The Wadena County Commissioners voted to approve wage and benefit packages for the county’s formal and informal bargaining units when they met Jan. 21.

A committee of department heads, including Auditor/Treasurer Char West, Social Services Director Paul Sailer and former County Engineer Joel Ulring, began negotiations with employees and their representatives in August 2009. Ulring’s participation ended when he resigned in September. The services of a labor attorney were used when needed.

On Jan. 21, the county board approved a threeyear contract with the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 49, known as “the 49’ers; and approved a three-year wage and benefit package for the Wadena County appointed department heads, Wadena County Social Services Employees and Wadena County Confi- dential Employees.

The contracts are effective from Jan. 1, 2010, to Dec. 31, 2012. They are identical in their provisions for wages, salaries, step increases, additional cash compensation, COLA increases, insurance and other enhancements.

The county board approved one-year contracts with the Minnesota Teamsters Law Enforcement Employees’, Local 320, known as “the essential unit”; and Minnesota Teamsters Public and Law

Enforcement Employees’

Union, Local 320, known as “the general unit”.

These contracts are effective from Jan. 1, 2010, to Dec. 31, 2010. Their provisions are similar, but not identical to those in the threeyear contracts approved for the other groups. For example, the essential unit and the general unit each received hourly wage rate increases of 24 cents per hour, while the other units received no wage increase. The wage increase will be equal to about $500 per person during 2010.

The 49’ers and the informal bargaining units and the county have the option to re-open wage negotiations for 2011 and 2012, if they give 90 days’ written notice to the other parties.

Under the contracts, no one will receive Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) increases or step increases in their wages for 2010. However, every employee will be credited with an additional year’s service that could make them eligible for step increases in the future, should the county’s financial condition improve in future years.

Local 49 and Local 320 are the only official, recognized bargaining units that have the status of labor unions. The others are groups of employees who negotiate together, but do not have union status.

Commissioners Lane Waldahl and Sailer thanked those employees who negotiated the agreements over six months. Sailer also thanked the business agents and union stewards for their cooperation. He also thanked West for her participation. “It was a pleasure to work with Char,” he said.

In other business, the board:

o HEARD from Assessor Lee Brekke that the county will receive $506,194 in 2010 property tax payments from the MnCAN oil pipeline that runs across Wadena County. Brekke had been asked previously to present information on the amounts that each taxing entity would receive from MnCAN, including county, state, school districts, townships and special taxing districts.

o APPROVED a request from Ladd to allow her administrative assistant to have an extension of time to use her accrued vacation without penalty, because Ladd’s office has experienced an extra-large workload from unforeseen projects including six court of appeals cases.

o APPROVED advertising for bids for a construction project involving CSAH 21.

o LEARNED from Sherif f Mike Carr Jr. that enough funds have been raised from donations to allow his department to purchase a dog to become a K-9 officer when their current dog, Danny, retires. Sheriff Carr appeared before the board in October to tell commissioners he was seeking donations from the public and local businesses to pay for the purchase of a new dog to replace K-9 Officer Danny, who will be retiring next spring.

Danny, a German Shepherd who will be 10 years old in 2010, has served the Wadena County Sheriff’s Department for seven years, with his partner Deputy Luke Manderschied.

o APPROVED a request for Tom Aagard to return to work in the sheriff’s department at 50 percent time in February, and gradually increase his work time back to full time.

0 HEARD an offer from Commissioner Ralph Miller to allow the county extension service and its 4-H clubs to use an acre of his farmland as a community garden this summer.

o APPROVED the submission of the Pay Equity Implementation Report to the state.