The Crookston City Council met on Tuesday to discuss water department improvements and a new collective bargaining agreement for city employees. The meeting day was moved from Monday to Tuesday due to the Labor Day holiday.
WATER DEPARTMENT FIREWALL UPGRADES
The first agenda item was a resolution approving the Well 5 and 6 firewall upgrades for the city’s water department. Interim City Administrator Darin Selzler told the board that Wells 5 and 6 have been identified for firewall upgrades as part of the Water Department Capital Improvement Plan at an estimated cost of $25,000. AE2S provided an estimate to the city on August 11 in the amount of $26,875.48, which includes the purchase of a Forinet FortiGate Rugged 60F-3G4G security appliance and license support, hardware configuration, VPN tunnel creation and testing, cellular fallover configuration and testing, travel expenses, and hardware/electrical installation.
Public Works Director Chuck Getsman understands the costs involved with this project but is aware that these upgrades are necessary to improve cybersecurity, system reliability, and protection of the city’s municipal water system following the recent cyberattacks on municipal water systems throughout Minnesota. “The well-being and being able to continue to supply proper utilities to the city of Crookston is our number one priority,” said Getsman. “So when these cyber attacks started going on and started developing, we wanted to make sure that we were ready. We’ve taken some precautions already, but those precautions won’t deter everything right now. We’re looking at once we upgrade the infrastructure, some of the equipment, and the software, we’ll be better prepared.”
CLOUDSCADA SYSTEM UPGRADES
Another water department improvement on the agenda was a resolution approving upgrades to the city’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for remote monitoring and alarm notification. Getsman told the council that these improvements are vital to ensuring the SCADA system remains efficient and reliable in monitoring and operating the water system in Crookston. “Currently, we have the funds there. So why not do one and two together? Just knock it all out, and then it’s one less thing the city has to worry about,” Getsman explained. “The threat of cyber attacks is always going to be there, but let’s get that infrastructure set up, ready to go. So, like I said, it’s just one less thing to worry about.”
Items included in the upgrades are a new industrial computer and Ignition software licenses; redevelopment of the CloudSCADA application; conversion of existing water treatment plant OPC communications to MQTT; creation of a water treatment plant fallback application; secure remote access; remote alarm notification; and other related services. AE2S submitted an estimate on August 5 for $58,606.39. The funds for these projects will come from 2026 budgeted funds.
WATER DEPARTMENT PAVEMENT REPAIRS
The council discussed a resolution approving 2026 water department pavement repairs following water system breaks and repairs. Tri-State Paving, Inc. submitted a proposal on July 3 in the amount of $29,940 for the multiple pavement repairs and replacements conducted in 2026. Getsman noted that this proposal is for pavement work conducted for all repairs conducted in 2026 thus far plus a few more in case of emergency repairs to any lines in the city. “The quote that we received should take care of almost all of the repairs that residents might see around town currently. I forget if it’s a total of 12 or 14 different spots, but we did have two more develop, but I believe we’re going to just have the street department take care of those in house. The 12 or 14 spots that have developed since winter time, it’s just a lot to take on for our street department while they have other safety concerns and job duties to do.”
AFSCME COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
The council’s last agenda item was a resolution approving the updated American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) collective bargaining agreement for the years 2026 through 2028. Selzler told the council that representatives from AFSCME and the city reached a tentative agreement on the updated CBA, and that legal counsel has reviewed it and given their recommendation for approval. Some of the changes in this new CBA include language updates and the incorporation of wage data from the city’s wage and compensation study conducted earlier this year.
With this new agreement, Selzler believes it will promote operational stability, support city employees, and ensure continuity of municipal services. “It’s definitely been a process,” said Selzler. “We started this several months ago. Some of the holdup was the city of Crookston did a wage and compensation study earlier in the year, so we were waiting for that data. But once we received that, we started negotiations, and like everything, it’s just a timely process. But overall, working with the AFSCME union, I think the city administration was very good. No complaints. Everybody worked hard to get across the finish line, and that’s what we saw tonight.”
The council unanimously approved the consent agenda. Items on the consent agenda include approval of the proposed minutes from the August 17 council meeting, a resolution approving city bills and disbursements totaling $575,554.62, and a resolution authorizing satisfaction of the mortgage for Northern Properties, LLC.
The next regular Crookston City Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 21, at 5:30 p.m. in the city council chambers at City Hall.
