The Crookston City Council had a short meeting on Monday night for new Councilmembers Kristie Jerde (Ward 1) and Wayne Melbye (At-Large), along with returning Councilmembers Clayton Briggs (Ward 3) and Joe Kresl (Ward 5) to take their oaths of office.
Jerde was sworn into her first term in office after defeating incumbent Jake Fee in the general election by 116 votes. Jerde said she’s looking forward to being on the Council. “I’m just looking forward to a new year,” said Jerde. “And working with this Council to get things done for the betterment of Crookston.”
Jerde is the first female on the City Council since Cindy Gjerswold resigned in August 2019. Melbye, a long-time Councilman and former Mayor of Crookston, returned to the City Council after not seeking reelection for Mayor in 2018. He won the race for the At-Large Councilmember seat, defeating incumbent Bobby Baird by 402 votes in November. Melbye said it’s nice to return to the City Council. “It’s just kind of nice to get back in the chair here, be part of Crookston, and make sure we’re moving forward,” said Melbye. “There are a lot of projects out there and a lot of things of interest. Don’t know where we’re going to start. It’s just right at the beginning, and get back in the grove here and see what we can do.”
Additionally, one other item was on the agenda. A resolution to set the 2021 depositories for the City of Crookston. City Administrator Amy Finch said the depositories are declared annually to declare where the City of Crookston can conduct its financial business. “Our main event tonight was swearing in our new elected officials,” said Finch. “We just had one item on the consent agenda, which is an annual reoccurring item of designating the depositories for 2021. They include our local institutions and the Municipal Money Market with the League of Minnesota Cities. And RBC Capital Markets, where we keep our investments. It just allows us to open accounts and transact business. It also sets the signers, which are the mayor and city administrator per charter.”
The local depositories are Northern Sky Bank, Bremer Bank, American Federal Bank, and First Community Credit Union.
