By a narrow 4-3 vote the East Grand Forks council last night (Tuesday) approved the hiring of Reid Huttunen as the new city administrator.
The council offered the job to Huttenen last week following an interview and pending a final resolution and contract agreement.
Huttunen had served as the city’s park and rec superintendent which now leaves that position open. The council agreed to look internally for an interim leader before offering the position to outside candidates.
The vote to officially hire Huttunen came without discussion.
— — —
With more questions than answers regarding enforcement and sale under Minnesota’s recreational marijuana laws many cities are adopting temporary moratoriums to buy some time.
East Grand Forks City Attorney Ron Galstad says one provision of the state law would ban marijuana use wherever the Clean Indoor Air Act is enforced. He told city council members last night (Tuesday) that he can also draft an ordinance regarding pot use in public places – including sidewalks. Starting August 1st Minnesota becomes the 23rd state to make it legal for people over the age of 21 to use marijuana recreationally.
— — —
The East Grand Forks School Resource Officer program will return for the 2023-24 school year. This past spring the EGF PD was forced to pull the officer out of school buildings on a full-time basis due to staffing shortages on the streets. Police Chief Mike Hedlund says the goal is to resume the program on a regular basis starting September 25th.
Hedlund says a tentative agreement with the East Grand Forks School District will cost share the program on a 65-35% basis – with District 595 picking up a greater portion of the tab. The figure was reached since the SRO spends approximately two-thirds of their time working in the schools.
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!
