Grand Coulee law enforcement contract with USBR in works

The city of Grand Coulee is on track to sign a new contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to provide law enforcement services for the federal agency.

The city is currently operating on a six-month extension on a contract that expired in November 2019, a contract in which the city’s police provide additional security at the Grand Coulee Dam. That contract adds four additional officers to the Grand Coulee Police Department, which serves Grand Coulee and Electric City, for a total of eight officers, plus a reserve officer.

The bureau pays the city for the service, which costs the city about $600,000 a year, but the city had lost about $30,000 providing the service in 2019 when a 3.2-percent annual raise kicked, plus benefits, to employees under a union contract. The contract with the bureau only provided a 2-percent increase to the city.

The council discussed wanting the situation remedied in January, prompting The Star to write an article on the topic, which at the city’s Feb. 18 meeting was said to have prompted the bureau pay the issue more attention.

City Clerk Lorna Pearce said that they will hopefully have paperwork for the new contract by this week, and that adjustments will be made in the new contract to cover lost funds and cost-of-living adjustments.