By JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG -- Despite a request from incoming councilors and the mayor-elect, to hold off on union contracts, the council approved two union contracts Tuesday.

Council settled agreements with the police supervisory union and the officer union. The seven-year deals include a 3% raise for the first two years and a 3.5% raise for the following five years.

The approval came after newly elected councilors Bill Dillabough, John Rishe and Steven Fisher, as well as Mayor-elect Mike Skelly, requested that the present City Council not adopt any new contracts that will go into effect after they leave office.

"The existing Council should not impose any new contracts on the future Council that was just elected and that takes office January 1, 2020. The people of Ogdensburg overwhelmingly voted for new leadership, and no new contracts should be adopted and imposed on the new Council. Such an action would limit our ability to govern and would thwart the will of the people," a release from the incoming councilors said.

"It is not uncommon and is often common practice that these types of contracts expire, sometimes for over a year or more, before agreement is reached on a new contract. The employees operate under the existing contract until a new contract is put in place," they said.

"These are significant contracts that would not begin until January 1, 2020, and the present Council should not vote on these contracts and bind the new Council. These agreements need to lapse and be negotiated and approved by the new Council. It would not be fair to bind the future Council with multi-year agreements."

However, Mayor Wayne Ashley and councilor David Price said they would not honor that request.

"They are asking us to stop being councilors so they can take over anything and everything," Prince said.

Ashley said he still has an obligation to the city until his term expires.

The council has been in negotiations with all of its unions over the past months and in some cases longer.