FARGO, N.D. (KFGO) – On a unanimous vote, the Fargo City Commission has approved a new agreement with the Fargo Municipal Airport Authority that will end a long-standing dispute between the two. The details of the mediated memorandum of understanding remain confidential until the Airport Authority votes on it. That should happen Tuesday when the airport board meets in executive session.
City Commissioner Tony Grindberg credited Mayor Tim Mahoney and Commissioner John Strand, who represented the city in the mediation talks, for entering the sessions with what he called, “a spirit of compromise.”
Grindberg also wanted to make it clear the deal will not mean an end to the Airport Authority. He said, “there’s is a lot of misunderstanding out there between actions here and a dissolution decision and amending an agreement from 50 years ago…tonight is the city’s best effort to amend that agreement based on good faith negotiations.”
If a negotiated deal could not be worked out, the city had the power to move ahead with dissolving the Municipal Airport Authority. The disagreement centered around whether airport employees are city employees and about the services the city provides to the airport under an agreement that dates back to 1969.
