Minnesota Government Engineering Council

Engineering Minnesota's Future

MGEC Board Minutes 7.27.26

Attendees:

  Present   Present
President Benton Campbell X Director Mitch Kiecker X
Vice President Corey Mathisen X Director Blake Nelson X
Treasurer Wes Leksell X Director Brandon JB Nelson X
Secretary Mike Rude Director Luke Schuette X
Director Erik Brenna X Director Mark Trogstad-Isaacson X
Director John Dalton X Director Hunter Vraa X
Director Jared DeMaster X Executive Director Tony Kelly X
Director Brian Giauque X Membership Director Donna Blackwell X

Others in attendance:

None

Call to Order (Benton C.)

  1. Meeting called to order at 3:31pm.
  2. Motion to approve agenda (Mark T-I / Erik B.)
    • Motion carried.

President’s Report (Benton C.)

  1. Discussed in conjunction with Executive Director’s report.

Executive Director’s Report (Tony K.)

  1. Additional compensation issue is not grievance ready yet, we are publishing what we know. Jim (our attorney) wants us to ask our members to provide documentation for every hour they’ve worked, collect evidence to support our cause. This would require the employer to confront actual hours worked by our members.
    • New issue came up today related to a member being required to pay back holiday time worked, likely employer is relating it to PPL. Tony is looking into this matter.
    • Blake asks: “Have we given up with the definition of “Supervisor?” Reason for the question is the recent new timesheet program MMB uses has caused many changes in who our MnDOT members direct reports are. Possible future Meet & Confer topic. Overall, making it tougher for our members to get promotional opportunities to supervisor positions.
  2. Meet with MGEC is scheduled for Wednesday July 29. Only three questions submitted so far. Tony will walk members through what we do in the off cycle, grievances, contract interpretation issues, disciplinary actions, history of bargaining, and no-strike clause and how that affects arbitration.
  3. Busy period for investigations:
    • Three members are currently on paid administrative leave.
    • Multiple investigations related to driving conduct and attendance issues.
  4. Tony attended NASHTU last month. Very productive event. Learned a lot about Surface Transportation bill’s status. Will likely not see comprehensive transportation bill this year, possibly a stopgap at the end of the year. Tony met with staff from representatives Finstad, Omar, and Craig to introduce them to MGEC and the importance of work we do in their districts.
    • Hunter asks about the outlook for election season coming in November. Unfortunately, we wait for the new governor to make necessary adjustments as their new leadership takes over. Mostly out of our control.

Finance Committee (Tony K. & Wes L.)

  1. June Profit and Loss:
    • Gross profit: ~$42,000
    • Expenses: ~$32,000
    • Net Income: ~$10,000
  2. Current balances of Building, checking, CD, and Vanguard accounts presented. Total: ~$1,306,000.
  3. We were reinstated by the IRS as a 501(c)(5), backdated to date of initial problem. 2025 taxes resent this week by our attorney.
  4. Audit engagement letter for 2025 finances received from accounting firm. Cost will be about $9,000. A motion is not required to proceed with audit as is required in our constitution. This audit is an internal procedure to ensure money isn’t going missing, not related to IRS or our taxes. The auditor will likely provide recommendations on how we can improve our financial control.

Membership Committee (Donna B.)

  1. Met last week, determined winners for scholarship and awards categories. $3900 in total will be awarded.
    • 4 Family Scholarship (3 – $800, 1 – $500)
    • 2 Connie Minetor awards ($500 each)
    • 1 Golden Slide Rule
    • 1 Distinguished Citizenship Award
    • Notifications to the winners will be sent in August. Awards will be given at the annual meeting in September.

Insurance Update (Blake N.)

  1. Joint Labor-Management Steering Committee meeting on June 16th.
    • Wellbeing program participation has declined to 5%.
    • GLP-1 utilization and spending have massively increased in the past two years. Each member is paying ~$60 a month to supply the GLP-1 program, really driving cost increases to our insurance programs.
    • Advantage Plan Reserves have dwindled, about $100 million drawn down in the past year from $342 million starting reserve balance.
    • New Minnesota Paid Leave and Short-Term Disability can overlap, can be combined for extended leave and wages. Subcommittee is looking into discrepancies, which will result in changes going forward.

Membership Report (Donna B.)

  1. 79% full membership currently, 1001 full members, 257 non-members. 67 new hires into MGEC this year, 36 non-members started this year, 46% conversion rate for 2026.

Vice President’s Report (Corey M.)

  1. Nothing to report.

Other

  1. Send any questions from members to Tony and Benton before Meet with MGEC on Wednesday 7/29/2026.
  2. Brandon: Some members do not want to become licensed land surveyors. Land Surveyors require licensure if they are involved in the grad program. It’s not a great fit or program for members looking to become licensed land surveyors, better options are available. Brandon is proposing to remove Land Surveyors out of the graduate program. This is a MnDOT specific problem, may involve getting a commissioner involved. MnDOT engineers can potentially be terminated if they don’t pass licensure within 6 years of being in the graduate program. MGEC will continue this discussion during a Meet & Confer.

Adjournment

  1. Motion to adjourn at 5:25 pm (Blake / Hunter)
    • Motion carried.

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