(ABC 6 News) – Just over two weeks ago, the Zumbrota City Council considered disbanding their police department.

After negotiating with the local police union, a deal was struck and the details of that agreement were revealed on Thursday.

“We were never going to defund our police department, we were never not going to have a police presence in this town,” Zumbrota Mayor Todd Hammel said.

After two officers left the department for better pay, questions swirled over the future of the police department.

In response, the city looked into strategies they could implement to offer better pay for their police force that could not only benefit individual officers, but improve the department’s ability to retain their staff.

To make the pay increase possible, the city and the union agreed to cut one sergeant position. Meaning moving forward, the makeup of the police department will consist of one sergeant, four police officers, and a police chief.

“We’re gonna go with one less sergeant, but still need to hire a police officer, as of today we’re still short one police officer to have a full staff,” Mayor Hammel said.

Officers will now see their hourly wage rise from $26.52 an hour, up to $29.24 an hour, a move both the city and the department hopes will be competitive enough to attract new recruits.

“In order for us to be competitive we needed to move to something similar to what our surrounding areas are doing financially,” Zumbrota Police Chief Patrick Callahan said.

This contract will be in effect until the end of 2025, and the pay will increase for the following years.

Now the department looks to fill its positions, and this contract gives them hope.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to attract a candidate that really their desire is to work in a community like Zumbrota ultimately, and that’s what we’ve always wanted regardless is somebody that truly wants to be a part of this community and grow with us,” Callahan said.