A final plan for Energy Park, a second quarter financial summary and a call for a public hearing were some of the items discussed at Wednesday’s Becker City Council meeting.

 

City Planner Therese Haffner updated council and asked for approval on the Energy Park Sixth Addition final plat.

 

Haffner said a public hearing was held in April on the preliminary plat in which no person from the public appeared before council, so a final plat was formulated and reviewed by the city engineer and planning commission and both recommended moving ahead with the project.

 

Five lots are involved in the plat with three of the lots located south of Hwy. 10 in the Industrial Park to accommodate the construction of the second rail track for BNSF. The other two lots are slated for future industrial.

 

Haffner said the drainage and utility easements are six feet on interior lot lines and 10 feet along the roadway. She noted there was also an additional 49-foot utility easement on Lot 1 encompassing the city’s pump station.

 

Council approved and accepted the final plat presented.

 

Treasurer Sarah Brunn presented financials for the 2015 year through the second quarter.

 

Brunn mentioned so far the City of Becker has spent about 41% of its budget so far this year and received nearly 37% of revenues.

 

Brunn went over the general fund, fire fund, community center fund, utility funds and the golf course funds.

 

Most of the discussion centered around the golf course fund as Mayor Lefty Kleis invited Golf Pro Troy Malo to the podium to answer some questions.

 

“How has the weather been for this year’s golf season and what affect has it had on the number of rounds?” Kleis asked Malo.

 

Malo told the mayor that the course officially opened in early April and that month and also part of May had lots of moisture. Malo said June improved a lot (weather-wise) and July was good also he said.

 

Kleis was asking Malo about the weather because he noticed in Brunn’s summary that total rounds at the golf course (8,578) looked to be way behind the pace to catch up to last year’s total of 22,123 golfers playing Pebble Creek.

 

“If we are at the midpoint and only have 8,000 golfers have played and we maybe add another 8,000 the rest of the way, I don’t see how we can come close to what we did last year,” said Kleis.

 

“Well we aren’t quite at mid-season yet,” said Malo. “We still have 3-4 months of golfing left and we usually do better in the second half than the first.”

 

Police Chief Brent Baloun asked council to consider scheduling a public hearing in September to address a alcohol compliance check violation for an area business.

 

On July 7 of this year, the Sherburne County Health Dept. — along with the Becker Police Dept. — conducted an alcohol compliance check for area businesses who sell alcohol. During these checks, one business was found to be in violation when a cashier at Jubilee Liquors sold alcohol to an underage checker.

 

The checker is employed by the Sherburne County Health Dept. and is instructed to enter the licensed establishment for the purpose of purchasing alcohol. They are also instructed to hand over their personal ID should they be asked. The personal ID identifies the checker as being under the statutory age of 21 to purchase alcohol.

 

They are instructed to not lie if they are asked about their age.

 

Two things will come out of the failed compliance check at Jubilee Liquors. 

 

One, the cashier who dismissed the ID and sold the liquor to the underage checker was identified and will be criminally charged with selling alcohol to an underage person. The charge is a gross-misdemeanor and they will need to appear in court.

 

Second, the civil portion of the charge includes a public hearing before council with a potential penalty of $750 minimum assessed — depending on council’s wishes.

 

The owners of Jubilee Liquors are aware of the violation and the potential penalties.

 

Council voted to hold a public hearing Sept. 1 at 5 p.m. prior to conducting regular business at their council meeting.

 

• The EDA and council appointed Todd Hanrahan to the board for a term running through December;

 

• Brunn mentioned the city was ordered to pay an excise tax ($6,462.80) to the IRS after an audit identified undeserved credits to the city for motor fuel usage;

 

• A few bunkers at Pebble Creek will be repaired in the next two weeks, using the sand pile in the parking lot;

 

• The bathrooms along the path near the Local 9 will be closed for the time being after complaints came in on its uncleanliness and vandalism;

 

• George Peterson, a Pebble Creek golf mechanic, celebrated his 27th anniversary with the city;

 

• Mark Wolters of the WWTF celebrated his 10th anniversary;

 

• Jason Lawson of the BPD celebrated his second anniversary;

 

• Bettina Potter of the Pebble Creek Women’s Golf Club, gave an update to council on the results of the Backpack Buddies golf tournament they held July 28 and thanked everyone who attended or donated to the fundraiser which brought in enough money to provide for over 4,000 meals for Becker students next year.

 

The next Becker City Council meeting is Aug. 18 at 5 p.m.