April rains will green up city parks and the Becker City Council’s focus on them on Tues., April 16, will bring much needed improvements.
Skate Park
The Frank Kolbinger Jr Veterans Memorial Park’s skate park will be replaced at a cost of $125,830.47. The Parks and Trails capital improvement plan had already allocated $225,000 for this project in 2024. The savings are due to simply replacing worn equipment instead of adding and improving features.
Chris Lisson, Public Works and Parks Assistant Director, noted that in prior discussions the skatepark has been seen as an important community amenity.
“We do still see usage of it, so it’s not just completely empty all of the time,” said Lisson. “So, that’s a positive thing to see.”
That usage seemed to inform his view of replacement rather than improving.
“We could do something bigger and better than that, but I think through our discussions we’ve probably had a good path to say, ‘Well I’m not really sure that this is used in a way that we need to go bigger and better at this time in Becker.’”
Discussions with American Ramp Company confirmed that thinking. An additional 10% of the costs was set aside in case of any concrete fixes the city might have to perform.
Parking Hassles
Greg Lerud, City Administrator, addressed concerns about the availability of parking at Kolbinger Park, especially when high school baseball games are played. Becker schools had previously decided not to participate in a project that would expand parking in the lot near the school ballfields. Initially, Dave Niemi, Activities Director for Becker High School, was asked to inform baseball players and their families not to use Kolbinger Park for practices and events.
“We will put signs out at each entrance before each HS baseball game,” said Niemi. “Our players have been instructed to not park in that lot as well.”
The council approved immediate action to add two additional signs that state the parking lot is only for park use and violators may be towed or ticketed. Additional patrols will be in the area and will ticket when appropriate. The police will also receive a schedule of park rentals.
Becker Athletic Complex
Five projects were passed to be completed in 2024. The city will pay the cost to repair the door of the concession building and its hardware and infield work will be done on field four.
Becker Youth Baseball and Football will both contribute to the cost of moving the fence in on field three.
“Youth baseball had the desire to move the fence in on one field,” said Lisson. “It kind of became a two-fold benefit for baseball. Younger players would have the opportunity to hit a home run. An experience they wanted some of the youth to be able to have. It also opened up some green space in the east which would be beneficial for tackle football.”
Becker Youth Baseball and the city will split the cost of installing safety netting and BYB will purchase a batting cage kit, adding a second set of batting cages to field three. The city will pay the cost to install it and create a concrete curb around it.
Becker Community Center
Phil Knutson, Public Services Director, gave the council a preliminary schedule for upcoming work to be done on the heating and ventilation in the community center. Work will begin on Wed., April 17 and should be completed by Fri., May 10. The parking lot on the north side of the building will be closed on Wed., April 24, but access will remain on Bradley Blvd. and Sherburne Ave.
One Final Item
The city council certified delinquent utilities and snow removal charges. Sixty delinquent accounts total $12,969 and 17 properties owe a combined total of $3,400 for snow removal. Residents and businesses have the ability to pay delinquent balances and snow removal charges in full by May 24 to avoid additional fees and interest.
