The Becker City Council met recently and Council Member Becky Olmscheid shared notes from the March 7, 2025 meeting of the Personnel Committee.
Personnel Committee
The committee prepared itself to begin interviewing candidates for the open Police Chief position by reviewing current guidelines. The committee also discussed entering into an agreement with Red Balloon Academy to offer child care discounts to City Employees. A resolution was approved as part of the Consent Agenda to formally accept the agreement which offers a 10% discount off tuition and waives the $150 application fee and $100 bi-annual fee for the first year. The program has no cost to the city and Sherburne County has also entered into the same agreement with Red Balloon.
Olmscheid also updated the council on the most recent Public Works meeting. It was suggested that Recycling Day be moved to a weekday. Olmscheid stated that won’t happen this year. Recycling Day will be held on Saturday, May 17, 2025 from 8 a.m. -11 a.m. at Northern Metal Recycling. A grant agreement was accepted in the Consent Agenda with Sherburne County for the city to be reimbursed up to $4,500 from the state to cover costs related to Recycling Day.
EDA Meeting
Council Member Robin Dingmann walked the Council through the March 10, 2025 meeting of the Economic Development Authority. It was decided in that meeting that the city would not fill the open EDA Coordinator position. Their monthly market update remained the same, “low inventory and things moving fast.” The recently completed Fairway Ridge Estates has been rented in full. Fairway is a 104-unit property.
City Hall Update
City Administrator Greg Lerud gave an update on the City Hall/Becker PD building project. Work continues to progress on the inside of the building. Sheet rock, tilework, door frames, ceiling grid, and data lines have been installed. Lerud estimated completion, “Hopefully, early April.”
Public Works
Bids were accepted from B&B Built, Kurtz Concrete, and Hubbard Electric to continue to make improvements to the Public Works Campus. The work plan was authorized in 2023. This year, Public Works has budgeted $200,000 to add a new mechanic and truck washing bay to the west side of the existing shop and erect a new 40’ x 60’ building to allow for year-round equipment maintenance. A resolution was passed to allow PW to continue to accept bids for the project, not to exceed $200,000.
KLM Engineering was awarded a bid to install mixers to water tower numbers one and two. Active mixing eliminates thermal stratification, reduces disinfection byproducts, ensures uniformity in the water which creates a more reliable water sample for water quality testing, and minimizes ice buildup. The amount of the bid was $41,374.
KLM also had the lowest bid to wash and overcoat water tower number 2 with the new Becker City logo for $83,664.
