Makayla Hoefs (17) stood before the full Becker City Council on Tuesday, Dec. 3 to explain “Coding for Cookies”, an initiative started by the Becker Robotics Team CIS 4607 to offer robotics education to Girl Scouts throughout the state to expand STEM education to young women. Hoefs, a member of local Girl Scouts Troop 159, has since made it her official Girl Scout Gold Award, allowing the project to further expand beyond the 100 Girl Scouts already reached.
Hoefs and the robotics team have created robotics kits that other First Robotics Competition (FRC) teams can borrow to offer “Coding for Cookies” sessions. One has been provided to the Minnesota Wisconsin Lakes and Pines Girl Scout Council to keep at their Duluth facility. Hoefs helped to design the sessions where Girl Scouts learn to code, drive, and operate a competition robot.
Hoefs recognizes the gender gap that exists in not only STEM education, but in STEM and robotics careers. She hopes that this program will help to close that gap.
Cannabis Regulation
Council member Rick Hendrickson gave a summary of the most recent Planning Commission meeting on Mon., Nov. 25. The PC discussed the new cannabis laws that will be implemented at the first of the year. They focused discussion on limiting the number of shops that can exist within the city and where they can be. A public hearing will be held at the Dec. 30 Planning Commission meeting for public input on all proposed cannabis regulations for the city.
Becker Business Park
Lorrie Franz from Finance presented a summary of the Becker Business Park Infrastructure Construction projects. Four projects were begun in Oct. 2020 and continued through Nov. 2024. The projects came in under the estimated cost of $24.6M with an actual cost of $23.8M. The city of Becker appropriated grants totaling $21.9M, which covered 92.1 percent of the cost of the projects aimed at replacing lost tax capacity due to the phased decommissioning of Sherco.
Franz called it “A great story” that needs to be told. Hendrickson echoed that sentiment as he explained the work the city had done throughout many years when it was first rumored that the Sherco plant would be closing. He recognized the people in finance who made sure things were submitted on time and the many staff hours put in to complete those projects.
Mayor Tracy Bertram talked about the resiliency that was displayed by the council and city employees to just keep going when it was said that it could not be done.
“We’ve paved the path for the coalition of utility cities for those who are going to be coming after us,” she said.
In a related resolution, the city approved the purchase of land identified as Outlot B as part of the Phase One Business Park expansion for $38,190.81.
Wastewater Agreement
Public Services Director Phil Knutson presented a proposed wastewater handling agreement with Xcel Energy regarding their iron battery backup pilot program that allows 100 hours of energy to be stored from the nearby solar energy farm. Xcel Energy was asking that discharged water be allowed to enter the city sewer system. Xcel estimates 1,200 gallons of wastewater would be produced and added to the 300,000 gallons normally produced daily.
The discharge would be the result of filtering city water to remove contaminants before entering the iron core batteries. The project is estimated to be brought online near the end of the fourth quarter of 2025. The resolution was passed.
City Anniversaries
Mayor Bertram recognized city employees who have anniversaries with the city this December. Bartt Givens and Ian Holmes each have been with the city for six years. Julie Krenz (three) and Jackson Fluck (two) celebrate anniversaries this month. Part-time employees Nadia Fischer-Danzeisen (eight), Beau Biegler (two), Debra McGaffey (one), and Roxanne Pickle (one) were also recognized.
