During Tuesday’s city council meeting, citizen Pete Wiseman spoke during open forum about the proposed change in city ordinance regarding ATVs on city streets. He felt that the ordinance change would lead to many more ATVs being on the streets, causing lots of noise and unsafe conditions. 

The individual was encouraged to attend the next city council meeting and voice his opinion during the public hearing for the proposed ordinance change. The public hearing was originally scheduled for Tuesday’s meeting, but city staff felt they needed more time to prepare the ordinance before it was ready to present to the council.

There was a brief public hearing to change the city’s fee schedule regarding an ATV fee. No one spoke during this public hearing, and the rest of the ordinance will be considered during the next meeting. 

Public Hearings

On the subject of public hearings, the council set three for the next council meeting, July 6. 

These will include:

• The above-mentioned hearing regarding the ATV ordinance;

• A hearing regarding the certification of snow removal changes – The city removed snow for citizens who failed to do so in a timely manner. The citizens who did not pay the city for this service will have the cost assessed to their property tax;

• And a hearing regarding a change to penalties for violating the watering ordinance – Currently, there is a $25 fee for a first-time offense and a $50 for a second-time offense. Staff believes that many citizens are unaware of the watering ordinance, and so want to change the first-time offense penalty to a warning. They will keep the second offense penalty as $50 and add a penalty of $100 for those who violate the ordinance three times, and for each consecutive violation. 

Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Funds

Under the American Rescue Plan, city staff expect to receive around $500,000 towards economic recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic, distributed in summer 2021 and 2022. This is an estimate by staff, as Becker has not yet been approved for this amount, but staff asked council to make a motion accepting approximately this amount so staff could begin creating a budget for the funding. This will show the state and federal governments that the city is prepared to spend the money in an appropriate manner. 

In Other Business, the Council:

• Awarded a bid for work at the wastewater treatment center dump station;

• Approved a change order for work at the business park expansion to fix a plumbing issue;

• Heard a presentation on the state of the county.