Things got a little contentious at Tuesday’s Becker City Council meeting when Mayor Lefty Kleis and Member Adam Oliver faced off in verbal jabs.

 

The first argument erupted when Kleis asked Oliver to comment on the July 25 police department minutes that indicated the BPD was having issues with the senior center over loud music being played and the activity in the hall ways leading to the PD. Also in the minutes was a note saying there were concerns for the activity of the food shelf such as “taking over” and “items missing”.

 

Kleis was so concerned with the written notes he called and invited Senior Center Coordinator Carol Brunn to attend Tuesday’s meeting to discuss the allegations.

 

Brunn said she knew nothing of the “items missing” and said she personally talked with the PD about the music and got no complaints at the time. She also noted her group has been invited on several occasions to “take” unwanted or soon-to-be-expiring food items from the food shelf, which could explain the “items missing” issue.

 

BPD Chief Brent Baloun — who had no prior knowledge that this issue was going to be discussed at the meeting — said he’s had cordial discussions with city staff about the noise but knows nothing of the claim “items were missing”.

 

Baloun also asked the mayor why only Brunn was notified to come to the meeting and defend themselves and he had not.

 

Oliver expressed his annoyance at the mayor, notifying Brunn of the minutes record and advising her to attend the meeting without consulting with council about the issue.

 

As the meeting continued, Kleis was in the middle of asking council to express their opinions when Oliver and Tracy Bertram began conferring. Kleis vociferated his irritation that Oliver was not allowing him to finish his talk and the two exchanged barbs again.

 

At the close of the meeting, Oliver used the open forum part of the agenda to question Kleis about his recent contact with members from Coborn’s Grocery, showing disrespect for Virgil Gilyard, the owner of Food Pride. Kleis claimed the contact was conducted under the full knowledge of Gilyard.

 

As the council meeting adjourned, uneasiness blanketed the room and Member Rick Hendrickson made a beeline for the door to escape the petty squabbles.

BPD Officer Honors

 

Baloun had the first order of business for the night and he presented two deserved awards to Becker officers Chris Lindbloom and Jon Kurtz.

 

Baloun gave a certificate award and citation bar to Lindbloom for his life-saving efforts for an incident that occurred on Jan. 27. Lindbloom responded to a call that day and upon arrival found a male person complaining of a heart issue. The person immediately fell into an unresponsive state and was suddenly not breathing.

 

Lindbloom and a Sherburne County Deputy immediately began resuscitating efforts including using CPR and a defibrillator. The officers shocked the person multiple times and eventually restored a heart rhythm.

 

Baloun said he spoke to the victim later and he stated “had it not been for the actions of these officers that day, I would most certainly be dead right now.”

The second award of the night went to Kurtz and his was a first for the department. Baloun had never awarded anyone on his squad the prestigious Medal of Valor award. Kurtz received the medal and certificate for this actions in a domestic situation April 8.

 

Kurtz responded to a call that day at 12:36 p.m. and discovered a male — who had initially left the scene — was now at the scene but was in an agitated state. At the scene were the man’s children, wife and father.

 

Kurtz says the male stated he had nothing to live for and grabbed a filet knife and lunged at Kurtz. Kurtz placed himself between the man and one child and the father while displaying his handgun, ordering the man to stop. 

 

The man continued his pursuit of Kurtz and Kurtz grabbed his weaponed hand, holstered his handgun and deployed his taser on the male subject. The man dropped the knife and was taken into custody.

 

Later, the male subject said, “I wanted the Officer to shoot me and I can’t believe that he didn’t.”

 

Kurtz’ actions potentially saved numerous lives, including his own, the child and the grandfather as well as the male subject.

 

Oliver presented a resolution establishing a Pebble Creek Advisory Board, moving forward with the operations of the golf course starting immediately.

 

The advisory board will be tasked to develop a three-year strategic business plan which includes an additional two-years of projections to identify and discuss issues impacting Pebble Creek.

 

Council will then receive the results of the advisory board and vote on whether council feels the funds requested are reasonable and expenditures of the requested funds be given tentative approval.

 

Oliver said should council not affirmatively vote in favor of the recommendations, council will then move forward in seeking other options for Pebble Creek’s future including hiring a management company, exploration of lease agreements and the possibility of a sale.

 

Sixteen conditions were set  as part of the resolution which Oliver went over one-by-one for clarification.

 

One of the conditions noted was council expecting the advisory board to find a plan which brings the golf course to a balanced expense report — not including depreciation. Mayor Kleis asked Oliver to change the condition to say, “including depreciation”, but Oliver said he stands by what was written in the resolution.

Council voted 4-1 in favor of the resolution with Kleis being the objecting factor.

 

Council was set to approve the 2015 city council meeting dates but Kleis asked the resolution be pulled and tabled for discussion at a future workshop. Kleis’ reasoning is he claims numerous people have issues with the start time of council meetings being at 5 p.m. The next Becker City Council meeting is Oct. 7 at 5 p.m.