During the January 10 meeting, the Big Lake City Council held an open forum for a grant application LISI Medical and accepted a generous donation to the police department. During the January 24 meeting, they heard the annual report from County Attorney Kathleen Heaney.
LISI Medical Expansion
LISI Medical, the old Remmele 30 plant in the Big Lake Industrial Park, is looking to expand their facility by 45,000 square feet. In order to do so, they are seeking financial assistance from grants offered by the state. As a part of the grant application process, the company is required to hold a public hearing about the proposal through the city, and the city also would need to apply for these grants on the company’s behalf.
LISI is a big employer for the Big Lake area, with around 280 current employees and with the company intending to create roles for 30 more workers over the next three years. No one spoke during the hearing, and the council approved continuing in the grant process.
Police Donation
Adam Kretsch and Adam Dietz, residents of Big Lake, donated $15,000 to the Big Lake Police Department for capital improvement projects on behalf of Luther Brookdale Mazda/Mitsubishi. The company routinely donates to law enforcement agencies in and around the metro area.
County Attorney Annual Report
Sherburne County Attorney Kathleen Heaney gave her annual report. She noted 823 criminal cases prosecuted this year. This is up from 733 cases in 2022.
The attorney’s office collected just under $14,000 in prosecution fees from the city.
Heaney also stated that the legislature has aligned fentanyl thresholds with the heroin thresholds. One of the prosecutors in Heaney’s office, Nathan Banusa, was one of the authors of the language the legislature adopted.
One of the attorneys in Heaney’s office will be retiring this year.
Heaney also noted her office will be spending time on election integrity this year with all of the elections this year. Mayor Paul Knier asked her about the city’s request for one precinct in the city to be “spot-checked.” Heaney responded that she had just recently been notified of the request, but that she or one of her attorneys would be handling it.
Other Comments
At the end of the meeting, Council Member Ken Halverson expressed his opinion that the council has not been doing a good enough job of saving money, and wants to make that a priority of it this year.
In Other Business, the Council:
• Recognized local resident and gold star mother Stella Huso, who recently celebrated her 105th birthday, making her the oldest gold star mother in the nation;
• Approved council appointments, including designating the Patriot as the official city newspaper;
• Heard a review of the previous year from City Administrator Hanna Klimmek;
• Heard department reports.
