The Big Lake City Council was filled with new faces in their first meeting of the year, with Mike Wallen, Scott Zettervall, and Seth Hansen no longer serving. Paul Knier was sworn in as Big Lake’s new mayor, and Paul Seefeld and Sam Hanson were both sworn in as board members. 

Ken Halverson, who is also new to the board, was sworn in a few weeks ago.

There is one vacant seat available on the council: the seat which was vacated by Mayor Knier when he took the mayoral seat. The council decided to hold a special election to fill the vacancy at the soonest possible date, which will be April 13. 

Council also created an ordinance to set this method of filling vacant seats as the city’s default method. Future councils could overturn this ordinance, but it will establish a precedence of holding a special election over an appointment to the council.

Committee Appointments and Official Newspaper

The council members were appointed to various committees around the city. Having reviewed the appointments in workshop, Knier, Seelfeld, and Hanson all voted to accept the committee appointments. However, council member Ken Halverson gave a dissenting vote, apparently not in favor of the appointments as they were given by Mayor Knier. 

“I think people should be put where they’ll best serve the taxpayers,” Halverson stated. “And I think there are a couple of speed bumps where we should have represented the taxpayers better. But that’s my opinion.”

Mayor Knier reminded the board and the audience that a special election would be coming soon, and committee appointments will, by necessity, be reevaluated when a new council member is elected.

In the same motion, the council designated the Elk River Star News as the city’s official newspaper. 

2021 Street Improvement Project

The council passed the 2021 Street Improvement Project laid out by the city engineer. This project will improve streets circling Mitchell and Big Lakes, including adding sidewalks to Powell St. N (from Hiawatha Ave. to Glenwood Ave.), Sherburne Ave., and Will St. 

Council member Halverson noted that he would like to see Euclid Ave. get a sidewalk, as well, since it is a busy road. Nevertheless, all members approved the motion to accept the project plan, Halverson noting that he would continue pushing for a Euclid Ave. sidewalk at a later time.

Donations

The city accepted donations to the police dept. in the amounts of $3,000 from the Big Lake Spud Fest in order to send two officers to negotiator school (to train officers to de-escalate situations and locate persons in distress), and $100 from Big Lake Senior Group to be used towards unbudgeted department expenses.

Finance Director Deb Wegeleben also asked the board to accept just over $10,000 in cash donations towards the Big Lake Freedom Rock project. 

Department Reports

The city departments all gave reports to the council regarding business from Dec. 2020, and for the year overall. 

Fire, Police Reports

Chief Seth Hansen, opposite from his old council seat, presented the statistics for the Big Lake Fire Dept. BLFD responded to 31 calls in December, making a total of 377 calls for the year, which is more calls than any other recorded year. Hansen went on to give a description of the training, calls, and community events in which the department participated in December.

Deputy Chief Matt Hayen from the Big Lake Police Dept. gave his December report next. The department had 1,017 calls for service for the month, and 15,429 for the year overall. He continued to give a description of one call involving the theft of some construction equipment, and then urged residents to lock their doors at night and to remove their garage door openers from vehicles parked outside at night. He also welcomed a new officer to the department, Tim Mickelson.

Engineering Report

City Engineer Layne Otteson delivered the update for the engineering department. The department has been split into two groups, to ensure that, in case of a COVID-19 outbreak, at least half staff will be available to continue working at the wastewater facility. They are continuing to process sludge from Otsego, and perform small, indoor maintenance projects. He also noted that the water in the water tower was lowered about 15 feet to keep ice from forming on top. This can affect the water pressure for residents, and he requested that any residents experiencing issues reach out and let the department know about the issue, since low water pressure could pose an issue in case the fire department needs to use a fire hydrant. 

Other Reports

Greg Zurbey gave a presentation on the new online ordering system for Lake Liquors, outlining how the system works and some issues staff are still working out.

Ella Dotzler gave her student liaison report, noting that sports have resumed for the winter season. She also said that there was a change to the school schedule for secondary students: Group A students will now meet on Monday and Thursday, and Group B will meet on Tuesday and Friday, while both groups will attend online with a two and a half hour late start on Wednesdays. 

Last to give his report was City Administrator Clay Wilfahrt. He noted some Facebook Live events in the works, including the yet-to-be-rescheduled ride along with Police Chief Joel Scharf, and a potential plow truck ride along. Wilfahrt took a tour of the Big Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant last Tuesday, and the video is available on the city’s Facebook page.