The Becker City Council Tuesday discussed police body cams, a grant proposal, the levy, city selling and purchasing of property and the consideration of donating land for a veterans memorial.

 

Citizen and veteran Roger Bigalke asked the city council if they would consider donating a sliver of land to the American Legion for the purpose of constructing a veteran’s memorial for service members.

 

Bigalke identified some property between Ramsey St. and Donnelly St. as  a prime spot, saying he’d like to have the memorial visible from Hwy. 10. His goal is to have the memorial erected in time for Freedom Days 2020, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the Legion in 2019.

 

Bigalke said the memorial would be something  like 70x80 feet wide featuring flags and monuments. He said he has no plans or specifications as of Tuesday, but the concept would be similar to the one built at the Clearview Elementary School.

 

Council Member Mike Doering said he wasn’t too keen on the city giving up commercial property land when the city has areas around — like city park — that has sites more practical for this type of project.

 

Member Todd Hanrahan agreed and said if the memorial was on Hwy. 10, too many people would be zooming past it at high speeds and not even see it.

 

“I’d prefer to see the memorial on a more controlled (lower speed) road, maybe along Sherburne Ave. or — like Mike said — at city park.”

 

Bigalke said he only made the suggestion of the property on Hwy. 10 to get the ball rolling and said he and Legion members are willing to look at all options. His only concern is getting the memorial done in time for the 202 summer event.

 

Council suggested the project got back to the park & rec committee to further hash out.

 

Police Chief Brent Baloun asked Mayor Tracy Bertram to open a public hearing to hear comments of questions from the public on the issue of the department buying body cameras for their police officers.

 

Mayor Bertram opened the public hearing and — when seeing no one approach the podium to speak - closed the hearing moments later.

 

Baloun gave background information on the implementation of the devices to his department and the costs involved. He said he also posted information on the police website and had an article published in the Citizen-Tribune, and still got no comments, either good or bad, from the public.

 

The 10 body cameras will be purchased from Axon (formerly Taser) for the amount of $54,711 which includes licenses for the secretary and department IT person. It will be a five-year contract with replacement of the devices at intervals of 30 months and 60 months to ensure the cameras remain in operation and consist of the latest technology.

 

Baloun budgeted $33,000 in the CIP to cover the original cost of six cameras and has secured a $20,000 donation from an anonymous (at this time) donor. He said his department also recently received a $4,000 donation from the Eddy Foundation to go towards miscellaneous police equipment.

 

City Administrator Greg Pruszinske asked for permission to submit a grant proposal to the Initiative Foundation to complete an in-depth engineering report (required as part of the U.S. EDA grant the city is working on) for improvements identified in the city’s transportation study.

 

Pruszinske said once the engineering report is complete, the city can move forward with applying to the U.S. EDA for grant monies to be used for the improvements.

 

The total cost of the engineer’s report is estimated at $40,000.

 

BNSF Permit & Land Purchase Options

Pruszinske reminded council of the 2015 BNSF mainline project in which the switch that serves the city’s rail spur (owned/operated by BNSF) had)had to be relocated to accommodate a new set of tracks. As a follow-up, a temporary occupancy permit and option-to-purchase document was issued to allow BNSF to work on city property.

 

The document, Pruszinske said, formally outlines terms and conditions of the land sale to BNSF for the property under which the switch lays.

 

The land being bought by BNSF consists of 22,000 square feet.

 

City council held a closed meeting in July to discuss the potential purchase of property at 12196 Hancock Street SE. After that meeting, staff moved ahead with an offer and purchased the property for $55,000.

 

The property is located across from Nix Restaurant Bar and Grill and is owned by Dorothy Anderson.

 

Pruszinske presented a second amendment resolution to a WWTF agreement between the city and Liberty paper, Inc.

 

The initial agreement was signed in January of 2016 providing for the expansion and repayment of bonds issued by the city for upgrades to the city’s WWTF designed to allow LPI to increase its use of the facility.

 

A first amendment was issued Jan. 16, 2016 to clarify terms of the agreement to provide for a more financially advantageous way for both parties to administer the terms of the agreement.

 

In the latest agreement, LPI is requesting the payment date of debt service payments be made January 15 and July 15 of each year instead of on the first day of each of the respective months, as this would accurately describe when LPI is actually making the payments. 

 

In addition, LPI wishes to amend the agreement to state that the payments are being made directly to the trustee of the bonds and not through the city — as this is actually how LPI is currently making the payments. 

 

Finally, LPI is requesting the city approve an amended repayment schedule to the existing agreement reflecting when the bond payments will be made to the trustee.

 

Becker City Clerk Julie Blesi was awarded a certificate recognizing her attaining her goal of becoming a Minnesota Certified Municipal Clerk. 

 

This certification, through the Municipal Clerks and Finance Officers Association, is — at a minimum — a three-year commitment. It has a strict educational standard, a firm experience requirement and obligates its members to a strong code of ethics. 

 

“Thank you, Julie, for your hard work and dedication,” Mayor Bertram said.

 

The next Becker City Council meeting is Oct. 3 at 6 p.m.