During the recent Big Lake City Council meeting, two citizens were honored by the police department for their help in a recent Amber Alert incident. 

Lorenzo Marcias and Emily Lanager-Chesley were presented with citizen commendation awards from the Big Lake Police Dept. Marcias is the owner of El Loro restaurant in Big Lake, and Lanager-Chesley works as one of his employees. Following an Amber Alert, another employee of the restaurant entered the business with a child. Lanager-Chesley found this suspicious, as she knew this man did not have any children. After her shift, she looked up an image of the child from the Amber Alert and found it was the same child she saw with her coworker. 

She called her boss, Marcias, who instructed her to call the police. The man and the child left before the police arrived, but Marcias was able to give the police the man’s address. At his residence, police again received assistance from Marias in translating with the man’s roommates. 

The suspect was detained later when he returned to the residence, and the child was found unharmed at a location near Paynesville. 

Acting Police Chief Sam Olson expressed his sincere thanks for their assistance in making sure the child was returned safely to his family. 

Open Forum

Paul Peterson spoke about some of his concerns regarding the 2020 election, including equal Democrat/Republican representation in voting judges and issues with the voting machines. 

Several other Big Lake citizens also spoke in opposition to the city’s use of voting machines. Several arguments included that the machines ran on outdated software (Windows 7) which had not had any security updates in some time, as well as potential software flaws which could cause the machines to weigh certain votes.

George Quinn spoke about a landscaping project at the Veterans Memorial.

Police Department

Mayor Paul Knier swore in new BLPD officer Jennifer Franzen. Officer Franzen has been serving with the department since the beginning of the year as a probationary officer. 

The council also accepted three donations on behalf of the police department, including a $2,000 donation from the American Legion, a $300 donation from resident Chad Ziegler, and a $10,000 donation from resident Suzanne Granger (to be used towards the K-9 program. 

In Other Business, the Board:

• Heard the audit presentation from Bergan KDV;

• Reviewed a concept plan for a senior living apartment building on Station St. and a final plat for Marketplace Crossing;

• Heard reports from the finance, liquor store, and development departments.