In a meeting that lasted nearly two hours, the Becker City Council Tuesday debated a flooring and cabinet project at Pebble Creek, Northern Metals Recycling and a letter of support for two bills in the state legislature.

 

Golf Manager Troy Malo brought forth a proposal to have flooring replaced throughout the Pebble Creek Golf Course building as well as some cabinet work around the bar and in the bathrooms.

 

The cost for the project was set to not exceed $75,000.

 

Malo said the project was unbudgeted for 2017, but said the project has been on the CIP and has been deferred for several years. He suggested staff utilize funds from the future improvements fund to pay for the upgrades.

 

Malo said the clubhouse flooring has been a topic of discussion for the last several years. He told council he just received a donation of carpet tiles to do a portion of the project and he sent out RFPs to area floor installers and cabinetry shops to get quotes.

 

Malo says the project would include the installation of new flooring on both levels of the building including the bathrooms. New dividers are also a consideration for the bathrooms as well as countertops and sinks to bring Pebble Creek in compliance with ADA guidelines.

 

He also noted the new flooring would make them compliant with the Minnesota Dept. of Health, who have been asking PC staff to put in a hard surface in front of the bar for several years.

 

To complete the face-lift, Malo suggest they re-face the cabinets behind the bar and a new top on the bar as well as the cabinets behind the bar.

 

“This project will give the upstairs a completely new look and feel as customers enter the space,” said Malo. “It will also assist us in our ability to ‘sell’ the facility to banquets, weddings and other events leading to increased revenue.”

 

Malo said Sonus Interiors provided the lowest bid at around $56,713 for the flooring. Stonewall Industries provided the lowest bid for cabinet work, totalling $10,687.50. Malo earmarked $75,000 to include any contingencies or overages.

 

Councilmember Rick Hendrickson balked at parts of the project and the costs involved and suggested they do the project in stages and “focus on the upstairs area first, where they’ll see a more immediate return on their investment.”

 

Malo asserted some of the projects need to be done simultaneously to save costs and time. Hendrickson said he wasn’t comfortable with the $75,000 price tag associated with a $67,000 combined quote. He voted “naye” to the resolution while the other four members voted in favor.

 

During open forum, Trevor Studanski — a resident and business owner in Becker — said he had some questions and concerns about Northern metal Recycling relocating to Becker,

Studanski asked if NMR’s move to the area needs to be approved by council in order to happen. Mayor Tracy Bertram said as long as the business applies and is granted all required permits, no formal “yes” or “no” is required from council.

 

Studanski asked about business taxes and the area tax base and wondered how the new rail and road limits would get paid for should NMR make the move here.

 

CA Greg Pruszinske said a conceptual study is being explored currently to address these issues.

 

Studanski asked about the pollution control “stuff” NMR is linked to in the media.

 

Member Todd Hanrahan said not all the issues portrayed in the media on the subject reflect the bottom line that the MPCA has been doing consistent control checks and the company has generally passed each one. 

 

One of the major issues NMR faced was the MPCA had put pollution control monitors outside NMR’s facility and their readings were high and used that information  to add restrictions to the company’s operations. However, it was discovered the data found from that experiment did not take into consideration other pollutants in they are from other sources.

 

“The move to Becker is still a couple years away,” said Mayor Bertram. “I assure you we are doing all we can to do our research, ask questions, look into their history — we have really good people working for the city on all this.”

 

Rep. Jim Newberger and Sen. Andrew Mathews have established two bills in the house of representatives in support of preserving rail infrastructure and improving Minnesota’s freight railroads. 

 

The bills call for the focus on addressing improvements for existing rail tracks and bridges and the possibility of construction of additional tracks to support new growth for new or expanding businesses.

 

A letter of support from the City of Becker was asked for by the politicians and was granted.

 

In other city council action the city:

• Discussed the Site Selector Guild annual conference Marie Pflipsen attended in Tucson, AZ. and the valuable information ascertained;

 

• Council talked through items of importance pertaining to committee reports for budget and finance, public works, police management, EDA and the fire joint powers board;

 

• June Hubbard of the BPD was named February Safety Award recipient for her duties that include coordinating the annual Safety Camp event in April.

 

The next becker City Council meeting is April 4 at 6 p.m.