The Becker City Council met Tuesday to hold two public hearings, discuss committee assignments, consider a new plow truck for public works and make a new appointment to fill Troy Cox’s empty council seat.

Oath of Office

Robin Dingmann was sworn-in to take the unoccupied seat on council vacated by  Troy Cox, who with his family moved out of the area.

Dingmann’s seat will be on the ballot in the general election as well as two council seats and the mayor seat.

Council is now made up of Dingmann, Mayor Tracy Bertram, Rick Hendrickson, Mike Doering and Rebecca Stanfield-Olmscheid.

Public Hearing #1

Clerk Julie Blesi asked council to approve an addition to city code allowing mobile food units to operate in city limits.

The new ordinance would allow for mobile food units to operate business as long as they have the approval of landowners, proper licensing, permitting and insurance and not operating within 300 feet of an existing restaurant. The units will also be limited to operating from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. with no overnight storage at point of sale and limiting the operation to 21 days per calendar year in one location.

The purpose of this ordinance to regulate mobile food units in order to protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of Becker by establishing standards to ensure that mobile food units are appropriately located, permitted and inspected, do not impede vehicular access, traffic flow or circulation, or create public safety hazards.

Public Hearing #2

Blesi asked council to approve the following changes and additions to the city fee schedule:

• Licensing Related Fees - Addition of mobile food unit temporary license and annual license fees in conjunction with the mobile food unit ordinance;

• Miscellaneous Fees - Remove the “comments” column which is not used - change all references of CD to flash drive - add fees for flash drives and mailings. The questions of fees have come up in response to data requests and mailing of larger sized building permits to non-local contractors - remove Sherburne County maps. The city has not had any for resale for many years - adding fee for sale of surgical masks due to COVID-19;

• Property Related Fees - add “after the fact administrative zoning permit” fee of $50. This would mirror the charges on what is done on building permits that are pulled after the work has begun. These permits are double feed on the permit charge;

• Charges for Services - change the residential snow removal fee from $75 to $150 to mirror the commercial fees. The snow removal fee is supposed to be a deterrent; $75 is cheaper than what most contractors charge. Additionally, the amount of work for a residential versus a commercial sidewalk is about the same, so the fee should be the same. This fee change was discussed with the public works committee and the committee agreed with staff’s recommendations.

As for the timing of this change, staff wanted to wait to make the change going into the 2020- 2021 snow season. Staff felt changing the fee mid-season would create a lot of confusion and frustration.

Committee Assignments

Blesi said with the swearing-in of Robin Dingmann as the newest member of council, committee assignments were reviewed and changes recommended.

Dingmann was assigned to Budget & Finance, EDA and Parks & Rec.

Blesi also noted the Fire Fighter’s Relief Association Committee Assignment will be discussed at the Annual Joint Fire Board meeting Mon., July 20. A revised Resolution will be available with the recommended appointment prior to the city council meeting July 21.

New Plow Truck

Phil Knutson said the public works department has a plow truck that needs replacing. He said they have pushed the truck out from 2020 and into a 2021 replacement in the department’s CIP.

Knutson says they have three separate bids for the chassis ranging from $98,087 to $99,294 with the low bid being Boyer Trucks on a 2021 Western Star.

“We also have three bids for the equipment ranging from $111,533 to $113,245 with the low bid being Twin Star Equipment,” said Knutson.

The issue Knutson has is timing on the purchase. The truck has two components, the chassis (cab, motor, frame and drivetrain) and the equipment (box, plows, blades, sanding unit, safety lights). Both components have lead times and getting a truck ordered and slotted is what the department is looking to do.

Knutson said if council gives approval, the chassis has a delivery date of October when it would go right to the equipment installation, which would put the truck to PW about February 1, 2021.

“Our concern in delaying the purchase keeps an older truck in service and we risk breakdown and increased costs on a low value truck,” said Knutson. “We will look to trade-in or sell the existing truck. That value has been placed at $22,000. Whether we sell or trade, we will keep our current truck in service until the new one arrives and is placed into service.”

Knutson says both Boyer Trucks and Twin Star Equipment are working from the state bid numbers.

Total for the package is roughly $225,000 after tax. Public works has $234,000 proposed in their CIP and is asking for approval to spend that amount on the truck as they finalize the details and final specs on the truck. Knutson says the trade or sale will offset this as well and anticipate the net purchase will be in closer to $215,000.

Up Next

The next Becker City Council meeting is Aug. 4 at 5 p.m.