The Becker City Council met Tuesday to discuss TIF Districts, CUPs, city code edits, building maintenance and auditing services.

Gutter Business CUP

Resident Chris Bohn submitted a CUP for his property to  allow for a home occupation of a gutter installation business on the property.

The 0.28-acre lot property is located at 13705 Parkview Dr. SE and currently is a single-family home. The property is in the Single-Family Residential Zoning District (R-1). Pursuant to Chapter 11, Section 11.32, Subdivision 3 a Conditional Use Permit Application is required for home occupations in the R-1 Zoning District. 

Council voted to approve the CUP despite some opposition.

The Becker Planning Commission held a public hearing Aug. 26 in which several home owners from the area voiced concerns. The concerns included the possibility of multiple vehicles parked on the street, two dumpsters instead of trash cans, the storage of building materials, deliveries, noise and whether the business will have a detriment on property values.

Council Member Mike Doering also expressed his concern about the property values and voted “naye” to the resolution.

A concerned citizen sitting in the gallery griped to council, Mayor Tracy Bertram and to Police Chief Brent Baloun after he was informed Tuesday’s meeting was not a public hearing and he could not speak to the application. The man (unidentified) stormed out of the meeting before the vote.

Council Member Rick Hendrickson said conditions were attached to Bohn’s CUP request which included many of the concerns the residents had for the business operation. After discussing these conditions, council voted and the CUP request passed with a 4-1 vote.

Salon Business CUP

Jeannine Behrenbrinker submitted a similar CUP request for the operation of a salon in her home at 10110 18th Ave SE. The same rules applied (R-1) for zoning and the planning commission held a public hearing Aug. 26 and made a request for approval.

Council reminded the applicant the same conditions are placed on this CUP addressing hours of operation, deliveries, trash storage and parking.

City Code Edits

Marie Pflipsen said staff has been reviewing city code chapters and determined multiple edits were needed for Chapter 4 and 11.

Some edits for Chapter 4 include the size accessory structures exempt from building permits increasing from 120 square feet to 200 square feet and fence height changed from six feet to seven feet. A revision to the grading escrow requirements has been made for clarity and process. Also, detached decks under thirty (30) inches in height have been added to Sec. 4.07 Administrative Permits Subd. 2 Applications Qualifying for administrative review. 

For Chapter 11 (pool performance standards), the revisions include reorganization of the subsections for clarity and the removal of the line “an administrative permit is required for all pools not requiring a building permit.” This line would require any pool under 24 inches and less than 5,000 gallons in volume to apply for an administrative permit. Staff does not believe it is necessary to permit these sizes of pools, which would include kid pools.  

Building Maintenence

Public Services Director Phil Knutson brought forth a request to do tuckpointing, caulking and block replacement at city hall, the BCC and Pebble Creek chimney. 

Knutson said this is routine maintenance, but it has not been done for some time so the amount of work that needs to be done is a bit more extensive than what staff had originally hoped for. 

“We are in a position with our operations budgets to cover these expenses and feel it is the right thing to do at this time,” he said. 

“This is another part of our push to maintain the infrastructure we have in place and try to prolong the life of our key assets.” 

Knutson said RFPs went out to three contractors and they received two with Kostreba Tuckpointing and Roofing providing the best quality work at the best price. The amount projected for the project is $34,995.

Auditing Services

Connie Robinson said the City of Becker sent out a request for proposal for professional auditing services in July. Seven proposals were received. 

Robinson said the finance department carefully reviewed all proposals and developed a matrix to aid in the decision process. After a thorough review, the finance department recommends accepting Bergan KDV as the city auditor for 2019-2021. 

Total cost for three years is $76,456.

TIF Districts

A call for a public hearing for proposed districts #4 and #5 are scheduled for Oct. 15 at around 6 p.m.

Pflipsen said the community development department has been approached about the possible development of two projects in the community that will be requesting TIF assisting. In order to keep the proposed projects on schedule and meet the required 30-day notification of the school district and county, the city council needs to hold a public hearing to determine if any assistance would be provided.

Pflipsen said if the projects do not move forward, the public hearings will be cancelled.

Up Next

The next Becker City Council meeting is Sept. 17 at 6 p.m.