The Becker City Council convened Tuesday at city hall and Lori Keller and Rick Hendrickson were sworn-in as newly-elected members.

 

Clerk Julie Blesi recited the oath of office for both newly-appointed members and Keller and Hendrickson repeated the pledge before climbing into their chairs behind the podium at city hall.

 

Hendrickson had been a council member since Phil Knutson resigned his seat in January of 2013 when he moved outside the city limits. Keller was elected in November after receiving the most votes of four candidates and took over Lynette Brannan’s seat on council.

 

Blesi brought forth a resolution outlining all the city council organization and committee appointments for 2015.

 

Council reviewed, voted and unanimously approved the following appointments:

• Acting Mayor - Hendrickson; • Annexation and Joint Planning Board - Adam Oliver and Tracy Bertram; • Budget and Finance - Keller and Hendrickson;

• Chamber - any council member; • City Attorney - Scott Lepak; • City Auditor - Abdo, Eick & Meyers; • City Engineer Consultant- Randy Sabart, SEH;

• EDA - Keller and Hendrickson; • Firefighter’s Relief Association - Oliver and Marilyn Danielson; • Fire Joint Powers Board - Bertram and Mayor Jerome Kleis. 

• Golf Management - Keller and Hendrickson; • LPI Advisory - Hendrickson, Bertram, Greg Pruszinske and Dave Pesola;

• Northstar Corridor - Kleis and Pruszinske;

• Official Depository - Sherburne State Bank;

• Official Newspaper - Sherburne County Citizen (Alt. - West Sherburne Tribune, St. Cloud Times);

• Parks and Rec - Kleis and Hendrickson;

• Personnel - Oliver and Bertram;

• Police Management - Keller and Oliver;

• Planning Commission - Keller and Oliver; Public Works - Bertram and Kleis; Xcel Advisory - Hendrickson and Kleis.

 

Community Development Coordinator Amanda Othoudt presented a CUP request from Casey’s Retail Company to establish a convenience store and gas station on a 1.55 acre vacant parcel of land on the corner of Bank Street and Rolling Ridge Rd.

 

Othoudt said Casey’s would construct a 41’ x 103’ convenience store with a 24’ x 190’ canopy and six gasoline pumps in the lot to the north of McDonald’s.

 

Othoudt said the store will provide for an opportunity to create 15-20 new jobs for the city and position Becker as a destination for more customers.

 

The Becker Planning Commission held a public hearing on Dec. 29 and two members from the public discussed the plans and had some concerns about the proposed lighting, propane tank sales, fencing/screening, intercom system and traffic.

 

Othoudt said city staff was able to address all the concerns and she advised council there will be very little spillover of light to the north of the store where townhomes currently are located. She also said the intercom system will follow city noise ordinances and only be used after 7 a.m. in the morning and before 10 p.m. at night.

 

All other issues were addressed and dealt with by the representatives from Casey’s Retail.

 

Police Chief Brent Baloun thanked LPI for their donation of $5,000 to be used for police equipment. He then went on to request approval from council a purchase of a new police vehicle to replace an older squad car.

 

Baloun said the new purchase has already been budgeted for for 2015 and will be used to replace squad car #911 - an older, 2011 Ford Crown Victoria car with a new, 2015 Ford Utility Interceptor vehicle. Baloun said the Crown Victoria is approaching 100,000 miles on it and has recently had some mechanical issues.

 

With the purchase of the new utility vehicle, the BPD will now have four SUVs in their fleet and Baloun is hopeful the department will not need to purchase a new vehicle to replace the first one bought until 2017.

 

The cost for the new 2015 utility vehicle is close to $30,000 and will be bought from Nelson Auto Center in Fergus Falls. With the purchase, the department will do a switchover of some equipment, add new partitions, safety lights, a push bumper and graphics.

 

Baloun also mentioned one of his officers, Johnathon Batterberry, will be receiving a life-saving award from the Sartell Police Dept. after Batterberry saved the life of a man who had suffered a heart attack at a gym Batterberry attends. Batterberry was off-duty at the time of the incident.

 

Water/Wastewater Supervisor Dave Pesola asked council to approve the call for a public hearing to develop a well head protection plan for the city’s drinking water supply wells.

 

Pesola said a draft of the plan (Part II) was sent to local government agencies (county, township, soil & water, etc.) on Nov. 20 for a 60-day review period.

 

Council voted to schedule a public hearing for the Jan. 20 council meeting to discuss issues and address any comments related to the protection plan.

 

The next Becker City Council meeting is Jan. 20 at 5 p.m.