During the recent city council meeting, Deb Johnson received Big Lake’s first annual outstanding citizen of the year award. Johnson is a long-time volunteer for the city, giving time to many groups including the Lions and Spud Fest.

Deb received a trophy during the council meeting after celebrating at a small reception before the meeting.

Mayor Paul Knier said the reason the city decided to create an Outstanding Citizen award was to promote volunteerism in the community. 

Aeon Housing Resolution of Support

Aeon housing approached the council asking for a letter of support as they attempt to come into the community. Aeon is a nonprofit company planning to construct senior housing, a number of units being dedicated to residents exiting homelessness.

Aeon was looking for support from the council as they seek funding and move forward with the project.

JP Brooks Development

JP Brooks is looking to create single-family housing consisting of 60 homes with four out lots. As a part of their application process, they submitted their plan for feedback from the council.

Ken Halverson and Sam Hanson, council members who are veterans of the fire dept., were not fans of the close setbacks of the houses or the plan for vinyl siding, both of which can lead to out of control house fires that spread throughout neighborhoods.

Monthly Department Reports

Deb Wegeleben, head of finance, went over budget, spending, and revenue for the year to date, showing that everything was where it was expected to be for that point of time. Council again discussed possible uses for excess liquor store revenue, but did not make any decisions during the council meeting.

Planning commission has received four applications for an open position in the department, which is more than was expected and department head Hanna Klimmek was excited to review the applications and pick the best person for the job.

Parks and rec updated council on summer maintenance measures.

The wastewater dept. was feeling a little short handed as one employee retired and one left to pursue another job. They are also looking to fix up some old wells around the city in order to meet capacity needs.

City administrator Clay Wilfahrt asked council for volunteers to interview candidates for the planning commission. This launched a conversation about whether the council had too much oversight over board appointments or too little. In the end, they decided not to change the system they had at the moment, though the council members seemed willing to investigate the matter further in the future. 

Council Reports

Halverson stated that in conversation with city employees, he was of the opinion that the liquor store employees were not being compensated enough for their work, and would like to address the issue in an upcoming council meeting. He also noted that recently he heard about a city building being repainted without getting proper approval, and has been painted far too frequently. He asked staff to present how this happened at the next council meeting in order to make sure things are done the right way in the future. Wilfahrt didn’t think that any policies were violated, but Halverson still wanted to investigate the issue.

Council member Sam Hanson reported that at the recent Beyond the Yellow Ribbon meeting, three seniors from Big Lake High School came by who were planning to join the military after graduation. They held a reception for the teenagers and explained resources that would be available to them as military service members.