At Tuesday’s Becker City Council meeting, the council took action which revealed the sale of the Food Pride grocery store to Bill’s Superette, a Minnesota grocery chain, is underway, with closing of the sale scheduled for April 26.  

In the consent agenda, liquor and tobacco licenses were approved for businesses coming into Becker. A tobacco license was approved for Bill’s Superette, which will be located at the current Deli Plus gas station (Shell) and for Bill’s Family Foods, which will take over the current Food Pride Grocery store location. Expected closing date is April 26. 

Cherokee Liquors Inc., dba G-Will Liquors, will be operating as the new liquor store to replace Jubilee Liquors. 

Annual Police Report 2021

Becker Police Chief Brent Baloun gave the annual police report for 2021. He stated that it was a good year overall. The department is currently fully staffed with a very tight-knit group of officers. 

His officers underwent training throughout the year, as always, and Baloun was happy to report that the department passed an audit for adequate training with flying colors. 

Becker has, in the opinion of the chief, the lowest crime rate and the safest community in the county. A large amount of the arrests officers do make are of suspects who are not local to the area, but just passing through. 

Baloun also spoke on the success of the officer reserve program. Reserve officers ride along with the regular officers in order to give an extra set of hands should the officers need them. The reserve officers in turn get some incredible hands-on experience. One of the reserve officers, Jenna Voight, was actually recently hired as a full time police officer with the department. Baloun said the reserve program has been a great recruiting tool and, while the department is fully staffed and is not hiring, it is still a great way for individuals interested in law enforcement to get experience they can use on their resumes when looking for a job at another department.

GRRL Annual Presentation

Jeannette Burkhardt, who runs both the Becker and Big Lake branches of the Great River Regional Library, gave her 2021 annual presentation to the council. 

The winter reading program was a big success, which Burkhardt attributed to the gift cards to local businesses the library was able to give away as prizes.

The library changed its hours slightly in order to offer more morning hours to the public. They chose to do this based on public requests and the perception of changing needs in the community (especially with the Becker Area Senior Center recently moving right next door.)

Last year, the library teamed up with Pebble Creek with a goal of raising $500 for the Locally Growin’ program. They were able to double this amount and raised about $1,000. Last weekend, they again teamed up with Pebble Creek but without the same level of success, raising only $300. Burhardt attributed this to having better weather at the 2021 event, which led to golfers being out on the course and making use of the clubhouse that day. Patrons can still contribute to the program through the end of March. Stop in or contact the library for more information.

The library hoped to have a unique item available for checkout at the library to encourage residents to come in and move their bodies. They hoped to purchase a tandem bicycle that could be rented for rides around town, but their insurance company discouraged this idea. Instead, the library opted to purchase pickleball equipment that can be used at the court behind the Community Center. Kits include balls, paddles, and instructions for playing. 

Story Strolls were popular last summer. These walks through city or county parks feature pages of a book printed on signs. In order to read the book, families take a walk around the park. Last year, kids were able to stamp cards every time they finished one of these strolls and won prizes if they completed all four sponsored by the library. 

The library is continuing their outreach with the food shelf, putting together “take and make” bags for kids, which provide all the necessary materials to make a craft. 

Job Classification and Compensation Study

Council decided to implement changes from the job classification and compensation study April 2, at the beginning of the second quarter. This will slightly alter city employee pay scales. Council Member Mike Doering asked whether the new pay scale will allow for higher rates to attract or retain talented employees in the competitive market. City Clerk Julie Blesi said that was not possible at this time, but there should be some options for such a case in a few weeks’ time, at an upcoming council meeting. 

Pebble Creek Remodel

Pebble Creek continues to get a makeover as staff sets its sights on the lower clubhouse level. The lower level is not in great shape, and is not being utilized as much as it could be. Currently, there are a snack shack and locker rooms in the lower level. Staff proposed using the mens’ showers as extra storage. The women’s locker room would be converted into a bridal party prep room, including soft seating and vanities. The old snack shack would be turned into club storage, so patrons would not have to haul their clubs back and forth from their vehicles every time they came to use the course or the simulators. The ceiling tiles in the hallway would also be replaced. $25,000 was budgeted for this project. 

Committee Reports

Public Works Committee reported doing leak detection at city fire hydrants. Staff did find one leak which they hoped to have fixed this week. They also elected to be put on a waitlist to purchase a new snow blower in 2023. This item was budgeted for purchase in 2023, but orders are taking up to 12 months to be filled at the moment. The actual purchase will happen in 2023.

The Economic Development Authority reported eight homes on the market this week, all of which were new construction.