All members of the Big Lake City Council were present on Wed., Jan. 22.
Road projects
City Engineer Layne Otteson gave the preliminary report for the 2025 Street and Utility Improvement Project No. ST2025-1. Otteson was asking the council to accept the report and to call for a public meeting on Feb. 12, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. The council accepted the resolution.
The work outlined in the report will take place on four street segments within the Highline Drive area of the city. Resurfacing and some replacement of concrete curbing and selected repair of storm structures are planned for Highland Drive from Co. Rd. 73 to CSAH 5, Bluff Rd. from Mitchell, Ridge Rd. to Highline Dr., Pond View Ln. from Co Rd. 73 to Mitchell Ridge Rd., and Mitchell Ridge Rd. from Pond View Ln. to cul-de-sac.
Tree removal was also proposed on Minnesota Ave. from 176th St. to 177th St. Sixty percent of the costs of the project will be assessed to adjacent properties. The total cost of the project is projected to be $819,654.28. The total assessable amount for the Mitchell Lake Ridge neighborhood is $111,134.51. Highline Drive residential properties will be responsible for $13,739.22. Approximately $550,000 will be paid using the city’s State Aid account for eligible items on Highline Drive.
New Hires
Requests to add four positions to the city payroll was met with some opposition. Finance Director Deb Wegelemen presented resolutions to advertise and recruit for positions that were previously discussed and budgeted for. The positions were Police Officer, Engineering Technician, Streets/Parks operator, and Water/Wastewater operator. Though three out of the four positions were approved unanimously, much of the debate that occurred about hiring was during discussion of the resolution for Streets Park Operator. It was during that time that Mayor Paul Knier reminded the other members of the council that he had expressed concern back in November over the hiring of all four positions at once. Knier and Council member Paul Seefeld both expressed a desire to put off the hiring of either the Streets/Parks operator or the Water/Wastewater operator by a year or more with Knier favoring wastewater over the parks operator.
Norm Michels, Streets/Parks/Fleet Superintendent, mentioned that when his department last added a FT position in 2022, they already had a PT hire who worked 30 hours, so the net gain of that hire was 10 hours a week. Council Member Ken Halvorson also pointed out that roles and responsibilities have increased for the department. Public Works has added vehicle maintenance for PD and fire vehicles to their job duties. Michels said, “We drop everything when PD or fire calls.”
Ultimately, the resolution to advertise and recruit for a Streets/Parks Operator passed on a vote of 3-2. Knier and Seefeld voted against the resolution.
Winter Parking Rules
During his time to report to the council about what has been happening at Public Works, Michels took a moment to remind everyone of the winter parking rules that are now in effect. From November 1 to April 15, between the hours of 12:01 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., vehicles cannot park on public roadways. Vehicles must also be removed from roadways when a snowfall of 2” of more occurs, until the roadways have been cleared all times of the day.
