To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, full house. Thank you for
being here, everybody. Does anybody have any changes to the agenda? I did have um maybe adding a number nine after the consent agenda. Just want to talk about
the post office foyer request. Um so I'd like to add that. Does anybody else have any changes? >> If not, I would take a motion to approve the agenda as amended. >> I'll make that motion.
>> We'll second. We have a motion by Robin, second by Rick to approve the agenda as amended. Do we have any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor, please state I. I. >> Anyone opposed, state no. Agenda is approved. All right, guests in open forum. I think
we have a couple speakers here tonight. So, if did we have some people sign up? Yeah. Come on forward if you would right up to the microphone here and just uh state your name for the record. >> Hi. Um I'm Vanessa Davenport and I live
over in Oro. Um, again, Vanessa Davenport. I'm here because I'm running for a Minnesota House District 27A, which is y'all's area. Um, as you can tell, I'm not from here. I'm originally from Tennessee. I was raised by a single mother. Um, by the time I was in high
school, I was working three jobs in order to make ends meet and to also put myself through college, which unfortunately I'm still paying for, which I'm sure many others are as well. That experience has shaped how I see responsibility, work, and accountability. Since then, I've served in the US Navy active as a logistics
specialist aboard the USS Nimmits during its longest deployment since Vietnam. Today, I'm an analyst in the electric industry here in Minnesota. I also stay pretty active in our community through the Lions and Beyond the Yellow Ribbon, supporting local veterans and families. Service has always been a huge part of
my life. That's the main reason why I'm running, is I want to continue that, but in a different realm. I'm running because families in our rural communities shouldn't carry the tax burden alone while large corporations and the wealthiest continue to benefit without paying their fair share. I'm running because when companies like data
centers come into our communities, they should pay for their own infrastructure and protect our water and natural resources. I'm running because government should answer to voters, not corporate donors. My background has taught me that most people want the same thing. We all want
good jobs. We all want safe communities and we all want a government that's accountable with their tax dollars. It doesn't matter what side of the aisle you're coming from. That's a leadership I'm offering focused on service, accountability, and putting our communities first. I'm holding a meeting
um next Tuesday at 6:30 over at Brickyard Bar and Grill in Clear Lake if anybody would like to come. And there's another one the following Tuesday on the 31st at Lupin 6:30 if anybody would like to come. No expectations, it's just conversation. That is it. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Thank you for your
service as well. Do we have another speaker? Do we have two signed up tonight or just one? >> Anybody else want to talk? All right, we will move on then to committee reports, presentations, and
awards. Looks like we have some swearing in of some police officers. We'll call on Chief Lind Bloom to come forward. >> Thank you, Mayor and Council. Well, this is always a kind of a fun event for everybody to be a part of and my first time getting to be on this end of it. So, that's pretty exciting. Um, prior to
conducting your regular business, I'm pleased to present three individuals tonight who are going to formally join the ranks of the Becker Police Department. Um, some who have been here for a little while. Um, and others who have just completed their FTO uh program. Uh, the decision to pursue a career in law enforcement is not one
made lightly. It is a commitment to serve this community often under difficult and unp unprep predictable circumstances with professionalism, integrity, and compassion. The men and women who take this oath accept responsibility that extend far beyond the job description. They accept a
calling. Tonight, as these officers raise their right hands and take the oath of office, they are not simply beginning employment. They are making a solemn promise to the residents of Becker. a promise to uphold the Constitution, to protect life and property, and to carry out the duties of this office with honor. I'm going to
take a quick moment to introduce each of the three, and then we'll come up for the uh swearing in uh portion of it. Uh first would be Officer Cody Posh, who was hired in February 5th of 2025 as a part-time officer with our department. Cody grew up in the Detroit Lakes area, earned his law enforcement degree from
Alexandria Technical College in 2022 21. Currently serves as a full-time school resource officer for the Foley Police Department, a role that speaks to his dedication uh to community and to our youth. Outside of work, Cody coaches baseball for Foley, enjoys time on the water fishing. He and his wife Hannah
recently uh welcomed their first child, Harper, who's here tonight. Uh Hannah will p pin on Cody's badge and we wish the PH family all the best as they begin this new and exciting portion of their lives together. Uh Jeff Webster, he was hired May 8th, 2025 as a part-time
officer with the Becker Police Department. He brings with him nearly 14 years of law enforcement experience. Uh most recently serving as a detective with the Brooklyn Park Police Department. Uh throughout his career, he served as a hostage and crisis negotiator on the Brooklyn Park SWAT team, a recruiter, a mentor, union board
member, and member of the Crisis Negotiators Association of Minnesota. Jeff grew up in Maple Grove and earned a degree in criminology from the University of Minnesota, DUTH, and he has recently transitioned to the private sector, uh but his commitment to public service remains clear and we're
fortunate to have him joining us. Uh Jeff lives in Big Lake with his life wife Payton and their two sons, Charlie and Logan. Uh tonight, his son Charlie, with uh some help potentially from Payton, uh has the honor of pinning on his dad's badge. And finally, Officer Hunter Hankles, who was hired on
November 12th of 2025 as a full-time officer with our department. Uh he has recently uh completed his field training. Uh he's currently assigned to our overnight patrol shift. Hunter grew up in Rapids, graduated from Blaine High School, and earned his law enforcement degree from Alexandria Technical College in 2017. He brings
with us three years of law enforcement experience uh most recently with the Mer County Sheriff's Office and the Eden Valley Police Department. Outside of work, Hunter enjoys uh outdoor projects, hockey, golf, and spending time with friends and family. Uh tonight, his daughter has the honor of pinning on his
badge, a moment that uh I think we can all agree is is a pretty special part of some of these evenings. So, uh with that, I will have the three uh individuals step up. I'll introduce them to you. you can put a face to their names, then we'll go through the uh actual oath. So, come on up, Cody
Hunter. So, Cody Pouch, Hunter Hankles, and Jeff Webster. If you guys just want to kind of stand across for me, and we'll raise your right hand. All right. I state your name. >> I
>> do solemnly swear >> domly swear >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America. the Constitution of the United States of America >> and the Constitution of the State of Minnesota. >> Constitution of the State of Minnesota.
>> On my honor, I will never betray my badge. >> On my honor, I will never betray my badge >> my character >> my character >> or the public trust. >> or the public trust. I will faithfully discharge the duties >> I will faithfully discharge the duties
>> of the office of police officer >> of the office of police officer >> in the city of Becker >> in the city of Becker >> to the best of my judgment and ability >> to the best of my judgment and ability. >> So help me God. >> So help me God. >> All right. So, first up, we'll have uh
Cody's badge pinned on by his wife Hannah. All right. Thank you. And uh Jeff, see how this goes. Nice job. And a hunter. Oh. Uhoh.
Oh no. All right. I also cried like that the first time I was in front of council, so it works. Uh that being said, I ask that the council and those in attendance uh join me in acknowledging these three officers. We'll have you stand for a couple and
then as is customary for our swearing ends, we will vacate and go enjoy some refreshments. feel free to come after the meeting. >> All right. Thank you. >> All right. Welcome, guys. >> Appreciate it. >> Appreciate you being here. Thanks for your service to our community and God
bless. >> Everybody get >> some really interesting road stuff to talk about if anybody wants to stay, but I guess not. All right. Can't compete with the cake they're
going to go eat. I suppose I get it. >> Well, it's nice to have the console chambers filled up once in a while. >> Exactly. Standing room only. >> Good thing we're not in a boat here. We're about ready to capsize. >> All right, we'll get back to the agenda.
6B, we have our committee reports, personnel. I will take that. We met a week ago Friday and we talked really about three things. All of them are on the consent agenda tonight. One is the healthc care. We
just had to have a policy amendment um to be compliant with what the state wants us to do. Uh we talked about the red circle pay as well for the golf course and
um that was about it. I guess we had a third item just the uh holidays. We just made a little correction to uh get that kind of worked out so we're all in alignment with the different holidays. Any questions about personnel?
>> Awesome. EDA >> EDA met on Monday, March I'm lying. Monday, March 9th. uh most of our time we talked about how we want to use our reserve funds and just kind of threw out ideas and had discussion about
that. Um nothing was decided. We'll be looking into that more in depth and a monthly market update which is very similar to what it has been. 20 homes on the market right now, four sold in the last 30 days.
>> All right, any questions for Robin on EDA? All right, move on to public works. Uh >> public works, we met last Wednesday. Uh we had several items u number 7 A B CDE E and F which we approved to be
forwarded to council for consideration. And the other thing that we discussed was doing a traffic study on Third Street North. >> All right, questions for Mike. We'll move on to Park and Wreck.
>> Park and Wreck met last night. Um, we talked about uh the youth bas youth baseball sponsorship program. They're going to have some signage or banners on some of the um fences at the BAC.
And uh what else do we talk about? Oh, the new park which will be Sand Hill Park. We just talked about some of the ideas of what might go on over there and when. >> Is that the one by the compost? >> Yep. >> Oh, that's the name of it. >> Yep. Sand Hill.
Um, and we talked about the uh entrances and exits at the BAC as well and uh just put some ideas into motion there. >> Okay, questions for Robin.
Uh, fireboard's next uh reviewed the calls. We're kind of on par with with last year, so our call volume is has been pretty steady. Uh, we'll be looking at a capital expenditure of a Lucas machine. So, we have some possible donations coming in for that. That's
kind of the automatic CPR machine. Uh, we're due for a new one of those. We're working on getting some HVAC quotes. The air handlers on that building are all original to the building and um so that's been 20ome years and it's time
>> that long already. Yeah, >> it's shocking, right? It has. Um, and along with that, since we're doing uh looking at replacing some HVAC, we also haven't addressed anything on the roof. So, we're kind of looking at maybe
getting inspection cuz again, it's a flat roof and it's been over 20 years and we haven't done any maintenance. So, before we get any leaks, we thought if we if we have a crane and we're up there doing some work, that would be the correct time to do that. So, we're
looking at some quotes on that. and we are uh getting stuff together for the audit which will be kicking off here pretty soon. So that's about it for fireboard. Any
questions on that? All right, we'll move on then to board committee and consultant reports. Letter A, Mr. Kudson's up with the 2026 street improvement plan approval and bid
advertisement authorization. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good evening, council. Um, our annual right of passage is to come in front of you and talk about street improvements. So, here we are again uh looking at a variety of streets this year. Um, we're um more kind of
congregated into one location or a couple locations with our streets. So, what we're looking at this year is again uh uh reclaiming and uh reproducing the streets. Uh what we're proposing are Hillrest Road, uh Pine View Drive, the section from uh River Street to uh
Rolling Ridge. Uh we're looking at adding a connection uh Jade Street and uh 35th Avenue on the east side of town. Uh doesn't exist right now. A lot of the infrastructure is in, but there's no curb or uh or road. So, we're looking at uh connecting that would make uh uh four
sailable lots for private property and three sailable lots for the city. Uh planning, I believe, is going to start looking at a possible prelim pre preliminary plat for that as well. So, you have salailable lots that we could look to move and get some building going there. Uh we're also looking at Martin Drive, uh Carol Drive from Abbey Avenue
to Laura Circle, Abby Abbey Avenue and Twilight Avenue as well. uh with this project, part of the base bid, uh the public works facility. We're looking to improve the parking lot where we just finished the uh the additional building uh on the Gardener Street address. Uh so that'll be part of that. It'll be
isolated so we can keep track of the dollars because they'll come from se separate buckets, but uh we're going to try and get the economy of scale by bidding it with this project. Uh the alternative that we're looking at, uh this is a carryover from from last year. Um the Avalon the Birdie Lane uh
development uh has uh switched developers. So Workhorse on Birdie Lane and a small section of Fairway uh Fairway Lane um needs to be done and along with that uh raising the irons, different things like that. So we're putting that as a part of this project
as well so we can get again isolate those numbers and talking with the new developer uh that's responsible for that. He he's not familiar with the paving side of it. So he the numbers come favorable, he's likely to have us do the project. Uh in any case, if it's not favorable, our inspection that we do
on all of our streets will be part of that regardless of who he uses for the project. So uh we're hopeful that we're going to see some favorable pricing that we come back in and we can just take care of that project in one fell swoop as well. So uh with that, what we're looking for tonight is for approval on
the plans and specs as as were shown to you and uh authorization for staff to take this project out to bid with the dates shown. And I believe the uh the uh time opening for the bid date is April 13th. And then we would look to uh if given the uh approval, we would bring it
back to council for consideration on the 21st. And with that, I can stand for any questions on this project. >> All right. Thank you. Any questions for Phil on the street improvements? >> All right. Anybody want to offer a motion on resolution 2622?
>> I will make that motion. Have a second. We have a motion by Rick, second by Mike for resolution 2622. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor, please state I. I. >> Anyone opposed, state no. That motion's carried. Thank you.
>> And we're up to Edgewood. One of the easiest projects we're uh we're going to take. I've been with the city now for almost 7 years, and this one is going to be interesting. Uh so Edgewood, obviously, it's a welltraveled uh road. It's uh about 1.4 miles from 23
to Highway 10. And we're looking at doing the whole whole section of along with the trail. Uh it's one of the most heavily traveled roads and pedestrian bike path, uh walkers, runners, you name it, not just from the community, but from the township as well. So, uh there's a high importance there. We've
visited this on on a variety of things. We've talked with with some of the access points we've got, increasing sight lines. Um, throw on top of that, the countyy's working on on, uh, Cassaw 23 and improving some of the trail and adding the trail out to the park. So, um, this is there's there's a lot of
moving parts to get this thing together, but the the gist of what we're looking to do is is make overall improvements to Edgewood. Um, the road width of Edgewood is going to remain similar to what it is right now. Uh the section that we're recommending from uh CASA 23 to Brenda
uh Boulevard would uh be put with curbon gutter so we can kind of retain that water. The trail uh we can get the trail out of the ditch uh in in the whole corridor but we'd elevate that up and collect that water. That water would be conveyed over to the golf course underneath 23. Um so a lot of a lot of
moving parts with that that one. A couple of the highlights on this section. Uh because of MSAS, uh we the design standards are a little bit tighter to work through. Um the corridor, we're looking to move that stop sign with this tonight. And in final plans, we would make the
recommendation that we would move that speed corridor and the whole section of that street from 23 to Highway 10 to 35 mph. Staff recommended that through public works. Public work public works has supported that. I've met with the police chief to walk him through that as
well and he's given full support of his department to enforce that speed as well and and understanding the safety and the combination of pedestrians and and uh motorists as as well. So, uh a couple of other things to call out. We've moved or proposing to move the trail on the west
side of the project. Um with the potential of Luan Drive uh being completed, we would keep the trail on the south side of the road up to 27th Avenue. 2 I think it's 27th Avenue >> at the church. >> Yes. So we would cross we'd get through
the intersection and then cross at the church to the trail that goes north to the history center. So we take basically you move that crosswalk up. We eliminate both of the crosswalks at U Prairie Village Estates I believe it is. Um so again we we'd reduce some of those
pedestrian conflicts, bring them to one side of it. Um, along with that, we'd look at Third Street to uh potentially put sidewalks that would take you from Third Street West to Brandt and and east to uh Brenda. Uh, and then you could
cross in those. We could eliminate the crosswalk at Third Street. And we wouldn't increase anybody's foot traffic, whether they're walking or biking to to get there. So, we're just trying to clean this thing up. So, instead of having eight crosswalks out there, we could bring it down to to four or five. And so the, you know, the the
excuse me, the motorists would pay more attention to what what they're seeing in the crosswalks would make them more important. Um, a side note on this, I've been working with Kexus Energy to uh light up basically every other street or highline poll that's out there. Uh, I
have a meeting set up with them on on uh Monday to walk through and review the corridor. The potential is to add 8 to 10 uh high arm LED lights out there. There's currently three. Um, we've heard from a lot of folks. Becky's been pretty vocal on this as well. Uh, we don't have
enough illumination out there. So, the goal is to light the trail, but it'll bleed into the road as well, and we'll hit every intersection that's out there. So, we'll make sure that all the intersections are lit up as well. So, uh, a lot of stuff going on on with that. And like I said, we're al also
tying this in with the county project. So, um, I'm kind of rambling on this thing. I've got, uh, Bryce and Randy standing behind me. uh they're carrying the water on this thing. Bryce has done a great job on that, but I'm going to have them talk a little bit about the MSAS standards and the timelines that we've got to work with on this project
as well. >> That'd be great. Thank you. >> Good evening, council. Phil touched uh touched base on on several of the high level uh state aid issues. In fact, you've kind of been down this process once before and maybe not even realized
it. um when we improved 97th uh those plans had to meet state aid standards had very similar reviews uh as what we're going through right now. So when you became a state aid city with population of 5,000 as you're aware it opened up another pot of of funding for
for road improvements. Uh with that funding though is is what we call the state aid process. So we have additional sets of eyes that review our drawings. Uh so the construction drawings get reviewed uh the storm water design and
analysis gets reviewed and so we have to make those submitts which have have been made and now they're pending review and comments back by Mindot district staff. So we have to go through that process before we get basically the clearance to to bid the project or advertise for
bids. And so the action at least before the council now is to get it in front of the council, get that part cleared so that when we do get the approval from state aid, we can uh immediately advertise for bids. Uh Phil mentioned um
a number of the state aid standards are related to lane widths, uh trail widths, uh design speeds, um grades. a lot of engineering details that I won't won't go into, but it's another level of review that we don't necessarily have to deal with when we're doing like your
2026 street improvements. So, you you're free to make many more of the design decisions relative to street and sidewalk improvements. With state aid, we have some more rigid standards to to to work through. Um, I think Phil might have mentioned uh one of the other
requirements that we have just like with we we did with 97th, we do have to secure some easements where some of the grading grading or construction activity may get outside of the formal road right ofway. Uh, so Phil staff have have already socialized that with the
affected property owners. So once we have final approval of the plans, I'm estimating there may be two to three easements that we'll formalize with adjacent property owners so that some of the proposed construction can uh can occur slightly outside of the ride ofway. So that'll be one step that we
have to uh take in addition to the plan approval and then your legal teams also involved in in that effort as well. So um Phil, did I miss miss any other details? As as Phil mentioned, Bryce has been leading our design effort uh in
coordination with Mindot and so Bryce is carrying the water on the uh the technical design if you have questions on that on that front. So >> just maybe um so one of the one of the when we think about the think about
Edgewood one of the um anytime we have a rainfall there's a huge water collection there and I know we were talking about curbon gutter to address some of that. Um, at the end of the day, do we have a spot for that water to go? Whether we use curb and gutter to run it somewhere else, is it especially where we're installing curbon gutter now, we have to
introduce storm sewer to collect it. So, when Phil mentioned coordinating with with Sherburn County, uh, a lot of the eastern half of the project will be picked up by curbon gutter and new storm sewer additions that will be piped to uh the ponds at the golf course. And so,
uh, we we do have a a receiving body and and actually will serve double purpose in terms of the golf courses use of of that, uh, of that storm water. So, other areas of the project or western areas of the of the site where we still will have a rural design where water comes off of
the street. Uh, we'll be relying on the ditches and and even some of the ponds at the at the west end of the site. So, that what I mentioned is being reviewed. also the hydrarology where storm water is going the pipe sizes that's also reviewed by a state engineer uh as part
of this process. >> Then for the uh another question then for the trail that will be vacating if you want to say will we actually be pulling that up as part of this or will that just be left or >> No, we'll remove the puminous on the north side and and then restore that
with turf. >> Okay. >> All right. Any other questions for Randy or Bryce? >> Well, uh, the only thing I had about the whole thing was adding these new sidewalks. I
I'm not a big fan of putting a path on both sides of the road, you know, and there is a section that's like that. We talked about it in in uh uh public works, but I guess if we got to do it, we got to do
it. Yeah, I hear what you're saying. As someone who drives that every day, when you you come over that hill, we're obviously not going to be able to get rid of that entire hill. Um, but when you come over that and it's just three in a row, I just it I think people just
zone it out. It's it happens three times so fast that um I think it's safer for people. If if you're out for a walk anyway and you choose not to walk an extra block, >> y >> I guess you're kind of taking matters into your own hands. But I'm hoping we
can really make that one crosswalk there very prominent and um I think it'll definitely increase the safety. >> Will there be crosswalk warning signs? >> Would there there would be so any crossings that would cross uh Edgewood?
Yes, there would be advanced warning signs. And so you also would have some some option depending on how how enhanced you want to make those. So um we we certainly see instances where um more critical crossings may have LED
encrusted uh type uh signs. Uh those are you could say upgrades. Um same thing with our RFBs kind of similar to what you see on on 23 here by the school. So push button activated. Now those are incremental. There are also design standards as to when those are are
needed or necessary. Those are a little bit more based on pedestrian and bicyclist crossing counts, but uh if there were some specific concerns that the council had, the next step would be to look at LED or or push button LED uh signage.
>> I think the push buttons um that's one thing I've always I've felt we've needed out there. Um, just as you know, most of us know when you drive either sun up or sun down, you know, it's a it's an east west street and when you get that sun coming at you, it is really hard to see. I mean, I'll
be looking to see if I can see somebody, you know, sitting there by the cross and some it's it's it's hard to see. And at least with a flashing light, I think that would be uh >> it's one of those things that it it helps catch the driver's attention, but it also sometimes can can give a false
sense of security, right? when somebody sees a light flashing, sometimes pedestrians think that, well, the vehicles are automatically going to stop. Uh, and that's so we have to be a little bit careful as to how those uh how those signs are applied, but um they definitely are a little bit more eye-catching for drivers. And as you
point out, if if there may be a a visibility or sun issue, it's it's helpful. >> Mayor, you the intersection you're referring to was 27th or or further east? >> Further east. Okay. Okay. >> Cuz you got Brandt Third and Brenda all happen so quickly and it's if you're
driving east, you're coming over the hill and >> Yeah. I >> think if we just have one there, everybody crosses there. Hopefully we'll get >> You're going to shave some of that hill off, aren't you? >> Yeah, there's there's a couple areas. It's another one of the design standards in terms of the the profile or what we
call the vertical curve. And so there are standards that we have to meet for the design speeds. Uh so there is some shaving of of the hill down uh in a couple locations. >> How does that work? Um so we got the the Clity farm is there and even though they're they're technically a city residence, but still it's you know it's
a neighboring property. Um their driveways at the top of that hill, uh if we shave the hill down, you know, their driveways here, the hills here, how do how do we negotiate that? >> So that is one of the properties that I mentioned in terms of Phil has already had conversations with with Mr. uh in terms of access and and
formalizing an easement. So, there's been some uh cooperation there both for the trail um construction as well as the grading. So, um that property owner particularly has been um pretty accommodating.
>> Yep. He was here last week at the 10:25 open house and plans to come. Um we we do have an open house. Is it on the 23rd? Right. next Monday the 23rd from 5 to 7 here at city hall. So that would be
great if anybody has questions and want to look a little further at what we're doing, but I think it's great. Reduce the number of pedestrian conflicts. We're lowering the speed. Um doing everything we can to slow traffic down,
which I think is also very important. So kudos. I know a lot of work and leg work has gone into all this. ties up on the east end to our new and improved intersection at 23. And as Phil mentioned, CASA 23 is going to be
redone. So big changes, but I think it's going to be worth it. Other questions? >> All right, good. >> Thank you, Bryce and Randy. just
um so I do have there's three property owners that are that we've talked about. Marty Harststead is one of them, the church and um Randy Clinty. So I've got verbals with all of them. Kind of walked them through. We met several times. Randy and I walked his property for for
probably an hour. Um but all good questions. So the good thing is is there's kind of the old barter system that we're going back and forth on. It's not going to cost us a lot. We're just going to do some work with the scope of the the projects to improve everything. And I will say the property owners have been great to to work with on that. So,
um that's already in motion. I had made some notes here. I think we'll we'll take a look at um maybe that Brenda crossing for a illumination of some sort or u elevating that. Uh so, we could look to maybe add that into the bid portion of that. I would maybe hold off on 27th until we see maybe what Luan is
doing. uh if we get that development going and and something happens down there, then that's probably a likely candidate for another spot as well. So, we'll keep that top of mind uh with that one as well. >> It's probably a dumb question, but is there anything we can do about the blowing snow on the western?
>> What what we may look to do uh and we'll work. So, back back in the day in and it's been hard the last three years, we haven't had a lot of of snow come up on Liberty Lane, we used to do just a a a natural snow fence. We'd push the snow up. Um, since we're vacating that trail, uh, we we know the farm, you know,
owners on that property. We can look to do something that way where we could create something or even put up a fence that way because that curve and that stretch of road, we we know it's bad. We we see it all the time with that wind's got no place to stop there. So, um, I will make a note to talk with that property owner and then work with our
public works team to see if there's something we can do proactively. Um, if if mother nature doesn't help, at least maybe we can get a a wind fence out there or a snow fence out there and just install it with their permission as well. Probably go to the rightway line where the fence or the trail currently is. Um, so I'll make a note of that as
well. >> Okay, that'd be great. All right, any other questions for Phil? >> Oh, I'm sorry. One one more thing to add. Um, the the ponding. So even though the water is going to be conveyed over
to uh pond uh uh on whole 10 uh that project will come I anticipate we'll have that April 7th. So it's going to be part of this project but I didn't want it to be part of this project so we don't have to hit those standards so we could have a freestanding project with that. The funding is going to come from this source because it's how we make the
whole project work. Um but Jason and Josh are working on getting those numbers wrapped up with the same companies that have bid the prior work that's going on out there right now. Uh so that hopefully worst case it'll come back on the 21st. We're hoping to have that uh depending on whether our contractor's availability or for bids,
but that'll come back um as a freestanding project. So and we'll take that water and then use it on the course. So again, good story to tell. We're conserving water at the core side of it, taking this water and using that as our priority water source and then augmenting it through wellwater as we need to.
>> Great. Awesome. Well, if there's no further questions, we'd look for a motion on resolution 2621. >> We'll make that motion. >> No second. >> We have a motion by Robin, a second by Mike. Is there any further discussion?
Hearing none. All in favor, please state I. >> I. >> Anyone opposed? State no. Motion carried. Awesome. Thank you very much for all your work on that everybody. It's going to be exciting. Hey, Phil. Sorry. What uh is that a one like done by fall? That's just the the whole
timeline. >> Yes, that's that's that's the plan. It'll be in conjunction. Some of it's with the county because the intersection really is their um improvements. So, what we're going to try and do is communicate any of the changes or the timelines through the city website as
well, linking them to the county on all of those things, and we'll stay in touch with the school superintendent and transportation director so we're all on the same page. Our goal all the time is to get everything back to at least the base paving before school starts. Uh but our goal would be to get everything in
that condition prior to that Labor Day weekend if we can. Mother nature is always the cause, but yes, one season of construction. >> Okay, awesome. Thank you. >> All right, letter C. Mr. Listen has a tool kat replacement.
>> Good evening, mayor and council. Yes. Tonight I have for you consideration a toolkit replacement for the public works department. Um staff are proposing to purchase a 2026 toolkit to replace the 2021 toolkit. Uh this piece of equipment is listed in CIP with a replacement life
of 5 years. Uh this unit has just over 2700 hours on it which is an annual average of about 540 hours. Uh the tool cats really in our department are highly used. They're probably out and about daily. um they can have so many different attachments and they're, you
know, they work year round. So, and uh they are probably staff favorites as far as their ability and what they can do. So, um we did get two bids for the replacement. Those bids were listed in the uh packet for you guys to review. Uh so, tonight staff are recommending the
purchase of the replacement tool cap from Lano Equipment. Um basically because they gave us a higher amount of trade-in value, so it's a better deal for the city. Uh we did discuss the replacement with the public works committee and the committee said it should go forward for consideration and
our 2026 CIP does have $60,500 budgeted for the replacement of this toolkit. And so tonight, I am looking for a motion, a second to approve resolution 2614, approving the replacement of the 2021 toolkit for the quoted price of
$36,8961, which is the cost of the quote minus the trade-in value of $36,500 uh for that 2021 tool cap. I can stand for any questions. >> Right. Any questions for Chris?
If not, somebody want to offer a motion on resolution 2614? >> I make a motion we approve resolution 2614, purchase of a tool cat for public works. >> A second. >> We have a motion by Mike, second by Rick. Is there any further discussion?
>> Hearing none. All in favor, please state I. >> I. >> Anyone opposed, state no. That motion carries. >> Thank you. >> You bet. Thank you. We're up to the Mahindra UTV replacement. >> Yes. So, a couple years ago, uh, the public works fleet added two UTVs,
Mahindri UTVs, um, as kind of an alternative to additional trucks. Um, they they also are much smaller and, uh, have the ability to get around in places that trucks can't. So, um, in order to do work and move people, it was a good
addition to our fleet. Um, the current Mahindra we have uh, is due for replacement. or CIP. Um, these pieces of equipment are used uh, like I said for work vehicles and to move people and they really are less expensive than trucks and their size
makes them much more advantageous for working in parks. Uh, they're a lot lighter so they they don't damage assad as well and they can drive right up to the garbage can. So when we're doing garbages, they're very handy for that as well. So it's a favorite vehicle for staff when we're doing garbages. Um
staff are proposing to purchase a 2026 CAM Defender uh to replace the 2019 Mahendry UTV. Um like I said is this is listed in our CAP for replacement every six years. Uh we did purchase a Can-Am
Defender in 2024 to replace uh the other Mahendra UTV we had at the time and staff have been very pleased with uh the Defender, how it's performed and how reliable it is. Uh we did get two bids for the replacement. Uh they are included in the packet there for your review. Uh tonight staff are
recommending the purchase of the Can-Am Defender as it is a better overall fit. Um we did have the the K Cabota was in here as the other quote. We did have them deliver one. Staff did uh drive it around, try it out. Um couple things they didn't like. The cab was much
smaller, tighter. Uh we a few bigger guys, so it was tough for them to get in out of the cab. They didn't like that feature. Also, it's it was much closer to the ground, so you had less clearance. So uh the defender had more clearance. So the the uh recommendation from uh us is to replace uh the Mahendra
with that CANM defender. We did discuss this with public works uh committee and the committee did recommend that it come to council for consideration. And our budget uh we had $25,000 set aside in our 2026 budget for this replacement. Uh so the overall
price of both the equip uh quotes we had were a little bit more than that budgeted amount. Um but the last Mahendra we had we took it to auction. We did get a favorable amount of money for it at auction. So we proposed to dispose of this one in a similar way and hopefully the fundings we get there
would offset the difference from the quoted price and what we have budgeted. And then also our toolkit did come in quite a bit under our budget amount. So we're still good in our CIP fund overall. And with that, I would ask for a motion,
a second to approve resolution 2615, approving the replacement of the 2019 Mahindra UTV with a CANM defender uh for the quoted price of 27,98058 and then declaring the 2019 Mahendra surplus and we will dispose of that in
the most cost-effective manner. And with that, I'll stand for any questions. >> All right. Thank you. Any questions for Chris on the Mahindra replacement? That was good that they let you test drive both models first before going with one and then realizing, oh, this is
tight or the low clearance or whatever, being able to see that. That's that's nice that they did that. >> Yep. >> Yeah, it's uh Yeah, if you have a hard time getting in and out, it makes work a lot harder. So, it was it was a good opportunity. >> For sure. >> And I I believe the one that we want to get is a little more expensive, isn't it? >> It's a little bit more expensive. We
did, you know, we've it's got the doors on it, so it will, you know, we can use it more year round than the Mahindraas didn't have doors. They just had the nets on them. So, this will have the heater. So, it'll be a little bit uh you know, we can take it out year round as opposed to Mahindraas. Once it got really cold, staff would leave them in
the garage. So, Yep. >> Can't blame them on that. >> Yeah. >> So, it's worth a bit. It's worth a bit more particularly with the solid doors that you can take off. >> Absolutely. All right. Any further questions for Chris? Not. Does anybody want to offer a motion
on resolution 2615? Make a motion to approve resolution 26-15 approving the replacement of the 2019 Mahindra and I think we also had to say to declare the other one as surplus. >> Very good. >> I'll second. >> All right. We have a motion by Rick, a
second by Mike. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor, please state I. >> I. >> Anyone opposed state no. Motion's carried. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Mr. Willings here for lift station number 11 pump replacement.
>> Yes. Uh, good evening, mayor and council. Before you tonight, I have an RCA and resolution 25 2616 for your consideration. The pumps in list station 11 are original from 1995. Expected life is 20 years for these
pumps, which means at 31 years old, they have far exceeded their their service life. Staff received two quotes for the replacement. They were included in the packet. Electric pump came in at 33,718.
Star Technologies came in at 36,566. The 2026 domestic CIP has 31,000 budget for the pump replacement at list station 11. We verified with finance and there are funds available to cover the slight overage. This replacement was discussed
with the public works committee and the committee approved this to go to council for your consideration. I am looking for a motion and a second approving resolution 2616 approving the quotation from electric pump for the lift station 11 replacement
as presented for price not to exceed $33,718. With that, I will stand with your questions. All right. Anybody have any questions for Troy? >> No. >> Looks like we got our money out of those pumps. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Was pretty awesome.
>> From what we saw, the new ones are going to be even better. So, >> that's unusual that they build something better now than they used to. All right. Wonderful. Does anybody want to offer a motion on resolution? >> I make a motion we approve resolution
2616, pump replacement for station 11. >> Second. Okay, we have a motion by Mike, second by Robin. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, please state I. I. >> Anyone opposed state no. That motion's carried. Then we're on to lift station
14, pump and control panel. >> Yes, another property maintained lift station. All right. I have tonight um resolution in RCA for 2617 for your consideration. Lift station 14 was installed in 2003. The pumps and control
panel are are original. Expected service life is 20 years for the pumps and 25 years for the control panel. As of now, the pumps and the panel are 23 years old and staff are recommending replacement for both as planned in the domestic
wastewater CIP. Staff received two quotes for the pump replacement. They were included in the packet. Electric pump came in at $43,198. Starcket Technologies came in at $45,520. Control panel installation and
electrical which comes through 3678.36 will be done by Hubard and total control. The total budget for the 2026 domestic wastewater for this project is $78,000. Sufficient reserves are available within
the domestic wastewater CIP to provide funding for this overage. The replacement was discussed with the public works committee and approved this to go to council for your consideration. I am looking for a motion and a second
approving resolution 2617 approving the pump and control panel replacement for this station 14 for price not to exceed $79,276.36 with that I will stand with any questions.
>> Anybody have any questions on that one? >> No. So, with those control boards, even though they have a life expectancy over 20 years, what's the reality if something were to go on that that we could actually get replacement stuff for that? I mean, did they >> I mean, something like that if it goes down, I mean, it's it's, you know, it's a lift station. I mean, you could have
some it wouldn't be good, you know, >> but I mean, is like if this last one here, you know, went down to 23 years, I mean, are they still making parts for control boards 23 years later? >> A lot of times not. A lot of times not. So, I mean, it's technology. What do what do they do then if if they say it's
a 20-year life expectancy and we get 12 years out board goes it's still under that 20 years but yet can't get a new one I guess what do we do then is that do we do they pay for that or how does how does that how does that work there >> that I'm not sure >> is it is it a 20-year warranty or just a
20-year life expectancy >> 20 year life expectancy >> 20 year life expectancy there's you know I'm sure there is a warranty but uh generally they last about 20 years so >> okay We had some control panels in the past
that we replaced because they uh they were breaking. We couldn't get parts for them. >> Mhm. Sure. >> That's just the hardest thing for parts. I mean, after so many years is they just don't get hard to get get parts for them. They're hard to get. So >> that's why I was thinking of a warranty
versus a life. I guess I was thinking of it like a warranty. So that's 2003 you can buy a VCR probably. But >> yeah. Yeah. Does this just service the history center? >> I mean, looking out that road, is there? >> No.
>> No. Every every everything from Autumn Ridge pumps over down through our easement through the county's park and then comes into that lift station. So, it collects quite a bit of a good chunk of the city. Yep.
>> Okay. Well, that's good to know. >> Okay. All right. Any further questions for Troy? If not, does anybody want to offer a motion on resolution 2617 for the pump and control panel on lift station 14?
>> I'll make that motion. >> I'll second. >> I have a motion by Rick, second by Mike. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor, please state I. >> I. >> Anyone opposed, state no. >> Motion carried. >> All right. Thanks. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Larude. Consent agenda. Uh, Mayor
Cobinger, city council members, items for review, approval, or adoption on tonight's consent agenda include approving the revised hiring and termination report. Authorize the Tuesday, March 17th, 2026 payment of claims is presented. The claims listing has been provided to the city council as
a separate document and is available upon request for public view at city hall. Total claims are $464,71252. Authorize electronic transactions as presented in the 12312025 and 1312026 journal. The journal has
been provided to the city council as a separate document and is available upon request for public view at city hall. Approve the minutes of the March 3rd city council meeting. Approve the minutes of the March 3rd executive session. Approve the renewal of the safe assure service agreement. Call for a
special meeting to be held on March 19th, 2026 from 3:00 to 7:00 for strategic communications training. Approve Red Circle Pay for Pebble Creek Groundskeeper 2 position. Adopt Resolution 26-9 approving personnel policy updates.
Accept the community development code enforcement report. Adopt resolution 26-13 approving 2025 year end transfers. Adop adopt resolution 26-20 approving gambling premises permit for Becker Big
Lake Ice Association. Adopt resolution 26-18 accepting a $2500 donation from the Becker Lions Club for an AED. Adopt resolution 26-33 approving updates to the city's municipal state aids street system.
Approve temporary liquor license for the Becker Lions for the American Legion openhouse dance on May 1st. Approve the 2026 Sherman County score funding grant agreement for the May 16th recycling event. And I'll be happy to answer any
questions. All right. Any questions for Greg on the consent agenda? >> Right. Hearing none, somebody want to offer a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? I'll make that motion. >> I'll second. We have a motion by Robin,
second by Rick. Is there any discussion on the consent agenda? Hearing none. All in favor, please state I. I. >> Anyone opposed? State no. Motion carries. All right. Thank you very much. Um,
so moving to that last number nine, the Oh, before I forget, on behalf of the Legion, I want to invite everybody to their open house. So, the Legion's done a lot of work on the old fireh hall. Greg mentioned they we approved a temporary liquor license for the Lions
that night. May 1st from 4 to 7 is the open house. And after that, Sant Trio, the band, is going to be playing. It's a community event and the Legion wanted to make sure that we were all invited for Friday night, May 1st. Public's invited
as well to see the upgrades they've made at the Legion. May 1st, 4 to 7, open house, 7:00 community dance, then I will. Awesome. Moving on to number nine. So, post office. Uh last
meeting we talked about the um postal regulatory commission complaint. Um I've been doing some research on a foyer request to the post office and actually went and spoke with the township last night. They are in
favor of of doing a joint foyer request asking for all communication related to the closing of the Becker Post Office. Um getting a little nervous. They have not announced that, but you know, we did find out the Welsh Minnesota Post Office
has been temporarily temporarily closed since 2021. Um, so Greg and I discussed it a little bit. thought it might be good to at least find out what they've been saying and uh it would maybe keep them honest and allow us to get ahead of something
if they come back with a plan to try to permanently close that our post office because that is one of the things outlined in the in the postal regulatory commission. They're pushing really hard on the post office to make determinations faster.
uh which would be great if the decision is to bring it back, but if it's to close it, that would be pretty detrimental. So, last night the township approved a 50/50 cost share, and they said up to $1,000. The postal service
has kind of a strange foyer request. You have to make the request and tell them how much you're willing to pay. >> Oh gosh. >> And then they will tell you how much it costs. if we were willing to pay zero. >> Right. So that's where the township came
in. I'm just wondering people's thoughts and wanted to to discuss that. Do we say do we seriously do we low give them like a $100 amount just you know and I mean if it's going to cost $2,200 you know haven't come back with that but I mean if we come in and say $5,000 I'm
sure they'll go oh we'll do it for five. >> Yeah. Greg and I talked about maybe wording the request in such a manner that we would start off with, you know, amount of, you know, $500 combined or something or higher depending on the
circumstance and make them actually give us a price back >> because I agree, we don't want to go in there and put the stack out there of cash right away. We we'd like to hear back, but >> um can't believe it till you read it. That's quite the negotiation strategy.
So, do you have anything to add, Greg? >> Okay. So, would you be looking for a motion tonight then or is that something you want to do in two weeks? >> Um, it would be good to file it, I think, as soon as possible. According to the PRC, most decisions are made between
180 and 280 days from the temporary closure. So, we're coming up on that. You know, by the end of next month, we'll be at the 180 days. Um, so I think it was something we would draft soon. Again, it would be uh the
town board approved the their chair to sign it. So, I'd be looking for a motion for me to be able to sign the foyer request. Um, and then uh if we match the township, it would be a dollar amount not to exceed $1,000 on the match, but
we would put in there and try to lowball them to start with. >> Mhm. >> Now, thinking about our our foyer request, for instance, if we're in the middle of a land negotiation or a contract negotiation, if we're in the middle of it, we wouldn't have to share that at the time. Like, if we were in a
union contract negotiation, we would have to share that after the fact. But if it was in the middle of that negotiation, we would not like if we received a request there, we would not do it at that. We wouldn't honor it until we were done with the negotiation. Is that something they have? Do they have rules in place that we're aware of
that they could come back and say this is a ongoing negotiation? Sorry. You know, we'll we'll give it all to you afterwards or what do we know about their uh if you read it again, you wouldn't believe it. Um, but they passed a whole different law surrounding the foyer request to make it easier is what
it said. Um, I think we would exclude any um, communications related to any negotiations they've had because obviously they went back and forth with Grant several times, you know, so we wouldn't ask for something like that,
but just internal um, communications within the USPS related to the clo temporary closing um, or future status of the Becker Post Office. Could we ask for those but allow you know be okay with them um you know
redacting stuff because I mean if they've had communications that may come into the um you know as far as dates and times and we don't necessarily need to see numbers and say hey this number was thrown out but dates and times would definitely be I think uh um pertinent information.
>> Sure. We could probably word it too asking for all communication. Um, >> let them read >> omitting. Yeah. Anything that's not >> permissible less in the Epstein file, >> right?
But at least we would know too if if if there's an email out there that says, listen, we're going to close this. you know, they haven't followed the statutory process for doing that, but the temporary closure kind of restarts that statutory process, but at least we would know now and then we can weigh our
options and look at if we want to take legal action or um so I I still hear about it literally every day I go somewhere. So, >> all right. If we ended up spending $1,000 and matched the township to get
answers, I don't like to spend money. We don't have to spend, but I don't think anybody would be >> I shouldn't say anybody. I think most people feel strong enough about this issue that >> the money should be spent. >> Money should be spent.
>> Might want to get Monaceel involved in that, too, because they're not happy over there either. >> You're very right about that. My sister lives there and she said she can't even get in the post office. >> Yeah, we could certainly do that.
>> Greg doesn't know it yet, but he's going to help me with the >> Thanks, Greg. That can be part of the motion, too. >> Yeah, I think the more information we collect, the better. And how about Big Lake?
Theirs is almost a separate >> It is. That's why I was That's why I hesitated. But Monosel was directly involved. >> Yep. Well, and the more entities we put in there, the bigger the cost is going to get though. So, if we if we do go with Monaceel is I I'd like their information, but if we do go with them,
that's now more information for them to collect. It's going to make the um like the township was 50/50 with us but now if we have three entities then right it's also going to make the size of the data set larger too. So well and I think if the foyer request is worded correctly
anything that is a Becker thing that's affecting Monosel should be included there because Becker's mentioned right? >> Yeah. I don't know. This is my I don't have much left after this to be honest. I'm out of tricks. But so that that's
just my ask tonight to see what people thought. >> I'd be willing to uh make do we I guess maybe before we make the motion, do we have a uh dollar cap we're thinking or do we just uh um match up to a,000 bucks or >> I asked the township for 500. They
wanted to give us maximum flexibility. Um, in case the it came back and it's going to cost 1,200, they only meet once a month. Well, then you're going back to them and waiting another month. So, they just authorized up to a match of $1,000.
>> That way we, you know, if we say, "Hey, we want to spend 500," and it comes back at 1,100, we don't wait two more weeks to come back and say, "Hey, I need another 50 bucks." >> Yeah. So that motion would mirror the township
to authorize up to $1,000 and a joint foyer request signed by the mayor and the town board chair. >> I'd be able to make that motion >> second. >> Okay, we have a motion by Rick, second by Robin. Is there any further discussion?
>> Hearing none. All in favor state I. >> I. >> Anyone opposed? State no. >> All right. >> Thanks, Greg. >> Yeah. Thank you, Mr. L. Um, just a note that our uh we did put in a bonding bill for a million dollars for our water
treatment plant. So that I was at the capital today. Um, and Representative Mecklland was there. I did testify. Um, it'll get laid over to committee and of course we won't find anything out till the very end. But um, I think we made a
pretty compelling case. We people around us are building treatment plants and we've definitely done our due diligence with 20 years and Chris sent me some information. I know we've spent $190,000 at least just that he identified. So
they certainly can't say we haven't been looking for water. >> Yeah, we've been drilling holes in the ground for several years. >> Right. So, um, that did we testified on that today and correct me if I'm wrong. I think the carveout bill,
um, has that been introduced? >> I don't believe it's been introduced yet. Nope. >> Okay. Related to the data center carveout. We're still waiting to hear status on that. >> All right. Anybody have any further
questions or any other agenda items? Mr. Kudson. Uh oh. >> Two things. Just wanted to uh it noted with Becky being absent tonight. I've been in correspondence since Becky lives over off of Edgewood is part of public
works and and wasn't able to make these these meetings. I've socialized everything we're talking about with that and she's been fully supportive of that. So, I just wanted to make sure that it was on the record that that she's fully aware of it and engaged and uh she's supportive of that. Uh the other thing, uh shameless plug for the Lions. Um they
they are a great partner and their fish fry is tonight uh on Friday night uh the 20th from 4:00 to 7:00 at Pebble Creek. So, just making sure the public's aware of that and all are welcome and it's a great cause for them and a great fundraiser for them. So, again, they're great business partners for us and do a
lot for the community. So >> for sure Friday night, this coming Friday, >> 4 to 7:00 at Pebble Creek. >> All right. It's all you can eat too, I heard. >> I'll behave so they don't lose money cuz they are a good partner. I will go in on
that. All right. Anything else to come before council? If not, I'd entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> Make that motion. >> Second. Motion by Robin, second by Rick. All in favor of adjourning, please state I. I >> anyone opposed? State no. Meetings
adjourned. 604