Gary W. Meyer, Editor
The Big Lake City Council had a quick meeting last week, adjourning in an hour so they could presumably go have a Valentine’s Dinner with family. Among their agenda items were an acceptance of $1,000 from the Wilts Family Foundation for night vision equipment for the Big Lake Police Dept. In accepting the grant, Chief Joel Scharf gave his monthly department report, noting they only had 830 calls in January. “The cold (weather) slows calls,” he said. They had 24 arrests during the month, three for DUI, three for domestic strangulation (two in one night) and three other domestic assault cases.
He credited Investigator Rich Berg for his quick work in helping (with Mendota Heights officers) the arrest of a 25-year-old Big Lake man Zachary McGriff. “It was an unbelievable situation,” said the chief. He reported the case against McGriff remains open and additional charges may be forthcoming. McGriff is charged with holding an Mendota Heights teenager at his home and sexually assaulting her several times over a three-week period.
He also added a note - also on a somber tone. To date in 2018 across the nation, seven police officers had been killed in the line of duty. He reminded residents police officers may not be as outgoing in their contacts as in the past, because they are wary of all situations. “They want to make sure they go home at night,” Scharf said.
New Fire Chief Ken Halverson reported 18 calls during January, six of which were house fires - two in Big Lake. They others were in nearby communities on mutual aid calls. Eight calls were to the city, eight to the township and none to Orrock. He reported Mark Hedstrom of the department has been promoted to the rank of captain. He also reported their annual chili feed will be held March 15 at the fire station; all proceeds go to the Big Lake Community Food Shelf.
City Engineer Layne Otteson reported the city will not receive a federal grant to help finance the sidewalk-trail proposed for construction on the north side of Manitou Street, from Lakeshore Drive to Co. Rd. 43. But, the city is still in the running for federal funds to help finance costs of a proposed traffic signal at Eagle Lake Road and Hiawatha Avenue. Application for that grant went into MnDOT last year. Public Works Director Mike Goebel showed charts indicating significantly less water usage in the city in 2017, compared to 2012. In 2017, total water usage was 397,086,000 gallons. Big reason for the decreased water usage was the significant rainfalls which aided yard grass.
He reported a bad water line break under Co. Rd. 81 which will be fixed in the spring. His department has a general location of the break, but wants to be assured of the specific site before tearing up the street. He also reported a second vehicle went into the wet water of the channel between Lake Mitchell and Big Lake last week.
The county, he said, will be putting up “Caution Thin Ice” signs on both sides of the channel. Goebel himself was a good indicator of unsafe ice conditions at the channel. While out there doing research on the ice, he fell in. He was quickly out of the water but testified it was cold.
In Other Action
In other action, the council:
* Appointed Denise McDowall-Seyko as 2018 chair of the parks advisory committee;
* Apporved a therapeutic massage license of Hong Mei Liu at Lily’s Massage;
* Approved an annual consumption and display permit to The Carousell Works;
* Approved a contract with Maxfield Research and Consulting for a study to determine need for additional commercial space and a hotel in the city. Cost of the two studies is $9,500. The Initiative Foundation and Big Lake EDA have each kicked in $3,000 for the study, with Sherburne County approving $1,000 and Connexus Energy, Xcel Energy and Great River Energy each approving $5000, for a total of $8,500;
* Approved a resolution of support for Cargill Kitchen Solutions’ proposal for job creation funds up to $200,000 through the Minnesota Dept. of Employment and Economic Development. The funds would create 16,000 more feet of space in the industrial park facility, bringing the size of the plant to 72,000 feet. The expansion would create 12 new fulltime jobs the first year after the expansion, which has a target startup date of April and a completion of next January.
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