Eighth police officer approved

Posted 2/14/01

Eighth police officer approved

By Jason Sileo

The North Branch City Council approved the hiring of an eighth city police officer and agreed to move forward on a street reconstruction effort in the Charcroft Addition at its regular meeting Feb. 12.

North Branch Police Chief Jules Zimmer requested the additional officer saying departmental activity and officer workloads have increased naturally with the cityís growing population.

ìIn order to continue to serve the residents of North Branch in a professional manner... we need to be proactive,î Chief Zimmer said. ìIn order to do that we need additional staff.î
Zimmer said the area covered by North Branch officers is roughly twice as large as that area regularly covered by officers in Lindstrom and Lindstrom maintains a six-officer force. The disparity is obvious, he noted.

A North Branch officer, according to the most recent tabulations, could expect to respond to an average of 614 police calls per year. An officer in Lindstrom, Wyoming or Chisago Lakes can expect about 350, Zimmer said.

Zimmer stressed that North Branch remains quite secure.

ìPeople are safe in North Branch,î the chief said. ìThis is a good place to live.î
The need for an additional officer, he said, was a function of the cityís population growth ó not its make-up.

The council agreed unanimously to provide for the additional officer, to be hired in April. Grants are in place to offset about two-thirds of the cost for the new position.
The council also agreed to move forward and seek bids on street reconstruction efforts on roughshod portions of the Charcroft Addition in the city.

The cost of the proposed project, to be assessed to 18 property owners in the neighborhood, is being estimated at about $99,650 ó or about $5,540 for each taxpayer.
Project manager Jay Kennedy of WSB & Associates said a more or less happy medium had been met with the property owners concerned.

Kennedy suggested the city host an assessment hearing prior to any contract being awarded on the project due to ìthe relative controversyî which has surrounded this project.

Also approved was the creation of a new Tax Increment Finance (TIF) district, Oakview TIF, to help finance the construction of a pair of new housing units located in the Gateway South development area adjacent to I-35.

Two new buildings are on the immediate horizon, City Administrator John Moosey said, and a third may be constructed in the future.

The council voted to accept a bid from R.L. Larson Excavating, Inc., for the construction of a new sanitary sewer lift station adjacent to the Tanger Outlet Center off Hwy. 95 near Falcon Ave.

The lift station would accommodate future growth in that area, WSBís Kennedy said. WSB had estimated the projectís cost at about $90,000. The bids for the work ranged from Larson Excavatingís $85,840 to a $185,500 bid from Gridor Construction, Inc.

The council approved the placement of a stop sign at Old Main Street and 14th Ave. in the Gateway North development area.

City Engineer Julie Dresel cited several automotive ìnear missesî at the intersection as cause for the new signage.

ìWeíre trying to head off anything that might happen there,î Dresel said.

The council appointed John von Lange, Orville Otterness and Tim Ryan to a new fire hall citizensí advisory group. The three will work with city officials and the public on the new city fire hall project proposals.