Lino Lakes Ledger

By Deb Barnes

Have You Got What It Takes?

At their regularly scheduled meeting of October 13, members of the Lino Lakes City Council welcomed new Centennial Fire Chief Jerry Streich, who introduced himself to council members.

In his comments, Chief Streich urged the public to consider fire safety in their homes as part of Fire Prevention Month.

He also extended an invitation to residents of Lino Lakes and Centerville to attend a firefighter recruitment session this Saturday, November 1.

“If you’re interested in being a firefighter,” Streich said, “come to the information session and find out what it takes to be a firefighter.”

The recruitment session will take place at 9 a.m. at Centennial Fire Station No. 2, located at 7741 Lake Drive in Lino Lakes.

Applicants for the paid, on-call positions must be at least 18 years of age.

Streich was appointed chief in August, following the retirement of longtime Fire Chief Milo Bennett.

In other action, the council:

• Approved applications for exempt gambling permits for St. Joseph Catholic Church for the annual Turkey Bingo event on Nov. 23, which helps fund Th anksgiving baskets, and the Venison Feed and raffle on Nov. 25, the proceeds of which fund scholarships.

• Authorized execution of a letter of engagement with Sweeney, Borer & Sweeney to provide prosecution services for the City in the amount of $10,000 per month plus expenses, with 2% annual increases following the initial contract year.

• Made a conditional offer of employment to Tanya Beekman to fill the Public Services Department vacancy created with the departure of Liz Benoit.

• Accepted a donation from Cecelia Woodrich on behalf of the Lino Lakes Police Explorers.

• Authorized the certifi cation to Anoka County of delinquent weed abatement charges assessable to seven residential properties, to be collected with the 2008 property tax payable in 2009.

• Approved final payment to Allied Blacktop, Inc. for the 2008 Sealcoat Project in the amount of $5,633.73, which begins the one-year warranty period. Th e total project cost came to $132,447.73 aft er a change order deduct in the amount of $7,525.21 was applied.

• Approved final payment to Peterson Companies for the CSAH 14/8 Median Landscaping project in the amount of $10,178.19, The final project cost, which includes a deduct amount of $3,824.70, came to $58,969.30.

• Approved by a 4-1 vote Change Orders 14 and 16 on the Lake Drive/I-35W Improvement Project, which included extra payments in the amount of $10,591.14 related to the jacking of a storm sewer pipe under the freeway and $25,370.55 for additional grading under the bridge.

Council Member Jeff Reinert voted against. According to Community Development Director Michael Grochala, funding for unanticipated construction expenses was included within the project budget.

The revised contract amount is currently at $7,904,393.89; the construction budget is $8,073.307. Work is substantially complete, Grochala said.

• Adopted various assessments related to 2008 developments and those utility hookup fees related to individual properties requesting to be serviced by city utilities.