By Gary W. Meyer Editor
Readers (those of you old enough) remember the intro line to the popular TV series Superman of the 1950’s. “It’s a bird, it’s a plane - it’s Superman!” Chief Joel Scharf suggests there may be a 2017’s rendition of it if he gets council approval to put a drone in the skies. Scharf met with the Big Lake City Council during workshop session last week and outlined his plans for that innovation - an unmanned aerial vehicle. He reported to the council the use of AUVs has evolved to be an important public safety tool. Their costs have dramatically increased and their abilities have become more refined. He’s proposing it be added to his department arsenal to do several functions:
1. It would be used in search and rescue of vulnerable or missing persons; 2. Damage evaluation following a disaster; 3. Crime scene documentation; 4. Critical incident management; and 5. Officer safety during dangerous incidents. As importantly, Scharf stressed it would take minutes to get a drone into the air, whereas they now wait 40 minutes for a law enforcement helicopter to arrive on scene. He also said it would serve as a shared resource for all governmental entities within the city.
Scharf stressed drone use in covering private properties would only be in effect with a court order or during an immediate search or rescue. “There would be no intrusion on property without a court-ordered paperwork,” he said. Reaction of some members of the council was positive. “Go for it,” suggested Mayor Raeanne Danielowski. “Awesome,” said Scharf.
He reported the drone propgram would cost about $10,000 for the purchase of the unit and training for eight officers. Spud Fest has already donated $4,800 to get the program off the ground. Formal approval of the drone system is expected at an upcoming council meeting.
Home Occupations
The council also informally ratified several proposed changes by the city planning and zoning commission to their home occupation ordinance. The conditional use permit (CUP) will be phased out and replaced with the interim use permit (IUP). The IUP, they feel, will give stronger city control over home occupations that may have slipped through in years past. They approved four conditions prohibiting activities from such occupations, gleaned from an existing Elk River City ordinance.
They include
1. Those consituting a fire hazard, adversely affecting neighboring property values or a nuisance;
2. Adversely impact governmental facilities and services, including roads, utilities systems and protective services;
3. Adversely affect sensitive environmental features;
4. Involve the use of hazardous materials or activities.
A fifth element of the Elk River ordinance not acccepted was to eliminate gun repair and or sales. That proposal will come up for adoption at an upcoming eouncil meeting. The council did not agree with a request by City Administrator Clay Wilfarht for the city to join the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, due to costs. First year cost of $4,270 would grow to a fourth year cost of $17,080. The coalition serves as a lobbying group for city concerns at the Minnesota Legislature.
Department Reports
At their regular meeting following the workshop, the council heard reports from two departments. Lake Liquors Mgr. Greg Zurkey reported July customer count was 17,371, up by 2,016 over the same time in 2016. Sales as of July 31 were $3,014,373, up by $193,000 over the same time a year ago. Gross profit was $42,000. Average sale per customer was $26.06, up by 33 cents over a year ago.
Hanna Klimmek, community development director, reported 88 permits granted for single family homes. LGI, the firm building homes on the south side, reported they would do about six homes a month during winter. Her department has done 1,718 inspections so far this year, compared with 1,101 in 2016. Several residents have inquired about a tour of the city wastewater treatment plant. Those interested in a tour should contact Wilfahrt or Mike Goebel, public works director, 263-2268.
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