Zimmer stressed that North Branch remains quite secure. People are safe in North Branch, the chief said. This is a good place to live. The need for an additional officer, he said, was a function of the city s population growth 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. Kennedy suggested the city host an assessment hearing prior to any contract being awarded on the project due to the relative controversy which has surrounded this project. 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.