OSMOND — The Osmond City Council met Wednesday, Nov. 13, in the council room. Klint Arnold of Stealth Broadband gave an update and presented blueprints for equipment placement. Permits will be done in December and work will begin in January, weather permitting. They hope to have work completed for Phase I the end of May and start hooking residents up June 1.
Residents south of the railroad tracks will be in Phase II, which they hope to start work on after Phase I is completed. If residents have any questions or concerns, door knockers will be placed on their doors with contact information.
City Clerk Brittney Timmerman asked Mr. Arnold what percentage will be aerial and what percentage would be underground. He stated that 90% will be aerial and 10% will be underground.
After School Program Paige Kumm, owner of Tigers and Friends Childcare, spoke to the council about wanting to rent out the city hall for an after school program. She explained that the school sent out a survey, with 17 families responding that they need somewhere for their children to go after school.
Mrs. Kumm stated that she would like to start out with 15 kids, only requiring one staff member, who would also be responsible for keeping the area clean. Kumm is hoping to make this a year-round program.
She requested that they would like at least a month but a minimum of a two-week schedule or notice from the city so she will be able to let parents know as soon as possible when she wouldn’t be able to use the facility.
With the majority of council agreeing that they would like to see this happen, Councilman Neil Wattier requested that the council would review the arrangement quarterly. Council members then approved Tigers and Friends utilizing the city auditorium with a $1,000 rent being paid monthly and the contract being reviewed quarterly.
Cemetery Plot Discussion Held Discussion on reclaiming cemetery plots was held again, with Clerk Timmerman explaining that the city would have to publish notice in the newspaper for two weeks for families to come forward to claim, then wait one year and file a lawsuit in District Court. She stated that the city would have to pay $2,000 in attorney fees. After some discussion about adding more plots to the list to help disperse attorney costs over more plots, Council agreed to table the matter until this is complete.
Engineering Firm Sought Discussion was held on a city engineering firm. Councilman Doug Schmit had spoken with Advanced Consulting Engineering Services (ACES) and was impressed. However, some of the information provided to council by Clerk Timmerman were email responses from cities and villages which had both pros and cons for bothACES and Miller and Associates.
Maintenance employee Caleb Eckstrom shared his input on his conversation with the state water representative as well, who had voiced personal concerns about ACES and JEO. The main focus was finding a company that had the capability to provide grant assistance to the city and be able to take on large projects.
Many council members voiced their concerns about the recent street improvement project and stated that they would still like to reach out to other companies for the street department. The council approved a motion to reappoint JEO with the new street superintendent and let out for bid for any big projects, with Haselhorst, Timmerman and Wattier voting yest and Schmit voting no.
Sign Electricity Quoted Council members were presented with the quote for electricity for the community sign project in the amount of $1,569.01 from TMT Electric. The proposal for the sign itself was questioned, and Councilman Schmit reassured that the quote was the same from when the project first started and was approved. Council agreed to pay half ($784.51) the electric quote from TMT Electric (Osmond Community School will pay the other half).
Vacant Homes Discussed Council was then updated on vacant homes. Police Chief Tyler Wells and Clerk Timmerman had contacted the city attorney regarding the next steps for these homes. Since this discussion, the city has turned its main focus to one house and will check on progress before next month’s meeting and report it to council at the Dec. 9th meeting. One house on 2nd Street and one on Logan Street are set to be demolished by the end of the month.
Other Business Addressed Council members discussed maintenance employee Tom Kruse’s last date of benefits. Treasurer Brittney Tim merman reported his life insurance, water, sewer, garbage, and Medicare benefits will end Dec. 31, with his cell phone benefit ending Jan. 4. He will also not accrue any PTO hours after the Dec. 1 paycheck, since PTO will be used to cover December hours.
Treasurer Timmerman reviewed the annual audit performed Oct. 23 with council. The city had only one write up from the audit; she informed them that a Summer Youth employee was overpaid in June and July for a total of $125. Timmerman explained even the auditors didn’t understand what happened because of an issue with the payroll program. She asked council for guidance on the over payment, and council agreed, due to the small amount, not to recoup the money from the employee.
Police Chief Wells presented a report on recent activity within the city, including two dogs at large, one assist with Wayne Police Department on stolen goods case, two missing dogs, two welfare checks, one complaint of citizen behavior, one assist with Pierce Sheriff's office with accident, to name a few. Wells also reported that he com- pleted his range qualifications, had a Halloween safety speech with kids at the Catholic school and reported that Halloween trick or treating went well with no issues.
In other business, the council: — approved Ordinance 2024-10, to vacate an alley in between North State Street and North Maple Street.
— appointed Jennifer Wisely to the library board to replace Monte Miller.
— regarding the Summit park bench sign, agreed to have the sign up until the next billing cycle.
— approved the application for a Special Designated License as requested by Main Street Alley for Christmas Wishes on Dec. 8 at the city auditorium.
— reviewed the following: Jared Berg’s building permit for putting up a 12’x 20’carport; and Midstates Data Transport/Stealth Broadband building permit for 7’x7’ concrete slab with communication cabinet.
— heard Mayor Kuhl state city sales tax for August 2024 was a total of $15,525.33 (of that amount $3,336.07 is from motor vehicle tax).
