OSMOND — The Osmond City Council met Monday, Dec. 9, with the usually year-end duties to cover.
Mayor Dennis Kuhl first asked if there was any unfinished business to come before the Council before reorganizing.
Community Sign Lease Reviewed The community sign lease agreement between the City of Osmond, Osmond Community School and Osmond Farm Supply was brought before council to review. Clerk Brittney Timmerman informed council that the agreement was sent to the city attorney for review, and it came back with a few minor changes.
She has since sent those changes to Councilman Doug Schmit, who stated the agreement and changes were given back to Osmond Farm Supply for review. Council doesn't need to make any decision this month on the agreement and will see it again for approval once everything is finalized.
Cemetery Plot List Compiled Clerk Timmerman informed coun- cil that she has finished going through all the blocks, lots and plots of the cemetery and compiled a list of more plots to reclaim. She stated there’s some she’s having maintenance check on and is hoping to have that completed by the end of this week, allowing her to compile the new list and get it to the attorney by the end of next week. Timmerman hopes to have the new document ready for council members at the Jan. 13 meeting.
Vacant Properties Progressing Updates on vacant properties finally has started showing progress according to Clerk Timmerman’s report. She stated that the property on West 2nd Street has been demolished and the lot cleared off. One property on Logan Street was supposed to have been demolished by the end of last month, but ended up with delays because of various reasons. Timmerman stated she will follow up with the owner in the coming week to verify things are still moving forward.
Another property status on Logan Street has been upgraded from the owner doing repairs to deciding to demolish the structures. Clerk Timmerman mentioned that the owner does have someone to do the demolition but they are currently on vacation and will get things squared away once they get back.
Council was pleased to hear the updates on those three properties; however, Mayor Kuhl stated he hasn’t heard any updates from the owner of the lot along Highway 20 that was discussed a few months ago. He stated he will have a better update at the January meeting.
After School Program Change Regarding the lease agreement with Tigers and Friends Childcare, LLC, Clerk Timmerman said that Paige Kumm stopped by the office and stated the school has decided to offer her a spot at the school for her after-chool program.
She said they are willing to let her use it all year long, otherwise she would have checked into using the auditorium as a backup for summer months. Kumm thanked council for considering to allow them the opportunity to have a place for the program.
Resolution 2024-11 Adopted Mayor Kuhl introduced Resolution 2024-11, authorizing the mayor to sign the year-end certification of city street superintendent for 2024. The resolution was adopted, and will be printed in the city minutes at a future date.
Council Reorganized
Mayor Kuhl asked if there was any other unfinished business to come before the Council. Since there was not, council adjourned, and then Mayor Kuhl opened the meeting for reorganization.
Mayor Kuhl, Councilman Schmit and Councilman Dennis Haselhorst were all reelected in November.
Mayor Kuhl stated he had received 345 votes, while Councilman Schmit received 295 votes and Councilman Dennis Haselhorst received 287 votes.
All councilmen signed new oaths of office at the meeting.
Mayor Kuhl announced the annual appointments for 2025, which will be printed in the city minutes.
Northeast Power in Attendance Several members of Northeast Power were in attendance for the solar project discussion. Matt Sorenson, operations manager for Northeast Power, informed council that they are currently looking at putting in a small solar farm within two miles of the substation on a 20-25-acre patch of land.
As of now, nothing is set in stone as to when things will move forward until they locate a piece of land to do such work, but they wanted to inform the council of their future plans which will also include changing out the substation transformer.
All of the project should have no negative effects to the city but provide positive resources for both the community and those in the surrounding rural area by providing another power source if something would happen to the current substation. Just like the generator that was installed, the reconnection to electricity if power goes out will take some time for a team to get to Osmond.
Appointments Made
Clerk Timmerman informed council even though JEO was previously appointed as the city engineering firm, to keep it on the yearly agenda she asked if they would consider that motion again. After some discussion, approved appointing JEO Consulting Group, Inc, as the City Engineer for the City of Osmond for the year 2025.
Clerk Timmerman informed council thatAndrew Wilshusen would need to be appointed as the 2025 street superintendent because of Baylor Bestgen not being able to apply for his Class A license until January.
Bestgen will do any work the City of Osmond may need to have done under Wilshusen and then be appointed at next December’s meeting for the following year. The council approved the appointment of Andrew Wilshusen of JEO Consulting Group, Inc. as the City of Osmond’s street superintendent (contract consultant) for 2025.
Other Business Discussed
Treasurer Brittney Timmerman asked council to have the audit team complete the W-2s again this year, to allow her more time to get more comfortable and understand the process.
She mentioned that they currently do the 1099s. Council agreed to allow Treasurer Timmerman have AMGL complete the W-2s.
No reconciliations and bank statements were reviewed this month, since the office still had not received the general checking bank statement.
Treasurer Timmerman informed Council they may have two months to review at next month’s meeting.
Police Chief Tyler Wells presented a report on recent activity within the city including one possible Emergency Protective Custody (EPC), two unlicensed vehicles, one assist with Nebraska State Police pursuit and one theft report, to name a few. Wells informed council all his continuing education hours are completed and submitted.
2025 Wages Set
Mayor Kuhl next moved onto setting 2025 wages. Council had a lengthy discussion on several wage increases this year. A letter was submitted to council in regards to Heather McWhorter’s wage, which stated that she hadn’t received any pay increase since she started working in 2017 up until last year.
Also, Mrs. Timmerman's wage increase was discussed in depth, since she has agreed to remain clerk and treasurer for the city with the newest employee taking on the role of deputy clerk after probation.
With minimum wage increasing again the council had looked at increasing library wages straight across COUNCIL REORGANIZES, SETS WAGES FOR 2025
the board instead of a percentage this year.
After all the discussion that was had about wage and salary increases this year, council members approved increasing all wages as suggested, with the list to be printed in the city minutes.
In other business, the council: — approved allowing Treasurer Timmerman to open a new savings account for the new Highway Allocation Street Fund, and agreed to have the same signers on the account as the rest of the savings accounts and general checking account.
— adopted Ordinance 2024-11, Alcoholic Beverages: Hours of Sale, which is printed in full on Page 10 of this issue.
— approved having the city remove, for free, all natural (no arti- ficial) Christmas trees without any ornaments from curbs until Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.
— approved Christmas remembrances of $50 in Osmond Dollars
for regular and office employees and $25 in Osmond Dollars for part-time employees/volunteers.
— set the city council meeting dates for 2025 as follows: Jan. 13, Feb. 10, March 10, April 14, May 12, June 9, July 14, Aug. 11, Sept. 8, Oct. 13, Nov. 10, Dec. 8 — approved removing Tom Kruse and adding Caleb Eckstrom to the ACH signature card at the bank.
— heard Mayor Kuhl state city sales tax for September 2024 was $15,361.01 (of that amount $3,090.32 is from motor vehicle tax).
— heard that correspondence received was a holiday card from JEO Consulting Group, Inc and a letter from Topkote Inc. notifying the city of the permanent closing of their business. went into closed session for personnel matters.
