OSMOND — The Osmond City Council met Jan. 13, in the council room and covered a number of issues in their monthly meeting.
Viaero Tower Work Continues
Ryan Nichol of Viaero Fiber Network presented the proposed fiber route for the new tower going up on 4th Street. Their hope is to start running the fiber from the tower north of town to the new tower site starting the first week in February, depending on frost conditions, and have the entire project completed by the first week of March.
Clerk Brittney Timmerman informed council all necessary permitting for the City was completed during their conditional use permit application process and, to her knowledge from conversations with the maintenance crew, there were no City utility conflicts. After a bit more discussion, council thanked Mr. Nichol for his time.
Health Policy Renewed
The city’s annual health insurance policy is up for renewal on March 1, 2025. Currently, the city has Medica as their carrier. Agent Josh Sirek pro vided new monthly premium totals for employees currently using the city health insurance coverage and stated that there was only a 3.2% increase to the premiums and he doesn’t recommend switching to any other plan. The council approved the renewal plan of MIC NTL NE 3300-0% - HSA with 100% Preventive RX Gold with a premium of $5898.72.
Resolution Regarding Cemetery Plots Approved
Clerk Brittney Timmerman informed council that the city attorney had sent back the final resolution to be adopted on reclaiming abandoned cemetery plots. She presented to council Resolution 2025-2, Reclaiming City of Osmond abandoned cemetery lots, and the council approved the adoption of said resolution.
Councilman Dennis Haselhorst informed the council that updated plans for the city cemetery directory will be presented to council at the May 12th council meeting.
More Vacant Properties Added
Updates on vacant properties added a few extra properties to the list. Clerk Timmerman said a nuisance letter has been issued to another property owner, who had until Thursday, Jan. 16, to complete the action listed on the letter before fines would start accruing and turned over to the county court.
Another property along Logan Street now has a deadline set by council to be demolished by March 31. Mayor Dennis Kuhl said he spoke with the property owner along Highway 20 and they said they plan to demolish and remove it themselves and asked for some time to get it taken care of.
Council members agreed they will work with the property owner since they are willing to address the structure as soon as possible. Two new properties were added to the list with one in the works to be demolished yet this year and another that the office will follow up with the owner on. This agenda item will continue forward to next month’s meeting for updates.
Housing Authority Board Discussed
Resolution 2025-1 was discussed to explain the purpose of the Osmond Housing Authority Board. Council ap proved the resolution, which declared that the Osmond Housing Authority Board was previously created and remains in full force and effect, the Members of said Board being as fol- lows: Grant Albers, Doug Ketelsen, Walter Aschoff, Jim Schmit, and Kelly Hodson.
Members of the board are on a three-year term, appointed by the mayor. Three of the five members constitute a quorum. The board is an advisory board, with the Osmond City Council having the final decision on the distribution of any funds.
After attending a meeting with the Housing Authority Board, Clerk Tim merman informed council members that the funds in the Osmond Rehab Fund account had been de-obligated from the State and no longer are regulated by Federal and State regulations.
She said that both accounts the funds were in have been merged together and will remain in that account for qualified people in the community to apply for small, low interest loans for home repairs.
After reviewing the current program guidelines and the suggested changes from the Housing Board, The council approved the changes to the program guidelines.
Life Insurance Clarified
With personnel changes needing to be made to the employee life insurance policy, Treasurer Timmerman wanted to get clarification as to which employees should be eligible to be added to the policy. She mentioned there hasn’t been anything in any of the personnel policies and asked for clarification so it can be added and make the necessary changes to the current life insurance policy.
After some discussion, the council approved adding all full-time employees to the city’s life insurance policy and add this change to the personnel handbook.
Billing Errors Addressed
A billing error to a few new accounts was brought to council’s attention by Treasurer Timmerman. She explained that three new accounts with meter sizes larger than one inch were added to the water billing during the past year and when the new information was entered into the billing accounts she was unaware that meters larger than one inch required an additional box to be changed.
Timmerman stated she informed the property owners of the mistake, apologized for the unexpected bill and informed them she would take it before council to see what could be done. After some discussion amongst themselves, council agreed to let Mayor Kuhl speak with the property owners to decide how to correct the billing mistake.
Treasurer Timmerman has since updated the training notes with all the information found out during the process to avoid these mistakes being made in the future.
Land Donated
Mayor Kuhl informed council that a parcel of land in South Osmond has been donated to the city. He stated that the city attorney is in the process of finishing up the necessary documents and should have it all complete before the next council meeting. Treasurer Timmerman asked council to approve reimbursing Mayor Kuhl the appraisal cost on the property that was needed to finish the donation, which the council did.
Profit, Loss Reported
Treasurer Timmerman presented
the last quarter profit and loss, budget vs actual to the council. After review ing the report, a few questions were answered on some of the expenses. Timmerman reminded council of where the General Checking account is sitting at for funds and reminded them that, during the winter months, income is limited. Assistant Treasurer Cindy Hoffman informed council of a recent newspaper article that said the City of Norfolk had a recent decrease in sales tax income over three months and they’ve considered cutting out major expenses that weren’t necessary.
Police Report Given
Police Chief Wells presented a short report on recent activity within the city including one report of theft of services, one report of vandalism, one report of suspicious activity, two questions regarding stolen items, two motorist assist and one report of a nuisance animal, to name a few.
Chief Wells informed council that the interlocal agreement with the City of Plainview to board impounded dogs has been finalized. A copy was pro vided to the council and Mayor Kuhl was approved to sign the interlocal agreement. Mayor Kuhl then asked about code/ordinances prohibiting semis being parked on asphalt streets and after some discussion Wells stated he will check into the matter and talk to the owner of the truck.
Other Agenda Items
The lease agreement for the community sign came back before council with just a few minor changes still needing to be completed before Council’s approval. Clerk Timmerman stated it will come back at the Febru- ary meeting with all the final updates.
She also asked how soon Council would have a document to review on the community sign partnership with the school. Councilman Schmit mentioned there is an agreement in the works and hopes to bring it before council in the coming months.
R&M Lawn Care submitted information on services for 2025 at Poolside Park and the camper pads. Councilman Haselhorst suggested the city contract for three applications at the city park for $2,425.00 and the maintenance crew will take care of the camper pad area, which the council approved.
With the recent issues of vehicles being parked on streets during snow removal, Clerk Timmerman and the maintenance crew agreed the verbiage of the snow emergency policy needed to be changed. Council agreed to add "A provision that automatically declares a snow emergency when” to part of the policy instead of the Mayor or Councilman Doug Schmit declaring it a snow emergency. The policy verbiage will be added and an ad with the new policy will be run in the paper and on the city’s Facebook page.
After reviewing the work comp au dit documents, Treasurer Timmerman informed the council that there were some discrepancies and she hopes to have it finalized before the end of the week. Final update will be provided at the February meeting.
Correspondences received included Christmas cards from Leon Herbolsheimer thanking the city council for the Christmas remembrances, Jake Dugger with Maguire Iron and First National Bank. Also received was a letter from Frahm Construction Company letting the city know of services they provide and a letter from the LENRD informing the city of the open application for their Community Foresty Incentive Program.
In other business, the council: — heard Mayor Dennis Kuhl announce the following 2025 appointments: Dr. Tony Miller (Heartland Vet Clinic, Plainview) to the Health Board to replace retired Dr. Paul Oltjenbruns, and Barb Johnson to the Park Board.
— reviewed a housing reuse loan application that was submitted during the funds being de-obligated, and approved the application with the new changes to the program guidelines.
- agreed to have the pool staffing ad run the beginning of February so all applications can be turned in by the March meeting to be reviewed.
— heard Mayor Kuhl state city sales tax for October 2024 was $12,738.98 (of that amount $1,090.72 is from motor vehicle tax).
