The Ostrander City Council met March 3 with Mayor DJ Start presiding. Council members Jimmie Dean, Lyn Massey-Mills, Dan Hellerud and Brodi Nesler were present, along with City Clerk Wendy Brincks.
After approving the consent agenda, the council moved on to department reports and updates from staff.
Brincks reported that the city has now wrapped up its work with PeopleService. The company’s contract ended February 28, and it has submitted its final report. PeopleService had been assisting with Ostrander’s water and wastewater systems.
Those duties are now shifting to City Maintenance employee, Jeremy Runkle, as Ostrander takes over the work itself. Runkle was not at the meeting because he was attending wastewater training in St. Cloud to keep up the licenses required to run the system. His written report was included in the meeting packet. Brincks said PeopleService has also offered to remain available if questions come up as the changeover continues.
The council also returned to an issue that has come up at several recent meetings – the city-owned house at 421 Minnesota Street. Earlier testing showed the outside stucco did not contain asbestos, but some materials inside the house did show low levels. Because of that, the building will have to be handled under asbestos rules when it is taken down.
Brincks said they are still waiting for demolition bids to come in. Once those are received, the council plans to call a special meeting to review the proposals and decide how to move forward. The process has taken some time as inspections are completed and contractors are located who are able to do the work.
Public safety updates for February included the monthly report from the Fillmore County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies logged 34.1 patrol hours in Ostrander during February. Calls for service included several ambulance assists, welfare checks, a civil matter, criminal damage to property, and a report involving an intoxicated person. The report also listed a death call on February 4.
The fire department reported a quiet month with no calls during the reporting period. The department did receive a new thermal imaging camera along with six replacement pagers, updating equipment that had been in use for many years.
Brincks also walked the council through the monthly financial packet. That report included the list of checks written and the city’s investment balances. She noted that this time of year usually includes an audit review, but the city now prepares financial statements instead. Those statements are still being finalized and will likely be reviewed at a future meeting.
One of the more unusual items discussed during this meeting involved several historic quilts that were recently returned to Ostrander. The quilts date back to the late 1800s and are connected to some of the town’s earliest families. Brincks explained that they were sent back by a woman in California whose family had inherited them but no longer wished to keep them. The quilts arrived along with a handwritten journal kept by one of the original Orstrander family’s granddaughters describing a trip she took to Wyoming.
Council members talked briefly about possible ways the quilts could be displayed while still protecting them from damage. Ideas included building a display case or framing sections so residents could see them without exposing the fabric to light or frequent handling.
The March meeting comes after several changes on the council earlier this year. DJ Start was selected to serve as mayor, with Dan Hellerud returning to the council. The council appointed Brodi Nesler to fill the seat left open by that change. Nesler has lived in Ostrander since 2008 and will serve the remainder of the term through December 2026.
With no further business before the council, the meeting was adjourned.
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