The Ostrander City Council met on August 9 in regular session, with Erin Volkart, Pam Kunert, Clerk Chris Hyrkas, and DJ Start in attendance. Heidi Jones was absent.
The council heard from Sheriff Tom Kaase, with his proposed contract if Ostrander selects the Fillmore Sheriff’s Department to take over the city’s law enforcement after Tom Mosher’s retirement, which is set for September 29. Kaase stated that he would offer services to Ostrander similar to the situations currently in place for Wykoff and Canton. He said the cost would be roughly $24,000 per year (plus quarterly administrative charges of a few hundred dollars) for an average of two hours of coverage per day. Kaase added that, “This is probably one of the lowest rates throughout the state,” and he added that Ostrander would benefit from having the sheriff’s staff working nearby in Spring Valley, because they could respond quickly if a major problem erupted in Ostrander. He explained that there would be no “set schedule” of when his staff would be patrolling or working in Ostrander, so that his staff would be around at various times of the day and night, to assure law enforcement at all times. Kaase said he believes if Ostrander chooses to accept this contract, it would be a “win/win situation.” After discussion, DJ Start said he supports the idea, but feels the council should hold a special meeting next week to decide this, so that Heidi Jones could also be present. The council took no action at this time.
Pat Nesler was present during the meeting, but did not sit at the council table, and did not perform duties as mayor during the proceedings. As discussed at Ostrander’s July council meeting, he has submitted a letter of resignation, and the council is working on whether or not to accept it. The council had checked with the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) and the city attorney about how to best proceed in this situation, and the emailed response from LMC suggested that the council accept the resignation and start working on filling the vacancy. The city attorney said there is no law requiring that Ostrander accept the letter of resignation, and that if it’s not accepted, then after 90 days the city could declare the position vacant (assuming Nesler is not performing the duties of mayor). The council chose to take no action at this time, but will discuss this at the special meeting being scheduled next week, so that the city attorney can hopefully attend as well.
The council heard from Ruth Hubbard (Minnesota Rural Water Association) and Brian Malm (Bolton & Menk) regarding loan financing options for the city’s infrastructure project. Jennifer Ronnenberg (Minnesota Department of Health) updated the council on the progress of the “Wellhead Protection Plan.” She said, “Almost everything in here, probably 99%, is grant funding eligible.” She added that, “There are rumors of an old creamery well, but we haven’t found it yet.”
Pam Kunert said she’s received several complaints from citizens regarding the cow manure smell from the Miller farm, which is partly within city limits. Hyrkas explained that this property was long ago “grandfathered in” to allow the cattle to remain. Kunert said, “We need to do something” because the odor is becoming a real problem for many households. The council will keep a log of complaints, and will look into how best to address this.
Hyrkas pointed out that the city received training reimbursement of approximately $3,000 for the fire department. Kunert asked Dustin Tart to repair/replace a street light that’s not working at the corner of County 3 and Robert Street. The council OK’d a request from Rick Whitney (Peopleservices) to purchase a sampler controller for the water plant. Approval was given for the city employees who helped out with set up, cleaning and tear down during Uff Da Days to be paid for the time spent.
Residents of Ostrander are reminded to not blow or deposit grass clippings into the streets, as this tends to plug street drains. The council also formally approved the change in regular meeting schedule for the city council, with most meetings now being on the second Wednesday each month. The next regular meeting of the council will be Wednesday, September 13, at 6 p.m. The public is welcome.
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