The Ostrander City Council met in regular session on April 6, with all members present (Stephanie Start, Dan Hellerud, DJ Start, Vernon Thompson, Mayor Pam Kunert), and City Clerk Wendy Brincks.
The council reviewed color scheme options for the city’s new water tower. It was discussed that the bottom half of the tank should be a darker color, since some discoloration is likely to occur over the years, and a darker color would mask the discoloration. The council also considered the lettering font of “Ostrander” as it will be shown on the side of the tank. No final decisions were reached, but the council plans to return to the topic at the meeting in May.
As he has been doing throughout the county, Fillmore County Sheriff John DeGeorge gave a presentation regarding the status of the county jail, and the need for a study of how best to address the jail’s issues. He summarized that because of the age and condition of the jail, it has reached the point where, if the county wants to continue operating a jail, significant changes will need to be made.
Sheriff DeGeorge said there are four options from which the county can choose. Firstly, the county could choose to no longer operate a jail, and would then pay for all inmates to be jailed elsewhere. He explained that anytime a county has inmates housed elsewhere, the home county not only pays a daily rate to the jailing county, the home county still is responsible for transporting that inmate to any medical appointments or court dates. He said this is costly and takes officers away from Fillmore County for many hours at a time.
The other three options are for Fillmore County to make changes needed in order for the jail to come into compliance as a temporary “booking” facility, or a 90-day holding facility, or a 365-day facility. DeGeorge said there will not be a referendum put to voters on this issue, because it is not optional for the county to provide a jail; it is required. However, the county gets to decide whether to do that by “outsourcing” to another county, or by operating a jail facility within the home county which complies with all DOC (Department of Corrections) guidelines.
Two of Fillmore County’s commissioners (Mitch Lentz and Larry Hindt) were in attendance, and Lentz stated that the presentation given by Sheriff DeGeorge will soon be available as a YouTube video for anyone interested to view. He also stated that the commissioners will be voting on which of the four scenarios to pursue. He stated that cost is not the only consideration. Another important factor, according to Lentz, is that if Fillmore County has a jail, then inmates who are given a work release could continue to hold a job. If the inmates were outsourced to a neighboring county, work release would essentially be impossible.
Sheriff DeGeorge pointed out that the current bond on the courthouse building is set to expire next year. Lentz added, “So the timing is really good here,” if the county chooses to make improvements to the jail facility.
Under “old business,” the council discussed that water and sewer fees had been temporarily waived for two local businesses (Wolf’s Den and Susie’s Roadhouse) to help with their decreased revenues during the pandemic. The council voted to extend this waiver through the month of April.
The council discussed having a citywide cleanup day in May, most likely either on May 15 or May 8. When a firm date is set, citizens will be notified.
The council’s next regular meeting will be Tuesday, May 4, at 6:30 p.m., in the community center. The public is welcome at all meetings, other than special closed meetings.
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