City Council discusses streets; appoints new city clerk

OSMOND — The July meeting of Osmond City Council was held on Monday, July 12. One of the items on the agenda was discussion on street improvement districts.

Streets Discussed

Mayor Dennis Kuhl started the discussion on the 10 street improvement districts by asking the council to consider one of the following options to lower the cost of the project: 1) put the project to a vote of the entire community or 2) cut the project into different groups and complete them at different times instead of all at once.

Many residents who were present at the meeting were concerned about how the council would pick and choose which streets would be done if any streets are cut out of the project, or separated out and completed at different times.

Jim Schmit suggested concreting the blocks in the business districts first and cut out some of the residential streets with not as much traffic on them. Residents voiced a concern about heavy farm equipment and truck traffic being on streets that aren’t supposed to be traveled such as Logan Street and First Street.

Some of the residents spoke in favor of the street improvement work being done since Osmond streets don’t have enough material to be ground up and re-laid like that which was done to the street in front of the Methodist church. They stated that even having the garbage truck being the only heavy equipment on some of the side streets causes damage if it drives too to close to the edge of the street, causing it to crumble.

Some council members voiced their concern about leaving streets as asphalt since the temperature during the summer time raises the temperature of asphalt, and having the garbage truck stopping on it causes it to leave ruts in the streets.

The major concern of some residents was that the property owners who received assessments and abut the streets on these projects are only being asked to pay 16% instead of the usual 33% as done in previous years.

Mayor Kuhl reminded everyone that this project has been in the works since last year with the previous council and mayor, and the reason these streets have been put onto this big project is because of the flooding that happened in 2019.

Residents asked if each district will be bid separately so council can decide which districts to move forward with at first, and maybe hold off on others if needed. Council stated that each district will be bid separately.

The council voted to move all street improvement districts to the design phase. Mayor Kuhl stated that council does have the ability to withdraw at any time if the cost of the projects proves to be prohibitive.

Water System Mapping

Council was asked to allow the mayor to sign the Phase II (half of town) water system mapping agreement and to designate Roger Protzman to give direction and act on the City’s behalf during the project. City Clerk Brittney Backstrom informed council members that the Phase II sewer system mapping would be contingent on the water mapping like it was done for Phase I.

Utility Supervisor Tom Kruse discussed with council the possibility of looping the dead-end water line up by Meadow since there has been talk of new homes possibly being built up on the northwest edge of town. Council asked Kruse about how much extra line would need to be put in to allow this to happen.

Kruse stated it would be about two blocks of 4-inch line, which would also help increase water pressure for the residents living in that area of town. The Council approved allowing Kruse to pursue the project and acquire cost estimates to have it done.

Insurance Issues Discussed

Clerk Backstrom reported that Lisa Schmit of Town & Country Insurance notified the City that Berkshire Hathaway will no longer be insuring municipalities. Since the city’s policy will expire on Oct. 1, 2021, the property insurance will have to be let for bids.

Backstrom said that Schmit is looking into receiving bids from a few carriers and a bid will be received from New Frontier Insurance as well. Assistant Treasurer Cindy Hoffman asked if the council wants to consider local companies only or should she contact League Association of Risk Management (LARM), who handles insurance policies for municipalities, for a bid. Council gave Hoffman the go-ahead to receive a quote from LARM. Bids will be considered at the September council meeting.

Employee HSA

Clerk Backstrom reported that a Cafeteria Plan for one employee’s Health Savings Account (HSA) was going to cost $568 for the year. The Cafeteria Plan would allow an employer to make a tax-free contribution to the employee’s HSA. Hoffman stated the employee could avoid taxes by reporting the contribution when they fill out their tax return. Council voted not to move forward with the Cafeteria Plan. Mayor Kuhl asked that the council consider reimbursing the employee at the end of the year if the employee can’t write it off at tax time.

Website Changes Coming

Clerk Backstrom gathered two quotes for servers to host the City’s website and presented the options to the council. She stated that Hollman Media has options for hosting the website and also creating a new website. The cost for a new website would be between $2,000 and $8000, or to transfer the current files and use the transferred files it would run $70 to $250 to host the website and manage it through them.

Backstrom said after talking to the second company, Applied Connective Technologies, she was informed that the current website is in a WordPress format and wouldn’t be difficult to manage here in the office once it is set up on a server. Hosting a website through them would run $25 a month and that they would be willing to train someone to manage the site themselves.

STREETS DISCUSSED; NEW CITY CLERK APPOINTED

Council asked Backstrom if she would be willing to learn how to manage the site and she replied yes. Council agreed to allow Backstrom to look into ACT to host the website.

Brown Appointed Clerk

Mayor Kuhl reported that there were five applicants for the City Clerk position and, of those, one failed to return a call for the interview. Kuhl informed the council that Amber Brown will fill the city clerk position with a probation period of 90 days, and asked council to set her pay. Council voted to start Brown’s pay at $14 per hour during the probation period and then increase to $15 per hour. The council also voted to appoint the position of city clerk as the representative to the ACE Board of Directors.

Separate Fund to be Set Up

Treasurer Backstrom reported that the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that the city will receive should be coming to the city within the next month. She requested that council decide by the August meeting what they plan to use the funds for and consider setting up a separate account for the funds.

Backstrom advied that the funds can only be used for water, sewer andBroadband purposes. Backstrom said that any funds not fully used by the end of December 2026 will have to be returned to the Federal Government, so the request for a separate account would make tracking of the money easier.

Utility Supervisor Kruse provided two options for water tower maintenance that are due to be done within the next year. Council agreed on option one, which would include power washing the interior and exterior of the water tower, full inspection along with primer over exterior steel surfaces and interior lining replacement.

The council approved setting up a separate ARPA Funds account and designating the funds to water tower maintenance.

FEMA Requests Information

FEMA Representative Cindy Hoffman reported that Osmond has received an email from FEMA requesting additional information on the South State Street bridge and Market Street in south Osmond. Hoffman informed council that any and all information that the city had for those two projects had already been turned in and there is no new information to submit to FEMA.

Hoffman asked council if they felt there was any information that may have been missed and should be sent in, and they replied no. Hoffman will write a reply to their request and have Mayor Kuhl review it before sending it to FEMA.

Police Report Given

Police Chief Tyler Wells reported that, in the last month, there was a theft report, community service request, a report of a homeless man, two search warrants, driving complaint and one dog deemed a dangerous dog, to name a few. Wells also reported he had taken an AED class in Center and will receive a free AED for his police car.

Wells advised that the city has received a racial profiling grant of $6,880. A few items not included on the grant were a scanner and antenna, which he hopes to be able to submit receipts for if all other items come in under the grant amount. Wells also stated since the grant was denied for the security system, he will get quotes for a security system for downtown as well as at the maintenance shop.

In other business, the council:

— heard that the City office received a letter from the Nebraska Department of Transportation requesting any comments the City may have for the Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan.

— approved 3rd Street Bar & Grill’s special designated liquor license application for a reception at the city auditorium for Aug. 7, 2021.

— approved the contract with AMGL for budget workshop in August and budget hearing in September.

— heard and reviewed profit and loss figures for the current fiscal year in anticipation of the budget workshop coming in August.

— reviewed the following building permits: William Krueger, privacy fence in back yard; Shane and Cindy Beacom, adding on a cover over an existing patio; Tom and Dorothy Schmit, moving in a prebuilt home and constructing a basement under it; Michael Koehler, privacy fence on north and east side of his house.

— heard Mayor Kuhl state that city sales tax for April was a total of $14,926.13 (of that amount $3,419.87 is from motor vehicle tax).

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