Article Image Alt Text

Osmond city council has long, varied agenda

OSMOND — The Osmond City Council began their meeting on Monday, July 13, by recognizing Cindy Hoffman, who has held a number of titles in her service to the community, including office clerk, assistant treasurer, assistant clerk and city treasurer/clerk. An article about Cindy is printed elsewhere on this page.

Street Matters Discussed

Mayor James Bessmer opened a hearing regarding the sufficiency of any objections to the creation of Street Improvement District No. 2020-2, Fourth Street from vacated Dakota Street to Meadow Street. Councilman Doug Schmit reported on the property owners who filed written objections to the creation of Street Improvement District No. 2020-2, for a total front footage of 440 ft. or 57.89%, so it failed.

Councilman Schmit introduced Resolution No. 2020-8 to determine the sufficiency of written objections which had been filed regarding the creation of Street Improvement District No. 2020-2, and it was passed and adopted. A true, correct and complete copy of said resolution is on file at the city clerk’s office.

Discussion followed about options on what the next steps would be to move forward with improvements to west fourth street.

Councilman Schmit handed each council member quotes for two areas that are specifically in need of street repairs. Following review and discussion, council members voted to repair the streets in both areas at 7th and Hill Street and 5th and Main Street.

Alleys Vacated

The Mayor introduced Ordinance No. 2020-7 to vacate an alley in between Lots Nine and Ten, E.D. Boice Subdivision of Osmond. The alley is between Ron Riley’s property located at 304 W. 2nd and Dr. Dave Jones’ property.

City Attorney Dennis Collins said Riley has an agreement with Dr. Jones to deed the rights of the alley to Riley and he mentioned he would be available to prepare the work for the transfer of deed if need be. Ordinance No. 2020-7 was adopted following suspension of the statutory rule requiring reading on three different days.

Councilman Neil Wattier reported he had visited with nearby neighbors asking for their opinion on whether or not to close the alley on the east side of the swimming pool from north of the tennis court to Second Street. Since he received no objections, he suggested closing the north entrance with a barricade so no one can drive through the alley and so that the city can keep it mowed.

Wattier went on to suggest placing rock on the south side of the fence to create a loop for campers so they are able to access the dump station. Following discussion, council members approved closing the north half of the alley on the east side of the pool and placing rock on the south side so campers can get in and out without going through the alley.

Park Report Given

Councilman John Aschoff reported the contractors working on the fence at the baseball fields have completed their work, the finished project looks nice and now their total bill can be paid.

He also reported on trees that need to be trimmed. It was suggested getting a boom truck to clean out the dead branches in the trees at the city park and to remove the trees by the camper pads. At the city cemetery, it was suggested checking with Nelson Tree Service of Plainview to clean up the tree that was recently hit by lightning.

When asked if there were any new trees left from the grant that could be planted at the ball fields, Cindy Hoffman advised they had all been planted. She suggested making a list of the type of trees needed and the number of each type for grant submission next year.

Hoffman Reports on FEMA

Cindy Hoffman presented an update on the status of monies received from FEMA regarding the March 2019 flood. She has asked FEMA about the process to submit an appeal regarding Category C Roads since the amount obligated is far below the total cost for road repair that had been submitted to them. FEMA has recently appointed Sean Bishop as Osmond’s Emergency Management Specialist. He is going to go back over all of the reports for city streets.

Closed Session Matters

Council members went into executive session at 8:26 p.m. to discuss personnel matters. During closed session, council reviewed an employment application from Austin Johnson. Since there is not a job opening at this time, the application will be kept on file.

Council agreed for Police Chief Tyler Wells to only work 50 hours per week. For his 30 additional hours worked last month, council agreed to apply the 30 hours to his accumulated PTO time. Council also voted to set the pay rate for part-time police help at $16 per hour.

Other Items Discussed

Ken Halvorsen of Nebraska Rural Water Association reported on the 2019 Water System Assessment. He said Osmond’s decision to put in a new well and water meters has turned out to be a very good project. The city has written policies in place on water rates. There were no negatives noted on the assessment. It was explained that rate projections were not done since Osmond was showing a profit. Council members voted to approve the 2019 Water System Assessment.

No report was presented on the Osmond Park Board tree project. The date to submit a tree project grant had passed. A tree grant will be looked at again next year.

In other business, the council:

— heard that, in response to abandoned vehicles, Police Chief Wells said he is working on this project and stated he has already acted on removal of some vehicles.

— approved payment to Christiansen Commercial Contracting, Inc., dba Christiansen Construction Co. for their Contractor’s Application for Payment No. 11 for the new pool in the amount of $281,303.85.

— set the date for the budget workshop to be held on Aug. 18, 2020, at 7 p.m.

— heard the Municipal Equalization Funds received for Fiscal Year 2019-20 were $3,657.30, including funds from insurance premiums tax and the 3% administration fee on local sales taxes.

— reviewed the following building permits: Dan Dennis to erect a lean-to at the end of his garage; Jerry Dennis to add a deck with a roof onto his home.

— heard that West-Hodson Lumber has submitted a request for a zoning change from R-1 to C-3 at 105 E. 3rd Street to build a storage warehouse.

— heard Mayor Bessmer state that city sales tax for April 2020 was $10,816.09.

— heard Mayor Bessmer report that a Dodge Durango has been ordered for the police chief; he did not have a delivery date.

Stay in the know!

To get news alerts on your cell phone, get the Cedar County News app in the ITunes store or  in the Google Play Store.

Northeast Nebraska News Company

102 W. Main
Hartington NE 68739
402-254-3997