OSMOND — The Osmond City Council met Monday, Aug. 11, with trees, streets and employee issues to discuss.
Tree Causing Issues
Jason Bolz spoke to the council about an issue with a neighbor’s tree branches constantly falling on his property and vehicles. He said he has spoken to Mayor Dennis Kuhl about the issue and has had many conversations with the neighbor but the issue keeps happening. Bolz mentioned the trees are not maintained and sit in the city right of way and asked if there were any ordinances or regulations in regards to trees in the right of way.
Also in attendance was Cory Hille, the owner of the trees, who informed council that the trees were just recently trimmed to 13 feet on the street side and 8 feet over the sidewalk.
After some conversation, Mayor Kuhl stated there are no current ordinances, resolutions or codes about tree maintenance in the right of ways for the City and he would check with the legal council to know if this was a city matter or more a civil matter.
Bolz requested this item return to next meeting agenda to follow up.
Street Plan Clarified
City Clerk Brittney Timmerman
asked for clarification on what changes need to be made to the one- and six- year plan, since council didn’t discuss which streets were being moved to the one-year plan at last month’s meeting.
It was decided the following blocks will be moved to the one-year plan: Six and a half blocks of Prairie Street, Logan Street from Fourth Street to Prairie Street, Eighth Street from Fulton to half a block east of State Street, Seventh Street from Fulton to half a block east of State Street, Sixth Street from Main Street to Hill Street and around the curve to Seventh Street, Fifth Street from Fulton to half a block east of State, Meadow Street from Third Street to Fourth Street and Third Street from Maple Street to Hill Street.
The six-year plan will be Sixth Street from Main Street to Meadow Street.
Raise Discussed, Denied
Mayor Kuhl informed council members that maintenance employee Bert Wattier has passed the CDL course and proposed he receives a dollar raise since he had completed the requirement. Some of the council members stated that wages were already increased at last month’s meeting, and didn’t understand why the city would do another wage increase.
Kuhl stated that, in the past, raises were given for when others had obtained their CDL. Treasurer Brittney Timmerman mentioned that past employees had their CDL at the time of hire to her knowledge, so the additional raise wasn’t needed.
Maintenance supervisor Caleb Eckstrom asked council if they would con- sider setting a specific wage increase for any future licenses/certificates obtained so future council members would have something to go on instead of everyone trying to remember what was done in the past.
After some discussion, Councilman Neil Wattier made a motion to give maintenance employee Wattier a 50 cent raise. No council member made a second, so the motion failed.
Councilman Dan Timmerman said he feels that since wages were just increased, another increase isn’t needed again this year. He said his opinion is that wages should be increased annu- ally, not every time a certificate/license is obtained and at the annual wage increase is when they should take into consideration any of those that have been obtained in the past year.
After some discussion Councilman Wattier made a motion again to give maintenance employee Wattier a 50 cent raise. Again, no councilmember seconded the motion, so the motion failed.
New Employee to Attend Course Mayor Kuhl informed council that, after recent maintenance employee Jason Erickson turned in his notice quitting effective immediately, he reached out to past applicant Todd Eckstrom and offered him a full-time position starting July 28 with wage starting at $21.00/hour.
Treasurer Timmerman asked council if they were okay with Eckstrom attending the local upcoming sewer course in October, since it was during CITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES VARIETY OF ISSUES his probationary period and she would need to cut the check this month for both him and employee Wattier.
Some of the council members asked why he would be attending during the probation period, and it was stated that this is the only local class in the area for the year. Otherwise the rest of the courses are held farther away, which would cost the city more to send him to. The council agreed to pay for new maintenance employee Eckstrom to attend the sewer course in October.
Monthly Claims Clarified; Test Given
Before approving the monthly claims, Treasurer Timmerman stated that the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy claims were for both maintenance employees. She also mentioned that the off-street help for Todd Eckstrom was paid at $20/ hour as she was instructed, and asked council to put it into a motion if that dollar amount was correct, which was done.
Timmerman also mentioned the credit card bill was sent out in the mail that day to meet the deadline which, moving forward, will be on the 22nd of the month. She provided an explanation on how the dues were calculated for the League of Municipalities.
After all payment explanations were provided, she asked if council had questions on any other invoices. No councilmen had any other questions; however, Treasurer Timmerman informed them that she had submitted a fraudulent claim test this month and asked council to look over the claims again.
After some time, she explained that the TextmyGov $2,500.00 charge for August fees was not an actual claim, as they just paid the annual fee last month and moving forward the claim should be $1,500.00.
Other Items on Agenda
Treasurer Timmerman informed council of a recent letter she received from the state inquiring about information on the State Revolving Loans for both water and sewer. After some discussion, council requested she contact the city auditor to receive input on how to handle the inquiry. Timmerman will report back to council at next month’s meeting.
With sealed municipal bids scheduled originally to be opened this month Clerk Timmerman informed council that two of the three companies had requested an extension to the September meeting to give enough time to put together an accurate bid. She reported that the bids will now be opened and decided on at the September meeting so the policy can go into effect Oct. 1.
Since the last meeting, another vacant property along Logan Street has been cleaned up and a property along the highway is in the process of being sold to a new owner who intends to remove the structure and put in a new building. Mayor Kuhl also mentioned the property along State Street will be removed once the demolition crew gets back to town, hopefully this month. A few other properties were discussed and letters will be issued to address the condition of properties.
Next, Clerk Timmerman informed council that the City received a letter notifying that the its FY 2024-25 audit is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 22. She went on to mention an email received from the city’s auditor in regard to the FY 2025-26 budget and needed clarification on funds being used for certain expense items. Timmerman stated that they are just waiting on the valuation to come out to know if they will be required to attend the joint budget hearing.
Police Chief Wells presented a report on recent activity within the city, including five dog at large, two calls of cattle out, one 911 call follow-up, one peddler permit instructions given, and one lost wallet (not turned in) to name a few.
In other action, the council: — approved Resolution 2025-4 authorizing the Mayor to sign the Municipal Annual Certification of Program Compliance 2025 form.
— heard Clerk Timmerman report that the community sign is up and she would be training on how to use it that Thursday so the office would be closed during that time.
— set the budget hearing for Monday, Sept. 8, at 6:30 p.m.
— reviewed the general checking statement and reconciliation for June and July 2025; no questions or concerns were brought up.
— approved building permits for: Adam Rice, addition onto commercial building; Brad Adamson, addition onto existing detached garage and Jeff and Kathy Moore, new house build.
— heard Mayor Kuhl state city sales tax for May 2025 was a total of $13,256.51 (of that amount $1,623.94 is from motor vehicle tax).
— heard Mayor Kuhl read correspondence from TextmyGov thanking the city for taking the time to go through the training and utilizing their services.
