The Osmond City Council met Monday, Oct. 13, in the conference room with two public hearings preceding the regular meeting.
Public Hearings Held
The first public hearing was for a conditional use permit for Patrick and Robbie Gansebom for their detached garage on their residential property, which will be larger than 1,000 square feet. The council was informed at the public hearing before the planning commission there was no opposition but rather neighbors in support of their application. After those in attendance were asked three times if there were any in opposition, and with no response, the council members approved the conditional use permit.
A second public hearing was then held for Main Street Alley’s catering endorsement request, which Mayor Dennis Kuhl explained to council members. The council then approved Main Street Alley’s request for the catering endorsement.
Johnson Park TIF Agreement Near End Moving on Mayor Kuhl brought before council some research that he and Treasurer Brittney Timmerman had done to figure out when the Johnson Park TIF agreement would be ending.
He informed them they had found out the maturity date of the project was set for Dec. 31, 2025.
Treasurer Timmerman explained to council how the project had worked and that the redeveloper was currently the one receiving the property tax payments for Johnson Park. After a few questions were answered, Mayor Kuhl asked council if they wanted to extend the agreement or end it on the project’s maturity date. All council members agreed to end on the maturity date.
With the council agreeing to end the Johnson Park TIF agreement on the maturity date of Dec. 31, 2025, the council approved having Mayor Kuhl sign the letter to cease to divide property taxes on Johnson Park TIF project. Treasurer Timmerman reminded council that any property tax received on the project through the month of January would have one final payment in January paid to Johnson Park TIF.
Council Approves Fastwyre Franchise After receiving an email from Marty Meche, vice president and associate general council at Fastwyre Broadband, stating that the HunTel Cablevision, Inc. cable franchise expires this month, Clerk Timmerman stated they were requesting another 15-year extension on the current franchise. After some discussion, the council approved a motion to extend the franchise another 15 years pending the city attorney’s review of the current franchise agreement.
South Well Gets New Pump After having routine maintenance done on the south well, Councilman Neil Timmerman and Utility Supervisor Caleb Eckstrom provided details of the findings. Councilman Timmerman stated that the pulling of the pump showed that the pump had been in there since 1976 and to both of their knowledge no maintenance had been done to it.
Eckstrom stated that over the last few years, the efficiency test done had shown a decrease and after Sargent Irrigation pulled the pump it was discovered that it was too far gone to salvage. After providing Eckstrom and Timmerman with the price of a new pump, a replacement pump was ordered and the well is now up and running.
Utility Supervisor Eckstrom and Treasurer Timmerman discussed with council a conversation they had with Shane Bush from Midwest Assistance on the city’s 2022 capacity survey results. Eckstrom explained the survey score was 51% and when applying for grant funding, it’s required to have a score of 70% or better, so Bush went through the survey and provided input on anything that would help improve the overall score.
One of the topics was having a short- and long-term plan for the water and sewer departments. While right now the City has a one-year plan of what may need to be done in those departments, it should start to look at the next five to 10 years and look at the possible locations of a new well or starting to camera the sewer mains for any possible future repairs, explained Eckstrom. Treasurer Timmerman reminded council that the plan could also include a financial strategy to set money aside each month or quarter to help fund any needs that may arise.
Street Projects Discussed
After a few different ideas were discussed about the repairs needing to be made on 6th Street from Main Street to Meadow Street, Councilman Schmit sais he had talked with abutting property owners on a possible concrete project. With some opposition, council discussed other avenues they could take to make repairs, but with the project not happening until next spring, council agreed to table it until the February 2026 meeting.
Treasurer Timmerman informed council she’s been talking to Tracy Sporleder with Northeast Nebraska Economic Development on grant opportunities for street projects. During the conversation with Sporleder, she had mentioned that the last attitude survey, which is required to apply for certain grants, had been completed more than five years ago and asked if council would consider approving them to do another survey.
Timmerman explained that the cost to do the survey is covered by the dues paid, so there wouldn’t be an additional charge. Council members approved having NENEDD conduct an attitude survey.
Other Agenda Items
Maintenance supervisor Caleb Eckstrom presented a copy of another municipality’s ordinance on trees. He explained the reasons for bringing it before council after some discussions on trees the last couple of months but also some issues they’ve had on the maintenance side with things planted in the right of ways. After hearing all the concerns, Clerk Timmerman was asked to put together the ordinance and CITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES TIF, FASTWYRE, STREETS
asked to put together the ordinance and bring it to the November meeting for possible adoption.
Brought up next was maintenance employee Todd Eckstrom’s after probation wage increase. Mayor Kuhl proposed a $2.00 per hour raise which includes the raise for obtaining his CDL. After some discussion, council members approved the $2.00 per hour raise which includes his CDL raise.
Treasurer Timmerman stated since Eckstrom went onto the City’s health insurance, he would be eligible for a portion of the year’s HSA contribu- tion of $500 this month, which the council approved.
Clerk Timmerman then informed the council that she had been incorrect in saying it was federally mandated for the new sick pay, but rather state mandated. After some discussion, the council voted to deny providing the additional pay.
Mayor Kuhl had asked council members if they realized that Clerk/ Treasurer Timmerman’s cell phone is a personal phone and not one covered by the City’s plan. They did not and stated they always are contacting her on her cellphone if they need anything.
Kuhl had asked council if they would consider a stipend to help cover the cost of any personal cell phone usage for City purposes. He stated that Timmerman requested twice that this not be on the agenda but he wanted to get council’s input. Council asked Timmerman her thoughts and she requested not to receive it for a few different reasons. All of council respected her wishes and will not be providing a stipend.
Once the Employee Handbook was reviewed, council members approved the following changes: Page 8 will state any raises for obtaining a certificate and/or license will be taken into consideration at the annual raise time in July, and on page 22, the city will pay for the water, sewer, pesticide and CDL classes and the employee will have to work for one year after obtaining such license/certificate or reimburse the city.
With a few changes to the Quick-Books subscription on payroll Treasurer Timmerman explained that there will now be a monthly charge of $2.50 per employee and that it currently is set up as an automatic withdrawal and asked if council approves of this, which they did.
Mayor Kuhl read a few correspondences two of which were from campers who said it was a charming place and was thankful for the spots being available. There was also a thank you received from the Summer Reading program kids.
Police Chief Tyler Wells presented a report on recent activity within the city, including one call referencing harassment, one question on titles, three dog at large, one loiterer, one rescue call and one assist Pierce Sher- iff's Office on DUI east of Plainview.
Wells also mentioned he attended his annual conference last week which included legislative updates, Laurel murder case and a child exploitation/ trafficking case in Nebraska.
In other business, the council: — heard Treasurer Timmerman providequotes on cybersecurity and employment practices to review; after some discussion on whether there was a need for either, council denied both coverages.
— approved Ordinance No. 2025-- 1: Vacation of a Portion of Fifth (5th) Street; which is printed in its entirety in this issue of the Osmond Republican.
— after reviewing a quote from Laserfische, a company that can scan large quantities of documents onto a cloud base account, decided to revisit this at the February 2026 meeting.
- reviewed the fiscal year end profit and loss/budget vs. actual with no questions or concerns being mentioned.
— after reviewing the September 2025 reconciliations and bank statements, had no questions or concerns.
— heard Clerk Timmerman state there were the following building and floodplain permits: Ryan Schmit, fence; Bob Stange, addition onto front porch/deck; Osmond Community School, sign and one floodplain permit for the Osmond Tree Board, 10 trees at ballfields.
— heard Mayor Kuhl state city sales tax for July 2025 was a total of $15,819.24 (of that amount $2,090.78 is from motor vehicle tax).
