OSMOND — The Osmond City Council met Monday, Nov. 10, in the conference room and discussed several issues, including the flood reduction plan and vacant properties.
Flood Reduction Plan Explained Curt Becker with the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resource District (LENRD) informed council that the flood re duction project plan for F1-1 would consist of raising 4th Street by the ballfields to the natural berm, extend ing stormwater culverts to the east with flap gates at the end to prevent backflow into town, adding a drainage
culvert on the property to the south of 4th Street to avoid flooding to that property and construct a retaining wall
six feet high by the baseball field to avoid disrupting the field.
This plan also would require the ballfield concession stand and bath rooms to be raised to the proposed grade above flood elevations. The next plan is F1-2 which in north east Osmond would work interdependently with F1-1 which would be an alternate location to have a berm that ties into the north and south with a top width of 10 feet, a maximum height of 7.6 feet and 3:1 sloped sides. It would include a pipe and flap gate system to allow interior drainage to flow east while preventing any backflow.
As far as South Osmond, a plan for flood reduction is only nonstruc tural which would be elevating eight buildings, flood vents on another two properties, one property would require a berm surround it and all buildings would have recommended backflow preventers.
Becker went on to say the planning phase is about complete and stated that there were still some grant funds left on the project that could be used on the design phase if council chose to move forward on the project. After some discussion on the local share for the project, council decided to discuss it again at the Dec. 8 meeting before deciding to move forward to the design phase.
Vacant Properties
Again Discussed
An update on vacant properties was provided, with Mayor Dennis Kuhl stating that the location on State Street would be demolished by the end of December.
He asked what other properties needed to be discussed. Clerk Brittney Timmerman brought up a property that she has received some complaints on in regard to the exterior of the property needing to be cleaned up.
She had provided council with a draft of a nuisance property letter and said if council is ok with the requested items needing to be done, then she would have the mayor sign it and deliver it to the owner. After some discussion it was decided to move forward with the nuisance letter.
Maintenance employees Bert Wattier and Caleb Eckstrom requested that a council member contact another property owner by the park to have the city’s right of way cleaned up on their lot prior to winter to avoid snow drifting issues that has happened in the past.
Clerk Timmerman also brought up the discussion on the old city office and police station. She stated that, with cleaning up other properties, she asked council to start considering options of what to do with the old building since it’s starting to lose bricks on the façade. Timmerman asked council if anyone has thought of what to do with the city office because of the amount being paid on rent each year for the temporary office since the flood. This item will be brought before council again at the December meeting.
Other Items on Agenda
After reviewing the tree ordinance that was discussed at last month’s meeting Clerk Timmerman discovered a section in the City’s code book that was actually similar with only a few differences. She reviewed the differences with council and it was decided no new ordinance was needed.
Council members approved the HunTel CableVision franchise ex - tension Resolution 2025-9, which
includes a 15-year extension of the Osmond Community Antenna Telecommunications Franchise to the company. A full copy of the resolution will be printed in the minutes.
The council also approved Resolu- tion 2025-10, Signing of the Year-End Certification of City Street Superin tendent. A full copy of that resolution will also be printed in the minutes.
Clerk Timmerman advised she was contacted by a resident to see if any landscaping around the new community sign was going to be done. They were hoping to see it be cleaned up to make it a little more eye appealing. After some discussion and permission from the property owner it was decided the city maintenance crew would work on cleaning it up and add a little low maintenance landscaping to the area.
Treasurer Brittney Timmerman reviewed the annual audit performed Oct. 22 with council. She stated the audit was a little more in depth, with more information being required even after the on-site work day, but Timmerman was pleased to inform council that no comments were made for last fiscal year audit. She explained that the auditor said it’s very rare to have no findings and was pleased with how the audit had gone.
Police Chief Tyler Wells presented a report on recent activity within the city, including four reports on the welfare of a dog, one question on a fire call, five reports of a dog barking/ howling, one question on patrol car and one mailbox damage report, to name a few. Wells also reported that he had a Region 11 Emergency Management meeting in Norfolk and reported that Halloween trick or treating went well with no issues.
Clerk Timmerman had spoke with the city attorney on the status of the cemetery plot reclaiming and Dennis Collins is hoping to have that com- pleted in the next couple of months and will provide council an update once it's filed with the district court.
In other business, the council: — approved the application for a Special Designated License as requested by Main Street Alley for Christmas Wishes on Dec. 13 at the city auditorium.
— heard Clerk Timmerman state the following building permit was reviewed: Pat and Robbie Gansebom, detached garage larger than 1,000 square feet.
— heard Mayor Kuhl state city sales tax for August 2025 was a total of $21,513.63 (of that amount $3,333.50 is from motor vehicle tax).
— heard Mayor Kuhl read thank you correspondence from the family of Cindy Hoffman.
