OSMOND - The Osmond City Council met Monday, May 11, with a number of items on the agenda, including hearing from the Osmond Park Board about improvements needed at Poolside Park.
Osmond Park Board Improvement Project
Patti Ketelsen, Barb Johnson and Marvin Kumm of the Osmond Park Board brought information about a park improvement project for Poolside Park. Ketelsen stated that over the last two years they have been working on obtaining quotes to fix the mud holes under the two current swing sets. After many conversations and several quotes later, the board decided it would be cheaper to replace both swing sets and provide an ADA compliant swing on the west swing set and place material under both swing sets to prevent the mud holes under the swings. The park board provided three quotes to council which ranged from $135,540 down to $50,033, with the cost differences coming from either having all poured-in-place rubber under both swing sets, one set having the poured-in-place while the other would have engineered wood fiber, or the last and cheapest option would be engineered wood fiber under both sets. Ketelsen and Johnson mentioned that the board has obtained a $25,000 grant from the LENRD, $1,000 grant from the Pierce County Visitors Bureau, also had funds from their music in the park fundraiser from a year and half ago, and have reached out to different organizations and foundations to assist with funding. The board also plans to pledge $20,000 of their own Park Improvement Funds to help cover some of the costs and inquired if council would consider pledging a match. After some discussion, much of council sounded optimistic about providing the matching pledge but decided to discuss it all again when budget is discussed at next month's June 8 council meeting. Treasurer Brittney Timmerman asked for council's approval to sign the grant agreements with the LENRD since they are due back by the 22nd of May, and the council gave its approval. Council thanked the board members for all their time and dedication to keep the parks looking good.
Street Issues Discussed
City Street Superintendent Baylor Bestgen was in attendance to go over updates to the One- and Six-Year Plan. After some conversations about the asphalt project, it was agreed that Prairie Street and Meadow Street would move to the six-year plan and the remainder on the project would stay on the one-year plan. Bestgen then stated concerns about the possibility of reflective cracking on a four-inch overlay asphalt project on the existing streets. He suggested considering geotechnical boring to see how thick the existing streets are. Bestgen asked the council how much they plan to budget for a match on the Public Works Grant. As of now, the plan is to budget $550,000 in hopes to receive the full $600,000 grant which would be close to completing the project depending on what bids come in at. He informed council he will put an estimate together for what geotechnical testing would cost, along with a cost of opinion to remove existing streets, putting down a leveling course and pouring a new asphalt street. Council thanked Bestgen for all his input on the project and look forward to seeing the new cost estimates.
Caleb Eckstrom, utility supervisor, reached out to Johnson Service Company to get an estimate on the cost to repair the sewer main manhole that was damaged during a new sewer service line install. After some discussion, the council voted to completely repair the manhole and submit the bill to the company who had damaged it.
Vacant, Nuisance Properties Revisited Next to be discussed was vacant and nuisance properties. Two properties to be demolished are awaiting asbestos testing results before demolition can happen. Both properties that received nuisance letters last month have either completed or made progress on the requested items. A few more properties were added to the list to receive nuisance letters to clear the yard of appliances, broken equipment and garbage. Council also asked Police Chief Tyler Wells to start cleaning up the unlicensed vehicles around town, so a report will be provided at the next council meeting on this.
Phone, Internet Issues Continue Clerk Timmerman informed council that after some work with Eakes on the VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone system, it was discovered there is not a carrier in this area to provide the service, which would require Osmond to keep its Fastwyre account and have the calls forwarded to the VOIP system. Timmerman requested not moving forward as it would cost more having to pay two phone bills instead of one. Council agreed not to move forward.
CITY COUNCIL APPROVES GRANT FOR PARK PROJECT Next, she explained that looking at switching the internet provider to Stealth Broadband is a possibility for all the city locations; however, they are still working on trying to get the service to the city office building.
Timmerman also heard and con- firmed that if Osmond does switch to Stealth and cancel their Fastwyre internet, they will lose access to the office email account. After discover ing that, she reached out to Kreier’s Technology to get assistance with transferring emails if and when that time comes, and will provide that quote to the council for approval.
Scanning Documents Approved An update on the scanning of city documents to the Laserfiche account brought an increase in cost to the originally proposed amount. Clerk Timmerman mentioned she received a call that, due to the varying size of documents in the folders, it would take significantly longer to be scanned than what it normally would, which would add up to $3,000 more than quoted. Council approved moving forward with the additional costs to scan the rest of the documents.
Other Items on Agenda
Judith Stanton, newly-appointed executive director for Pierce County Economic Development, came and introduced herself to those in attendance and the city council. Stanton explained that she has years of experience with grant writing for small businesses and can’t wait to help the community out with any grant writing needs.
Up next was the signing of the Gutz 6th Street project agreement. Before any agreement could be signed, it was decided to change the distance of the project to state “East side of the South Alley” instead of “West side of the South Alley.” Clerk Brittney Timmerman said she would contact the city attorney, request the verbiage be changed and then signatures will be collected.
Mayor Dennis Kuhl read a resignation letter from Deputy Clerk-intraining Adriona Buchanan which stated that her last day working for the city would be April 21. Clerk Timmerman informed council that with the mayor’s approval, the hiring ad has started running in the paper every other week. After some discussion, it was decided to revisit the ad at next month’s meeting.
With $6,000 budgeted for tree removal at Poolside Park, Councilman Dennis Haselhorst stated he is waiting on a quote for at least one tree to be removed on the north side of the park. After some discussion it was decided that there possibly could be two trees on the east side of the park that might be removed as well.
The council approved having Treasurer Timmerman attend the annual treasurer’s conference June 17 to 19. Timmerman asked council if there were any specific sessions they would like her to sit in on. Mayor Kuhl suggested a couple and Timmerman will provide information on them after the conference.
Mayor Kuhl acknowledged Police Officers Week and thanked Police Chief Wells for all he does. Police Chief Wells presented a report on recent activity within the city including three reports juvenile delinquency, one child welfare concern, two DHHS reports, one gun registration question, two 911 hang-ups reported, one question on press release, one dog bite (dog deemed potentially dangerous), one welfare check possible assault and one report of gas siphoning, to name a few.
In other business, the council: — approved a request fromAmanda Schieffer to sell fireworks in Osmond at the east edge of the Osmond Mini Mart lot adjacent to Highway 20.
— heard Councilman Neil Wattier inform everyone that the proposed pool opening date will be May 24 and the advertisement will run in the paper.
— approved transferring the remainder of this fiscal year's High way Allocation funds into the Street Repairs account.
— approved 3rd Street Bar & Grill special designated liquor license application for the alumni banquet at the city auditorium on June 27, 2026.
— approved Main Street Alley special designated liquor license application for Chrome & Smoke Truck Show on June 26 and 27, 2026, with Council Member Dan Timmerman abstaining.
— reviewed the following build- ing/floodplain permits: Jacob As choff, privacy fence; Jerry and Sharon Wagner, storage container and above ground pool with fence; Cole Kralicek, car port; Lew Crew Creations, metal sign on building; City of Osmond floodplain permit, removing trees on South Osmond lot and KobaCo., fence.
— heard Mayor Kuhl state city sales tax for February 2026 was a total of $24,152.96 (of that amount $1,809.39 is from motor vehicle tax).
