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Winter The OTSEGe- 1.--j\q- -vv. ON THE GREAT RIVER ROAD IE Vol. 17 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006 Newsletter of the City of Otsego 4 -'Ic x Y'3 n �-_ ::,,,%!!--i-...!..,-.:„.:' € a?. + a ,#=r3. }t z ` a zfi r � z ;,,, ,,,z,;-:,::, k ` �: F . x � Ya fc srr° z ,� 6014,1.1 � `� a �€r � -<'<<� L '=,•,',„?:;':',',a..+ r * •:•!---'-`,' � '":-;-"i,`:;(,,,,',',11...":,' r � s . ,/ia t;,�; t.. £ s } �. �c., ���4a �F f*°F-. t i 3 x i i i t r s � 3 z fi c a lP eta E33 F +r xL z t t 3 s � a�sY #3 a r + ' i$3 J:p, i f aJ! i :;,::::!s:„:',,;,, xi3 3 4i x�f„,'„;.,q,,,,,,:,. .,,,,,,`,,4 r 5 r. �#tf /s'7 �{J �l:. a� 4 L .r j r3 : .a s :`i f�,�°r£�:;F�3�'� L;3 £E Fi �'�'� £ „.7:i,f ertF��st i}d�3 �ia`3f-� 5�� `. n£4£,-�( 9ti:f�3 Frl t.i T£E� ��� . �4�t���j � �t !'. �h i' ' `Ce J,°L£, --ai i £, #, y l',1?l,y'Oc z'.: at t_ r . ..ss(kir. V:V1: £I tf(.1t .53 £ ! aIl,:1 E {I#) € ' �. ° BB9 �f � 'fn #r L Wil i t s ar"#', £z r r4 X r X '�” - # a 110,0,44,,,,,,,,,„,„,p,,,,,,,,„ �9',0,44,,� 4 s �Sb�ttt a as gs Yf ¢ ,,,,,,,pie r t.+Tr J j� a l'',..' ,�x ° *- ,2 4. 'x 1 ,,a,/, 2 4 33,7,, 'f' H k7�pp,, A Yt.. �r�St,'( - � „ v ' a.' (, 1 4P R``4�' s'S 7 ss i)p5, 1 :� z ,, k# M i,,,,,,,,,-,,,,,,,,,,,..„,m,, S €, . ,'n # as a �?,in .;€ `S£ {rfkr r�i '+',,, + 3 4 ary 3 i -4 - 4 { F ?£3£ a b 43� d s ;t �4,£'r; '? a � ,; � �-.� r#£a dam._ - ° ..:�.! �� � r s r,�s3�,� >t{�# # a��'�€5�>� yzyrete�t4i � � € s �. ,.. �'x.��� £ - ..` ta �. t - ' 1, i. -� r e> a — ,a � t �' . 3 ' '`� fF s � �S7Es ' ]�' F ,yam„ 'yy Stgi New public works facility nears completion The new Otsego Public Works buildingis close to g g being �i' ,, ark, , , ,7>�� �' finished. Located just north of CityHall, the new garage will allow the city to consolidate its equipment into one building° 3F Currently, the city has to store maintenance equipment in three , different locations: the garage next to the old city hall, the shed 3 next to City Hall, and in the base of the west side water tower. �, In order to fit the trucks inside, the plows need to be removed ' ' and left outside. The new building is sized to house the public works department for a long time. It is designed so that when •. , � E it needs to be enlarged, the back wall can be removed and thei �., _ garage expanded northward. �£� The city should be moving into the building around the start '<.. 7",7 of the New Year. Otsego Public Works Supervisor Brad Belair �3w �F £� k � ;�L , rarx3 t s ,a>t a 4i looks forward to moving to the new facility and anticipates � 9�> 3 � ,� '3c*:,, ;4 4 d_ E`. -',ay 4 4.31,{6 ; 3 ,'T#1 w't# ( f7p4 how much it will help them meet the needs of a growing city , i F r °� o r ; °'' 'a �r4 ' . > The updated wash bay will help them keep the city equipment Otsego's new Public Works facility includes a shed to store and clean and they will have much needed space to work on protect road sand and salt until needed on winter streets. vehicles. Belair said "The main thing is that we will be able to get all of the equipment under one roof with a vehicle storage area Winter Parking Rules large enough to park the trucks with the plowing equipment on. This will help us to respond to snow events faster with the No parking is allowed on any public street from 2:00-6:00 a.m.from November to April in the city of equipment ready to go." Otsego to allow for night snow plowing operations. He also cited the new salt storage shed as an aid to better Also, after a snowfall of 2.5 inches or more, no parking service, making it easier for them to load sand and salt. It will is allowed on any street until it has been plowed the keep materials dry and under cover and reduce pollution from full width of the paved surface. w� run-off. i City of Otsego 8899 Nashua Avenue NEi '. 1 . 6) s Otsego, MN 55330 2006 in ' • ° • : .d } i j .i (763)441-4414 Building Dept.: (763)-441-2593 NOTES Fax(763)441-8823 Review Email:cityhall@ci.Otsego.mn.us Web Site:www.ci.Otsego.mn.us from the As we approach the end of another ADMINISTRATION OFFICE HOURS year, and as I look back, I can see A/ti A Y OMonday through Thursdaymany good things have happened ini 8: 00 a.m.to 6:00 p.m. miiiiiimmilimiimimmi Fridays CLOSED our city this year. The Minnesota Department of by Mayor Larry Fournier® BUILDING DEPT.OFFICE HOURS p Monday through Thursday Transportation (MnDOT) has begun 8:00 a.m.to 6:00 p.m. the reconstruction of Highway 101, turning it into a freeway. This Fridays 8:00 a.m.to noon project will be completed late in 2008. When completed, this will CMlayoTY C�arry Fou ni-Meets 2^d&4th Mon.,6:30 p.m.* greatly enhance Otsego's ability to provide easy transportation access r Council Members for our business and residential communities. This is extremely Tom Darkenwald important for attractingnew businesses and broadeningour tax base. Vern Heidner P Jessica Stockamp Duke Realty continues to work on its industrial project and you Mark Thorsted should see a new large building being constructed this winter and CITY STAFF Mike Robertson,City Administrator completed in the spring. The Target project has been slowed Judy Hudson,City Clerk/Zoning Administrator somewhat by the 101 construction, but I still anticipate the new store Karee Rowell,Deputy Clerk to open in late 2007. The city's new Public Works buildin is just Kathy Grover,Bookkeeper P Y g Brad Belair,Public Works Supervisor about completed and ready to be occupied in February 2007. This Tim Rocher,Building Official facility will greatly enhance the city's ability to provide the publicPLANNING&ZONING-Meets 15 &3rd Mon.,7:00 p.m.* Richard Nichols,Chair services which are essential for the safety and welfare of our citizens. Pam Black,Vice Chair The City Council is planning an open house later this spring to give Tammie Fallon Doug Hackman you the opportunity to tour this new facility. Jim Kolles Otsego is still a great place to live and I believe the best is yet to David Thompson Troy Watring come. As always, your suggestions and comments are welcome and John Thelen, 1t alternate appreciated. With the holiday season here, I wish everyone a blessed PARKS BRIE SREAky,CT'ION air -Meets 2^d Wed.,7:00 p.m.' and happy season this year. Let's make it our safest ever.-„,., AaronMike Brumm,Vice Chair RoseCassady City snowplowing policy in effect Beverly Kumar Russ Langer Otsego's snow removal policy is to begin plowing when the snow Kathryn Roberts stops falling in snowfalls of two or more inches. Every effort will be Peter Torresani Rob Miller,alternate made to have main routes plowed and sanded prior to morning or HERITAGE PRESERVATION-Meets 4th Thurs.,7:00 p.m.' afternoon rush hour. Because of different storm situations and severity Ron Black,Chair levels, startingtimes mayvary. It is the intent of the cityto complete Shirley Isaacson P Isabel Stander plowing, widening and sanding operations within 24 hours of the time Jon Stander may the snowfall ceases, but major blizzardsrequire additional time. Chris Wilson POLICE COMMISSION-Meets 2^d Tues.,6:30 p.m.* After an extremely heavy snowfall, main routes will be plowed first, Thomas Carter,Chair followed by one pass to open residential streets and cul-de-sacs,then Sandra Michaelson Edgar Pearsall return later to clean up the shoulders, intersections, and cul-de-sacs. Cherisse Rushmeier Snowplowing and ice control operations can sometimes cause Jeff Stimac damage to improvements in the city right-of-way which extendsJane Theisen,Vice Chair 'All meetings are open to the public.Call City Hall to confirm approximately 15 feet beyond the curb location. The right-of-way is times if you plan to attend.Agendas and minutes are intended to provide room for snow storage, utilities, boulevard trees available on the city's web site. and other city uses. Private mailboxes are also in this area. Mailboxes OT EGO \7Jfi '\\T must be installed with proper clearance for plows. The city will only assume responsibility for replacement for a mailbox damaged during The Otsego View is Otsego's bi-monthly newsletter. plowing if it is determined that the plow made direct contact with a Jacquie Rognli,Editormailbox that was properly placed and of a standard style. The city will Correspondence should be sent to Otsego City Hall. not repair any damage to grass or seed or any damage from gravel Contains 50%recycled pre-consumer materials. being pushed into yards. ., 0 Otsego Creek restoration project to start in January , - Otsego Creek is set to have over two miles rehabilitated in the first :14111PP`14:44.:Zi:&' 1 ,* 1;z4 s quarter of2007. The $643,000:44: 1 * restorationprojectwillinclude::11'' rl" ;` ;� _*� t- _ ,.. measures 2i protect nearby homes <t ,r` Cr;� 3# �� 4y1 4� P from flooding. of �` dp`" 1- ,� M - ', M F The creek has always been ` � ° r,,t ' � " ' ''' � ' - subject to spring flooding,but new �es 41' 4 ;_ h _ _' ": �° home development in the area h > 1 .'' 1'4 a ggq s + ' }, requires a greater measure of control „ � "� 7,"),„,,„,,,,,;-'"'"°'1';',$:�� '� � , � "; than the original farmland. � ,� �4 ' ,l >" The Minnesota DNR and Wright " ��� "� County contributed to the 7:#1'4':::1;41. ` . M1 4 engineered plan that includes .: ' grading to control the rate of runoff, " ; native grasses and erosion blankets , i to prevent washouts and prevent silt t� � from entering the creek, establishing . f wetlands where possible, clearing " E � � �� fallen trees and debris, lantin new Iiik " . »� p ,i ,� _ . "Mtrve,;:: f " treesandconstructing a naturaln"' <` ' gyp. ' j` i ` _,'1 k ', '��` looking access road to aid in • � � ' � �f; TM maintenance. , , r • Developers were required to build storm drainage ponds to collect The Otsego Creek restoration project will clear vegetation and debris affecting water flow, additional runoff that development reinforce banks to reduce erosion,improve grading,establish wetlands,and provide access to would cause and were assessed $2,200 maintain it,all designed to prevent flooding of nearby homes. for everyacre that affected storm Photo by Vern Heidner drainage into the creek. Residents will not be assessed any fees for the project.wv Early Otsego Creek Rio By Jacquie Rognli , 1 i The following notes from observations of D. Warren Upham were taken in 1879 and 1881 and published in s' Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota describing features of Wright County. "The only considerable tributaries of the Mississippi river from Wright county, besides the foregoing [the Crow and Clearwater rivers],area small creek at Otsego; Otter creek, a mile above Monticello; and Silver creek, which flows through the township of this name. These, and the tributaries to Clearwater river,and the branches of Crow river in this county, are all small, only draining areas that reach five to twelve miles from their mouths." In D.R Farnham's History of Wright County,the surface of the land in the Town of Otsego is described as"generally level, slightly rolling. About one-third of the town was originally prairie or brush land, the balance timber. There are no large lakes and but a few small ones; there are less lakes in Otsego than any other town ini the county. School lake in section 36, covering about 200 acres; Mud lake in section 31,about 100 acres; Rice lake in section 34, about 100 acres, with two or three very small one, are all the lakes in town. But the town is well watered by several small creeks, and by rivers on the entire north and east sides. The soil on the prairies is rather sandy with gravelly subsoil, but generally produces good crops. The timber land is a deep rich soil with clay subsoil, and is very productive, always sure of good crops. A steam saw mill operated for a short time near the mouth Otsego Creek. It is mentioned in the decription of Otsego in Geo. Cray's 1867 History and Business Directory of Wright County. "A large new steam saw-mill has been built during the past year, owned by Crarey&Co. This mill is now running,turning out vast quantities of hard wood lumber of which an abundant supply is obtained in the near vicinity." Otsego Great River Riders ,;} are ready for the snow . 3� Volunteers from the Otsego Great River Riders Snowmobile Club have f3: A posted signs marking the trails in the city. Snow is the only ingredient still ,� E ' ' needed. Club members want to remind everyone that snowmobiles need to '8 stay on the road when traveling to the trails and the speed limit is 10 miles `:, 44 R per hour. No snowmobiling is allowed on Parrish Avenue from Park Avenue north to the Mississippi River. Snowmobiles are not allowed on bike/pedestrian trails. -._ ' The club meets the first Thursday of every month at Rockwoods Banquet and Conference Center. Membership applications are available on the club's website [http://www.ogrr.us/] or by contacting Pat Hilden (763-274-0229) or Josh Butler (612-839-9770). Highway 101 project tI1t1NESOTA The State of Minnesota is about a Visible addresses 1 01 third of its way through its work to turn 414- needed for emergency Highway 101 from an expressway with vehicles traffic lights into a freeway. Work will Wright County deputies continue throughout the winter on theI serving the city of Otsego intersections of Highway 101 and continue to tell the Police county roads 42, 37 and 36. Most of Commission that they are having problems locating the County Road 42 intersection should addresses in the city because residents do not have be completed by early summer, 2007. visible house numbers. All addresses must be visible The County Road 37 and County Road from the street with numerals at least four inches high 36 intersections should be completed by the end of 2007. against a contrasting background color. —,-,-- Work starts on the County Road 39 intersection in 2007 and that work will take until the end of 2008. As the Commission Openings city receives information on what is planned, articles The city of Otsego is seeking applicants to fill will be posted on the Otsego City website positions on a variety of commissions. Applicants must <www.ci.otsego.mn.us>. w� be a resident of the city of Otsego. No experience is # Conmuniry ,, „,, °E^FE Recreation program necessary, only a desire to be involved in your fdi`'"101 Otsego Recreation and community. Meeting times for the various commissions MAIZO4Wid :iluccbkoloi4 School District 728 are listed onP page two of this newsletter. Further `'' f' f® CommunityEducation information can also be found on the city website. Stop («i/ ��� partner to provide quality in at City Hall to pick up an application. iftiii _ /- recreational programming Applications for the Police Commission are due e for Otsego residents. All Wednesday, January 17, 2007 at 4:30 p.m. at Otsego sfi"''6 District 728 residents should City Hall. +��A Fs have received the new City Council election results AM Winter/Spring Community Education brochure with the Candidate Votes Elk River Star News on December 27`h• New Otsego Vern Heidner 1832 33.34 offerings are listed near the back of the brochure. If you did not receive one, contact District 728 Community Tom Darkenwald 1423 25.90 Education at 763-241-3520 or access the online brochure Jerry Struthers 1122 20.42 [www.728communityed.com]. Brian Reinbold 1089 19.82 Recreation programming in Otsego includes indoor Write-in ( 29[ 0.53 walking and pick up basketball for adults and gymnastics, basketball and Little Sportsters for youth. O 4 The ".j\--1Z. ON THE GREAT RIVER ROAD Nv.. Vol. 17 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006 Newsletter of the City of Otsego 2006 EXPENDITURES 2006 city $2,518,678 budget set The 2006 city budget has been set by the Otsego City Council. -- •"'-Oeneral Government _, Projected revenues are $926,136 $2,518,678 balanced with equally Other Public Safety projected expenditures. This is an --- $584,800 increase of$329,106 from the ' $196,1822005 budget. ll." . Expenditures are summarized Vrilliin the chart at left in the following Public Works categories: General Government—Mayor and ' '• Council, administration, f / elections, finance, assessing, Commune y legal, Planning Commission, Services planner, EDA, and City Hall. Public Safety—Police, Police Commission, and code enforcement. 2006 REVENUES Public Works— Street $2,518,678 maintenance, engineering, street Licenses lighting, and animal control. Intergovernmental & Permits Community Services—Clean-up Aid Service Month, park maintenance, 4.76% 3.59°10Fees recreation services and Heritage �; 5.6°44 £, Other Preservation. = 99% City revenues are obtained .t*• from property taxes (projected to .„,,,--------------"A_ ., be $2,041,678), special assessments, licenses and permits, charges for services, interest on investments and state aid. The Property Taxes city tax rate was set at 27.551%, down .015% from 2005. 81.06% Copies of the complete city budget can be viewed at City Hall during regular business hours. 1 City of Otsego 8899 Nashua Avenue NE Otsego, MN 55330 State of Our City .. - 44 1 ,. Axo (763)441-4414 I J ,. Building Dept.:(763)-441-2593 2006 Fax(763)441-8823 As we begin a new year, our city t'41OTE S Email:cityhall@ci.Otsego.mn.us g Web Site:www.ci.Otsego.mn.us is attracting new commercial and from the ADMINISTRATION OFFICE HOURS industrial business at a record pace. � A Y Q R Monday through Thursday A large industrial project east of 8:00 a.m.to 6:00 p.m. Highway 101 and south of County Fridays CLOSED Road 37 will begin this spring. by Mayor LarryFournier BUILDING DEPT.OFFICE HOURS This project, when completed, will k.-- yor ---- ? Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m.to 6:00 p.m. be valued at over one hundred Fridays 8:00 a.m.to noon million dollars. The area adjacent to Highway 101 and County Road CITY COUNCIL-Meets 2nd&4th Mon.,6:30 p.m.* 39 is very busy with new commercial retail, office space buildings Mayor: Larry Fournier and new restaurants being proposed. All these new businesses will CouncileMembers ensure that Otsego's citytax rate will continue to be lower than anyof Vern Heidner g Dan Scharber our adjacent neighbors. Jessica Stockmp The city's 2006 budget balances revenues against expenditures and Mark Thorsted orsted tY g g p CITY STAFF is the product of the work of the City Council and city staff that began Mike Robertson,City Administrator in August of 2005. The 2006 budget expected revenues of$2,518,678 Judy Hudson,City Clerk/Zoning Administrator Karee Rowell,Deputy Clerk and expected expenditures of$2,518,678 is a balanced budget. The Kathy Grover,Bookkeeper city of Otsego is committed to providing services to city residents and Brad Belair,Public Works Supervisor Tim Rochel,Building Official land owners in the most cost effective manner it can. This budget for PLANNING&ZONING-Meets 1St&3'd Mon.,7:00 p.m.* 2006 meets our goals. The state of our city is very good. Richard Nichols,Chair Pam Black,Vice Chair Tom Darkenwald City mailing addresses can say "OTSEGO" Fallon Doug Hackman All post offices serving Otsego are now supposed to deliver all mail Jim Kolles addressed to"Otsego, MN"and the correct zip code serving the address. David Thompson Thompson atring, onalternate Otsego will still have five different zip codes, but now residents can TroyJohn Thelen,2nd alternate proudly say their mail goes to"Otsego!" PARKS&RECREATION-Meets 2nd Wed.,7:00 p.m.* Otsego, MN 55301 (Albertville post office) Aaron Stritesky,Chair Oto MN 55330 (Elk River post office) 1:::1se Peter Torresani,Vice Chair g � Mike Brumm Otsego, MN 55362 (Monticello post office) 111,1111w— •....,.., Rose Cassady Otsego, MN 55374 (Rogers post office) Virginia Langer g Otse o MN 55376 (St. Michael post office) Russ Kathryn Roberts HERITAGE PRESERVATION-Meets 4th Thurs.,7:00 p.m.* City parking rules Ron Black,RanChair I There is no parkingallowed in Otsego for more than Carla Ransom j g Lilia Rousselet 1 18 hours on a public street and no trailers or immobile Joy Swenson vehicles can bearked on the street. Chris Wilson p POLICE COMMISSION-Meets 2nd Tues.,6:30 p.m.* In addition, winter parking rules are in effect from Thomas Carter,Chair November to April.No parking is allowed on any public Philip Larson street from 2:00-6:00 a.m. to allowfor night snow Sandra Michaelson g Edgar Pearsall plowing operations. Also, after a snowfall of 2.5 inches or more, no Jane Theisen,Vice Chair parking is allowed on any street until it has been plowed the full width of *All meetings are open to the public.Call City Hall to confirm the paved surface. ,-,...- times you plan attend.Agendas and minutes are availablePrepare for Otsego Clean-up Month on the city's web site. � The city will once again do Otsego Clean-up N'aji,SAGli) viEwa Month in May. Residents can take advantage of this opportunity to dispose of one load of The Otsego View is Otsego's bi-monthly newsletter. trash at the Elk River Landfill during the Jacquie Rognli,EditorII month of May. Its time to think about doing Correspondence should be sent to Otsego City Hall. 111 T" — Contains 50%recycled pre-consumer materials. alli Scoop your poop 10 Year Comparison of Otsego City Tax }jistoricai FILEASH& "The owner of any animal Rate or person having the custody TAXES of any animal shall be PAYABLE TAX ihl hts responsible for cleaning up IN YEAR RATEke 4 ggthe feces of the animal and199732.349% disposing of such feces in a 1998 32.304% sanitary manner whether on 1999 31.163% The table at left shows their own property, the 2000 28.772% Otsego s tax rate from 1997 to 2006. Except for 2002 when property of others or on 2001 26.689% the state changed the property public property."Otsego 2002 35.884% tax system,the rate has gotten public Safety Ordinance, 2003 30.549% lower every year. The city's Section 5-1-8 2004 28.995% tax rate for 2006 is almost five 2005 27.555% percent lower than it was 10 years ago.w.. 2006 27.551% Emergency management plan takes shape in Otsego By Patrick Waletzko A second component of the plan is By adopting the National Incident At its December 12,2005 meeting, the functional annexes which guide Management System(NIMS),the city the Otsego City Council adopted the specific response and coordination of all is able to enhance its ability to manage city's first emergency operations plan as hazard activities:warning/notification, emergency incidents by establishing a well as the National Incident search and rescue,health and medical, single method by which all Management System(NIMS)and the evacuation and traffic control,fire organizations involved can operate and use of Intrastate Mutual Aid protection,animal care,clearance of cooperate in the effective response and Agreements.At subsequent meetings, debris,and others.Each of these recovery from such an incident.NIMS the City Council continued its efforts to annexes is directed toward individual is a standardized approach to respond to prepare the city to respond in an responders and allows them to refer to a emergencies and aligns Otsego to utilize emergency or disaster situation by specific section for response rather than federal and state funding for additional adopting additional emergency sifting through one continuous massive local emergency preparedness, preparedness and response plans for document that may hinder their ability responder safety,and streamlining resident preparedness,city facilities to be responsive in an emergency. For processes.The system also allows all safety and security and an emergency example, damage assessment and debris city departments and staff to coordinate response plan for wastewater treatment clearance are directed toward the public their efforts to effectively and facilities,lift stations and pump houses. works department and city engineer. efficiently provide the highest level of The purpose of the emergency Congregate care is directed to response and recovery management for operations plan is to provide city emergency medical services,hospitals the residents of the community. officials,staff and emergency and volunteer organizations. Likewise,adoption of the intrastate responders with a guide that will assist The Resident Emergency mutual aid agreements allow Otsego to them in carrying out their Preparedness Plan serves as a guide for share its equipment and resources in an responsibilities for the protection of residents in their preparation and efficient response to an emergency human lives and property in emergency response to an emergency or disaster. situation, specifically enabling the City situations(i.e.tornado,flooding, The plan details information on creating Council to approve a neighboring city's wildfire,terrorism,utility emergency, an emergency preparedness kit, request for assistance and also to chemical accident,hostage situation, handling of suspicious mail,reporting request assistance from other medical accident,severe weather).The suspicious activity,responding to power communities for Otsego if it is needed. plan consists of a core document that outages,procedures for evacuating the By adopting Intrastate Mutual Aid accounts for all major continuance of city,planning for pets and businesses, Agreements,we are ensured of a quick government operations and and what to do if your child is in school response to a neighboring community administration of the plan itself—from during an emergency situation and other by removing much of the red tape from designating an alternate site for necessary information.The Resident authorizing one city to help government operations to assigning Emergency Preparedness Plan will be another.vw emergency responsibilities to updating summarized in a future newsletter. the plan and training city staff in its use. 0 Snowmobile use regulated Snowmobiling in the residential areas of Otsego is Snowmobile operation on city streets with a curb. permitted when traveling from a residence to a trail at 10 r miles per hour. Snowmobiles are not allowed on paved trails or sidewalks. .n_ When traveling along a city street with a curb, d snowmobiles must use the roadway, staying as close as CITY STREET - --. possible to the right-hand side of the street in single file. CURB If there is no curb, travel must be on the right-hand side w of the street within six feet of the roadway surface. If As close as possible there is an obstruction preventing passage within six feet to right hand curb of the roadway,the right-of-way can be used to bypass the obstruction. Snowmobile operation on city streets with a ditch. • Snowmobile operation on private property is only f 1 • allowed with the owner's ,,± _ permission. �� , No snowmobiling allowed on CITY STREET ..b. Parrish Avenue from Park Avenue north to the Mississippi River. N 6 feet 4 The complete city ordinance can be found on the city website or copies can be picked up at City Hall during regular business hours. Otsego Great River Riders on the lookout for safety and fun The Otsego Great River Riders Club meetings are held the first Tuesday of the Snowmobile Club members have beenUt5EG0 GREAT RIVER too month at 7:30pm at Timothy's Riverwood Inn very active in revitalizing the club Rs and Conference Center located at 10990 and have been instrumental in 95th Street NE(intersection of County bringing back snowmobiling to ALA Road 19 and 39), Otsego. The Otsego Otsego. Trails have been marked Great River Riders web site is and maintained throughout Otsego by http://www.ogrr.us/. the club volunteers. The club is actively Ski trail maintained in Otsego engaged in educating the community about the rules and ordinances regarding snowmobiling in Otsego. County Park Great River Riders Club president Pat Hilden says A groomed parallel track the club strongly encourages riders to abide by the cross country ski trail is ordinances that govern riding your snowmobile in the maintained in Otsego Regional city of Otsego. "Respect of private property owners' Park. The Nordic trail runs next to land rights is a very important concern of the club. most of the two mile paved trail Operating your snowmobile should be done on marked which is cleared for trails and not on private property." They are also walking. Otsego concerned that riders should not ride on bare grass and Regional Park is a seven fields as it damages the land. acre recreational park operated by the Wright County The Otsego Great River Riders currently has over Parks Department in Otsego on the Mississippi River. 120 paid memberships and is welcoming more. Out of Walk-in and drive-in entrances are located on 96th town rides and trips have been organized. Education Street west of Parrish Avenue. Current trail conditions of the community, club apparel and fund raiser projects can be found on the Wright County Park Department are underway. Interested snowmobilers are invited to website at http://www.co.wright.mn.us/department/ come join the fun. parks/parktrails.asp