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Vol. 16 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005 Newsletter of the City of Otsego
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. - Thanks to event director Rose Cassady and a team of hard-
working volunteers, the fourth annual Otsego Festival, held
11► Sept. 17, 2005, was a wonderfully successful day with
;"1,,, community information booths, entertainment, food, a car
, 5 . show, crafters and many family activities.
- ',.a - 't°y-,- • Clockwise: Newly crowned Otsego Royalty Junior Miss
H: '= Ashley Quintavalle, Little Mister Ben Fife and Little Miss Elly
A. Tran. Event Director Rose Cassady makes the rounds. Pony rides
,30 and children's activities were fun for small festival goers.
More Otsego Festival page 4
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City of Otsego
8899 Nashua Avenue NE
Otsego,MN 55330
(763)441-4414
Building Dept.:(763)-441-2593 Citybudget 2006 . I 'I . ��
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Fax(763)441 8823 "' e d ..e; v a
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Email:cityhall@ci.Otsego.mn.us Working on our city budget is always interesting
rJNOTES
Web Site:www.ci.Otsego.mn.us and can be very challenging. This year, with the high
ADMINISTRATION OFFICE HOURS cost of energy, we had to expand dollar amounts in
Monday through Thursday those budget items which require gas and oil to from the
8:00ida.m.toCLOSED provide )\fs1AYOR
Fridays CLOSED provide services for our city. Balancing revenuesV
BUILDING DEPT.OFFICE HOURS with expenditures to provide the quality services at a
Monday through Thursday reasonable cost is the City Council's goal. The Nommummonamo
8:00 a.m.to 6:00 p.m. by Mayor Larry Fournier
Fridays 8:00 a.m.to noon changes we have made in some budget items and the
CITY COUNCIL normal increase in costs for goods and services has
Mayor increased our city's budget. These small increases will ensure we meet our goal of
Larry Fournier providing the best possible service at the best possible cost. I expect the city's portion
Council Members
Vern Heidner of your tax bill to remain the same or go down for next year. You will be able to review
Dan Scharber our city's budget anytime at City Hall or at the Truth in Taxation meetings in
Jessica Stockamp
Mark Thorsted December.
CITY STAFF I wanted to know how Otsego's tax rate compared with other cities in our area and
Mike Robertson,City Administrator this is what I found: Otsego's tax rate is the lowest in the immediate area and is the
Judy Hudson,City Clerk/Zoning second lowest in Wright County. There are several factors which made this happen. Our
Administrator tax base has been expanded by new development which is paying for our larger budget Rowell,Deputy Clerk
Kathy Grover,Bookkeeper and the policies of the City Council to grow in a fiscally responsible manner. Your city
Brad Belair,Public Works Supervisor council is working hard to keep Otsego an affordable place to live.....,
Tim Rochel,Building Official
PLANNING&ZONING
Richard Nichols,Chair
Pam Black,Vice Chair City website offers wealth of information
Tom Darkenwald
Tammie Fallon If you haven't been to the Otsego home page in a while, it's worth a look for all of
Doug Hackman the helpful information available. The web address is: www.ci.Otsego.mn.us. Building
Jim Kolles
Department SecretaryBarb Williams regularly adds pages and links that will be usefulDavid Thompson
Troy Watring, 1s'alternate to people seeking information about Otsego. Here is a list of just a few highlights of the
John Thelen,2nd alternate things you can find on the Otsego city web site.
PARKS&RECREATION
Aaron Stritesky,Chair •Copies of City Council and
Mike Brumm,Vice Chair Otsego, MN Planning Commission
Rose Cassady
Virginia Duran agendas and minutes.
Russ Langer On the Great River Rudd •Maps for viewing and
Kathryn Roberts -
Peter Torresani , Welcome to our city website I ocal Businesses download: city street, park
AgMSaa/IrruIP9 &trail, development, land
HERITAGE PRESERVATION „r,,tiR
Ron Black,Chair `odes'Or*sd es O segc.M nnesota is sca ed pre
Jeannine S.Christensen Q4'DaVai vrb �OTSEGO thenr,tnwmedgeoltheMrmSt use, school districts.
' l � Paul metro area(Wnght County's City Hall
Carla Ransom
Gay/ohs r ne cars a.n nrup NE corned -_ l`'', •Meeting calendar.
Lilia Rousselet Commissions Admin
Finance
!e ore excited about using this site to communicate wen ON residents, •Property maintenance FAQs.
suesses,and miters.
Joy Swenson , Events now Building Department
Chris Wilson FA° •City codes and ordinances.
POLICE COMMISSION FeemarLForm Maio Weeks Dept.
Thomas Carter,Chair 174fIcr ,,r, •Building permit information
Ht�rm(Nrs
Philip Larson laminghaws Permits and applications.
,,pteurber 21.Steal Dmrage! PP
"�'"a""� •Useful resident information,
Alvin McClure ;,,,<h,.
Sandra Michaelson ,epttn9 a Hour,
EdgarPearsall r eiewsrene/ ttip Otsego City Halt atomRry-Thrrcs4 including police and fire,
JanTheisen,Vice Chair NewResalerrrade 8899 Ndshua Ave NE B''''�ymam
Rudy Thibodeau,Secretary S�po� Otsego.MN5533° 8mam 1200pm utility providers, post
Weather — „ offices, school districts,
Mega Subtionstons — — businesses.
�OTSEGO VIEW ctarmrxa„rayerlCdsegc
2 Enly'sffecle`co commonly
rot on eke
•Past issues of The Otsego
Search Energy;aRecled cnmmuney hsl•Fel mare irdor.manon chce hoe
The Otsego View is a bi-monthly rzo byou Enc sooner,ng missing or hard to 5nd.please cad send us an
View city newsletter.
newsletter for the ci of Otse o. •rw; erra comments are important to the continued derelopmert o1 •Contact information and
ty g 'his•seh<•a
Jacquie Rognli,Editor •'•, email links for city
Correspondence should be sent to search rips departments.
Otsego City Hall. eae:.,r,,.ah .e
Contains 50%recycled pre- t •Links to helpful services and
consumer materials. M P
information. •,,-,-,
0
Emergency plan in process sto ri ca l
Work on Otsego's Emergency Operations Plan is
nearing completion. The plan has been a major ' ii
' ' lits
project for City Intern Patrick Waletzko. It g
includes procedures and actions to take in the Fall harvest and chores
event of a natural or other disaster with sections
on resident preparedness, emergency response for city Otsego farmer Will Holt kept a diary from August
facilities, a basic plan for health and medical,police and fire 21, 1877 through December 4, 1890 which contained
one-line entries for each day, documenting weather and
personnel, an evacuation plan and animal care. Final crop growing conditions and events. The following
approval of the plan is expected by the end of the year. ..w entries give us a look into the busy fall season of a
fanner in Otsego in 1879.
Sept.9 Finished haying.
City tax rate is lowest in area Sept. 12 Finished cutting corn.
Otsego has the lowest tax rate compared to Sept.20 Finished thrashing(From stacks).432 bushels of wheat.
surroundingcities. When weighed against other Sept.23 Pullingobeans.
g g Sept.24 Commenced plowing.
Wright County cities, Otsego's 27.56% city rate is Sept.29 Went to circus in Elk River.
second only to Buffalo at 24.46%....... Sept. 30 Finished pulling beans.
Oct.4 Wilbur Ingersoll thrashing wheat.
City 2005 Tax Rate Comparison Oct. 11 Finished stripping cane
Tax Capacity Individual Total Oct. 13 Commenced husking
per Capita City Rate Tax Rate Oct. 14 Warm,windy, good husking.
OTSEGO 707 27.56% 96.84% Oct. 15 The same.My throat is very sore.
Oct. 18 Clear and quite cold. Heavy frost at night.Wheat worth
Elk River 893 43.76% 123.99% $1.07.
Monticello 1,224 58.65% 122.11% Oct.21 Fine weather.Hauling beans.
Albertville 1,076 31.99% 99.32% Oct.22 Cold and windy.Thrashing beans.
Oct.26 19 bushels of beans.
St. Michael 855 30.94% 99.39% Oct.27 Cloudy,wet. Hail storm. Sold Black Bill.
Dayton 894 40.77% 114.46% Oct.28 Me, husking.
Rogers 1,671 42.05% 124.94% Oct.29 Fearful windy.Too cold to husk.
Oct.30 Cloudy and disagreeable. I have a cold.
State Average 876 38.34% 109.19% Nov. 1 Bill wood killed a deer.Snowed about all day.
Nov.6 Fine husking weather.Jim and me, had lots of fun at
party.......
Special election set
A special election will take Mail theft reported in Otsego
place for voters in Wright County have been recent reports of mail being stolen from
District 19 to fill the vacancy left 4
.-'- curbside mailboxes in Otsego. Thieves have used the stolen
mail to obtain bank information to write fraudulent checks.
by the resignation of Minnesota The U.S. Postal Inspection Service recommends the
State Senator Mark Ourada. following steps to protect your mail:
Otsego voters can vote at City • Use the letter slots at your post office to mail letters, or
Hall for the primary and regular give them to a letter carrier.
election. • Pick up your mail promptly after delivery. Don't leave it
Primary Tuesday, Nov. 1 in your mailbox overnight.
• Don't send cash in the mail.
General Election Tuesday, Nov. 22 • Ask your bank for"secure"checks that can't be altered.
• Tell your post office when you will be out of town so
they can hold your mail until you return.
Brush accepted • Promptly remove mail from your mailbox after delivery,
• especially if you're expecting checks, credit cards, or
�, -": Q from storm other negotiable items.
�1EP i� ' % • If you don't receive a check or other valuable mail you're
damage
,;(,,,,, _• expecting, contact the issuing agency immediately.
Otsego residents can bring • Consider starting a neighborhood watch program. By
'v -* branches and brush from recent exchanging work and vacation schedules with trusted
storm damage to a pile at the back friends and neighbors, you can watch each other's
of Prairie Park upto November 15, mailboxes(as well as homes). If you observe a mail
' ���/� 2005. v.... your thief at work, call the local police immediately, and then
your nearest Postal Inspector. .....
O
Otsego Festival continued from p.1
Winners of the Otsego Idol talent competition in the teen division were Sheraye Strube, first place, Shelley Pavlas,
second, and Kelly Hansen, third. Junior division winners were Randi Rae Friedl, first place, Naomi Burnett, second, and
Amara Barner, third.
Cassady and all of the Otsego Festival organizers are thankful for all of the volunteers that helped at the Festival. She
said she is so proud that this event is organized and staffed entirely by volunteers. ...,,,......i
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II There were approximately 104 entries in the classic car show at the Otsego Festival. The show was hosted by the Champlin
Street Toys Car Club. Scott and Deb Flickinger won the mayor's trophy for their 1968 Ford Mustang. Doug Day and his 1970
Ford Torino GT received the spectators'trophy..,.,..
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The Otsego Great River Riders has re-organized and had
an information booth at the Otsego Festival. The group's
numbers are growing and they would like to invite fellow R"
snowmobilers to join them. They will be planning club rides
including family club rides, maintaining trails, creating new _.. -
trails, and having fun. The next meeting will be Tuesday,
Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m. at Timothy's(Riverwood Inn) located at the McGruff the crime dog was at the Otsego Festival to let '
junction of County Roads 19 and 39. Contact Pat Hilden at people know about the McGruff House program in Otsego.
763-274-0229 or Kathy Pederson 763-274-0715 if you have Volunteers are still being sought for safe houses in
any questions or are not able to attend the meeting and would Otsego's McGruff House program. Contact Jane Theisen
like to loin or have additional information sent to you..,"., (763-441-7059)for more information.
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