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Summer The ...-1\--Z. °1111111111111SHAILII1EGSVIEON THE GREAT RIVER ROAD INIV. Vol. 14 JULY/AUGUST 2003 Newsletter of the City of Otsego Otsego Festival will be packed with 1 ; - r r / ,,, activities 1,0GREAT RIVER ROAD l iii. Saturday, September 13th will be a day packed with fun, food THEA , and activities at Otsego Prairie Park as the 2003 Otsego ONFestival starts at 10:00 a.m. The crowd pleasing Teddy Bear Band, sponsored by Wright Satiil'''dag, Sept13 Hennepin Electric,will be back again.Added entertainment this year includes The Resistors,sponsored by First National Bank. There will also be old time medicine shows performed 1e am to 6 pm by an Ohio group dressed in period clothes. The University of a Prairie Park Minnesota Raptor Center,sponsored by The Bank of Elk River, will return with their beautiful birds.Annette the Clown, $$99 Nashua Avenue NE sponsored by Riverview Bank,will be present to brighten (right behind City Hall) everyone's day. stastTo begin the day there will be a children's parade.Children are invited to decorate their bikes,wagons,scooters or O/it Ca III- whatever they have. Call Kathy Bandy at 241-0774 for more k� information on the parade. One of the added attractions this year is the talent contest limp kit* In 1, tarolb with categories for all ages.Pick up a registration form at City Hall or call Kathy Roberts at 295-5372 to enter. F ,, There will be even more great food available from vendors. 4 Godfather's Pizza will be there and"The Godfather"will make e lai less/Utile lihter ets, a visit to the festival. dAlong with all the food and activities will be crafters and No admission charge interesting displays by businesses,churches,and people with old cars,tractors and trucks. The Otsego Heritage Preservation Commission will have historical displays and children's activities in the City Hall. 01000 j To volunteer or for more Otsego Festival information,call Rose Cassady at 441-8769. - Olson and Olson retiring . Husband and wife Jerry Olson and Carol Olson will both :• retire from Otsego's city staff this year. ,�: . . A Carol has served as the city's deputy clerk since 2001. She �� 1 ° er worked as a receptionist for the city eight years before that. ,-, `+ _ - �i Carol will retire at the end of August. 14 ' � Jerry started as the city's part-time building official in the 4 ''''''‘, '''lipt ' '''''' *- Aiii fall of 1991. He will continue working into September to "r help Otsego's new building official, Tim Rochel, and a new .,,, N.' ,,,,..., -""".."- ' 1---7, building inspector get established in the department. Being a married couple working together has the L: , -,.,, , ,,,,r, - ,- A advantages of always having a ready carpool and a friend to i - have lunch with. They look forward to spending some time i Deputy Clerk Carol Olson and Building Official Jerry Olson will retire. at their lake place, traveling, and wintering in Arizona. City of Otsego 8899 Nashua Avenue NE Otsego,MN 55330 �, (763)441-4414 Construction Projects update ' . a Fax(763)441-8823 Email:cityhall@ci.Otsego.mn.us Summer in Otsego is construction time and this NOTE S OFFICE HOURS summer is no exception. We have several road Monday through Thursday P 8:00 a.m.to 6:00 p.m. projects this year. They are Page Avenue and 85th from the Closed Fridays Street. Both projects are proceedingon schedule COUNCIL P J MAYOR Mayor and are going well. They should be completed by Larry Fournier Council Members the end of September. The city has two parks under limimmis Vern Heidner construction. They are School Knoll Park, adjacent by Mayor Larry Fournier Dan Scharber Jerry Struthers to Otsego Elementary, and Prairie Park, behind - Virginia Wendel City Hall. Parks are a real asset to our community and I am looking forward to CITY STAFF Mike Robertson,City Administrator their completion. Judy Hudson,City Clerk/Zoning The west side of our city has much construction. Plans and specifications have Administrator Carol Olson,Deputy Clerk been ordered on Otsego West wastewater treatment plant and construction has Dave Chase,Maintenance begun on Otsego West water tower and distribution system. These projects will beSupervisor Rick Knutson,Maintenance completed in about a year and a half to two years. New subdivisions adjacent to Don Mass,Maintenance Albertville have been approved which will payfor these projects. The goal is to Kenny Shierts,Maintenance PP P J Karee Rowell,Secretary attract businesses to the western portion of Otsego and expand our tax base. Sandy Lindenfelser,kReceeeptionispr t Otsego's festival, "The Great Otsego Get Together"will be held on Saturday, PLANNING&ZONING September 13 this year. It was a huge success last time and promises to be even Richard Nichols,Chair Pam Black better this year. I look forward to seeing all of you there. Ken Fry Enjoy the remainder of our summer and lets make it our safest summer ever. Jim Kolles Steve Schuck Carl Swenson Otsego Heritage Preservation Commission David Thompson Doug Hackman, 151 aitemate Tammie Fallon,2^d alternate PARKS&RECREATION Jeff Bartheld,Chair ie : __. Rose Cassady Jim Gaikowski f 4' i Terry Long ) Pauline Nelson ....,A �� Jessica Stockamp � Mark Thorstad Peter Torresani HERITAGE PRESERVATION Ron Black,Chair Sharon Carter,Vice Chair Jeannine S.Christensen K.Joel Coles Jean Schneider,Secretary Joy Swenson Chris Wilson POLICE COMMISSION . � i Sandra Michaelson,Chair . < n Jane M.Bartheld,Secretary ' . Thomas Carter - ` Kathie DavisE Tom Koerwitz • " Alvin McClure Rudy Thibodeau,Vice Chair _ • a OT GO viEw LEFT TO RIGHT:Jeannine S.Christensen, Chris Wilson,Jean Schneider, K.Joel Coles, Joy Swenson, The Otsego View is the community Ron Black(Chair). NOT PICTURED:Sharon Carter. newsletter for the city of Otsego. The Otsego Heritage Preservation Commission is composed of seven volunteer Jacquie Rognli,Editor residents appointed by the City Council to identify historical sites in the city and '•L espondence should be sent to gather historical information. The Heritage Preservation Commission meets on the !�- Otsego City e y fourth Thursdayof the month at 7:00p.m.Thepublic is always welcome to attend. Contains 50/o recycled pre- Y consumer materials. O John McDonald and his house ■ B Jacquie Ro nli s to I' c a I Y q 9 John McDonald was Wright County's first white settler. ighlights He was born June 5, 1806 in Standish, Cumberland County, Maine. McDonald was a millwright by trade and came to Minnesota September 25, 1847. According to D. R. Farnham's 1880 History of Wright precinct name,Pleasant Grove, but the New Yorkers were in County, McDonald, "in company with Caleb Dorr,Ard the majority and Otsego was the winning name—from Godfrey, George Forbes, W. A. Cheever and others, laid Otsego in the State of New York."John McDonald was the first stick of timber in the first dam built at St. Anthony elected to be the town assessor at that meeting. Falls, during the fall of 1847. His first work after arrival in In May 1857,J. G. Smith,Z. M. Brown,J.N. Barbur and Minnesota was to repair the old Government saw mill on John McDonald surveyed and platted about 400 acres to be the west side of the falls so as to saw planks for a flat boat. the village of Otsego in sections 17 and 18 on the bank of He went up the Rum River pineries that winter with a the Mississippi River. It was"nearly all prairie with oak number of lumbermen to procure timber for the dam and openings and fine groves. It is a splendid townsite,but soon mill, but failing to find the kind of timber they needed they after the town was laid out,townsite speculation and nearly returned, and with a large party in the spring of 1848, went all speculative businesses came to an end, and Otsego never up the Mississippi River to Swan River, where they got a fair start." procured all the timber they wanted for the dam and mill. McDonald purchased a sawmill building at the mouth of Mr. McDonald worked about a year at Willow River, in the creek in the townsite and put in a small engine and Wisconsin, building a saw mill." sawmill that burned in 1878. The Otsego post office was With his family arriving from Maine, McDonald established in 1856, John McDonald,postmaster. He returned to Minnesota and worked at the millwright established a ferry to cross the river to Elk River in 1855. business and lumbering. He taught school during the winter He still owned and operated it in the 1880s. of 1850 and 1851. The abstract for the McDonald property shows it to be "On the 31St day of July, 1852, he and his wife went up owned by John McDonald, Senior and his wife, Zilpah the Mississippi River, and selected a claim on sec. 17, McDonald in 1857. They sold several parcels through the township 121, range 23, now in the town of Otsego,where 1870s. His son,John McDonald paid back taxes in 1881 he now resides. Quite a number of settlers came into town for delinquent years 1879 and prior. John McDonald during the succeeding two years, so that Otsego is the Junior's widowed wife,Melvina McDonald, sold the whole oldest town in the county."The site McDonald chose to block to Gerald Peavey in 1934. Peavey's widow, Edna M. build his family home was an open grove of trees on the Peavey,transferred the property to Florence Peavey and south bank of the Mississippi River. Joseph E. Peavey after Gerald's death in 1966. In 1977 a The Territorial Legislator passed an act organizing quitclaim deed on the property was filed for Florence Wright County. The first meeting of the board of Peavey, Joseph E. Peavey, Sarah Connett, Laura Draper as commissioners, appointed by the governor,was held April joint tenants. Draper died in 1978. 9, 1855 in Monticello.John McDonald was the chair. The After the death of Florence Peavey in 1990, Sarah commission divided the county into three voting precincts: Connett and William Connet approached City Clerk Big Bend, ,,,. ,, Jerome Perrault with an offer to sell the property to the Monticello, and � " '. �-^y1 city, according to Otsego's first mayor Norman F.Freske Pleasant(orf (mayor 1990-97,township supervisor 1983-89). Freske Pheasant)Grove. said the City Council decided to purchase the Peavey In Pleasant (McDonald)house because it was only one lot away from Grove,they —.. _ the old City Hall and maintenance garage and the Council designated the was looking for space to build a new hall. place of holding : .- a a Otsego still owns the John McDonald house on Co. Rd. elections to be :-:.=----.--------- ry ` 39 and rents it as a private residence. the dwelling ` x house of John x McDonald. Ilimit The first town '�"� meeting was held i � at his house May 11, 1858. The John According tow McDonald Farnham's, "The House question of r 0 . , naming the town LEFT: 1917 with af was submitted to baby Bob Holt. the voters.A large RIGHT:2003 as number were in a city-owned favor of the old residence. 0 -; .; a�, Unique store opened in 'pI Market Place West i , y '. t r�. . °'" ,,, Dragonfly Hom Decor was the first "" business to open in the Otsego Market d e c O r `- Place West mall this spring. Owner Holli � 0 -,i Schillewaert has created a unique business tf „; carrying an eclectic assortment of items for home decorating. The store has candles lamps, furniture, rugs, framed prints, ; _„__ ., -"-. clocks, dishes,potpourri, and unique pieces "�� r for accessorizing your home. She also Anti 101 ape creates custom silk floral arrangements for _ I+ her customers. Schillewaert invites people to stop in to ,. `` ', " have a look. "Inventory is always J. Tik ..,,,�, s changing. There is always new stuff coming in." ti The grand opening for Dragonfly Hom i * • ' "^ Decor will be September 11 to 14 with an , • v ,.° , open house and good sale prices. i�,., " , % t r � Dragonfly is open weekdays 10:00-7:00, . � , 1 , c. I Saturdays 10:00-5:00, and Sundays 12:00- " T ' 4:00. 763-441-1122. r * . Remodeling at City Hall Continued development growth in Otsego has prompted a remodeling project at City Hall. Offices are being reconfigured to accommodate the growing needs of the building department. Space is being borrowed from the conference room and combining it with the Historic Preservation Commission office to create a larger office for the building official and inspector. The i new space will include a service window so the building department staff can more easily speak to and assist builders and homeowners. Reconfiguring walls will also enlarge the finance department f . office. The kitchen has been reduced in size to provide storage �, 4� space lost to that expansion. i'' i The Historic Preservation Commission(HPC)has been a temporarily moved to the south side of the large meeting room. The HPC office will move to the old Town Hall next summer when Wright County Head Start School will be moving. �,,.' CITY MEETZNGI'8 City Building Official Tim Rochel(standing by what will become the wall of the new building department MEETING DAYS TIME offices)succeeds retiring building official Jerry Olson. City Council 2nd&4th Mon. 6:30 pm Rochel has been contracted as a building inspector Planning&Zoning 1St& 3`d Mon. 8:00 pm with the city since June 2000. Parks&Recreation 2nd Wed. 7:00 pm Heritage Preservation 4th Thurs. 6:30 pm Otsego water use policy •Submit City Council agenda items seven working days All users of the Otsego municipal water system must prior to meetings. remember that Otsego has an odd-even lawn sprinkling •To be placed on the Planning Commission agenda,submit policy. If your address ends in an even number,you can completed forms&information 15 working days prior to meetings. water on the even numbered days. If your address ends in •Official meeting notices are published in the Elk River Star an odd number,you can water on the odd numbered days. News and posted at City Hall. The only exception is new sod, seed and trees, which •Please call City Hall to confirm times if you plan to attend. can be watered daily in the year they are installed.