Fall i
i The
111111111A11111 .11G111 /TEON THE GREAT RIVER ROAD NV
Vol. 12 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2001 Newsletter of the City of Otsego
Residents enjoy Otsego's trails
Beautiful fall weather has
provided many opportunities for - t ' t. ':,x.,.r ' ` ,
residents to enjoy Otsego's �_ x �,�
approximately 17 miles of asphalt ``,
paved trails which include expanded ".. ,
I.Q . t
shoulders and street-separated trails. r. 4 t �''
Walking,jogging, in-line skating, ', � �
A
and biking are all recreational *1,„:1.i... . `� i
activities that take place on the trails. '�
Motorized vehicles are prohibited ` 2 ` R
on city trails for the safety of the �� �� ,, W..._ �
users and also to extend the life of
the trails. The city has had problems ...
in the past with snowmobile treads
destroying the asphalt surface of the4
trails.
Besides recreational use,trails also
provide routes for pedestrians to
reach important designations such as
parks, recreation areas or
commercial areas. Pedestrians enjoy a crisp fall afternoon walk on the Odean Avenue bike trail.
TRAILS to page 4
ot_se90 {Bunte . Ouse
St. , Or . 20fC�h'15SI�h 4.�0 a person
�° or tilt- 00 for family of f bur
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t Fri . 1 oat. 2
,iiiiimramormr--
Sat. Oct7 f iayritie 13.00
, Ct, on Sat. Oct. 27
ct 7^ / •TI
1 HAUNTED HOUSE to page 3
City of Otsego
8899 Nashua Avenue NE
Otsego,644144140 Budget update , . .
Fax(763)441-8823 NOTES
Email:cityhall@cLOtsego.mn.us The 2001 omnibus tax bill enacted several
OFFICE HOURS sweeping reforms in the Minnesota state and local
Monday through Thursday finance system,includingthecompression of tax from the
8:00 a.m.to 6:00 p.m. Y comp
Closed Fridays classification,the state takeover of general education
MAYOR
CITY COUNCIL property taxes for school districts,and a state
Mayor
Larry Foumier takeover of transit levies.The combined impact of iminowimil
Council Membersby Mayor Larry Fournier
these changes will mean school taxes will drop
Suzanne M.S.Ackerman 4-_---
Vern Heidner markedly while city property taxes will generally
Jerry Struthers increase due to the loss of state aid money to city governments.
Virginia Wendel
CITY STAFF With the loss of a large portion of state aid to local city governments, and not
Mike Robertson,City knowing exactly how other changes might directly affect our city, putting
Administrator together the citybudget has been made difficult. The CityCil' goal
Judy Hudson,City g gCouncil's
Clerk/Treasurer was to continue to provide the same qualitymore services we have had in the past. The
Carol Olson.Deputy Clerk City Council did increase the tax levy to cover the money lost because of a
Dave Chase,Maintenance
Supervisor cutback in state aid to city governments.
Rick Knutson,Maintenance Most property owners will see a tax reduction in their overall tax bill in 2002. The
Don Mass,Maintenance
Kenny Shierts,Maintenance city's portion of your tax bill will go up to make up for the lost state aid money.A
Karee Rowell,Secretary very small portion will be due to increases caused by inflation. Your Otsego City
Kathy Grover,Bookkeeper
PLANNING&ZONING Council is working hard to keep Otsego an affordable place to live.
Carl Swenson,Chair
Ken Fry
Jim Kolles Meet Your City Staff: Kathy Grover
Patrick Moonen
Richard Nichols
Steve Schuck a...
Christian Mbanefo
David Thompson,alternate ,
PARKS&RECREATION
Michael Day,Chair
Thomas Baillargeon
Tom Constant
Jim Gaikowski
Terry Long "
Pauline Nelson -, .-
EDAADVISOY � � :
LeRoy Lindenfelser,Chair
'j' '42-
Steve Ackerman y � �, ,. 44.
Gabriel Davis � s'
Tom Koerwitz - '`` ;":;%'''t''*° ,
•.mss€>��� �= <�
Vincent Peterson n tit. .$44,4,
Rudy Thibodeau ib, ,
Jon Zack - w;,`
HERITAGE PRESERVATION �.. -, n ;� -
Joy Swenson,Chair ,� � ��
Sharon Carter �'
Arlene Holen ,,..
Frieda Lobeck
Joan Nichols -` 14800_,.--------
Elaine
_,Elaine Norin
-_ KATHY GROVER
C- °VIEW
Kathy Grover has lived in Otsego for just over eight years and began working
The Otsego View is
for the city the
community newhere as the city's bookkeeper in January 2001. Grover takes care of city billings
of Otsego. and payments. She often helps answer phones and greet visitors to City Hall. She
Jacquie Rognli,Editor says she has learned a lotaboutthecommunitysince she started workingfor
Correspondence should be sent
to Otsego City Hall. Otsego. She enjoys
the people she works with and the work she does as well as
wit, Contains 50%recycled getting to meet community members. Grover likes working close to her home and
pre consumer materials. said"I feel like I'm doing something for the community I live in."
O
HAUNTED HOUSE from page 1 The Otsego Haunted House willstorical
be open for fright October 20, 26II ' Ij
■
and 27, 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the gh utility building just south of City : . ,..
Hall. Admission is $4.00 a person The name "Otsego”
or$14.00 fora family of four.
On Saturday, October 27,there By Elaine Norin
will also be hayrides 6:00 to 9:00 The question often asked is "Where did the name Otsego (ot-SE-
p.m. The cost of the hayride is go) come from?"
$3.00. In addition,there will be a The city of Otsego was originally established as Pleasant Grove
game room with activities for (sometimes recorded as Pheasant Grove) Precinct in 1855. When
small children that evening. The Minnesota became a state in 1858, the Wright County Board of
haunted house is not recommended Commissioners divided the county into townships. The first
for children under age 6. township meeting was held at the home of John McDonald, the first
The Otsego Park and Recreation permanent white settler in Wright County. The question of naming
Commission runs this popular the township was submitted to the voters. Some favored the name
event every year. Commission Pleasant Grove, but a larger number of people favored the name
Chair Mike Day estimates that Otsego from the area in New York they had come from.
1,000 people went through the Otsego Township,New York was part of Montgomery County
haunted house last year. until it was divided and Otsego County was established. The
The Park and Recreation settlement on Otsego Lake in New York was incorporated as the
Commission is seeking room town of Otsego. That was later changed to Cooperstown, in honor of
sponsors and volunteer actors. James Fenimore Cooper,the famous author who lived by Otsego
Sponsors take on the task of Lake.
designing and setting up a room in In his book, The Pioneers, Cooper states "Otsego is said to be a
the haunted house and supplying word compounded of`ot,' a place of meeting and `sego' or `sago,'
actors. All materials are provided. the ordinary term of salutation used by the Indians of this region."
There are still some rooms The Mohawks were a tribe of the Iroquois Nation which inhabited
available for sponsors. Volunteer central New York state. One translation of Otsego is "Rock Place."
actors work as many evenings as There is a large rock at the outlet of Otsego Lake in New York.
possible. Another translation is "Place of Rendezvous."The rock was where
After the house closes on the Indians held meetings. Still another translation is "Welcome
October 27, volunteers are needed Water." Since different translations have been published, an
to help with clean up. Clean up is appropriate composite might be "Friendly Meeting Place."
followed by a bonfire with pizza There are a number of other places named Otsego. The city of
and beverages for the volunteers. Otsego in southwest Michigan was established by Horace H.
Park and Recreation Comstock, who was related by marriage to Cooper. There is an
Commission members and Otsego, Michigan county and Otsego Lake located in the northern
volunteers will be working on lower peninsula and the town of Otsego Lake, Michigan on the
getting the haunted house ready on state's southwest border. There are towns and cities of Otsego in
Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30 Wisconsin, Ohio, West Virginia, and Indiana named after the New
p.m. Call Mike Day, (612) 328- York Otsego.
5217, if you would like to help or Places with similar names are Otego in New York and Kansas and
to inquire about decorating a room. Osego in Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Montana,New York,North
All proceeds from the haunted Carolina, and South Carolina. Because of the difficulty in translating
house are used to purchase from the Iroquois language,these may have the same origin.
materials and supplies for the
event.
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CITY OF -O T S E G O 14e14 !Trail I, ' '
ON THE CREAT RIVER ROAD
0 Future Trail
TRAILS from page 1
In September,the City Council adopted a Parks and occur along with road improvement projects and new
Trails Plan that was prepared by the Parks and development.
Recreation Commission in cooperation with the The city has recently completed construction of
Planning Commission to identify future trail corridors new trails on Quaday Avenue and 78th Street with
and plan for their development. additional trails being completed on CSAH 19 and
Asphalt trails that are 10-feet wide are planned Kadler Avenue.
along county roads or city arterial and collector Funding for trail development is provided as part of
streets. The plan also directs that five-foot wide street or county road improvement projects, monies
concrete sidewalks will be provided in the future on dedicated to the city's park and trail system as part of
both sides of residential through-streets for new new subdivisions, grants or general funds.
subdivisions within the sanitary sewer district. Snowmobile meeting set
Construction of new trails and sidewalks is likely to
An information meeting discussing the
CITY MEE•I•IMG6t new city snowmobile ordinance will be
MEETING DAYS TIME held Thursday, October 25, 7:00 p.m. at
City Hall. All interested parties are
City Council 2nd&4th Mondays 6:30 pm encouraged to attend.
Planning &Zoning Commission 1st& 3rd Mondays 8:00 pm RiverRider can get you there
EDA Advisory Commission 3rd Monday 6:30 pm
Parks & Recreation Commission 2nd Wednesday 7:00 pm The RiverRider bus is available for
Heritage Preservation Commission 4th Thursday 7:00 pm transportation of all Otsego area residents.
• Submit City Council agenda items seven working days prior to meetings. Anyone can use it for shopping,
appointments, visiting, dining, or any
• To be placed on the Planning Commission agenda,submit completed forms& transportation need. The bus will pick
information 15 working days prior to meetings. riders up at their door and take them to
• Official meeting notices are published in the Elk River Star News and posted at Albertville, St. Michael, and Elk River.
City Hall.
• Please call City Hall to confirm times if you plan to attend. Call 24 hours in advance to schedule your
ride: 763-241-2970 or 1-800-821-9719.