The Owen Common Council held a short budget hearing with no public present before their regular meeting on Tuesday, November 19. During the regular meeting they spent about 1¼ hours in closed session with their attorney to discuss possible litigation in regard to Business Park Property/Countryside Estates Property/1st Street Apartment Property and 2nd Street Nuisance Property. Nothing was announced when they came out of closed session.

A cigarette/vape license was approved for Cosmic Vapes LLC owned by Jen Hogan, which will be located on Central Avenue in Owen.

The budgets were approved for 2025. The city general budget is estimating revenue and expenses of $1,424,201.93 each. The tax levy will be $416,543.00 up from $397,617.00 for 2024. For the water utility, the revenues and expenses are $598,570.96 each. The sewer utility is showing revenues and expenses of $454,602.17 each.

Serena Bakke submitted a request for herself and four others to hunt geese within the city limits. They will be hunting in the area of River Country Co-op and Elbow River at a runoff pond located there. They were granted permission provided they get a permit from the city and provide written permission from both River Country Co-op and Elbow River.

DPW Chad Smith said the city had applied for a simplified rate case for water. The PSC approved a 4.1 percent increase which will take effect in January and was included in the budget. Smith said Withee is planning on doing a full rate case soon and Owen will do one after Withee’s is complete. The council approved the increase.

The Fairchild & Northeastern Depot was discussed. There are issues with the roof. The cost to put on a new roof is estimated at $7,500 to $8,000. The city can either repair the roof and then sell the building when no longer needed to recoup the cost or they could sell it as is and add it to the tax base and put up a new building for storage. Alderperson Ray Kilty felt the city shouldn’t fix the roof. Alderperson Ken Martine noted the historical significance of the building and felt it should be fixed, giving them a little more time to decide what to do. Martine and DRC member Cindy Cardinal said they would ask the DRC to help with the cost as they store items there also. The council approved the repair out of the 2025 budget.

The latest bike trail cost shows the city needing to fund approximately $137,000 of the cost. A portion of that cost would be paid by Withee if they want their section of the trail done also. The total cost of the update/repair is $684,953. Smith was asked to find out the cost of the new extension that was proposed to the school. The school district will be asked to help pay for it or it is possible it might not be added.

During the Public Works Report, DPW Smith said they are flushing water mains, the water tower painting is complete, they had valve structure issues when starting things back up, and they have been winterizing buildings. For sewer, he reported on the Sewer Commission meeting. He and Brandon Wilson attended the Wisconsin Wastewater Operators Association Conference where they got some updates from the DNR, learned about some energy efficiency measures, funding, and a different sludge process. Smith also talked to the DNR people about the issues with the standpipe. He is working on ways to repair the standpipe, which involves coating it inside, installing a bypass valve, and the system will have to be shut down for about four hours. They are also working on winterizing the wastewater treatment plant. For Streets, the Mill Pond Park Bathrooms have been closed for the winter. They will be open again in the spring with hours to be determined. The campground is also closed for the season. They have been picking up leaves off the street and sweeping streets. They also did some repairs to the plow truck.

The updated Ordinance Fee Schedule was approved as presented. The ordinance committee changed some fees, added some fees, and deleted others.

Under the Clerk Report, Tracy Rau said that they had over 100 absentee ballots for the November 5 election and around 50 people that registered that day. There were 462 people that voted.

Under the Mayor’s Report, Mayor Scott Jalling congratulated the football team on their state championship, as well as Colton Paczkowski and the One-Act Play going to state. He felt it reflects well on the city. Jalling asked about the status of the dog park. Kilty said they are waiting on signage. Jalling also asked when Christmas decorations would be going up. DPW Smith said the first week of December. Employees will be given gift cards for Christmas, the same as last year.

There will be only one meeting in December and it will be held on December 17.