The Owen Common Council held their regular meeting on Tuesday, May13, 2025.
Jim Bohl is requesting to trade two of the lots he purchased for single family housing for two lots where he can build duplexes. Alderperson Bob Wilczek said if it would help buildings go up faster, he would rather see something than nothing. There was a question as to which lots Bohl want to trade for. It was also noted that he will need to follow the new building permit and a new agreement would have to be put in place. Bohl would have to follow the size requirements listed in the Countryside Estates covenants if the lots are traded. The council felt they needed more information to make a decision.
Clerk Tracy Rau said the attorney said that the post office can force the city to put up cluster box units for mail in Countryside Estates. Rather than purchasing a unit, the city could chose to put up a stand with mailboxes on it if the post office is okay with that. It was suggested the city get any okay in writing. If they just put up a stand, it was noted that a size limit should be put on the mailboxes that residents would purchase. In the alternative, the city could purchase the mailboxes and sell them back to the property owners as needed. The suggested locations for the cluster boxes were where Cedar Street dead ends and by the storm water detention pond. Mayor Jalling and DPW Smith will talk to the postmaster about possible locations for the boxes.
The combined meeting with Withee was set. In addition to talking about the Police Agreement, they will talk about the trail grant as Withee needs to sign a contract with Owen for their portion of the trail repairs that will be grant funded.
Land for the O-W-C Fire District was brought up for discussion. Alderperson Jason Thornton said if the District builds a new station, they would like to keep it in Owen. They are interested in the lot on the curve going out of Owen on the east edge of town. Any grant funding is on hold at present, but the engineers would like to get the soil boring done. DPW Chad Smith said he would prefer they take the back lot on the property and leave the front for business. Thornton asked about adding the road and utilities if they took the back lot. Alderperson Bob Wilczek said they would require 10 acres. Thornton added that the District doesn’t want to be landlocked like they are now. Alderperson Ken Martine suggested putting the fire station on the front lot and building the road as it is needed. The proposed building is 250’ by 80’. Wilczek said that if the city ended up doing a water search in that area, it would probably be easier to work with the Fire District than a private business. Thornton felt that a visible fire station might entice business to the area. Martine asked about them doing their soil boring in front. Thornton suggested not selling the property to anyone else before January 1, 2026. Wilczek felt that the city needed a letter of intent from the fire district board. Alderperson John Mauel asked about giving the Fire District the right of first refusal. A motion was approved to allow the soil boring to take place, to wait until the soil sample is confirmed, to get a letter of intent from the Fire District and to hold the property until January 2026. Wilczek abstained.
A special event permit was approved for Red Dairy Girl to hold events on June 17, July 15, August 19, and September 23. Central Avenue will be blocked off from O-W Sports to 4th Street.
The Bike Trail contract was discussed. A contract to get the work done has to be in place by June 2027. The city can put a 2028 start date into the contract, but that might increase the cost. The trail project can be completed in 2029. Cedar Corp will do the survey work in August or September of this year and then begin design work, but they won’t bill the design work until 2026. The council approved Mayor Jalling as the designated signer.
A motion to amend B-3 Zoning to allow for a retail conditional use was approved. There is a business interested that wants to do retail.
Under the Public Works Report, DPW Chad Smith said they know what the problem is with the Well 7 pump failing. They plan to rebuild the motors on both booster pumps. They are almost finished with water main flushing. For sewer, the quote to rebuild the standpipe at the Wastewater Treatment Plant is $280,000. It has to be done as the standpipe won’t last another winter. Money to pay for it can come from the Sewer Replacement Fund with Sewer Commission approval. They spent some time locating the force main along County X. it was off a few feet from where is should be. Under Streets, Smith met with Xcel and they will be seen around town a lot this summer as they build a new substation just south of the school. When complete, the substation on Altenburg will be decommissioned. They remodeled the bathroom in the apartment above the Senior Center. The floor and wall were both rotten. The available farmland is rented to Berry Farms and payment has been made. The Mill Pond Park bathrooms and Crowley Park are open for the summer. Carter Sapinski will be the new public works employee. He will be paid $20 per hour until he gets his CDL, then he will get $21 per hour. He will start May 19. He will also do the zoning administrator job. Carter is currently a self-employed contractor.
Wilczek said that the Personnel Committee had met and done an employee review for Kelly Booth. Another meeting was planned to do additional employee reviews. Alderperson Pam Jaffke said that the Finance Committee had met to discuss funding for the bike trail. She said they might need to take out a short-term loan between when they make payments and when they get reimbursed by the grant. She said they also talked about trying to get donations to help pay for the city portion of the project. Finance felt that some funds could be freed up for the project from this year’s budget and that they should be put in a separate savings account until needed.