The Council met Monday night with Summer Rec Directory, Jill Dale attending and a letter from Dr. Al Ross with recommendations on the Ortonville Swimming Pool.

Summer Rec, Due to COVID-19, the Ortonville City Council has made the tough decision of canceling the Summer Rec program this summer; however, Director Jill Dale is working on an activity kit and summer challenges and activities to help keep kids active.  Watch for updates – coming soon!

The Swiming Pool.  The Council received a letter recommendation from Dr. Al Ross and took action on Monday night to not open the swimming pool this year. See the letter below:

Dear Mayor Hausauer:
I have been asked to give an opinion regarding the opening of the city pool this year. We currently are under a stay at home order by Governor Walz until May 17. Current COVID-19 prediction models vary but Minnesota’s peak is predicted to be from late May to mid/late June. Unfortunately COVID-19 is not going away soon. Beyond the next month, it will continue to be recommended that we socially distance ourselves and likely it will be recommended that we wear cloth masks to reduce the spread of the virus. Because of this, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board on April 3 made the decision to close all pools and beaches for the summer. Many other cities have made similar decisions. Ortonville isn’t like Minneapolis, but COVID-19 doesn’t care where you live and having a pool full of people presents several problems. It is true that if a pool has the normal amount of chlorine this will kill the virus. The problem arises from the other people within the pool. Sneezing, coughing, sputtering all of which normally happens at a pool poses risk of infection to other people. Also heavy breathing after activity is a concern of potentially aerosolizing the virus and makes it even more infectious since it could linger in the air for up to 30 minutes. Lastly, there is research that the virus can possibly live up to 72 hours on hard surfaces. This would require all surfaces of the pool, i.e. chairs, handles, restrooms, doors and handrails to be disinfected at regular intervals. Unfortunately, it is my medical opinion that Ortonville Pool remained closed for the 2020 season.

Allan Ross, M.D.

The leaf pickup day is May 13th!

Please have your leaves bagged and at the curb by 7:00 a.m.

Hi there,

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Apr 20, 2020 05:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Topic: City Council 4-20-20

If on your cell phone, you’ll need to download the Zoom App from your app store before clicking on the link below.

If you are joining from your laptop, click on the link below and you’ll be asked to download the Zoom application (if you don’t already have) and then bringing you to the meeting as an attendee.

You can use the option to Raise Your Hand if you’d like to speak, Council will be notified when appropriate and your sound will be enabled.

Vicki will be on hand at 320-839-6155 if you are having difficulting accessing and will help you along.  Tonight is our first open invite – the last meeting you were required to contact the City office for access.  Hopefully, this works well and we can continue the open access without that extra step!

Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/99469315595?pwd=cWQ5VjFLemVEQzZjSjlRajFGNXpGUT09
Password: Council

Or iPhone one-tap :
US: +16699009128,,99469315595#,,#,063420# or +13462487799,,99469315595#,,#,063420#
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 669 900 9128 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 558 8656 or +1 253 215 8782
Webinar ID: 994 6931 5595
Password: 063420
International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbTYMxtVab

Attention residents of the City of Ortonville!!  On May 15 and May 16, the City of Ortonville will conduct the First Annual Cleanup Ortonville Day!  The City will provide several large dumpsters in which you may bring many of those things you have been wanting to get rid of but just didn’t know where to take them.  The dumpsters will be located behind the city shop on Highway 75.   Proof of residency will be required at time of drop off.   A copy of utility bill with Ortonville address are an example of such proof.  Items that will be accepted will include mattresses, old furniture, other wood items, metal toys, bicycles and other metal items as well as appliances such as stoves, water heaters, dryers, washing machines.  A maximum of 4 auto tires per household will also be accepted.

Items that will NOT be accepted will be refrigerators, freezers, microwaves, construction material, electronics, paint, solvents, garbage, and tree limbs, branches, and other vegetative waste.  Please note, tree branches and yard wastes can be disposed of at the city tree dump on scheduled days.  The City tree dump is open every Saturday during the Month of May.  Please call the City office for times.

If you have items for the Ortonville Cleanup, you must provide following information below to the city offices at 315 Madison Ave by Friday May 1st,2020. ADVANCE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.   Drop- off may be done on Friday May 15 between 10 AM and 2 PM and Saturday May 16^th  between 9:30 AM and 3 PM.

Anyone willing to volunteer your time to help load/unload items at the drop off-site, please call 320-839-3862 no later than May 8th.  We want our city to be a place we can all be proud of and show our many visitors that come here for fishing, hunting, festivals, class reunions, etc. that our citizens take pride in the beautiful part of the world that we call home.  We hope to make this an annual event so please consider volunteering!!

Please note that in addition to Ortonville’s clean-up effort, Big Stone County, as in past years, will be having a cleanup collection on May 8th for hazardous waste and May 29th for appliances and electronics.  Please follow instructions on the postcard which will be mailed to all county residents.

Application process is closed.

March 23, 2020

The City of Ortonville will be closing the City Office, City Shop, Community Center and Public Rest Room to the PUBLIC effective at 8:00 A.M. March 24, 2020 until further notice.  City staff will remain working and can be contacted by calling 320-839-3428.  Utility bills will be collected at the local banks and at the City’s drive-up box.

Thank you to the Ortonville Kiwanis for agreeing to represent Ortonville as the Complete Count Committee (CCC)!  If you have questions, the core Kiwanis group assigned to this effort consists of Wanda Berry, John Thomas, and Vanessa Lhotka Meyer.  Vicki Oakes of the Ortonville EDA has been appointed as the liaison (point person connecting the CCC and the Census connection.)

Obtaining an accurate count – counting everyone! – is very important to our community!

The United States began conducting a census of population and housing in 1790.  The U. S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 2, mandates the apportionment of representatives among the states for the House of Representatives every 10 years.

Why is it important to count everyone?

• Population counts determine how the 435 U.S. House of Representatives seats are divided between the 50 states
• the distribution of federal funding to our states is determined by this population count – items such as
  • the SNAP program
  • public housing
  • WIC
  • Adoption Assistance
  • Link to Counting for Dollars 2020 Minnesota List

Privacy – The Census is Confidential and Required by Law!
Individual records from the decennial censuses are by law confidential for 72 years.
In addition, all Census Bureau employees swear a lifetime oath to protect respondent data.  It is a felony for any Census Bureau employee to disclose any confidential census information during or after employment, and the penalty for wrongful disclosure is up to 5 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $250,000.

Ways to Respond

LINK:  https://2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond.html

• Online
• By phone
• By mail

Completing the Census takes about 10 minutes.

In mid-March, households will begin receiving official Census Bureau mail with detailed information on how to respond to the 2020 Census.

Great link for complete info:  Who to Count (LINK)

United States Census 2020 Website Link

The City of Ortonville water department is looking for volunteers to have their home water tested for lead and copper.  We need about 10-15 homes.  The criteria are that it has to be from a hard water faucet that gets used regularly/daily.  It has to have copper pipes and cannot be PVC or plastic.  Please contact the city office at 320-839-3428 if you would be willing to do this.

Sorry for the inconvenience this may be causing!

Road Construction. Utility bill payments can be dropped off at the City Office (there is two-way traffic on Third Street in front of the Police Department now) or you can drop them at Cenbank or Minnwest Bank.