Researching Child Care Solutions
April 2023 Updates on childcare resources
A core group of community members and organizations have sta
rted the process within the Rural Child Care Innovation Program through First Children’s Finance. The goal of our work is to expand the infant and toddler slots within the area covering the Ortonville School District as well as find community goals to support the existing childcare programs that are in operation.
Our first step was to hear from YOU! …to complete one of the surveys which provided the foundational data that was needed to start forming solutions.
The Surveys were completed!
Child Care Center Survey
Family Child Care Provider Survey
Employer Survey
Parent Survey
Town Hall meeting – Now Completed!
Was held on June 14, 2022, at OMG Hall, 25 2nd Street NW (2nd Floor), Ortonville
To hear the results of the surveys and to take part in the discussion and solutions.
Who was encouraged to attend? child care providers, parents, employers, grandparents & general public!
A Provider Appreciation Event – Now Completed!
This event was to highlight and thank our providers in the Ortonville area. And for the Providers to share their insights and feedback on ways the community can support the existing providers and address the childcare needs in the area.
The Plan was created! – (LINK) The Community Solution Action Plan for Child Care for the City of Ortonville, Minnesota
A brief description of the SMART Goals that were set in the Plan & Committee members that are working on these goals are listed below:
SMART Goal 1: Research and implement a school-based early childhood career pathway program to be fully implemented by the 2023-2024 school year. Team: Carrie Bendix, Kari Dorry, Kathryn Melton
SMART Goal 2: In the next six months identify 1 – 3 potential facilities that could be utilized for both center and family childcare options to create more childcare slots in the community.
Team: Brenda Zahrbock, Laura Laub, Dr. Allan, Edie Barrett, Kathryn Melton
SMART Goal 3: In the next three months identify and connect with six potential partners to create a local pool of dollars to help the startup of childcare programs.
Team: Brenda Zahrbock, Laura Laub, Dr. Allan, Eddie Barrett, Kathryn Melton
SMART Goal 4: In the next year offer two in-person training for providers in Big Stone County that count towards their relicensing. Team: Lisa Graphenteen, Amy Weir, Jeff Klagas, Samantha Thompson, Vicki Oakes
SMART Goal 5: Within the next year create a recognition event to show appreciation for the work providers do in the community. Team: Lisa Graphenteen, Amy Weir, Jeff Klagas, Nancie Haukos, Vicki Oakes
If you would like to assist in this process or have questions, please contact Vicki Oakes at the Ortonville Economic Development Authority at 320-839-6155 or [email protected]
For an article on this process and photos from the Townhall meeting, check out MNbump’s Blog Post: https://mnbump.com/addressing-child-care-in-big-stone-county/
Resources available in Big Stone County LINK:
Make sure to watch for more information postings as we move through this process!
About the Rural Child Care Innovation Program:
Child care is an economic driver for rural communities across the United States but many communities are facing shortages of high-quality child care. Funded by the MN Department of Human Services and Michigan Department of Education, First Children’s Finance’s Rural Child Care Innovation Program (RCCIP) is an innovative community engagement process designed to increase the supply of high-quality affordable child care in rural communities. The purpose of RCCIP is to guide communities in identifying the scope and size of their childcare challenges and to empower and support communities to develop solutions to address these challenges. LINK to RCCIP information
Original Community Members & Organizations working on this project:
— in no particular order!
Marge Knudson, Prairie Five CAC, Inc. & Child Care Aware
Nancie Haukos, First English Lutheran Church
Laura Laub, Big Stone County Family Services
Amy Weir, Big Stone County Family Services
Kari Dorry, Ortonville School District
Matt Karels, Ortonville EDA, Strong Realty
Scott Marquardt, Southwest Initiative Foundation
Sara Wollschlager, Ortonville School District
Brenda Zahrbock, Child Care Provider
Carrie Bendix, Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council
David Roger, Ortonville Area Health Services
Krista Hartman, Ortonville School Board
Kelsie Thomas, Parent
Lisa Graphenteen, Ortonville Economic Development Authority & Big Stone Area Growth
Let us know if you’d like your name/organization added – we have plenty of room for more involvement!
Resource Links will be added/updated below:
Ortonville EDA Projects
A few updates on the projects the Ortonville EDA is working on (and with who!)
Small Cities Development Grant Application
The City Council has taken action to submit the Small Cities Development Grant Application! Kristi Fernholz, Planning Director, and Bernice Robinson, Grant Management Specialist, of the Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission will be writing the grant, and if the grant is awarded, they will also be administering the program. Ortonville EDA Staff, Vicki Oakes, has been assigned to assist Kristi and Bernie with the process as needed (there are lots of details that go with this program and we’ve been working!) An online pre-application (interest form) can be completed online, or a hard copy can be obtained from the City Office – and returned to the City Office… more information on the online form and details can be found at this LINK: SCDG
Commercial projects could be eligible for up to $40,000 in grant funds
Owner-occupied residential homes could be eligible for up to $25,000 in grant funds
Eligible rehab projects – gutters, windows, doors, siding, insulations, electrical, heating/furnace, water heater, fuse box replacement, energy efficiency improvements, plumbing, roofing, foundation, safety improvements, accessibility improvements, lead testing and removal, and building code violations
- Interest forms are accepted through February 10th – this Friday!
- The full application will be submitted by the UMVRDC by March 11th
- May/June (but maybe July!) to receive notification if our grant application was approved
- Project implementation & administration starts November/December
- We have 3 years to utilize the funds
The City held its public hearing at last night’s City Council meeting. If you’re interested and in need of rehab, please check the criteria and complete an interest form by February 10th! LINK: SCDG
Big Stone County Blandin Broadband Community
Big Stone County has been selected (of course that was not a random selection! Both Vince Robinson and Lisa Graphenteen of Big Stone Area Growth wrote the grant application before we were ‘just selected’!) – This has been a great community involvement process; however, it has been moving along quickly and keeping us busy! You can check out the Community Vision Meeting (watch the video), watch the Brainstorm Meeting, and check out all the documentation along the way – i.e. Project List for Voting, various presentations, and read all about the program by checking out this LINK. We’ve now separated into subcommittees and are working on projects to submit… we have an opportunity to spend $100,000 of Blandin money (which, depending on the project type will come through a 3:1 match – my personal favorite – and others being 2:1 or 1:1)
The Ortonville EDA staff (Vicki, me!) is working on the Training Project Team. Our proposal is a work in process at the moment; however, we are looking at an eCommerce training session that will provide information on various eCommerce platforms to help our businesses and individual artists decide on a platform that will be a good fit for their situation – we will then look at what individual personal training could come out of that process. A quick call to one of my go-to’s when I need help fast – Dawn Hegland of the UMVRDC – and I think we will have a good connection to provide some of the other training that businesses and artists submitted in our interest survey… more on that will be forthcoming! I’m also working with Suzanne Souza of the Big Stone County 4-H on possible iPad and Android Tablet training that some of our County’s tech-savvy 4-H’ers could assist with!
Ward Odom of the Big Stone County Veteran’s Office is the project lead for training assistance for our Veterans to maneuver through the vast amount of online searches in the medical, benefits, and all of the other online forms and information that they need to find and complete on a regular basis. This Committee has completed their work and is ready to present their project! (they are a sub-group of the Training project – and obviously overachievers for as fast as they put all that together!)
As an Ortonville EDA staff, I’m also on the City Smart/Zoom rooms project; however, there really isn’t much for me to do when you have the County’s Tech expert, Matthew Anderson, leading the project. Here, I am just along for the ride with a few “that sounds really good” comments – and then, of course, credit for being on the Committee when they are up and running in each of our communities! ?
Lisa Graphentine of BSAG is working on some other pieces/projects while trying to keep all the Project Teams on schedule and completing the right info for our presentations. She also just recently advised that Blandin has committed to also (over and above the $100,000) providing 50 refurbished PCs for distribution in Big Stone County for those that would need one! — more to come on this process!
Child Care!
Yes! We are working to expand child care slots, particularly in the infant and toddler age group. UPDATE: Please fill out a Survey and help in this process! www.ortonvillechildcare.com
Sara Wollschlager of the Ortonville School worked on/submitted a grant through First Children’s Finance to help work through the community process of expanding child care in the Ortonville School District. However, before the process was to begin there were changes at the school and they did not feel that they could facilitate this process. They called the Ortonville EDA to see if we could take on that lead. And we were happy to take this on!! We have put together an awesome core group and we just completed our training from Jessica Beyer and the team from First Children’s Finance. We are now breaking out into three groups and beginning the work – and we will be reaching out for input and assistance so if you feel child care is an important need in our area and you have some time (of any amount) to assist, please give me (Vicki) a call at 320-839-6155.
Our Core Group is –
Matt Karels, Economic Development & Business
Sara Wollschlager, Ortonville School and School Daycare
David Rogers/Kirsten Karels – OAHS, our largest employer
Kari Dorry, Ortonville School
Brenda Zahrbock, Local & long time Daycare Provider
Nancie Haukos, Local faith-based representative
Krista Hartman, Businesses owner & School Board member
Emily Sigler, Big Stone Family Service Center (child care)
Kelsie Thomas, parent (and awesome community person!)
Scott Marquardt, Southwest Initiative Foundation
Marge Knudson, Prairie Five & Parent Aware Program
Carrie Bendix, Southwest Private Industry Council
At the EDA, we of course continue to provide our loan programs, our work with BSAG on the MNbump initiative, maintaining the City’s website (you’re here, on it!), and other community development work.
Ortonville EDA Board members are:
Becky Parker, President
Matt Karels, VP & CC Rep
Jacob Bollman, Treasurer
Shane Ayres, Secretary
Ryan Kehnle
Gene Hausauer, CC Rep
Erick Banken
Job Opening – Police Department
The City of Ortonville Police Department has posted an opening for a Full-time Police Officer(s) position. The deadline is February 18, 2022 at 5:00 p.m.
Child Care Core Group, Schedule Next Meeting
Thank you all for your committment to this process – was a great meeting this morning!
Please indicate (below) the dates you’d be available for the last half of our initial meeting.
The meeting will be 9 a.m. to Noon.
Ice Rink Opens Friday, January 7th
UPDATE: The Ice Rink will not open today due to weather. The temperature must be 10 degrees or above in order to be open. By the looks of the forecast, the rink should be open tomorrow!
Make sure to check the information page for all related announcements, times, etc. for the rink
LINK: Ice Rink Information Page
2022 City Council Agendas & Minutes
City Council’s regular meeting schedule is: 1st & 3rd Monday’s of the Month
Link to Council Meeting Videos
LINK to 2018 Minutes & Agendas
LINK to 2019 Minutes & Agendas
LINK to 2020 Minutes & Agendas
LINK to 2021 Minutes & Agendas
2022-01-03 Agenda City Council
2022-01-03 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-01-18 City Council Agenda
1-18-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-02-07 City Council Agenda
2022-02-07 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-02-22 City Council Agenda
2-22-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-03-07 Agenda City Council
3-7-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-03-21 City Council Agenda
3-21-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-04-04 City Council Agenda
4-4-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-04-18 City Council Agenda
4-18-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-05-02 City Council Agenda
5-2-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-05-16 City Council Agenda
5-16-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-06-06 City Council Agenda
6-6-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-06-20 City Council Agenda
6-20-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-07-05 City Council Agenda
7-5-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-07-18 Agenda City Council
7-18-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-08-01 City Council Agenda
8-1-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-08-15 City Council Agenda
8-15-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-09-06 City Council Agenda
9-6-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
9-19-22 COUNCIL AGENDA
9-19-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-10-03 City Council Agenda
10-3-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-10-17 City Council Agenda
10-17-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-11-07 City Council Agenda
11-7-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-11-21 City Council Agenda
11-21-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-12-05 City Council Agenda
12-5-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
2022-12-19 City Council Agenda
12-19-22 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Skate Rink (Ice Rink)
The warming house is not open until further notice. Watch for update.
There are skates inside to use if needed.
The lights come on automatically at 5 and go off at 10.
UPDATED SURVEY! 11/29/2021 – Skating Rink, Survey for Park Board
The Ortonville Park Board is looking for feedback from those that use the rinks.
Please complete this short survey: https://forms.office.com/r/wDiE9actJ5
Thank you!
Reminder! Parking Restrictions and Snow Removal
It is coming up on that time of year again! Snow!
REMINDER
TO THE RESIDENTS OF ORTONVILLE: PARKING
RESTRICTIONS ON CITY STREETS BETWEEN NOVEMBER 1ST
AND MAY 1ST
In accordance with City Ordinances, no person, except physicians on emergency calls or other
such emergency personnel, shall park any vehicle on any street or avenue in the City of
Ortonville between November 1st and May 1st after a snowfall with an accumulation of two
inches (2″) or more of snow. Vehicles parked on the street in these circumstances will be towed.
Parking may be resumed on individual streets and avenues as soon as the snow has been
removed from these streets and avenues.
Property owners are responsible for removing snow from their sidewalks within 48 hours of a
three inches (3″) or more snowfall. If snow has not been removed from sidewalks after a snowfall of
three inches or more, the City will remove the snow and bill the property owner.
Downtown business owners are responsible for removing snow from their sidewalks within 12
hours of a snowfall. If not removed, the City will remove and bill the property owner.
BY ORDER of the
ORTONVILLE CITY COUNCIL
The video below is taken from the 2018/19 Winter Season – it is quite a process to remove snow with our hills.
Ortonville – Small Cities Development Program
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January 2022 Update Page!
Thank you to all who have already responded by completing a pre-Application for the Small Cities Development Program (SCDP) – with those applications, the City of Ortonville has been approved to make a full application for the grant program. As Krist Fernholz of the Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Commission completes the full application, we are reaching out to the community to see if there is additional interest in this program – some that may not have heard of the program or others that may have missed the short deadline for the previous interest/application process. Below is the information for the program and how to submit your interest form.
The city of Ortonville, working with the Upper Minnesota Regional Development Commission (UMVRDC), is looking to apply for a grant from the Small Cities Development Program (SCDP) through the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). This grant is for funds to help property owners rehab their buildings.
The SCDP program is set up to help homeowners by offering grants based on household size and income. Eligible homeowners could apply for up to $25,000 per home for eligible rehab projects such as gutters, windows, doors, siding, insulations, electrical, heating/furnace, water heater, fuse box replacement, energy efficiency improvements, plumbing, roofing, foundation, safety improvements, accessibility improvements, lead testing and removal, and building code violations. Commercial building owners could be eligible for up to $40,000 for the same types of rehab.
The SCDP grant is meant to help small cities in Minnesota help keep their current housing and to make sure commercial properties are safe, healthy, and affordable by assisting low to moderate-income individuals and reduce substandard commercial buildings.
How can you help make this program possible in Ortonville?
The city needs feedback from Ortonville residents to show there are enough eligible property owners interested in the program. If you have a need for any of the items listed above, please complete a short survey (links & info below) so that we can present the need in our community for this grant program – the more surveys completed the better chance of our community receiving the grant funds for this program. There will be an informational meeting on January 20th at 5:30 at the Ortonville Community Center if you’d like to ask questions and complete the interest form at that time.
A short timeline of this process:
- Deadline for Interest Forms is February 10th
- The full application is due March 11th
- Grant notifications will be early summer, likely July
- Project implementation & administration November/December
- Projects to be completed within three years
To complete the survey online click on one of the following:
Commercial Online Form
Below are links to print a PDF and handwrite & drop off at the City Office by Noon on November 11th.
Homeowner/Resident SurveyPDF print and bring to City Office LINK
Commercial Survey PDF Print/Bring to City Office LINK
If you have questions, you can contact Kristi Fernholz from the UMVRDC at 320-289-1981 x106 or [email protected]. or Vicki Oakes from the Ortonville EDA at 320-839-6155 or [email protected].