By Chad Koenen

Publisher

It may be a bit ironic, but water is slowing down the remodeling project at the Henning Wastewater Treatment facility.

During its regularly scheduled meeting last Monday night, the Henning City Council heard from Henning Public Utilities Supervisor Ted Strand who said construction crews reached water at just nine feet. As a result, construction crews have been de-watering the area so they can reach the needed 14 foot depth to complete the work for the remodeling project. He said the crews have been working hard, but can’t seem to get ahead of the watering, so the project as a whole, has slowed down a bit.

He also informed the city council that the Built in America mandate that is being required for the project has presented a challenge at times as the contractors are down to just a single source for some of the items in order to meet federal bidding requirements.

The nearly $7.3 million project features a low interest loan for nearly $2.3 million and a grant of $5 million.

As part of the project, the city will be expanding and renovating the existing water treatment plant, including providing separate chemical feed rooms, new chemical feed equipment, rehabilitating filter, replacing filter media, replacing under drains, rehabilitating pressure softeners, replacing the air compressor, replacing the brine delivery system, replacing valves and piping and other miscellaneous work.

Improvements to city parks

City council member Scott Hart said he would like to continue the enhancements being made to Amundson Park and the festival grounds by bringing several new features to town. 

After constructing a new bathhouse in Amundson Park, as well as expansive improvements to the softball fields and the new skate park, Hart said he would like to set up an account and committee to fund new basketball hoops and pickleball courts at the festival grounds. He said funding for the new additions at the park would be covered through fundraising, but the hope was to continue to bring enhancements to an area of town that continues to grow in popularity and activities. 

The pickleball and basketball courts could be located near the new skate park.

In addition to the pickleball and basketball courts at the festival grounds, Hart said he would like to see the city continue to move forward with developing camping spots at Amundson Park. 

Henning Police Chief Mike Helle said he recently spoke with representatives from Ottertail Aggregate who said a rough estimate to blade four camping spots, put a culvert in and put tar over the top of the four lots would be $4,000. 

The four camping spots would include electricity, water and sewer and could provide additional revenue for the city. The city could also have a fifth spot that would be more primitive for a tent that would not include electricity, water and sewer. The council heard there have already been a number of people who have requested to reserve dates for camping should the city move forward with the project.

The council approved moving forward with the dirt work and plumbing to install the new camp sites, pending the approval from the finance committee.

In other news

• Approved a request to have the initial building inspector for the Scott Naddy building located at 603 2nd St. be present with the Henning Police Department for the inspection process of the building. The request came after a closed meeting with the city’s attorney concerning the hazardous property abatement case against Naddy. 

• Approved allowing the Trinity Center to seek a grant for $77,000 to install a bathroom and make the building more handicap accessible. The city would not be responsible for additional funding or matching funds as part of the grant process. 

• Approved up to $5,200 for the city’s share of an expansive housing study. The $15,500 cost of the study is being split between the city, Henning EDA and a county grant that is available to fund such studies. 

• Approved a request from the Henning Ambulance Service to develop a new logo that can not only be utilized for the ambulance service, but on the new ambulance when it is put in service. The city council discussed developing a new city logo to coincide with the new ambulance logo, but due to uncertainty surrounding costs from the state that could be shifted to local authorities the city council held off on that proposal for the time.

• Discussed the public comment period at the meeting and whether the city council should continue to offer citizens the ability to show up to a meeting and speak during a designated time. The council said it will continue to offer a public comment period and will limit each person to three minutes of addressing the city council.

• Approved a proposal from the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office to provide two deputies in the City of Henning during the demolition derby and dance on Saturday, July 12. The sheriff’s office will have two deputies from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. at a cost of $1,000.

• Acknowledged a proposal provided by the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office that could provide eight hours a day of police service in Henning. The proposal came at the request of Henning Police Chief Mike Helle to see what police options are available in the community should the police department ever disband, or the city continues to find challenges in filling a full-time position. The total cost, including administrative costs, vehicle reimbursement and salary would be $191,849.60, which would be subject to change based on the county sheriff’s deputy contract. Helle said the county sheriff’s office is also extremely short staffed and on a normal day there are only four deputies on duty in all of Otter Tail County at one time. 

• Discussed potentially selling a city-owned lot on Douglas Ave., which previously housed the Henning Advocate and most recently served as a residence before being torn down. Strand said the city has had a few people inquire about the vacant lot in the past, which the city used the building for fire training and eventually tore down and cleaned up the lot. He said the city has about $12,300 into the lot and a realtor said the city could realistically get $20,000 for the lot. The city council said they will wait to sell the lot until the housing study is completed.

• Approved moving forward with entering a bid for a tax-forfeited lot next to the current city lot. The city council granted the finance committee the authority to develop a strategy and enter a bid for the auction to potentially purchase the lot.