Issue 1, Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Water park gets $850,000 in repairs, aims to open on time

$850,000 to fix River Springs by mid-May, the 5-2 stipend vote, deer hunt answers, and what's on this week.

If your summer runs through River Springs Water Park, here is the plan. On Tuesday the City Council awarded an $850,000 contract to Global Specialty Contractors to repair the park. The only other bid, from Aqua-Logic, was $1,198,000.

The work covers the first three years of the city's 10-year maintenance plan. All four pools, the lap pool, leisure pool, lazy river and plunge pool, get a full replaster, new tile accents and lane stripes, and new main drains and sumps to meet the state health department's current reading of the code. Gutters get repaired and deck joints recaulked.

Facilities and Fleet Director Patrick McDermott said work starts this fall, not next spring. The contract calls for substantial completion by mid-May, so the park can open on its usual schedule, around Memorial Day or early June, "barring any unforeseen weather."

The city bonded $1.5 million for this work. The bid came in about $450,000 under that, which McDermott said could pay for future maintenance. No decisions on that yet. The award passed with no one voting against it.

In brief

Council raise is final. Ordinance 26-08 passed its second reading 5-2, with Dan Boeke and Don McCann voting no, as on Oct 6. From January 2027, council members go from $1,000 to $1,083.34 a month, the president to $1,250, the vice president to $1,166.67 and the mayor to $1,333.34. Cost: about $8,600 a year. McCann: "we need to lead by example."

Sixteen properties get billed for mowing. No one spoke at the public hearing on the weed and nuisance assessments, and the council adopted them: $3,865.50 across 16 parcels, with a $75 admin fee on each. Owners have 30 days to pay the city with no interest. After that it goes on the property tax bill at 7 percent.

Deer hunt stays as approved. At the 6 pm study session, Police Captain Tracy DuChene reviewed the Mineral Springs Park archery hunt, which opened Sunday: one stand, two seasons (Oct 18 to Nov 15, then from Nov 16), 150 feet from any property line, 100 feet from any main trail, and over 1,000 feet from Saturday's Spooky Pumpkin Trail.

Budget detail comes Nov 4. Finance Director Alicia Fischer said staff are still revising contingencies, professional services and the new firefighter positions in the 2027 budget, and will recommend how to use $1.9 million of fund balance by year's end. Ehlers put the city's investments at just under $41 million, expected to earn about $1.2 million over the next year.

New faces. Matthew Kottke and Lydia Yahnke join the Library Board; Ruth Klawiter, Matthew Garcia and David Berg join the Human Rights Commission. New Fire Chief Steve Baker, on the job since Oct 12, introduced himself at the study session. He and his wife move to town Nov 1.

At the mic. Sarah Sanchez of Riverside Avenue, a Ward 3 council candidate, asked the city to say what it legally can, as fast as it can, about the lawsuit by its former communications manager and the East Side corridor residents' appeal: "here's what we know, here's what we can share, here's what happens next." Gary Jones of Ridge Road recapped the deer hunt's history.

Around town

Public works contracts. The council approved $62,100 in extra SEH design work on the 18th Street SE reconstruction, now a $926,270 contract, plus a $25,569 change order to remove old gas mains in the way of the new water main; OPU pays that one. Nero Engineering gets up to $74,931 to tune the expanded wastewater plant and $34,928 to study Lift Station C.

A student's repair shop gets its permit. The council approved a conditional use permit for outdoor sales and service at 2055 4th Ave SE, where Sarah Struss's son, a high school senior, runs K&M Small Engine Repair, buying, fixing and reselling lawn mowers. The garage needs a certificate of occupancy by June 30, 2027.

Permits, big and small. Through September the city issued 1,466 building permits worth $56.7 million, versus 1,599 worth $58.9 million a year earlier. New houses are ahead, 16 to 11, and seven duplex or apartment permits worth $1.93 million came in where 2025 had none. Also approved: event permits for Trinity Lutheran's Trunk or Treat on Oct 28 and the Main Street Lighted Parade on Dec 4.

Coming up

Sat Oct 24, 5 to 8 pm: Spooky Pumpkin Trail, Brooktree Golf Course to Mineral Springs Park. Park at Brooktree. Sat Oct 24, 9 am to 3 pm: Early voting, Room 40, Steele County Administration Center, 630 Florence Ave. Also weekdays 8 am to 4:30 pm and Tue Oct 27 until 7 pm. Sun Oct 25: Beyond Homelessness, A Night of Awareness, Lighthouse of Southern MN. Check with the organizer for time and place. Mon Oct 26, 6 pm: Controlled burn, south half of Leo Rudolph Nature Reserve, weather permitting. Neighbors may want to close windows. Tue Oct 27, 5 to 6:30 pm: Red Ribbon Week kickoff, Owatonna High School Learning Commons. Free snacks and fourth-grade poster winners. Wed Oct 28: Trunk or Treat at Trinity Lutheran Church and Woof or Treat at Lake Chase Park. Both have council permits; times were not posted. Sat Oct 31, 11 am to 1 pm: Downtown Trick or Treat, Central Park.

Remembering

Katherine Ann Vogelsang, 71, died Oct 18. Visitation Friday, Nov 13, 5 to 7 pm at Brick-Meger Funeral Home, 1603 Austin Road.

One more thing

Josh Sorensen took the oath as police chief Tuesday, then thanked his family and two mentors, retired Captain Frank Schmidt, badge 122, and retired Chief Jeff Mundale, badge 117. Three paid-on-call firefighters were pinned too. Dalton Meier's wife and his grandfather Leroy, who joined the department in 1975 and served 20 years, pinned his badge. Luke Van Hooser kept a promise and let his mother pin his.

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