Council asks county to complete speed study

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

A pair of triplexes may be coming to the South Point development project in the near future.

During its regularly scheduled meeting last Tuesday night, the NY Mills City Council heard a request from Amy Baldwin, of the Otter Tail County CDA, who requested an extension of a purchase agreement that expired at the end of last year. The goal is to put a pair of triplexes geared to older residents that could not only provide additional housing, but free up some homes in the community that could be used for first time home buyers. 

The City of NY Mills approved selling the parcels to the Otter Tail CDA in 2023 for a price of $44,000.

The original closing date was December 31, 2024, or earlier if both sides agreed to complete the transaction prior to the end of 2024. That date has since passed and the planned housing project has yet to come to fruition, but Baldwin said the county has identified the NY Mills project as a high priority and is aiming to complete the project in the near future.

“It is one of our top goals in 2025 is securing funding for the project,” she said. 

Prior to moving forward, the Otter Tail County CDA was trying to secure additional grants and funding to cover a portion of the project cost. 

If constructed, the triplexes would be similar to a housing project that was recently completed by CDA in the City of Dalton. Those triplexes have provided affordable housing in the community, while also freeing up some additional housing options for younger families wanting to move to the area. 

“We opened the first of that model in the City of Dalton. It has been very well received,” said Baldwin.

After hearing from NY Mills City Clerk Julie Roberts that there hasn’t been any serious interest in the lots the CDA is looking to purchase from the city the city council approved extending the deadline for the purchase agreement to the end of 2026.

In other news

• Heard the monthly report from Mills Liquors, which shows that net revenues were down 16.84 percent as a percentage of sales from last year, while the year to date net revenues were also down 16.7 percent as a percentage of sales from last year. 

• Heard the monthly fire department report that showed the department has responded to 21 calls during the month of February. So far the department has responded to 15 medical calls, one mutual aid structure fire, three false alarms and one CO alarm. NY Mills Fire Chief Nick Roder told the council the CO call occurred at an apartment building during the middle of the night and the department was close to having to evacuate the building for the safety of residents. He asked the council to consider where the fire department should bring people in the event of an evacuation in the middle of night.

• Heard the monthly call report from the police department that showed 93 calls for service last month, including three citations, 19 parking citations, eight warrants and one arrest. The city council also heard that officer Keith Friedsam, Colton Dash and Luke Stromme have resigned from the department. All of the resignations are by part-time officers who have not regularly scheduled shifts in NY Mills.

• Heard the public works department report for the month of March, which showed that the utilities department has been making repairs and staining the sidewalk benches and flower planters in town. The department has also attended a variety of training throughout the region and the council heard that repairs were made to the main sewer lift station. 

• Approved a resolution to support a USDA Community Facilities Loan and Grant for the City Center to replace the furnace and elevator projects.

• Approved a resolution to request to decrease the speed limit on County Highway 67 South near the new South Point housing development. The city made the request to Otter Tail County who will ultimately complete a study to determine if the speed limit should be reduced. 

• Heard the annual report from the county CDA that showed 358 new housing units and 85 rehabbed united were added to Otter Tail County last year.