OTC Board hears update on public health JPA
News | Published on October 14, 2025 at 3:18pm GMT+0000 | Author: Tucker Henderson
0By Robert Williams
Editor
Public Health Director Jody Lien provided background of the Prairie Lakes Community Health Board and recommended a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) during the Otter Tail County Board meeting two weeks ago.
Late in 2024, Otter Tail County withdrew from its then-community health board PartnerSHIP 4 Health, along with Wilkin County. Both counties have been working together since early 2024 to form the Prairie Lakes Community Health Board.
Commissioners approved the JPA unanimously. Wilkin County approved it last week. The Health Board will begin official operations in January.
Health Educator Reese Ellison gave an update on the work over the past year on the Partners for Suicide Prevention, along with submitting a proclamation of October being Suicide Prevention Month.
Partners for Suicide Prevention is a community coalition of approximately 20 active members representing a diverse cross-section of our community—including schools, faith leaders, healthcare providers, veteran services, and mental health professionals—united by a shared commitment to mental health and suicide prevention.
The coalition utilized a state grant to pursue their core values: Community Engagement; Awareness of mental health struggles as well as available resources and services; Resiliency building across all ages and all areas of the community and empowering every individual with hope and support.
“I’m encouraged by the multi-disciplinary makeup of your coalition – that it includes schools, faith communities and other organizations,” Mortenson said. “That’s certainly important in conveying this message.”
Highway
CSAH 35 Widening (Dent to Vergas)- Paving and the project should be completed by early October.
Sanitation
A bid was awarded to Steve’s Sanitation for single sort recycling collection in Battle Lake and Henning.
While the lowest bid for the city of Battle Lake was from Long Prairie Sanitation ($59,695.40) and the lowest bid for the city of Henning was received from Alex Rubbish ($35,422.00), the department felt that awarding the bid to the overall lowest bidder (for collection in both Henning and Battle Lake) would be the most effective from a management standpoint. Steve’s Sanitation had the lowest bid ($98,910.25).
Companies had the option to bid on one or both cities.
The department cited the following reasons for the decision:
There is a cost saving to manage a single contract with a single business for both communities and the department recently purchased a truck mounted camera with quality control management services for a cost of approximately $35,000. The camera can only be mounted on one truck at a time. If collection routes are awarded to two haulers, the county would essentially lose about half the value of the camera’s value, or $17,000.00.