City may receive a grant to replace lead water lines

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

A grant could help to replace the last remaining lead and galvanized water lines within the City of Ottertail.

During its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday night, the Ottertail City Council heard from Bob Schlieman and Sam Ruther from Apex Engineering that 11 water lines within the city limits are either lead or galvanized pipes. Since many of the piping has been put in since 2001, the amount of lead pipes within the city limits was quite low compared to a number of other communities across the state. 

“You are very fortunate in Ottertail, we have some communities where we have 60-70 and you are talking a million (dollars),” said Schlieman of the repairs. “The anticipation is 100 percent of the cost associated with replacing the service laterals will be covered by the grant.”

Since the grant from the state covers just $1 million for the repairs, Schlieman felt confident that all of the pipes could be replaced in Ottertail at no cost to the city or property owners. However, he said there are still 11 unknown or not verified pipes in the city limits so the number of lead or galvanized water lines could increase down the line. 

The piping inventory was part of a mandate from the state to identify, and potentially replace, lead water lines across the state. The inventory included everything from the main water line to the service lines going into each home. 

“They wanted us to identify any lead or galvanized water services,” said Schlieman of the project. “The EPA came out and said they expect all of those services to be replaced by 2033.”

Neighboring communities also completed a similar water line inventory and will look to replace those lines if necessary to comply with EPA guidelines.

Apex Engineering formally requested the grant on behalf of the city and learned the funding will be available for Ottertail. There are other steps that will need to be taken to formally get the grant approved, including having the plans and specifications to replace the lines approved by the Minnesota Department of Health, but Schlieman said he is confident Ottertail’s project will be fundable by the grant when it is formally submitted to the state.

In other news

• Approved a change in the city’s water rates that will have a base rate of $25 for residential, multi-family and commercial/industrial users. There will be a tiered system for water usage for residential users that show a charge of $7.24 per 1,000 gallons for users up to 1,500 gallons, $7.97 per 1,000 per thousand gallons for 1,501 to 4,000 gallons and $9.95 per 1,000 gallons for over 4,001 gallons of water. Commercial users will pay $7.24 per thousand gallons for up to 40,000 gallons, $7.60 per thousand gallons for 40,001 to 100,000 gallons and $7.98 per thousand gallons for over 100,001 gallons. 

• Acknowledged the following donations: $5,000 from Roy Nielsen for 2026 OtterFest and OtterDazzle fireworks, $6,600 from the Ottertail Lions Club for 2026 OtterFest and OtterDazzle fireworks and $510 from the OTBCA for the Christmas trees in the park.

• Approved a five percent COLA increase for city staff members, as well as step increases for 2026 for city clerk/treasurer Amanda Thorson, utility coordinator Justin Lohse and deputy clerk Patty Hensel. The council also increased the city’s contribution to the HSA for employees by $600 per year for each full-time employee, increased the city’s contribution by $100 per month for full-time employees enrolled in a family insurance plan and a full contribution for Thorson under the lower-deductible BCBS policy.

• Heard a request from the Perham Area EMS for a contribution of $12,897 based on the city’s share of service area population. The Perham Area EMS is reportedly facing an operating deficit of approximately $360,000 and is attempting to lower that deficit amount. The council will gather more information regarding the request and discuss it at a later time. 

• Approved a tax abatement application for Habitat for Humanity for a parcel located at 439 2nd St. E. 

• Approved, by a 3-1 margin with Jerry Martin voting in dissent, a variance request from Whitey Schuett who owns a parcel located at 337 Three Lakes Road who requested city water connection to a substandard parcel. The variance request stated that Schuett wanted to construct a storage building that would be connected to city water on a substandard lot. The council said previous councils have denied similar requests and the city’s ordinance said a substandard lot cannot be hooked up to city water. After a lengthy discussion about the desire not to have plumbing go into the building on a substandard lot, which could lead to people living in a storage building as a shouse, the council granted Schuett a variance for an outside hydrant to allow him to water the lawn and clean items as needed. 

• Heard the Ottertail Fire Department report that stated there were eight medical calls and one fire call over the past month. 

• Approved a resolution to construct improvements in 2026 China Street and Ottertail Avenue. According to engineers from Apex Engineering, the rural streets have a bituminous surface that has reached its end of life. The first step to potentially making the improvements was ordering a preliminary engineering report and authorizing Apex Engineering to complete a preliminary design survey field work before winter set in. 

• Discussed a potential expansion of the Ottertail Fire Hall and possible funding options for any future expansion. Funding options include a potential half cent sales tax increase, bonding and fundraising to complete the construction. The city will look into the options for a sales tax and poll residents about their feeling for supporting a half cent sales tax. A sales tax would need to be approved by residents in the City of Ottertail. 

• Discussed a chicken ordinance that could allow chickens within the city ordinance. The council discussed questions concerning a possible 75 foot setback from the road right-of-way, whether to include Thumper Pond’s convenience in the ordinance and how many chickens would be allowed. The council said it would like to have a public hearing concerning the potential chicken ordinance.

• Discussed painting traffic markings on Highway 108 at Maple Ave. to Lake Ave. The traffic markings will include two crosswalks, parking lines and yellow curbing.