photo of City Hall with green lights for Veterans Day

Honoring Owatonna's Veterans

City Hall and all City buildings will be closed November 10 for the Veterans Day Holiday. Watch for the green lights at City buildings in honor of local veterans.

2024 General Election

Tuesday, November 5

The 2024 General Election is just a few days away. To find out what’s on the ballot, where to vote and how to register to vote, visit the Minnesota Secretary of State website. The preferred entry at each polling site in Owatonna will be marked with an American flag.

Two forums were held recently for City offices that will be included on this year’s ballot. Watch the candidate forums on owatonnalive.com:

Staying Safe on Halloween

Halloween is a time for fun and spooky celebrations and activities, but it can also be a time for some truly scary fire safety hazards. Make trick-or-treating safe for little monsters and ghouls with a few easy safety tips.

Use glow sticks or battery-operated candles for jack-o’-lanterns and other Halloween decorations
Provide children with flashlights to carry or have glow sticks as part of their costume
Keep all decorations away from open flames and other heat sources like light bulbs and heaters
Remember to keep exits clear of decorations so nothing blocks escape routes
Tell children to stay away from open flames including jack-o’-lanterns with candles in them

Don't Veer for Deer!

Fall brings beautiful colors and crisp air and it also comes with the increased risk of deer on the roads. As deer are more active during this time of year, especially around dawn and dusk, the chance of a crash rises. The best way to avoid a deer-vehicle crash is to stay attentive behind the wheel and limit distractions.

Tips to Avoid Deer Crashes:

Drive at safe speeds and always buckle up.
Be especially cautious from 6 until 9 p.m. when deer are most active.
Use high beams as much as possible at night, especially in deer-active areas.
Never swerve to avoid a deer. Swerving can cause you to lose control and travel off the road or into oncoming traffic.
Watch for the reflection of deer eyes and for deer silhouettes on the shoulder of the road. If anything looks slightly suspicious, slow down.
Slow down in areas known to have a large deer population. This includes areas where roads divide agricultural fields from forest land and if you’re driving through forested areas between dusk and dawn.
Deer can do unpredictable things — they stop in the middle of the road when crossing; cross and quickly re-cross back; and move toward an approaching vehicle.

Tips for Motorcyclists to Avoid Deer Crashes:

When encountering an animal, slow down and use both brakes to stop.
If a larger animal jumps out in front of you, use emergency braking (applying both front and rear brakes) to stop as quickly as possible.
If you are unable to stop in time and/or contact is imminent after maximum breaking, and you have room in the lane, release the brakes and attempt to swerve slowly behind the animal.
Always try to maintain control of your motorcycle.

Drive smart by expecting the unexpected and remember that your seat belt is the best defense in a crash.

Winter Parking Restrictions

Begin November 15

The Owatonna Police Department would like to remind community members of the upcoming winter parking clause in the City of Owatonna parking ordinance which goes into effect beginning November 15 and remains in effect until March 31, 2025.

If it is necessary for you to park a vehicle on the street between 12:01 a.m. and noon, you should park on the even house numbered side of the street on even numbered calendar days and on the odd numbered house side of the street on odd numbered calendar days. If you park your car after noon and intend to leave it parked overnight, you should anticipate the midnight date change. Also keep in mind that in December and January, there are two odd days in a row, December 31 and January 31. It is the responsibility of hosts to notify visitors or guests of the odd/even side winter parking restriction.

Odd/Even parking enforcement is not contingent on an impending snowstorm or a snow event. It is the objective of the Owatonna Police Department to educate community members and seek voluntary compliance, followed by consistent enforcement for a significantly more effective and efficient street maintenance operation.

Use the Owatonna Winter Parking Map App to see where to park where parking is allowed and areas that are exempt from the winter parking restriction. Easily search an address to determine the odd and even sides. Please review the initial screen for pertinent information that explains how to interpret and understand the winter parking restriction. A green line indicates the side that is even. A red line indicates the side that is odd. A black line indicates this area is exempt from the winter parking ordinance due to restrictions. A yellow line will appear during 12:01 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. (noon) to indicate the side of the street you should park on if the area is not restricted. You can also access the Winter Parking Map App by scanning this QR code.

The Owatonna Police Department would like to thank everyone for adhering to the winter parking restriction ordinance. For more information, please call the Owatonna Police Department at 507.774.7200 or visit owatonna.gov.

East Side Corridor Preferred Alignment Selected

Steele County and City of Owatonna officials announce that the proposed East Side Corridor project has achieved a milestone in the preparation of the environmental documents necessary to plan and construct the new roadway. The Federal Highway Administration has concurred that Alternative 3, also known as 29^th Avenue Corridor, is the preferred alternative. This concurrence reaffirms the previous determination made in 2023 that Alternative 3 is the preferred corridor.

With the identification of the preferred corridor, the County can move forward in preparing the project’s federal and state environmental documents which will include a series of reports describing the impact of the East Side Corridor project on people and the environment. The environmental document will study impacts on traffic, cultural resources, noise and wetlands within the designated corridor. It will also outline the efforts required to avoid, minimize and mitigate impacts to these resources. These reports and the final environmental documents are expected to be completed in 2025 and will then be made available for public comment.

The East Side Corridor project proposes to build a north-south roadway on the east side of Owatonna from near the intersection of Bixby Road and 18^th Street SE to Kenyon Road with an extension of 26^th Street NE. The project is scheduled to begin construction in 2026.

For more information, see the recent project newsletter and the full concurrence document detailing how the preferred alignment was chosen. These documents are available on the project webpage at: www.eastsidecorridor.com.

Wastewater Treatment Facility Expansion Project Update

Major Milestone Reached

The completion of the membrane bioreactor (MBR) marks a major milestone in the Owatonna Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) Expansion Project. The MBR is the final step of the biological treatment process where liquids and solids are physically separated to allow only a high level of water quality to be discharged. All wastewater flow coming into the facility is now treated through the membrane bioreactor (MBR) process before discharging to the Straight River.

The startup of this process included over a month of equipment testing and fine-tuning, this testing resulted in the system working immediately upon operation. There were a few issues to work through once everything was operating together, which is expected with the amount of equipment involved. However, the system’s capacity allowed the team to work through these bugs while effectively treating the wastewater to an exceptional level. The coordinated effort among the plant operations team, contractor, equipment supplier, and engineer has contributed to the successful implementation of the MBR process.

Other recent work at the WWTF has included the construction of the anaerobic digester covers which are being built and painted next to the existing digesters and then will be lifted into place on the tanks. Progress has been made in the Solids Thickening Building and other areas throughout the plant including process piping, electrical and mechanical systems installation. The remodeling effort in the Administration Building is well underway and will result in updated office spaces, larger conference and meeting rooms, a new kitchen, upgraded showers and locker rooms and a plant control center.

The WWTF Expansion Project has been steadily progressing since July 2022. The initial anticipated completion date has been pushed to 2025 largely due to supply chain issues, specifically with necessary electrical components. Visit owatonna.gov for more information.

We’ll Save You a Seat!

Weekly Meeting Schedule

Agendas, meeting minutes and packets for upcoming meetings are available at: https://owatonna.gov/agendacenter.

November 4: Park Board Meeting at 4:30 p.m. in the Charles S. Crandall Center at City Hall, 540 West Hills Circle. Owatonna Firefighters Relief Association Meeting at 6 p.m. at the Fire Station, 107 West Main Street.

November 5: 2024 General Election Day, polls will be open for voting from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Helpful Links

Licenses & Permits

Registration

Employment

Stay Informed

Events: Access calendars to view upcoming events.
City News Releases: View news releases published by the City of Owatonna.
Newsletters: The City of Owatonna publishes a weekly newsletter called Owatonna Update. Current and past newsletters are available here.
Social Media: Stay connected with the City of Owatonna by following these social media sites.
Spotlight Videos: Videos produced by the City of Owatonna.

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October 30, 2024