Staying Fire Safe on Thanksgiving

A flurry of activity comes with Thanksgiving with multiple dishes cooking and baking at the same time, entertaining family and friends and other distractions that can make it easy to forget about what is on the stove or in the oven. 

Since Thanksgiving is the leading day of the year for home fires involving cooking equipment with more than three times the average number, the Owatonna Fire Department is reminding residents to follow a few simple tips to keep everyone safe from fire during the holiday season:

• Stay in the kitchen when cooking on the stovetop. Use a timer when baking.
• Stay home when cooking the turkey and check on it often.
• Keep children away from the stove. Create a three-inch kid-free zone around the stove.
• Never leave children alone in a room with a lit candle.
• Make sure smoke alarms are working. Test them by pushing the test button.

For additional information and kids' activities, visit owatonna.gov/fire. 

City of Owatonna Budget Process

The City of Owatonna will hold its annual Truth-in-Taxation meeting December 3. Each taxing jurisdiction (the City, County and School District) holds a Truth-in-Taxation meeting annually to publicly present a summary of and receive input on their proposed budgets. The City Council is expected to adopt its final 2025 budget and levy at its December 17 meeting. Until the final budget is adopted, the City Council may lower it from the preliminary budget amount but cannot increase it.

The tax statements received by property owners from the County Auditor’s Office in November were created based on property tax valuations and the City’s proposed 2025 levy and budget. Property tax valuations were set in March and the public was invited to attend the annual Board of Appeal and Equalization meeting in April to provide input on valuations. Budgets for all three taxing jurisdictions are planned based, in part, on tax revenues calculated from these valuations.

Check out the City’s budget in an interactive document that can be found online at www.owatonna.gov/Finance. Community members are encouraged to provide input throughout the budget process by contacting a City Council member or the mayor. For questions regarding property valuations, taxes or property tax relief options, please contact the County Assessor’s Office at 507-444-7435.

Holiday Lighted Parade

Main Street Owatonna is organizing the 2024 Holiday Lighted Parade. This year’s parade begins at 6 pm December 6 on North Cedar Avenue. City staff and vehicles will be on display in the parade from several departments including Police, Fire, Public Works and Parks & Recreation. Immediately following the parade will be the lighting of the trees in Central Park with the Owatonna High School carolers performing on the Central Park Stage.

New 2024 Infrastructure Installed

Streets Projects Recap

During the 2024 construction season, various projects were completed by City crews and contractors to improve infrastructure across Owatonna. The Public Works Department would like to thank the community for being patient as these projects took place. 

• Street Overlays: Street segments throughout Owatonna were overlayed this construction season. The preparation work was completed by Steve James Excavating to adjust manholes and catch basins and the paving portions were completed by the Owatonna Street Division.
• Cedar Ave N Overlay: Cedar Avenue North, from the Maple Creek Bridge to the 26^th Street Roundabout, was overlayed this season. The much-needed rehabilitation involved milling and overlaying nearly one mile of roadway. Prep work was completed by Steve James Excavating and Crane Creek Asphalt performed the paving. 
• Street Maintenance: Pearson Bros, Inc performed crack sealing and seal coating on 5.08 miles of city streets. 
• 2024 Street & Utility Project: Major street and utility projects involving varying degrees of reconstruction to street sections, water main and service replacement, sanitary sewer and service connections, several storm sewer structures and pipe construction, and several sections of curb and gutter were completed in 2024 on McKinley Street SW, from Lilac to Linn, and Anderson Place. The project was completed by Wencl Construction. Final Erosion control and establishing vegetation will be completed in spring 2025.
• Vine Street Parking Lot: The Vine St Parking Lot has mostly completed work for the season. The parking field has been paved to the base course of asphalt and striped for use throughout winter and the parking lot and streetlights have been installed with temporary fixtures. Some lot signage will be installed in the coming days along with miscellaneous concrete work as weather allows. Permanent light fixtures will be installed around the new year. The final lift of asphalt along with landscaping and irrigation will take place next spring.

Please watch for upcoming information about the list of projects planned for the 2025 construction season.

Helpful Links

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.

Feel free to forward this message to other Owatonna community members. Visit the Notify Me Sign-up page to update your email address, unsubscribe, or sign up for additional City alerts. Be sure to add listserv@civicplus.com to your safe sender/address book to ensure messages are delivered to your inbox.