ORR – Councilors here agreed to stick with their existing insurance plan through MEDICA, although the cost of the monthly premiums is increasing.

At Tuesday’s meeting, insurance agent Jim Johnson said that MEDICA was offering to provide the city with the same insurance plan for the next 11 months. The insurer needed additional time to examine how the Affordable Care Act would impact the group employee insurance provided to the city, he explained. “There are just too many moving parts,” said Johnson, which prevented MEDICA from providing a cost/benefit analysis immediately to the city. It could be December or later before MEDICA could provide one, he said.

Even so, the cost for the existing plan will go up based on employees’ ages and usage of the insurance. City Clerk Louise Redmond estimated the increased cost would total about $5,000 for the year.

Mayor Joel Astleford supported keeping the existing insurance. “I think we should stick with what we have as long as we can afford it,” said Astleford. Other councilors agreed.

In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, councilors:

‰Approved a proclamation designating October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

‰Accepted donations for the Orr Community Library. Camp 5 Township contributed $250, Leiding Township donated $100 and the Orr American Legion Post 480 contributed $125.

In related news, Gary Rolloff reported that more than 170 books had been donated to the library. Although attendance at the library isn’t as great as he hoped, Rolloff expects traffic to pick up as the library expands its inventory and winter sets in.

‰Agreed to paint a No Parking warning on the blacktop at the end of Johnson Parkway. The council will take the action next spring in response to concerns that the road has been blocked by vehicles with boats and campers parking near the end of the road by Highway 53.

‰Approved the use of $50 in petty cash for the purchase and laundering of towels at the Orr Municipal Liquor Store. The store previously had a contract for towel service, but manager Bobbi Malecha said the cost for the service was too high. The city will contract with someone local to launder the towels.

‰Approved a building permit for Oveson’s Pelican Lake Resort and Inn to construct a breezeway that will connect the garage to the resort.

‰Okayed a resolution to accept donated property near the Orr Regional Airport from William and Pauline Warman.

‰Agreed to pay $20 a month to Tim Lilya who uses his own personal cell phone for city business. As part of the condition, Lilya must also agree not to hold the city liable for damage to his phone. Another option would be for the city to buy a Tracphone for Lilya as it did for Paul Koch for city business.

‰Approved an agreement with the Minnsota Office of Toursim for the Orr Tourist Information Center. The agreement does not include any reimbursement from the state, but the TIC will receive state tourism promotional materials.

‰Approved the sale of microscopes from the Orr School. Large lighted microscops will be sold for $200 each while six smaller microscopes will be sold as a package for $300. The city has buyers for the microscopes.

‰Agreed to list the Orr School’s outside bleachers for sale. The ad will set the minimum bid for the bleachers at $6,000.

‰Agreed to send a letter of thanks to Beth Wiemken for her volunteer efforts on behalf of the city. Wiemken helped mow the grounds at the Orr School and tended the flower bed by the sign welcoming visitors to Orr.

‰Heard from Councilor Ericka Cote that the Orr Chamber of Commerce had canceled plans this year to have a haunted school house for Halloween, but would revisit the idea for next year.

‰Heard from Malecha, who is organizing a garage sale to raise funds to assist parents with the purchase of school supplies for their kids. Malecha said she is receiving clothing donations for the sale, but would like other items contributed. She stressed that items must be in working order. “We don’t want junk that we have to take the landfill,” she said.