ORR- Orr Center volunteer Wendy Purdy attended Monday’s Orr City Council meeting to tell council members about the progress being made in reshaping the design and function of the former school building to better serve the community.
“We’ve made a lot of changes,” Purdy said. “We’re at about 7,000 square feet for our thrift store, we have a coffee bookstore, and we have expanded the medical closet and the food shelf – to a certain extent it’s gotten a lot bigger.”
Purdy invited council members to come take a look at what’s being done at the center.
“I don’t know that very many of the council members have even been to the Orr Center,” she said. “We just felt that you folks need to know what we’re doing to help promote the community. We want you to know what we’re doing and where we’re going forward and follow the progress we’ve made.”
A key component to the strides being made at the center is a new crop of volunteer helpers, Purdy said.
“We have a huge new base of volunteers,” Purdy said. “We’re averaging ten people every single day that we’re open, which is amazing. People can’t even get people to work, let alone have volunteers come in. We’ve got quite a few from Cook, Crane Lake, even Littlefork, people are coming to volunteer.”
Purdy said that a new flyer is being made to promote the center, and the website is being updated as well.
“Hopefully we’ll get those going before early summer,” she said.
She also expressed her thanks to the council for the furnace they received from the replacement of the one at the Old City Hall.
“It saved us because our main furnace burned up on Dec. 1. I mean literally burned up and we had no heat in the building for eight days. We got your old furnace and it’s heating the building, so we’re in good shape right now.”
Council member Bruce Black asked how the library was progressing.
“We’re redoing the library that was there, and we created a coffee bookstore with the extra books there in the main hallway. The rest of the books will be up by tomorrow in the hallway, so it’s going really, really well. We’re very pleased with what’s happening.”
In other business, the council:
• Approved renewal of a short-term rental for Shane Halverson at 10711 Hwy. 23.
• Approved a building permit for Jim and Carol Raridon to replace an old trailer with a new trailer at 4499 Hwy. 53.
• Approved an invoice from O’Day Equipment, LLC for installation of a new airport fuel system in the amount of $84,600. The cost of the system should be totally covered through reimbursement from the Minnesota Department of Transportation, which has been applied for.
• Approved an invoice to the fire department from MacQueen Emergency Group in the amount of $854.18 for a pump pressure transducer.
• Approved reinvestment of an expiring $200,000 certificate of deposit with RBC. The city currently has $324,724 in money markets at one-and-a-half percent interest. $157,000 will mature in April and an additional $200,000 will mature in October. The city can get five percent interest on the expired CD.
• Approved a request for a leave of absence from Sierra Sokoloski, if needed.
• Approved a request from Paul Koch to attend the Minnesota Rurul Water Association Technical Conference in St. Cloud on March 5-7 as part of his continuing education requirement.
• Approved minor updates to the fire department bylaws.
• Approved payment of $3,694 to Illinois Casualty Company for renewal of insurance for the liquor store.
• Approved a request from Emily Koch to allow the use of the city’s gambling license for a Bingo fundraiser for the youth fund at Holy Cross and St. Mary’s Church. The fundraiser will take place at the community center on Sunday, May 5.
• Heard a report from ambulance director Donna Hoffer. She said the service made ten runs in January, with one being a mutual aide call. She noted that the number was down significantly from the 26 runs the service did in January 2023. The ambulance service completed 180 runs in 2023. She also reminded the council of the first responder class that will be starting Feb. 26 at the community center.
• Heard a brief report from fire chief Jeremy Wright. The department made one run in January. He also said new lights have been installed in the fire hall. The lights that were taken out have been stored for possible future use.
• Mayor Robert Antikainen presented a brief maintenance report in the absence of maintenance supervisor Paul Koch.