During the recent Clear Lake City Council meeting, Lance Gilliland was appointed to the position of council member. Gilleland filled a position that was vacated back in December, and he was one of two candidates to apply for the position. The council interviewed both candidates and picked Gilliland for the open seat. Gilliland was sworn in on the spot. 

Lift Station #2

Shirley Slater-Schulte, a city contracted employee, had some good news for the council in regards to lift station #2. In the previous regular meeting, the council heard from their new public works director, Evan Johnson, that the previous director allowed lift station #2 to slip into disrepair to a dangerous level - currently, it is to the point where it would be dangerous to allow an employee to go into the lift station due to accumulated fumes. The council was nervous about finding a way to pay for an urgent fix.

However, Slater-Schulte consulted with the city’s auditor in an effort to help find where the funding could be found. The auditor suggested that the money simply be taken from the sewer and water funds. The auditor assured Slater-Schulte that the city could pay for the much needed updates in cash without having to worry about being short in that fund, as they were carrying an amount in that fund that was higher than typical for a city of Clear Lake’s size. 

Council was glad to hear they would be able to cash-flow the project, and directed their city engineer to get started on the project. 

Committee Appointments

Council Members Sabrina Miller and Stefany Janish were appointed to sit on the policy review committee. The committee intends to meet quarterly to review and adopt city policy. The city did not have its own policy previously, and is now looking to create one. The council members have started this process by looking at policies held by similarly-sized cities in Minnesota and sending them to the city attorney for review. Janish said they would like public participation on this committee and would be looking for applicants in the near future. 

The mayor noted that in regards to the new fire hall building project, Council Member Chad Nelson was named as the construction liaison. While Nelson serves in that capacity, Mayor Tim Goenner will serve in Nelson’s place on the personnel committee. The new fire hall building is set to be constructed behind the water tower, and the council intended to meet with the architect on the Wednesday after the meeting for a preliminary discussion. 

In Other Business, the Council:

• Approved paying for six hours of maintenance work for the sewer authority each weekend instead of four, as it was taking the workers longer recently to perform their duties;

• Approved an electronic billboard going up at the Brickyard Restaurant (which will dim at night so as to not blind traffic on Hwy. 10 or disturb the neighboring homes);

• Did not approve the request of the Beniek family to put a dumpster on the road in front of their house for up to six months while they finish their basement;

• Heard back from the private auditor they considered hiring at the last regular meeting and decided not the hire them, as they would not provide the kind of help the city needed;

• Heard from the clerk that she is in the process of working on telephone billing issues, which has been a slog, and heard that she hoped to have the issue resolved or mostly resolved by the next regular meeting;

• Approved cutting back on hours for contract staff moving forward as the new clerk has been taking on more of those duties.