Tom Dumont from the Minnesota Dept of Transportation (MnDOT) was present at Monday night’s Clear Lake City Council meeting to discuss the no turn on red sign at the intersection of Hwy 10 and Hwy 24. The council has had concerns drivers are either ignoring or not noticing the sign.

 

He said the cost of a sign with a slash through it costs several thousand dollars, which he doesn’t have the budget for. Currently MnDOT is in the process of changing the colored stop light balls at the intersection to arrows, which should be taking place soon. 

 

Mayor Tim Goenner asked about putting in a camera system but was told citations can’t be issued from a camera, as by law they have to ticket the driver, not the owner of the vehicle.

 

“I’m not convinced there’s enough signage,” said Council Member Dale Powers. “The no turn on red sign is small relative to the view scape.”

 

Dumont said the weekday traffic seems mostly in compliance, and feels it’s more the weekend traffic ignoring it because they’re in a hurry to get home. 

 

“I don’t think they don’t see the signage,” he said. “However we can probably put up another sign mounted on the ground next to the one on the pole. That’s not too big of an expense.”

 

 

Keith Yapp from Stantec presented the council with the test well results and cost projections for establishing the actual well. He introduced Kurt Johnson to summarize the report and help answer any questions the council may have.

 

Johnson recapped the test well’s chemical analysis, which found barely a trace of nitrates but did find high levels of iron and manganese. Neither are health issues and can be treated for. He estimated the well could produce 250 to upwards of 500 gallons per minute.

 

“I really feel this is a good site,” said Johnson. “We could go out and drill several more test wells but there’s not a very good chance of finding a better one.” 

 

A meeting was set for Oct. 17 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss details and recommendations. 

 

Clerk Kari Mechtel informed the council she had received phone calls from two builders asking for a reduction in their building permit fees. 

 

Powers said he would rather give a reduction to the owners, possibly by crediting them on their utility bills, as the builders rarely pass the savings on to them. He asked Mechtel to have the builders attend a council meeting to present their case if they would like to pursue the reduction.

 

Powers stepped down from the council table to discuss his meeting to look into school alternatives as a private citizen.

 

He and Karen White will be facilitating a city meeting to discuss various school alternatives to St. Cloud School District 742. The meeting will be restricted to residents of the city or property owners in the city only.

 

Explaining why Clear Lake Township wasn’t included, Powers said the Clear Lake Township Board wasn’t currently interested in the issue, and residents there have a lesser percentage of children who open enroll out of the district.

 Other Business

 

A motion passed approving $7,799 for a new mower, which included moving $799 from the park dedication fund into the capital fund to cover additional cost.

 

Powers brought up the city’s expenditure policy, and said there needs to be more formality to the actual authority to spend. Mechtel is currently creating a new expenditure policy for the Council to review. 

 

Mechtel informed the council the Fire Department Relief Association has decided to discontinue their annual dance as financially it had become too much of a financial risk.

 

A motion was passed to approve lease agreement with bank for the Hunter Bluffs Development temporary park’s property taxes.

 

The sheriff reported 46 points of contact for  Sept., including 20 traffic, two fraud complaints and two accidents.