During the recent Clear Lake City council meeting, Council Member Sabrina Miller presented a bid for putting in playground equipment at the Hunter Lake park. 

The project came in a little higher in cost than anticipated, but the savings were still significant enough that the council accepted it. The city will be saving money by using a local, in-state company and by asking for volunteers to come and build the playground. 

Mayor Tim Goenner thought there were other projects that should be completed before the equipment should go in, but after some discussion he voiced general agreement that the only project that couldn’t wait was leveling the ground for the play area. The equipment order was expected to be delivered in about seven to eight weeks. 

A resident in the audience asked about the process of finding volunteers, and Council Member Stefany Janish stated they had a notice up but would appreciate any help in recruiting.

During open forum, a gentleman from the Lakers baseball team asked what improvements could be made to Goenner Park and the ballfield in anticipation of two upcoming tournaments. The man, and his teammates, have put in a considerable amount of personal effort cleaning up the park to make it look nice. The man mentioned a couple of issues he hoped the city could help solve, including an issue with the irrigation system and a wonky flagpole. The council agreed to look into these two matters.

Public Safety Reports

The Sheriff’s report for the month of May included 42 calls for service but no notable calls. 

The fire department requested that they be given monthly income statements so they can see where exactly money for the department is stored in city budgets, as there was some confusion. Janish agreed to sit down with the fire department representative and the city clerk to figure out a solution that would work. On a separate but related note, the council agreed to transfer funds to the fire pension account once per year on February 1, and will do so this year as soon as possible.

The fire department training program has been doing well. They are taking a bit of a break but plan to begin reaching out to more local departments soon, after some initial success. 

Employee Business

The city received a final payment request from the previous clerk, Lori Ollendieck. The council agreed to the payment request for her remaining wages, but stipulated she would need to return her keys before receiving the check. Ollendieck had also requested her W-2 right away, but the council discussed it and agreed to have it sent at the normal time in January of next year. 

Janish stated that she had been personally going through all the employee contracts the city had and found the contract with their building inspector concerning. After calling around, she confirmed her suspicions that the city was overpaying for the services. She also raised some concerns on the quality of the work performed. The council was ready to hire a new building inspector after hearing this, but thought it wise to check whether they were legally obligated to go through a bidding process first - which some believed may be smart anyway -  and so the matter was put aside for later. 

Council Member Chad Nelson raised concerns over the insurance policy the city offers to full time employees, complaining that it was very expensive to cover employees with children. The current policy becomes more expensive for each additional child, rather than covering all children under one family plan. City clerk Sandy Borders said she would ask local cities what they did for their plans to get some comparisons.