Clerk Kari Mechtel told council that she currently had a total of 14 residential/commercial water lines that have frozen over in the past week or two.  Most of the frozen lines have been un-thawed privately, but the city received one invoice from the owner of a home at 7590 Church St. in the amount of $350.  

 

According to the plumber who was hired (by the owner), he said the line was frozen almost to the main, but he was unable to provide actual proof. The plumber’s email stated “it is difficult to specify exactly where the line was frozen at”.  

 

Clerk Mechtel determined by the meter readings they were not running their water at a continuous flow that was advised by the city on Feb. 20.  

 

On average, households that are running their water at a continuous flow should see a 375+ daily increase on their usage. Mechtel said the residence at 7590 Church St. had a February monthly usage only increased by 210 gallons.   

 

A motion was made by Dale Powers and seconded by Claudia Page to decline reimbursement for thawing of the water lines at that address due to the lack of continuous flow. 

 

Resident Phyllis Carlin questioned whose responsibility is it when it can be determined by the plumber if the water line is frozen past the cities curb stop.  Public Works Supervisor Dustin Luhning said Carlin had two different plumbers who were assisting her to thaw her water line.  One plumber had said the line went out past 150 feet.  That same plumber also got his line stuck within Carlin’s water line, in which they had to cut it and it now remains inside the line. Carlin told council the plumber was supposed to invoice the city, but Clerk Mechtel had not yet seen an invoice.  

 

Member Robert Arnold suggested that the city wait to see the invoice before making a decision on reimbursing Carlin for it. Council decided it would be at the plumber’s expense to see that his line gets removed from Carlin’s water line this spring.

 

Resident Andy Ulwelling, who lives at 7602 Church St. in the Parkside development, suggested opening the hydrant at the end of Church Street to insure proper flow since there were three homes on that street that have had frozen lines.  

 

Luhning said he will look into seeing what he can do to get the hydrant opened and to downsize the flow. Ulwelling and his neighbors have been monitoring the temperatures of their water on a daily basis.

 

A motion was made by Powers to review February’s monthly utility bills and give a credit on usage over and above normal monthly consumption.  Water and sewer users will see this credit on their March usage  they receive in April.

 

Council decided that staff will deliver a second notice to recommend that all users run their water at a continuous flow 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until the city advises residents it can cease. Running continuous water will hopefully prevent water lines from freezing.  After March 4, if anyone is experiencing frozen water lines, the city will not be liable for any financial costs to have the line thawed, unless it can be determined by staff that water was at a continuous flow and the plumber can provide proof it was past the curb stop. 

 

 

Sam Samuelson asked council for permission for the youth team to use the ballfield for their upcoming baseball season.  

 

Samuelson also wanted to publicly thank Mayor Tim Goenner and Luhning for all their hard work on the fields last year.

 

Samuelson said there will be two different amateur teams that will be utilizing the field and he will make sure that the city receives both teams’ schedules as soon as they are ready.  

 

Luhning told Samuelson if changes are needed to be made to the schedule, to please let him know immediately.  

 

Mayor Goenner suggested that he, Member Connie Achman and Samuelson get together and go over what improvements need to be made to the field this year.

 

Samuelson Also told council the youth team is holding a fundraiser at the Clearwater Legion March 15 and he left a few flyers for posting and reviewal.

 

 

Luhning told council the past few weeks have been very difficult with locating curb stops and gate valves. The city’s “as-builts” are from 1978 and since that time, changes have been made to services and he is unable to locate any of the changes that were made throughout the years.   Minnesota Rural Water Association (MRWA) provided the city with a quote in the amount of $7,500. This quote includes locations of main valves, water main locations, hydrants, sanitary sewer manholes, sanitary main lines, wells and curb stops.  

 

In addition, the city would receive two wall maps and two truck maps. This quote also includes future expansion, which will allow the city to make changes and/or add services in the future.  If approved, this project would begin in June and conclude in October.

 

Member Powers feels that this is very important for the city but it was not budgeted for. Powers then motioned to charge a monthly surcharge on the utility bills for the next 5-6 months and by October the city would have collected enough to pay for the mapping.

  

A public hearing to discuss the fee is scheduled for April.

 

 

Mayor Goenner and Luhning met with John Mentor regarding the snow plowing complaints on 80th Ave.  

 

The original agreement  when the county blacktopped State Street within city limits, was they would trade the city plowing of Co.

 

Rds, 58, 55 and 76.  It was determined that the city is 45.5% completed with the agreement.  

 

It was also agreed between all parties that the city would continue to plow the streets originally stated in the agreement, along with the help from the county when needed.  

 

Mayor Goenner said he would like to revisit this issue again this fall to see if there is a way to eliminate the plowing on Co. Rd. 58, which is a huge added expense for the city.

 

Council decided if the county and state plows are pulled from plowing, so should the city for the safety of the employees.  It will be up to Luhning’s discretion to pull the plows off the roads or not.

 

 

• Sergeant Johnson provided council with information on calls for the month of February.  He said most calls for service were for traffic, medical and domestic in nature and tallied 24;

 

• Mayor Goenner said the employee reviews for Mechtel, Luhning, Maintenance Employee Corey, Fire Chief Ron Koren and Assistant Chief Schrader went well.  The City Council has no concerns at this time;

 

•  Council received one RFP for the building inspector services from Allspec Services.  Member Powers stated he wished the city would have received a few more RFP’s to review, but council voted to accept Allspec to continue as the city’s building inspector.

 

The next Clear Lake City Council meeting is April 7 at 7 p.m.