Clear Lake Township Chairman Gary Gray attended the Clear Lake City Council meeting Tuesday night for approval on the new fire contract, which was already given from the city attorney, fire board and fire chiefs.

 

The new contract is based off of addresses instead of taxes. Clear Lake’s percentage would increase from 8% to 12.6%. Palmer Twp. would pay 54.17% and Clear Lake Twp. 33.15%. Clear Lake Twp. will pay half of the city’s increase the first year as it hadn’t been budgeted for.

 

“My only concern is I’m looking at this and I don’t know the impact it will have on us,” said Council Member Dale Powers.

 

He said he would have to vote no, and that he would like to compare what the city would be paying using the tax base instead of addresses.

 

“We’re talking about a service here,” said Gray. “They get the same service whether their house is valued at $100,000 or one million.”

 

He explained the formula had come from all entities sitting down together to work it out, and said the council had to agree they were getting a great deal with their current percentage of 7%.

“I don’t mind paying 12% if that’s our fair share,” said Powers. “But I’m not convinced that is our fair share.”

 

He indicated the township could contract with someone else, such as Clearwater, and then the city wouldn’t need as large of fire department.

 

“I’d rather not go off on tangents that don’t have to do with the contract,” said Council Member Sandy Paige. “It sounded logical why they were doing this, but I understand if you want to check the numbers.”

 

Powers said he would like to see a blend of tax capacity and population used for the percentages.

 

“You have a fire board in place to address all these issues before it comes to council,” said Gray. “It’s their recommendation and it’s coming from them. That’s what they’re there for.”

 

At the end of the meeting Powers had found the numbers he was looking for, and said if a blend of population, tax base and addresses was used the city would pay 11.13%, Clear Lake Twp. 35.8% and Palmer Twp. 53.06%.

 

The issue was tabled until the February council meeting. Clerk Kari Mechtel will look into the possibility of the city qualifying for state aid for their fire department.

 

Gray pointed out the council had announced their vote before tabling the issue.

 

Public Works Supervisor Dustin Luhning told the council the latest test well had 800 gallons per minute, and all numbers were low, so additional treatment wouldn’t be needed.

 

Mechtel explained the next step would be to start the grant process.

 

Mechtel asked for and received council approval to submit a requested proposal to the sewer authority on what she would be willing to take over.

 

Powers asked for and received council approval to ask legislation to force Metro Bus to add a Northstar Link bus stop in Clear Lake; the city hasn’t heard anything from them since their representative attended an earlier council meeting.

 

He explained he felt Clear Lake was a better choice than Becker as it is more centrally located. 

 

Powers stepped down from his position briefly to explain to the council his last water bills were high due to a water leak, and asked if he could get any relief on the bills as the water wasn’t going into the sewer system.

 

In past situations, the council has looked at a resident’s normal water usage. A motion carried to review Powers’ water usage from the three months prior to the leak to use for billing purposes.

 

The council approved the following resolutions:

 

Resolution 1 – Rules of Procedure.

 

Resolution 2 – Designating Official Appointments. 

 

Resolutions 3 and 4 – Clear Lake Lions Gambling Activities and St. Marcus Church Gambling Activities.

 

Resolution 5 – Changes to the 2018 Fee Schedule. The only change was additional fire department fees. Approval of the fee schedule followed.

 

The council also approved 2018 special events permits and 2018 water and sewer rates.

 

The sheriff reported 52 points of contact for December; eight of which were traffic leading to one DUI and one narcotic arrest. There were also five medical and three suspicious activity checks.

 

The next Clear Lake City Council meeting will be Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.