During their recent meeting, the Clear Lake City Council decided to hire a new building inspector.
At the previous meeting, the council asked for example permit fees from three different building inspection companies as they considered switching their service provider. The council heard the differences between the proposals. The proposals were very comparable, and the council spent some time debating their decision. They ultimately decided to go with Metro West Inspection Services, switching from their previous provider AllSpec Inspection Services.
Public Works Report
Public Works Director Evan Johnson reported there would be a water distribution training system in Annandale. Council granted him and his employee permission to attend the training in August.
Mayor Tim Goenner said he’d received complaints about puddles not drying up on Church St. Council Member Lance Gilleland said the homeowner shared with him that she was concerned the puddle was caused by an issue with city water. Johnson said he was sure the puddle was just rain water that didn’t dry up due to the worn out nature of the road and the frequent rainfall.
Staff Hours
With the hire of new city clerk, Ryan McCann, and treasurer, Amanda Scheiber, council discussed cutting back on the hours of the temporary city clerks. Clerk Ryan McCann was planning to take leave, but after his return the council wished to “phase out” the temporary staff and have McCann and Scheiber take over the clerk’s office duties.
Baseball Tournament
Mike Golombiecki approached the board to discuss the upcoming regional baseball tournament. The team has done a lot of work on the field with the assistance of Johnson and Goenner. The Clear Lake Lions will be handling concession sales.
The sprinkler system is still acting up. Johnson said it could be rewired though it would cost $1,500. Whatever the solution, it won’t be done in time for the tournament, and the sprinklers will continue to need to be manually switched.
Golombiecki spoke about some of the improvements he, the team, and other residents made to the park, including some tree trimming, donating plastic picnic tables, and other things. He asked that the council consider spending more money on the park to make it look nice.
Council Member Stefany Janish suggested getting together with the team in the winter after the season to discuss support going forward.
After some discussion, the council voted to install a four foot fence by the dugout for safety.
Fire Department
The council made a payment to Fire Safety USA for the new fire truck. The Travelers Country Club donated $1,500 to the fire department. The council updated fire department job descriptions.
Janish said the council is supposed to perform an annual review of the chief officers of the department, which hasn’t been done in recent years. She wanted to restart the annual review. The council discussed briefly but took no action.
Clerk’s Report
Clerk Ryan McCan requested to capitalize a couple of opportunities for training as well as a membership with the MCFOA (Municipal Clerks and Finance Officers Association of Minnesota), which the council said they would look into. McCann also requested that he and the treasurer be allowed to apply to become notaries for the convenience of the city. The council approved the application for McCann only for the time being.
In Other Business, the Council:
• Decommissioned a performance bond for Distributed Solar Development LLC;
• Tabled a resolution to censure a council member due to lack of publishing information beforehand;
• Held a closed meeting to discuss acquisition of the lift station easement which will allow the city to access their lift station for improvements, as a follow up to the previous meeting;
• Heard from the mayor that he was very upset by the council’s decision at the last meeting to dispose of the Rainbow playset, as he wished to show it to a local family.
