Before the regular meeting, the Clear Lake City Council held a workshop to hear from Northland Securities about plans for saving to build a new fire hall.
The council determined they would need approximately $2 million to complete the project. They heard about options they had through private or government bonds, and what it would mean for the tax levy. No action was taken.
In other fire department business, Council Member Chad Nelson removed himself from the table to act instead in his capacity as a representative of the fire department. He noted that the fire board was able to come up with two new contracts for working with Palmer and Clear Lake Townships. Instead of having all three entities (both townships and the city) under one contract, the board instead decided to have separate contracts with each municipality. The contract also was changed from a five-year term to a one-year term.
Nelson noted there were two important items the townships wanted in the contracts: they wanted to make sure township money was not used by the city to build a new city fire hall, and they wanted to continue to do two equal payments towards the fire department each year. Both of these items were explicitly included in the contracts. The council approved the new contracts.
Finally, Nelson noted the board wished to increase the fire department budget by 10% for this year, with the interest of increasing it further in subsequent years. The fire board found that the current approved budget was far too low to cover the needs of the department. Most of the increase would be paid by the two townships, who have far more parcels and a greater population than the cities. The city is estimated to only pay an additional $3,000.
The new city clerk, Lori Ollendieck, didn’t think it was possible to increase the budget after the levy had already been set for the year. Nelson clarified that the fire board wasn’t trying to increase the levy, but to take the remaining funds out of the city’s general fund. After some discussion, the council decided to table the matter until February so they had time to speak with their auditor on the legality of changing the budget.
Computer Service
Clerk Ollendieck requested the council consider changing their computer service provider to On-Site Computers. She noted that the current city computer server is very old and hasn’t been properly backed up recently. She also noted that trying to work with their current IT company, Sure Tech, had been very difficult in the two weeks she’s been on the job, with the company refusing to hand over password information even though they confirmed her identity.
Ollendieck noted that she has been involved with a city in the past that was, unfortunately, hacked by Russian hackers, and it took a lot of money to fix the situation, and a lot of information was lost. She recommended the security measures that On-Site provided, and noted they were providing the city with some security already as a courtesy.
The council decided to table the decision so they could read over the contract with On-Site and determine whether they were contracted with Sure Tech.
In Other Business, the Council:
• Heard the annual report from the County Attorney, Kathleen Heaney;
• Approved a new ordinance on council meeting procedures after hearing from the attorney that changes made were to update the ordinance to current practices, and to set two regular meetings per month;
• Accepted a $23,000 donation from the Clear Lake Lions Club to pay for Fire Department radios
• Adopted the city fee schedule for the year, with a few changes from last year (increase in water and sewer fees, change in city hall rental fee);
• Approved a $3,600 payment to the sewer authority for weekends worked in 2024;
• Tabled a request to pay for increased hours for the sewer authority;
• Approved selling miscellaneous decorative items at city hall;
• Changed the city hall garbage service to Republic
