A special meeting of the Clear Lake City Council took place on Tues., Dec. 10, to discuss a few urgent topics before the end of the year, including the fire contract and the resignations of two city employees and one council member. 

New Council Member

Sabrina Miller was sworn in to her position on the Clear Lake City Council after winning her election (running unopposed) in November. She was able to join the board early as the resignation of Council Member Karen White left a vacancy on the board. 

Fire Contract

With so much turnover with city employees, the issue of the fire contract was not addressed until late in the year. The council discussed several items of concern, including which line items in the contract were approved by the city attorney, what the budget should be, how much authority the township partners in the fire department should have in spending the fire budget, and questions about the retirement benefit for firefighters. 

It was found that the department was over budget in 2024, both in the sense of funding spent (over by about $100,000) as well as in calls for service (having completed just over 1,600 calls for service instead of the budgeted 1,000). Because the department was busier this year than expected, and because of an increase to firefighter wages which were not properly taken into account, the council found it would have to make adjustments to the budget for the coming year. 

After a long discussion on the contract and the budget issues, the council decided that there weren’t many changes they could implement at the moment, as they needed to hear the recommendations from the city attorney before they could move forward. Council Member Stefany Janish promised she would make it her personal task to make sure the attorney got back to the city with the recommendations. Meanwhile, Council Member Chad Nelson said he would work to draw up a new contract based on the discussion of the evening to potentially re-negotiate the contract at a later time. 

The council also will be holding a workshop with representatives from Northland Securities to discuss the firefighter benefit package on Tues., Jan. 21 at 5:30 p.m.

Employee and Council Member Resignations

The council accepted the resignations of Tami Loff, city clerk; James Kirchenbaur, public works; and Karen White, city council. The council members then discussed advertising for the open positions. 

Council Member Chad Nelson was concerned about the workload the city was putting on just one part time clerk. He also noted how it was less than ideal to have city hall closed for a good portion of the week when the clerk was not available. 

The other council members agreed to attempt to hire for a full time clerk position as well as a part time deputy clerk position. Nelson noted there were several interviews for clerks he had scheduled over the course of the days after the special meeting, and he would inquire whether any of the candidates were able to work full time instead of the advertised part time. They hoped filling those two positions would allow the clerk and deputy clerk to get the city’s finances and other business in order. The council also agreed to post advertisements for the positions if the candidates being interviewed were not sufficient to fill the positions. 

Another five interviews were set up to replace the director of public works. As a temporary solution to a lack of employees, the city council hired one temporary plow driver and supplemented with firefighters to drive the other plows until permanent positions could be filled. It was also noted that the plows still needed to be properly serviced for the beginning of the snow season. 

Mayor Tim Goenner agreed to help by using the Bobcat and skid steer the city owned to clear driveways and parking lots, as well as to help service the plow trucks and ready them for the snow season. Council member Chad Nelson also noted he would be speaking with a gentleman who had a maintenance company that could possibly help out the city until public works was back to its normal levels of operation. 

Planning for Next Year

The Council, in order to avoid needing to call emergency meetings, decided to hold two regular city council meetings per month instead of one, on the first and third Mondays at 7 p.m. The council also appointed Chad Nelson as acting mayor.