Every member of the Clear Lake City Council was present at the Jan. 5, 2025, meeting. 

On the agenda was time for the personnel committee to update the council about developing a process to elect a new Fire Chief. During the December meeting, Matt Lunser was named Interim Chief, “until they (the Personnel Committee) can create a policy on electing a new chief”.  

Though no new policy was formalized, a few details were revealed. Lance Gilliland had explained that the current policy states that the fire chief can only be removed for cause. He suggested limiting the fire chief to a four-year term, a detail confirmed by Stefany Janish and Gilliland after the meeting. Also, firefighters wanted input into the process. Gilliland, Janish, and Lunser all stated during the meeting that upcoming Fire Board meetings would give firefighters the opportunity to nominate their choice. The council is hoping to name a replacement by March of this year. 

City Property Near St. Marcus

At the Nov. 17, 2025, meeting of the city council, Chris Goenner from St. Marcus Church advocated for using a nearby city-owned property as a holding pond to help prevent flooding in the church parking lot. Nothing was decided at the meeting; however, a consensus emerged that the city should consider testing the property for well development. 

On Monday, three members of the Arnold family appeared before the council to discuss the half-acre lot located next to the city property. They contend that they cannot sell the property because there is no access to it. They were wondering what the city was planning in the area, acknowledging that the city was considering granting St. Marcus an easement for ponding in the area.

During the discussion, it was noted that the city has conflicting priorities concerning the property. City Engineer Keith Yapp suggested getting all the parties together in a room to work things out. Gilliland still wanted to test for water, “If there’s no water, the city doesn’t need it.”

Yapp stated that “spring may be the time to do a core sample.”

After much discussion, no resolution was reached.

Other News

The Patriot was named the official newspaper for disseminating city information that must be made public under state statutes.

The council approved a motion that would allow city employees to carry over 40 hours of PTO to the next year. 

Changes to the employee handbook were tabled until February’s meeting.