The Clear Lake City Council met Tuesday evening and navigated through a light agenda.

According to information presented at the meeting, the Clear Lake-Clearwater Sewer Authority (CLCWSA) has been operating at a deficit for some time and as a result, the joint-powers board is looking at making changes to the pricing structure.  

The proposed changes would reflect a pair of increases, one being a flat-rate monthly surcharge of $10 per user to create a Capital Fund, which would be used for maintenance and upgrades at the plant as needed.

The other component is a possible increase in the usage rate that all customers pay for sewage treatment.

Clerk Kari Koren led council through a discussion of possible options, with one being that the city would implement a phased-in approach to the surcharge.

Council had several questions surrounding the increases and it was decided that Koren would email all members the sewer authority’s financials, including the most recent audit. The agenda item will then come up for a discussion in the near future, perhaps when the council starts its budgeting discussions in September.

It was noted that the fee charges by the city are just enough to cover its debt as part of the sewer authority establishment.

Baseball Incident

Clear Lake Lakers Manager Mike Golombiecki was at the meeting to address an incident from June 18 when the Lakers hosted the Sartell Muskies.  

He reported that after one of the Lakers hit a home run, that players’ next at-bat ended in an intentional hit-by-pitch from the Sartell pitcher. This led to a verbal skirmish between the teams, which apparently included a profanity-laden disparagement of the Lakers, as well as Clear Lake in general.

Golombiecki noted that he wanted to address the situation with council in an attempt to be transparent.

He has pursued remedies with the Sauk Valley League President, but those inquiries reportedly led to the league President threatening to kick Clear Lake out of the league if the matter was pursued.

At the center of the issue is the lease with the city to use Goenner Park, as a city ordinance prohibits profanity and other disorderly behavior.

Golombiecki noted that the Muskies have been the common denominator in unsportsmanlike behavior in the past, council will look at including the city’s ordinance language in the  lease update this fall and perhaps will seek law enforcement presence at future games that include the Muskies.

“There’s definitely some concerns there,” Mayor Goenner stated.

In Other Business, the Council:

• Heard from City Engineer Keith Yapp that the survey for the new Fire Hall location is nearly complete;

• Approved a motion changing the August meeting to Tuesday, the 2nd;

• Heard from Sgt. Dan Frank about last month’s 73 calls for service for the Sheriff’s Office, which included 17 traffic complaints and 17 business checks.  Frank also detailed the three thefts  from within the city, and indicated there were eight medicals.  Mayor Tim Goenner asked for increased patrols to help address “Jake” or dynamic braking within the city limits.