There were a few memorable stories in Clearwater in 2019.

The year began with Clearwater welcoming its new Mayor Andrea Lawrence, a former member of the Clearwater City Council.  

The city also welcomed Councilmen Wayne Kruchten and Vern Scott. The new council, along with Administrator Kevin Kress, had a busy and productive year.

There were improvements to all of Clearwater’s parks, including new playground systems at Spring Street Park, Riverside Park and Sportsman’s Park. There were more improvements to the Lions’ Pavilion and Clearview kids helped paint a mural at Spring Street Park.

The beginnings of major development of Eldorado Park began during the summer with excavations for a new baseball field followed by the construction of a concrete surface for basketball courts and a hockey rink. Issues with the quality of that construction are still being discussed between the city, engineer and contractor.

The council approved plans and specifications for the Southeast Area Street project in January, which included Bittersweet Drive from Walnut Street to Porter Street, Spring Street from the cul-de-sac to Porter Street, Porter Street between Bittersweet Drive to Kothman Circle, Porter Circle from the cul-de-sac to Porter Street and Manor Drive from Porter Street to Co. Rd. 75.

The $850,000 project began in June and has been completed, although there are still punch-list items to be finished in the spring and a few issues with drainage.

There was also major interaction between the city and Clearwater Twp. After more than four years of back-and-forth discussion, both jurisdictions sat down and penned an Orderly Annexation Agreement. That agreement is almost done now, with a few final language changes being reviewed.

Negotiations about the fire contract between the city, Clearwater Twp. and Lynden Twp. are ongoing, despite the jurisdictions agreeing on a formula in January, when they agreed to split the fire department budget based on an average of calls over a five-year period. However, issues about the number and location of calls have resulted in debate about the formula being changed again. The discussions will continue into 2020. 

Clearwater Twp. completed one of its biggest road projects ever in 2019. After being awarded a $750,000 state grant, the township, in conjunction with Silver Creek Twp.,  paved a section of 150th Street from Ferman Ave. to Grover Ave. The project was completed in late summer.

Clearwater Cast of Characters put on another successful dinner theatre in March and April 2019. The play, Fools, written by production of Neil Simon. It was a hit under first-time director Andrew Kinzer.

There was a big change in Clearwater Heritage Days in 2019. For the first time in its history, the celebration wasn’t held at the shopping plaza. The event was moved downtown instead. The Friday evening parade began near Riverside Park, continued along  Main Street and finished near the entrance to Clearwater Estates.

All the Friday evening activities and the craft and vendor sale on Saturday took place in the Driftwood Golf course parking area. Except for some parking issues, the event went smoothly.

In October, City Administrator Kevin Kress announced he would be leaving in late November after accepting a position in North Oaks.

In the following weeks, members of the city council and an interview panel narrowed down a list of 10 applicants to two. In December, they hired Annita Smythe to fill the vacated position. Smythe, the city administrator of Cokato, begins Jan. 13. Until then, Liz Lindrud, who was hired as Clearwater’s financial advisor, is serving as interim administrator.

Also in December, the Clearwater Planning Commission reviewed a plan for a 52-unit apartment building to be built on Main Street at Clearwater Estates.

At its last regular meeting of the year, the city council approved an 8.48% levy increase for 2020.

In the upcoming year, Clearwater could be dealing with a number of major projects, including a new watermain under I-94, a stormwater system along Co. Rd. 75 and the purchase of a new fire engine at a cost of about $800,000.

Wright County

It was also a year for some changes in Wright County. Sean Deringer took over as the new county sheriff after edging Mike Kaczmarek by just over 1,000 votes in the 2018 election.

In March, the Wright County Board approved an amendment to the county’s Water Surface Use ordinance regarding mandatory inspections of watercraft. The change would have expanded mandatory watercraft testing to add Bass, Cedar, Granite, Moose, Maple and Sugar lakes to the list that already included East and West Lake Sylvia, Lake John and Pleasant Lake. But the DNR denied the change, and as a result, the ordinance requiring mandatory inspections was repealed.

In May, the commissioners approved a $60 million bond to pay for a new government center, citing the need for more space for expansion, inefficiencies with the current setup and potential major expenditures to keep the existing building operational.

In December, the 2020 Wright County budget was set at $160,944,532, an increase of 9.32%. The levy was set at $78,582,512 an increase of 6.69% over the 2019 levy.