Hugo had hoped to give a Powerpoint presentation, but her equipment was not working so she gave it orally. Hugo, a resource conservationist with the Sherburne County Soil and Water Conservation District (SCSWCD), said she has been working with five other Sherburne County communities (Becker, big Lake, Elk River, Princeton and Zimmerman) and was hoping she could get the same cooperation from Clear Lake in focussing efforts to assess, manage and plan for the urban forest resources in Sherburne County.

 

The program was started in 2012, stimulated by the impending threat of the Emerald Ash Borer.

 

Hugo said -  if the city were to come on board - she would need to assemble volunteers to do field work and log information on every tree species on every lot of land, both public and private. She would also need to have the city prepare a plan for removal of affected ash trees and their replacement and provide bare root stock for each community on an annual basis.

 

Bud Stimmler and Terrance VanderEyk were at Wednesday’s meeting to give Hugo support and tell of their experiences as volunteers for their communities.

Council discussed the program following Hugo’s presentation and told her they were all in support of it. Hugo said she’d like to get started right away and will work with the city to assemble volunteers and coordinate a plan for 2014.

 

 

Connie Netter, president  of Electrical Builders, Inc. in Clear Lake, briefed council on a recent water bill she received from the city. Netter said the bill totalled $608.71 and was the result of a broken indoors water meter at a building she owned that is currently unoccupied. Netter said 28,000 gallons of water flowed from the pipes and she was asking the city if she could get a break on her bill in some way.

 

Because the water break occurred inside the building and the water drained into the city’s sewer system, Member Dale Powers said it would be hard for the city to forgive the sewer part of the bill but suggested the city forgive half of the amount and just charge Netter $304.36.

 

Council concurred.

 

 

Maintenance Supervisor Dustin Luhning said a valve broke at the intersection of Hwy. 10 and 24 and needs to be repaired soon. Luhning said he is currently working on getting estimates for the repairs and hopes to have a proposal ready by next month’s city council meeting.

 

Luhning pointed out the repair work would probably be done overnight to limit disruption to road traffic.

 

 

• No changes were established for the city’s annual designations as well as the special event permit process;

 

• A $50 impound fee (up from $35) for stray animals was the only change on the city fee schedule for 2014;

 

• Connie Auchman and Dale Powers were selected as members of the personnel committee;

 

• A special workshop was slated for Jan. 22 at 5:30 p.m. to talk about the process and steps to take to schedule and fund a new well for the city.

 

The next Clear Lake City Council meeting is Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.