Two resolutions, an ordinance, insurance renewal, budget and a road gap study were a few of the items discussed at Tuesday’s Clear Lake City Council meeting.

 

Ron Mumm of Liberty Insurance ran through the city’s annual insurance renewal policy for Aug. 6, 2015 through Aug. 6 of 2016.

 

Mumm said the only changes in the policy were changes to the Tort liability limit depicting an extra half million dollars of coverage for the city for an extra $14 a month.

 

Council reviewed the policy and voted to approve.

 

Tom Dumont of MnDOT was on hand and was prepared to discuss the findings for the Hwy. 10 and Hwy. 24 gap study — but Dumont said the case is still with officials in St. Paul as of Tuesday.

 

“They have the whole case there and hopefully we’ll get the report back soon so I can present it to you,” he said.

 

The study’s focus was on the no-turn-on-red issue at Hwy. 10 and 24. The sheriff’s department said they had monitored the intersection and noticed people were either ignoring the posted sign or weren’t seeing it.

 

Maintenance Supervisor Dustin Luhning said he noticed a larger sign was now posted.

 

Dumont apologized again for not having more information and said, “I’m terribly disappointed for not being able to discuss it since I don’t have the data right now.”

 

Claudia Dumont (Tom’s wife and MNDOT project manager), handed out a preliminary drawing of a proposed quiet zone for the railroad crossing on Hwy. 24. Dumont said in order for the quiet zone to be installed at a future date, the medians need to be extended to eliminate any crossover.

 

The median would be six-feet wide with a six-inch curb and 24-inch gutter with “sidewalk” connected to existing storm sewer.

 

The approximate cost  would be $50,000 with the anticipation of MnDOT reusing the existing stop arms. Clerk Mechtel said she is not aware of any costs for the project coming back to the city since MnDOT has extra funding for it.

 

Dumont mentioned the project could get done by late this fall or early spring, depending on what council wanted to do.

 

Council suggested they just do the medians this year and focus on finishing the crossing at a later time to complete the quiet zone.

 

Member Dale Powers brought forth a potential ordinance to deal with any possible conflict of interest situations that may arise through elected officials.

 

Powers said if council agrees on adopting an ordinance, he suggested it be reviewed by the city attorney before discussing further.

 

Member Connie Achman said that since the city already has a Code of Conduct policy, she didn’t feel it was necessary to adopt an ordinance.

 

“I don’t feel we need any more legislation on this,” she said.

 

Claudia Page agreed with Achman, saying “the code of conduct policy was enough.”

 

Mayor Tim Goenner agreed and the matter was dropped. (Member Bob Arnold was not in attendance).

 

At the last budget workshop for the City of Clear Lake, council reviewed the 2016 proposed budget and levy and decided to accept the five percent tax levy increase.

 

Tuesday, all council members concurred with the increase noting that after their approval, the levy increase can only go down and not up from this day forward.

 

The tax levy increase of five percent means the levy would increase from $321,991 to $337,485.89.

 

A public hearing on the budget and levy is scheduled for December.

 

Luhning said all is well at public works and he said he and staff are moving ahead with well water testing. He also said he and Engineer Keith Yapp have been evaluating a map of the city to determine where they could locate a new well and pump house.

 

Luhning  passed out an aerial map showing the city’s existing wells and made a few suggestions on where he would prefer to site the new well. He said he would need at least a 100-foot lot to accommodate the well and pump house.

 

• Member Powers asked Clerk Mechtel if it was possible for council to see a financial statement and a “year-to-date” accounting of the budget on a quarterly basis. Mechtel said “yes,” it could be done;

 

• Member Powers reminded people there will be a Job Growth & Energy Affordability Policy and Finance meeting at the Becker Community Center Sept. 21;

 

• Member Powers said there will be a League of Minnesota Cities regional meeting at Becker City Hall Oct. 22 and he would like to attend. Clerk Mechtel said she was already signed up and Mayor Goenner approved Power’s request;

 

• Powers suggested council organize a workshop to discuss what direction and skill sets are necessary for city staff and to allow a moderator to give input. All council members agreed it was a good idea but before moving forward, they all wanted to get Arnold’s input on the idea before scheduling it;

 

• Resolution #2015-07 for unpaid fire call charges was approved;

 

• Resolution #2015-08 for unpaid sewer charges was approved;

 

• The sheriff’s department said they took in 46 calls for service from the City of Clear Lake last month which included 14 traffic calls, one trespassing, one shooting complaint and one break-in. 

 

The next Clear Lake City Council meeting is Oct. 5 at 7 p.m.