Even the bitterly cold weather Tuesday night didn’t deter Clear Lake Twp. residents from braving the cold to attend the open house held for the proposed new township hall.

 

Held at the old township hall on Hwy. 24 in Clear Lake, the open house was held so residents could ask questions of and view plans on the new building. The township has been putting money away every year in preparation for the new building since 2013.

 

“The biggest thing we wanted is to be able to do this debt-free,” said Township Supervisor Gary Gray. “We want to build it but still be fiscally responsible to our taxpayers.”

 

Township residents’ taxes will not be going up to fund the new township hall.

 

“It might seem large in comparison to what we have now, but it fits our needs,” said Gray. “Right now, all our employees work from their homes because there’s just no room here.”

 

The main portion of the building will measure 84’ x 40’, and include a main entrance vestibule facing south, council chambers, lobby, administration and clerk counter, record storage area, separate men’s and women’s bathrooms, kitchen/break area and four offices, including one for the Sherburne Co. Sheriff’s Dept.

 

“This will benefit the sheriff’s office, but more importantly, it will benefit the local community,” said Sherburne Co. Sheriff Joel Brott. “People who live locally won’t have to drive so far; we’ll be able to take care of business right here.”

 

The office space will provide the department a more public presence, and deputies will be able to come in to do their paperwork and make phone calls.

“We have office spaces at Palmer and Santiago Twps.,” said Brott. “These partnerships have been great, and I expect this one will be, too.”

 

The new hall, which will be built at the Clear Lake Township Park, has been in consideration since they acquired the land and laid out the trail network. The big parking lot currently in place at the park was put in with the knowledge it could be used for the future building.

 

At the time, zoning restrictions mandated the township wouldn’t be allowed to build on the property, however, it has since been amended to allow them to subdivide and plat a five-acre lot to build on.

 

A conditional use permit to build the township hall has also been approved.

 

The new plat has been titled the Asa White and Isaac Marks plat, after the first two white men in the township who had a trading post near where the new township hall will be build.

 

Because of the history of the area, the township is planning on keeping the décor of the building patriotic and honoring area pioneers.

 

“We’ll take our old history pictures and turn them into framed photos for the walls,” said Township Supervisor Bud Stimmler. “We’re also going to put a mural inside the building sometime in the future.”

 

The township will be looking for a local artist to design and create the mural.

 

There will also be a row of vintage seats from the current township hall’s old balcony that will be placed along a back wall. The building was the original Clear Lake community center.

 

“I was concerned about the initial cost and plan,” said township resident Mike Victor. “The preliminary sketch looked rather extravagant, and I wanted to make sure we’d dialed it back a bit. It [the latest proposal] looks better than the first time. It looks like a reasonable plan with a nice building.”

 

The township’s next steps are to have a working set of prints made up that they’ll be able to get bids off of.

 

“We’ll see where the bids come in,” said Gray. “Hopefully they will be in budget. After that there will be decisions to be made. There’s a lot of questions to be answered at that time.”

 

The township’s goal is to begin building the new hall in the spring of 2020, and after the building is completed to be open at least one day a week for residents to take care of their township business.

 

HMA Architects is the architectural firm that has been working with the township to design the new hall.