Jim Rinken of Andover asked the town board if a variance could be honored to allow his family to split up 40 acres of property his mother owns on Camp Lake.

 

Rinken said the variance is due to the fact the three-way split would not be in compliance with the canopy coverage of 75% required by the DNR. Rinken said the coverage is more like 62%.

 

Chairman Gary Gray wondered if the water is taken into consideration for the coverage and said that if it is, the canopy coverage looks to meet or exceed the 75% requirement.

 

Rinken said the family hopes to keep two of the three split parcels in the family and possible sell the third. He also said there probably won’t be any building done on the properties for another two to five years since one of the interested family members is three years away from returning to the United States.

 

Member Bud Stimmler voted to grant the variance and Joe Goenner seconded. Gray said the board would fill out a comment form for the county planning commission with their reasoning and comments.

 

Stimmler said his committee of seven volunteers met Monday night with Roselyn (Ross) Rezac and Martin Skoro of MartinRoss Design  to talk about the Clear Lake Twp. History Book project.

 

Stimmler said the Minneapolis couple suggested they become the coordinators of the project and suggested the committee nail down a writer or writing team in the near future. Rezac and Skoro passed out some handouts that provided a form the volunteers could possibly use when conducting oral interviews to prospective candidates.

 

The committee plans to meet again June 2 to finalize the questions and decide who is willing to go out and conduct the interviews. Stimmler added the duo of Rezac and Skoro suggested they also consider identifying who might be considered the most notable or famous person to come out of the Clear Lake area from 1840 to the present day. 

 

The committee is also still looking for many other volunteers who may have an interest in being part of putting this history book together.

 

Engineer Terrance VanderEyk said an approach to Goenner Farms at 71st Street that has a steep incline is in need of stabilizing. Eyk said heavy rain and runoff has caused the area to slip into a hazardous situation. He suggested the road to improve the situation.

 

Also on 71st, Eyk said the edges of the bituminous are “starting to slip” and the embankment is faltering. He suggested putting in an equalizing culvert or — for the short term — install more rip-rap for counter balancing.

 

Jeff Rhodes and Eyk said they planned to meet at 71st Street to discuss options and come up with a plan.

 

The parks and trails committee said they are researching the possibility of buying and installing a gigantic boulder in the park that could hold names and dates of people who have served the Town of Clear Lake as a memorial.

 

Stimmler said the trees at the park are sprouting and asked for permission to purchase some flowers (Marigolds) for the park to add some color.

 

Stimmler also said he was notified there is a party interested in possibly having a disc golf course put in at the park in the future. The board discussed and deemed the request outside their scheme of what the park is built for. They then made a motion to proclaim there never be an option to put in a disc golf course at the town park.

 

• The sheriffs department said 78 calls for service came for Clear Lake Twp. in the month of April with 28 being traffic stops;

 

• The fire department recently purchased three new phones at the cost of $2,600 each. They also plan on purchasing two rescue squads in the next two years at a price estimated at $50,000 each;

 

• The library board did not hold a meeting this past month.

 

The next Clear Lake Twp. Board meeting is June 17 at 7 p.m.