Severe weather cancelled the Clearwater City Council meeting Tuesday evening.

 

There was a tornado watch along the I-94 corridor from late afternoon through 9 p.m.

 

The storm didn’t do any damage in Clearwater other than cause some power outages. But it caused flooding, downed trees and major traffic headaches further east. An estimated 70,000 homes were without power from high winds, heavy rain and hail.

 

Clearwater City Administrator Kevin Kress said the meeting was called at about 5 p.m.

 

“A couple of council members were worried about the weather,” he said. “So I just cancelled it.”

 

One item on the agenda was a discussion on changing the driveways within the North Area Street Project. Last month, members of the council agreed they wanted to talk about the cost. They even considered calling a special meeting just to keep the project moving. But Kress said they decided against it.

 

“It didn’t make sense to call a meeting just for that,” he said. “It would have saved us about a week.”

 

That discussion would have taken place Tuesday. But now it will have to  wait another two weeks.

 

Kress said a representative from Bolton & Menk was scheduled to be present Tuesday for the discussion. That was another reason to cancel the meeting.

 

“He was kind of far away,” he said. “We don’t want him driving in that storm and not be able to make it.”

 

Kress said, generally, a meeting isn’t cancelled because of weather.

 

It’s only the second time in the last 15 years a meeting was cancelled for weather reasons. A meeting was cancelled Jan. 6, 2014 when temperatures dipped to 28 below and the wind chill reached in the minus 50s. Members of the council felt no one would show up for a discussion about the upcoming North Area Street project.

 

The next council meeting is set for July 18.