TOWN OF CLEAR LAKE
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
September 9, 2002
Present: Robert Troll, President, Town Council; Emma Brown, Council Member;
Derold Covell, Council Member; Frank Nye, Clerk/Treasurer; Virginia Nye,
Deputy Clerk/Treasurer; Richard Lehman, Town Marshal; Don Stuckey, Town
Attorney
The regular meeting of the Town Council of Clear Lake was called to order
by Bob Troll at 7:01 PM.
The clerk read the minutes of the August 12, 2002 Regular Council meeting.
The on-hand balances as of the end of August 31, 2002 were; General Fund
balance $541,863.07; the Garbage Fund balance $80,030.68; Certificate of
Deposit, balance $93,996.11. New items in the Financial Report will be the
Sewer Escrow Account, presently at $74,758.25, and Wastewater Works Project
Budget, presently at $3,520,000; the Wastewater Works Project Costs, to Date
presently at $1,617,579. This leaves a balance of $1,902,421 in the Wastewater
Works Project Budget. Derold Covell moved approval, Emma Brown seconded and
the motion passed. The Journal Voucher and the Accounts Payable Register were
available for all to read.
The Marshal read his report for the period of August 12, 2002 to September
9, 2002. Derold Covell moved approval, Emma Brown seconded and the motion
passed.
VOUCHER APPROVAL
A) Voucher # 8463, Richard Lehman, for hotel and per-diem, at a workshop
for disarming explosive devices, $370.00; Derold Covell moved approval, Emma
Brown seconded and the motion passed.
B) Voucher #8482, Donald Stuckey, legal work, $584.69, Derold Covell moved
approval, Emma Brown seconded and the motion passed.
C) Voucher #8487 Midwest Utilities, August billing expenses $664.00, Emma
Brown moved approval, Derold Covell seconded and the motion passed.
In the absence of Mark Sullivan, Bob read disbursement requests from
Commonwealth Engineers; Request #17 to Commonwealth Engineers for $29,455;
Derold Covell moved approval, Emma Brown seconded and the motion passed; #18
Retainage $4,902; Emma Brown moved approval, Derold Covell seconded and the
motion passed; #19 to Geiger Excavating $496,172; Derold Covell moved
approval, Emma Brown seconded and the motion passed.
OLD BUSINESS
Bob read salary ordinances for the year 2003 as follows; #279, salaries for
public officials of the Town; Derold Covell moved approval, Emma Brown
seconded and the motion passed; #280, for the salary of the Clerk/Treasurer;
Emma Brown moved approval, Derold Covell seconded and the motion passed; #281,
salary for the Town Marshal; Derold Covell moved approval, Emma Brown seconded
and the motion passed; #282, salary for the Zoning Inspector, Emma Brown moved
approval, Derold Covell seconded and the motion passed.
Bob also read ordinance #283, which is a rate change ordinance; Derold
Covell moved approval, Emma Brown seconded and the motion passed.
At this time the motion was made to suspend the rules and read the second
and third readings of the ordinance by titles only, Emma Brown moved approval,
Derold Covell seconded and the motion passed; the second and third readings of
the ordinance were by titles only, Derold Covell
moved approval, Emma Brown seconded and the motion passed.
Bob read the proposed Fire Contract with the Fremont Volunteer Fire
Department for the year of 2003; Derold Covell moved approval, Emma Brown
seconded and the motion passed.
Bob opened the time period for comment on the proposed new bridge between
Clear Lake and Round Lake. He recognized Joan Eckstein as the “Opponent to the
bridge” speaker. Her remarks are attached as an addendum to these minutes, at
her request. Bob then recognized Terry Cornelius as the “Proponent for the
bridge”. He did not request that his remarks be included in the minutes.
Bob also recognized Dan Hoagland for his remarks on “Transportation and
Representation”. Dan Hoagland asked the Town Council when, specifically, the
Council would be enlarging the Town Council. The Town will reply at a later
date.
A brief remark by Don Crapo was made complimenting the Town Council on it’s
communication with the citizens.
NEW BUSINESS
There being no additional new business, the motion was made to adjourn at
7:58 PM. Emma Brown moved approval, Derold Covell seconded and the motion
passed.
Respectfully submitted
___________________________
Robert D. Troll, Council President
__________________________
Frank L. Nye, Clerk/Treasurer
NOTE: The entire text of Mrs. Eckstein’s was submitted into the record. A
copy may be obtained by contacting the Clerk/Treasurer at the Clear Lake Town
Hall.
Addendum A; Remarks by Joan Eckstein re; Opposition to the proposed bridge
between Clear Lake and Round Lake:
My name is Joan Eckstein. My maiden name is Spalding. I grew up on Clear
Lake. In fact, it's been almost 50 years that I've spent enjoying this 'jewel'
of the lakes in Indiana. When I returned here in June, I was surprised to
learn that a new bridge was being proposed to replace the culvert between
Clear Lake and Round Lake and that this action had been sanctioned 1 year ago
at the September 10th Town Council meeting. In July, I decided to call each
Town Council member about this. Every one of you told me that the road is
sinking and the culvert is collapsing. The word 'dangerous' was used. I was
also told, 'Isn't it great that the County is going to replace the culvert
with a bridge for us and it won't cost the town of Clear Lake a thing! It's a
done deal and out of our hands'. After mulling this over for a week, I decided
to call the Steuben County Highway department and talk with the project
engineer, David Somerlott. To my surprise, he told me the culvert is not
collapsing. It is filling up with sand. There is no safety issue.
I asked, "Why is this bridge being considered, if there is no need to build
it, in the first place?"
Dave answered, 'Because people want it!'
Tonight, I'm here to tell you that 478 property owners from Clear Lake and
Round Lake are opposed to this bridge and that number is growing. For anyone
to try to dismiss or explain away the opinions of these people on any issue is
not good business. On Tuesday, Sept 3rd, our committee, the 'Concerned
Citizens for Clear Lake and Round Lake', presented a petition to the Steuben
County Commissioners, who are in charge of bridges and culverts, making it
clear that the majority of property owners, your constituency, do not want a
new large bridge. These 478 signatures, which are 84% of the 568 property
owners of record that we contacted, were gathered in only 2 weekends. During
this process, our committee discovered that many people did not know anything
about a new bridge, or if they did have knowledge of it, their information was
limited.
In the search for facts to understand why the culvert needs to be replaced
and the process used to make the decision, we used the following sources:
1. Clear Lake Town Council minutes.
2. Fremont Schools Transportation Department.
3. 50 years of U. S. Geological Survey Lake Level data from the Clear Lake
side of the culvert.
4. Environmental study of Round Lake paid for by our committee. 5. Steuben
County Commissioners.
6. Tape recordings of Steuben County Commissioners meetings from October 2001
until the present.
7. Steuben County Highway files.
8. The County engineer in charge of highways, bridges, culverts, etc.
9. Historical records at the Angola Public Library.
The facts are as follows:
Clear Lake is a public lake with public access.
Round Lake has a highly diverse and high quality natural environmental
system with an extensive 'vegetated' shoreline that occupies more than 95% of
the area. This vegetated shoreline maintains high water quality and is rare in
our area because it is part of a 'developed' lake. The proposed additional new
development on Round Lake will impact this delicate balance between home
owners and the environment in the long term.
The culvert between Clear Lake and Round Lake is 1 of 2 in Steuben County,
that is rated in the 'best' condition.
The culvert, like all structures, has deteriorated some since its original
installation (e.g. like shingles on a roof).
The culvert is filling up with sand.
The culvert is not collapsing.
It does not pose any danger, nor does the road above it pose any danger.
There is no Fremont school bus that travels the 'narrow' road over this
culvert. However, school buses do travel across the other 2 culverts on Clear
Lake, one of which should have been replaced last year. Yet no one at the Town
or County level has a plan to replace it!
The culvert is a safe structure with another estimated 10 years of
remaining life.
The culvert is performing its intended objective of flood control.
The culvert has provided access for small watercraft between the 2 lakes,
back and forth since 1986.
Since there is no demonstrated need to replace the culvert with a new large
bridge doing so for the benefit of a few, is a waste of County funds,
especially in this challenging economic climate when Steuben County has to
'tighten' its budget.
The preliminary applications sent by Steuben County for permits from the
DNR, IDEM and the Army Corps of Engineers states that the only reason for a
bridge is to "open a channel between Clear Lake and Round Lake that will allow
small boat traffic to pass between the 2 lakes". There is no mention that the
existing culvert is in need of replacement. In fact, the application to IDEM
(the Indiana Department of Environmental Management) asks for 2 proposed
alternatives to a new bridge. The alternatives given by the County are:
1. Clean sediment from existing culvert and/or replace existing culvert.
2. Do nothing.
In conclusion, I realize that on September 10th, 2001, the Town Council
took a poll of 32 people in attendance. 22 were for a new bridge and 10 were
against. Therefore, you felt you had the majority with you on this issue. Now
you know the opposite is true, that the majority of property owners on Clear
Lake are opposed to a new bridge. With that in mind, I would like to ask the
Town Council for a letter written to me, that I may take to the Steuben County
Commissioners, acknowledging how your constituency now feels about the bridge
issue.
Thank you-
Joan Eckstein; 9/9/02
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