Minutes Of The January 11, 2010 Town Council Meeting
The regular meeting of the Town Council of Clear Lake, Indiana was held at the
town hall on Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 7:00 pm. Present were Council Members
Bob Lewis, Sue Williams, Barry Worl and Alan Korte. Also present were Town
Manager, Bob Hull, Zoning Administrator, Bruce Snyder and Town Attorney, Neal
Blythe. There were 11 citizens who signed the quest register.
Prior to calling the meeting to order, President Bob Lewis asked those present
for a moment of silence in which to remember Robert Troll, former president of
the town council who lost his life on January 8th, 2010 in a car accident.
President, Bob Lewis then asked for nominations from the Council members for the
position of President. Sue Williams nominated Bob Lewis, Barry Worl seconded all
in favor and Bob Lewis was elected to serve as President for 2010.
President Bob Lewis also asked for nominations for the position of
Vice-President on the Town Council. Alan Korte nominated George Schenkel to the
position of Vice-President, seconded by Sue Williams, all in favor and George
was elected Vice-President for 2010.
President Bob Lewis called the meeting to order by asking everyone to stand and
repeat the Pledge of Allegiance.
President, Bob Lewis thanked the members for serving on the Council and talked
about the time that the members serve on the Plan Commission, Public Works Board
and the Water Quality Committee. Barry & George also work with the
Clerk-Treasurer on the Budget and Financial end of town government. He also
thanked Bob Hull for being diligent with town matters.
A brief outline of the minutes from the December 14th meeting was given. Bob
Lewis asked for a motion to approve the minutes as presented. The motion was
made by Sue Williams to accept the minutes as presented, seconded by Alan Korte,
all in favor and the motion passed.
Financial report was given by the Clerk-Treasurer for the month of December
stating the beginning and ending balances for cash and investments, receipts and
disbursements for the General Fund, Garbage Fund and Sewer Fund. This report is
attached to the minutes.
Vouchers for the month of December were as follows for the following funds:
General Fund $51,911.97
Garbage Fund 8,963.56
Sewer Fund 224,166.03
Total Amount of Vouchers $285,041.56
Warrants to be approved totaled $6,805.00
A motion was made by Barry Worl to approve the Financial Report, vouchers, and
warrants to be paid, seconded by Sue Williams, all in favor and the motion
passed.
REPORTS:
MARSHAL’S AND FIRE DEPARTMENT: There was no report from the Marshal
at this time. Barry Worl.
Barry also reported that the Fremont Fire
Department made 29 calls for the month of December, one of them in the Town of
Clear Lake and two in Clear Lake Twp.
ZONING ADMINISTRATOR:
Bruce Snyder reported for the month of December
there was 1 Improvement Location Permit issued, one Stop Work Order was issued
on the ILP for a fence and the issue was resolved and the order lifted. Another
stop work order was issued with no resolution at this time. This report is
attached to the minutes.
TOWN MANAGER:
Bob Hull reported that the month has been spent
rebuilding grinder pumps that were found defective last fall. He is also working
on a contingency plan if the systems has a major failure.
Bob also reported a damaged tire due to landscape
rocks being covered with snow. He suggested marking rocks with reflective
markers. The salt barn is finished, waiting for the concrete to cure before
filling with sand and salt. To date the town has used 4 ½ tons of salt and about
10 tons of sand. This report is attached to the minutes.
BILLING CLERK:
There are two claims to file in Small Claims if
payment is not received by January 29, 2010.
There are two additional liens to be filed with
the Steuben County Recorder if payment is not received by January 19th. Payment
has been received from the Steuben County Treasurer totaling $12,107.74 of which
$2,556.37 was for fines and penalties.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
LITIGATION:
Judge Brown in Lagrange County has continued the
case regarding the Zoning Administrator’s decision on the fence case be
continued until June giving the Hoagland Family Limited Partnership’s new
attorney time to review the case.
Judge Wheat has order survey’s be provided by the
Hoagland Family Limited Partnership for the case of imminent domain over the
sewer with Hunt, Sudhoff. Surveys for that case are being made.
Certified letters were presented for the
President’s signature and were to be mailed January 12, 2010 to the owners of
the five properties not hooked-up to the town’s sewer system.
NEW BUSINESS:
NEW APPOINTMENTS:
PLAN COMMISSION: New appointees to the plan
commission were Mike Long and Emma Brown replacing retiring members Gerald
McArdle and Rick Behnfeld.
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS: Beginning a second term
is Jon Fitzenrider.
President, Bob Lewis asked for a motion to approve the new members
of the Plan Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals. A motion was made by
Alan Korte to accept the appointments of Mike Long and Emma Brown to the Plan
Commission and Jon Fitzenrider to the Board of Zoning Appeals, Sue Williams
seconded, all in favor the motion passed.
ORDINANCE 2010-01: 1ST READING – AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CLEAR LAKE
ORDINANCE 2009-08. Bob Lewis read the ordinance in its entirety and asked for a
motion to pass on the 1st reading. A motion was made by Alan Korte to accept
ordinance 2010-01 on the 1st reading, seconded by Sue Williams, all in favor and
the motion passed.
FIRE PROTECTION CONTRACT: Barry Worl negotiated a new annual fire
protection contract with the Town of Fremont for 2010 for $22,700, an increase
of $232 over the 2009 contract. Contract attached to these minutes.
A YEAR IN REVIEW: Bob Lewis gave a review of the changes in town
government for 2009. The Clerk-Treasurer, Virginia Nye retired the end of May
with Kay Kummer filling the vacated position. Larry Armstrong resigned in May
due to health issues and his position of Councilman representing Ward 3 was
filled by Alan Korte.
The island purchase was completed leaving $77,000
for the island management fund.
The Town Council continues to work with the
County Commissioners on the Public Beach and the town is looking to rezone the
Beach from commercial to Public Park.
CPR training was offered to the town residents by
the American Red Cross through a grant and they will be offering it again in
2010.
The Husselman-Trumbell property known as the
Hanna Nature Preserve has been transferred to the Clear Lake Land Conservancy
with two more small properties in the process.
The deer hunt supervised by the DNR within the
city limits eliminated 13 deer from our population.
In the past year the town passed three
Resolutions and 13 Ordinances which included one for Golf Carts and the new
Unified Development Ordinance and amendments.
A maintenance agreement was also signed with
Ground Rules, Inc. for maintenance needed on the new UDO in 2010.
LOOKING FORWARD TO 2010: Bob Lewis stated that now that the new
Unified Development Ordinance has been adopted the ordinances for the town will
need to be codified.
The town will continue to keep the lines of
communication open with the County commissioners regarding the Public Beach.
Discussion also needs to continue on how to improve the conditions at the Public
Beach.
The town will be continuing discussions with the
Fremont Fire Department to determine the location of more dry hydrants around
the lake. The hydrants would also be available for the Fremont Fire Department
to get water to fight fires not on the lake.
Infrastructure in the town will continue to
improve with additional paving of public streets when funds and weather permits.
Consideration will also be made for another
supervised deer hunt with the DNR.
Hopefully in 2010 the state will allow Clear
Lake to enforce the ban on phosphors in our community.
THE WATER QUALITY COMMITTEE: headed by Annie Skinner, has been
working tirelessly with the Davey Group out of Fort Wayne to improve the water
quality of Clear Lake by studying the watershed. They are working with the land
owners and planning educational meetings in the community. A 3-fold brochure is
also being prepared. Annie is also working on another grant for construction
once the feasibly study is complete and property owners have agreed to land use.
CLEAR LAKE HERITAGE: The Clear Lake Heritage Committee chaired by
Bonnie Brown has organized and worked many hours to put together a history book
of Clear Lake.
They have raised $57,000 including 47 Family sponsors, have presales of 450
books and the number of pages has gone from 192 to 250. The manuscript has gone
to the publishers and will be ready for pick-up or sale by Memorial Day
week-end.
KNEE-HI NATURALISTS: This program will continue for the summer of
2010 with meeting dates to be announced at a later date.
TOXIC ALGAE: Continues to be a problem in our lake and efforts need
to be increased in educating property owners about what causes the problem and
how to help prevent it. Leaves put into the lake and wetlands around the lake
are the main cause of the toxic algae.
COMMENTS FROM THE ATTENDEES:
Emma Brown asked attorney, Neal Blythe to read the letter that
would be going out to property owners who are not hooked-up to the town’s sewer
system. Emma also asked about the Neighborhood Watch program that the Clear Lake
Association had contributed to in 2008 and thanked the members who have
stepped-up to serve the town.
Emma reported that Judy Troll was home after the accident.
There being no further business or comments, at 7:45 p.m. Bob Lewis asked for a
motion to adjourn the meeting. A motion was made by Alan Korte, seconded by
Barry Worl, all in favor and the meeting was adjourned.
Robert E. Lewis, Council President
Kay A. Kummer, Clerk-Treasurer