April programs at the CW Library

Box 276, 29 Lake Street South, Big Lake, Minnesota 55309 Phone (320) 558-2037

Web Address: clearwatertribune.net

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Volume 28, Number 15Friday, April 10, 2015

Use our convenient drop box at Coborns Grocery.

Deadline for pickup is Tues., at 12 noon

Remember to Recycle - New Date:April 15, 2015

Council awards bid; lowers assessmentsBy Ken Francis

Staff WriterThe Clearwater City

Council accomplishedthree necessary goalsregarding the North AreaReconstruction Projectduring Mondays councilmeeting.They amended the citys

special assessment policy.They awarded the bid to dothe project, and they passeda resolution for the sale of$2,555,000 in GeneralObligation Improvementsbonds to finance the proj-ect.Amending the citys spe-

cial assessment policy wasthe first step after someresidents had taken issuewith the councils intent toaward the bid last meetingwithout knowing howmuch they would be pay-ing in assessments.Council had already

agreed they would use gen-eral fund money and waterutility funding to supple-ment the cost and reducethe assessments from 48%to approximately 22% ofthe project cost. That, andthe fact that bids had comein well under the engi-neers estimate promptedthe council to move quick-ly to award the bid.But at the last meeting in

March, resident DanNiehoff told the councilthat according to the citysassessment policy, theycouldnt award the biduntil the assessments weredetermined.After a discussion, the

council agreed to table thebid vote until they could

get an opinion whetherthey could award the bid orwere required to changethe policy first.Monday, Administrator-

In-Training Kevin Kresssaid he had contacted theLeague of MinnesotaCities.I asked them do you

have to hold the assess-ment hearing and have theassessments ready beforeyou award the bid, hesaid, and they said gener-ally speaking no, becausewe can amend the specialassessment policy as wesee fit.

PolicyKress presented the

council with a clause in theassessment policy that sup-ported that opinion.

The assessment policy isintended to serve as aguide for a systematicassessment process in thecity. There may be excep-tions to the policy orunique circumstances orsituations which mayrequire special considera-tion and discretion by citystaff and the city council.Mayor Pete Edmonson

acknowledged the councilhad the authority to moveahead with the bid andamend the policy later.So we could walk

through with awarding abid, amending our assess-ments and if by some cir-cumstance, they could beadjusted once again later,he said.Niehoff said he felt it

was still better to amendthe policy first.I would like to encour-

age you to keep this (poli-cy) ahead of the awardingof the bid so the residentsknow how much theyrepaying before this processgoes so far, he said. Thesooner you get that tothem, the sooner you canput out some of these fires,instead of having angrypeople through the wholeproject until you decidewhen you want to let themknow how much theassessments are.Edmonson said he

understood Niehoffs con-cerns. I certainly agree withyou, he said. Were look-ing to get the informationout just as we have in thepast here sooner rather thanlater.At that point the council

had the option of awardingthe bid first or amendingthe assessment policy.Kress recommended

changing the policy first.Actually, Id like to see

the special assessment pol-icy motion go first, hesaid. I think by having ourassessment policy changedto the 22% it allows us todo that, to give those num-bers to the public moreefficiently. Councilman Rollie

Lange said he thought thecouncil did as well as theycould to reduce assess-ments. We had to charge a min-

imum of 20%, he said.Were only two pointsover the minimum, so Ithink the motion is veryfair for our taxpayers.The council voted unani-

Cheers for thehometown kids

Book saleat Librarythis week

City wont vacatepart of Bluff Street

THE EASTER BUNNY WAS WAY BEHIND schedule, so it made afew adjustments last week to speed up its visit to Clearwater. (SubmittedPhoto.)

The Clearwater AreaFriends of the Librarybookstore, Chapter Two,will celebrate LibraryWeek, April 13-18, with abook sale during libraryhours. Our shelves need some

spring cleaning as theyhave runneth over.Paperbacks will be pricedat 5/$1, hardbounds at $2,and childrens at 25 cents.Paperbacks will be dis-

played on tables behind thechildrens area. All otherswill also be for sale in theChapter Two Bookstorelocated at the rear of thelibrary. All proceeds are used to

enhance your library expe-rience.

mously to change the poli-cy to charge assessments at22% of the project cost,plus two percent over thebond interest rate to coverthe bond issuance costs.

The BidThen the council voted

to award the bid for theproject to R.L. LarsonExcavating of St. Cloud at$2,043,427. That amountwas well below the engi-neers estimate of $2.8million. However, withengineering costs andbond issuance costs plusinterest, the total bond thecouncil approved was

$2,555,000 still about$300,000 less that the proj-ect might have cost.The $2,555,000 General

Obligation Bonds will be20-year term with an aver-age interest rate of 2.97%.Monte Eastvold of

Northland Securities saidthe sale date for the bondsis May 4.

Between now and May4, the underwriting com-munity will be alerted thatyou have a bond sale pend-ing. Theyll be preparingbids and submitting bidson May 4, he said. Thenit will come back to thecouncil and you award thebid to the lowest bidder.Bids Continued On Page 2

By Ken FrancisStaff Writer

Members of theClearwater City Councilagreed Monday it was notin anyones best interest tovacate the portion of BluffStreet between Ash andElm streets.During the last council

meeting in March, a num-ber of residents made thesuggestion to vacate thestreet because it was notfrequently used and wasvery narrow.But after researching the

proposal and meeting withresidents at the site,Administrator-In-TrainingKevin Kress and Interim

Administrator Derus rec-ommended the street is nota candidate for vacation fora few reasons:* There are five drive-

ways in the area servingthe properties between Ashand Elm* Vacating the street

would land-lock at leastone property;* The street offers addi-

tional access for parkingfor an apartment buildingand emergency vehicles;* It is a through street;* There is a historic

church on that segment ofBluff Street.Members of the council

Bluff Continued On Page 2

I know there are a lot ofcollege basketball fans inMinnesota who were dis-appointed that Wisconsinlost in the NCAAChampionship game toDuke Monday night.I wasnt one of them.Its not that I have any-

thing against the Badgers.In fact, if they played any-one else in the finals Iwould probably have beenrooting for them.But Im a Duke fan. I have been since the late

70s when one of the play-ers on my high school bas-ketball team was recruitedby Duke.His name was Jim

Spanarkel, and for thosewho watched some of theMarch Madness games, hewas one of the sports ana-lysts.He was our high school

(Hudson Catholic) all-timepoint scorer. He won theDuke MVP in 1977-78-79and was the schools first2,000 point scorer. He wasinducted into Dukes Hallof Fame in 1990.He was selected in the

first round of the 1979draft by the Philadelphia76ers and was traded to theDallas Mavericks in 1980and played there for fiveyears.

He was the first player Iknew personally from myhometown, Jersey City, tobecome a nationallyknown college player. Andit paved the way for otherplayers in Jersey City to berecognized and recruitedlater.Bobby Hurley, another

high school standout fromSt. Anthonys in JerseyCity, was recruited byDuke Head Coach MikeKrzyzewski and playedpoint guard for the BlueDevils from 1989-1993.He helped the team to

the Final Four three timesand helped lead the BlueDevils to back-to-backnational championships in1991 and 1992 with AllAmerican teammatesChristian Laettner andGrant Hill, earning FinalFour Most OutstandingPlayer honors in 1992.Hurley remains the NCAAall-time assists leader with1,076 assists.I remember going to a

few of our high school bas-ketball games. At the time ICheers Continued On Page 2

KenFrancis

By David Hannula,Contributing WriterThe Clearwater Public

Librarys book club foradults and teens will meetWed., April 15 from 6:30to 8 p.m. Call the library at320-558-6001 to find outwhat the months read is,and join the group to enjoyconversations about books.All newcomers are alwayswelcome.Teens and kids of all

ages are invited to a pro-gram presented by Brucethe Bug Guy at the librarySat., April 18 from 10:30to 11:30 a.m. Bruce has adoctorate in entomologyand is a former universityinstructor. He enjoysteaching children aboutinsects in ways that are funand non-threatening. Hisprograms include displaysof unusual and spectacularinsects from around theworld as well as a varietyof live insects, spiders andother bugs. Attendance islimited and pre-registra-

tion is required. This pro-gram is funded in part withmoney from MinnesotasArts and Cultural HeritageFund.The library is offering aPreschool Storytime forchildren aged three to sixon Tue., April 21 from 11to 11:30 a.m. The programbuilds kindergarten readi-

ness by promoting early lit-eracy skills.The library Memory

Writers Group for adultswill meet on Thurs., April23 from 10 to 11:30 a.m.Local author Linda Mariewill facilitate the group toinspire the recording of lifestories. Writing experienceis not required.

For additional informa-tion, contact theClearwater Public Libraryat 320-558-6001.Clearwater Public

Library hours are: Mon.,closed; Tues., 10 a.m. to 1p.m. and 3-6 p.m.; Wed., 3-8 p.m.; Thur., 10 a.m. to 1p.m.; Fri., 3-6 p.m. andSat., 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.