The Clear Lake City Council, on Monday, April 1, heard a brief review of the amended Fiscal Year 2024 and the proposed Fiscal Year 2025 municipal budgets. A date for public hearing was set for April 15, in which the budgets will be adopted. The Council also discussed the City of Clear Lake & North Iowa Joint Comprehensive Plan and the bid letting for the Surf District Music Enrichment and Interpretive Center.
The proposed City of Clear Lake & North Iowa Joint Comprehensive Plan represents more than a year’s worth of gathered public input by community stakeholders. The plan reflects a vision for the community for the next 15-20 years. City administrator Scott Flory said that they worked in partnership with Cerro Gordo County as well as the City of Mason City and while the plan involves a sense of community outreach, each individual entity does have their own specific plan they will use to guide decisions about land use, transportation, public spaces, and more.
After hearing a recommendation from Planning & Zoning official Mike Ritter and Charlie Cowell from RDG, a Des Moines-based planning consultant, the Council adopted the Comprehensive Plan. The final form will be posted to the City’s web site.
A public hearing was held to hear any comments about the Surf District Music Enrichment and Interpretive Center (MEIC) plans and then the Council approved the specifications, form of contract, and estimate of cost for the project. Bid letting for the MEIC was held on March 28. Flory said that out of 72 prequalified bidders they received 42 bids on the 16 individual trade packages. To give the Council more time to go through the bids the awarding of contracts was tabled until the April 15 meeting.
Groundbreaking for the two-story facility, to be located directly west of the existing Surf Ballroom on North Shore Drive, is expected to take place on April 17, the same date that the original Surf Ballroom broke ground in 1933. The MEIC building will be the hub and starting point for a comprehensive multi-building historical tour outlining the history of the National Historic Landmark Surf Ballroom and the Surf District. The new MEIC will be approximately 10,400 sq. ft. and the estimated cost of construction is roughly $5.2 million.
Last, but not least, Police Chief Mike Colby announced that Patrol Officer Jeremy Bossard had been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant for the Clear Lake Police Department. Mayor Pro-Tem Bennett Smith administered the Oath of Office and Bossard’s wife, Elaine, pinned on his new badge of honor.
