The City of Clear Lake, in conjunction with The Association for the Preservation of Clear Lake, has hired a new watershed coordinator, a new business has opened on Main Street and the City will be looking for people or businesses to lease two of their spaces at the Clear Lake Athletic & Wellness Center, according to a report made at the May 6 City Council meeting, by Jacob Widman, Director of Finance Administrative Services.
Joel Schwichtenberg was hired as the new watershed coordinator.
“We did conduct interviews a couple of weeks back. I was really pleased with the candidates that we had and one of them really jumped out to the interview committee,” said Widman when he announced that Schwichtenberg had accepted the position. Widman said that Schwichtenberg has a strong educational background for this position and has worked in a similar field in Clear Lake for a number of years. He will officially be starting towards the end of July. The interview committee was comprised of Widman, Clear Lake Mayor Nelson Crabb, a couple of individuals from the Association for the Preservation of Clear Lake, and an individual from Ventura.
Margo Underwood with the Association for the Preservation of Clear Lake has said that the coordinator would be key in promoting the vision of the Clear Lake Enhancement and Restoration (CLEAR) Project and would be responsible for community stewardship events such as volunteer events, associated outreach, publicity and administrative duties necessary to ensure program success and grant compliance. The coordinator will be under the direct supervision of the Clear Lake city administrator.
Fizz Co., a new soda and candy treats store has opened its doors at 417 Main Street. Operated by Kayla Nagel, the business had a soft opening on Saturday, May 4. Nagel took advantage of the City’s downtown incubator program, which offers rental subsidies to new businesses to help them get established on Main Street.
The store is a combination soda fountain and candy store, offering plant based energy drinks and unique candies. “Something else that is really neat about their business and their model is they’re going to be working with almost half a dozen other small businesses to offer different things like gluten free treats …and cheesecake from another business,” Widman said. “I think it’ll be a really great asset to the downtown area.” The business is planning to be open year round, six days a week and closed on Tuesdays. The City of Clear Lake has taken a financial hit with the loss of two tenants at their leased spaces at the Wellness Center. One had been leased to Molencamp Physical Therapy for the past few years, but Widman reported that they notified the City this past winter that they weren’t going to have enough staff to maintain that service and their lease ended at the end of February. With no one to fill the space the City is planning to use it for summer camps and then reevaluate the situation in the fall.
The second income loss comes from the closure of the Daily Grind coffee shop. Their last day of operation was May 17. “We are looking for someone to rent the space that The Daily Grind was previously renting. If we do not find a renter, there is a potential for the city to open and run a similar type business in that space,” Widman said. “We’ll just kind of see where the chips fall there. It’s just unfortunate to lose that revenue source, but it could also be a good opportunity for getting something in there that really fits the space well.”
