Council sets public hearing for Kwik Star

The Clear Lake City Council will hold a public hearing May 18 regarding a development agreement with a Wisconsin-based company who is planning to construct a new convenience store and truck center. 

Kwik Star/Kwik Trip expects to break ground this week on a $10 million project on Highway 122, just east of Interstate 35.

Clear Lake City Administrator Scott Flory told the City Council Monday night Kwik Star/Trip officials have already agreed to a draft of a development agreement which includes the city’s partial funding of a traffic signal at the Highway 122 and Willow Creek/North 32nd Street intersection.  Under the terms of the agreement, the City will contribute up to $250,000 of the estimated $700,000 cost of the traffic signal and Highway 122 reconstruction needed for the project.

“We have been working with Kwik Star/Kwik Trip officials and their consultants for nearly a year now,” said Flory.  The Iowa Department of Transportation has also been involved in planning for the traffic signal.  Dean Snyder Construction, Clear Lake, is handling the design and improvements needed at the intersection where the project will be built.

The City will use a portion of the new taxes created by the development project to pay for its share of the traffic signal improvements.

A company official was on hand at Monday’s Council meeting to answer questions from the Council. 

Brent Dusek, with the company’s civil engineering department, confirmed the new Kwik Star in Clear Lake will be among the company’s largest and most sophisticated stores/truck centers in the three-state area (Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin) they serve.  Total investment in the project is expected to reach $10 million.  

Kwik Star/Kwik Trip employs over 12,000 people at its 450 truck centers and stores company-wide.  The Clear Lake location will employ 30 part-time and full-time employees.

The proposed development agreement specifies the city will pay up to $250,000 for improvements to the intersection and  traffic control device at the intersection of State Highway 122 and Willow Creek Court. Kwik Star would agree to pay traffic signal costs exceeding $250,000, agree to a minimum property tax valuation of $1.5 million and hire and maintain a workforce of 30 employees. 

Dusek explained both the Kwik Star and Kwik Trip names are used for the LaCrosse, Wis. based company.  However, because the Quik Trip name is already being used in Iowa, the company’s stores are known as Kwik Star in Iowa.

The project includes the construction of a new 7,500 square-foot store and center on an approximately 19 acre parcel, of which only 10 acres is proposed for development at this time. The paving improvements would include parking for 50 semi-truck trailer combination vehicles and 68 passenger vehicles.

Construction of the new Kwik Star is expected to be complete in October, 2015.  The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission has already approved the site plan for the development.

The public hearing for the development agreement with Kwik Star/Kwik Trip will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 18, in Council Chambers.