Page 5 - Clear Lake Mirror Reporter E-Edition 12-30-2015

Local NewsPage 5
al YEAR IN REVIEW
from page 1
Clear Lake
0900 the additional funds the district will
need to spend for its own leader.
Clear Lake In another unanimous vote, the
0-606-3552 Board showed its support for con-
tinuing to share its IT and food ser-
Clear Lake vice directors with Mason City in the
757 2016-17 school year. Unlike the su-
perintendent sharing plan, there are
, Clear Lake no state incentive dollars available
88 for sharing IT or food service leaders. Management Authority.” The idea
However, both districts have realized
Lake • 357-8118 savings by making bulk purchases,
according to the boards. The Mason
Shops City School Board voted unanimously
to continue to share IT Director Jason
ore Christenson, however the board chose
A Whole Lot More! to table a decision about food service
0 Hwy. 18 W. director Lora Jenson until its Jan. 18,
Clear Lake 2016 meeting.
1) 357-7117 # 4 New
top cop
s # 6 Voters
Clear Lake Police Lieutenants Paul
., Clear Lake Chizek and Deb Ryg were directed by
17 the City Council to handle day-to-day
duties of the department’s leader as
•High Speed Internet the city prepared to search for a new
•Phone chief of police in January. Mayor Nel-
•Digital Cable TV son Crabb announced the lieutenants
•Business Solutions would share the duties in the wake of
•Wireless Police Chief Rex McChesney’s passing
•Home Security Dec. 26, 2014. McChesney had been
serving as chief since Greg Peterson’s
eet • 357-2111 retirement in January 2014. in August 2014 to fill a vacancy af- They had started the summer as the top
w.cltel.com In July University of Iowa Po-
lice Captain Pete Roth was named as
mation Clear Lake chief of police. Formal ap-
ertising pointment of the City’s new top cop
ge call took place at the Monday, July 6, City
the: Council meeting. The 45-year-old
married father of two was one of three
131 or finalists to be interviewed from the 24
porter.com applicants for the job.
# 5 CLEAR
evolves
In June, the coordinator of the
CLEAR Project suddenly resigned
her position. Mary Jo Burkgren, who
was named to the post in March 2013
after longtime leader David Knoll
stepped down to accept a position
with the Iowa Department of Natural
Resources, left without explanation.
Immediately preceding her depar-
ture, Burkgren posted a message on the
CLEAR Project Facebook page stat-
ing, “After 20 years the CLEAR Proj-
ect has been ended. I want to thank all
the landowners I had the opportunity
to work with and thank you for help-
Townhouses by
Meints Construction
For Sale - Starting Spring 2016
Lexington Drive location
(Behind Apple Valley Assisted Living)
SOLD
For information call
357-4987
ing the lake to become better.” The
message was quickly removed from
the site and Deb Tesar, president of
the Association for the Preservation Ventura City Council as interim mayor.
of Clear Lake (APCL), called the
statement inaccurate. “The coop-
erating entities are all on the same Michael Thackery ran unopposed.
page and committed to the project’s
success,” said Tesar.
In November the Clear Lake
City Council was briefed by Tesar
about the idea of a new “Watershed
would continue the efforts started
by the APCL and the CLEAR Proj-
ect, which was formed in 1995.
Since that time, millions of dollars the first to win State titles in the same
have been spent on various lake
restoration projects, including $12
million on dredging alone. The
City Council has stated its support
for the WMA and is awaiting the re-
sponse of other stakeholders in the
CLEAR Project.
choose
The Clear Lake School Board
welcomed two new members and
the return of an incumbent in Sep-
tember’s school election. Incumbent
Chad Kuhlers and newcomers Dr.
John Brady and Michael Moeller
were unopposed in the election. Jill baseball team. Twice within a week the
Wilhelm and Jon Loge, did not file
for re-election. Loge was appointed
ter Deb Betz resigned.
In November’s Regular City
Election, Jim Boehnke and Mike
Callanan were returned to the Clear
Lake City Council and Mark Ebel-
ing was a 178-119 winner over Rich
Oehlert in the race for Ward One
representative. Dana Brant, the
previous representative for Ward
One, was forced to seek re-election
in Ward Three due to redistricting
created by the most recent census.
The new boundaries for Ward One
placed the one-term incumbent in
a race with another one-term repre-
sentative, Jim Boehnke. Boehnke
was the winner in a tight race, 161- sional football player, had served as an
145. Callanan was running unop-
posed for his at-large seat.
Ventura Mayor Art Tesar sub-
mitted his resignation to the City
Council in January 2015. Tesar,
who was elected in November 2013
was moving out of the Ventura city
limits and into Clear Lake. The
resignation was effective Saturday,
Jan. 31. Tesar was elected Mayor
of Ventura, after 69 votes were cast August, the legendary Surf Ballroom be-
for him as a write-in candidate in
November 2013. There were no
mayoral candidates on the ballot
Dec. 30, 2015
that year after George Simpson chose to
step-down.
Lynn Benson was appointed by the
In November he and incumbent Coun-
cilmen Darwin Avery, John Quintus and
# 7 The
thrill of
victory
It was a successful year for Clear Hundreds cheered as a fire boat was christened and launched on the lake by the Clear
Lake High School sports teams. Lake Fire Department. The boat was named “Bud,” in honor of longtime Clear Lake
In February two Clear Lake wres- firefighter Frankie “Bud” Meyers, father of Diane Holt, who donated the boat with her
tlers made school history by becoming husband, Mark, and Fire Chief Doug Meyers. Bud’s widow, Helen Meyers, helped to
christen the boat.
year. Brennen Doebel and Ryan Leisure
pulled off the feat at Wells Fargo arena.
Doebel did it in exciting fashion, with a
thrilling 3-1 overtime win. Leisure dom- in front of nearly 250 credentialed # 10Major
inated at 126-pounds. media, national broadcast media, and feats
In March the Clear Lake girls bas- people eager to hear their platforms.
ketball team headed to Des Moines to In August, House Republicans
play in the State Basketball Tournament. have selected Rep. Linda Upmeyer
CLHS crowned two spring sports (R-Clear Lake) as the new Speaker Hundreds cheered as a fire boat
state champions. Senior Dane Waldron of the Iowa House, effective at the was christened and launched on the
won the Class 3A boys state golf cham- beginning of the 2016 legislative ses- lake by the Clear Lake Fire Depart-
pionship, while junior Sam Jones won sion. Upmeyer is the first woman to ment. Mark and Diane Holt were
the Class 1A state tennis singles cham- be elected Speaker in the Iowa House. identified as the generous donors who
pionship in Waterloo. Jones finished the She succeeds Rep. Kraig Paulsen (R- provided $275,000 for the boat and
season with a perfect 19-0 record. Hiawatha) who announced he would brass pole at the Clear Lake Fire Sta-
If ever there was a team destined for not seek re-election and his intention tion. The Holts were on hand for a
success, it was the 2015 Clear Lake Lions to resign as Speaker before the 2016 brief social gathering and blessing of
session. Upmeyer, who was first elect- the boat at the station prior to seeing
Lions found themselves down to their ed to the House in 2002, previously the boat ceremoniously launched on
final out, facing the end of their season. served as the House Minority Whip the lake. The boat was named “Bud,”
for two years and most recently the in honor of longtime Clear Lake fire-
rated team in Class 2A and the favorite House Majority Leader since 2011. fighter Frankie “Bud” Meyers, father
to win the North Central Conference ti- of Diane Holt and Fire Chief Doug
tle. Some bumps along the way, includ- Meyers. Bud Meyers served as as-
ing a late season loss to St. Edmonds, sistant fire chief from 1974 until his
dropped them from first to fifth in the retirement from the department in
rankings and dashed NCC title hopes. # 9 Record 1993. He passed away in April 2013.
But in the post-season the Lions simply ice-in? Bud’s widow, Helen Meyers, helped to
refused to give up. Twice in District play christen the boat. And although the
they were down to their last out, trail- act was emotional for her, she flashed
ing in the bottom of the seventh, and a large smile as the launch was cele-
unbelievably pulled out victories. They As December neared its end brated and was among the first to ride
ended the season as State champions. it seemed all but certain that a new on the boat.
A new era in Clear Lake football record for a late “ice-in” date would A food pantry opened in April.
began in the fall, as Jared DeVries took be set. After all, unseasonably warm The United Methodist Church, 508
over head coaching duties for the Class weather had kept Clear Lake ice-free 2nd Ave. N., is the temporary home
2A Lions. DeVries, a former profes- and there was no signs of it letting up. for the new community resource.
The record late ice-in date of Dec. 24, Those in need of help putting food
assistant coach under Fred Wieck, who 2001 was all but on the way out. But on the table have previously had the
retired. DeVries continued Clear Lake’s Mother Nature had other plans. Sat- Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank in Ma-
winning ways, finishing in a tie for the urday, Dec. 19, temperatures dipped son City available to them. However,
district title and qualifying for the play- and the winds, which had seemed to transportation to Mason City could
offs. gust endlessly throughout Novem- be problematic.
ber and December, decided to take a The reconstruction of North
# 8 Political rest. “Ice-in” was declared by officials Shore Drive from Buddy Holly Place
hotbed at the Water Treatment Plant on Sat- to 1st Avenue North was completed
urday, Dec. 19. before the busy summer season. The
For a few hours on Friday night in But wait! According to Paul underground storm sewer, water
Fredriksen, superintendent of the main, and sanitary sewer improve-
came the center of the political universe Water Department, a record may still ments were constructed during the
as the 2015 Iowa Democratic Wing be in our grasp. The lake may open 2014 construction season. The 2015
Ding brought together four of the Dem- up. When the lake does refreeze, that improvements included street paving,
ocratic presidential candidates for stump will then be the official date, he said. sidewalks, driveways, street lighting,
speeches and munching on chicken The freeze, thaw and re-freeze has oc- and landscaping.
wings. Before a packed house of 2,100, curred before, according the Fredrik- Another project spanning two
candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie sen. Records show that in 1987 the years, the remodeling of City Hall,
Sanders, Martin O’Malley, and Lincoln lake opened up on Dec. 12 and 13 be- was also completed by summer. The
Chafee were provided the opportunity fore refreezing on Dec. 14 and 15. In public had a chance to tour the newly
to stand on the stage most often recog- 1988, the lake opened up due to high renovated City Hall building, includ-
nized for its rock and roll history and winds on Nov. 27, before refreezing ing an expanded police department, at
on Nov. 28. In 1994, the lake was a June open house. It was the first time
partially frozen on Dec. 1, but finally in almost 40-years major renovations
froze over on the 10th, he said. had been made at the building. The
project was done without a bond issue
motivate the North Iowa party faithful or borrowing.
The city also welcomed Kwik
Star/Kwik Trip, which broke ground
Optimum Health Chiropractic on a $10 million project on Highway
122, just east of Interstate 35 in May.
Bringing you and your Grand opening of the new store was
family better health and held in October. The Clear Lake proj-
a better way of life. Dr. Nick McColley ect is one of Kwik Star’s largest and
Palmer Graduate most sophisticated of their 450 stores/
641-357-1211 truck centers in the three-state area
506 Main Avenue, Clear Lake they serve.
Visit our new website at www.drnickmccolley.com Representatives of Veterans Me-
morial Golf Club attended the Iowa
Golf Association’s Annual Awards
Banquet on Friday, April 3, where
VMGC was named the nine-hole
Stay the Tom Alexander course of the year. It was noted by the
Course Financial Consultant IGA that a key component to selecting
VMGC as course of the year was the
Securities America efforts that have been made to reha-
Member FINRA/SIPC
641-357-7106
888-357-7106
Located at Clear Lake Bank & Trust bilitate the grounds and the operation
322 Main Ave • PO Box 8, Clear Lake since it teetered on the edge of closing
after the 2010 season. Many of the
[email protected] efforts have been led by a dedicated
www.investmentcenterclearlake.com group of members, who have formed
Not FDIC/NCUA Insured. May Lose Value. No Bank Guarantee boards and committees to oversee the
Not a Deposit. Not insured by any Federal Government Agency. property. Together, with legions of
volunteers, many rehabilitation efforts
Securities offered through Securities America Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC, Tom Alexander, Representative. have been addressed.
Investment Center and the Securities America Companies are unaffiliated.