CLEAR LAKE — The Clear Lake City Council last night renewed fire protection agreements with townships surrounding the community. The townships had ten-year agreements with Clear Lake in 2015 that were set to expire at the end of the fiscal year on June 30th.
Acting City Administrator Jacob Widman says the city went to five-year agreements to better address costs in a shorter period of time. “Last time when we did the ten-year agreements, we had a lot of inflation happen since then, and some of the numbers kind of fell behind a little bit, you’ll see that in some of this year’s updated agreements. We figured doing a five-year agreement will give us a better chance to look at those on a more consistent basis.”
Fire Chief Doug Meyers says the cost of the service is calculated based on a formula that factors in valuations, call volumes, population, and the fire department’s average budget for the past four years. “The contract price for each township takes into account the number of sections as well as the assessed valuation. As you drive around Clear Lake on the south side of the lake, you’ll notice all the new residential construction, especially on the lake shore, that’s why their assessed valuation is so high. That’s why their contract price has been elevated significantly over the course of that five-year contract period.”
The contracts are for the townships of Clear Lake, Grant, Lake, Lincoln, Mount Vernon and Union.
