Clear Lake enters into agreement with Mason City on hiring a full-time watershed coordinator

CLEAR LAKE — The Clear Lake City Council earlier this week approved entering into an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Mason City to hire a full-time watershed coordinator for the communities.

Clear Lake, through their informal partnership with the Clear Lake Enhancement and Restoration Project, has had a part-time position for many years, but it’s been difficult to retain a coordinator due to the limitations of a part-time position. Mason City has become more interested and engaged in watershed management, including the city’s participation in the Winnebago Watershed Coalition, and the agreement will allow Clear Lake to hire a full-time coordinator split roughly 30 hours per week for Clear Lake and 10 hours a week for Mason City.

City Administrator Steve Diers says a full-time coordinator would benefit both communities. “This kind of ties into the existing relationships we have with the City of Ventura, Association for the Preservation of Clear Lake group, Cerro Gordo County, and the funds they’ve put in. Altogether this would allow us to have that funding mechanism to hire a full-time position and hopefully will be one we can hang on to for a longer period of time.”

Diers says this could lead to a broader partnership as Mason City works on watershed management with the Winnebago River.  “Mason City, the Winnebago Watershed, they are working on an overall plan of that whole area over there, so this could be kind of the start of an even larger development out of that. It all depends on where that goes, that this is this kind of that initial partnering stage, so it could grow into something more.”

The Mason City City Council passed the 28E agreement at their October 21st meeting. Under the agreement, Mason City will enter into a two-year commitment with an annual contribution of $35,000 per year