GRADING AND LEVELING-A lot of earth is being moved at the site of 17 lots in the City of Waseca’s Clearwater Preserve subdivision. Some locations will be as much as five feet higher than they were before excavating began. Pioneer photo by Deb Bently
Clearwater Preserve moving rapidly forward
Thu, 08/06/2026 - 9:00am
A lot of earth has been moving lately at the phase 1 area of the Clearwater Preserve subdivision near Gaiter Lake at Waseca’s southeastern edge.
The city council approved a $1.5 million contract last September with W. Lorentz & Sons Construction out of Mankato. Work began in April, with substantial completion expected by Sept. 25. According to city engineer Nate Willey “substantially complete” means that infrastructure for water, sewer, storm drains and services will be in place, ground levels will be graded as proscribed in the engineering plans, and disturbed areas will be seeded. Along with that, the stretch of Eleventh Street Southeast which will join the 17 lots to current city neighborhoods will be graded, leveled and surfaced, with curb and gutter in place. The street will receive one additional layer of paving by the end of June of 2027.
The full Clearwater Preserve subdivision is slated to be completed in three phases; only the first phase, which includes a line of lots bordering the western shoreline of Gaiter Lake, is under construction at this time–except that a substantial amount of grading which will support phase 2 is part of the current excavation work.
According to Willey, numerous truckloads of sand and rock have been delivered to the construction site recently, primarily for construction of a temporary access road from Fourteenth Avenue SE. Materials and equipment needed for the construction of Eleventh Street SE will utilize that new access.
Plans overall require a great deal of excavation: he explains a first step was to remove the topsoil and set it aside to be returned after house pads have been prepared and the lots graded. In addition, excavation was necessary all around the worksite to bury water, sewer, and stormwater lines. With some of that work now complete, there are areas of the plat being raised three to five feet above their original levels in order to comply with the development’s overall grading plan and to meet specifications set by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.