Ashley Renollet and Heath Peterson will lead the Frazee Economic Development Authority in 2025 after being elected Vice President and President, respectively.

By Robert Williams

Editor

The Frazee Economic Development Authority elected officers for 2025 with Heath Peterson taking over as President from John Olson and Ashley Renollet serving as Vice President.

Downtown retail building architectural plan

The election was held at the monthly meeting for January of the EDA Wednesday, Feb. 5. The meeting was bumped a week due to a lack of a quorum at the regularly scheduled meeting on Jan. 29.

The remainder of the board consists of: city council liaisons Andrea Froeber and Drew Daggett; members John Olson and Bill Daggett; City Administrator Stephanie Poegel; Economic Development Consultant Karen Pifher and Assistant Jamie Crabtree.

The new EDA briefly discussed its bylaws, making a few updates, mostly updating or cleaning up wordage, and each member was charged to assure the group that there were no conflicts of interest between their employment and EDA membership.

Bringing back a formal annual meeting to discuss goal-setting and priorities was set for the first meeting of each year. Regular meetings will continue to be held on the fourth Wednesdays of each month.

Downtown retail building

The plan for interior construction, including two commercial kitchens and two bathrooms, for the downtown retail building was reviewed and approved. The construction is for two new businesses: Zack and Sara Erickson’s Mama’s Pizzeria N Scoops and Karey Smagacz’s Home Sweet Bakehouse.

A third bathroom was nixed due to cost.

Pifher and Poegel have completed the Request for Proposals (RFP) opening Feb. 6 and closing Thursday, Feb. 20, with bids planned to be opened at the next EDA meeting Wednesday, Feb. 26. RFPs will be mailed to a list of general contractors and posted online at QuestCDN and the city’s website.

“The sooner the better; this is going to take a while,” said Olson.

A drop ceiling, sheetrock and white paint will be applied to the fourth and lone remaining space in the building as part of the bid.

Hopes are that construction can be completed this spring.

The EDA has $375,671.51 in restricted savings specifically for the building costs.

Pickleball

According to Pifher, EDA members will be in attendance at the next Frazee-Vergas School Board meeting to discuss installation of pickleball courts on the school grounds. The school board meets next Monday, Feb. 10.