Final sale may be approved in the coming weeks

By Robert Williams

Editor

The Becker County Board of Commissioners discussed the sale of Eagle Lake Park and the lake access, but little light was shed that was not already known during the latest commissioner’s meeting Tuesday, Feb. 18.

County Administrator Carrie Smith reported that there are three joint owners and a purchase order is in process. The joint owners were not named, but the Eagle Lake Association has been represented at Frazee City Council meetings in prior years by Tony Stock, John Drewes and others.

“It doesn’t appear that there is desire to donate any of that back to the county or for public use, but their desire is to leave it and allow public access to that,” said Commissioner Phil Hansen.

Hansen has attended Frazee City Council meetings for more information but the only information provided at those meetings that was confirmed with City Administrator Thursday, Feb. 20, is that both parties are awaiting the sign-off by a county judge on the purchase.

“The city of Frazee does not want the property, but they do want it to remain public,” Hansen said.

The park and access are outside of the city limits and according to Hansen, it was gifted to the city by the Frazee Fire Department. 

New information provided by Hansen is that the Eagle Lake Association wants to be reimbursed for additional costs related to the sale that go beyond the $190,000 purchase price.

“They want what we want, but the problem is the funding for it,” Hansen said.

According to Smith’s research, the sale is scheduled to take place and be completed at the recorder’s office in the next few weeks.

An extension of the purchase agreement between the City of Frazee and the Eagle Lake Park Association, Inc., was approved by the city council in late July of 2024. Since then, both parties have been awaiting the sale’s approval. The original purchase agreement was dated Sept. 12, 2022. The extension pushed that date to Dec. 31, 2024.

The Eagle Lake Park Association requested City Attorney Thomas Winters run a legal in the Frazee-Vergas Forum for 2-3 weeks to announce the sale. The courts were expected to approve the sale approximately one month after that.

“The buyers have been more than patient; which has been awesome,” said Winters. “Nothing has changed on their end. They just want this cleared up.”

The association contacted Becker County on taking over the park and lake access and noted their desire was to keep the access open to the public.

The city, as the seller, does not have the right to put any stipulations on whether the park remains public or not. That is between the buyers and the county.

According to Winters, it is not the association’s intent to close the park and by purchasing it as a non-profit, it is their intent to have the park and access remain open to the public.

“Their main concern was that someone would do that, so that’s why they formed this non-profit to purchase it and keep it so people would have access to the lake,” Winters said.

Commissioner Erica Jepson noted there were discussions had by the Recreational Advisory Committee in regards to contacting the Department of Natural Resources to gauge their interest in purchasing the property.

It is unlikely a government entity could access funding prior to the expected finalization of the sale. According to Jepson, that is expected in the next fortnight.

Commissioner Barry Nelson confirmed that to his knowledge the sale was a done deal and the lake association planned to sell it back to the county eventually. He also mentioned a potential plan of selling a portion of the park and the remainder to the county.

“It didn’t sound like they were trying to profit, just recoup their expenses,” Nelson said.

Hansen confirmed the willingness of the buyers to sell it back to the county.

Hansen wanted to insert the county into the sale to save extra lawyer fees and recording costs.

Appointments

Sandy Gunderson was appointed to the Becker County Extension Committee from District 2. Gunderson worked for the county for 33 years retiring as the county waste specialist in 2024.

Auction

Donations are requested for the Beckerbay Online Auction to benefit the Becker County Food Pantry. Donations are due by Friday, March 7. The auction is slated for March 17-21. All of the proceeds from the auction go to the food pantry.

Personnel

Human Services Director Denise Warren requested a budgeted, full-time Registered Nurse in Public Health be hired due to a resignation. This position is an evidence-based home visitor for the MESCH (Maternal Early Childhood Sustained Home-Visiting) program that serves the community. This nurse works with families of Becker County from the beginning of pregnancy or shortly after a baby’s arrival through the transition to parenthood by supporting healthy decision making and effective parenting.

“We show a cost analysis of step 10 so this would be a worst possible scenario if the rehire was at step 10,” said Warren. “The current year cost is $9,201 over our estimated budget and next year $13,0002 over budget.”

The funding for this position is derived from four different Public Health grants and third party reimbursements. Not filling this option would not meet the unit needs at this time and cause the county to not be able to fully spend out the grants provided for this purpose.

A lengthy conversation was had on potentially hiring two part-time employees instead of one full-time employee.

Nelson remarked that the motion to approve or deny the hire is that its existence must be tied to the grants. 

The motion was made by Jepson to approve a full-time hire with the caveat that any changes to the grants would create an evaluation of the full-time basis and potentially eliminate the position without the grants. The motion passed unanimously.

A dispatch position, full-time communications officer, was approved to fill a vacancy under Sheriff Todd Glander. 

The board also approved hiring three seasonal positions for Natural Resource Management/Parks and Recreation. The Becker County Natural Resource Management (NRM) Office is seeking approval to hire seasonal employees (max.67-day employment term).

1. Seasonal Parks and Recreation Intern

2. Seasonal Tramway Operator

3. Seasonal Forestry Intern

Three highway seasonal worker positions at the highway department were also approved in engineering.

The Transit committee recommended approval of three job descriptions for:

1. Bus Driver

2. Dispatcher  

3. Bus Driver/Dispatcher