Short-term rentals limited to R1 residential zones

By Robert Williams

Editor

Frazee City Council Member Mark Kemper brought up the return of the city-wide spring cleanup after being asked by a number of Frazee residents. The once annual event did not occur in 2024.

“I would like to do it,” said Kemper. “It kind of goes along with our ordinance in asking Tyler (Trieglaff) to keep properties clean. Maybe we can say, ‘Here’s your chance to clean your lot so you don’t have to worry about a ticket. If you don’t clean your lot you’re going to get a ticket.”

The cost to the city to run the event is approximately $10,000.

According to City Administrator Stephanie Poegel, she and Public Works Supervisor Larry Stephenson have discussed a better way to track the cleanup in the future.

“I’ll visit with him either tomorrow or Monday,” she said.

Because of the cost, the event does need council approval to happen. After discussions, the council will address bringing it back or not at the next meeting on Wednesday, March 26.

“I do think we should, at a minimum, do it every other year,” said Council Member Andrea Froeber.

Mayor Sharp noted the tightness of this year’s budget and the fact that the cleanup was not budgeted for being another expense that will need to be made up. A savings on snowplowing costs this year, so far, could make up the difference.

Donations

The Frazee Fire Department received a $50 donation from Ling and Cindy Nguyen.

Downtown Storage

Owners of downtown storage buildings will soon be put on notice after the Planning and Zoning committee discovered an existing city ordinance that does not allow for such occupancy.

City Administrator Stephanie Poegel will be sending letters to the owners of such buildings regarding storage not being a permitted use in the downtown commercial district.

Eagle Lake Park

Becker County District 3 Commissioner Phil Hansen and County Administrator Carrie Smith were both in attendance Wednesday.  Hansen represents District 3 residents in: Burlington Township; Erie Township; Homesville Township; Lake View Township and the City of Frazee. Hansen was seeking more information on the Eagle Lake Park sale. According to City Administrator Stephanie Poegel the status of the sale is in the legal recording of the sale stage and subsequent publishing of the sale. Technically, the sale is not currently complete. The timeframe for the aforementioned acts is 90 days.

Short-term rentals

A public hearing was held on Ordinance No. 180 adopting regulations regarding short-term rentals, as well as amending its existing rental units ordinance.

Short-term rentals will be limited to R1 Residential zones, by recommendation of the Planning Commission. At the next council meeting, the city fee schedule will be amended to include a $500 license fee for short-term rentals.

Town Lake Beach

A change order was approved to install a metal panel ceiling in the new bathhouse instead of a drywall ceiling that was in the process of being installed for an additional $1,240. Council Members Jim Rader and Froeber spoke about their frustration with recent city projects and issues with the designers and engineers of those projects. According to Poegel, it was expressed to the designers that the city staff wanted a room that could be hosed down during cleaning. A drywall ceiling would obviously not adhere to that request. Rader was visibly the most frustrated member of the council and abstained from the vote in protest.

Wannigan Park

The council approved a resolution in support of the submission of a grant application to the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCCMR) for further development at Wannigan Regional Park. Some of the potential use of the funds are in regards to water: a fishing pier, an accessible kayak launch. The Frazee Community Development Corporation (FCDC) is currently completing the application. The council’s passed resolution was needed as the deadline for the application is March 19.

Water

A water meter billing issue was caused by the installation of a cubic foot rather than a gallon meter six months ago, in which the handheld reader did not show a final zero causing a discrepancy of approximately $10,000. 

After a month, the readings were reported as low and the numbers on the amount of water going through were not adding up, which also affected the billing.

Poegel gave a hypothetical in the meter reported 100 gallons used that should have been 1,000 gallons.

“We are looking at a million gallons of water that was billed to the tune of $10,000,” Poegel said. The issue has since been resolved

The owner of the property is seeking an agreement with the city on the situation. 

The city has previously created a policy regarding utility billing that came into play in this scenario.

“I’m just going to go on record, they owe the money,” said Froeber. “If we need to set up a payment program then that’s what we’ll do. But, when we are giving money back then the expectation is there is money owed to the city. I definitely feel strongly about that.”

Froeber presented a motion to set up a payment plan with the customer and honor the policy that was put in place. The motion passed.