Proceeds to help reduce tax levy for local residents

By Robert Williams

Editor

The sale of Eagle Lake Park to the Eagle Lake Park Association, Inc., a non-profit corporation made up of area homeowners, has been finalized. The announcement was made at the Frazee City Council meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 28.

The agreement was originally made in 2022 after much discussion, but a formal approval of the sale for $190,000 was not immediately signed. Multiple options for the property were discussed between Eagle Lake landowners and the city, before coming to an agreement on the sale to the association.

The sale initially came up as an option after the Frazee parks and recreation committee stated the park and visitors to the access did not necessarily benefit the city from the south side of the lake, while the city was stuck with all the costs of maintaining the park.

Then mayor Mark Flemmer noted the city would need to install rental
campsites as the only way to financially maintain the property and have it be a benefit to the city.

In 2023, a sale price of $190,000 was agreed to, minus survey costs of $3,000 leaving the city with a profit of $187,000. Initial plans were to use that money to pay for the upgraded beach house at Town Lake Park, but filing delays caused the city to pay for that project through issuance of $201,000 in general obligation tax abatements that also covered roofing and HVAC work at the Event Center and Liquor store.

Further delays in finalizing the Eagle Lake sale when a purchase agreement extension to the end of 2024 was agreed upon. A revised purchase agreement extended the purchase to the end of 2025.

Both parties also had a change of legal representation, which led to more delays. City Attorney Patrick A. Bakken took over in the fall of 2025 with hopes to finalize the sale by the end of the year. 

Becker County Commissioner Phil Hansen has stated multiple times that Becker County has an interest in the park once the sale has been completed. Hansen was in attendance at Wednesday’s council meeting and stated he was ready to move forward on that.

The lake association non-profit made the purchase to keep Eagle Lake Park open to the public and has acknowledged it is interested in working with either the county or the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in a future change of ownership.

The council discussed what to do with the proceeds of the sale. Mayor Mike Sharp and City Administrator Stephanie Poegel brought up a restricted savings account to be withdrawn from annually to help offset the cost of the bond and reduce the tax levy.

“It fulfills all the expectations of the sale of that property—to help deter the cost of Town Lake Beach,” said Poegel. 

“Anything we can do to ease the tax burden on our residents—I like it,” said council member Jim Rader.

Donations

Lake Region Electric Trust donated $750 to the Frazee Fire Department.

Grants

The Parks and Recreation committee proposed applying for an available grant to provide a stand and life jackets to be made available at Town Lake Beach. The council approved submitting a grant application.

Ordinances

An amendment was made to city ordinance 182, title 10, chapter 4, section 9 (service commercial C-2 district to allow automobile parts supply stores in that district.

A public hearing was held at the planning and zoning meeting Tuesday, Jan. 27, with no opposition to the amendment, according to Sharp. C-2 already allows many different types of businesses, including pet stores, vet clinics, entertainment and recreational activities, personal services, professional and commercial offices, general retail, food and beverage services, and others.

Ordinance 183 was also discussed at the public hearing in regards to the creation of the R-4 large lot residential district.

“This would be for areas of town that have larger lots that are currently zoned R-1,” said Sharp.

The change was made after discussions about larger setback requirements, precipitated by a discussion of covenants that have a 45-foot setback. R-1 is a 20-foot setback. The change is to help align the covenants with the ordinance.

According to Sharp, there was some public discussion on minor language changes and the planning and zoning committee ultimately recommended council approval, which was given unanimously.

Recycling

Hansen stated during the open forum that the county is willing to help any Frazee businesses willing to participate in the county’s organics recycling program. The program was started with funding assistance of a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency grant.

Organics recycling is separating organic waste (food waste, paper napkins, etc.) from the trash and keeping it out of the landfill. It gets taken to a compost facility where, after 6-9 months, it becomes usable compost that returns the nutrients from the food back to the earth. Organics recycling is also often cheaper to dispose of than trash. It also lowers greenhouse gas emissions from landfills.

More information is available online at www.co.becker.us under the environmental services tab.

Another county project planned for this spring will be a free drop-off of tires and appliances at the Solid Waste Facility. Hansen noted the drop-off will be scheduled for March or April with more information to be provided.

Solar

Much like Vergas, Frazee is in need of a new transformer as part of the West Central Initiative’s solar cohort project that will place solar panels on top of the public works building. The $132.5k project is projected to be cash flow positive in 3.5 years with an annual energy savings of $5,500 and a lifetime savings (30 years) of $167,318.

Exporting energy to the grid could also be a revenue source and to do that a new transformer needs to be installed.

According to Poegel, the solar installation company for the entire project, Holsen Solar of Fargo, is willing to pay for the new transformer leaving no cost to the city.

Wannigan Park

A cost share agreement and contract was signed between the Becker County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and the city on tree planting at the park. The total cost of $9,000 is to be used for border planting as windbreaks.

SWCD will pay $6,750 and the city will be charged $2,250. The city’s share will be paid for by the Frazee Community Development Corporation (FCDC), according to Poegel.