River road, city sewer project to proceed

By Robert Williams

Editor

The City of Frazee and the Frazee Community Development Corporation (FCDC) were awarded $1.85 million in General Obligation bonds after their request was approved and included in the latest state bonding bill Sunday, May 17. 

“I’m just floating,” said Polly Andersen, FCDC president. “We’re going to have a first-class road between our schools and our regional park and it’s really a boost from the state. I feel like saying thank you in a big way to the House Committee and the Senate Committee. I know some trades were made and that their belief in us and seeing that this is a good project is ultimately what they ended up deciding. It’s so exciting.”

The capital fund and bonding request was for North River Loop Drive, paving of the road, along with city water and sewer access to Wannigan Regional Park.

The bonding bill is a package of state agency and local infrastructure projects that lawmakers agree to fund, at least in part, with state money. The funding can come from cash that the state has on hand or from money the state borrows by issuing bonds, which are purchased by investors.

The $1.24 billion bonding bill required three-fifths of the votes in both the House and Senate to pass and did so by vast majorities: 122-11 in the House and a 50-7 vote in the Senate.

“This is a wonderful challenge to have,” said Andersen.

That challenge is raising the remaining $600,000 to cover the current funding gap of the complete project cost: $2.4 million.

“We’ve done crazier things; we’ve had crazier feats,” said FCDC Secretary Ashley Renollet. “It’s so fun seeing the progression we have had over the past few years.”

Some initial decisions need to be made about coming changes to the water and sewer at the park.

“We’ll be looking at options in terms of what we can find for additional funding and it does impact our Phase I plan for the park in the sense that we have to look at considering sewer pipes in the park,” said Andersen.

The park currently has two wells and two septic systems, so the decision will be to remove them or not.

Acquiring the funding has not been an easy task. The project was left out of the last bonding bill in 2023 and this was the first passing of a bonding bill in a bonding year since before 2020.

Minnesota typically considers and votes on bonding bills every two years during the legislative biennium. Lawmakers informally designate even-numbered years as “bonding years” (focusing on infrastructure and capital investment) and odd-numbered years as “budgeting years” (focusing on the two-year state budget), according to the League of Minnesota Cities.

“They really challenged our need and our cost and they challenged if we could do it and what exactly we were thinking,” Andersen said. “They took us to task.”

Andersen, along with City Administrator Stephanie Poegel and other FCDC board members worked with legislators and behind the scenes to get Frazee included in the bill.

“We had a lot of people reach out in different ways,” said Andersen. “To me, it really signals maybe a new era for Frazee, in the sense that these are really difficult to get and it’s a real feather in our cap in this terrible environment where every program is getting squeezed. It was a very small miracle that we got it. I really did think we wouldn’t get it.”\

Frazee’s representative county commissioner Phil Hansen in District 3 made mention of the funding during last week’s Board meeting Tuesday, May 19.

“Congratulations on Frazee and Wannigan Park; that will really help them over there,” Hansen said.

Andersen also noted the groundswell support that the request got from people who sent emails and phoned legislators and committee members about the importance of Wannigan Park to Frazee. City Council Member Andrea Froeber was another who implored residents during her commissioner’s comments at city meetings over the past few months.

Keeping Frazee in the heads and conversations of those who make the decisions on who gets funding is important and the money is simply there for the asking.

“It definitely does register,” Andersen said. “Do they want this money? Do they want this project? We came through in wanting, in a big way, we had a lot of people sending emails and making phone calls and that was just huge.”

Work is currently underway on the fundraising front and the planning stages for this phase of the park. The park itself will begin to contribute to the bottom line when the first 13 campsites are available for rentals this year.

“I’m so pleased because now we can show our supporters and some of those higher-level donors that they can trust us to do this in an effective and efficient way,” said Andersen. “We want to be fast; we don’t want to just sit on our heels.”

Area General Obligation (GO) bonds and Grant Funding (GF)

• City of Frazee – North River Drive GO $1.85 million

• City of Lake Park – Local Road Project GO $2 million

• City of Ottertail – Veterans Memorial GF $100,000

• $10 million invested in flood prevention initiatives in Moorhead

• $5 million in funding for the West Central Regional Water District to strengthen access to clean water

• $1.87 million allocated for a Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility in Clay County to expand health treatment services for juveniles

New trees

Volunteers added 20 Red Splendor crabapple trees at Wannigan Regional Park last week. The Smokey Hills Chapter of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association (MDHA) donated the trees.

“The purpose of it is for food plot and restoration,” said Dave Goebel, Smokey Hills Chapter Secretary. “The Red Splendor is conducive to wildlife habitat, particularly, birds in the area.”

Goebel also noted this particular variety of crabapple was created in the 20th century in Fertile, Minn.

“So they’re really native to this area,” he said.

Nurseryman Melvin Bergeson created the Red Splendor, renowned for its vibrant spring blooms, glossy reddish-green foliage, and small bright red fruit that persists throughout the winter.

Greg Olson runs an apple tree program and approached the Frazee City Council in September with an offer of 20 mature apple trees.

Goebel also noted the purchase and donation of the apples to the park is a branch of what the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association is about.

“Our thing is habitat fused with education,” Goebel said.

Over the last 40 years, MDHA has been building a hunting and conservation legacy through habitat, education and advocacy. MDHA works in Minnesota for Minnesota through the main tenets which include habitat, education and advocacy.

FFA Advisor and Teacher Trescha Mitchell was joined by seven students to help plant the trees with leadership from Jason Sannes-Venhuizen, Tom Watson, and Virgil Jons.

The students were: Luke McCurdy, Janaya Mitchell, Brooklyn Knopf, Thitik Homphaengwai, James Iverson, Ivan Larson, and Tim Lepisto.

These trees will burst into vibrant pink blooms, welcome pollinators, provide habitat for wildlife, and create one more reason for families to pause and soak in the beauty of Wannigan Park.

Red Splendor crabapple trees are known for their brilliant spring blossoms and deep red fruit that often stays on the tree into winter, providing an important food source for birds when snow covers the ground.

For more information on the MDHA visit: mndeerhunters.com or the Smokey Hills Chapter visit facebook.com/smokeyhills.mdha