by Wayne Pelzel, Sleepy Eye Mayor
The Public School has offered to involve the City in the construction of a new Recreation Center for the community’s use. The City’s portion of this “Joint Powers” agreement would be the operation of the Recreation Center. As the proposal is made at this point, the school would pay to build the Center while the City would assume responsibility of managing the facility. (Redwood Falls did a similar agreement for their Recreation Center.) No details have been decided at this point and there is no agreement in place.
The City Council will look into the possibility of involvement in a project like this at their March 12 City Council meeting.
The rational for a Recreation Center comes from a need to offer amenities that attract young people to our community. We’ve done an excellent job with that up to now in providing a Water Park, a hiking/biking trail around the lake, and a brand new Event Center. But, we can’t rest on our laurels. Other larger, neighboring communities do offer this type of facility and thus we are challenged to meet this demand in our own creative way.
Some of the popular amenities proposed for the facility include pickle ball courts, a walking path, locker rooms, a gymnasium, volleyball courts, classrooms, fine arts facilities and so on. Although these example facilities have been proposed, none of these decisions have been made until the community has gotten to weigh in on what should be included.
An important meeting regarding the future of Sleepy Eye Lake will be held on Thursday, March 21, at 1 p.m. with Dr. Bryce Hoppie of Minnesota State University, Mankato presenting his findings on his study of the east arm of Sleepy Eye Lake. The meeting will be held in the City Council Chambers. Present will be representatives of the DNR, Brown County Soil and Water Conservation service, Sleepy Eye Lake Improvement Committee, and other interested folks. Dr. Hoppie’s study has taken place over the past two years with a focus on the east arm of the lake and it’s role in keeping sedimentation from entering the lake. The City is hoping the information from Dr. Hoppie’s work can be a foundation for a grant to help improve the lake. More will be shared on this after the meeting. The meeting is open to the public.
We’re happy to report that two more lots on St. Mary’s Street in the new addition have been sold.
In a conversation with the Sleepy Eye Apartments Director the other day, she informed me that they are at 55% occupancy. So, with 44 total apartments they have 24 rented. She informed me that they are expecting to rent more this spring when people are more likely to be moving.