by Jim Boyle
Editor
Zimmerman Mayor Nick Stay has announced he will not be seeking a fourth term as mayor.
Stay was first elected mayor in 2018 in a three-way race with Dave Earenfight and David Brace.
He collected nearly 1,000 votes, which amounted to nearly 50% of the vote, and he ran twice more unopposed in 2020 and 2022.
His reason for not seeking another term stems from increasing demands in his current job. It’s a decision that has been weighing on his mind for the last couple of years.
“There’s been a lot of transition in my company,” he told the Star News. “I took on a new role with a new company a year and a half ago, and we had a five-year plan to go nationwide and that has since moved up.
“So for my current job, I’m running 21 different states, everything from the Dakotas all the way through Florida. That presents some unique challenges, and unfortunately the career choice here is not mayor of Zimmerman.”
Stay made the announcement more than a month before filings open on July 30 to give the Zimmerman community and its residents time to mull it over. He said he does not feel compelled to find the best candidate for the job.
“The best candidate will find themselves on the ballot,” he said. “I have always been of that opinion. I have told Randy (Piasecki) and Kary (Tillmann) since I started that if there’s a better candidate than me on the ballot, I will bow out. The community deserves it. If you think you’re the best, that’s what we want to see.”
Next mayor
The Star News asked Stay what the next mayor should have in their toolbox to bring Zimmerman to that next step in the life of the city.
“Be ready to put in the hours,” he said. “Somebody told me that, when I first got elected, it’s gonna take me two years to get up to speed. It got to the point where I was annoying Keith (Koehler), Randy (Piasecki) and Kary (Tillmann) and even Ryan (Maloney), the fire chief, because I was spending probably way too much time trying to get up to speed. But my advice would be to spend the time early to get familiar with the processes. The good news is we did change the mayor term to four years.”
Stay says that will give the new mayor a chance to learn the ropes and be poised for growth with the change going on at the intersection of Highway 169 and Sherburne County Road 4 that has received municipal consent recently to move forward. In 2025, the local connections will be constructed to provide access during major Highway 169 construction the following year.
In 2026, the interchange bridge and ramps will be constructed.
“They’ve got a little time before that interchange is done to get familiar with the process,” he said.
Stay also cautioned potential candidates to realize a great idea is not always feasible.
“That’s one of the things I have had to learn,” he said. “You have to spend the time to familiarize yourself with the process, and always, always do the research.
“You may think something’s a great idea, and then all of a sudden, the next week, you realize that the DNR says the city can’t do that or something else like that. So trust the process. There’s a great staff here, and I would put our staff up against anybody in the state. Everybody, from our foreman at the public works to our public works director to Randy to Kary to Kellie (Bossen) that sits out front.”
Stay also noted the job is not for the faint of heart.
“At the end of the day there is going to be a person or multiple people that don’t like you. I have lost friendships over this job. But the No. 1 job in doing this is not your friend in Livonia Township or Baldwin Township, Princeton, Elk River or Big Lake. Your duty as mayor of Zimmerman is to act in what you believe to be the best interest of the city of Zimmerman. Unfortunately, that’s hurt some of my friendships.”
Stay says the good news is he has made a lot of friends along the way, including a lot of friends he never thought he’d make.
“I have learned so much at this job that makes my career a lot easier.”
Coming interchange at Highway 169 and County Road 4 to spur development
One of the first things Stay said he started to work on upon taking office was the creation of an interchange at Highway 169 and Sherburne County Road 4. That work will commence as early as this year with some survey work. The Zimmerman City Council just gave municipal consent to the project after working through many of the necessary planning documents and securing the funding.
Stay has also been focused on business redevelopment and notes the council has been putting some money aside for the economic development authority and that the city is probably just a couple of years away from being able to offer some incentives.
He said there is also some big news about to break on the development front.
“I’m not going to spill the beans, but I know Randy has been having some talks with some major developers and they’re going to do some trial runs up here,” Stay said.
Stay also said part of the business incentives initiative is an effort to become more of a workforce community rather than a bedroom community.
“That’s really going to revolve around Highway 169 and 4,” he said. “Once we get that easy on and easy off, find some land for industrial ... and work together with Livonia Township, whether it’s a partnership or a negotiated merger (that I support), we can get some areas with industrial parks.”
Stay is proud of the investments the firm PSD has made in Zimmerman, and says work on sewer- and water-access charge fees to bring more alignment between the city and other nearby communities should help with more development.
One of Stay’s happiest days was when the parking lot got paved at Lions Park. There have been other strides to improve park facilities, but Stay says there is more work to be done. A franchise fee will give the future mayor and council decisions to make on some additional park improvements throughout the city, and he hopes efforts to partner with youth associations continue.
He’s also happy to see the Fremont Lake Association organizing, but is concerned about the pace at which its members want to move.
“If the city is going to contribute a major dollar amount, and I am not saying it will or won’t, we want to do it once and not twice,” Stay said.
He also notes whenever there are multiple agencies and governmental units involved it takes time not only to pull people together but also to jump through all the necessary hoops in the process.
Parting gift
When told he did not have to comment on the criticism the city has received over fireworks at Friday night football games in the fall, Stay said he does have a comment.
“I fundraise all year long for those fireworks — me personally along with everybody else in the Quarterback Club — and they are scheduled and the check has been cut,” Stay said. “That’s my parting gift. Friday night fireworks.”
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