Sarah Light, staff writer

Wedgewood Cove developers announced publicly this week there has been a change in the subdivision&8217;s partnership.

What was originally under the development of Hugh O&8217;Byrne, of Hugh O&8217;Byrne Century 21 Realty Inc., and Clayton Petersen, a local agronomist, will now be under the direction of Petersen, along with Paul Field of Home Solutions and Jerry Vogt of Mrs. Gerry&8217;s Kitchen.

&8220;They&8217;re great people,&8221; Petersen said. &8220;I&8217;m really excited to have them on board.&8221;

Home Solutions and Mrs. Gerry&8217;s Kitchen are Albert Lea-based businesses.

Plans for the Wedgewood Cove golfing community first surfaced in July of 2006 after developers O&8217;Byrne and Petersen decided to put their land together to build a golfing community.

But since then, different elements of the project have been debated at many levels of the city government, and during the last few weeks O&8217;Byrne decided he didn&8217;t want as much involvement in the project, Field said.

O&8217;Byrne still will be involved in marketing and selling the property as a realty agent.

Plans for the subdivision include an 18-hole golf course &8212; which will cover about 7,000 yards &8212;

a banquet facility set up to hold between 400 and 500 people, and 151 residential lots on the north side of Pickerel Lake.

&8220;This is a very exciting project for Albert Lea,&8221; Field said. &8220;And it&8217;s something Albert Lea badly needs.&8221;

Developers indicated they are working with the city of Albert Lea to work out the details of how the development will come together, and if everything goes according to plan, construction will begin this fall.

&8220;As it starts and develops, it&8217;s going to be a great property for Albert Lea,&8221; Field said. &8220;It&8217;s a selling tool for Albert Lea.&8221;

He said the city has been receptive to the new partnership that has been formed, and so far, he is encouraged by the conversations they have had together.

The developers indicated they are continuing to work with the city to resolve funding requests via the city&8217;s bonding capacity. The city has been reluctant to use its bonding capacity for more residential developments, while Wedgewood Cove developers say they want a deal similar to the developers of another residential development.

Though the experience has been a long road filled with many ups and downs so far, Petersen said, he looks forward to resolving any issues with the city and doing what is necessary to help the development move forward.

&8220;I&8217;m very excited about this,&8221; he said. &8220;What a couple of great guys and experience they have to bring to the table. I think that is just going to be a lot of fun for them.&8221;