Mayor Outlines Vision For Sartell’s Thriving Community

SARTELL (WJON News) -- It is a new chapter for one central Minnesota community going forward. That was the message at the State of the City address for Sartell on Tuesday. Mayor Ryan Fitzthum highlighted the growth of the city with new businesses like Niron Magnetics, the Wyndam Gardens Hotel, and the Mill District redevelopment. The Mayor says it is important for the city to grow, but still keep its small-town neighborhood feel:

"So much of our community is driven off of single-family homes, which plays into a large part of the small-town feel, and so when we think about rental, when we think about multi-family, locating that strategically within our community is a big part of that."

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Mayor Fitzhum says Wyndam Gardens will allow Sartell to capture an additional 8% market share for the St. Cloud area, keeping dollars from visitors in Sartell. He also highlighted the city's reputation for athletic amenities, drawing over 20,000 people to the city yearly, and the continued investment in infrastructure while keeping a flat tax rate:

"If you're not going to be getting a raise next year, but you know you've got investments that need to be made for retirement, if you know you've got investments around the house, i.e., roadways that are exiting that need to be patched you're going to have to fund those and so we have to get creative, we continue to get creative our runway of five to six years of a flat tax has shown us that."

Mayor Fitzthum says the city will invest over $100 million in infrastructure over the next eight years, and they will have to be crafty on how they achieve that. He also took great pride in pointing out that the city's police and fire departments continue to be fully staffed. The Mayor closed by stating the city will continue to honor its small-town heart while embracing ambitious growth.

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