Sartell City Council to Tackle Busy Agenda Monday Night

(KNSI) — Sartell City Council has a busy Monday night meeting schedule planned.

A special session is set for 5:00 p.m. and will provide an update on hiring a new public works director. John Kothenbeutel will retire this spring.

At 6:00, the council will look to avoid needing to use a mulligan as it debates an amended purchase agreement for the sale of Pine Ridge Golf Course. The document agreed to last year assumed the new buyer and Boulder Ridge, the current course operator, would be able to work together to begin improvements to the clubhouse and build a new restaurant on the site while the company continued to run the golf side of the business. The upgrades would be pushed back in the new version of the document, beginning on June 1st, 2025, instead of October 2024.

Staff says the amended agreement includes an easement to install drainage and utilities at the site. The original plan was for the city to put the lease termination fee into an escrow account. Instead, it will be paid directly to the buyer of the property. They then assume full liability for paying off Boulder Creek when the relationship is voided.

The council is also considering approving an application for grants from the federal government and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to get financial help in creating docks, water access points, and multi-use trails installed at the former Verso Paper Mill site. The agencies rejected the first attempt to secure the grants, which totaled over $1 million, but they told Sartell to reapply once it had closed on the property. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development has already approved a grant to determine the amount of environmental cleanup needed.

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