Sartell City Council Approves Amended Purchase Agreement with AIM to Include Paper Mill Property

(KNSI) — The Sartell City Council Monday night approved an amended purchase agreement with AIM Development that includes the property, which was once the site of the Verso Paper Mill.

A purchase agreement was approved in October of 2021 for the 167 acres along 4th Avenue South that AIM Development, LLC owns. Since the original purchase agreement from October 2021, amendments were requested to the agreement by both parties and have come back to the City Council for approval. If the Purchase Agreement is approved by the City and AIM Development, LLC, both parties will have 60 days to meet the proposed conditions and proceed to closing.

According to a press release from the city, the goal of the agreement was “to obtain control of the former Verso landfill on 4th Avenue South, which AIM Development, LLC proposed to reopen as an industrial landfill as confirmed with MPCA permit filings. Given the landfill’s location in the heart of Sartell and proximity to the Mississippi River, the city had been in litigation with AIM Development, LLC. since 2016 to prevent this from happening.”

Officials with Sartell say it intends to either exhume or close the landfill, plat the land, and sell the property for future development to recoup the purchase costs.

There was a deadly explosion at the paper mill in May of 2012. The mill was permanently closed in August of that year. AIM bought the site and the additional acreage from Verso in 2013 and demolished the buildings. It has been vacant ever since.

The future of the Verso Paper Mill site is up in the air and depends on environmental reviews and development interests. Obtaining ownership is the first step in what will likely be a multi-year redevelopment of a core property within the city.

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