Fire, Crime Calls Up in 2015 as Sartell Departments Present Annual Reports

SARTELL -- Area departments in Sartell released their findings over the past year with their annual reports at tonight's (Monday) city council meeting.

The Sartell Police department responded to 12,064 calls in 2015, which is 586 more than last year. Chief Jim Hughes says assaults, burglaries, thefts and medical calls were some of the leading categories.

"We had over 500 medical calls this past year, which is a lot for a community our size. Thefts are up but we do have large business that contribute to that and we continue to grow anytime growth in the housing market people think it's a place to take property," say Hughes.

The Sartell Fire department responded to a record number of calls in 2015. Chief Jim Sattler says they respond to 163 fire and emergency calls in Sartell, which is up 47 calls from last year. They also responded to 21 fires in Le Sauk Township, 13 more than the previous year. Sattler says they estimate a total dollar loss of over $107,000 which is $57,000 more than the year before.

2015 was also a busy year within the public works and engineering departments. Sartell also had several large road improvement projects which were constructed, including three roundabouts along Pinecone Road. The city also used approximately 600 tons of salt over the winter, which is low for the city, and added a new dog park.

Finally Sartell saw fewer building permits for single family homes. 62 new single family home permits were issued in 2015, which is 9 fewer than last year. Planning and Community Development Director Anita Rasmussen says lot inventory plays a part in the slight decrease.

"Over the course of the past several years the lot inventory has continued to shrink which means the inventory is low. We are looking at new developments to add additional inventory which we hope will translate into greater numbers in our single family building permits," says Rasmussen.

Looking ahead to 2016 Sartell will be working with SolarStone to begin construction of the community Solar Garden located on the Grede landfill and the former city lagoon. There are also several road improvement projects set for the summer.