Sartell Mayor Says Future Looks Bright at State of the City Address [VIDEO]

SARTELL -- The future looks bright. That was the message this afternoon (Tuesday) at the annual Sartell State of the City Address.

Sartell Mayor Joe Perske addressed members of the Sartell community today saying he is happy with the progress the city continues to see.

"Some of the things I highlighted today was the growth of Pinecone Central Park, the addition of the baseball complex and the rectangular fields that children will be able to use for lacrosse and soccer," says Perske.

Perske says the city's 2014 goals include the forward progress of the former Verso Paper Mill, transportation projects -- which include the addition of new roundabouts, and what to do with the half-cent sales tax.

"We see the potential of 40, 50, even 60-million-dollars of new money coming in for projects, so it's going to be exciting to look into the crystal ball and see what might happen over the next 20 years," says Perske.

Police Chief Jim Hughes says last year they received over 11,000 calls for service. None of those being accident calls on the new diverging diamond interchange.

Fire Chief Ken Heim says fire department responded to 144 fire calls which totaled about $54,000 in damage. Chief Heim also says they are taking applications for more volunteer fire fighters to help their department.