Sartell Wants Verso Paper Included in Special Session

SARTELL - It's looking more likely that if a special session is held, the Verso Paper Mill in Sartell will be included in the discussion.

Governor Mark Dayton and State Lawmakers are expected to hold a one-day special session mainly to allocate funds to areas hit hard by flooding.  But, the Governor has said he's open to including Verso Paper in that funding.

Sartell Mayor Joe Perske says the city is pushing to be included in that funding as well.

City officials say their cost of fighting the fire could be nearly a half-million dollars.

Verso Paper officials say they're still determining estimates for damages and reconstruction costs.

About 260 employees have been laid-off since the explosion and fire on Memorial Day.

Additional information from Governor Dayton's spokesperson:

"We have not begun the Individual Assistance assessments yet-we will need to submit that request and wait to hear back from FEMA before we know what we will need to do in a special session.

My understanding of the issue with Verso is that DEED is waiting to hear from the company what kind of assistance they need. The governor sent them a letter, asking the company to work with DEED, to let us know what they need. We are committed to helping Verso and Sartell in a special session, but we do not know at this point what that aid would look like."