Sartell's Mayor On Balancing Growth With Small-town Life

SARTELL (WJON News) -- Why Sartell? That was the theme and question posed by the city at the annual Sartell State of the City Address on Tuesday. Mayor Ryan Fitzthum emphasized Sartell's schools, stable tax rate, continued commercial growth, and economic expansion as some of the reasons why families, businesses, and developers all choose the city.

Sartell Mayor Credits Schools, Stable Taxes, Strong Partnerships For City Growth

Fitzthum says partnering with the schools is key for building community:

"I'm proud to partner with our staff, and Dr. Rivard and his staff. The last three years, our school partnership is the strongest that I can recall in my ten years serving as an elected official. I think it speaks to the safety of our schools; both if and when an incident happens in our community, it's not a school problem, it's not a city problem, it's a community problem."

Fitzthum says the city works hard to keep the small-town feel of Sartell while still building a large commercial presence with services people want.

Mayor Fitzthum Outlines Sartell's Recipe For Keeping Small-town Feel While Expanding

He says the city strives to maintain stable property taxes and still deliver high-quality services, and it can be a challenge to grow the city while still maintaining that small-town feel residents enjoy:

"Our residential single-family homes are concentrated on the north side of Sartell, and our commercial and high-density residential is on the south side of town, and so naturally it creates that separation between the two, but furthermore it's about neighbors getting out and meeting each other."

Fitzthum says they keep that small-town feel because everyone knows each other, their neighbors, and watches out for each other.

The city says celebrating people, businesses, and partnerships is what keeps Sartell a vibrant and growing community. The city also pointed out that strong planning and development will be reasons why people choose Sartell for years to come.

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