by Dennis Dalman
A Mill District Concept Plan and Redevelopment Strategy was approved by the Sartell City Council on a 4-0 vote at its June 24 meeting.
The vote was 4-0 because member Alex Lewandowski was not present at the meeting.
Highlights of the Mill District plan and strategy were presented to the council by Anita Archambeau who has worked on the plan and strategy ever since the city hired her as a consultant in February 2023.
For 20 years, Archambeau worked for the City of Sartell. She served as community director and assistant city administrator until July 2019, at which time she resigned to take another job in another state. Since then, she opened her own consulting business in Illinois.
The “Mill District” is what the vacant former paper-mill site in Sartell is now called. That mill, a virtual landmark of Sartell for a century, closed permanently in 2012 after a fire and explosion killed an employee and damaged the facility, after which its owner, Verso Paper, decided to shut it down completely. Most everything on the site was demolished by a company that bought it and then recycled much of the waste. The city now owns the large site on the east side of the river.
Since Archambeau was contracted as a consultant, she has had many virtual online meetings and/or phone calls with Sartell city staff and many others about the Mill District process. She has also visited Sartell and addressed the city council at its meetings several times. She has been working on the plan for 18 months.
Her goal, she said at the June 24 meeting, was to help achieve a community vision, a guide for decision-making that will take into account what residents and businesses want, based on many input sessions, meetings and surveys. Archambeau also contacted area organizations, builders and many other stakeholders.
A consensus soon developed that people want a mixed-use development on that vacant site that will include residential, commercial, office space, trails, a river walk and recreational uses that would include a dock system at the Mississippi River, which flows past its west side. There will be taller buildings on the east side of the huge property, smaller ones on its riverside.
Both private and public investments will be encouraged. So far, almost 30 development ideas have been proposed, Archambeau noted.
To be worked out are potential crossings to the property across the current railroad on its east side, pedestrian access at the north end and lots of safety measures.
That vast lot is now zoned for “light industrial.” It will be rezoned for “mixed-use developments.”
The next crucial step is to develop marketing of the property locally, statewide and even nationally, and a management team and/or point person should be in charge, Archambeau suggested. That front-line group could handle marketing, negotiations and meet with those who want to make developments on the property. Council members agreed wholeheartedly with Archambeau. Such a team would ensure momentum for future action during phases 2 and 3 of the development plan.
They authorized Archambeau to lead the effort to find a point team and/or point person, and then they thanked her for her presentation.
Smiling, Archambeau said she is looking forward to returning to Sartell in the future to take part in some “Grand Openings” at the Mill District.
Anita Archambeau
