by Dennis Dalman
A historic orderly annexation agreement (OAA) involving nearly 35 parcels of property in LeSauk Township was approved by the Sartell City Council after a public hearing at its Aug. 12 meeting.
The vote to approve was 4-0 because Mayor Ryan Fitzthum was absent; council member Tim Elness served as acting mayor.
The agreement between the City of Sartell and LeSauk Township was actually arrived at in 2021 with the understanding it would be implemented within three years.
Nine people spoke at the public hearing, all of them opposing the annexation or urging the council to delay it until later. Some, including Sartell resident and Stearns County Commissioner Joe Perske (former Sartell council member and city mayor) asked the council to delay its decision at least until Dec. 31 of this year to give affected residents time to consider and to adjust or act upon the annexation’s implications.
However, Sartell City Administrator Anna Gruber noted that even if the council acts now on the annexation proposal, any change in city taxes on those properties would not go into effect until next year, 2025.
There is also a provision that city taxes would be raised incrementally during a period of five years or more and that fees for city utility hook-ups (like water/sewer) to those parcels of property would be reduced.
The annexation action is expected to diminish problems and concerns about there being so many township “islands” in the City of Sartell. Those “islands” (parcels of property) are technically within the jurisdiction of LeSauk Township, although they are bordered or surrounded by land that is within the city limits. Such “islands” can cause jurisdictional confusions when it comes to city/township services and even safety concerns.
The background of the orderly annexation is quite complicated. More details about the issue and the council’s action will be published in the Sept. 6 Sartell-St. Stephen Newsleader.
