by Dennis Dalman
For the third time in recent weeks, former Sartell city-council member and former mayor Joe Perske sharply criticized the council for approving a golf-course land sale on a 3-2 vote in late May.
Perske spoke during the July 10 city council meeting’s “Open Forum” segment. The “Open Forum,” which takes place just before council business begins, allows speakers who sign up before the meeting to speak for three minutes each.
Perske told the council he still has concerns about the “dubious actions” of the council concerning the land sale.
He said he has talked to people in various places throughout Sartell, and the typical comments he hears are the following: “How can they do this?” “What were they thinking.” “I wish I could buy it!” “What a scam!”
That land sale, Perske claimed, was a case of ignoring the community and catering to special interests, of “giving away 81 acres to a friend.” A “travesty,” he said, “unfolded on that night of the sweet deal.”
The previous park-board members knew the value of that land, as did former mayors, but none of them were consulted before the deal was done, Perske said.
“This is wrong,” he said, in closing. “It is so wrong. And the people in the community know it. Listen to their voice. And Mr. (Brandon) Testa, please don’t take away our parkland.”
Perske was referring to the Sartell businessman whose company, Three Tees, purchased the 81 acres of city-owned land for $426,000. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, that land must remain a golf course for 30 years.
Perske is a former Sartell teacher, soccer coach, council member and mayor. He currently serves as a Stearns County commissioner.
Since 2008, after the city acquired that land, buying it from a private golf course and using revenue from the regional half-cent sales tax to pay for it (about $3.5 million). The city then signed a lease agreement with Boulder Ridge of St. Cloud to operate a golf course on just half of the land (81 acres). The other half of the land was used to develop Pinecone Central Park. That lease will terminate in about a year under terms of the sale agreed to in May.
The rationale by the city staff and three council members for selling the land to Testa is basically that it and its needs (especially an irrigation system) would become, sooner or later, a financial liability for the City of Sartell.
Stearns County Commissioner and former Sartell Mayor Joe Perske
