by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Former Sartell Mayor Joe Perske still feels, as he has for years, the need to remind the Sartell City Council that a branch library was once a promise made repeatedly by council members throughout the years.
At the March 27 council meeting, Perske spoke during the Public Forum portion of the meeting, during which anyone can speak about a concern for up to three minutes.
Perske stepped up to the podium carrying a hefty stack of documents related to library plans for the city, including survey results. A library has been a city wish since his kids were in diapers, as Perske put it – about 25 years. A “library” was on the ballot question when Sartell residents first passed the regional half-cent sales tax in 1999 because that was a high priority for Sartell residents, Perske said.
A community center with a library was part of the plans for the sales-tax revenue from the very beginning, Perske noted, adding some of the money was used to help build the Bernick’s Ice Arena but then the plans for a community center fell by the wayside.
In 2006, Sartell residents again approved a second phase for a regional half-cent sales tax, which included the word “library” on the ballot. The council, when deciding a south site for the community center, did not include a library in it, partly because it was too close to the St. Cloud and Waite Park library sites and partly because the majority of the council (three of the two members) thought start-up costs for library materials would be unaffordable.
Since the community-center decision, two new members were elected to the city council last November – Mike Chisum and Ryan Fitzthum. That is one reason why Perske decided to remind the newly comprised council of past library promises from city councils throughout the past two dozen years.
Perske noted the Sartell Friends of the Library gathered 500 petition-signatures in 10 days asking the council to start plans for a library. He also noted scores of people rallied with picket signs at city hall, asking the council to keep the promise of a library.
It’s still their “dream,” and they still want a library,” Perske said.
At that point, Sartell Mayor Sarah Jane Nicoll tapped her gavel, meaning Perske’s three minutes of Public Forum time were up.
