Jane McWilliams, LWV Observer
Councilor Jim Pokorney was absent.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
The council’s anticipated decision to appoint two new city attorneys whose firms are not located in Northfield came up for comments from members of the public. (See October 12, 2009 report for that discussion.) Erica Staab, Executive Director of Hope Center, spoke in reference to the Consent Agenda approval of a Proclamation for Domestic Violence-Awareness Month. While thanking the council for this action, she called attention to the problem for clients of her organization which may be caused by moving the city prosecutor’s office out of town. “When considering future decisions, consider the victims. Hope is available to assist.” Greg Colby, former councilor and currently a public defender, said he had worked with the city’s prosecuting attorney Tim Morisette for 20 years and believes he does a “terrific job.” The local attorney and former councilor said hiring “out of town people when there are people in town who can do the job sends a bad signal.” He said that Maren Swanson, city civil attorney, was “the only stable thing in the last few years.” He urged that the council think through this matter completely.
Noting that City Administrator Joel Walinski had said earlier that he was surprised that only 3 local attorneys applied, Don McGee wondered whether anyone had asked why. As a taxpayer, his concern is that if an out of town person is hired, the money goes with him and won’t be able to support local needs. In line with the council’s goal of sustainability, he’d like to see the council set a goal for spending money locally.
MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION/CROSSING PROPERTY
In 2005, the city entered into a memorandum of understanding with MnDOT about the sale to the city of property the state had formerly purchased for right of way. The property in question will be crucial to the future development of the Crossing property. According to the city administrator’s memo, there has been a dispute with the state about the “fair market value.” Recently, MnDOT proposed 3 possible actions to resolve the issue. Staff asked for direction and the council decided that the city should offer to purchase the property, based on a value “that splits the difference between the MnDOT appraisal ($208,000) and the city appraisal ($54,000). It is anticipated that later the city would sell it to whomever develops the area. Funds for this purchase would come from the proceeds of the sale of city land elsewhere in that project area.
The council moved into a work session at 8:17.
BUDGET PRESENTATIONS
In preparation for final action on the 2010 budget later this fall, Human Resource Director Liz Wheeler and Community Development Director Brian O’Connell outlined their departments’ budget. Finance Director Kathleen McBride presented the Insurance Fund, including the plan for writing off the deficit created by the loss of funds from the Rate Search fiasco.
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN DISCUSSION
The balance of the meeting was taken up with a discussion of financing and constructing a major new facility. Charts prepared by McBride showed four scenarios for paying back the bonds and their impact on property taxes of residential, non-homestead residential, commercial/industrial, and agricultural property. Walinski had prepared extensive information for considering 4 options for the Safety Center:
*Single facility on a minimum 5-acre site (as recommended by the Safety Center Task force),
* Reuse of existing facility for police, & new fire site,
* Reuse of existing location for new fire facility, & new police location,
* Complete updates and deferred maintenance of existing facility.
In his October 9, 2009 Weekly Memo, Walinski included a draft brochure, complete with a letter from Mayor Mary Rossing, a review of studies and discussions to date, and a Q and A. This very sophisticated piece was created in response to the council’s request that information for the public about the Safety Center be prepared. (It is available at: http://www.ci.northfield.mn.us/assets/1/100909-Safety-Center-Brochure-web.pdf.) Walinski noted that local volunteer, David Drenth, a retired state building official, had been recruited to provide public tours of the Safety Center, although no dates have been set for these.
It is clear to this observer that a great deal of time and effort has been put forth on this matter in preparation for the council’s difficult decision about “moving the decision process along” as McBride says in her cover memo for the meeting. While McBride’s tax impact study was based on a bond size of $10,570,000, there was no mention of which “major facility” was under consideration. However, the discussion at this meeting led one to think that the council’s main interest is the Safety Center. Although the council has never explicitly discussed the question of whether to make the bonding decision with or without going to the public, it is clear that the underlying presumption is that there will be a referendum. Although the library board has been working for several years on expansion plans, and recently on raising funds to assist the city to that end, it isn’t clear whether the council intends to include that project in a referendum.
Walinski recommended that the council consider a May referendum. He outlined the work which would need to be done in preparation in order for either or both the safety center and library projects to be included. Stressing his concern that there are staff limitations for running a referendum, he recommends hiring a project manager. Coordinating and running two projects would be difficult and it would take a year and a half for each if phased rather than done together. Walinski said the council would need to make a decision about a May referendum in November in order for preparation to be completed in time.
Earlier in the meeting, McBride gave a very informative presentation, The MN Property Tax System – Overview. Her power point document is available at: http://www.ci.northfield.mn.us/assets/1/10-19-2009-Property-Tax-Basics.pdf
The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 p.m.
Comments
Jane: I like the narrative style you're using; have you gotten feedback?
I would agree with your comment/italicized note. Since the administrator said the Council would have to make a decision on the referendum timing by mid-November, and making that decision would necessarily drive some other decisions, such as design work, etc., one has to wonder when the discussion will occur which one would expect to be required in order to make final decisions on the Safety Center. The defining discussions just do not seem to be happening; I do not see the council leadership bringing the pertinent points to fruition.
There is a sense of slogging through sand, under water, in some of the recent council meetings. The oft-spoken-of transparency that was the campaign cry, is just not apparent.
Thanks, Jane, for a succinct and informative summary of a meeting that was based on numerous assumptions that have lacked the necessary discussion to clarify how the council's priorities reflect those of their constituents.
If, in the past 7 years of planning by the Library Board and staff, the library expansion had received half of the administrative support that the Safety Center has received in the past 10 months, I am sure that Northfield would have had an expanded, modern library by now, with the needed space for programs, services and resources used by Northfield area residents in this, the 21st century.
Jane, thank you for your work. Your report is very clear and this is a valuable service to Northfield citizens.