Jane McWilliams, LWV Observer
Council Erica Zweifel was absent.
Presentation: Members of the Mayor’s Youth Council (Lucas Rohr, Jaime Rossow, Liv Thompson and Raena Mueller-Dahl) who have just graduated from Northfield High School were introduced and reported on their future plans. Katherine Peterson, Emma Kleese and Tom Murray were not able to appear.
Public Comments: Joshua Esget asked the council to support a resolution directed to Congress to immediately adopt a measure which will lead to the shutdown of the derivatives market, starting with the Cantwell-Lincoln amendment to the Dodd bill.
Facilities funding: The main event of the evening was “Items related to financing major facilities projects.” In compliance with statutory requirements, the city had given notice of a public hearing “on (a) the intention to issue general obligation capital improvement plan bonds in an amount not to exceed $14,400,000 and (b) the proposal to adopt a capital improvement plan therefor. The proceeds of the bonds will be used to finance various capital improvements within the City pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Section 475.521.”
Following the hearing and lengthy discussion, the council decided against the general obligation capital improvement plan bonds and, instead, will fund the safety facility projects with referendum bonds. As a result, the council did not need to adopt the capital improvement plan. There was no decision on the amount of the referendum bonds at this time. And, there was no discussion about the library.
The first speaker during the hearing was the consultant Mike Clark of KKE Archictects and Engineers, the firm working to assist the council on decisions about the safety facilities. He and his colleague Cliff Buikema reviewed the history of their work, showed slides of concepts for the police and fire departments and explained the next steps. These include selecting a final police department site, refining the design of the buildings and establishing cost estimates. Following council approval of these, language for a referendum must be created by August 20. Mark Taylor, Chief of Police, and Gary Franek, Fire Chief supplemented KKE information, explaining their departments’ needs.
Following these presentations, Mayor Rossing and City Administrator Joel Walinski asked the public to focus their comments on which of the projects in the Capital Improvement Plan (replacement of police and fire facilities and expansion of the library) the council should fund and with what financing method.
Philip Spensley, chair of the city’s Arts and Culture Commission, reminded the council of the commission’s August 2009 report requesting the to council include 1% of capital budgets for public art. Those funds would be used for a number of projects which could make Northfield an aesthetically pleasing place for both residents and visitors. Businessman and former Northfield Mayor Jerry Anderson said that if it takes more time to do a better job of planning the facilities it is worthwhile. He supports a referendum so that the people have a voice. David Delong agreed. He said to “take your time and do it right.”
Library Board Chair Margit Johnson asked the council to recalculate the cost of the safety facilities, that $14,400,000 is high in light of the current economy. The library has just completed a fundraising feasibility study, and learned that it will only succeed if the council is as committed to the library as it is to the safety facilities. Victor Summa supported referendum bonds and promised to work for it if the council develops a good plan.
Randy Jennings, a member of the steering committee working with KKE Architects and on contract with the city for public relations on the safety facility, said the planning had been a good process, that there had been adequate planning time. “We could spend a ton of money retrofitting the place, but it wouldn’t serve our needs 20 years down the road.” Kiffi Summa objected to the council’s making the decision on funding right after the hearing, and said that the councilors must have come to the meeting knowing how they would vote. She also criticized Jennings, the “city’s hired publicist” for speaking at the public hearing. Steve Schmidt, a member of the steering committee and a local contractor, said he had been reluctant to serve on the committee because he wasn’t supportive. However, he has come to believe the city should move forward and build quality facilities while interest and building costs are low.
Because the council contemplated funding the public safety facilities with capital improvement bonds, by law, they needed to hold a hearing on that method. According Finance Director Kathleen McBride, once the hearing was closed, the next step would be for the council to approve the capital improvement plan as presented. Before doing that, however, the council was asked to decide on what type of funding they intended to use for the facilities projects. If they decided against the capital improvement bonds, approval of the plan would be unnecessary.
Therefore, the council’s first task was to define the scope of the projects to be funded. A motion to affirm the financing of the police and fire facilities passed with Councilors Betsey Buckheit and Jim Pokorney voting no. Buckheit said she wouldn’t support the motion because the council needs to also establish how they will fund the entire capital improvement plan, which would include the library.
McBride then outlined the bonding options. A motion to go with capital improvement bonds failed. A motion to go with the general obligation bonds, requiring a referendum (likely in November) passed with Councilors Pokorney and Buckheit voting no. Councilor Pokorney, throughout the discussion at this meeting, and as he has previously, is concerned about how the cost of bonding for facilities will affect the tough decisions the council has before it to create budgets with little or no state aid. "I’m painting a financial picture beyond the scope of the discussion tonight, but as a council and a city we haven’t seen the numbers.” While the city needs the facility, Pokorney said they should delay this decision.
Other actions: The council approved a supplemental agreement between the city and Highland Bank, current owner of the Crossings project and revised the terms of the Tax Increment Financing note issued by the city in 2006 for the project. They also approved a resolution supporting the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s request that Rice County consider certain improvements of County Road 1 between Highway 3 and Highway 246.
2011 Budget: Staff had drafted 12 “Annual Budget Development Policies” which will provide direction for the staff recommendations for the 2011 budget development. The council discussed the possibility of a citizen survey once again and they made suggestions for the formation of a “financial advisory work group” to bring suggestions to the council for, as Mayor Rossing said, “long term strategies.” These could include yet undiscovered ways of meeting the financial challenges ahead. After hearing the various comments, Rossing said she would bring a proposal in July. Prompted by Councilor Pokorney’s request, Administrator Walinski said they would have a first draft of the 2011 budget in late July.
Following reports from staff and councilors, the meeting was adjourned at 10:35 p.m.
The packet for this meeting is available at: http://www.ci.northfield.mn.us/assets/p/Packet168.pdf
Additional materials (KKE slides, McBride’s analysis of the property tax levy and impacts, and the resolution proposed by Mr. Esget) were distributed at the meeting and I am happy to share them. jmcwilli@charter.net
