League of Women Voters of Northfield

Kiffi Summa , LWV Observer

All councilors were present, and there were no agenda changes.
A Presentation featured the recycling efforts of two schools, Greenvale and  St. Dominic’s. Through Waste Management’s Green Team cardboard/paper recycling program  these two school teams managed the containers which collected approximately 80 tons of  product, earning the schools  a total of $1200.00.

There was no Public Comment on the Consent Agenda (items 1-4), which was approved; and no general public comment at Open Mic.

The Regular Agenda  consisted of  seven items:
5.  Safety Center Project Update
6.  Approve Budget Amendment
7.  Update City Council on Stormwater Ordinance
8.  Authorize staff to prepare an agreement for use of right-of-way in front of the Historic Society
9.  Consider voluntary City Council pay adjustments
10. Consider reestablishing the position of Welcome Center  Coordinator
11. Administrator Transition Options

*** NOTE:  Although this agenda looked fairly innocuous, it was packed with content, and it is simply a matter of practicality to briefly summarize on some of these agenda items.

5. Safety Center Project Update – Although this began as a simple report from Mike Clark  of KKE architects, mostly referencing the preference for the Jasnoch site for the Police facility, it quickly became  possibly  the most important item on the agenda. City Administrator Joel Walinski announced that the schedule the city had been operating on, which would have let them know about the availability of the Woodley  MNDOT owned site for the new fire station, was no longer operable.  MDOT had  offered in a May 13 letter that they would  probably be able to advise the city on that site’s availability by early August; however, MNDOT’s interior schedule  is slowed by several months.
This means that without the knowledge of  that site being available, the Council is unable to move forward on their strict schedule, to the anticipated November referendum on new safety facility projects.
After that announcement of his notice from MNDOT, Mr. Walinski  reported on his meetings with the city’s ‘partners’  who might be  contributing to the projects, i.e., the  Colleges and the Rural  Fire Department. The partners want a final site and design ( and therefore costs) before “coming on board”… so Mr. Walinski’s recommendation was to postpone the referendum.
Mayor Rossing  said this should move the Council to some action, and proposed 1. reaffirm Woodley as the preferred site. 2. yes/no vote  on postponing referendum, 3. affirm design and move forward  for the  Police project on the Jasnoch site.

There was a lot of disparate discussion.

Mayor’s action #1 , to affirm Woodley as the preferred site, was voted on:  All Aye except for C. Jon Denison.
Mayor’s action #2, to postpone the referendum to a yet-to-be-specified date was voted on:  All Aye.
Mayor’s action #3, to move ahead with the Jasnoch site for police was moved and seconded. A long and far ranging discussion of various options ensued going all the way back to previously discarded possibilities for a combined facility. When the vote was taken it failed, 5-2, with the Mayor and C. Vohs  voting Aye to continue  with development on that site.

Administrator Walinski then asked the Council for direction on how to proceed.
KKE  architects were instructed to embark on trying to work out a design for a combined  police/fire facility on the Woodley site, IF it became available, and bring that information back to the council for some decision at the August 3  Council meeting.

6. Approve Budget Amendment – City Finance Director Kathleen McBride presented this amendment which primarily addresses the state aid reductions made by the 2010 Legislature, as well as a few  ‘housekeeping’  matters.
The net reduction to expenditures for the General Fund  is $149, 448.

7. Update  City Council on Stormwater Ordinance -  this appears to have been a very thorough process which involved several other private and jurisdictional partners. The proposed ordinance  language would put Northfield in a favorable position as to environmental standards with its ‘peer’ group cities,  and meets or  exceeds state standards .
Proceeding on schedule would mean the new ordinance would be operable in October.

8. … Right-of-Way/ Historic  Society -   The NF Historic Society has had a successful capital campaign and has received significant grant monies, allowing it to make major improvements to their building. One of those improvements is the addition of an elevator at the west end of their  building, and that requires an adjustment to the sidewalk approach. It will be necessary to remove two trees in front  of the building to maintain ADA  sidewalk throughway, and that made C.  Pokorney vote No when the vote was taken; otherwise all Aye.

9.  Consider Voluntary City  Council  pay adjustments -  C. Pownell has been advocating that the Council should take a pay cut equal to the mandated three day staff furlough  cut, and asked for this item to be placed on the agenda. City Attorney Chris Hood informed the Council that  since their  pay is set by ordinance, they would have to change the ordinance to do this as a mandate, but they could voluntarily contribute back  a portion of their pay to the city.  After C.  Pokorney’s joke about a charitable tax deduction (the  returned pay), and the Mayor noting that some silence night have indicated a lack of consensus,  the matter was left as a voluntary option.

10.  Consider re-establishing the position of Welcome Center Coordinator  -  C. Zweifel had asked for this to be put on the Agenda for reconsideration as it has been a controversial issue since the person  holding this position had also functioned as an interpreter  for the city and its residents. C. Zweifel then said she had been asked by  C. Pownell to table the reconsideration as C. Pownell has scheduled and held meetings with the Hispanic community, hoping to gain more relevant information.
Attny. Hood again entered the conversation noting that the  council would have to instruct the City Administrator to re-establish the  position in question, since the position had been cut, and then direct him to fill the position.
There were some process questions regarding the meetings held by Ms. Pownell,((the  Mayor and C. Pokorney also attended; other councilors were not notified)  and C. Pownell offered sincere response  of  having no intention of doing anything  inappropriate, but  only trying to gain more information to resolve a quandary.
The Mayor felt no need to table as she felt there was no more information to be gained, but the motion to table passed on a 4-3 vote.

11. Administrator  Transition Options – With Administrator  Walinski having announced his resignation, Mayor Rossing felt the council must act quickly to replace him with either an interim or permanent hire.   The Mayor laid out a very aggressive time schedule for beginning with an interim; a list of candidates provided by the MN League of cities was included in the Packet, and the Mayor  presented a council subcommittee process to align  with her schedule.   It was decided that although  there would be a subcommittee of the Council, ALL of the Councilors could rate the submitted resumes, if they chose to do so.
The Mayor’s schedule imagined interviews with  candidates as early as August 9.  If there was a council approved candidate who was free to begin immediately, the schedule would allow that interim person to overlap  for a couple weeks with Mr. Walinski’s end of term.

Northfield City Hall, Council Chambers
Kiffi Summa, LWV Observer

All of the Northfield councilors were present; Dundas Mayor Glenn Switzer and two councilors, Nate Ryan and John Zander, represented Dundas.
Mayor Mary Rossing opened the meeting by saying that there was no published agenda, however it was understood that there was one subject to be discussed: shared services. She felt there were three pieces to that subject: identity,  possible efficiencies, and an implementation procedure.

As they began their discussion about shared services, it became immediately apparent that most services are handled very differently by the two cities, with Dundas Mayor Glenn Switzer explaining that they contract out most services so that costs are specific to actual use, rather than using the Northfield model of staffed departments with highly paid department heads.
The  general discussion went from what was too specifically different between the two cities to be shared, to what might possibly be shared, with  ‘identity’ being a major factor.
Example: Dundas has three police officers; Northfield has 22 police officers. Dundas Councilperson Nate Ryan felt that sharing police was a “hot  button” issue because of the familiarity their residents have with their officers, and the awareness the officers have of the residents and neighborhoods just because of size. He felt that was personal safety factor Dundas would not wish to relinquish.

Discussion of shared planning also raised questions of identity.  Mayor Switzer does not favor central planning ; he favors county/township/city planning systems as they support identity in providing choice, i.e., greater self-governance.

Most of the councilors agreed that the more impersonal things such as utilities might be shared, but that would mean the necessity of joint powers boards being created.

The sewer relationship between Dundas and Northfield was discussed. Northfield City Administrator Joel  Walinski said 2011-12 would  bring a study of NF’s wastewater treatment plant which should be scheduled for expansion/replacement in 2020. C. Pokorney  noted that sewer drives a lot of economic growth and he and Mayor  Switzer agreed  it would be important to work together to support the area between Northfield and Dundas  where NF’s second annexation for  business park is planned . (Bridgewater annexation area west of Armstrong Road).

C. Pokorney  noted that while Northfield taxpayers must pay their fair share, from Dundas’s perspective  those sewer costs might be ‘more’; that ’subsidies’ can’t be given.
Mayor Switzer noted that “shared” needed to be defined.  Dundas does not ’share’ sewer with  Northfield;  Dundas   contracts with Northfield and pays for all its use of the interceptor sewer line.
***NOTE: The sewer  issue has long been fertile ground for misunderstanding. It would be wise for the two governmental units to issue a ‘white paper’  with the relevant facts and statistics.

Mayor Rossing again raised issues of sharing economic development, planning , or community development personnel. Mayor Switzer cited the services offered by the county Economic Development Director, Deanna Kuennen, and the differing needs of the widely differently sized communities, i.e. Northfield has departments/ department heads; Dundas contracts  out for these services as well as more ongoing needs relevant to maintenance of parks, etc.

The discussion then moved to fire protection , and Northfield’s  proposed safety  center project. As C. Pokorney detailed  the  costs of fire protection for Dundas, shared with the Rural Fire Department, he again stated the need to be fair for ‘all’ and cited  NF’s 100% responsibility to the firemen’s pension plan. He concluded  “We carry some responsibility that is not shared”.
The discussion of the physical building to house the fire services became somewhat contentious  between NF’s vision of an appropriate city facility and  Dundas’s questioning of value.
C. Denison asked Dundas councilor Ryan if they would be willing to “go on their own”; how much they were  “willing to bend” , etc.
C. Buckheit then interjected  : “if we truly want to partner it means we have to give up some control…”.
C.  Pownell  stated that residents  “… have to elect people that are willing to work together”.

Discussion continued ranging over several other other subject areas before returning to sewer and fire.

C. Pokorney said he would speak just for himself; it is his last six months on the council… “Northfield is tightening its belt; we can’t overpay because we’re providing services that are not equitable… fire , sewer,  might be those.”
Dundas C. Ryan countered, “then we’ll be asking you, what are you willing to cut in your budget?”
C. Pokorney replied: “You can criticize us but that’s our decision; what we do with our money is our choice”.
***NOTE:  the above exchange is quoted to show that  the actual differences between Northfield and Dundas are significant, and drive very different methods of  city operations, which may make it difficult  to create shared services because of inherent differences in budget and structural operations.

In conclusion, the two Mayors  agreed that the joint government (township) meetings should be focused on more serious interaction and goals.  They also agreed  that a  work group to consider shared services should be created. It should consist of two councilors from each city, along  with  some staff participation; how  much staff and at what point in the deliberations was not  clearly agreed upon.

Mayor Rossing then summed up the meeting, emphasizing that  identity was very important to both communities  and a work group would be formed, as well as putting more effort into the quarterly joint government meetings.

Mayor Rossing thanked the attendees, and they adjourned at approximately 8:20 PM.

Kiffi Summa, LWV Observer

At 6:30 PM , the Council convened, and then made a motion to adjourn to a Closed Session, for the purpose of negotiating with the Northfield  Union of Youth, The Key, for the sale of their building to the City, with a quorum of 5 of the 7 members.

At 7:15, the council convened their regular meeting; 6 of the 7 members present; Councilor Zweifel arriving shortly. I did not hear a report of the closed session portion of the meeting , if it was given. There were a lot of DJJD committee members gathering in the Council Chambers, in the first few minutes of roll call, etc.

When it came time to approve the Agenda, Councilor Buckheit asked for an item to be added; she wished to make a motion to reconsider the  previous action taken by Council with regard to the in-kind services and grant allotments for community events. Her request was honored, followed by a discussion of where to place it on the agenda.  Mayor  Rossing and Councilor Denison wanted it to become the last item  (# 13), but it was argued that there were so many interested parties present (DJJD) that it should be placed earlier, for their convenience. It was established as item # 13, at the end of the agenda. (Obviously, no packet information)

After approving  three sets of Minutes, the council heard a Special Presentation from Andy Yurek and Kathleen Meier on the successful application for, and implementation of, a MN Rural Hospital Flex Grant.  The grant allowed health providers and many organizations within the  City and County to join together in a campaign of education, training, prevention, and recapture of unused prescription drugs through the very successful Take it to the Box program. The collaboration of all relevant parties was impressive, as reported, and there are two information pieces of literature that may be obtained at the NF Hospital: “Heroin: Northfield’s  Rapid Response”  by Ellen Tichich, clinical nurse educator, NF Hospital, and a brochure, “Heroin and  Opiate Usage  in Northern Rice County, MN: A Community Responds”.
*** NOTE: for anyone interested , these print materials are both good ways to gain additional insight to a much discussed community problem. All the community partners are listed on the brochure, allowing you access to any information you might want to further investigate.

The Consent Agenda passed; within it were three appointments to Boards and Commissions: Mr. Mark Mohlke to the Mayor’s Taskforce on Youth Alcohol and Drug Use, Mr. Ivan Imm to the Planning Commission/Zoning Board of Appeals, and Ms. Leslie Schultz to the Arts and Culture Commission.
(There remains a six-month vacancy on the  Economic Development Authority to be filled)

In the Open Public Comments, Mr. Jim Finholt urged the Council to establish a site for a permanent skateboard park, and asking that it be at Old Memorial Park. He also urged the Park and Recreation Board to dedicate that  park to  “active”  outdoor activities, rather than an emphasis on more passive activities.

The Regular  Agenda was comprised of 4  important items, as well as the newly added “reconsideration”:
Item #9. Safety Center Projects Update – City Administrator Joel Walinski  gave the Council an overview of the  recent activities of  the  Steering and Design Committees, reported on discussion with MNDOT re: the proposed Fire Station site at Woodley/Hwy. 3, reported that  soil borings were being done on two of the three proposed Police facility  sites, and replied to C.  Pownell’s question regarding progress on’partner’ (Rural Fire Dept, Colleges) discussions.
Community  ‘questions’ came up, and C. Buckheit voiced some concerns, summarized as: speed of  the process, budget, library expansion inclusion, $8.5 million  increased to $14.4 million bonding request … and then questioned: “How do WE affect the process?”
Mayor  Rossing replied “WE are in charge”.
After more discussion on process, it was agreed that it was extremely important for the community’s questions to be answered.
Chris Hood, City Attorney, gave advice to councilors on their legal obligations regarding advocating for referendum.
Mayor Rossing’s ‘bottom line’ was that much more public information was needed: “we need to educate”; and that there must be active engagement in answering questions.
Mr.  Walinski’s stated schedule:
July 15 – site information brought back to steering committee
July 20 – site information to Council
August 3  -  Council begin  ballot language discussion
August 17  – Council finalize language
August 20- Final allot  language  to county (deadline)

Item #10 – Approve Budget Policy Direction -  The Council’s  goal in having an overriding Budget Policy is to provide guiding principles for developing the 2011  Budget  which reflect their discussions, and incorporates their goals  and directions.
This passed as written with one minor, and one major addition: C. Denison wanted the word “potential” inserted  before “… formation of a Financial Advisory  Workgroup…”; C.  Pokorney added language: considering  “impact of Capital Improvement Debt on the General Fund  must  be  incorporated into Policy”.
Kathleen McBride, City Finance  Director, voiced her agreement with C. Pokorney.

Item #11 – Consider City Residential Survey -  Staff was seeking direction  as to whether to proceed with a city-wide survey that would gauge residents’ opinions on services and priorities in light of limited  resources.
Mr. Walinski  felt that  it would have the potential of reaching a wide array of residents, but it was hard to justify the cost. He felt that it would be most beneficial if done on a regular basis to show trends.
The Council was very divided as to the usefulness; mostly feeling that the costs were not supportable at this time, that the fall election and referendum were a ’survey’ in themselves, and that at a less politically charged time, establishing a pattern of regular surveying  would be profitable.
Even the age-old controversy of  students came up, with C.Denison opining that students  were not  property owners, nor taxpayers.
Mayor Rossing was interested in getting a statistically relevant  evaluation, ie., going deeper into community opinion, to have enough citizen opinion at decision making points in the Council’s process.
All three options presented in the packet  were  voted on: the final 4-3 vote directing staff to NOT move forward with a residential survey in  2010.
*** NOTE: It is unusual for all three options to be voted on; it almost seemed as if there was a desire for a subject on which there could be a clear-cut, definitive decision made, even though by a closely split vote.

Item #12  – Municipal District #4 Decertification – Kathleen McBride gave an explanatory  background presentation, first clarifying that this is the  renamed Downtown TIF District, and  is scheduled to close in 2013.
*** NOTE:  Please read the packet information, if interested, as any brief explanation here would raise more questions than it answered. There  has been a lot  of  public  discussion of this issue, and a  lot  of understandable  confusion as to whether or not the early decertifiication of this district would  actually return $$ to the taxpayers, city wide. According to Ms. McBride, it would not; it is more of an ‘internal’ readjustment of the  tax levy than an actual dollar return. Again, see the  packet for her information.

Mr. Walinski made a very  strong recommendation that did NOT approve early decertification, and that was supported by Ms. McBride;  both feeling that since the district could not be decertified before the end of 2011, due to contractual obligations with state offices re: the proposed Transit  Hub, it was better to capture the additional tax increments for  the  last few years, and be very judicial in how  those funds are spent, returning any remainder to the taxing units after 2013.
Most of the Council was in agreement; Mayor Rossing’s ‘bottom line’ was  to take advantage of the leveraging  possibilities these dollars offered, keeping all options  open, while being wise in how the money is spent.
The final  vote was 6-1, NOT to decertify.

Item #13 -   C. Buckheit’s proposed Reconsideration of former action taken on in-kind services and grants for community events – C. Buckheit stated her reason for wanting to reconsider this action  was based on feeling the Council had been not adequately informed, and the  process as implemented,  came in the middle or even past the budget planning stage of some event managers, therefore  causing some  problems.
***NOTE: during  this  discussion there was a question  of procedure raised by C. Denison;  C. Denison felt that the calling of the question by another councilor  during the  previous discussion of this matter had limited the discussion. Attny. Hood gave his opinion that  the previous vote would stand, but he would be glad to look into C. Denison’s issue further.
C. Buckheit reiterated that  she  did not  wish  to change  tonight any decision previously made, but was asking for the matter to be reconsidered at a future meeting. When the vote  was taken it was 3-3, until the Mayor cast the 4th deciding vote to approve the reconsideration.
It  will be taken up at a Special Meeting before next week’s Work Session.

General Statement:  In the observer’s  opinion, this has not been an easy  time for this Council.  There seem to be large philosophical differences within the group, and yet they  have worked at  solving  the  many complex and difficult  issues they have been presented with, and all those issues are further  complicated by the general economic  downturn, as well as Northfield’s  own  budget  crisis.