League of Women Voters of Northfield

Jane McWilliams, LWV Observer

All councilors were present.

This was a “special meeting” because last week’s regular meeting was not held, in deference to precinct caucuses. While the agenda tonight was not lengthy, the content was heavy, and the meeting lasted until 10:55.  Three items – preliminary approval of the annexation of properties in Bridgewater Township, approval of a plan for selecting architectural services for the safety facilities, and considering how the facilities would be financed – demanded the majority of the evening’s discussion.

Annexation. The back-up information provided by City Planner Dan Olson was very comprehensive, containing information about the status of the annexation discussions, a description of the properties, the fiscal impact of annexation (including projected revenue, infrastructure and transportation costs). He summarized the public comments at the Planning Commission hearing and the responses to the request of the council to certain boards and commissions for their recommendations. There were maps of the area including the city’s water, sewer and transportation plans. (This information is #11 in the council packet: http://www.ci.northfield.mn.us/assets/p/Packet159.pdf. )

Following Olsen’s PowerPoint preview, the council had questions and comments. There was concern about whether the anticipated tax revenue would cover the road maintenance cost in the short term until the land is developed. Although there was agreement that the report was thorough, councilors had reservations because of not having certainty about the future use of the land and about yet to be created policies such as a stream protection ordinance. Olsen had reported that since 1977, the anticipated use of that area had undergone changes. As recently as 1991, there was consideration of residential and recreational development. Councilor Jon Denison said that for him, annexation is changing the city’s boundaries, not necessarily determining the future use.

Several citizens spoke, including Bridgewater Township Supervisor Glen Castore who said the township realizes that the city needs area for development. He questioned the estimates for road maintenance, saying it cost the township considerable more to maintain the roads. He reminded the council that the firm the Economic Development Authority was working with to develop a plan for both the Greenvale Township and Bridgewater properties, said the city needs 200 acres for the next 40 years of business development. With the 500 plus acres of the recently annexed Greenvale property alone, the city should be set for 80 years. Stephanie Henricksen reminded the council that a portion of the land in question is not included in the present annexation agreement.

Mayor Mary Rossing advised the council to move ahead on Jon Denison’s motion: The City Council hereby preliminarily approves the annexation of the 436-acre Prawer-Gill properties. Rather than also approving the many findings of fact contained in the proposed resolution, the council agreed with Rossing that the council could take up these later. City Administrator Joel Walinski suggested that that discussion could begin at next week’s work session. The council approved the motion unanimously.

Surface water management ordinance. During the work session following the meeting, Township Supervisors Kathleen Doran-Norton and Glen Castore sat at the table with the city council to discuss collaborative efforts to develop the ordinance. Next week, City Engineer Katy Gehler-Hess will ask for council approval to enter into a contract for work on the ordinance. In anticipation, she provided the group a plan for public process to work on the ordinance.  Councilors and supervisors agreed with the plan, and noted that it will not only engender public participation, but can work as an educational process as well.

The council approved the proposed Request for Proposal for Architecture-engineer services for facilities design of a police and a fire station.  There will be a selection committee (composed of 2 councilors, two community members, the city administrator and public works operations engineer) which will use the agreed upon grading sheets to select 2 or 3 candidates for interview and for recommendation of a finalist to the council, for approval in early April. The firm will assist with site selection for the police facility, determine the feasibility of locating the fire facility at the present location, prepare design documents, assist with bids, construction administration. No design specifics or priorities are included in the RFP and Walinski noted that the council will need to identify overall goals and priorities (cost efficiencies, green building requirements, aesthetics) prior to the design, once the architect is chosen. (The RFP document and rating sheets are #15 in the evening’s packet: http://www.ci.northfield.mn.us/assets/p/Packet159.pdf

Financing for Facilities Projects. Earlier, the council had agreed on a timeline for working through the facilities decisions, and had set February for deciding on the financing method. Denison withdrew his motion to recommend using referendum bonds when it was clear that the council was not ready to decide which of the three financing options would be the best. (Good information for this is included in the meeting packet, #15.)  Rossing said people she talked with preferred the referendum bond process, but the stronger message was that the council needed more information about the projects before making that decision. Her intent is to wait until the architects and engineers are on board to help the council weigh out the alternatives. “We will have to put together a good plan for how to take this to the public.” The council agreed to postpone deciding on the funding mechanism until more concrete information about design, location, and cost is available, likely in May. In response to Councilor Rhonda Pownell’s question, Walinski said that if the CIP funding method is selected, and a reverse referendum petition is successful, there would still be time to prepare for a vote in November.

In other action, the council approved forwarding the names of three candidates for the Charter Commission to Judge Benson; agreed to have the first reading the amendment of the Building Code Board of Appeals extending it for one additional year; approved accelerating installation of radio read water meters; and reaffirmed the policy of prohibiting alcohol at city owned facilities in response to the Senior Citizens Center request to permit alcohol at a social event.