League of Women Voters of Northfield

This report prepared by Kiffi Summa, LWVNorthfield Observer substitute. 

All present except C. Nelson.  C. Pokorney arrived at 7:45.

There were 7 items for discussion on tonight’s work session agenda. Most items engendered a good discussion; it was interesting to note that the Council seems to be able to work together with less conflict, and more productively, in this informal setting.

AGENDA ITEM # 1 - Malt-O-Meal Dam Project.

 Staff from Malt-O-Meal, Barr Engineering, and the DNR presenting/discussing the current proposal to reconstruct the Cannon River Dam by the Ames Mill, which is owned by Malt-O-Meal. This project will have to proceed in conjunction with the City’s maintenance/safety repairs to the East sidewall and railings by the dam.

The proposal by Barr Engineering presents a cut-down, submerged old dam which would be replaced with a series of boulder weirs, or channels, each stepping down a foot in elevation, and running in total about 300 feet downstream, to better manage the river flow in a manner more environmentally favored by the DNR (Dept. of Natural Resources).

It was deemed that enough questions were raised, for Malt-O-Meal who owns the current dam, and would own and be responsible for the new structure, and the engineers and DNR  to all have further discussion.

AGENDA ITEM # 2 - Hay Dobbs Feasibility Study.

Tom Dobbs returned to Council to discuss possible next steps on his company’s analysis of space needs for city facilities (buildings) and the feasibility study for a variety of building combinations and sites.

Through their recent CIP (capitol improvement plan) visioning retreat, Council has begun to prioritize the city’s needs, and Mr. Dobbs has asked them to now give him direction as to what to focus on.

The library studies have been done separately, and are only partially incorporated into the Hay Dobbs report.

AGENDA ITEM # 3 - Transit Hub.

Deb Little, City Staff, presented Council with a proposal for a transit hub/trailhead facility.

The project would be located on city-owned land on Laurel Court, behind Walgreens. It would provide easy access to Highways 3 and 19, as well as serve the Mill Towns Trail, city bike paths, and commuters. There would also be space to accommodate thirty to fifty car parking spaces. The 500-600 square foot building would house amenities for bikers  and commuters.

Northfield Transit received a total of $346,500 of funds; the Northfield share is $69,300, with the balance coming from a Federal fund. Friends of the Mill Towns Trail have also committed $10,000 to this  project.

AGENDA ITEM #5 (out of sequence) - Building Code Board of Appeals Ordinance Review .

Brian O’Connell, City Staff, asks Council for direction on ordinance language creating a Building Code Board of Appeals.

Although mandated by state law, there was discussion of whether or not a local board should be created.

John Brookins, the Northfield Building Official, gave his perspective as to the lack of necessity for a local board; C. Denison commented that he felt it was redundant.

C. Cashman repeatedly urged clarification of roles and responsibilities in the ordinance language, to provide consistency with state rulings.

Some public comment was allowed on what has become a controversial issue.  Mr. O’Connell confirmed his understanding of Council’s direction for clarification of the ordinance language, and possible inclusion of a sunset date for the ordinance.

Proposed to be returned for vote on 12/17/2007.

The Mayor, council, and administration have been providing all relevant documents for the public more consistently. In this case, however, city staff did not provide background materials such as actual state rulings language, which may make a fully informed decision on this issue more difficult.

AGENDA ITEM #4 (out of sequence) - Membership on Rental Housing Board of Appeals.

This item was put off for a later rescheduled discussion as there have been no applications to serve on this board, although originally some persons had expressed interest. A need for special advertising of the Board’s creation/openings was identified.

AGENDA ITEM # 6 - Sidewalk Policy Review.

Administrator Roder placed this on the agenda at the Mayor’s past request, relating to Council’s discussion of sidewalk policy on two recent reconstruction projects, Lincoln and Woodley streets.

Council agreed they did not have adequate institutional knowledge of the city’s sidewalk policy but agreed to put off substantive discussion until it could be integrated with work on the new Comprehensive Plan.

C. Pokorney emphasized that Council needs to determine vision and intent for this policy.

AGENDA ITEM # 7 - Winter Parking Ban Discussion .

Police Captain Mark Taylor joined Council for this discussion, which was in response to a letter from Vern Rippley, suggesting major revisions to the winter parking ban ordinance, which is in effect from Nov. 15 - March 15.

Council agreed they did not wish to make revisions, either to the time period covered, or other amendments. Their concerns were unpredictability of snow events, and not wanting streets to be “parking lots” in winter.

STAFF HANDOUT : Joel Walinski, Director of Public Works,  handed out to council the final draft of the Johnson Controls proposal (energy conservation/savings in city facilities).

Meeting adjourned  at 10:20 PM.