Observer Report: Northfield City Council, 10.20.26

10/20/2026 Northfield City Council Meeting + HRA

HRA Meeting Agenda for reference

Council Meeting Agenda for reference

Council Member names for reference:

Erica Zweifel- Mayor

Kathleen Holmes- Council Member First Ward

Chad Beumer- Council Member Second Ward

Peter Dahlen- Council Member Third Ward

Jessica Peterson White- Council Member Fourth Ward

Brad Ness- Council Member At Large

Davin Sokup- Council Member At Large

• 6:01pm meeting called to order by C. Sokup
  • All but Zweifel present at start of meeting
  • Agenda approved, moved to consent agenda
  • CA approved, moved to open public comment
  • No comments, moved to Agenda
• Wopata opens discussion for Rice County Habitat for Humanity’s proposal
  • Goal: no action, only looking feedback and open discussion, “make sure we’re moving in the right direction”
  • Discussion centered around a possible project on Linden St property; proposed plan is to split the Cherry lot into two properties and combine the new smaller lot with the Linden property, and rehabbing the Cherry house.
  • Original desire was opportunity with community partners and HRA to increase housing density and infill
  • Also an opportunity to preserve a house, however, preserving a house with significant energy inefficiencies would be counterproductive…significant subsiding would be necessary for these properties
    • Not typically good practice
  • However, there is a well-established neighborhood and
  • Bottom line: competing desires to increase density (as per terms established when the Cherry property was originally acquired), preserve a home, and make a fiscally responsible choice
• Habitat representative Diana Norville speaks
  • Main goal: increase homeownership opportunities, primarily through increasing density and reducing house footprints to make homeownership more affordable
    • Aims to serve people at 80% or below area median income (~80k yearly income in Northfield)
  • Background: Cherry property should to be preserved given its condition; Norville argues that it would be more expensive to build new houses than to repair this house, especially given Habitat’s connections with partner companies like Exel Energy
  • Wopata notes that a significant goal of the HRA is increasing housing density
• Council moves to public comments
  • Approximately 10 members of the public were in attendance and two gave comment:
    • Individual who lives on Cherry St brings up concern about increase in traffic if there is an increase in density “put up houses that are not compatible with other houses on the street.”
    • Another individual who lives on Cherry St addresses concerns about the proposed cost of the project “would that money be a gift to the next people who move in?”, and concern over the small footprint of the house…house is “too small for a family with kids”
• Council moves to questions and discussion
  • Chad Beumer asks if there has been discussion with other possible partners, such as house moving, for preserving the home at a reduced cost for the HRA
    • Wopata responds that there was a discussion but that he was informed it was infeasible
    • Norville adds that the Cherry house is too wide…the readdresses a previous comment noting that the foundation is still solid, and that Habitat is not interested in making tiny houses, insteading looking to create a mixed density housing, including four bedroom houses; additionally, while the city did pay a significant amount but the idea is the property value in in the land, plus there would be two lots rather than just one after a split.
      • General idea: deed restriction → permanent affordable housing
      • “One time investment that would serve future families”
  • Peter Dahlen asks if there is currently a deed restriction
    • Wopata answers there is not
  • Jessica Peterson White asks to readdress a previous comment about HOAs negatively affecting affordable housing
    • Wopata answers that HOA fees are getting predatory
    • Norville adds that homeowner insurance has been increasing, but not as many companies offer HOA insurance coverage, limiting choices; if Habitat were to build the new housing, there would be a much lower chance that a predatory HOA would crop up…Habitat would facilitate  written community agreements (this last part is somewhat unclear).
  • Chad Beumer comments that it would not be infeasible to have a duoplex/triplex community without needing formal written agreements
    • Wopata disagrees and states that he believes significant conversations and written agreements would likely be necessary given the proximity of the proposed new homes
  • Peterson White asks about the direction of the current project
    • Wopata responds that they are looking for feedback on proposal; needs a firm decision soon about whether to preserve or demolish the Chery house before moving forward with next steps for a financially feasible project
  • Peterson White ask about the range of possible density for housing in their neighborhood, given that she has received communication from constituents concerned about the original desire for the Cherry property
    • Wopata sees a 10 unit limit on the Cherry property– low to medium density; “gentle density”
  • Peterson White asks about current housing priorities
    • Wopata responds that Northfield needs about 100 new affordable units, thus this would contribute, if only marginally; additionally, Habitat is one of the only partners interested in increasing homeownership, another housing goal.
  • Beumer asks about the possibility of a shared driveway rather than building a new alleyway to avoid introducing more traffic, considering constituent concerns.
    • Wopata responds that it would most likely be possible, and that he is going to work on forming a plan that strikes a greater balance between housing needs and constituent concerns
  • Sokup asks where Habitat stands on the alley vs driveway
    • Habitat representative responds that a public alley would be maintained by the city, but a driveway would maximize the lot space use, which would allow for units with more bedrooms; however, it has been difficult to find families willing to move into non-single family homes
  • Dahlen comments that it is extremely important to maintain Cherry and Linden Street’s “individual characters” as single family home neighborhoods
  • Peterson White comments that she got married in Cherry park when she used to live in a duplex in Northfield, and says she feels she greatly benefited from duplex, and that she would like to push back on the idea that those who live in higher density housing “don’t fit into a neighborhood” and that mixed density neighborhoods are worse. Furthermore, because the Cherry St house was sold to the city under the express wishes to be turned into higher density housing, and that wish should be honored, constituents have reached out to Peterson White expressing “extreme disappointment” over the small number of new housing in the current proposal. Peterson White closes her statement by saying that there is always room for interpretation and flexibility
  • Abby Kaufield (Youth Representative) asks if there was a specific density agreed upon with the original purchase
    • Wopata responds that there was not, but that the original desire was only focused on greater density, not preservation.
  • Kathleen Holmes comments that there is strong reasoning to preserve the house rather than demolishing it, and that council should continue to discuss balanced options to increase density while maintaining neighborhood character
  • Sokup adds a closing statement that while he thinks increasing density is important, he considers preservation as equally important, and wonders about ways to offset costs such as mixed market rate options.
• 7:07 HRA meeting transitions to Balance Sheet
  • Update of 2026 financial status and proposal for next year’s budget
  • Last budget action was to forgive Three Rivers in 2026
  • Proposed 2027 budget
    • City has already secured grant funding for a significant portion of the 2027 budget for major projects
  • Extremely fast overview of budget wraps up and is unanimously approved
• 7:12 HRA overview of Community Land Trust
  • Elianna Drive property was sold, which was the last property owned by the HRA currently being rented out
  • Looking forward to strategic partnerships and grants for further large-scale affordable housing development projects
  • The Community Housing Development team will once again be fully staffed in the next few weeks
• 7:15pm HRA meeting adjourns

• 7:23pm City Council Meeting called to order
  • All but Zweifel present at start of meeting
• Meeting opens to open comment
  • Two members of the public gave comment of three in attendance.
  • Comments were focused on personal grievances about experiences in community spaces. For example, one spoke on his experience as an individual with Parkinson’s and feeling disrespected by his neighbors.
• Motion to approve the agenda with Supplemental One
  • All in favor
• First subject on agenda: police report
  • 2026 3rd quarter statistics, compared to 2024 3rd quarter
    • Class for service have continued a general downward trend
    • Group A crimes (higher severity based in federal laws) have had a strong downward trend
    • Group B crimes (petty, basically) are currently trending lightly upward
    • Mental health calls – 106% increase since 2024, currently waiting on some grants for more mental health resources
    • Traffic stops have had a general increase
    • Summer Celebration (formerly Picnic in the Park), Night to Unite, and Open House were successful community events that provided opportunities for police to meet and get to know their community in a positive way
    • “War on drugs is still a thing”, recent drug busts include seizing about a pound of cocaine, $1500 cash and 6 firearms…recent “drug bust” at Carleton College for LSD
  • Peterson White asks about the increase of traffic tickets
    • Chief Schroepfer proposes that the current younger police force can contribute to the increase
    • Peterson White asks about Chief Schroepfer opinion on constituent worries and her personal worries about racial profiling and unnecessary negative interactions with police due to over-patrolling of traffic
    • Chief Schroepfer responds that new policies like body cameras and implicit bias training are intended to reduce those specific issues
    • Peterson White thanks Chief Schroepfer
  • Police report closes, meeting moves to approve the Consent Agenda
  • Next on agenda is a movement to open Public Hearing
  • Wopata outlines purpose of this Public Hearing:
    • General focus: Economic Development Authority (EDA) and its relationship with recent HRA work– Should housing be a part of the EDA’s mission?
    • Background: statute grants cities like Nfld establish EDAs, state statues allow for the existence of HRAs…
    • Specific goal: administrative housekeeping for consistency with state statutes and current operational practices, and consider consolidation to the EDA; tonight is a public hearing.
  • Public Comment Card:
    • Constituent feels that Council should follow the EDA rather than trying to change it, and points out that the city has failed to properly follow state regulations throughout the process to change the EDA.
  • 7:52pm Motion to close the public hearing, hearing closed
  • Reports from the Councilmembers commences
    • Brad Ness shares a report on referring to an ongoing investigation(?) on data privacy
    • Holmes shares that there were four public hearings at the recent Homeowners meetings/Planning commission
    • Beumer reports on a Beyond the Yellow Ribbon meeting discussing upcoming Veteran’s Day celebration
  • Meeting moves to Regular Agenda
    • David Benett (Public Works Director) discusses current plans for the new public skating rink relating to proposed resolution changing the fees and charges for rink use
    • Resolution passes
  • Council moves to Administrative Update
    • Update deferred to next meeting
  • Meeting Adjourned