Outages affect over 3,000
KYMN and 3,010 Xcel Energy customers in Northfield and Dundas were without power this morning from about 8:45am to 9:05am. A representative said a circuit breaker went out. They rerouted power while they repaired the breaker. KYMN’s radio broadcast was disrupted for a time although streaming was brought back up right away.
Hillman’s focus on achievement gap and finances
Matt Hillman will be stepping into the role of Northfield Superintendent July 1st. His focus will be on how to continue attacking the achievement gap between segments of the student population. He says, while there are a lot of people talking about, he feels Northfield is already “really attacking it well and we need to stay the course”. Another component will be building on Dr. Richardson’s financial foundation for the District. That means using the dollars in a way that demonstrates stewardship to the community and ensures they have the fiscal and human resources to deliver all that programming. Hillman complimented Richardson saying, “we’re so fortunate to have his leadership for 12 years and I’m personally grateful to him for the time that he has taken and the interest in my administrative and leadership career. He is looking forward to working with the Board, “I’m just really excited to embrace the opportunities that we’re going to have in the next few years and also tackle the challenges that are inevitable”. He said this community is unparalleled in their value of children. Hillmann will continue the tradition of stopping by KYMN every morning after the School Board meetings.
Disbursements questioned at Council meeting
Northfield Council were questioned at the open mic this week over a couple of disbursements including a $25,000 payment to the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust for a deductible on a claim. In the Council meeting, Interim Administrator CC Linstroth asked City Attorney Chris Hood what he could share. He said he didn’t know what the disbursement is for, Clerk Deb Little said she would have to get back to Council on that. With no one knowing what is was for, Councilor Ludescher amended the motion to hold approval of the $25,000 until they have more information. (NOTE: there were over $2 million in disbursements) Zweifel said she was in favor of paying it given what she currently knew but was willing to postpone it temporarily till the City got more information. Yesterday afternoon, Mayor and Council were sent a memo from League attorney Jana Sullivan stating that the $25,000 was the deductible for attorney fees surrounding the age discrimination case brought by former Interim Police Chief Chuck Walerius. The City won summary judgment in late October 2015, and his lawsuit was dismissed but they thought he would appeal so more dollars were spent conducting discovery and preparing the City’s defense, just in case. Sullivan added “In my experience, the typical employment case costs between $30,000 and $100,000 to bring to summary judgment”. The total cost of the claim was $53,228.05. There was another payment approved by council on March 15th, for $10,501.90 to a litigation firm specializing in municipalities, called Everett and Vanderweil. KYMN asked in an email what it was for and received a formal letter denying the request and indicating that the request wasn’t valid. A data request form was supplied. Linstroth will be in studio on Monday morning at 8:45 to talk further about that.
Food shelf benefits from Firefighters Food Drive
Northfield Fire and Rescue Services held it’s annual Food Shelf Drive last Saturday, to benefit the Northfield Food Shelf. Tommy Mulligan reports that despite gusty winds, cold, and snow, they collected 2,738 pounds of food to donate to the CAC as well as a few cash donations. Volunteers included Northfield Boy and Girl Scout troops, members from Bethel Lutheran Church and other citizens from the Northfield Community.
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