Filing opens today for some City and County seats
Filing began today for those running for local offices. In Northfield, Mayor Dana Graham was at City Hall at 8am, paid his $5 filing fee and is officially seeking re-election. He said this morning that it’s not an easy decision, “four years ago I certainly didn’t think I would be in this position. As a matter of fact, I promised my wife I wouldn’t”. However, “the fact of the matter is, I do believe that after going through some of the situations we’ve gone through in the last 4 years, including now on our 4th administrators…. we need stability”. There’s much more on his interview. Click HERE. Councilor Erica Zweifel will run for her 3rd term representing Ward 3, an interview with her is on kymn.net.
Ward 2 Councilor David DeLong has not yet said whether he will seek re-election and At-Large Councilor, David Ludescher said he would wait till May 31st to announce. There are 3 Rice County Commissioner seats opening up. Galen Malecha commented that he is running again and confirmed that Commissioners Dokken and Gillen will also seek re-election. For more information on filing for office, go to the City or County website.
The Crossings hotel project comes to the final Council crossroad…
Tonight Northfield City Council will hold a public hearing on The Crossing hotel project, a resolution for a business subsidy for the hotel and the issuance of TIF dollars. Developer Brett Reese was in studio this morning. Briefly his plan for the area at Hwy 3 and 2nd street is a proposal for an 80 room Marriot Fairfield Inn and development of a couple of out lots in the area. The EDA commissioned a hotel market study which concluded a mid-level hotel would be appropriate. Originally, The Crossings was supposed to have another residential condo unit there but, 10 years later, there are still 15 units in the 1st building that are for sale. Parking spaces for the hotel will have to go underground and that’s costly. It will not be enclosed or heated but rather plaza parking which is enclosed but open to the elements on the back side. Reese’s group is asking for additional subsidy from the City to get the project completed. The EDA has approved dollars and a loan already. Councilor Ludescher continues to maintain that this type of subsidy isn’t allowable under the City Charter. Mayor Graham maintains that it is. Click HERE to listen to Reese’s full interview. Mayor Graham will be in studio at 7:20 tomorrow morning with a recap.
Outstanding community support for Believet
Ten thousand dollars was raised Friday night for Believet. Northfielder, Sam Daly, trained hunting dogs and then bomb-sniffing dogs in Afghanistan. He came back a changed man with a mission to do something more meaningful. To use his skills to train service dogs for veterans with PTSD or other issues related to their service. Board Chair Tracy Fossum said the event at The Grand was more than they’d hoped for. With sponsorship from Thrivent Financial, Chuck Pryor, The Zillionaires and a multitude of silent auction items donated, it was a community coming together. Fossum said the process of training a service dog is expensive. From intake, to training (some wash out) to matching the veteran and ongoing care. There is no cost to the Veteran. If you’d like more information or would like to donate, go to believet.org. John Fossum spoke about the organization this morning, the need for volunteers and a volunteer coordinator and much more. His entire interview is posted at kymn.net
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