Fishing Ordinance catches flack
Seems people like to fish along the Cannon in downtown Northfield. After Council approved the first reading of a new fishing ordinance that would restrict fishing around the outdoor dining area of Froggy Bottoms, Mayor Graham caught a lot of phone calls and emails. The ordinance says 220 feet. Graham explains, “the 220 feet, I want to make sure we’re clarifying, is from the 4th street bridge, so virtually half of that is private property to begin with and that’s the building. Hvistendahl’s building, the Froggy Bottoms building”. The ordinance didn’t make it clear. Basically it will be about 100 feet from Froggy’s
and the Lily Padio. Graham said, “this has stirred people up”. He added that from the calls, most people understand that you can’t be fishing next to someone eating. Owner Laurie Hoheisel has a conditional use permit allowing for outdoor dining. Graham said there will be more discussion and the 2nd reading is on Council’s meeting next week. He added that this is why they have 2 readings so that changes can be made if warranted. Also on next week’s agenda is the 2nd reading of the Noise ordinance.
Decertifying TIF districts in Dundas
Dundas residents don’t need to expect much change in the 2017 budget. As Council works through the process, City Administrator John McCarthy said, however there will be significant changes NEXT year as they set their 2018 budget. They’re working on what impact that will have, “specifically there will be TIF districts decertifying in the next couple of years so as they decertify they will have a huge affect on how taxes are computed”. Commercial property in TIF doesn’t account for how they raise their levy. McCarthy says 80{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} of the commercial property in Dundas has been tiffed and both of those districts will be expiring in the next couple of year. He says that will be their biggest challenge.
Nfld School Board discusses “fresh coat of paint” for strategic plan
The Northfield School Board held a work session this week to discuss their strategic plan. Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann said they got together with the administrative team and the facilitator Bruce Myers. He said they looked at past successes, planned or not. Hillmann added, “and then things that had not gone as well. Things we’d done intentionally that had turned out not so good or things that had not been intentional with not so good results”. They discussed their 5 year vision and priorities around the vision. Hillmann said this is just a first step saying that their staff will have a chance to participate during their back to school workshop week. The community will also be able to participate on September 1st from 5:30pm to 7:30 pm at the Northfield Middle school cafeteria. In September the Board will finalize that plan. The current plan is about a decade old. Hillmann said it’s a good plan but now’s the time for a “fresh coat of paint” and continuing to fulfil the vision.
52 Detour
Heads up, Hwy 52 between Hampton and Cannon Falls will be closed and detoured from 9 tonight through 5 o’clock Monday morning. A detour will be posted.
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