Electric Zamboni? You bet
Last night the Northfield City Council unanimously approved the go ahead for staff to pursue a grant application for an electric ice resurfacer for the Northfield Arena. Public Works Director Dave Bennett said the current propane Zamboni is 10 years old and approaching it’s life span. With the potential grant funding it would be beneficial to the City. The actual purchase price of the electric Zamboni is just over 132,000; the trade in value for the current one is $22,000. Staff will request $50,000 through the Mighty Ducks Grant Program which is making the grant money available for
environmental reasons. The final purchase cost being just over $60,000 for the City. Bennett added that this is the direction most Arenas are going. Foregoing the purchase of propane and air quality monitoring. It’s a “safer environment”. Administrator Ben Martig said the current resurfacer was scheduled for replacement in 2017 but it was taken off the CIP believing they could get by for another year but while looking at the Arena for other reasons, this grant opportunity came up and they wanted to get it before Council as soon as possible. Although late in submitting it, Staff feels confident they will receive the grant, but if they don’t, they would likely put off the purchase for another year and retry the grant process. Martig’s recap of the meeting this morning is posted online at kymn.net. He’s filling in for Mayor Dana Graham during the election season.
Xcel Energy appearance sparks panic during flood
Council received a Flood Update from Police Chief Monte Nelson. Local business owners had told the Chief that they need to know when electricity may be cut off. But then the Xcel Truck showed up. Nelson said they weren’t going to shut off the power but “panic amongst the business owners was very real and for good reason”. Nelson said that they came up with a plan with Guth Electric, Xcel and City staff to protect 3 of the electrical boxes. One behind Basil’s Pizza, one behind Larson’s printing and the other behind The Archer House. The official crest was 901.3 ft. I’ll have more on the flood update tomorrow.
HRA approves dollars for displaced
The HRA quickly approved up to $6,000 to reimburse Three Rivers Community Action Agency for administrative relocation attorneys fees for two tenants of the North/South Oaks Apartment Complex. Three Rivers is acquiring the complex which will displace the two tenants because their income is above the tax credit income requirements. The project is also receiving approximately $189,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding toward the acquisition of the property. In a recent ruling the Dakota County Community Development Agency (CDA) has been determined that the displaced tenants are entitled to relocation funding and services up to $50,000, which could cover temporary housing while finding something equivalent.
Shop and Donate
TODAY ONLY – Mainstream Boutique in downtown Northfield is donating a portion of the day’s proceeds to the Give Cancer the Boot campaign which benefits local area treatment centers (specifically the Northfield Hospital Cancer Care and Infusion center, and the Northfield Hospital Breast Care Center) – in honor of October Breast Cancer Awareness month.
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