Conflicting priorities for County Road 1 reconstruction
There’s no question that County Road 1 between Hwys 246 and 3 needs reconstruction. The complications are working with 4 entities Rice County, Dundas, Bridgewater Township and, to a smaller extent, Northfield, while trying to accommodate pedestrian and bicycle traffic and consider growth from 4,000 vehicles to an anticipated 8,000 in 10 years. Talks were started in 2015 but geared up as the County would like a design by the end of the year for construction to begin in
2018. Northfield Public Works Director Dave Bennett laid out the concepts to the Planning Commission. The first concept is simple and calls for an at-grade crossing at Timberlane Dr. Bennett said, “from staff’s perspective in looking at just this first concept it really just deals with the roadway and doesn’t take into consideration any sort of pedestrian improvements. There’s really no way for residents on the south to get to walk to shopping, the YMCA, schools and more. Concept 2 is a trail extension from Highland Dr. to Timberline and the 3rd concept is a trail the entire length. There are many considerations including what to do with the hill and public safety. The 1.6 mile corridor has 20 public and private access points, many of which don’t meet current design standards or spacing guidelines. Non-motorized use and the cost and two conflicting priorities. Click on the link to view the agenda and attached information: agenda-3
Clean sweep for $205,000 Nfld Sweeper
It was a clean sweep as Northfield Council voted unanimously to purchase a new Elgin Pelican Street Sweeper. Although not without discussion. Councilor DeLong questioned Public Works Director Dave Bennett about cheaper sweepers saying he found many models by doing a search that were less expensive adding that he wanted them to get the best machine for the best price. He felt the information given to Council was “woefully inadequate” but he would vote for it anyway. City Administrator Ben Martig said it went through a public bidding process. The cost of the sweeper is $205,000 but with $65,000 trade-in for the old one, the City’s actual cost is $140,000. They’ll take possession near the 2nd quarter of 2017.
Farmington holds informational meeting on Referendums
The City of Farmington has two referendums on the November ballot asking for a total of $12 to develop a outdoor sports complex. They’re holding their 3rd and final public information meeting at the Maintenance facility this Wednesday, October 26th at 7pm.
Candidate forums online
The Northfield League of Women Voters held their Northfield Mayoral and Council candidate forums on Saturday. Go to http://lwvnorthfieldmn.org/ to view previous candidate forums. Saturdays forums will be posted also. And go to kymn.net for all the candidate forums sponsored by the Northfield Chamber of Commerce and KYMN.
Narco Cultura screening at Weitz
Carleton College will screen filmmaker and photographer Shaul Schwarz’s acclaimed 2013 documentary “Narco Cultura” on this Wednesday evening at 5 o’clock in the Weitz Center for Creativity Cinema. “Narco Cultura” exposes the cycle of addiction to money, drugs, and violence resulting from the war on drugs in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juárez. For Mexicans and Latinos in the Americas, there is no music more popular today than narcocorridos. These bloodthirsty and explicit odes to the exploits of narco traffickers and drug lords of Mexico openly glorify violence, narcotics, and money. Like gangsta rap in the nineties, “narco” is a movement threatening to burst into the mainstream. This event is sponsored by the Carleton College Spanish department. For more information, including disability accommodations, call (507) 222-4232. The Weitz Center for Creativity
Click below to listen to the 10-24-16 NEWS podcast:
Listen for news updates on-air at 6, 7, 8, Noon, 3 and 5
