The City of Northfield is part of NAFRS Joint Powers, Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Service. As they work on formalized designs for the Fire Station rehab and buildout, the City specifically owns the building which sits at, what City officials are calling, a gateway, into the historic downtown. City Administrator Ben Martig updated Council. He wanted to get some feedback as they continue to
develop site plans with landscaping, the look of the building’s exterior and materials. He said ultimately the Council will be the ones to approve the final design. They’ll be adding native plantings, adding improvement to the view of the River by cleaning up some of the undesirable trees and looking at the flowers and plants in the corridor. Former Mayor and NAFRS joint powers board member, Dana Graham, added the buildout to the 2018 CIP. NAFRS meets this Thursday at 8am at the Fire Station. All meetings are open to the public. I’ve included some of the initial plans on our website.
1 – NAFRS Presentation revised 8-8-17
NDDC looking at possible funding options and plenty of collaboration
The Northfield Downtown Development Corporation has found new life since hiring Executive Director, Jenni Roney. Part of her 6 month update to the City Council included research on the formation of a Special Services District. It’s a potential funding model that could be used downtown or anywhere in the City. Essentially it would be a an annual charge on eligible properties in exchange for certain services. Roney said, for example, if they based assessment by real estate value, a $300,000 property assessed at .03{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} would be a $900 yearly fee. The NDDC would pick up the tab for garbage pickup, etc. but they extra dollars would give them support in marketing, banners and benches, that type of thing. Roney has also researched becoming a “Main Street community” through the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota which works to preserve historic places and strengthen their vitality. Roney said for $2500 they would become an affiliate member, which would give them access to up to $7,000 they could use for downtown projects, anything other than building rehabilitation. Roney has encouraged partnerships with the NEC, the CVB, and the Chamber of Commerce. They’d like to combine efforts, as they each organization does important work and has a little bit different work. “If we were all working together”, Roney said, “we can complement each other and really help the whole Northfield area”. Roney created a food crawl this year, raising $3,000 in 2 hours, which went back to the restaurants. The NDDC has been working on a business coming to downtown in 2018 and will be announcing exciting news in the coming weeks.
2018 DJJD Ambassadors selected!
Congratulations to the 2018 DJJD Ambassadors! Jordan Andreas, Hannah Malecha, Emma Peterson and Jr. Ambassadors Maia Graupmann & Maren Simonson! The young ladies were chosen Friday night, the first official event of the Defeat of Jesse James Days celebration. The selection panel, made up of three out of town individuals, look for communication skills, poise, personality and most importantly a team of five that will work together over the next year. They conducted formal interviews, social judging and a luncheon last weekend with all the candidates. The program is run by Julie Eddy and Shelly Brady and revolves around volunteerism and developing leaders that will serve as positive role models.The ambassadors will spend the next year visiting other communities throughout the state and meet hundreds of people through parades, coronations and other special events. There was a special tribute Friday night as Northfield made history at the Minneapolis Aquatennial this year with back to back Queen of the Lakes. With Carolyn Meyer in 2017 and Vanessa Gonzalez was just crowned 2018 Queen. 2018 Ambassador Press release
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