The Northfield City Council discussed the reconstruction of Spring Creek Road during their final Council meeting of the year. Mayor Pownell said they’re looking at completing reconstruction in segments. First would be from Huron to Jefferson, segment 2 would be from Jefferson to Superior and then Woodley to Huron Ct., which is over a bridge, would likely happen in 2022. They’ll apply for bridge funds on that segment. Currently it’s a gravel road used by farm
equipment, some residents and school buses. The area is inside Northfield Township. Administrator Ben Martig said they have a maintenance agreement. While the township takes a primary role but the City covers some of the cost of it. The orderly annexation agreement with Northfield Township talks about development, however there’s not been as much as anticipated. Supervisors has questions on the interpretation of the agreement. Martig and Public Works Director Dave Bennett met with Representatives and discussed some of their issues. Money is the challenge.
TIF formally closed, benefits for Dundas
It was an historic moment last night as the Dundas City Council formally closed their largest TIF district with a 
resolution. That leaves more opportunities for the City with money into the general fund and City Administrator John McCarthy said, “basically if you’re property value, your taxable market value did not go up, your taxes should definitely decrease. And even if it went up by several percent, your Dundas property taxes should also decrease”. McCarthy talked about the future of TIF Districts, saying they’re an effective tool to do certain things and they’re going back to more of what they were originally designed for, “they provide certain types of infrastructure and it is a method of allowing someone to come in with a large development that benefits the entire area to be able to pay for some of that infrastructure”. The original goal for forming a TIF District was for economic development in blighted urban areas. Now it’s a widely used tool all over the U.S and other countries. However, there are many who dispute it’s effectiveness. I have more on kymn.net on TIF. Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is defined as the ability to capture and use most of the increased local property tax revenues from new development within a defined geographic area for a defined period of time without approval of the other taxing jurisdictions. MN House TIF. Neighborhood effects
Nordine honored, talks about NRC growth
Northfield Retirement Community President and CEO Kyle Nordine was recently named to LeadingAge Minnesota’s 50 for the Next 50 list, which recognizes forward-looking influential leaders transforming older adult services. He commented that it was a nice award to have from his peers. He gave a “shout out to his brother in competition, Mark Anderson from Three Links, who was also named as one of the 50”. Adding that having a community like, Northfield, honored in that way is “pretty nice”. Nordine has been at NRC since 2002. He talks about some of the changes, saying, “we had probably around a hundred or so units at the time that I came on board, we now have 254 units on the campus and more than 400 people that live with us on our community campus”. And 231 employees. From an economic standpoint they’ve gone from $3 million a year to $12 million operation in the last 15 years. Nordine’s list of service is long including 8 years as Chairman of the Minnesota Nursing Home Board of Examiners. He’s currently on the Public Policy Committee of LeadingAge Minnesota and is a Certified Senior Advisor. Nordine’s full interview is on this website under the Morning Show tab. NORTHFIELD RETIREMENT COMMUNITY’S KYLE NORDINE NAMED
