The Northfield Council discussed a draft development agreement with Yanik Companies to develop a Senior Housing project across from the Nfld Hospital. This process is unique in that, as a private developer, this is normally done through City Staff. Administrator Martig explains that City Council has an ownership interest in the site and, along with partnering with the Hospital, have some control, one was to ensure quality. They’re recommending higher building standards to match the quality of the Hospital. Community Development Director Chris Heineman said in the work session that the developer (Yanik) fully expects to comply and has “no problem
with it”. Utility infrastructure was addressed by Engineer Dave Bennett mentioned that there is a booster station in the area, “and really, the booster station when that was built, it was built to size and serve all the development in the northwest area”. Staff doesn’t anticipate needing anything extra with this project. The developer and the Hospital will have shared maintenance agreements. Council discussed road capacity and possible future development. Mayor Pownell wanted to see a percentage for medical waivers, affordable senior housing space, incorporated into the development agreement. That is not something a private developer would be required to do. Ness commented, “I think you just need to look at the Benedictine history of how they have handled those situations and their priorities include that in them”. Benedictine Health System will operate Pownell continued to push for it. Peterson White commented,”I’ve heard absolute commitment to very specific goals for percentages of residents on waivers that would be included in this development multiple times. It doesn’t seem to me to be something that would be a problem”. Nakasian said it goes a little too far to ask them to serve a particular market when you don’t know what that market may or may not be. Colby, an attorney, added, “Ms Nakasian’s absolutely right, you can’t enforce it but you can make it a goal that they will pursue”. Staff will work on the agreement, action will be taken at Council’s February 13th meeting. If all goes well, construction of the $20 million project will begin this summer.
Nfld Explorers Post 3300 model for State
Northfield Public Safety Explorer Post 3300 held their annual Report to the Chiefs and Awards ceremony last night at the Northfield EMS station. Post leader and EMS Asst. Chief Chris Matek announced that he was informed on Wednesday that the model they’ve established in Northfield with Public Safety, combining Police, EMS and Fire, is now the model for the State! Explorer Post Commander, Hannah Boudreau, gave the annual report to the Chiefs announcing their numerous accomplishments, some highlights for the group included the law enforcement competition in Duluth wherein 500 youth participated from about 50 teams. Not only did they compete with big agencies (for the first time with this group), they came in 3rd place in First Aid. The top 2 Awards given last night were the Advisory Award to Ian Payne (audio and pictures below). And the Explorer of the Year Award is Samantha Cobb. There were multiple awards and I’ll have a list on kymn.net. Fire Chief Dusty Dienst and Chief Monte Nelson were there for the report. Mayor Pownell and Councilors Ness and DeLong also attended. NORTHFIELD EXPLORER POST 3300 AWARD WINNERS
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NAUW offers free tax filing
Northfield area United Way Director, Penny Hilleman, shared that through a United Way partnership with H&R Block, families or individuals earning less than $66,000 can file their federal and state taxes for free with MyFreeTaxes. They can file on their phones, and most filers can complete their taxes in less than one hour. Free real-time chat and phone support is available from IRS-certified specialists. Click for full press release:
