Northfield’s Public Works Director Dave Bennett says the fire at the City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant could cost more than $1 million to repair and could take months to become fully operational. The biosolid building caught fire Tuesday night. Officials were unable assess damages fearing toxins inside. There is NO danger to the public.
Bennett said they do know, “some of that process equipment received fire damage is not operable so it will most likely have to be replaced. we call it the pasteurization vessel”. For now, they’ll transport the sludge elsewhere for treatment. The other processes are functional. As for flushing, that’s not a problem in the City. Bennett says the fire is under investigation by the City’s insurance company. Officials hope to get inside to assess the damage later this afternoon. We expect to have more information tomorrow.
School Board weighs ballot question for a new Elementary school
Last November the Northfield School district asked the community to support a $109 million referendum for a new high school and an elementary school. It failed and a 30 member action team was formed to go over the whys and what might work. Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann said a two-thirds majority of the group recommended, “strongly recommended taking a look at the elementary projects for the Fall. The elementary projects you might remember are building a new elementary school on the Greenvale Park campus and reusing the current school as an Early Childhood Center”. This would allow Early Childhood Education to move from Longfellow to Greenvale, opening space for the District Offices to move there, freeing up some space at the high school. Community Services would also move to Longfellow. There will be further discussion at the Board level. They must make a decision on putting the item on this November’s ballot by August. The cost of a new elementary school is just over $30 million. The ballot will already have the question regarding a ½ cent sales tax and increased property taxes for a new Recreation Center with 2 sheets of ice.
ED projects roll on
Northfield Community Development Director Chris Heineman gave an update on some current projects. The Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites is moving along despite some setbacks. He said they’ve been able to do a lot of indoor work with utilities and flooring and it’s now finally coming together with putting the “skin on the shell” of the building. He said, “it’s starting to look like a real hotel”. Another project is the former J. Grundy’s Rueb N Stein, now called Reunion. It’s technically three old buildings being renovated and has posed a few problems in terms of code compliance including health and fire safety, openings between buildings that have been compromised over the years must be fixed as well as ADA accessibility requirements. It’s basically a brand new structure while keeping the historic character of the original stonework. In terms of compliance with the HPC, that’s only on the facade of the building. The City’s Building Official is expected to approve the next phase of construction this week.
FFD wins Battle of the Badges blood drive
The Battle of the Badges yesterday was won by the Faribault Fire Department. Yesterday they challenged Rice County Sheriff’s deputies and Faribault Police in a blood drive. Sheriff Dunn said the goal was 30, they had 45 come to give blood.
