Waterford Township Supervisors still believe that the “intent” of the original designers of their 1980 Orderly Annexation agreement was that those payments go into perpetuity, said their Attorney, Mike Couri, after learning a Dakota County Judges’ ruling that favored the City of Northfield. Couri told KYMN yesterday afternoon that they were “obviously disappointed”. In 2010, then Council and Mayor Mary Rossing approved stopping payments to Waterford Township upon advice from City Attorney, Chris Hood.
Waterford continued to send a bill to the City. In 2014, then Mayor Dana Graham appointed Councilors Erica Zweifel and David Ludescher to start working with Waterford to come to some form of agreement to end the dispute. In 2016, Administrator Martig and Graham were in negotiations, and were close to agreeing to pay Waterford a lump sum of $50,000 but at the last minute, according to Graham, a Waterford Supervisor would not agree. Waterford Township filed suit against Northfield in May of this year. The Township has 60 days from notification to appeal the ruling. Couri said he’ll meet with Board Supervisors in a closed session to discuss options including appeal.
Hastings Officer justified in deadly force
Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom announced yesterday that a Hastings Police Officer was legally justified when he used deadly force against 23 year old Keagan Johnson-Lloyd. On October 1st, Hastings Police were called to Spirit Recovery Center, a sober living facility in Hastings, on a report that one of the residents had been assaulted with a knife. The victim said Johnson-Lloyd stabbed him in the leg with a kitchen knife and ran off. About an hour and a half later, four Hastings police officers responded to a location where Johnson-Lloyd was spotted. As Officer Geoffrey Latsch stepped out of his squad car, Johnson-Lloyd began to run towards him with, what appeared to be a knife and yelling “ [unintelligible] shoot me”. Officer Latsch fired his weapon 3 times. One of the body cameras of another Officer shows Johnson-Lloyd had a razor in his hand. Click for the full press release and investigation: Hastings Police Officer Involved Shooting Death
Split government and the cost of Healthcare
There’s been a big change since the mid-term elections, how will that affect healthcare. Northfield Hospital and Clinics CEO, Steve Underdahl, said there’s talk of Medicare for all or extending MN Care. The challenge is paying for it. He said there’s essentially 3 buckets, “there’s a bucket of folks in government programs that those government programs like Medicare and Medicaid, oftentimes don’t pay as much as it costs to provide the service. And then there’s a 3rd bucket, which you’re probably in, thank you so much, that pays for themself and the other two buckets. This has been the weird, pyramid sales, house of cards that healthcare financing has been built on for 2 generations now”. He said changes to come could mean blowing it all up and starting over or taking incremental changes, “but I think there is an opportunity if there’s a will to say boy there might be a better way as a society to do this”. Also challenging is finding any type of agreement in a split government that Minnesota has now that the House is Democrat while the Senate remains Republican.
Nfld Chamber’s Bornhauser resigns
The Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism announced this morning, the resignation of Todd Bornhauser as president of the organization, effective January 30, 2019. Bornhauser, who has led the organization since October 2014, cited personal reasons for his resignation. He said, “I thank the board for the opportunity to serve as president”, adding, “I enjoyed the chance to work in my hometown and feel we’ve made great strides in the time I’ve been here. The organization is well-positioned to move forward with new leadership, and I’ll do everything I can to ensure a smooth transition.” Chamber Board of Directors Chair Martha Kasper said, “Todd has been a great asset to the Northfield community. When Todd joined the Chamber four years ago, it’s safe to say that the organization faced significant challenges. Todd helped to right the ship and is leaving the organization on stronger footing. He has decided it’s time to pursue other opportunities, and we wish him the best in his future.” The Chamber serves as the voice of the Northfield area business community, advocating for business growth and development, promoting the community and encouraging civic vitality. A committee will be formed immediately to begin the search for a new president. A job description and instructions for application will be available soon. Check their website (northfieldchamber.com) for updates in the coming weeks. KYMN will have Bornhauser on the air after the holidays to talk about the Business Person of the Year selection and the annual meeting. We’ll connect with him again before he exits the office for good.
