By Teri Knight, News Director
On Saturday night, an Owatonna man was identified as a witness at a residence in Faribault where a woman overdosed. Officers wanted to speak with all witnesses but 30 year old Joshua Robert Drabek had left the scene. They found him about an hour later, driving. He has a revoked license. Drabek had a knife on him. Officers also found a hypodermic needle and just about a gram of methamphetamine. A search of the vehicle revealed two cell phones and a black backpack directly behind the driver’s seat. Inside, the officer found a sawed off or short barreled shotgun. As a convicted felon, he’s not allowed to have firearms. Drabek was just released on probation in December. He’s charged with possession of a firearm, possession of a short-barreled gun and 5th degree drugs. His bail has been set at $75,000 with conditions. He’ll make his first court appearance on these charges on May 27th.
Downtown retailers giddy but cautious as they slowly open
Some downtown Northfield businesses opened yesterday as the Governor lifted the Stay At Home order and the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce had some fun, President Lisa Peterson said, “the elusive Chamberasauruses came out of extinction yesterday because they were so excited”. Their friend the Shark, joined them. Businesses are opening up in varying ways, however they’re comfortable. Peterson commented on what shop owners are feeling, “just the ability to be able to open their doors and have 1 or 2 or 5 people, depending on the size of their store and leaving it up to them to determine what they feel comfortable doing in their store really was very helpful”. She added that none of them want to be fully opened yet and are continuing their curbside service as well to handle however shoppers are most comfortable. As she spoke with owners and shoppers, she said, “there was a really good feeling downtown yesterday”. As for bars and restaurants, with an estimated opening of June 1st, Peterson said, “it’s really really nice for them to have this time to get their staffing back and to make plans and order food and drinks that they’re going to need to open”. She believes there will continue to be curbside and delivery as people get comfortable, limited seating indoors while outdoor seating will be an advantage, however they must still maintain the 6 ft. social distancing. Peterson’s full interview is on kymnradio.net.
Street Assessments challenged at Nfld Council
The Northfield City Council, before their meeting, is holding a hearing tonight regarding this year’s Mill & Overly Assessments. They’ve received three objections from property owners on the project occurring on the west side of town. The First UCC at 300 Union St. said there was an error and staff found the calculation for their property was incorrect by $10,000. They recommend amending it. A property directly south of Village on the Cannon condos, Cannon Village Gardens Inc, is a non-profit that was gifted this property by the Friends of the Village of the Cannon. The owner objects that this property assessment shouldn’t follow the High-Density Residential Rate based on the argument that it is scheduled to become tax exempt, however that does not include assessments. Carleton College has objected to all of the proposed assessments for their properties. They have indicated that there is no benefit to the parcels from the project and that the assessment exceeds any increase in market value. They’re being assessed nearly $398,000 with a proposed market value increase of $1.3 million. Staff hired a professional appraiser and in a supplement for tonight’s meeting have stated that the objection is not well founded and Carleton’s assessment should stand. Council will vote on the assessments tonight. Agenda for CC mtg 5-19-20 Meetings begin at 6pm and are streamed on the City’s website. Click on the City Council for this date, they generally start a few minutes after 6pm, refresh your screen and click on the “In progress” button when it appears. Supplemental memo for tonight’s meeting: City Council Supplemental Agenda Background Memo for May 19 2020 No. 1
