By Teri Knight, News Director
A 17-year-old boy died Monday while cliff jumping at Lake Byllesby in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. According to Fox 9 News, the Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office said the victim, identified as Garrett Berg of Farmington, was jumping off a cliff into Lake Byllesby when a second juvenile jumped immediately after Berg and landed on him. Berg never surfaced. The sheriff’s office responded to the lake at 5:25 p.m and their dive team recovered him at 8:15 p.m. The Lake Byllesby cliffs can only be accessed by crossing private property and the sheriff’s office said it routinely responds to the area to remove or cite violators and had already removed about 30 people from the cliffs earlier in the day. The incident remains under investigation.
Memorial Pool ok’d to open July 1st
Memorial pool in Northfield will open to the public on July 1st. With Gov. Walz’s Executive Order allowing pools to open with restrictions, Facilities Mgr Jason Dwelle was much more comfortable opening the pool having that guidance. He told council last night that they would break the day into two and a half hour sessions, giving time in between to sanitize and patrons must bring their own blankets/chairs for. They would also have a separate entrance and exit. There will be 3 sessions daily. The changing room would be for a bathroom only with more sanitizing. Dwelle based Occupancy off the size of the water, not the whole area, and concluded that 50% capacity will be 95 people. Council had 28 comments from the community, all in favor of opening it. Most stating how the kids have already lost so much. Staff, except for lifeguards will be required to wear masks, patrons are strongly encouraged to wear them as they traverse the area to the bathroom. There were many questions related to a higher cost for non-residents as many area pools are closed for the Summer. City Engineer Dave Bennett commented that if they have 95 people “showing up, we want to make sure we get them in so they’re in there [pool area] as soon as possible and we don’t want to really be checking ID’s”. He felt that would just delay entrance and the amount of time patrons could spend at the pool. There was an amendment put forth to add a non-resident fee, it failed 3 to 4. Staff will come back with possible other options to prove residency. As the pool is subsidized by the taxpayers, there was concern regarding cost of opening. Administrator Martig assured council that, with the City’s $600,000 in excess reserves, he’s comfortable with the $30,000 it will cost to open and operate the pool. The total cost for subsidizing is over $100,000 yearly. Only Councilor Zweifel voted against it, saying that she’s always been “uncomfortable” with the subsidy and feels that the west side of town is left out. She says it’s still not safe for kids to cross Hwy 3. Additionally, she didn’t like that masks on patrons would be encouraged not required. The presentation by Dwelle is here: 06-09-2020 Supplemental Memo no 1 Also public comments: Pool comments combined recd 1 – 4 pm Council will consider requiring masks next week.
Western Ave. apt complex gets another nod
The Dundas Council gave the okay to move forward on the proposed West Avenue apartment complex. Administrator Jenelle Teppen explained there will be one building with 39 units behind Young’s Paint Center. The Planning Commission gave a recommendation to City Council just ahead of their meeting Monday night to give a recommendation on combining lots into one as per county regulations. They also amended the comprehensive plan and had the development agreement regarding infrastructure and landscaping that commits the developer, Todd Nelson out of Faribault, to follow through. They now need to apply for a building permit.
