By Rich Larson, News Director
After almost a year of work, the Rice County Jail Study Committee presented their findings and recommendations to the County Board of
Commissioners at a work session on Tuesday night.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections has informed Rice County that the current jail, which opened in 1975, is no longer an acceptable facility, and if the current jail is not significantly augmented – or a new facility is not opened – then the DOC will reclassify the jail as a 90-day lockup.
The Jail Study Committee presented the board with three potential sites: the current jail in downtown Faribault, the law enforcement annex area, which is currently used for minimum security and a green space option to build a brand-new facility as well.
The committee’s recommendation was to build a new jail and law enforcement center on the green space location. Sheriff Troy Dunn said the jail would be 41,000 square feet and could house up to 76 inmates, while the law enforcement center would about 40,000 square feet, at a cost of approximately $47 million dollars.
“One of the many messages I shared was we’re not trying to overbuild. We’re trying to meet our needs now and into the future. Our key things that the Department of Corrections has been telling us is we need more recreation and programming space.”
Sheriff Dunn said during the sub-committee’s study, Rice County was approached by Steele county about combining jail facilities. While the sheriff has misgivings about the idea, he said Commissioner Galen Malecha asked members of the committee to have a meeting with Steele County regarding the subject. Once that meeting has taken place, he said, the board will vote on the recommendations. That vote will most likely come sometime in March.
Sheriff Troy Dunn’s full conversation with Jeff Johnson can be heard here.
City distributes strategic plan survey
The City of Northfield is asking for your input regarding Northfield’s strategic plan for service delivery and quality of community life.
Residents received an email early yesterday with a link to a non-identifying survey. The city wants to know how the city services are perceived and rated, how often people take advantage of city services and which ones, and what the priorities should be for the next three years. The survey also asks what people perceive to be the city’s greatest challenge, and how people have been affected by the global pandemic.
The previous strategic plan expired at the end of December, and the City Council is now preparing to create a new one to lay out goals and priorities over the next three years. Mayor Rhonda Pownell said shortly after her re-election that assessing those priorities and developing the next strategic plan is vital to Northfield’s continued economic and social development.
Northfield has chosen to work with Polco to administer the survey. A statement posted to the city’s website said that residents’ individual information is never shared and cannot be accessed by the City. Survey results will be tabulated and shared with the City Council and community through the city website.
The survey is available in English and Spanish. Links to Polco can also be found on the city’s website, Facebook page and Instagram feed. Paper surveys are available at the Northfield Public Library and Motor Vehicle Services at City Hall. The survey can be found online by clicking here.
Historical Society and Carleton collaborate on new podcast
The Northfield Historical Society announced yesterday that they will present a new one-episode, standalone podcast exploring the differences and similarities between the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic and the Covid-19 pandemic as both were experienced in Northfield.
NHS said this podcast is the result of a collaboration between the Historical Society and two classes at Carleton College, Historians for Hire and the Anthropology of Health and Illness. Both classes contacted NHS independently, offering students to help with a research project, and it was decided that a podcast would be the best result. Three students from each class worked on the project. The anthropology spent the fall evaluating Northfield life during the pandemic, while the historians researched life during the Influenza epidemic. The research was combined and blended in December, and the podcast was recorded shortly thereafter.
