By Rich Larson, News Director
As the debate continues over what to do about the Rice County Jail situation, County Attorney, John Fossum said it is
clear to him that the current jail, which is nearly 50 years old, is not big enough and does not meet the needs of the county.
Fossum, who was a member of the Jail Study Task Force, said under current rules set by the state Department of Corrections, the jail must have room for recreation and programming. Those rules were not in place when the current jail was built in 1975, and the building is obsolete. The DOC has told Rice County that the current jail is inadequate, and the building will be reclassified to a 90-day lockup facility.
The Jail Study Task Force has recommended to the County Board of Commissioners that a new jail be built at a cost of approximately $50 million dollars. Members of the board have asked the committee to look into a proposed joint powers agreement with Steele County that would house Rice County inmates in the Steele County jail, despite objections from County Sheriff Troy Dunn, and Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott. The Department of Corrections, in fact, has told the board that partnering with Steele County is not a viable option.
Fossum said that a new jail is an issue of public safety, and public safety is expensive.
“One of the points I often make to people is we can’t do criminal justice on the cheap. Having a new jail is about protecting our deputies, it’s about protecting the people in custody, and it’s about the safety of the community because if we don’t have a jail and we can’t hold people that we need to because we don’t have room anymore, that’s a danger to the community as well.”
Public hearings on the matter are scheduled for April 20 at 8:30am and 6:30pm. The Board of Commissioners is expected to vote on the matter April 27.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with County Attorney John Fossum can be heard here
Hillcrest Village project moves forward with city support
The Northfield City Council approved the preliminary plat for the Hillcrest Village project on Tuesday night with an enthusiasm rarely seen in the virtual council chambers.
Hillcrest Village is a development project put together by the Community Action Center that will create six residences with a total of 17 units of affordable and supportive housing. The project is also one of the most environmentally friendly developments Northfield has ever seen. The intersection of social and environmental justice in a project that aligns with the city’s strategic plan has members of both the city council and the city staff excited for the future of housing in Northfield.
CAC Executive Director Scott Wopata gave a brief presentation on the goals for Hillcrest Village and to tout its environmentally friendly design. He said the need for a development like Hillcrest Village is great. The CAC currently owns and operates four homeless shelters all of which are full virtually every day. The organization also spends thousands of dollars each year on hotel rooms to supplement the shelters. With the need for affordable housing in Rice County growing every year, and the general housing shortage that Northfield is facing the seventeen units offered in Hillcrest Village will be a great boon to the community.
Moreover, Wopata said, from its inception the project was meant to showcase the possibilities of environmentally friendly construction.
“The other part of it is just this environmental piece,” said Wopota. “We have found a way to reduce energy use in these buildings by looking to the future of how construction can be done. We reduced the energy output and usage of these buildings by 62% compared to building a new high-quality home today.”
The plat was approved unanimously.
Pownell gives strategic plan update
And Mayor Rhonda Pownell published a statement on the City website yesterday with an update on the city’s strategic
planning process and offering her thoughts on where the city is most accomplished and where it could improve.
The mayor said that over the past three years, the city has made major improvements with regard to issues of Affordable Housing, Climate Change, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. However, she said the other three major city priorities, Economic Development, Infrastructure, and Operational Effectiveness, while every bit as important to the city as the first three, have not seen the same levels of success.
The Mayor said, she hopes the strategic plan will offer the same weight to the latter three priorities as it will to the first three.
“It is imperative that we continue to grow our business and industry, which provide a strong financial foundation for our community and drive resources for the quality services and facilities we desire. Dense contiguous business growth and development that uses existing infrastructure is financially responsible and will provide jobs for those that desire to both live and work here.”
Next week, during a work session, the city council is expected to devote the entire time to working out the new strategic plan, that they hope to implement in the late spring.
