by Rich Larson
Last week the city council gave the final approval to award a cable franchise to MetroNet, which will now allow them to build a full, broadband high
speed internet network in the residential areas of Northfield.
MetroNet’s Government Affairs Manager, Dan Casciato, gave a presentation to the council to go over how that construction process will progress and what the people of Northfield can expect throughout that process.
Casciato said construction will include both buried cable and cable strung from telephone poles. The company is going to great lengths to contact every member of the Northfield Community to explain how this process will work and to mitigate the amount of surprise some people might have to see a trench being dug in their back yard.
The company is mailing out cards to every address in the city with an explanation of who MetroNet is, and what is going to happen. That will be followed by yard signs that are put in each yard shortly before construction begins.
Casciato said not only are they trying to keep surprises to a minimum, but they do need to have information from homeowners if there is an underground sprinkler system or an electronic dog fence buried in the yard.
After a trench is dug and the cable and conduit are installed, he said restoration crews will arrive between 24 and 48 hours later.
City Administrator Ben Martig conceded that the construction process might feel invasive, but in the long run this is worth the inconvenience.
“So, we’re going to have a little bit of disruption along the way as this gets built out. But in the end, it’s really important to a community’s health and prosperity to have high speed internet. It’s important to be competitive and for a community to attract workforce. It allows work from home opportunities, and just quality of life as people use it for entertainment and education and other types of things.”
Martig also said they have added a section to the city website explaining the process and how this is going to work. He said there is a link on that page to the MetroNet construction map so people can see where construction is taking place and begin to anticipate when the process might reach them.
MetroNet is currently going through the permitting process. When that process is complete, they will begin construction immediately.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with City Administrator Ben Martig can be heard here
Hillmann sees good and not-so-good in E-12 budget
Northfield Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann said he has now been able to look over the E-12 education bill passed by the legislature last month, and he said there were a few surprises in the final bill, both good and bad.
The biggest positive surprise, he said, was the increase to the basic formula, which is the tool the state uses to determine how much money is sent to each school district. Hillmann said they had been hoping for – and had asked for – a 2% increase to the formula in 2022 and again in 2023. Instead, the legislature delivered a 2.45% increase in 2022 and a 2% increase in 2023. Hillmann said that would amount to an increase of $161 per pupil next year and $135 per pupil the year after that.
Another surprise that Hillmann said was both good and bad, is the assistance for the Special Education Cross Subsidy. The State of Minnesota mandates that each school district offer special education programs, something that Hillmann not only agrees with but has called a “moral imperative.” However, generally there is not enough money allocated by the state to fully pay for special education, and districts are expected to make up the difference out of their own general fund. This year the state included a total of $10 million dollars to help with that cross su
bsidy. Hillmann said it is a gesture that is very appreciated, but Northfield spends approximately $5 million on special education and the allotment of the new money coming to the district will be about $50,000, which will not go very far.
The biggest disappointment was the lack of funding to Northfield Promise, which is a non-profit group that supports and supplements many of the district’s programs. Hillmann said funding that had been in place for a few years vanished in this year’s bill.
“That funding for organizations like Northfield Promise was in both the House and Senate bills, but it didn’t make it into the final bill. And so, unfortunately, for an organization like Northfield Promise, that supports some of our school programming, and they support a lot of after-school programming, and they offer support for families, that’s about $250,000 a year that they will not have access to.”
The Governor and the members of the DFL have pointed to the education section of the budget as a victory, saying it is the largest increase in school funding in 15 years. Dr. Hillmann pointed out however, that the increase still does not keep up with inflation, and he said this will continue to be a problem until the school funding mechanism is improved.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann can be heard here
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
