by Rich Larson
Last week during the Northfield City Council meeting, the council approved an amendment to the 2021 budget to begin a 
remodeling project on City Hall that will cost just under $940,000.
City Administrator Ben Martig said the project will include a variety of practical improvements. Currently City Hall has no established service area or help desk, so the project would create an information desk to help direct visitors around the building. More door controls will be added, and internal vestibules will be built in certain areas. Some aesthetic improvements will be made around the building as well. Martig said the most important aspects of the remodel will be the improvements to the building’s security.
“Following some national and state events related to active shooters that we had in some council chambers, we had some additional conversations and done some additional minor improvements within the council chambers. I would say the City Hall as a repurposed school building has had some pretty major remodeling but continues to be an area that we kind of chip away at.”
There would also be some reshuffling of office space as the IT department, which is currently housed in a converted closet, would move into offices currently occupied by the Communications and Humand Resource Department. They would move into offices currently held by Rice County. The Rice County offices will most likely re-locate to the NCRC building.
Martig said the project had been in developmental stages before the pandemic and was tabled as other initiatives took priority. At $938,000 the project is more expensive than had originally been thought, but, he said, the city did receive seven separate competitive bids.
The motion was passed unanimously by the council. Martig said the project should be complete sometime early next year.
Extra Law Enforcement on Highway 3 this weekend
This Friday local law enforcement agencies, including the Northfield Police Department, the Rice County Sheriff’s Department, the Dakota County Sheriff’s Department, and the Minnesota State Patrol will increase enforcement efforts along Highway 3 in an effort to raise awareness of speeding, distracted driving and impaired driving.
A statement released by the Northfield Police Department on Friday said that this is meant as a friendly reminder to all drivers to drive safely. The goal is education through high visibility enforcement in order to reduce traffic deaths, crashes, and motorist conflicts.
The state has reported a sharp increase in traffic deaths this year. Through July 7th, more than 200 people have been killed in traffic accidents in Minnesota. Most of those deaths have involved high speeds, distracted driving, impaired driving, not wearing a seatbelt, or some combination thereof. Friday’s enforcement event is an attempt to get drivers to think about the decisions they are making behind the wheel.
Law enforcement is asking motorists to give officers room to work by moving over a lane from traffic stops and to respect the work they are doing.
New Froggy Bottoms ownership readying for re-opening
The new owners of Froggy Bottoms are assembling their team, preparing the menu and getting ready to bring a staple of the 
Northfield dining scene back from a prolonged hiatus.
Neal Wilson, Cindy Wilson and Michael Gasior said yesterday that they are eagerly awaiting the day they can re-open the doors and show the changes they have made to the restaurant. The popcorn ceiling for example, which has long made the taller residents of Northfield a little nervous, will be gone when they re-open.
But for all the changes they are making, there will be things that will absolutely remain the same.
“The award-winning fries are coming back,” said Gasior. “And so are the award-winning Bloody Marys.”
“We’ll still have bands,” Neal said. “And the karaoke.”
Gasior has worked at Froggy Bottoms since 2015 as a bouncer and a bartender, and he said he has enjoyed being there so much that taking over as an owner is a natural fit for him.
“Just working there, getting to know all of the regulars, getting to know everybody, the staff, people in town I had never met before. It was always one of those things I never wanted to let go. So, I’m going from bartender to owner.”
The Wilsons and Gasior may seem like an unlikely ownership group, but they actually complement each other quite well. Gasior has creative ideas about what to do as they prepare to open, while Neal’s background in the US Army helped him develop decision making and prioritization skills that are indispensable in management. Cindy, meanwhile, stands in between “supporting the dream,” as she said.
The new Froggy Bottoms River Pub is scheduled to open on August 15.
Rich Larson’s full conversation with the new owners of Froggy Bottoms can be heard here
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
