Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Service Chief Gerry Franek said he will be announcing his retirement sometime in the first part of 2022.
While this is not unexpected news, Franek has been with the Northfield Fire Department and the expanded Fire and Rescue Service for nearly 35 years, it has led to an examination of the department that has exposed some things that are troubling to both Franek and NAFRS Board Chair Brad Ness.
When Ness assumed the board chairmanship earlier this year, he asked for a written succession plan in order to codify the way the department should proceed when identifying and hiring a new chief. To that end Barb Strandell, a consultant who has reviewed many fire departments throughout the region, and regularly oversees Northfield City Administrator Ben Martig’s review, was brought in to review the department.
When Strandell shared her initial findings with the board last week, the results of interviews done with board members and employees of the fire service, both Ness and Franek were surprised by many of the things they heard. Franek said there is a lot of misinformation and unfounded comments in the findings. Ness, meanwhile, said that it is clear to him that there are problems with the board. Declining to go into detail, he said the board needs some training as to what is required of a board member and the overall function of a board.
“The board either needs to offer guidance to the chief,” he said, “or it needs to back off.”
Franek said that there does perhaps need to be more training for the board, but also better communication is required as well.
“We should just tell people, ‘If you don’t know ask,’ or ‘If you want clarification, we’re here,’ because it’s so hard to predict all the questions. We can do all of the general onboarding to help them along, I think that would be good for the new board staff. [We should] give them a general outline of ‘Here’s how we operate, and here’s what’s expected.’”
While the exact issues are being kept under wraps, there has been an ongoing debate within NAFRS about the role of the chief. Some have wondered if the job should be made a full-time position, which is something both Franek and Ness have said is not necessary.
Strandell is expected to give her full report in December.
Council discusses new sustainable building policy
Last week the Northfield City Council heard a presentation on the proposed Northfield Sustainable Building Policy that would require certain building projects and developments to have more environmentally friendly features in their design than what is required by the state building code.
Northfield City Program Coordinator Beth Kallestad said the new policy would be focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Any project receiving financial incentives from the city of more than $300,000 would be required to meet the Minnesota SB 2030 standards, while at least 2% of the energy used by the project would have to come from a renewable energy source that would be installed on sit if cost-effective. Projects receiving between $150,000 and $300,000 would at least have to prove why the new standards are not feasible for that project.
These standards would be written into any financial agreement. Construction would be evaluated by a third party, and ongoing efficiency reports would have to be submitted to the city on a regular basis during the duration of the agreement.
Mayor Rhonda Pownell said several cities in Minnesota have adopted this sort of policy, and it makes sense for Northfield to do the same.
“Many cities have sustainable building policies in place, and it’s really a great tool to ensure that, when we’re working with multi-family commercial industrial developments, when there is a financial ask of over $300,000to the city, that is what would be the trigger for the sustainable building policy.”
Kallestad said the city has had many meetings with developers, who have mostly been agreeable to the measures, but many have asked for help in further education on how these policies can benefit both their customers and their own bottom lines.
The new policy would be put in place to support the city’s climate action plan, which calls for the city to use only carbon free electricity by 2030, and for the city to be completely carbon free by 2040.
Kallestad said her hope is that the council will be able to vote on the new policy in December.
Library set for Stuffed Animal Sleepover
The Northfield Public Library is hosting a pair of events on November 19th that will be of interest to people of all ages. 
At 2pm that afternoon, the Half Rest Quartet, a group of St. Olaf musicians will present a mix of Christmas classical and jazz music. Trumpeter Luke Sargent, violinists Sophia Singleton and Kallie Sobania, and guitarist Caleb Berrios will perform in the library’s central atrium until 2:45. At 5:30, the library will host a Stuffed Animal Sleepover. Director of Library Services Natalie Draper said there will be a special story time for the youngest Northfielders and one of their favorite stuffed animals. But the real fun will start when the kids go home.
“Children ages 2-6 are invited to bring their stuffed animal friend and they will leave it behind in the library. And we’ll have a little party with them. And they can pick up their friend and a little photo book the next day. So, they can see the stuff they got up to.”
Draper said the library has some interesting programs for adult Northfielders as well. Anyone with a library card can now access online video classes through Creativebug presenting the basics and how-to’s of several craft-oriented hobbies. Draper said as the days get colder and people are looking for things to do at home, the videos offer ideas from sewing and pattern making to how to make your own paint to creative ideas on choosing and using a weekly planner.
For more information on all the programs offered by the Northfield Public Library, visit mynpl.org.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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