On Monday night, the Northfield School Board voted to relax many of the Covid-19 health protocols that have been
in place since the beginning of the school year.
Beginning next week, masks will be recommended but not required in all district buildings. Similarly, those considered to be close contacts with someone who tests positive for Covid will no longer have to go into quarantine, and the district will end the practice of contact tracing.
Hillmann said, however, not everything will change. The Transportation Security Administration still requires all individuals on school buses to wear a mask. Volunteers will still have to show proof of vaccination. And, he said, those who do not feel well should not come to school.
“What is not going to change is, if your child is sick keep them home. We are able to make some of these protocol changes because we are still going to address illness the same way that we have before. So, if someone has influenza or Covid like symptoms they need to stay home. And then they need to take a Covid test. And [after five days] if they have a negative test and their symptoms are improving, then they can return to school.”
Hygiene practices like hand washing, covering of mouths when coughing, and staying home when sick will be strongly encouraged to all students and staff.
There will be no change to the safety protocols at the Community Education Center, Hillmann said, because that is where the early childhood programs are located. Most of the children in those programs are younger than five years old and are therefore unable to be vaccinated. He said masking and quarantining protocols will remain in place in that building to protect the youngest learners.
If a dramatic deterioration in the public health situation re-occurs, Hillmann said the district will consider reactivating all safety protocols districtwide.
Council approves tax increment financing for Kraewood apartments
The Northfield City Council voted last night to approve tax increment financing for the apartment complex on the
Kraewood Development, pushing the controversial project much closer to becoming reality.
The agreement will provide the Stencil Group, the developers of the apartment building, with $2.45 million dollars over the course of 26 years. In exchange, 43 of the 106 apartment units will be offered as affordable housing. As such they will be available only to those whose income is at or below 60% of Rice County’s average median income.
The project, which is a collaboration between the Stencil Group, Rebound Partners and Schmidt Homes, will develop two dozen single and multi-family homes along with the apartment building over twelve acres of the former Paulson Tree Farm. It has been met with stiff resistance from residents of the surrounding areas. Complaints have ranged from environmental concerns to the way the area is zoned.
Another great concern is the TIF itself, with many members of the community questioning the wisdom and validity of helping the developers pay for the project.
During the discussion of the agreement, Councilor Suzie Nakasian asked City Administrator Ben Martig to address those concerns. Martig pointed out that tax increment financing is one of the most regulated programs in the state of Minnesota. All upfront costs for construction of the building will be paid by the developer, and only after the city has verified that Stencil and the development meet a litany of requirements will they receive an annual payment from the city. Indeed, a separate motion was passed during the meeting, which will affect Kraewood and every other TIF project in the city moving forward, directing city staff to notify the Council when the city has verified those requirements.
Councilor Clarice Grabau summed up the importance of the agreement. She said she was voting in favor of the financing because without it, the city would lose 43 desperately needed, brand new affordable housing units.
The project still requires approval from the council on the final plat and development agreements. Those are scheduled to come before the council in late March and early April.
Redistricting leaves Northfield with all new representation in 2023
Northfield will have entirely new legislative representation beginning next year with the 2023 legislative session. 
The Minnesota Court System released the newly drawn map of legislative and Congressional districts last night, pushing Northfield into new Senatorial and House districts, and creating many questions and some intrigue for the coming election season.
The biggest change is in the Senatorial District. Northfield had been in District 20, represented by Senator Rich Draheim for the past six years. However, Northfield now sits in the newly created District 58, where there is no incumbent State Senator. Where Northfield had been on the Eastern edge of a district that ran as far west as the Minnesota River, it now sits in the lower center of a district that pushes much farther North.
The city’s new district for representation in the House is 58A. Geographically, the district is smaller than the former District 20B and shifts further North, with Northfield sitting on the Eastern border. Other cities in the district include Lonsdale, Cedar Lake and the Northern half of New Prague. Representative Todd Lippert is the incumbent in the district; however, he has announced that he is not seeking reelection, leaving both Northfield’s new districts wide open.
Another interesting development puts Senator Draheim, who lives in Madison Lake, in the newly formed District 22. Longtime Senator Julie Rosen, the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee who also sits on the Housing Committee chaired by Draheim, lives in Vernon Center, which is also in the new District 22.
Both new districts are no longer split at the Rice and Dakota County borders, meaning the entirety of Northfield will be represented in the same legislative districts.
Northfield will remain in Minnesota’s Second Congressional District, which is represented by Democrat Angie Craig. The newly drawn borders for the district, which featured the closest Congressional race in the state in 2020, push away from the Mississippi River, and toward the Minnesota River, trading an area with the First District that included Red Wing, Lake City and Wabasha, for one that now includes Montgomery, Lonsdale, and Le Sueur.
Representation for the newly drawn districts will be decided this November. The current districts will be in place until January of 2023.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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