Last night the Northfield City Council accepted a study of the city’s drinking water that included a recommendation to build a new drinking
water treatment plant in the southeast section of the city.
A prior study found that, while the city’s water supply meets federal primary drinking water standards, the levels of Manganese exceed the EPA’s secondary standards. A high manganese level in drinking water has been found to be harmful to infants, as it can cause learning disabilities, notably attention deficit disorder, among others.
The study recommends a new plant that will use a gravity filtration system with reverse osmosis to treat the city’s water supply. The recommended site to build the plant is on the west side of Hall Avenue, adjacent to the Northfield Archery Range. The report estimated that construction of the new plant would cost nearly $33.5 million.
By accepting the report, the council was asked to approve construction of the plant. Members of the council, in particular Councilor Suzie Nakasian, voiced concern over approving a project that did not yet have concrete funding. Councilor Jami Reister, a trained physician, said she sees the new plant as a health issue, to which the council agreed.
The resolution to accept the study passed unanimously.
Lippert and Draheim hold their noses, vote for state’s ‘Reinsurance’ program
The State Legislature struck a compromise last week to extend the Minnesota Reinsurance Program that has been credited with keeping the
cost of health care premiums from skyrocketing. And while both Representative Todd Lippert and Senator Rich Draheim agree that it is a necessary program, neither are particularly happy about it.
The reinsurance program subsidizes health care for Minnesotans by paying a certain amount of every insurance claim. It was established in 2017 in reaction to the alarming rise in health care premiums for private insurance in the wake of the Affordable Care Act.
Representative Todd Lippert said the DFL does not like the program because it is not health care reform, rather, he said, it is a “band-aid” that keeps costs down. Had the legislature not extended the program, Lippert said people with private health insurance would have seen spikes in their premiums by 30-40% as soon as last Friday, and that is something they could not let happen.
“It was not a unanimous decision. I don’t think anyone on our side of the aisle, whether they voted for it or not, was wild about it. I did vote for the deal. I felt like it’s in the ‘Must-Do,’ or ‘Need-To-Do’ category.”
Meanwhile, Senator Rich Draheim also voted in favor of the plan, but he was even more blunt about how he feels about the program.
“In theory it’s awful but we haven’t seen a better plan. It’s been emulated across the country, and in fact there is a proposal on the federal level from one of our Minnesota Congressmen in D.C., to do this nationwide.”
The Senator said he hated to vote for it, but there are no better options. Part of the problem he said is how far apart Republicans and Democrats are in solving the country’s health care problems. Since the passage of the ACA, Republicans have tried time and again to repeal the program. Draheim said his party feels the solutions are to be found in the free market. The DFL meanwhile would like to work toward a one-payer system that would essentially cover health care costs for the entire country. Both Draheim and Lippert agreed that the current program is the best compromise that has been put on the table.
The agreement extends the reinsurance for five years, but only funds it for three. Lippert said, with the help of some federal funding, the price tag for three years will be $500 million.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Representative Todd Lippert can be heard here
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Senator Rich Draheim can be heard here
NPB bringing Saints back, adding Vixen
The St. Paul Saints opened their season yesterday with a 3-2 victory over the Louisville Bats at Slugger Field in Louisville. When they come
back to Minnesota next week for their home opener, Northfielders will be able to watch the game once again on Northfield Public Broadcasting.
NPB Station Manager Sam Temple said he is very happy to have the Saints back on NPB this year. The partnership with the team began last year through the Community Television Network and was a very successful endeavor.
Temple said the Saints feel very strongly about continuing their relationships with local community broadcast outlets, despite ascending to the AAA level last year as an affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.
“The Saint Paul Saints do a great job with the Community Television Network. I just had a conversation with Sean Aronson from the Saints, and he talked about how the Community Television Network was there for the Saints before they hit it big, before they got this affiliation with the Twins. Before then, they were the hometown baseball team, they were the little guy. They are acknowledging the people that were there for them, and that includes the Community Television Network.”
Beyond being able to follow their team, Saints fans get the added bonus of being able to see the occasional Twins player play with the Saints while on a rehab assignment. Temple said last year that made for some fun moments.
“I wasn’t happy that Byron Buxton or Luis Arraez was hurt,” he said, “but boy it was fun to say that I had them on NPB.”
Adding to the sports programming this year, NPB will also broadcast at least 6 Minnesota Vixen games.
The Vixen are the longest running women’s professional football team in the country. As members of the Women’s Football Alliance, they play full pads, full contact football in a season that runs from April through June.
Temple said he was not aware of the Vixen before the offer to carry their games came from the Community Television Network, but he was immediately intrigued, and the more he learned about them the more he believed that the team is something that he believes Northfielders will really enjoy.
NPB will broadcast at least six Vixen games this year, including the season opener which will be Saturday at 6pm against the Iowa Phoenix. He is not yet sure how many Saints games they will have, but they will broadcast the first three home games of the season, beginning Tuesday night at 6:30 against Indianapolis.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Sam Temple of Northfield Public Broadcasting can be heard here
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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