At Tuesday night’s Northfield City Council meeting, City Engineer Dave Bennett gave a presentation to the council discussing options for
putting descending arm gates at the railroad crossing on Second Street.
At issue, is the question about what to do with the section of Spring Street that runs parallel to the railroad tracks between Second Street and St. Olaf Ave.
Bennett said the city has three options to modify the area and make it suitable for the new barriers. The first is to make Spring Street one way going north, which would ensure that traffic would not come off of the intersection and turn into the path of an oncoming train. The second option is to create a dead end Cul de Sac on the street, with a driveway for the two properties that would be left out. Or Spring Street could be shifted away from the tracks and re-aligned. However, City Administrator Ben Martig said that would require the acquisition of at least one property, and possibly two, which would slow the process down and make it more expensive.
The reason the city is making the new barriers a priority, is the effort to create a Railroad Quiet Zone throughout the West Side Rial corridor. There are many trains running through the city in that area every day, and Mayor Pownell said there are five crossings where each train is required to sound its horn. Anyone who has spent time in Northfield knows that the train whistle can feel at times like an unnecessary nuisance, and at others can seem flat out obnoxious. Mayor Pownell offered a common opinion that just about every other citizen of Northfield shares.
“Not the best idea if you want to sleep, or if you’re having a family outing. All conversation will come to a halt when a train goes by and it’s blowing its whistle, which is for safety purposes.”
The Council favored the idea of making Spring Street one way, with an eye to creating a dead-end cu de sac. Martig said there will be further information brought to the council for their consideration later this summer. Construction on the new barriers is expected in 2023.
NPB creating partnerships with local organizations, expanding its scope
Last year, during the city’s budgeting process, the decision was made to make the Northfield Public Broadcasting Station Manager into a full-
time position. Sam Temple, who has led NPB for two years went full time in January, and less than six months into his expanded tenure, the decision is already paying dividends.
Northfield Public Broadcasting was set up, in part, to be an arm of the city’s Communications Department. To that end, temple has assisted the city in promoting some important initiatives like the recent transportation survey. NPB put together bi-lingual videos to promote the survey, which provided good results. He said the city has already received valuable information and some interesting suggestions in the results, which are still being processed.
NPB was a useful tool for the city in the search for a new utility operator as well. Temple went to the water processing plant and made a short video explaining the position, its responsibilities and the job requirements. The position was recently closed, with a healthy pool of candidates to choose from.
Temple said outside of NPB’s work within the city, they have created partnerships with outside organizations, as well. The station recently posted a video of the Raingarden Workshop put together by Clean River Partners, and they have also created an introduction video for the Northfeld Historical Society. Moving even further out, he said they have also worked with the Rice County Historical Society to create a video of a presentation made by Historian Mica Anders about life for Early African Americans in Rice County.
Temple said he is very proud of the partnerships NPB has created with other organizations, but he would still like to have more information from anyone who feels they have a story to tell.
“If you have one of those stories to tell, don’t be afraid to reach out. Don’t be afraid to submit whatever you have, even if it is just you telling a story on your phone camera for a little while. More and more NPB is becoming the community hub – the virtual gathering space that we want it to be.”
Northfield Public Broadcasting can be found on Spectrum Channels 180 and 187, or on the Television tab of the City of Northfield Website.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Sam Temple of Northfield Public Broadcasting can be heard here
‘Normal’ Girls Nite Out tomorrow night
And a Northfield tradition, Girls Nite Out, sponsored by the Northfield Chamber of Commerce, will return on Friday night. The annual event
begins tomorrow afternoon at 4pm and is designed for the women of Northfield and the surrounding areas to enjoy themselves while shopping in downtown retail establishments and restaurants. Each participating business will offer a discount or special during the event.
Like every other annual community event, Girls Nite Out has been beset by problems due to the Covid 19 pandemic, from mask mandates and social distancing to a full six-week delay in 2020. However, with the worst of the pandemic behind us, Rachel Trnka of the Chamber said Girls Nite Out will return to its true form this year.
“Two years ago, we did it, either in June or July, so it was later than usual. And last year things were more normal, but I think we were still wearing masks. But this year our logo, with our three girls, does not have them wearing masks. So, it’s a normal year.”
Girls Nite Out is a passport event, meaning participants will be encouraged to visit as many of the sponsors as possible. A sheet with each sponsor logo printed on it will be provided, and the goal is to collect as many stamps on that sheet from as many sponsoring merchants as possible.
Trnka said sheets with at least 10 stamps on them will be entered to win $200 in Chamber Bucks. A sheet with 8 or more stamps will qualify to win $100 in Chamber Bucks. A sheet with 5 or more stamps will be entered to win $50 in Chamber Bucks or one of four $25 gift cards from Carbones.
For more information and a full list of participating merchants, visit northfeldchamber.com
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
[recent_post_carousel slides_to_show=”1″ limit=”5″ slides_to_scroll=”1″ category=”10″ media_size=”medium” dots=”false” show_read_more=”false”]
