The budgeting season has begun for the City of Northfield and its various departments, which means now is the time to make
staffing and department upgrade requests to the Northfield City Council.
During the council’s special meeting on Tuesday night, the council heard from several different department heads asking for more help, including Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott. The Chief began his presentation by announcing that, just about two weeks ago, the NPD’s latest officer recruit finished field training, and for the first time in his tenure as chief, the Northfield Police Department is now fully staffed.
However, with the competition for good police officers stronger than ever before, it is unlikely that the department will be able to maintain the status quo. That is one of several reasons, he said, that the department needs to add an Administrative Sergeant.
Eliott said in examining other comparable police departments, a person in an administrative supervisory position is where they are lacking, and the void is becoming more apparent all the time. The Northfield Police Department in the last two years has both updated and published online its police policy manual and updated the city emergency operation plans. Neither of those projects had been addressed, he said, in 10-20 years, despite that fact that best practices are to do that regularly, because there simply has not been enough staff to do so.
Also, because of modern police reform, there are more requirements on every police department for documentation, officer training, and reporting.
“Those things take time,” he said. “We don’t have the people in place to keep up.”
Finally, he said, adding another sergeant will be critical in 2023, because of expected losses to the department in 2024.
“I think it’s really critical that we get this done in 2023, because three members of our supervisory staff – almost half of the supervisory staff – are going to retire in 2024. It would be good to be able to promote somebody else before that time, to get them some experience as a supervisor before we get to that big transition year.”
Working with the finance department, Elliott said they have calculated that a new Administrative Sergeant position would add about $160,000 to the annual budget between salary, benefits and employment taxes. Because of the timing and the length of the hiring process, Ellott said the cost in 2023 would be about half of that.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott can be heard here
One-hundred and fifty years of the Northfield Fire Department
The Northfield Fire Department, which is now part of the Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Service, will celebrate its 150th
anniversary tomorrow with an open house and live demonstrations.
The Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Service is a paid-on-call volunteer organization that has evolved quite a bit since its founding in 1872, including expanding its reach to serve seven of the townships that surround Northfield in 2014. The organization’s full history will be on display during the event.
Tom Nelson, NAFRS Interim Fire Chief, said, “it’s something to be really proud of.” He remembered how inspiring it was to take a tour of the old Northfield Firehouse when it was still located on Division Street, as a kindergartener. Nelson said this anniversary event will be fun for the whole family.
There will be an open house at the Fire Hall with firehouse memorabilia, demonstrations and hands-on events for the community.
Firefighter Aramis Wells, who spearheaded the event planning, called the event an important milestone and emphasized the educational and fun activities available for kids to participate in.
“We’re going to have an open house at the Fire Hall from 4-7:00 where we’ll have live demonstrations and hands-on events for the kids so they can put out fires and see what happens in a kitchen fire. We’re going to show them the process of how water is pumped from the hydrant through the truck and out the hose and let them get their hands on everything.”
The Fire Department will be partnering with the Minnesota Fire Engine Club to put on a water and lights show called Pumpers in the Park in Bridge Square, Ames Park and on the 5th Street Bridge from 6:00-10:00 pm. There will be food on-site.
Finally, there will be a free community dance at The Grand featuring the band Roadhouse 6, who specialize in country music and classic rock. The dance will go from 9:00pm until midnight.
The Northfield Area Fire and Rescue 150th Anniversary goes from 4:00pm until midnight this Saturday. For more information, go to the NAFRS Facebook page or nafrs.org.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Len Schrader of the Minnesota Fire Engine Club and Aramis Wells of the Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Service can be heard here
Farm Safety Field Day set for August
And as the harvest begins to approach, several Rice County and Southern Minnesota organizations are coming together for an
event to promote farm safety.
As a follow up to the winter Farm Safety Seminar, the University of Minnesota Extension, the City of Faribault Fire Department, and the Community Co-op in Faribault will host a farm safety field day for local farmers and ag professionals on Wednesday, August 10. This hands-on educational event will be held at the Rice County 4-H Building on the fairgrounds
The Faribault Fire Department first responders and UMN Extension Educators will demonstrate the proper use of fire extinguishers, trauma first aid kits, and show the use and calibration of gas monitors. Attendees will have the opportunity to practice using these items and to receive free fire extinguishers, first aid materials, and gas monitors.
According to a statement released by the University of Minnesota Extension, this project is funded by a Seeds for Stewardship grant through CHS and the Faribault Community Co-op. The goal of the event, the statement read, is to help prevent farm accidents through education and the use of safety equipment.
The Farm Safety Field Day will run from noon until 2pm. Lunch will be provided at no cost
For more information, or to RSVP, please contact Claire LaCanne at lacanne@umn.edu or call 507-332-6165.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net.
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