After completing an exhaustive study of the Northfield Park System, the city of Northfield is now asking for input from the community on
how best to proceed with a planned 10-year Capital Investment Plan to improve and renovate the city’s green spaces and recreation areas. The public is invited to attend a series of open houses and virtual meetings, and to take a survey on the Northfield City website.
City Engineer Dave Bennett said the capital investment plan is broken into four areas: the broad neighborhood park system, the parks along the riverside, the trail system and a multi-million-dollar expansion of FiftyNorth. The survey and the open houses, he said, will help the city to prioritize where to begin.
“This is a draft of a ten-year plan,” said Bennett. “It’s not the final plan, and we really want to hear from the community.”
There are several steps to be taken within the plan. One of the items identified in the park study is where improvements are needed in the neighborhood park system. Bennett singled out the Northwest area of the city as a region that is lacking in park amenities, and the plan has options to make improvements there. He also said with the Riverfront Enhancement Action Plan, there are several options to better activate Northfield’s riverfront areas. And indoor facilities are another area where the city is in need. The $14 million expansion of FiftyNorth would go a long way toward addressing that concern.
Connectivity of the city’s trail systems has been a priority for Mayor Pownell throughout her tenure as mayor. The survey asks questions about where the public would like to see more paved trails for both bicyclists and pedestrians.
Questions of funding are in the survey as well. For the FiftyNorth expansion, there could likely be a bonding referendum, and the survey asks about the support for such a measure. There could be a local option half-cent sales tax referendum as well, with the proceeds going to the parks department, which has been underfunded for years.
Along with the survey, the city is hosting a series of Zoom meetings and open houses. The next virtual meeting will be September 26. Open Houses are scheduled at Sechler Park on September 26th and at Greenvale Park Elementary School on October 6th. A combination virtual meeting and open house will be held at City Hall on October 12th.
Mayor Pownell said she believes getting the opinions of the public on the best way to go about such a mammoth undertaking is important.
“What are the needs within our community? We have over 500 acres of Parkland in our community. How can we best equip these public spaces to be able to meet the needs over the next 10 years? How do we move them up into a place where they are better meeting the needs of our community. What should they look like in 10 years?”
County’s Mobile Opioid Support Team readily available to those who need help
Drug use in Rice County, as it is across the nation, is becoming more and more dangerous. The opioid crisis is not letting up, and drugs are
becoming more powerful and more addictive.
Jessica Bakken, the program coordinator of the Rice County Mobile Opioid Support Team said over the past twelve months, Rice County law enforcement agencies have responded to 21 non-fatal overdose calls, and 6 fatal overdose calls.
“And those are just the overdoses that are reported,” she said. “I talk to people all the time that have overdosed but were with someone and received [the anti-overdose drug] NARCAN, or they just got through it. I know people who have overdosed ten times.”
A problem that demanding facilitated the formation of the Mobile Opioid Support Team, or MOST, three years ago. She said she and her colleagues perform community outreach and work with people across the spectrum of opioid use. Some of the people she talks to are in long-term recovery who might be struggling to stay there, in which case she said she can help find the right counseling for them. Sometimes, she said, she is dealing with opioid users who do not want to quit. In those situations, she can supply them with NARCAN and give them testing strips so they can determine if the substances they are using contain Fentanyl. She and her team can help a person get into treatment or help with families of drug users. MOST is supported by a host of Rice County service providers including the county Social Services Department, medical groups like Allina, Northfield Hospital + Clinics, and Healthfinders, the Community Action Center, Healthy Community Initiative, Sterling Drug and others.
Fentanyl is a major component in the ongoing epidemic of overdoses. The drug is easy to produce and is more addictive than any other opioid out there.
“Drug dealers want people to come back for more,” she said, “so they lace their drugs with Fentanyl. It gets people hooked, and now the dealers have them.”
And, she said, the drug is so potent that it is a true game changer.
“And the ones that are dying now are also very. Young. They’re 18, 19 years old, 22 years old. It’s very common for that to happen. People can’t experiment with substance use anymore. They’ll think they’re getting a Percocet off the street from a pharmacist, but it’s really not. It’s got fentanyl in it and so they want to use it and then they overdose, and their body is not prepared for that, and they die.”
Bakken said she and her team are in place to help anyone who asks for it, and they are readily available.
“I’m mobile,” she said. “And I deliver. If someone needs help with a friend or a loved one, or if they just need more NARCAN, it’s pretty easy to get in touch with me.”
Anyone who would like to talk with MOST Coordinator Jessica Bakken can do so at 507-299-0204.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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