Lincoln Street Reconstruction
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, concerned citizens who live in the Lincoln 
Street area came out en masse to speak during the open mike portion of the meeting. The citizens, of which at least seven spoke during the meeting, voiced their concerns about a proposed two-lane bike path that would be separated from the road by curbs, which would be a part of road reclamation and overlay project in that area. None of them spoke out in favor of the project. The proposed bikeway would run from Heritage Dr. through Adams St. and on to Roosevelt Drive in the presidents park area of town. It would include another block of Lincoln St. South to Peterson Dr. where it would connect to an existing bike path. KYMN Radio asked Northfield Mayor Rhonda Pownell to comment on the design of the project and citizens’ concerns during her regular segment on Wednesday morning: “The separated bikeway that has a cement barrier with it and that is a new design that we’re bringing forward with this new street project and, of course, it goes right by the front of people’s homes. Naturally, people are asking questions and expressing concerns. They’ve not seen it done before so they’re making their voices heard. I’m just really appreciative of, by and large for the most part, the respectful dialogue and sharing of concerns there that they offered.” While the “Unified Design” may be controversial and even unpopular among some residents of the area, it appears likely that will be the design the city selects, for this project and likely others in the future. “The unified design is the one aspect of moving people throughout our community for bikes and pedestrians that we don’t have and this is what’s moving forward.” The final plans have not been approved as of yet. The project is slated to be part of the city’s 2023 road construction projects.
LBSA funding
Still early in the session, the state legislators have been busy hearing from 
citizens, lobbyists, and special interest groups, each trying to further their causes or interests. Among those are organizations that serve those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as the Laura Baker Services Association here in Northfield.
Sandi Gerdes is the Executive Director of LBSA, who said on KYMN Radio yesterday that services such as LBSA have the same market pressures and staffing difficulties as any company, but because a large part of their funding comes from government sources, they can’t just raise the rates. “The Legislature decides what our rates are; what our reimbursement is going to be. We don’t get to set our own rates, we don’t get to set our own prices and so we need the Legislature to act to increase our rates and with the pressure on wages that has happened in every industry, and inflation that’s happening, we did not see rate increases that meet those kinds of things.” The legislature put off funding options last year and currently have a surplus of around $17 billion. Gerdes and her colleagues around the state are looking for permanent funding solutions that can make them competitive in the workplace environment “so we’re asking for the Legislature to delegate about $2 billion to services and supports for people with intellectual developmental disabilities, and that really brings our base rate from about $13/hr to $17/hr which is pretty much a going rate these days in terms of what people are paying.” You can help by emailing your legislator. Go to laurabaker.org and look for the advocacy link on their home page.
Early voting in townships
Early voting in 2023 township elections starts Friday. Rice County Township residents can vote absentee in the 2023 election beginning later this week. Voting begins Friday, Feb. 10 and runs through Monday, March 13 for the Tuesday, March 14 election. Ballots can be cast weekdays between 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the Rice County Government Services Building, except for Monday, Feb. 20, when county offices are closed for Presidents Day and Tuesday, Feb. 21 when elections officials will accept voter registrations only from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Voters can also vote absentee from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, March 11 and from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, March 13 at the Government Services Building. Annual meetings are also Tuesday, March 14.
As of today, there is just one contested seat in the area. That is the Supervisor Seat E in Bridgewater Township where Emily Fulton-Foley, Thomas Hart and Derek Kruse will compete for the seat. Hart is the incumbent.
