The Northfield School District is embarking on its annual budgeting process for the 2023-24 school year by looking 
at the facilities maintenance budgets.
During the school board meeting on Monday night, District Director of Finance Val Mertesdorf and Director of Buildings and Grounds made a presentation regarding the needs of the facilities and the funds available to address them.
Northfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matt Hillmann said this is the first portion of the budget that is addressed every year, because Nelson and his team must be able to address those needs as soon as the school year is over.
“If you think about it, there’s a really short window for school districts to complete [major] maintenance projects when you don’t have a school district full of kids. It runs from the end of the day on the last day of school all the way up to just a couple of weeks before the beginning of the school year.”
Nelson and Mertesdorf estimated the district will have approximately $3.1 million in projects and equipment replacement for the year, and the district should have around $3.3 million in funding specifically for this purpose. About $750,000 will come from the Capital Improvements Levy. That levy was renewed and expanded by district voters in last November’s election. However, the money from the expansion will not be available to the district until the 2024-25 school year. The Longterm Facilities Maintenance Budget, a program created by Northfield High School educator Kevin Dahle when he was a member of the Minnesota State Senate, will provide the balance of the funding.
Hillmann said the district has specific plans for the money that include replacing interior doors and flooring, asphalt maintenance on the various facility parking lots, installation of a computer server, payment of technology leases, and the replacement of one 72” lawn mower and a riding floor scrubber. The largest project for this year will be the redesign and remodeling of the Area Learning Center, which Hillmann said is something that is overdue.
While none of this is especially glamorous, Hillmann said he is nevertheless very proud of the way the district works to take care of the facilities the community has provided for the district.
“Essentially, at the end of the day, we are looking at revenues from those programs at $3.3 million expenditures of $3.1 million used for those projects in the next year. Again, not all exciting, but that is stewardship in action.”
The school board will be asked to approve the maintenance budget at its next meeting on February 27th.
Osborn, the “go-to” probation officer, wins annual award
Aaron Osborne, a Rice County Probation Officer, has been named the 2023 Best Supporting Agent by the Minnesota 
The award, according to a statement issued by Rice County, is presented annually to a person who demonstrates an ability to help peers even under the most stressful circumstances, is positive and encouraging and is the “go-to” person when someone needs assistance.
According to Rice County Probation Supervisor Jackson Hanson, that was precisely why Osborne was nominated for the award.
“Aaron has taken on many roles in our office, but the one that is constant is that he is the go-to agent,” he said. “He is the person that, despite the challenges and stresses of his own caseload, will drop everything to help… and does this without hesitation and always with a smile.”
Osborne, who has been with the county for five years, said receiving the award is gratifying.
“I’m grateful that I have great supervisors who thought of me and the work that I do, and that they felt it was appropriate to nominate me for the award,” he said.
The statement said Osborne is a member of the department’s Search and Seizure, and De-escalation teams, and this year he will help train all the department’s agents in both areas. He is also a qualified trainer for several cognitive skills programs the Community Corrections department provides to clients and he will often facilitate sessions and work with participants in the county’s Treatment Court.
According to their website, the Minnesota Association of Community Corrections Act Counties is a consortium of 35 counties across the state who operate corrections programming within their communities under the provisions of the Minnesota Community Corrections Act of 1973 and are organized into 22 administrative service units.
Dundas seeking administrative assistant, office manager
The Dundas City Council on Monday night approved two new positions for the city staff, and authorized City 
Administrator Jenelle Teppen to post the positions.
Teppen said she has done an examination of the staff as a working unit, the various tasks that need to get done, and, in the name of better efficiency, decided there is a need for two new members of the staff.
One of the positions is a part-time administrative assistant. The job description posted on the Dundas website says the position will provide administrative, clerical and customer service support and will work up to 28 hours per week, generally between 8:00 am and 4:30 pm Monday – Thursday and 9 am to 1 pm on Fridays.
Teppen said there is room to grow within the admin position as well.
“The administrative assistant position right now is, at least for the remainder of 2023, and we’ll see how it goes, is at 28 hours a week. So, if anyone is interested, or knows anybody who’s interested, give me a call. Or stop by or look at our website. Dundas City Hall is a great place to work.”
There is no posting as of yet for the office manager position, but Teppen did say that it would be a full-time position.
For more information visit the Dundas city website.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Dundas City Administrator Jenelle Teppen can be heard here
