As the City of Northfield continues to look for solutions to its housing shortage, the Northfield Housing and Redevelopment Authority has added new members who will offer new perspectives and new ideas.
A housing shortage can affect every aspect of a community. It will suppress the community’s economic growth. It will make it harder for business to grow because there is nowhere for new employees to live. It will lead to declining enrollment in the public schools, which leads to less school funding from the state. It drives the price of existing housing up, creating higher property taxes, and making for less disposable income within the community. A housing shortage will eventually cause a community to regress.
The new members are no strangers to public service or to housing in general. New addition Tim Freeland is a veteran realtor in Northfield who has seen the shortage firsthand. Mike Thorsteinson is a former Executive Director of Three Rivers Community Action, which works with communities across Southern Minnesota to help build affordable housing. Galen Malecha has been a Rice County Commissioner for 16 years. Before that, he served on the Northfield City Council, and the Northfield Planning Commission.
While the three new members of the HRA see the issue at hand and are ready to help tackle the problem.
Northfield Mayor Rhonda Pownell said one issue that she sees is a lack of starter homes being built in the area. Thorsteinson said there are several factors keeping smaller homes from being built. One, he said, is the cost of building materials, which increased dramatically during the pandemic. With higher building costs, builders look to build larger homes that create higher margins and are more cost effective. Many smaller homes are now owned by larger investors, he said, and the foundation of that issue must be fixed at higher governmental levels.
“There are federal and state public policy challenges. For example, when you can have groups buy up the affordable housing around the country, throw a coat of paint on it, and then double the rent or put it up for sale [there is a problem]. That has shut down and closed off part of the starter home market, which, in turn, has increased the demand.”
The city is looking at several different ideas to find solutions to the issue. The HRA has programs to help seniors age in place, but Malecha pointed out, Northfield is an aging community, and more senior housing will be needed in the coming years. The city has a proposal from the Northcountry Cooperative Foundation to create a cooperative neighborhood of modular housing units. Thorsteinson said the idea is intriguing, but things like infrastructure costs and the long term benefits to families from manufactured housing have to be assessed before any recommendation can be made to the City Council.
Malecha said there is no easy, single answer to the issue of housing. It will require collaborative efforts of many different groups to set things on the right path.
“In order to attract people to your community, you have to have adequate housing. We have to work with our various partners – City, County School District, local non-profits – and we have to work together. We can’t work in silos. That’s how we come up with creative solutions.”
The new members will be sworn in when the HRA convenes for its first meeting of the year tonight at 6pm.
Parr residency will not be advertised
January is generally a month that does not offer an extensive list of local entertainment. Aside from the local establishments that feature many of the extremely talented musicians who live in or regularly perform in Northfield, the month is usually pretty quiet.
However, the new proprietors of the Contented Cow are quietly bucking that trend.
Yesterday, Michael Morris, one of the Cow’s new owners, announced that legendary Minnesota folk/blues singer/songwriter Charlie Parr will take up a residency in Northfield, playing at the Contented Cow every Thursday night in January, beginning tonight.
Parr is a critically acclaimed songwriter and performer who has been compared to such luminaries as Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie and Tom Waits. Over his twenty+ year career, he has built an international audience that stretches from Ireland to Australia. The Duluth area resident, originally from Austin, MN, was the subject of a 2013 documentary, Meeting Charlie Parr, that elevated his career in the United States, leading to performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and recording contracts with Red House Records and Smithsonian Folkways.
Parr and Morris have been friends for many years. Morris said the residency will be a low-key event with mostly word-of-mouth marketing.
Parr will begin his Contented Cow residency tonight at 9pm. Morris said the shows will be free, but there is a $20 suggested donation that will go to Parr.
County offers free radon testing kits
January is National Radon Action Month, and Rice County Public Health has joined with the Minnesota Department of Health and US Environmental Protection Agency to encourage all residents to have their homes tested.
Radon is an invisible, odorless, tasteless and radioactive gas that occurs naturally in Minnesota and is often found at elevated levels in many Minnesota homes. In fact, a statement released by the Rice County Public Health said about 3 in 5 homes in the county have dangerous levels of radon. The gas can lead to many respiratory problems, including lung cancer.
Tests should be done in the lowest level of the home that is frequently occupied. According to the statement, the best time to test is during the heating season.
Test kits are available at most hardware stores, directly from radon testing laboratories, or a free kit may be requested from the county. The Minnesota Department of Health will also conduct free inspections of radon mitigation systems that were installed after June 1, 2020.
Contact the MDH Indoor Air Unit to request an inspection at health.indoorair@state.mn.us.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
