The Northfield City Council on Tuesday approved one of the first public construction projects of 2024. The Honeylocust connector trail will be among the first projects completed this year. Northfield Mayor Rhonda Pownell explains what the trail connects, “This pathway will connect all the way back to the East Cannon River Trail and then with the existing trail that’s on the east side of Hwy 3. It will be a really important connector for anybody who lives at that end of our community and in the Dundas area.”
Northfield put out for bids on the project early. That led to good competition and bids significantly lower than anticipated. City Administrator Ben Martig. “We had 8 bidders so lots of bids in so we got good favorable prices. Fitzgerald Excavating base bid was roughly $197,000 and then we’re doing another segment to, as the Mayor said, have a connecting route all the way up to that intersection, so it’s just under $300,000. We actually tied this with a project a couple of years ago so we have cash that’s been waiting in this project fund for the work to be completed. It worked out really well with MnDot owning the site. They did a build and relocation down to that site so we were able to work with them on easements and getting access in so dollars are ready to go and we should be able to get construction up and running.”
The project is relatively small and should be completed by summer.
Nfld School District pay equity
The Northfield School District has recently completed their Pay Equity Report. Northfield Schools Superintendent Matt Hillmann explains what that is, “Every three years, schools districts in Minnesota are required to complete something for Minnesota Management & Budget called ‘The Pay Equity Report.’ This is a study that looks at all of our employee groups’ job classifications and it determines that male and female dominated employee groups are receiving equitable pay based on objective job point evaluation so every job description in the district is evaluated.”
Northfield hired an independent consultant to assist with the study. The consultant crunches the data through a statistical analysis. From there, there are three statistical tests that the district must pass. Hillmann reports that Northfield passed all of those tests: “Having a report that we passed all three of those tests, it’s quite a lift for Molly Viesselman, our Director of Human Resources, and the HR department. We do enlist some outside help from a consultant because this is something that we don’t do very often but its a built-in checks and balance to make that our male and female dominated employee classes are receiving equitable pay.”
Northfield will have to submit the report again in the 2026-27 school year.
High Speed chase starts in Northfield
Dakota County authorities have released details of a high speed chase that began in Northfield last week.
A man in a stolen vehicle allegedly led authorities on a chase through Northfield and into Dakota County that reached speeds of up to 100 mph. Wellington Eugene Jones, 32, of Hastings is charged with felony counts of fleeing police and receiving stolen property.
A Northfield police officer saw a car with no front license plate run the stop sign at Fifth and Washington streets the early morning of Jan. 9, according to a court complaint. The officer turned on his lights but the driver, later identified as Jones, allegedly sped down Washington going up to 80 mph. Jones allegedly turned off all the car’s lights during the ensuing chase through the city and went 90 to 100 mph northeast into rural Dakota County.
A Dakota County deputy placed stop sticks that finally forced Jones to a stop, the charges say. Jones was arrested and the Toyota Camry was discovered to have been reported stolen from St. Paul. Jones claimed he borrowed the car from a friend but he did not know the friend’s last name. He reportedly said he fled because he was scared.
Jones was released on $15,000 bail with an order to make a first court appearance on Jan. 24.
