Last week the Northfield Housing and Redevelopment Authority extended by one month their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Northcountry Cooperative foundation on a proposed manufactured home cooperative neighborhood on seven acres of land owned by the HRA in the southeast part of the city.
The project has been discussed for nearly a year. Last May, Northcountry proposed the development of 55 modular homes in the area that would ostensibly be priced in the $200,000 range. The City of Northfield has identified that particular segment, Workforce Housing, as something that is needed so the HRA entered into the MOU to give Northcountry some leverage as they seek state and federal funds that would help the development offer housing at the desired price.
As a cooperative neighborhood, residents would own their homes, but not necessarily the land underneath. The land would be owned by the cooperative, and residents would own shares in the cooperative based on the size of their lot. This has created some questions that have not been easily answered. Members of the HRA, and the City Council, have wondered about the ability of the homes to retain and accrue value in such a model. Brent Nystrom of the HRA said it’s an idea that has not been tested in Minnesota as of yet, which makes things a bit murky.
“There are questions about the cooperative, there’s questions about the increase in value over time. Yes, there’s some data there, but this isn’t a very common thing. In fact, in Minnesota, I don’t believe there’s been a manufactured home neighborhood that’s been in a cooperative model to date. So, we’re talking about a lot of new thing when we talk about this proposal and that is of concern to some folks, certainly.”
At the same time, a mixed housing development has been proposed by Rice County Habitat for Humanity in partnership with local builders and Three Rivers Community Action which could offer stick-built housing units in the same price range. The city has not been able to consider the development due to the exclusive nature of the MOU. Nystrom and HRA Chair Galen Malecha said the idea was floated during the meeting that maybe the two proposals, and the respective organizations, could come together to create a new development. Malecha said the board has asked city staff to work on the idea.
“How do we bring all these groups together to make a mixed housing development, be it shape, size of units, manufactured, and mixed income? How do we get everyone together to make it a neighborhood? City staffers were there, and they heard the direction that we gave them to put something together for all of these groups to work together.”
The HRA did extend the MOU with Northcountry to the end of May. Nystrom and Malecha said they will discuss the process again next month in the hopes of finding the right way to build these much-needed homes for the City of Northfield.
CRP to offer free community building seminar
Clean River Partners is gearing up for an active spring, with several community activities planned. CRP Executive Director Jennifer Tonko has promised more opportunities for the general public to get involved with the organization, and just in the final ten days of April there are at least four.
The headliner of that group is a workshop CRP is bringing to Northfield on April 24th put on by the Minnesota Humanities Center called Increase Engagement Through Absent Narratives.
Tonko said one of CRP’s strategic goals is to strengthen their relationships with the community in order to learn with whom they are engaging when they talk about environmental justice. To that end, they have asked the Minnesota Humanities Center to bring this highly respected workshop to the Northfield Community.
According to the Humanities Center’s website, the workshop is designed to help people strengthen relationships through storytelling.
Dr. Corey China, a Humanities officer with MHC, said the workshop is very powerful.
“It really harnesses the power of storytelling to decenter dominant narratives and to build more meaningful relationships. And it also challenges us to take a more inclusive approach and consider our community’s knowledge and wisdom to develop solutions and change.”
Tonko said the workshop is perfect for the things CRP is looking to accomplish. She said it helps to understand the cultural and human systems that they are dealing with as they work toward helping people make decisions and choices that will better affect the environment, and specifically, the Cannon River Watershed, as well as all of the people who live here.
The workshop will include participants from Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges, Riverbend Nature Center and many more. Tonko said they are still working with other organizations to get involved as well. The general public, she said, is also “incredibly welcome” to participate.
Other activities CRP is sponsoring this month include an evening of music and poetry entitled “Celebrate Water.” on April 20th, a Dwarf Trout Lily hike on April 21st, and a day of service stacking wood at Sharing Our Roots Farm on April 22nd.
The Increase Engagement Through Absent Narratives workshop will be April 24th from 9am-5pm at the Weitz Center for the Arts on the Carleton College campus. Admission is free, and lunch will be served. For more information visit the Clean River Partners website at cleanriverpartners.org.
NAFRS will host Hiring Open House on May 4th
The Northfield Area Fire & Rescue Service announced yesterday that it will be hiring six new firefighters this year to join the ranks of the 30 current firefighters.
A statement issued by NAFRS said an open house will be held at the Northfield Fire Station on May 4th from 9am-Noon giving potential applicants and their families the opportunity to see the fire station, talk with current members, and ask questions.
Applicants must have the availability to complete the physical testing session on Saturday June 1st from 8am-noon at the Fire Station.
The job posting, hiring timeline, and application are all available at the NAFRS website at nafrs.org under the employment tab.
Paper applications are also available in the fire station lobby.
Those with questions are invited to stop in the fire station during the day or see contact information on the job posting.
KYMN News 4/12/24
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
