The Northfield City Council will hold a public hearing in the Council Chambers at City Hall tonight to consider the terms of sale of the former Northfield news building at 115 5th Street West to Loon Liquors.
Almost two years ago, the city purchased the building for $1.2 million to be used as a temporary home for the Northfield Municipal Liquor Store during a proposed redevelopment of its current location. With changed plans, the property has been made available to the owners of Loon Liquors, Mark Schiller and Simeon Rossi.
The sale price is $960,000, based on an independent property appraisal, according to a statement issued by the Northfield Communications Department. The City Council will consider using a State of Minnesota economic development tool called tax abatement which uses new tax revenue from the improved property to recover the difference from the original investment of $1.2 million.
Northfield Economic Development Coordinator Nate Carlson called the deal “win-win-win,” as the relocation will benefit Northfield’s economy, Rice County’s economy, and, of course, Loon Liquors as well.
Meanwhile, the statement said the city is actively exploring and refining redevelopment plans for downtown and the riverfront including the former Ameriprise building at 411 Water Street, the Northfield Liquor Store, the downtown post office and the public parking lot site located at 5th and Washington Streets.
The closing date for the 115 W 5th Street property will be set for the summer to allow for a 120-day due diligence period.
The public hearing will begin tonight at 6pm.
Comprehensive planning process will continue to involve public input
As the next Comprehensive Plan for the City of Northfield slowly begins to come into focus, the Planning Commission and those working on the project would like the new plan to offer more guidance and instruction and to be much more focused on implementation than past plans.
Betsey Buckheit, the chair of the Planning Commission and a leader on the Comprehensive Plan project, called the plan that was put in place in 2007 was a “big sack of good ideas,” but lacked direction to the city on how to proceed and how to execute the plan to achieve the good ideas.
She said this plan will have operational controls putting zoning codes, street standards and economic development planning under the Comprehensive Plan umbrella with more specific goals and rules to get things done.
The plan, she said, is not going to have explicit instructions, but will be much more of a guide for achieving the goals it contains than ever before, and it will be more instructive than past plans.
“The goal for this plan is to be much more focused on where we’re trying to get to and to choose the goals and to choose the policies that are all aligned and to ensure that we do have that sense of direction both for the fiscal sustainability, the environmental sustainability and for building what we need.”
Throughout the planning process, which began last summer, the Planning Commission and others working on the plan have asked for and received public input at every step. They have taken it to every other city board and commission, they have taken it to community groups like Rotary and Age Friendly Northfield, and they have solicited opinions in order to formulate a vision. The Planners intend to continue that work moving forward, by finding more specific interest groups and asking them about more specific areas of the plan.
“The plan is to continue to take each phase back out to the public. Show them, “Okay, here’s where we are now,” and ask them, “How are we doing?” We’ve gone to all the boards and commissions in town. We’ve gone out to various groups in the community. Now as we do more planning, we will go to more focused groups to ask how we’re doing on certain things.”
Buckheit said all of the city’s public projects have their basis in the Comprehensive Plan, and she encouraged the public to be engaged in the process. The city has a page on its website that is dedicated specifically to the Comprehensive Plan, which is one of the easiest ways to keep abreast of the work being done. The page can be found by visiting northfieldmn.gov.
Community members warned of smoke from public park planned burns
Still another project on which the city is beginning to work is the seasonal Prescribed Burn program. According to a statement issued by the city, over the next three weeks, experienced professionals from Prairie Restorations will be completing controlled burns around several city stormwater ponds and at designated park locations.
Occasional fires are an important tool to help maintain the health of the prairie plantings and in limiting the spread of invasive species. Fires help recycle nutrients stored in dead plant stems and leaves, stimulate growth of new shoots on existing plants, increase flowering, stimulate germination of prairie seeds in the soil, assist with control of undesirable plants, and improve wildlife habitat.
This year, the ponds and parks to be burned are Riverside Lions Park, Lashbrook Park, John North Park Pond, Parmeadow ponds 1, 2, and 3, the Northfield Hospital Pond, and the Woodley Street Pond and wetland.
Immediately after the burn, the ground will be black. With adequate moisture, generally new plants will start growing within one to two weeks.
The statement said the burns will be “very opportunistic in fashion.” The prescribed burns are heavily reliant on weather and the site itself, requiring overall conditions to be conducive to the process. Prairie Restorations takes site and weather conditions into consideration while selecting which day to burn in order to limit the amount of smoke produced. However, smoke is a natural byproduct of the burning so it cannot be completely eliminated. Community members who live or work near a prescribed burn location should keep windows closed to prevent smoke from entering buildings until after the burn is complete. For more information, visit the Northfield city website.
KYMN Daily News 4/23/24
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
