The 2024 Minnesota Legislative Session has been over for eleven days. With the dust starting to settle, more news is beginning to emerge about what was passed and why legislators spent time on things that would seem mundane at face value, but actually are very important to certain segments of the state and the economy.
Representative Kristi Pursell (D-Northfield) of District 58A said, for example, one of the pieces of legislation she sponsored that was passed was an updated definition of Public Waters. For many, that would seem to be a rather obvious idea, but Pursell said the laws and definitions surrounding the term Public Water were not clear at all.
The language of the original statute has actually been problematic for some time. In an attempt to better clarify what water in Minnesota is public, the state’s Department of Natural Resources created a map in 2017 that was intended to show every seperate body of public water in the state. However, according to Representative Pursell, the map, which is titled the Public Water Inventory, missed many miles of streams and several lakes, to the point where a lawsuit was filed by members of the state agricultural industry that eventually landed with the Minnesota Supreme Court. The Court then declined to rule on the case because the statutory definition of public water in Minnesota was found to be unclear in their determination.
With that as the backdrop, Representative Pursell, who has background as both a farmer and as the former Executive Director of Clean River Partners, was tapped to create a bill that would find a solution to the problem. Pursell said she spent years of her professional life protecting public waters, but she completely understands why the Ag Community sued the DNR over the Public Water Inventory.
“The pushback we were seeing mostly was from AG lobby groups because it is important for our farmers to know what is private ditch, what is public ditch, which streams are public. They absolutely need that certainty. And so, I understand the push back against this. They’re saying, ‘Well, why would we just update the statute language when really what we need is to update that tool? We need to update the public waters inventory.’”
Working with the DNR, Pursell’s solution was a relatively simple one. She proposed a bill that added one line of language to the defining statute that said, simply, “If a body of water meets all the criteria and qualifications for public water, then it is public water.”
The DNR leadership then committed to fixing the problem on their side as well.
“Then the DNR leadership also made the decision to allocate $8 million to fix the problem on their end. This had a budget of zero dollars, so to go to $8 million dollars, $1 million per year for eight years for the DNR to update the PWI, is a great step forward.”
Pursell said the language she proposed was a part of the Environment Omnibus bill that was passed, but it will not go into effect until July of 2027, which will give the DNR the necessary time to make updates to the PWI, and the legislature time to make any other final adjustments before things are made official.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Representative Kristi Pursell can be heard here
Northfield’s Pride celebration continues to thrive
Northfield’s annual Pride in the Park Celebration is set for this Saturday in Central Park. The event has grown exponentially since it was first held in 2021, and organizers believe, based on the interest they have received from exhibitors and potential sponsors, that the event this year will dramatically continue that trend.
Pride in the Park began as a Northfield Public Library event in 2021, under the idea that it would eventually be spun off to become an independent organization in time. The immediate success and support that it received, however, meant that it only required library sponsorship for two years. Now in its fourth year, Northfield Pride stands on its own as a fully functioning 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.
A board was assembled last fall with a goal of moving beyond the annual celebration to offering more LGBTQ+ centered programming throughout the year and creating a list of certified resources within Northfield and Rice County for the LGBTQ+ community.
Angela Gustafson, a member of the Northfield Pride board, said the group is off to an excellent start after sponsoring the highly successful Moxie-Gras event, featuring Northfield’s own drag queen Mrs. Moxie in February, and hosting the second annual Pints for Pride fundraiser in April, which raised enough money to cover the board’s costs for Pride in the Park.
As usual the event this year will include family-oriented activities. Many local for-profit and non-profit businesses, including some well known retailers, will be on hand as exhibitors. In fact, between the retailers, the food options, and the local artisans, the event will feature twice as many exhibitors as it did just four years ago.
“We have 70 vendors signed up for this year, which is a record. So, there will be a lot of people to interact with, a lot of things for sale, lots of freebies, lots of activities. Chimborazo, which is a food trucks serving Ecuadorian cuisine. Thai. Thai, which is a community favorite. Will be there as well. And there will be tacos and ice cream, and pronto pups, and much more. Possibly a cheesecake truck.”
Saturday is the first day of June, marking the beginning of National LGBTQ+ Month. On Wednesday night, the members of the Pride Board were informed that a member of Governor Walz’s administration will be attending the festival to present the state’s official proclamation establishing June as Pride Month in Minnesota.
Jem Jensen, the Vice-Chair of Northfield Pride said the news was “very exciting,” and grants a level of legitimacy to the still very young event.
Northfield’s Pride in the Park celebration will be this Saturday, June 1st at Central Park, behind Carleton’s Weitz Center for the Arts. Myself and my broadcast co-host of The Weekly List, Daniel G. Moir, will broadcast live from the event from noon until 2pm, joined by a host of guests set to include Representative Pursell, County Commissioner Galen Malecha, and of course another KYMN radio host, Mrs. Moxie herself.
Pride in the Park will run from noon-4pm.
Parts of Seventh Street, St. Olaf Avenue closed for a few days
UDATED INFORMATION FOR ST. OLAF AVENUE:
The City of Northfield issued a statement yesterday saying, as part of the College Street and Water Street Areas Reconstruction Project, Seventh Street will be closed at the intersection of College Street for utility work through tomorrow.
The City’s Streets Department has posted detour signs directing traffic to use Sixth Street via Nevada and Union Streets.
At the same time, the city has also announced that the St. Olaf Avenue railroad crossings will be closed beginning Monday and will remain closed through Friday of next week in order to perform maintenance activities on the crossing areas.
Detour signs will be posted directing traffic to use Linden Street, Second Street, and Highway 3 around the closure area.
According to the statement, the City of Northfield is committed to being forward-thinking by enhancing the quality of city streets for all Northfield residents, and the city urges motorists to always drive with caution, slow down in work zones, and never enter a road blocked with barriers or cones.
KYMN Daily News 5/30/24
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
