The rainy weather the State of Minnesota has experienced all week continues to be a concern for the public safety agencies in and around Northfield.
With rain last night and steady rain expected straight through tomorrow night, the water levels on the Cannon River continue to be a focus.
On Wednesday the river crested at 897 feet, which is considered Minor Flood Stage, before receding yesterday. But with as much as 5” of rain in the forecast, the National Weather Service is saying the river will crest sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning at 900.2 feet, two-tenths of an inch above the Major Flood Stage.
The Northfield Police Department takes the lead on monitoring the possible flood situation. Chief Mark Elliott said as concerned as he is about how much rain falls in Northfield, he is more concerned about how much rain falls upstream.
“The forecast for the next three days is somewhere between three and five-and-a-half inches of rain, so we’re keeping a very close eye on that. We’re watching how that rain hits, how much hits us, but also how much hits the upper watershed. The Cannon River over towards Faribault and the Straight River all the way down to Owatonna flows into the cannon and then comes through downtown Northfield. So, we have to keep an eye on that as well and we’ll continue to do that.”
The Police work with a host of other agencies in situations like this. City Engineer and Public Works Director David Bennett has the public works department out barricading flooded streets and trails, delivering sandbags wherever necessary and keeping in touch with at-risk businesses along the river. The Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Service and the Northfield EMS squad remain in touch with the police as well. The Chief said they work with the Army Corps of Engineers through flood situations. Deputy Chief PT Haider, who works closely with Northfield Emergency Manager Tim Isom, handles the execution of the city’s emergency management plan and is in close contact with the National Weather Service.
“I can tell you pretty regularly over the last couple of weeks, Deputy Chief P.T. Haider has been having conversations with the National Weather Service. They’re really good about responding to us and looking at not only forecasts, but several different models that they watch to say, ‘What are the different scenarios that could happen? How much rain could we get in this scenario or this one?’”
While there are plenty of public safety officials and emergency responders to help when the situation becomes dire, Chief Elliott asked the public to remain vigilant, and keep out of dangerous situations. The section of the Mill Towns trail between Northfield and Dundas is flooded right now with up to 18” of flowing water, which can be quite dangerous. Motorists should avoid flooded streets as well.
The Chief said the forecast does not look like levels will reach the flood stages experienced in 2010 or 2016, but staying safe should remain everyone’s top priority.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott can be heard here
City will utilize conduit financing in Ice Arena funding
The $21.9 million municipal ice arena project that was approved by the Northfield City Council on Tuesday night will be paid for by a four-party consortium including the City of Northfield, the City of Dundas, the Northfield School District and the Northfield Hockey Association.
Northfield City Administrator Ben Martig said, because there is a buyer in place for the current arena, the city is able to use a tool called conduit financing to pay for the arena without putting the project to a public referendum. The process allows private developers to work with public entities to secure capital via tax-exempt bonds that fund large-scale projects to benefit the general public.
Martig said it is important to get the project off the ground as soon as possible.
“It helps us accelerate it and move the project along versus a public vote. We know there’s a buyer interested who’s been patiently working with us. They wanted to close on it last year and this allows us to move forward. Also, by getting the project moving, we know how costs can go up dramatically over time with inflation. We want to try and get ahead of that, so we don’t have any project delays and try to keep those costs down.”
While the City of Northfield will contribute the largest amount toward the project, each of the partners has an agreed upon share. The City of Dundas has committed to pay the same rate per-capita as the City of Northfield. The Northfield School District meanwhile will use its lease-levy authority to commit to a 20-year lease in the new building at $250,000 a year, bringing the district’s contribution to $5 million. The Northfield Hockey Association has committed to raising $2 million to put toward construction costs and is supplying 7 acres of land valued at $375,000 that were donated to the organization several years ago for the express purpose of building a new arena. Should the hockey association raise more than $2 million, the agreement states that money would go toward upgrading the bleachers in the design to precast concrete seating, and to the construction of a “dryland” training area.
Critics of the project have questioned the ability of the hockey association to raise $2 million, but Mayor Rhonda Pownell has complete faith that they will be more than successful.
“They are committed and they’re going to raise the funds and if they get above and beyond that $2 million, then they really want to see it go into some of the aspects of the project that were geared down to get us to that $20.9 million figure. They’ve been part of this process all along and we look forward to their participation, and commitment and drive to raising that $2 million, hopefully plus.”
Pownell said the City of Northfield has never been part of a partnership like this, and she is very proud of the way the city has been able to bring the parties together to solve an issue that has been problematic for decades and keep important programs in Northfield.
KYMN Daily News 6/21/24
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
