Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced over the weekend that Rice County and 21 other counties across the state, have been approved for a federal disaster declaration by the Federal Emergency Management Agency due to severe flooding over the last two weeks. The declaration will provide resources to reimburse communities for debris removal, emergency protective measures and the repair and replacement of damaged infrastructure.
The announcement came after Governor Walz sent a letter to the President requesting a Presidential Disaster Declaration on Friday. The governor wrote to President Biden that recovering from and rebuilding the damage across the state would take a unified effort at every level of government. He said federal relief money would make “all of the difference in that recovery.”
Meanwhile, Rice County is making free well testing kits provided by the Minnesota Department of Health available for county residents who had flood water come within 50 feet of their privately owned well.
The kits will facilitate a bacteria analysis of well water affected by flood water. Test kits include a bacteriological analysis request form, sampling instructions and a fact sheet about disinfecting a flooded well.
Collection of water samples and drop-off to the Rice County Public Health Department must be completed between 10am and 4pm Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays to ensure the sample is received by MDH and analyzed within the required 30-hour timeframe.
Rice County Public Health will ship samples to the MDH lab at no cost to the well owner, and MDH well management staff will contact well owners with results.
Flooding poses a risk of contamination to private wells, as the force of floodwaters can disrupt or damage a well or the water supply infrastructure. If a well was contaminated by flood water, the well user may need to have a licensed well contractor inspect the well and clean out any sediment or debris.
Test kits can be picked up at the Public Health Department at the Rice County Government Services Building in Faribault during regular business hours.
Mayor, City Council, US Representative, US Senator all on primary ballot
Early voting for the August primary elections has begun in Minnesota. Some Northfield voters will have choices in two separate elections. There are seven candidates for mayor and there are three candidates for City Council in Ward #2. The candidates with the top two vote totals will move on to the general election. Those who identify as Republicans and Democrats will also be asked to select a candidate for the United States Congressional Second District where Democratic incumbent Angie Craig is being challenged by Marc Ives, and Republicans Tyler J. Rahm and Joe Teirab are vying for their party’s nomination. There are eight Republican candidates for United States Senator, and five Democratic candidates, including incumbent Amy Klobuchar. Those with the highest vote totals by party will be the names on the November ballot.
Northfield voters may cast their votes at City Hall by filling out an absentee ballot in the second-floor training room. An absentee ballot may also be filled out and returned by mail and must be received before the primary election date in order to be valid.
Northfield City Hall is open for voting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 7:30am – 4:30pm, Tuesdays from 7:30am – 6pm, and Fridays from 8am – noon. Voting will also be open on Saturday, August 10th from 9am – 3pm, and on Monday August 12th from 7:30am – 5:00pm. Voters must be in line to vote 15 minutes prior to poll closing time.
Dakota County residents who would like to vote early on Friday afternoons when City Hall is closed can go to the Dakota County Government Center in Hastings, from 8am – 4:30 pm. City Hall will also be closed this week on Thursday and Friday in observance of Independence Day.
Primary Election Day is Tuesday, August 13th. General Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th.
First Responders Community picnic returns after major success in 2023
The second annual Northfield Area First Responders Community Picnic will be held at the soccer field complex in Spring Creek Park later this month.
Working in conjunction with Hosannah Church, the celebration will bring first responders together with the community in order to honor them and to give community members a chance to get to know them on a personal level and better understand the very important work they do.
Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott said the event last year was an enormous success that was attended by nearly 800 people. With the help of Hosanna Church of Northfield and their affiliated partners and organizations, he is hopeful that even more people will turn out this year.
The family friendly event will feature a DJ and drawings for giveaways, as well as food for all who attend. Emergency equipment will be on display, including squad cars, ambulances, a fire truck and he is hopeful helicopters from both the State Patrol and the Air Ambulance service will be on hand as well.
Elliott said there could be an opportunity to get the youngest members of the community thinking about their future, as well.
“Our other public safety partners will be there, of course. Northfield Hospital + Clinics, ambulance service, our fire department will be there with us. So, it’ll be a good opportunity to come and meet and check out our equipment and go through the fire truck or sit in the police car and that type of thing. Hopefully we can recruit a few future firefighters and police officers.”
The Community Picnic honoring Northfield Area First Responders will be held on Monday, July 22nd from 5-8pm at the soccer field complex at Spring Creek Park in Northfield.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott can be heard here
KYMN Daily News 7/1/24
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
