Two weeks ago, Nfld News reporter Suzy Rook mentioned some filing-related rumors, one of which was squelched by Councilor Betsey Buckheit, i.e., that she’s not considering a run for Rice County commissioner.

Other Council seats expiring this year:

• Mayor (currently Mary Rossing)
• 2nd Ward (currently Betsey Buckheit)
• At-Large (currently Ivan Imm)

The City’s Candidate Filing page says that the “filing period for Northfield Council positions will begin on Tuesday, May 22 at 8:00 am and continue through Tuesday, June 5 at 5:00 pm in the City Clerk’s office. The filing fee is $5.00.”

All Walk routes start at the PEHS shelter and are marked for ½ mile or 1 mile lengths, you may turn around at any time during your walk or you may walk further if you like, simply walk the route several times. You may walk anytime between the hours of 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM or join in the group walk led by our Celebrity Grand Marshall, Scooby Doo at 9:30 AM. If you do not have your own pet to walk, we will rent you one! For a $5 donation, you can walk one of the shelter dogs for ½ hour.

This year we will once again have games and raffles for you and your pet, so make sure you bring the entire family for a fun filled morning. Is your dog artistic? For only $5 you can find out when your pet paints his/her own project for you to take home, with their paw using safe, washable ink. There will also be vendors, rescue groups and a food booth for your lunch or a snack.

The Prairie’s Edge Humane Society shelter will open at 10:30 AM on the day of the walk so that you can visit the shelter animals, inquire about adoption, or shop our retail area. Don’t miss out on all of the great activities for the “Walk for the Animals”. Help us make this our largest Walk ever and raise funds for the homeless animals of the PEHS shelter!

Link to set up fundraising page http://www.razoo.com/

Link to donate http://www.razoo.com/story/Sandy-Walkfortheanimals-Fundraisingpage

I’ve done four fire department/association-related blog posts since January (here, here, here, and here) as well as a three more on attorney David Hvistendahl (here, here, and here) who’s representing the fire and rescue squad associations. It’s a complex and constantly evolving issue.

So it’s really helpful to have a someone else, in this case, Northfield News reporter Suzy Rook, digging into the story, too.   And for the first time, the paper cited Locally Grown (twice) in a story:

Fire Department officials, including Fire Chief Gerry Franek, did not respond to several requests from the News for association financial records or comment. Assistant Fire Chief Tom Nelson at an April 24 City Council meeting said documents posted on the blog Locally Grown are 2010 and 2011 relief association check registers. But those registers don’t clearly state how and where monies were spent, and are likely a listing of transactions from several accounts compiled into a single document…

The association had a net revenue of $14,263 in 2011, according to a Gambling Control Board report to the Legislature. Of that, $4,110 was used for what’s termed lawful purpose expenditures. In 2010, its net receipts were $17,730. Of that, $8,354 was used for lawful expenditures. Figures provided to the state Gambling Control Board don’t match the association’s 2010 tax return, a document Assistant Fire Chief Tom Nelson says he provided Locally Grown. According to that document, the association lost $2,209 in 2010.

I appreciate that. Follow Suzy Rook on Twitter @rooksuzy.

Solar Workshop: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Solar Energy But Were Afraid, Or Didn’t Know Who To, Ask

A workshop on residential and commercial solar energy opportunities will be held at the Just Food Community Room (Just Food Co-op, 516 Water Street South, Northfield) from 1:00 to 4:00 pm Saturday, May 19th. The workshop, sponsored by RENew Northfield and the Southeast Clean Energy Resource Teams (SE CERT), will cover currently available active solar technologies, the economics of solar installations, and the experiences of local homeowners and business owners with recent solar projects.

Presenters include representatives of three solar energy vendors, who will discuss solar air heating, solar water heating, and solar electric systems for homes and businesses. The head of the Minnesota Solar Energy Industry Association will present an overview of solar energy opportunities in the state, and a Minnesota Division of Energy Resources representative will discuss current solar rebates and financial incentives. A panel of local homeowners and small business owners will talk about their experiences in selecting and working with solar contractors, and the performance of their systems.

The solar vendors will have informational displays, and will be available for one-on-one discussion after the formal presentations.  Attendees will also be invited to view a nearby solar installation after the workshop.

The workshop is free. Pre-registration is encouraged, but not required. For more information, contact SE CERT at Joe@cleanenergyresourceteams.org 952-406-1215.

Northfield News reporter Jordan Osterman: Northfield high school mountain bike team forming

KYMN News Morning Show host Jeff Johnson: Griff Wigley and Peter Behm on C.V. Mountain Bike Racing (blog post with streaming audio). Alternate: download/listen to MP3.  (Peter Behm is a student at ARTech.)

Northfield Patch reporter Michael Garlitz: Cannon Valley Biking Team Pedaling Toward Starting Line

One point Wigley stresses when talking about forming the team is that the activity is open to girls, as well as boys.

“The big push nationally is to get girls involved,” he said. “And, there is an incentive for having girls on your team. Points earned by girls are worth more, which helps in recruiting.

Can’t make the May 15 meeting? Area student-athletes who are interested can now fill out a form on the CVMTBT website to be kept informed on next steps on the team’s formation.

May 17th – 7:00 – 8:00 PM  – Blue Thumb class to learn about rain gardens

Location: St. John’s Lutheran Church, 500 West 3rd St. Northfield

The class will cover: Rain garden basics; Design and installation for your property; Maintenance.

Bring a rough sketch of your property layout and downspouts for more site specific advice. Northfield residents may qualify for a $250 grant to install their own rain garden. Attendance is free but registration is requested. 

Please contact Leslie at 507-786-3915 or leslie@crwp.net

May 19th – 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM – Way Park Community Planting Day

Location:  Way Park, 720 West 1st St., Northfield

Join us for a community planting day for the new rain gardens in Way Park.  Come for 15 minutes or stay the whole day!

No gardening experience necessary.  Bring gloves and a shovel if you have them.  Please wear comfortable clothing and sturdy footwear. Snacks and refreshments provided.

Questions? Contact Leslie at 507-786-3915 or leslie@crwp.net.

Enjoying food and conversation in front of a campfire makes me feel rich, even though it can be done very cheaply.

What are some of your favorite spring-related simple pleasures?  Get some ideas here: 75 Simple Pleasures to Brighten Your Day.

FARIBAULT, MINNESOTA, IS 48 PER CENT TAX-EXEMPT!

NORTHFIELD, MINNESOTA, HALF TAXED—HALF FREE

Faribault, Minnesota, is tied for first place with Northfield, in matter of tax exemptions

The Limit to Tax Exemptions in Northfield, Minnesota is the Sky With the Roof Knocked off

Carleton College seems to run the city.

We laughed because Carleton was in the news this past week for acquiring a commercial property downtown. The Nfld Patch article, Carleton College Purchases Building at 200 Division St., includes an email by Carleton’s VP Fred Rogers. Excerpt:

We believe this is a win for Carleton and a win for Northfield’s downtown. The College will effectively acquire new space in central campus, much cheaper than we could construct it. The office and professional uses of this important downtown building will be reinforced and increased. We intend to honor all existing leases and to leave the building on the tax roll at this time.

If Carleton does take the building off the tax roll, I predict the publisher of the National Public Opinion will turn over in his grave and come back to life as an angry blogger.

See the large slideshow of 28 photos (recommended) or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

I could empathize. Last week when I blogged the flyer for the mountain bike racing team information night at the high school, I put ‘Wednesday’ instead of ‘Tuesday.’  Judy Becker, Facilities Scheduler at Community Ed, alerted me to the error.  I fixed the flyer and the blog entry and thanked her.  A few minutes later, she alerted me again. "Tuesday is the 15th, not the 17th. Are you looking at an April calendar?" Um, no, I wasn’t.  I thought I heard her say, "Well then, what are you smoking?"

For all the GNO details, see Jessica Paxton’s blog post on Northfield.org:  Don’t Miss the 6th Annual Girls Nite Out — this Friday, May 11! You can also follow Girls Nite Out on Facebook.

See my 2009, 2008, and 2007 photo albums for a bit of GNO flavor.

 
That location has been transformed since Tires Plus moved out, first by Lee Lansing and his Garden Center and now by the Holts, with a little help from a matching grant from the Streetscape Task Force.

Remember your firm’s fiduciary duty owed to the Association on the basis of your professional services to the Association. We assume you will honor that duty and not disclose any information pertaining to the Association without our written consent.

Unless the city has a written agreement with the Association that gives them the power to request such an audit, or unless a Minnesota statute grants the authority to a municipality to compel an audit, the city lacks the standing to request an audit.

The Northfield Rescue Squad Association (NRSA) is separate from the Northfield Fire Relief Association (NFRA). The NRSA runs the bingo and duck race fundraisers during DJJD. I don’t know the history on why there’s a need for two organizations. I don’t understand how the gambling/pull-tab revenue is handled.

But regardless, why is it important that the City not know the Northfield Rescue Squad Association financials?

Fighting back against a plunge in profits, Savage is preparing to shake up its municipal liquor operation — and market itself more aggressively… With Matthies retiring, the city is not interested in promoting from within. It is seeking an outsider with a canny eye toward promotional magic, in particular the use of social media to generate buzz.

The Northfield Municipal Liquor Store (the Muni) doesn’t have an active web presence where it promotes its products. It’s not yet using social media, though to be fair, I couldn’t find many Munis that were. The liquor operations managers for both Eden Prairie Liquor and Edina Liquor have blogs, Richfield Liquor has a Facebook page, and Farmington Liquor posts updates on the City’s Facebook page (example here).  Savage Liquor has a Facebook page and one of its two stores has a Twitter feed but they’re not using them very well. Compare those munis use of social media to Haskell’s website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed.

But beyond the use of social media, the Strib article on Savage Liquor had this:

The city is also turning a cool eye on costs. Officials note for instance that Savage is the only city with just two stores to have a person with Matthies’ title and status. As he throttles back his involvement, a replacement will take a humbler role.

Saving nearly $60,000 in the short term, the city is expected to shift from a civil-service grade 14 "liquor operations director" and grade-10 "assistant liquor operations director" to a grade-11 "facility manager" and grade-8 "store manager." There have also been outright cuts in staff over the past two years.

I don’t know what the civil-service grades are for Northfield Muni’s Department Manager Stephen DeLong and staff but I’ll see what I can find out.

The Northfield City Council and the Ad Hoc Finance Study Group have been searching for additional sources of revenue for two years but I don’t think they’ve examined the Muni’s operations.

I also started plastering posters around the area promoting the first information meeting for student-athletes and parents: at misc retail locations, eg, GBM; with Activities Director Tom Graupmann at Northfield High School); at ARTech High School and the ALC; and at area bike shops FIT to be TRI’d, Mike’s Bicycle Shop, and Milltown Cycles.

It should be noted that this team does not yet exist! So this meeting is for those student-athletes (and their parents) who might be interested in joining this new team.  Details:

WHEN? Tuesday, May 15, 7 pm

WHERE? the Northfield High School cafeteria

Gary Sjoquist, Founding Chair of the Minnesota High School Cycling League and QBP’s Advocacy Director, will be presenting. Head coach Sue Welch and I will be there as well.

Help spread the word by downloading and printing out this poster (DropBox link) and putting it up in public places.

The QR code in the lower right corner of the poster links to the Cannon Valley Mountain Bike Racing Team website.

See my Thursday blog post for more background.

View the large slideshow of 36 photos (recommended) or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

Watch this 30-second video clip:

Services will be next Saturday, May 12, at Carleton’s Skinner Memorial Chapel, on the Carleton campus.

Michael Garlitz at Northfield Patch has a very good summary of Jake’s life:

Jacobson was creator of two of Northfield’s most prominent works of art, the Bridge Square Fountain and the bronze sculpture “Harvest” in the city’s riverfront Sesquicentennial Legacy Plaza. He was 91…

Jacobson had been a vital member of Northfield’s art scene since 1955, when he began his teaching career at Carleton College. In addition to teaching art for more than three decades, he designed and constructed public art structures seen throughout Northfield, as well as Minnesota and beyond.

See Dave Machacek’s ArtOrg slideshow that features Jake’s 10 public sculptures around Northfield.

See all my Ray ‘Jake’ Jacobson blog posts and photo slideshows of his Northfield-related activities going back to Aug. of 2007.

Goods for Good is a community rummage sale event to raise money for various charities (chosen by each site host) that let’s anyone be a philanthropist. Sale hosts can convert unwanted household items into cash for their favorite cause without impacting their regular budget and non-profit organizations (clubs, schools, churches, etc…) can focus on their fundraising  without worrying about the event promotion.

Among the 15 sites participating: Prairie’s Edge Humane Society. See that book Sandy Vesledahl is holding? No barnyard jokes, please.

Ben has class participants do some hands-on learning: changing a flat tire, lubing cables, and how to handle the rear derailleur to make it easy to take the rear wheel off and put it back on. Cool.

See the large slideshow of 17 photos (recommended) or this small slideshow:

See the CAC Program page for a list of all the services they offer. And keep up on all the CAC news by following the CAC blog.

From the event page:

We believe in the safety and equality of all youth; that everyone in the classroom is entitled to a safe environment. We also believe in the importance of the youth voice. We are youth promoting the acceptance of all genders, sexual orientations and gender expressions. This march is driven by our communal beliefs, and it aims to apply our zeal by exposing people to the challenges that face the LGBTQ community. We envision creating a welcoming environment for all voices to be heard.

See this week’s Nfld News: Northfield youth to lead gay rights march

Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXuf3Zn_lBI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU_WT—2Gk

When:  1:00-2:30 PM on May 12th

Where:  Meet the student naturalist outside the front door of Tostrud Athletic Center at St. Olaf College.

The walk will take you through the St. Olaf Natural Lands to view wetlands, woodlands, and prairie habitats. The naturalist will talk about wetland and prairie restoration as it relates to water quality.

Information: See the CRWP Upcoming Events Calendar.

Last week I was working in The HideAway, one of my other Division St offices, when I spotted these women in a corner, appearing to be working/collaborating/scheming. Northfield Rotary Club members Missi Arens and Nancy Amerman were meeting with Amy Merritt, Director of the Northfield Union of Youth (The Key).  Amy is famously camera-shy but with a little bit of arm twisting from Nancy, she caved.

I asked Nancy to send me a blurb about what they were meeting  about:

We were meeting to discuss our organizations’ collaborative efforts to fundraise for The Key’s capital campaign. The Rotary Club of Northfield and The Key joined forces in 2010 and have worked together on the Rotary fun runs, car raffle, canoe sale, and The Key’s Valentine’s Day Rose Sale among other projects.

The dome is a kit from Growing Spaces and Northfielder Mike Paulsen is doing the construction.

I think you’ll be surprised to see what they’re going to use it for.

I’m not sure of the connection between coffee, wine, and sealcoating but I’m sure Jim can tell you.

Last year, the Northfield Garden Club’s President – Mrs. EdDee Imm, helped the City secure a MnDOT grant for $10,000 to be used to  beautify the City.  It was determined that one of the areas that needed “help” the most was along the Hwy 3 corridor from the Cannon River to Jefferson Parkway.

EdDee approached us regarding the trees.  The City of Northfield and the Northfield Garden Club, in a cooperative effort,  purchased the 64 trees from us and we donated all of the labor and other materials used to plant the trees.  Each year we give back to the City of Northfield with  donations and this year, it is the Hwy 3 beautification project.  This donation amounted to $4,000 in labor, equipment costs and materials.

The Garden Club also has received funds to be used to cover the costs of watering these trees for two years which is a commitment under the grant.  We will be working with the Garden Club on keeping these trees well watered for the next two years!

Our crew – Jim Westlund, Todd Marnie & Ben Danielson planted these trees which consisted of Elms, Maple, Hackberry, Birch, Crabapples and Oak trees.  Once again we are very pleased to have the opportunity to give something back to the community that supports our business each and every year.

Hmmm. Is this a case of LoGro trademark infringement?