Back in January, I blogged about mountain biking at the River Bend Nature Center (RBNC) in Faribault. I subsequently learned that there are officials trails and unofficial trails, making for a delicate situation. As I wrote in a comment, the RBNC website doesn’t mention mountain biking specifically but #18 on their rules and regulations page says:
it shall be unlawful to… Operate a bicycle except on official trails and in designated areas;
Next week, there’s going to be a meeting to discuss mountain biking. On the RBNC website:
Calling All Mountain Bikers
On Thursday, April 19, from 7 to 8 pm, River Bend Nature Center will be hosting an informational meeting regarding the trails that are being used for mountain biking. The meeting will take place in the Interpretative Center. Snacks and beverages will be provided!
Thanks to Curtis Ness at Milltown Cycles in Faribault for alerting me to this meeting. I’ll be there. Anyone else going?
New tools have made it easier than ever to set up a project website, fast and cheap, for just about any endeavor. So easy, in fact, that people often assume the task of populating it with content is equally so.
It’s not. Instead, what you end up with is city staffers with limited time and limited resources, and who already engage with the public regularly in person, suddenly presented with the task of doing so electronically as well. Not surprisingly under such circumstances, whenever they find themselves in possession of any piece of information even remotely related to the project, their response seems obvious: Put it on the web.
Raw information. Posted. Done.
That’s a problem.
The City of Northfield has a history such failed project web sites, some done by the city staff, some by consulting firms. Some recent examples:
Think of the parallel: You’re in a traditional public meeting and someone asks a question about why the city is doing something. Do you provide a concise rationale, spelling out its benefits and role in larger community goals, or do you hand them a binder with 300 pages of reports and memos and tell them to have at it?
What should local governments do instead with their project sites?
Provide however much content it takes to express, up front and at each step along the way, what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and how people can participate. No more. No less.
Exactly. Unfortunately, Doyon doesn’t provide examples so here’s one I’ve worked on for the past 9 months: the GrandView District project blogsite for the City of Edina, MN.
In that time, the project blog’s been updated 36 times with many dozens of photos and has nearly 300 comments attached. It includes all the files, Powerpoint presentations, archives of the webinar, and links to meeting videos.
Doyon also points out that local governments are unwitting victims of the “Blank Slate” dilemma:
Another common fumble is confusing the difference between collecting ideas and building consensus around community goals. A variety of new tools have made it easier than ever for cities to engage citizens in a discussion of ideas. “What would you like to see?,” they ask. “Provide your ideas and rate the ideas of others.”
That is, when presented with a blank slate, people naturally assume that anything is possible. But as you know, it’s not. Avoiding problems is all in how you ask the questions. For example, you’ll often find questions like this: “How can we improve Founder’s Park?” Sounds empowering, right? Unfortunately, it also sets a foundation for failed effort.
Instead, the question should be posed this way: “The city has budgeted $4 million towards renovations for Founder’s Park. Keeping in mind that further land acquisition isn’t an option at this site, what improvements, initiatives or recreational options would you like to see prioritized?”
That’s the exact approach the City of Edina took with another engagement project, the 2012 budget. Working with the Citizens League, the areas of the budget that citizen input was sought were very narrowly defined. Ultimately, the process proved to be very effective and will be repeated again this year.
In January, Rice County Solid Waste will start accepting many more types of household plastics via the single-sort curbside recycling bins. See their PDF flyer for details. Items include:
All soft drink/water bottles (leave the bottle caps ON the bottles), beverage and mouthwash bottles, and rinsed plastic food jars/containers
Plastic bottles, plastic milk and water jugs, detergents, cleaners, shampoo bottles
Household cleaning product bottles (must be empty), cooking oil bottles, salad dressing bottles, and some shampoo bottles. (No PVC piping allowed at all!)
Plastic bags (all of the bags must be put inside one of the bags),
Small Buckets (8” diameter max.), soap dispenser bottles, food storage containers, squeezable bottles (NO Food Residue Allowed)
Chad Dougherty (my mentee) and I went snowshoeing at the east end of the Cannon River Wilderness Area this afternoon. I wanted to show him the site of where Henry Fisk, the Rice County hermit, lived. In the small protected meadow adjacent to where the Fisk cabin was located, Chad dug down to the ground. You can see that the snow is about 3 feet deep.
Up on the bank just south of the footbridge over Fisk Creek, Chad spotted this area where the water is flowing out of the ground. It appears to be a new flow because the grass sod is still visible as it turns to muck.
The law requires notices in newspapers of board proceedings, tax levies, forfeited properties, financial statements and project bids. Against the rising tide of Internet use, many see dumping newspaper notices as a cost saver whose time has come.
Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, has introduced a bill to let local governments skip the papers and publish such notices only on their websites. Drazkowski, who is leading a GOP charge against several state mandates, said using websites will help jurisdictions make up for cuts in state aid. "This is a way to allow local governments the freedom and flexibility to do the best job they can," he said. The bill has six sponsors, including Bloomington DFLer Ann Lenczewski. It has not been introduced in the Senate.
Bill Name: HF0162. "Political subdivisions authorized to publish proceedings, official notices, and summaries on their Web sites in lieu of newspaper publication."
Anyone know how much the City of Northfield, the Northfield School District, and Rice County pay the Northfield News to publish public notices every year?
It’s only a two-pager and be completed in less than 5 minutes, so take it! (Text below is from this news item):
Rice County is in the process of updating the Rice County Comprehensive Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan. The Plan will include a full assessment of Rice County Parks as well as an inventory of all existing park and recreation opportunities in all of Rice County (incorporated areas as well as unincorporated areas).
The plan will also include the development of policies to assure park and trail access, encourage use of parks and trails for physical activity, provide information about facilities to all residents and provide for integration of county-owned parks and trails with other recreational facilities in Rice County. This plan will address three questions: Where are we now? Where should we go? And how do we get there?
As a part of this plan update process, Rice County would like to hear from people who live and work in Rice County as to their park usage and recreational needs. A survey has been developed to gather information that will be beneficial in guiding the development of the comprehensive parks, recreation and open space plan.
I got an email last week from Stephanie Henriksen, alerting me that MotokazieLand (see my April blog post, MotokazieLand Recreation Park: sounds like a good development) has a new proposed location in Cannon City Township, south of County 9 (150th Street East) approximately mid-way between Hwy 3 and I35 (Dennis Shaw property at 1267 150th St. East).
I spoke to Lee Theis, president and owner of Motokazie, a motorsports race promotion and track-building company. His application fits the county zoning so this will be a two-step process, ie, Rice County Planning Commission, then the Board. Since it’s not a request for a zoning change like last time, a simple majority of the Board (3 of 5) is required for approval. All the environmental studies are being done now. He expects it to go before the Planning Commission early in 2011. See the news page on his website for more.
I just returned from a meeting of my county planning committee, where we debated the pros and cons of our neighbor’s proposal to put up two 400-foot wind turbines, with the closest about 1,300 feet from our property line. My family lives on a bluff on the edge of Northfield…
Getting up to speed on the science of sound and the medical research related to wind turbines has been exhausting, and in the process I have discovered the dark medical underbelly of industrial-sized turbines. They produce a lot of infrasonic and low-frequency noise.
Scattered across four Rice County townships and capable of producing as much as one megawatt of power each, the six turbines that received preliminary approval would be constructed by Gro Wind LLC. — a company presided over by Leone Medin. Medin was a co-owner of Medin Renewable Energy, which attempted to construct the 11-turbine Greenvale Township wind farm in Dakota County along with another company, Sparks Energy.
The companies’ plans failed last year after the wind farm ran into heavy opposition from township residents. According to permit applications submitted by the companies to Rice County, the two turbines that did not receive preliminary approval from the Planning Commission would be developed by Spring Creek Wind LLC., co-owned by Anna Schmalzbauer, Medin’s daughter.
Maintenance of septic systems is very important especially if you have lakeshore property. Having systems that function properly keeps human waste out of the lakes and reduces the bacteria and phosphorus that pollute the water. To prepare your septic system and cabin for the cold months ahead:
Have your septic tank pumped regularly
Cover the system with a layer of straw or leaves for insulation
Have your furnace cleaned, seal windows, unplug appliances, and winterize any plumbing that won’t be in use during the winter.
(Editor’s note: this was originally submitted to the membership sideblog but I’ve opted to post it to the main blog since Rice County’s septic system inventory has been an issue. – Griff)
Rice County’s septic system inventory, in which county staff assess if a property’s septic system is an imminent public health threat, has come under criticism at two public meeting over the past couple weeks. This criticism caused the Rice County Board to decide to not apply for additional funding to continue the inventory, for now. See below for Faribault Daily News coverage:
While regional transit has its obvious benefits, there are concerns about the extend to which it will encourage the development of Northfield into more of a bedroom community or commuter town than it already is.
I think that this concept of linking cars on the highway has the greatest potential to solve our traffic problems in any city and may obviate or reduce the need for massive investments in local rail or even high-speed rail between major cities. That may sit badly with some, but it would represent the combination of personal convenience, which drives our desire to own cars, and mass transit to economize on fuel consumption.
After getting feedback from y’all about the Friday Memo, I’ve gotten into a groove, so I’ll be posting the City Administrator’s “Friday Memo” on my CityCommons blog during the LoGro sabbatical. Hope to see you there.
The “Friday Memo,” written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski, department heads, and other City staff, summarizes the staff activities for the week. The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of the City Administrator’s web page.
The Friday Memo information from the Library, Streets & Parks, and Recreation departments would be of interest to most citizens. This week’s memo (PDF) also includes
draft agenda items for August City Council sessions
first notice of Public Forum on Budget – August 23, 2010 (check it out!)
The “Friday Memo,” written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski, department heads, and other City staff, summarizes the staff activities for the week. The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of the City Administrator’s web page.
The Friday Memo information from the Library, Streets & Parks, and Recreation departments in particular would be of interest to most citizens.
Nothing huge in this week’s memo (PDF), just updates on smaller projects and various meetings with regional entities (Dakota County, Bridgewater township).
The “Friday Memo,” written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski, department heads, and other City employees, summarizes the staff activities for the week. The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of the City Administrator’s web page.
@Ross Currier, my Locally Grown co-host, tweeted on Monday, “As citizens increasingly challenge politics as usual, is it no longer left vs. right, nor faith vs. reason, but individual vs. institution?”
The report’s emphasis on the importance of public officials building relationships with citizens, using social media in part, is encouraging and is the best writing I’ve seen thus far on the topic.
In Northfield, this is more than a little timely because:
As Tracy reported on Friday, Councilor Rhonda Pownell has filed for her at-large seat and Councilor Jon Denison has filed for his Ward 4 seat. Suzie Nakasian has filed for Jim Pokorney’s Ward 1 seat. He’s decided to not run for re-election. Nathan Kuhlman has filed for Ward 4. Since then, Galen Malecha has filed for his District 2 county board seat, according to the Nfld News.
Two years ago, these were the people who filed for the 4 City Council positions:
Our guest this week was Lee Theis, president and owner of Motokazie, a motorsports race promotion and track-building company, and developer of the proposed MotokazieLand Recreation Park (PDF) in the highway commercial zone between I35 and Cty Rd 46 at Cty Rd 1 in Rice County.
City of Northfield workers opened a bypass at the Ames Mill Dam this morning, lowering the level of the Cannon River by two feet. Police Chief Mark Taylor indicated that the dam in Faribault will then be used to block the water there, all in an attempt to lower the river level between the two cities in preparation for a weekend search for the body of Brittney Landsverk.
I drove by the intersection of Hw3 and Cty Rd. 29 yesterday, near where the accident happened.
The Planning Commission will NOT be holding a public hearing on the proposed revisions to the City’s flood plain ordinance at their meeting tonight; the item has been pulled from the agenda due to some jurisdictional requirement that was not met. (Nothing to do with the City of Northfield, its ordinances, or procedures.)
When I asked City Planner Dan Olson for details, he responded,
Apparently FEMA did not give one community in Dakota County the “full right of notice and appeal” to according to the federal process. As such, FEMA is now ruling that all communities in Dakota County have to stop their adoption process while FEMA attends to the procedural oversight for the one community. This will take approximately 1 year.
Just in case anyone was going to attend tonight’s meeting just for the public hearing….
It was standing-room only at the Forest Township Hall in Millersburg last night. Lee Theis, president and owner of Motokazie, a motorsports race promotion and track-building company, made a presentation to area residents on the development of the MotokazieLand Recreation Park (PDF) in the highway commercial zone between I35 and Cty Rd 46 at Cty Rd 1 in Rice County.
Theis needs approval from the Rice County Board of Commissioners because this kind of organized motor sports is only allowed in agricultural and urban reserve zoning districts.
I stood at the intersection of Cty Rd. 1 and I35 and took this 22-second video to capture the sound of the freeway noise, as noise from the two motocross tracks is the concern raised the most by residents.
Next up: a public hearing on May 6th, 7 pm, at the Rice County Government Services building in Faribault.
Petelinsek, owner of Buck Creek Deer Camp, has proposed a hunting preserve/club/farm in Forest Township, about 2 miles north of Circle Lake and a mile west of Union Lake. From their website:
Buck Creek Deer Camp (BCDC) is dedicated to breeding world-class, typical, trophy whitetails for delivery to breeders and game preserves throughout America. Founded in 2007, our genetics come from the best lines; Flees, Waldvogel, Thiex, and Borntrager. We are located in the big woods of Rice County, Minnesota. Our goal is to winter 100 animals and sell 12 Boone and Crocket 200+ class bucks to the market each year. New in 2010 will be a game preserve to harvest trophy animals for a once in a lifetime hunting opportunity.
Personally, I’d rather see hunters going after white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virgineanus, AKA ‘forest rats’) in the wild to make the world safer for motorcyclists like me. But as an occasional carnivore, I don’t have any objection to the existence of hunting camps. (I see them somewhat similar to dating services, a handy way to increase your odds. My wife objects to that analogy.) Whether this is the place for one is the main question.
I got an email from someone saying that the Rice County Sheriff’s Dept had issued a request for certified search and rescue volunteers to help find Brittney Landsverk who’s been missing since last Friday (Nfld News story here). I wrote to Sheriff Richard Cook to verify this and he emailed me back:
Not true. We have plenty of resources we haven’t tapped into yet. We are doing this in a coordinated and methodical manner eliminating one stretch of the river at a time while doing daily patrols up and downstream as far as Northfield in case something comes up. Here is the latest press release. I will add you to the list.
The “Friday Memo,” written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department heads and other City staff, summarizes the staff and department activities for the week. The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of the City Administrator’s web page.
This week’s memo contains the usual department reports, plus Joel’s thoughts on his long-range goals, and a link to the Minnesota State Auditor’s 2008 Analysis of Municipal Liquor Stores.
Since it’s the first week of the month, we also have the monthly Boards & Commissions report. I was amused to find that my contribution had been censored (or edited, depending upon your point of view). My original phrase describing the Planning Commission’s weekly meetings as “grueling” and “brain-sucking” was, um, amended to “arduous”.
Griff Wigley: I’ve removed those 5 ‘orphaned’ comments that were mucking up the hierarchy. All’s good now?
Peter Seebach (Seebs): John, someone forwarded me a thing which helps explain why I do not believe the current situation provides adequate legal protections: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =ah4ke16g1DI Watch that, and then tell me with a straight...
Peter Seebach (Seebs): California in general has very high rates of “drug use”. And frankly, there is no place in the US that can be meaningfully called “very accepting” to gays. More accepting than others, sure. Why, I...
David Henson: Peter, you have the Internet you do the research. Use San Francisco as a baseline (an accepting place) – gays there have very high rates of depression and drug use.
Peter Seebach (Seebs): Those are fascinating beliefs, but conveniently for us, the research has already been done, and they’re wrong. Legalizing gay marriage has no effect on the observed incidence of homosexuality, and the concept of...
Griff Wigley: Good turnout last night for the Cannon Valley Mountain Bike Team meeting at the high school. I’ve blogged a summary with the ppt presentations.
Griff Wigley: Jordan Osterman, the new Sports Editor for the Northfield News, scooped me on Saturday. I’m glad! Northfield high school mountain bike team forming As a club sport, mountain biking would have no official affiliation with either...
Griff Wigley: Good suggestion, Curt. I’ll do that for next week’s blurb. I have been verbally emphasizing the importance of having girls on the team, especially since their points on race days count more than boys’ points. Other...
Curt Benson: Hey Griff, I wonder if you shouldn’t put a bit more emphasis on the idea that you’re recruiting both boys and girls for this team. And that the scores for both the boys and girls make up a team score. I think that in the...
Griff Wigley: 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.
Griff Wigley: Suzy Rook has a sidebar to today’s Nfld News update on last night’s Council meeting. Excerpt: The city administrator and finance director say they have asked for the information on several occasions, including last month...
john george: Living where we do, it is only a few blocks walk to North Street and a grand view of the sunsets. Also, with our neighbors’ mature white pines & spruce, our covered deck affords outdoor enjoyment with a fair amount of...
Griff Wigley: Props to the newspaper and Suzy Rook for mentioning LoGro twice in the story: Fire Department officials, including Fire Chief Gerry Franek, did not respond to several requests from the News for association financial records or...
Griff Wigley: Posted to Northfield News at 1pm: Ethical questions arise over Northfield Fire Relief Association expenses Donations made to Northfield Fire Relief Association aren’t public dollars, but that hasn’t extinguished city...
Griff Wigley: Curt/Robert, There’s a summary of the Rescue Squad on Page 21 of the 2009 NFD report to the City. It doesn’t mention that there’s a Rescue Squad Association. The last paragraph states: The Northfield Rescue Squad is...
Robert Palmquist: If Hvistendahl’s motivation was to keep the financials from getting known, his submitting a memo like that just really backfired. I agree, why would these financials be such a secret??? And why did the NRSA hire a lawyer to...
Curt Benson: So Hvistendahl has found another place to wet his beak. You ask a good question, “Why is it important that the City not know the Northfield Rescue Squad Association financials?”
Jim Haas: Happens to me a lot. So much that my lovely wife had to coin a term for it: she says I have datelexia.
norman butler: Since coming to my adopted country 16 years ago I have observed, amongst other things, that not putting the day with the date is both common and peculiar to Northfield (MN? USA?).
John Thomas: Just a reminder, advance tickets for Girls Night Out 2012 can be purchased on The Grand’s website at http://www.thegrandnorthfield. com/public-events. Your tickets will then be available at a special “Will Call” at...
Liz Reppe: This is a great place to buy plants! Jeni is very knowledgeable and they are both really helpful. You get great service and plant expertise, but the prices are not higher than other places in town.
bill metz: While most of how Jake is being remembered revolves around, and rightly so, his great and wonderful talent as an artist and teacher and the works of sculpture he has left for our and the next generations enjoyment, I have had the...
Ross Currier: It was an honor for me and the NDDC to work with Jake. His pieces of sculpture in our community send a powerful visual message that Northfield is an Art Town. I still marvel at his clever and creative approach to building social and...
paul krause: The memorial service will be held at 11am. Doors to the Chapel will open at 10am for a chance to visit with family members and friends to share memories of our dear friend. Anyone who would like to view the documentary Harvest (which...
kiffi summa: Come on, Griff… you say you’re “more than a little clueless about about investments” but you “just happened to notice”… and from what you said, were reading analytically, etc etc… Once...
Griff Wigley: I’m more than a little clueless about investments but I noticed on page 14 in the April 24 Council packet that the Fire Relief Association has 85% of its pension portfolio in stocks. Isn’t that a bit risky/aggressive for...
Griff Wigley: Has there been any media reporting on the intergovernmental meeting in Bridgewater Township that was held on April 25 re: the Rural Fire Protection District and the City of Northfield?
Jim Mangan: I noticed this morning that a few of the newly planted trees along South Highway 3 have a pronounced lean. Could it be storm damage?
Ross Currier: It’s great that someone is enhancing the connection between downtown and uptown. I know they coordinated their work with MNDoT, City staff, and the Streetscape Task Force. Uh, raise your trowels in a toast to the Northfield...
Vicki Serreno: I wish I’d known – this is my neighborhood since I left Northfield in 2010. I’d have shown up to support them.
Kathie Galotti: My neighbor and sometimes babysitter Maggie Kennedy appears in this video as well! Go Maggie, and Cliff and Sophie and Parker and everyone else! Well done, guys!
Peter Seebach (Seebs): Heh, we had those when I was in college. Guess we’re making progress, they’re starting years earlier now!
Sandy Vesledahl: Thanks for blogging our garage sale Griff! We are at 2018 Jefferson Rd, Suite 1, thanks to the Jasnoch Family for allowing us to use the space. We will be there until 5:00 today and again from 8-2 on Saturday. We’ve had a...
Bright Spencer: I have an 8 year old dog that has not been neutered, has not reproduced and never been out unleashed except in our yard. It costs nothing to care for your pet properly.
Bright Spencer: To see this makes me so happy! Best of luck to you!
Peter Seebach (Seebs): For what it’s worth, I’m pretty happy with the whole process so far, although we found exciting new things out about the land development code, such as “the rules for calculating how tall a building is for...
Peter Seebach (Seebs): Not a hot tub, a swimming pool. One of those backyard pools you can get at k-mart, and the greenhouse is so we can use it a couple months earlier in spring and later in fall.
Arlen Malecha: I wish more establishments had outdoor seating & dining. Now that our offices (Coldwell Banker South Metro www.CBSouthMetro.com are downtown, I love to see people sitting and dining outside. It is fun to walk up and down...
Sean Hayford O'Leary: I would say the current configuration of Division Street makes me grateful not everyone is doing it. Sidewalk dining brings a lot of livelihood to the street — but I’ll admit that I’ve been occasionally...
Griff Wigley: Rebecca, there are several Northfield eating and drinking establishments that have outdoor dining with tables and chairs, serving alcohol, but not SIDEWALK dining. Downtown ones that come to mind: The Tavern, Chapati, The Cow, Froggy...
Rebecca Bliss: Timely post, Griff -I didn’t realize this. I was just commenting to my husband about how nice it would be to dine al fresco now that the weather is getting warmer. Guess this is another discovery for the new...
Patty Gallivan: MOST Northfield volunteers are waiting for someone who DARES boost a program with evidence of effectiveness to come forward with leadership to actually make a difference with students in our Northfield schools. Make sure to let us...
Calling All Mountain Bikers
Bill Name: 
This week’s Northfield News has a story titled 
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