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By Tracy Davis, on February 28, 2010, 11:49 am
 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 is the memo page for the week.
This week’s memo consisted mostly of business as usual (ongoing projects, etc.) Engineering gave a heads-up about construction at the intersection of 4th and Division which will take place this spring.
There is a special closed meeting for review of the City Administrator will start at 6:00p, with a regular City Council meeting to follow. You can view all upcoming City meetings on the City calendar.
By Tracy Davis, on February 21, 2010, 11:46 am
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.
Here’s an excerpt from this week’s memo:
Given what is anticipated for 2010 and 2011, the reductions in expenditures for 2010 and 2011 will need to be sustainable over time and will have implications on the service delivery to residents and businesses. The Finance Department has provided more information below on the levy limit requested by the Governor.
Continue reading City Administrator’s Friday Memo of Feb. 19, 2010
By Tracy Davis, on February 8, 2010, 7:24 am
 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.
Since it’s the first week of the month, Friday’s memo also includes the monthly Boards & Commissions report. Additional items of note this week include:
You can find all the above on the memo page for the week.
There will be a City Council meeting and work session on Tuesday, Feb. 9. You can view all upcoming City meetings on the City calendar.
By Tracy Davis, on January 31, 2010, 12:30 pm
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 and attachments can be found on the memo page for the week.
NO CITY COUNCIL MEETING next Tuesday, Feb. 2: It’s caucus night! (You can find info about your precinct caucuses on the MN Secretary of State website.)
You can view all upcoming City meetings on the City calendar.
By Griff Wigley, on January 25, 2010, 7:39 am
 It’s not clear from the story in the Sat. Nfld News, New Northfield hotel feasible, market study indicates, how the $9,600 decision was made to hire an Atlanta-based consulting company, Highland Group Hotel Investment Advisors, to conduct the study.
A search of the phrase “Highland Group” on the City’s website only comes up with the disbursements to the company in October and in December. I can’t find anything that indicates there’s been Council discussion of this. I checked with Jim Gleason, new president of the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce/Convention and Visitors Bureau, who indicated that he wasn’t aware of the market study being done.
I’m not ready to argue that conducting a study is a bad idea. I’m questioning the process. It seems like the Council should be involved in a public discussion about an expenditure like this, especially one that’s likely to ruffle the feathers of local business owners. According to the Nfld News, City Administrator Joel Walinski said study was done to facilitate the conversation among local developers and hotel owners. Seems backwards to me.
By Tracy Davis, on January 23, 2010, 7:43 am
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.
Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week. There are some interesting tidbits this week, like the fact that the City needs to spend down the monies available for streetscape enhancements (we have some good people working on recommendations ), and information about the new Cooperative Facilities Bonding Bill being introduced at this year’s MN legislative session; if passed, the bill could provide a significant incentive for regional cooperation, and be a source of funding for facilities.
The City Council is having a “goals meeting” in the board room of the Northfield Hospital on Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 5:00pm. At the time of this writing there is no further information available about the meeting.
You can view all upcoming City meetings on the City calendar.
By Tracy Davis, on January 17, 2010, 8:39 am
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.
Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week. (This week’s memo has already been mentioned in the LoGro discussion, “The fight with Waterford township“) Items of note include:
- At Joel Walinkski’s request, City Attorney Chris Hood wrote this memo on Open Meeting Law and the allegations reported in the Northfield News, concluding that the conduct of the City Administrator and the City Councillors in this particular situation did not violate the Open Meeting law.
By Tracy Davis, on January 10, 2010, 10:42 am
The “Friday Memo,” written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various 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 first memo of each month usually includes an update on the actions and activities of the City’s Boards and Commissions.
Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week. Items of note include:
Continue reading City Administrator Joel Walinski’s first Friday Memo of 2010
By Tracy Davis, on December 19, 2009, 12:59 pm
The “Friday Memo,” written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various 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 first memo of each month usually includes an update on the actions and activities of the City’s Boards and Commissions.
Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week. Items of note include:
Continue reading City Administrator’s Friday Memo of Dec. 18
By Tracy Davis, on December 12, 2009, 12:35 pm
The “Friday Memo,” written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various 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 first memo of each month usually includes an update on the actions and activities of the City’s Boards and Commissions.
Friday’s memo, as well as the Boards & Commissions report for November, can be found on the memo page for the week. Items of note include:
Continue reading City Administrator’s Friday Memo of Dec. 11
By Tracy Davis, on December 7, 2009, 6:07 pm
The “Friday Memo,” written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various 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 first memo of each month also includes an update on the actions and activities of the City’s Boards and Commissions.
Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week. Items of note include:
Continue reading City Administrator’s Friday Memo of Dec. 4
By Tracy Davis, on November 16, 2009, 9:04 am
The Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week. The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week. The first memo of each month also includes the Boards & Commissions update on the actions and activities of the preceding month.
Items of note include:
- Last stage of organizing the grant application for Mill Towns Trail (many shows of suport, including the City of Dundas, which passed a resolution of support including a commitment of up to $10,000.)
- A Heritage Preservation Commission meeting to be held on Thursday to discuss demolition of the Community resource bank building on Bridge Square.
There is a City Council meeting and work session Monday at 7:00p. You can view all City meetings on the City calendar.
By Tracy Davis, on November 9, 2009, 8:47 am
The Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week. The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week. The first memo of each month also includes the Boards & Commissions update on the actions and activities of the preceding month.
There is a City Council work session tonight at 7:00p. You can view all City meetings on the City calendar.
By Tracy Davis, on October 5, 2009, 12:09 pm
The Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week. The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week. The first memo of each month also includes the Boards & Commissions update on the actions and activities of the preceding month. (The Planning Commission has been too busy reviewing details in the proposed Land Development Code to have any time to write up a summary for the monthly report.  )
Some items of interest in this week’s memo include information on a Rental Board of Appeals hearing, and details on the grant the Library’s Teen Advisory Board received from the Healthy Community Initiative.
There is a closed City Council meeting tonight at 6:30, and a regular meeting and work session afterwards at 7:00p. You can view all City meetings on the City calendar.
By Tracy Davis, on September 27, 2009, 2:28 pm
The Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week. The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week.
Some items of interest in this week’s memo include:
- Information on a quote for an electronic document management system for the City. According to the City Clerk, “Professionals spend 5-15 % of their time reading information but up to 50% looking for it.” I’m assuming the professionals referred to are public employees, because in the private sector if it took 50% of people’s time finding already existing information, they’d be fired.
- Another item perhaps of interest: There are rumblings that another restaurant will be locating in the space held by Sweet Lou’s Waffle Bar.
- The memo also contains various street and budget updates which didn’t catch my interest when I read the memo, but are probably more important than the above.
No City Council meeting this Monday. You can view all City meetings on the City calendar.
By Tracy Davis, on September 21, 2009, 9:20 am
The Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week. The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week.
Some items of interest in this week’s memo include information from the police department about a new drop box for unwanted prescriptions, a mobile camera system for monitoring areas with possible suspicious activity such as property damage or graffiti tagging, and various construction updates including the First Street and Riverside Trail projects.
NOTE: There will be a City Council meeting and work session on Monday, beginning with a closed session at 6:30 to discuss a performance evaluation of the city administrator, and a regular meeting at 7:15p.
You can view all City meetings on the City calendar.
By Tracy Davis, on September 14, 2009, 2:29 am
The Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week. The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week. This week’s memo also includes the monthly Board & Commission update.
Some items of interest in this week’s memo include various engineering/infrastructure updates, timeline for the business park(s) master plan, work with the MPCA on remediation of the underground storage tank at the Safety Center, and lighting options for the Riverside Trail.
NOTE: There will be a City Council meeting tonight, beginning with a closed session at 6:30 to discuss litigation against the City, and a regular meeting at 7:15p.
You can view all City meetings on the City calendar.
By Griff Wigley, on August 31, 2009, 8:06 am
The Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week. The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week.
NOTE: There will be a City Council Work Session tonight, and the agenda includes:
1. Sharpening the Effectiveness of Boards and Commissions
2. Safety Center Project Update
3. Skate board plaza review
4. Update on City Attorney selection process
5. Utility rate study
You can view all City meetings on the City calendar.
By Griff Wigley, on August 24, 2009, 7:40 am
The Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week.
The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week.
NOTE: There will be a special City Council Meeting and Work Session tonight, apparently to deal with recommendations on the Hwy 3 & 19 transportation study.
You can view all City meetings on the City calendar.
By Tracy Davis, on August 16, 2009, 8:18 pm
The Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week.
The BIG NEWS in this week’s memo is something Griff and I have been bitching about for years… City Hall now has wireless internet! (Thanks to Melissa Reeder and others at City Hall who made this happen.)
The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week.
NOTE: There will be a City Council meeting on Monday and a community meeting about the new zoning ordinance draft on Tuesday. You can view all City meetings here on the City calendar.
By Tracy Davis, on August 8, 2009, 3:41 pm
The Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week.
This week’s memo includes an update on the foreclosure and status of The Crossings project as well as the monthly Boards & Commissions report.
The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week.
NOTE: There will be a City Council work session on Monday. You can view all City meetings here on the City calendar.
By Tracy Davis, on July 25, 2009, 2:38 pm
The Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week.
This week’s memo includes information about City policies for streams and wetlands protection, and how the City might protect the Spring Creek and Heath Creek watersheds should annexation of the property in Bridgewater Township take place.
 The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week.
NOTE: There will be a City Council work session on Monday. No information about this work session is currently available on the city website. You can view all City meetings here on the City calendar.
By Tracy Davis, on July 20, 2009, 10:21 am
The Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week.
This week’s memo includes an overview of some of the steps the City is contemplating to address the anticipated budget shortfalls in 2010, note that a meeting will be held this week between City staff, legal counsel, Mendota Homes, and Highland Bank to determine a strategy for the Crossings project, and an update on Safe Routes to School.
The most interested part of this week’s memo, to me, was the detail about the public input process for the TH3/TH19 Modal Integration Study. It’s too detailed for me to quote here, so I encourage you to read it. Among other things, there’s an OPEN HOUSE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT 7P which hasn’t been well-publicized. As part of the study, the City is also taking its very first stab at having an online forum for public input which someone on City staff will actually manage personally. (There has been online input on other projects before, but it’s been implemented and managed by someone other than a staff person… like yours truly.) Read the details in the memo, it’s interesting. And there’s a project page on the City website.
The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo and accompanying documents can be found on the memo page for the week.
NOTE: There is a City Council meeting tonight. You can view all City meetings here on the City calendar.
By Tracy Davis, on July 13, 2009, 10:44 am
The Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week.
The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo and accompanying documents can be found on the memo page for the week. This week’s memo also includes the monthly update from the City’s boards and commissions.
This week’s memo includes some very interesting info about the Rate Search theft of City funds:
We learned that Mr. Luster has been transferred to Leavenworth penitentiary to serve out his sentence. He is not eligible for parole. His scheduled release date is in July of 2014.
We are still waiting on receipt of funds from Clark Schultz’s voluntary payment of nearly $500,000 made as part of his plea deal. This money will be distributed proportionally to all victims of the ponzie scheme. The City’s share will be approximately 40% of the total.
Also, the memo notes a transportation open house for the Highway 3/Highway 19 “Modal Integration Study”. This will be held at the Armory on 7/22. (I will link to more information as I have it – at the time of this post, I could not find any information on the City website.)
NOTE: There is a City Council work session tonight. You can view all City meetings here on the City calendar.
By Tracy Davis, on June 28, 2009, 8:58 pm
The Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week.
The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo and accompanying documents can be found on the memo page for the week.
This week’s memo includes information on a potential EDA loan to the owners of the Archer House to help with gap financing for a substantial and much-needed renovation. The memo also included a nice note of thanks to those, including yours truly, who have been intensely involved in the work of the draft Land Development Code (thank you, Joel!)
It’s a fairly slow week for meetings at City Hall this week, in part because there are five Mondays and Tuesdays in June (regular meetings are usually the 1st/3rd or 2nd/4th Mondays or Tuesdays of the month), and in part due to the July 4 holiday. You can view all City meetings here on the City calendar.
NOTE: The Library is closed on Friday, July 3, and Saturday, July 4 this week.
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