Pre-podcast questions for City Administrator Al Roder

5 Comments

  1. Stephanie Henriksen said:

    Three questions

    Mr. Roder was on the Wayne Eddy show this morning Friday. I had a few interruptions, didn’t catch his early life. Am I to understand Emmetsburg, Iowa fits in somewhere?

    Last winter and spring, City of Northfield was invited to meetings with Advanced BioEnergy on their plans for a 300-acre ethanol plant and railyard in Bridgewater Township. Has the City Council discussed the matter at any point since then? Why or why not?

    Can we expect Progressive Rail to remove the pro-ethanol banner by Kwik Trip in Northfield anytime soon?

    January 19, 2007
  2. Griff Wigley said:

    Thanks, Stephanie… I’ll be sure to ask those.

    January 19, 2007
  3. John Thomas said:

    Questions and comments for Al:

    1. Thanks for the weekly PDF Friday report. It is a great way to keep informed of what is going on, and gives the citizens of Northfield another tool to see whats going on with the local government.

    2. Liquor Liscenses. There seems to be a signifigant amount of fights, and other issues occuring at a local downtown bar/resturant. I take this from a review of the police reports over the last year. All of these “Request for Service” calls must cost the city something, and are so frequent, that they border on a public nusiance. There seems to be activity at this location, as well as from the patrons leaving this establishment, and heading back to thier dorms. Should part of the renewal process involve a public hearing, where the public can speak toward the City Council about thier renewals?

    3. With Charter Communications holding a monopoly over cable TV and internet in Northfield, what can the city do to assist its residents in dealing with the continued poor customer service, and increased rates? When does Charter’s contract with the city come up for renewal? What is the grievance process that citizens can use, when their complaints go unheard by Charter?

    4. Northfield Transit is a wonderful tool for the city, but the routes have remained very static, even though Northfield has grown signifigantly. What would it take to have the routes and availability times reviewed? It is my perception that the Northfield Transit is heavily subsidized by the college, therefore, they have a heavy influence in its operations? (Note: I feel that if we call for a ride, that being told it will be two to three hours before a pickup is somewhat unreasonable. 30 to 60 minutes should be a reasonable service level.)

    5. What would it take to get bike racks mounted on the Transit buses? If it could be funded by private donation, could it happen?

    6. Traffic speeds and the number of residents walking have increased in the Woodley and Prarie street area. During the construction, a 4 way stop, and a crosswalk was installed at this location. It has since been removed. There is a signifigant amount of pedestrian traffic, as well as youth from Sibley school that cross at this uncontrolled intersection. If residents have a concern about an intersection, what is the process to get it reviewed, especially for a crosswalk?

    7. The “standard” speed limit in the City of Northfield is 30 mph. This does not make sense, especially for MANY residential streets. Even in downtown, 30 MPH is too fast. What would it take to get some residential streets down to 20 or 25?

    THANKS!
    -John

    January 19, 2007
  4. Griff Wigley said:

    Fantastic, John. As you may have heard on last week’s show, we tried to give priority to the people who submitted questions. Not sure we’ll get to all of yours but we’ll try.

    January 20, 2007

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