City Engineer does not recommend awarding TIGER Trail bid
The Northfield City Council has a packed agenda tonight for their meeting. There are 2 resolutions regarding the Tiger Trail, officially called the Northfield Multimodal Integration Project. One is to accept the bids and award the contract. The second resolution only matters IF the first one passes. And the first one is NOT being recommended any longer by City Engineer Joe Stapf. He clearly states that he cannot recommend the project at an increase cost of 36% over the last approved budget. Stapf writes, the financial impact of awarding this contract and approving the amendment to the grant agreement will result in the expenditure of $1,662,007.57 more than what was originally contemplated when the original TIGER Grant application was considered. Stapf sent an email to various appropriate officials to see if there’s any more funding available. He has also offered up an amended trail. You can view the packet on the City’s website under City Council recent agenda. The meeting will be streamed live online at kymnradio.net. We have a link to the map and the council packet on our website posted earlier. (council could also delay the vote)
What will Fire Service mgmt look like?
Council is being asked to choose one of three options for the management of Fire Services with the City of Dundas and surrounding townships. The task force recommended forming a Joint Powers Agreement, however 2 of Northfield’s 3 representatives voted for an advisory board instead. Councilor Pownell said an Advisory Board is the least expensive option that still allows for representation from all concerned. Citizen rep Lee Runzheimer agreed with Pownell adding that we don’t need another government entity. There are numerous issues with forming a JPA, not the least of which is cost allocation and representation. Should council vote to pursue the JPA, it does NOT bind them to it. Council will get an update on the new Police facility.
National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week
This week is National Hunger and Homeless Awareness week. Executive Director of the Community Action Center, Jim Blaha, says of the 1,000 families that they serve each month, 500 of them use the food shelf. He says even as unemployment rates decline, people are earning less. About 5 years ago, Blaha says the number of clients coming to the food shelf spiked and now it may have plateaued but there’s still a great need. Blaha says people can be homeless for any reason including crisis such as fire or flooding or even teenagers aging out of subsidized housing. Thirty two households were homeless right here in Northfield this summer. That’s the highest Blaha has ever seen. He says these aren’t people living under a bridge, they’re couch jumping. Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity, Dayna Norvold, says that there are many homeless/couch jumping teenagers that aren’t even counted. She encourages neighbors, friends to keep an eye out for those who may be having trouble. She says go to their website habitatricecounty.org where they have advocacy links for the hungry and/or homeless. Norvold says, Habitat isn’t a direct solution for homelessness, but we need stepping stones for people, more transitional housing and affordable rentals. A recent study in Rice County over 30% of households make less than $35,000 a year. It’s considered affordable if you pay 30% of your income on housing. Affordable rentals are in high demand. Norvold cites the recent construction of Spring Creek Townhomes which have been filling up fast. She says from there, comes in Habitat for Humanity. That’s when the family has a steady job, a need and a willingness to work for their home. In 2013 they buillt 2 new homes. They’re hoping to build 14 new homes in the next 3 years. They’re looking for volunteers and for land. You can get in touch with them through the website. We have a link from kymnradio.net.
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The post Today’s news update – City Engineer does not recommend awarding TIGER Trail bid; What will Fire Service mgmt look like?; appeared first on KYMN Radio - Northfield, MN.