Council considers Grant Policy
Grants can be a double edged sword. While there is money to be had, there’s also money to be spent in order to receive it. Something else that has frustrated some members of council is the timing of when these grants come before council for a vote. Councilor Ludescher said he’d like to see some discipline in their choices of grants to go after. For example the charging station for electric cars that was brought to the Council and needed to be voted on the same night. Ludescher felt it was not one of their goals. Nakasian said they tied it to the goal of the Green Step Cities. The grant was for $5,000 that required a match from the City. Pownell added that by going after a grant, it automatically becomes a top priority and that means they need to consider them more carefully. City Administrator Tim Madigan brought forward a formal Grant Policy, something the City hasn’t had. It’s short, you can view it on the City’s website under City Council packet for May 13th.
3 Council seats up for election – Candidate filing opens tomorrow
There are 3 City Council terms ending at the end of this year. First Ward Suzie Nakasian, Fourth Ward Jessica Peterson White and At-large Rhonda Pownell. If you’re interested in running, Candidate Filing starts tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. and ends Tuesday, June 3 at 5:00 pm. Deadline to withdraw is June 5 at 5:00 pm. Additional information can be found on the City’s website. Just do a search for candidate filing. We’ll have a link from our website kymnradio.net. The City is also look for Election Judges. Anyone interested in serving should complete and submit an election judge application. Again, that’s all on the City’s website at ci.northfield.mn.us.
Dundas/Bridgewater to discuss dual roles of Planning Commission CANCELLED
The Dundas City Council and Bridgewater Township Supervisors will hold a special meeting on Wednesday at 7 o’clock in the Bridgewater Town Hall in Dundas. They’ll be discussing the details of how to operate the Dundas Planning Commission as they take on dual roles of the the Planning and Zoning Authority for the Annexation Reserve District (ARD) and the Planning Commission for the City.
Bly on bonding bill
The 2014 Legislative session ended Friday. House District 20b representative David Bly said that the Bonding bill was challenging. Republicans wanted to hold the spending at $850 million which the Democrats had agreed to at the last session. Governor Dayton, however, wanted to spend $1 billion. Speaker Theissen came up with a deal that would include one time spending to bring it up to the Governors request. The vote passed by 91 votes which Bly said was a good number and a sign that it was a good bill. He said there were a lot of behind the scenes negotiations to pass the very complicated bill. Included in the bill was money for land acquisition for the Mill Towns Trail and some bridge work in Faribault. Bly says he didn’t get as much money for the Montgomery Safety Center as he had hoped for. Bly will be meeting with the folks in Montgomery and will work to get more money next year.
Weinmann named regional honoree
Northfield’s Earl Weinmann has been named a regional honoree in the WEM Foundations 2014 Outstanding Educator Awards program. Weinmann, who has been teaching for 26 years and currently teaches 7th grade social studies, is being honored in the Teacher Achivement category. He developed the Student Community Outreach Program Experience or SCOPE, a partnership with Carleton College, the Northfield Historical Society and many volunteers to provide enrichment opportunities for gifted students. The award is given by Synergy and Leadership Exchange, a nonprofit.
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The post Today’s news update – Council considers Grant Policy; 3 Council seats up for election – Candidate filing opens tomorrow; Dundas/Bridgewater to discuss dual roles of Planning Commission- CANCELLED; Bly on bonding bill; Weinmann named regional honoree appeared first on KYMN Radio - Northfield, MN.