Northfield Talking: Safety Center Financing, Jail Abuse, Skateboard Park

In this weekly feature we let you know what your neighbors have been saying on our Facebook page, to us on Twitter and in the Northfield Patch comment section about the stories from the past week.

LTE: Council Shouldn't Discuss Minnesota Marriage Amendment

Bill McGrath
I personally am voting against the gay marriage amendment. I hope that the members of the council vote against the amendment, as individuals. But if the council itself takes a position -- either way -- on this matter, you will be setting a precedent. If so, you can expect our group to get in line. We will be asking the city council to refrain from doing business with certain companies such as Caterpillar ad Motorola, because those firms are helping Israeli settlers to steal land from Palestinians.

Betsy Gasior
Absolutely agree. This is a STATE issue, not a CITY issue. I didn't elect (or at least vote) Council in to waste my time/taxdollars discussing that which they cannot change.

Should my State reps be discussing this? Absolutely.

BTW, I feel my position on the topic is not germaine to the discussion (kind of like how it's not germaine to any City business), I'm anticipating (sadly) the haters saying I only said that b/c I am a "say yes" voter. For the record, I plan on voting no to the amendment. 

Northfielder Starts Petition Over Safety Center Financing

Emily
I signed. Leave the decision up to the taxpayers. It IS our money that will fund it. I believe we have a RIGHT to choose where our money goes. period. 

The Opportunity of a Skateboard Park

Betsy Gasior
Why anyone would be opposed to a park where our youth are encouraged to get outside in the fresh air and play is beyond me. There is so much talk about how "bad" teenagers are, yet here is a place for kids to hang out with each other in a safe environment, doing a fun, friend-building activity outside that doesn't involve electronics, and people are against it. Just baffling. I fully support a skatepark in our community, even if it were in my backyard.

Dundas Man Charged with Repeatedly Abusing Rice County Jail Cellmate

JoAnn Eaton 
I don't quite understand how this could go on for over a month without the jail personnel noticing

Michael Ormand 
I don't think that it is that they didn't notice

Melissa Dodge 
This is bs. Seriously, what prison guard or facility wouldn't notice? The cellmate clearly couldn't endure that and shut up about it continuously.

Heather Nguyen 
Unfortunately this kind of stuff happens more than people realize and I also feel the need to say that the man who was abused clearly has a mental health disorder that would allow this kind of abuse. Special place in hell for the one doing the abuse....

Roundabouts: What Do You Think?

George Kinney
Roundabouts are much cheaper to construct and maintain than traffic signals (very little money left in MNDOT's piggy bank), save a lot of fuel compared to the stop lights, and any crashes that occur are at a slow speed -- compared to the red light runners.

Philip Spensley
I am a huge fan, but drivers do have to learn (without having an accident to teach them) that those already on the roundabout have the right of way. This will come with time as they become more common, but MnDOT should undertake a major information campaign so it becomes instilled faster. A problem in design is that the roundabouts around here (Burnsville, Medford, St Olaf, for example) tend to be very small in diameter -- perhaps to fit them into a pre-existing intersection. Traffic will flow more safely and faster if they are larger. It has to be clear who is definitely on and who is not yet on. St Olaf's roundabout (I applaud its appearance) at the top of the hill (from Hwy 19) works well for those coming up the hill, but its configuration and rather small size presents problems for those traveling across the uphill traffic. Recently, while I was on it, I nearly had a car ram me as it entered the roundabout as it came up the hill. The thoroughfare runs almost straight coming up hill so as to seem a straightaway for them. They need to see more clearly that they have to turn to get on it. Assuming the driver's possible unfamiliarity with roundabout protocol, I did not press my actual right of way and thus saved us both from a collision. It was clear they were not even aware of that, however. But, still, I am glad to see roundabouts come into use in MN and look forward to see their numbers (and size of design) increase, constructed with a larger traffic circle.

Jane McWilliams
Back in the '90s when the city and the MNDOT had a committee looking at the redesign of Highway 3 from Greenvale to 5th Street, I suggested a roundabout and was almost laughed off the committee. I'd had experience with them in the east - where they not only keep traffic flowing, they provide safe pedestrian crossings. Now that they're not so exotic here in MN, how about one at Third Street? 

Follow Northfield Patch on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Sign up for our daily newsletter