Politics & Government
Northfield Public Safety Center on Agenda for Council Work Session
Plan to make such decisions as how the facility would look and how to pay for it will be talked about tonight at City Hall.
Northfield residents soon may know the future of the city’s .
At its work session tonight at , the Northfield City Council is scheduled to discuss how to arrive at a decision on what a new PSC should look like—whether it be one new building to house both the fire and police departments, separate buildings for each department, or renovated version of the existing center—how much the project would cost and how to pay for it.
Input collected tonight will go into the council’s decision-making process outline, which is expected to be included on the agenda for the council’s Oct. 4 regular meeting.
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The PSC has been a bubbling issue for some time in Northfield.
The city’s public safety officials say the current 40-year-old center, at the intersection of Hwys. 3 and 19/Fifth Street, is outdated and too small. And, at least a portion of the first floor is within the flood plain.
Find out what's happening in Northfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
A new PSC would cost about $10.7 million, according to the city’s latest estimates. Most of the money to pay for construction would come from bonding. The council has look at several sites for a new PSC around Northfield, including property adjacent to the intersection of Woodley Street and Hwy. 3 that currently houses a Minnesota Department of Transportation plow truck garage.
Proposals to renovate the current PSC—a project that would include steps to mitigate flood-plain issues—have been floated, with cost estimates ranging from $3 million to $7 million.
At tonight’s work session, councilors will discuss questions raised by residents Jerry Anderson and Don McGee about the flood plain and how it impacts renovating the current PSC.
Regarding how a new PSC would be paid for, Mayor Mary Rossing sent a letter in July to Carleton College and St. Olaf College asking for contributions toward a new facility.
In a letter dated Sept. 16, Carleton President Steven Poskanzer says his college would “be involved in a direct financial manner.” The amount of that contribution would be determined during the college’s budget-making process and in discussions with St. Olaf.
In an email to the city last week, St. Olaf Treasurer Alan Norton requested additional information about the project.
In addition to the PSC, the council is scheduled tonight to receive parliamentary procedure training and to review the draft agenda for a joint meeting with the Economic Development Authority next month.
WANT TO GO TO THE MEETING?
WHEN: 7 p.m. today
WHERE: Northfield City Hall, 801 Washington St.
WHO: Open to the public
