Northfield Downtown Development Corporation

One of the topics of great interest that emerged at the EDA’s Riverfront Redevelopment Public Input Process session Wednesday morning at The Grand was the Downtown Section of Highway 3, between St. Olaf Avenue on the north and 5th St. on the south. Specifically, people were hoping for safer pedestrian and vehicular crossing at St. Olaf Avenue and 3rd Street.

This has been an issue that the NDDC has been following for years. In particular since last November, when it was thought that construction work would begin the following spring.

NDDC folks met with City Staff to better understand the physical elements of the project specifications. As mentioned at Wednesday’s meeting, there are supposed to be bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides of the highway and utilities for traffic signals are to be stubbed in at both the St. Olaf Avenue and 3rd Street intersections.

At a recent Block Head Gathering, we were told by Heidi Hamilton, Director of Public Works, that 2nd Street would be closed for most the the construction. We think that this would be a good time to put in a traffic signal at 3rd Street.

It was clear at the Riverfront Redevelopment Open House that traffic to and from the site will be one of greatest challenges to successful development. We think that it would be a good idea to put in a traffic signal at St. Olaf Avenue.

The signals at St. Olaf Avenue, 2nd Street and 3rd Street could be time so that north-south traffic was not unduly hindered but that east-west traffic could be greatly improved.

Pertinent memos can be found in the Extended Entry.
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A number of people have asked me if I knew how things were going with the Village on the Cannon project. I went directly to the source, Tom Klassen:

Greetings from the parking garage, and while that may not sound very glamorous, its a very exciting time for Village on the Cannon (VOTC).

The project is currently on schedule and going as planned. Buildings #1 and #2 are now under construction and the underground parking garage is taking shape as the exterior concrete walls are being poured. The large piles of dirt at the site will disappear as the walls are completed. We will use this earth as backfill around those walls.

The ceiling of the garage will consist of large, pre-fabricated slabs of concrete that are set into place using a crane. We anticipate this activity to begin during the third week of November, to be completed in early December. This ceiling becomes the sub-floor for the remainder of the building.

We will begin framing the first building, weather permitting, in early December, and the building will truly feel like it is on its way upward. The first building should be fully enclosed and interior work under way by the first week of January.

I hold weekly construction meetings on site with all my contractors, and the architect as needed. These meetings provide an excellent means for me to closely oversee every aspect of this construction and to pass along this current information to you.

Jim Ruprecht is our construction superintendent, and he is a wonderfully friendly person with over 30 years of construction experience. He has said that you are welcome to stop by the site for a visit, and he hopes you dont mind a bit of mud. Please just let him know when you would like to visit; you can phone Kari or Gina at our VOC office (507.664.0114) and they will get the message to Jim.

If you would rather view the construction progress from the comfort of your desk, go to our website to see the construction photos, updated weekly.

If you have any questions for me, you may reach me at 866.654.0762 or by e-mail. Happy Holidays, wherever you will be celebrating it, and I look forward to sharing more news with you. – Tom Klassen

This morning at The Grand, the Northfield EDA hosted an Open House on the Riverfront Redevelopment Site. It was a well-attended gathering and included current Mayor Keith Covey, Council Member Dixon Bond, Mayor-elect Lee Lansing, Council-elect Arnie Nelson and Council-elect, current EDA President, Scott Davis, and EDA members Joe Hargis, Tracy Davis-Heisler, Paul Smith and Dave Shumway. There were also many downtown building and business owners as well as a host of friends of downtown.

For some photos of the event and the attendees, as well as links to documents that were handed out/shown, see Griff’s blog post below.

There was a presentation by John Shardlow, of the consulting firm of DSU, of the priorities developed by the City Council, the EDA, City Staff and DSU. The list included:

• Mixed-use Development
• Owner-Occupied Housing
• Architectural Elements that “reflect and reinforce” Downtown’s historic character
• Extension of Design Elements and Amenities found in Downtown and along the Riverfront
• Human-Scale Design, balancing Pedestrian traffic with Vehicular traffic
• Orientation toward the Cannon River including Visibility, Access and Connectivity
• Adequate and well-conceived Parking

It is an impressive list of priorities. They are all thoughtful and important considerations for the redevelopment of that site.

The NDDC believes that the Redevelopment of what is popularly referred to as “The Kump Site” and the adjacent “Lubbers Property” could provide a powerful economic stimulus for Downtown. We therefore strongly support the redevelopment of the site and have some of our own priorities. The project must:

• Be Economically Viable.
• Take advantage of the timing of the Highway 3 construction work next summer and redevelop the riverfront site during the same period, thus limiting the inconvenience to the community.
• Solve the Highway 3 issues, particularly the east-west connection and safe-crossing issue, as part of the project.

We believe that these three priorities are important for the success of the Riverfront Development Site, the Downtown and our community as a whole.

I blogged this on the N.org site this morning and it seemed like a good idea to also blog it here in case people would prefer to attach comments to this blog post.

Alternately, join the Nfld ISSUES email discussion list. Or use the NDDC Contact Us form to send comments to Ross Currier.

- Griff
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EDA President (council-member elect, NCO board member) Scott Davis (L) and Brian O’Donnell (Community Development Director for the City) were among those presenting at the Grand Event Center earlier this morning on the proposed Riverfront Development Project.

SMSQ‘s Steve Wilmot (L) with John Mathern, president of Mendota Homes in Roseville. According to the article in last week’s Nfld News titled, EDA holds forum to gather input on riverfront, his company “… has an option to buy about one-third, or 1.7 acres of the site.”

See high-res versions of these and a dozen other photos in the Riverfront Presentation photo album.

View/download a PDF of the PowerPoint presentation titled Public Information and Input on the Riverfront Site Redevelopment Goals & Expectations. WARNING: very large (20 meg) document – 26 page PDF.

Other Riverfront Redevelopment documents (all small PDFs):

• FAQ
  
• Handout 1: goal statements sheet for feedback
  
• Handout 2: boundaries map
  
• Meeting flyer/ad

Our office received the following communication earlier this week. Northfield has always benefited greatly from the ideas and elbow grease of its public-minded citizens. Here’s another opportunity to make a difference in your community. Want to give Lee a hand?

Office of the Mayor

Official News Release
Effective: November 30, 2004
For More Information: Deb Little, Executive Assistant, 645-3001

Announcing Vacancies On City Advisory Boards And Commissions

Mayor-elect Lee Lansing and the City Council are seeking applicants to fill volunteer positions on City advisory boards, commissions and committees.

At the end of December, the terms of about one third of the 88 members of the Citys boards, commissions and committees will expire. Those positions will be filled by appointments and reappointments. There will be openings for new members on the Design Advisory Board, Economic Development Authority, Environmental Quality Commission, Human Rights Commission, Library Board, Park Board, Planning Commission, and Police Civil Service Commission.
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