Northfield Downtown Development Corporation

The Northfield Downtown Development Corporation (NDDC) will focus on the health of the Cannon River at the NDDC’s May Downtown Forum. The Forum is Tuesday, May 6^th, 8 am in the Riverview Conference Room, lower level of the Archer House, 212 Division Street, in downtown Northfield.

The Forum will feature a panel of experts including Beth Kallestad of the Cannon River Watershed Partnership, Hugh Valiant of the Department of Natural Resources, and Cailin Orr of St. Olaf College. Beth will discuss the CRWP’s efforts to protect and improve the health of the river as it runs through this part of the region. Hugh will present a historic overview of the condition of the river as well its prospects for the future. Cailin will move the focus to the Malt-O-Meal dam and its impact on the river’s health.

There has been much recent discussion about the Cannon River, particularly the stretch located in the downtown district. Current and future private and public riverfront projects, a potential intensification of recreational use, and the possibility of changing the design and structure of the dam are all part of this discussion. The panelists will start the discussion and then field resulting questions. A number of key players in the future of the river have been invited to attend and participate in the forum from the audience.

The event is free and open to the public. As always, coffee and cookies will be served.

Yes, once again I’m using a sensational headline to get attention. I just got back to town last night after Spring Break in Florida (I got to go to a Twins’ Spring Training Game…more on that later) and so I’m behind schedule on a few things. Most importantly…the April Downtown Forum.

This Tuesday, April 1st at 8:00 a.m, in the Riverview Conference Room at the Archer House (212 Division Street), the Northfield “America in Bloom” Committee, a subcommittee of the Northfield Garden Club, will discuss the community’s participation in the 2008 American in Bloom (AIB) program. The Garden Club has entered Northfield in this annual competition and is working to get the entire community involved in this exciting opportunity for national recognition.

America in Bloom is an independent non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire community-wide beautification projects, thus improving the quality of life in towns and cities across the nation. Judges visit each participating community and rate the town on eight criteria, including the quality of floral and landscaped areas, turf and ground covers, overall tidiness and urban forestry. The group also makes note of heritage preservation, community involvement, and environmental awareness, as well as a favorite topic of the NDDC: on-going maintenance.

In addition to highlighting the existing efforts of local residents and business owners, as well as those of the city’s dedicated Garden Club, Northfield’s America In Bloom committee hopes to share information with the whole community and instill pride and energy in ongoing city-wide beautification efforts. New public and private projects are in the works to make Northfield more beautiful than ever in 2008!

The public is invited to attend the forum, which will include a presentation followed by a question and answer session. Topics will range from issues regarding civic engagement to the best types of flower boxes for historic buildings. And, as always, coffee and cookies will be served.

The Executive Directors of the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce, the Northfield Economic Development Authority, and the Northfield Enterprise Center will be our guests at the NDDC’s February Downtown Forum.

The Forum is Tuesday, February 5^th, 8 am in the Riverview Conference Room (lower level of the Archer House), 212 Division Street, in downtown Northfield.

The Forum presentation is intended to introduce the Executive Directors to the community, raise awareness of the programs and services they offer businesses, and share their recent accomplishments, as well as their organization’s priorities for 2008.

Kathy Feldbrugge will represent the Chamber of Commerce, the lead business organization that promotes the Northfield area and the local business community. Charlene Coulombe-Fiore will represent the Economic Development Authority, an entity created by the City of Northfield that works to establish a higher tax base and additional job opportunities for the citizens of Northfield. Blake Abdella will represent the Northfield Enterprise Center, a private, nonprofit organization that helps area businesses of all sizes succeed and grow.

The three guest organizations, along with the NDDC, also wish to highlight their collaborative work for economic development in the Northfield community. The four partners meet on a monthly basis to better coordinate their efforts.

As always, coffee and cookies will be served.

I think that it says something about Northfield when about forty citizens show up at 8 o’clock in the morning to hear a presentation on City Finances. As you can see by my lame photo, at this morning’s Monthly Downtown Forum, Kathleen McBride shined some light on this sometimes shadowy subject.

Mac began her presentation with a topic that has been at the top of some of our leaders’ agendas for some time, the Capital Improvement Plan. This is the City’s long-term investment plan, including, potentially, a new liquor store, a new city hall, a new library and a new safety center.

The group of attendees clearly put this topic in the context of on-going operating costs for the city when contemplating taking on additional debt to finance these potential projects. In response to questions and comments, Mac made it clear that she viewed capital improvement decisions as balancing the prioritization of a community’s critical needs with the citizens’ ability to take on a reasonable debt burden.

To put it in a really big picture, Northfield’s legal debt limit, based on a total market value of $1.18 billion, is about $23 million. Our community has traditionally been careful about taking on debt to finance big projects. In fact, Mac’s final slide showed that if the City was actually going to take on all of the above mentioned projects, through bonding alone, the annual cost of servicing our debt would rise from $800,000 to $2.8 million.

Mac’s presentation was quite informative and, helped out a few times with translations by Director of Operations Joel Walinski and Former Councilor Dixon Bond, generally quite accessible. Of particular interest to a number of people was the discussion of the Master Development Fund. I think that she had about four hours of information and only an hour and a half to share it. She offered to come back again in the not-too-distant future.

Perhaps we could touch on the City’s income and expenses in that session. I think that would be of interest too.

Thanks again to Mac for making herself available to downtown stakeholders!

City of Northfield Finance Department Manager Kathleen McBride will be the guest speaker at the NDDC’s December Downtown Forum. The Forum is Tuesday, December 4^th, 8 am in the Riverview Conference Room, lower level of the Archer House, 212 Division Street, in downtown Northfield.

Kathleen, or “Mac”, will give a brief overview of the City’s financial structure and processes and then take questions from the audience. It is a rare and valuable opportunity to learn about one of the more arcane areas of city government.

The NDDC is a non-partisan, non-profit community organization dedicated to the vitality of downtown Northfield. The event is free and open to the public. As always, coffee and cookies will be served.

For more information, contact Executive Director Ross Currier at 663-0319 or rcurrier@nddc.org.