Posted in Uncategorized on January 31, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Should Northfield close 1st Street through Way Park? Maybe, but it’s not an open and shut case for me. Here’s how I’m thinking about it.
I’d prefer to keep the street open for at least these reasons (not in priority order):
to maximize transportation (motorized and non-motorized) connections
avoid creating cul de sacs which are more expensive and/or [...]
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Non-motorized transportation on January 31, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Left, right, left, right…
Joel Walinski’s weekly Administrator’s Memo has an interesting link this week to Walk Score. At Walk Score, you can enter your address (or any other address) and get a number between 0 and 100:
90–100 = Walkers’ Paradise: Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on January 31, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Every week, the Black Binder appears on my porch. Nothing mysterious, it’s the 3-ring binder with all the information on the week’s meetings, the Council packet, etc. In this week’s BB:
Monday, February 2 : Regular Council Meeting @ 7. And believe it or not, that’s all.
As always, the calendar of public city meetings is [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on January 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Last week was packed with meetings and here’s the quick recap:
1. Thursday’s Special (and closed) Council Meeting: The News and Locally Grown have both reported on the outcome of this meeting. After reviewing 5 proposals for land (and sometimes building) sales for a new municipal liquor store, the Council in closed session, the Council reopened [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on January 28, 2009 | 4 Comments »
At the moment, you can’t build a wind turbine inside Northfield’s city limits. Our ordinances say nothing about turbines; our current ordinances presume that if a use is not listed as permitted, it is not allowed.
Today’s Northfield News has a story Carleton may add second turbine about the Council action on Monday directing city staff [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on January 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The New York Times published a piece on Friday which is the best news I’ve read in a long time. Coffee, it seems, has some mental health benefits beyond making me worth talking to every morning (afternoon, evening):
the subjects who had reported drinking three to five cups of coffee daily were 65 percent less likely [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on January 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Over on Locally Grown, I’ve been named Blogger of the Week! Thanks to Griff, Ross and Tracy.
I feel slightly uncomfortable being named Blogger of the Week since I think of myself as a weak blogger. I’m afraid I don’t want to share my personal life with the world, so I limit what I’m willing to [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on January 23, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Next week is a busy week for the Council -
Monday, January 26 there is NIMS training at 6 pm before the Council Meeting/Worksession. What, you may ask, is NIMS? NIMS stands for National Incident Management System and it is a FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) program “provides a consistent nationwide template to establish Federal, State, [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on January 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The Northfield Zoning Board of Appeals/Planning Commission had two applications from Northfield Hospital (yes, that means one city entity reviews the plans of another) on their Tuesday agenda. The Zoning Board of Appeals, which reviews requests for variances and other quasi-judicial matters, was asked to grant a variance to allow a greater number of parking [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on January 10, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Bravo to new Mayor Mary Rossing for a fine first Council meeting, conducted with grace and good humor. I hope I and the other Council members help you do your job well and build confidence in Northfield government
