Blog vs. slog – or, how to think about the new Land Development regulations

I have the 275 page draft of the new Land Development Regulations on my desk and I’ve been thinking about how best to read this tome, how (as the Planning Commission liaison) to provide some concise policy guidance to the Council, how to ensure the regulations really do further the goals of the Comprehensive Plan, [...]

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City Council stuff this week

It’s the 4th Monday which often means the Council gets a meetingless evening.  Not this week, however. There is a special Council meeting (“special” incidentally, does not mean that there is something special or ’specially important or ’specially controversial on the agenda but only that the meeting is not a “regular” meeting happening on [...]

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Podcast

On a Griffless afternoon in the KYMN studio, Ross Currier, Tracy Davis and I chatted about what the Council is doing and how we’re doing on the weekly Locally Grown podcast.  30 minutes doesn’t begin to do justice to any of the topics, but it’s a quick overview.  Give it a listen

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Skateboards, continued

See if you can follow the skateboard issue around town: Park Board recommends Ames Park, Council asks for consideration of safety issues, Council gets update on safety and sends issue back to Park Board, Park Board holds meeting but no decision reached, Park Board will hold special meeting Tuesday, 4/21, Village on the Cannon will [...]

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Preview of coming attractions

On this week’s Council agenda there’s a little new stuff and a lot of old stuff.
Old stuff:

2nd reading of wind turbine ordinance.  I’ve said enough about it here and here and here.
Approval of the final plat for Bridgewater commons: this property is on Highway 3 across from Target.  Three issues here:  access from Highway 3, [...]

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Possible new soccer program in town

This is not city business, but the Council has stated it wants to build bridges to groups in Northfield who are less well served or connected in the community so the Northfield Soccer Association’s (I’m on the NSA Board) investigation into starting a TOPSoccer program deserves mention here.
TOPSoccer is a community-based soccer program for athletes [...]

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Coming up this week: Ames Park and fiber optics

Ames Park and the skate plaza top Monday’s Council worksession agenda.    Back at the February 23 worksession, the Council reviewed several concept plans for Ames Park which I discussed here.   In February, the Council directed staff to review these concerns:

Access through Malt-O-Meal property: staff report says: M-O-M will work to prevent this by building a [...]

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Fiber optic update

With financial assistance from the Blandin Foundation, Northfield has just completed a feasibility study for FTTP – fiber to the premises.  But wait, there’s more!   With federal stimulus dollars available for broadband infrastructure projects and this study, Northfield is in a great position to be able to apply for a federal grant and, if successful, [...]

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Spring cleaning

Spring break is over (even if Spring has barely begun) and it’s time to get back to work after last week’s Council lull.
This week, Passover begins.   For our family, this involves, among other things, much housecleaning.   What I found while cleaning out the refrigerator is not too interesting, but my Spring cleaning is also metaphorical.  [...]

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Council twit

Over at Locally Grown, you can read Griff Wigley’s Twitterage of Monday’s Council meeting.   I cannot imagine a less engaging, less interesting method of getting info about Council discussions and action.  This is not Anne Treneman’s Parliamentary Sketches (obviously far exceeding the 140 Twitter character allowance) for the London Times or even live-blogging British football.

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