Over a year of conversation, work and debate within the Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Service will most likely be resolved within the next 60 days as the board prepares to make two major decisions.
The first will come at the October meeting, when the board must decide whether the fire chief position, which has always been considered part-time, should become a full-time position.
Board Chairman Paul Liebenstein said the NAFRS Staff Committee has been working hard to define the role of a full-time Chief.
“They’ve been working overtime,” he said, “to come up with a job description and compensation package if we decide to go that way.”
Regardless of that decision, there will be more work to be done. Interim chief Tom Nelson’s term expires in mid-January and by then there should be a permanent chief, be it Nelson or another member of the fire service. Liebenstein said the plan is to place the feature internally first before looking outside the organization.
Nelson has not yet said whether he will apply for the full-time position, but has indicated that the full-time/part-time vote will influence his decision.
Meanwhile, the organization will most likely decide in November on the idea of forming a tax district.
Liebenstein said many details still need to be worked out, including the percentages of funds for which each entity within the joint powers – Northfield, Dundas and the Rural Fire District – would be responsible. They would also have to decide on the membership of the board of directors, and whether the members can be appointed by the three entities, or whether they must be elected officers.
Nelson said that as difficult as it is to go through this process, there are other fire districts in the state that have already set up tax districts, and now there is a roadmap for doing so.
“And so that process is now, I say, made easier with air quotes, because at least there’s legislation that says, ‘That’s how you become a burdensome district.’ A lot of that work, it’s like you don’t want to be bleeding, but you want to be ahead of the curve. Let those people pay the lawyers to change the law, so if we want that or other districts want it, at least it needs to be a little more streamlined now.”
The next two NAFRS meetings are scheduled for October 20 and November 17.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with NAFRS Interim Chief Tom Nelson and Board Chairman Paul Liebenstein can be heard here
Northfield Live offers ‘real’ broadcasting experience for students
During his State of the District address last week, Northfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matt Hillmann Northfield Live as an example of how the Northfield School District works to get students out of the classroom, “real world” experience.
Northfield Live is a venture started by Lance Reisseter, who is a longtime sales manager at KYMN Radio, which also makes video broadcasts of sporting events at Northfield High School and some other local openings. Many of the events they broadcast on their website, northfieldlive.com, are staffed by Northfield students.
“We have them call and color play-by-play, operate cameras and produce,” he said. “A minimum of four people is required to do a live video broadcast.”
The model for what Reisseter does was created by his son Adam, who conducted interviews with athletes and coaches during high school and even high school for the very popular Saturday morning show Raider Wrap here on KYMN, then started calling sports. he asked to broadcast from football and baseball to hockey and wrestling. Adam now attends the University of Iowa and calls Hawkeye football games for the student-run radio station.
Reisseter said Adam did a great job recruiting younger students before graduation, pointing out Evan Loe and Liz Chamberlain for the work they’re currently doing on Raider Wrap. He actually has twenty other students who work with hm for the broadcasts, and said it’s both fun and rewarding to watch them develop.
“Some of them you see right away in their personality, and then they put the headset on and that personality comes out. The really interesting ones are the kids that you don’t see in their personality right away, and they change into that personality when you get the headset, or the game starts to happen, especially when exciting things happen on the field or on the field.”
Reisseter pointed out that this is not an internship and that the students who work on the games are paid, but Dr. Hillmann and other members of the district staff are working to help the young broadcasters earn educational credit for the work they do.
“The communication demands of working with a hot microphone in front of you is a great learning experience,” he said, “whether you want to broadcast or not.”
The games produced by Northfield Live can be seen on their website, northfildlive.com, and they can be heard here, an AM 1080 and FM 95.1 KYMN radio, and on our website at kymnradio.net.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Northfield Live’s Lance Reisster can be heard here
New Branding Commission in the air
And the City of Northfield is running a new branding campaign designed to enhance the city’s image for tourism, business recruitment and to highlight the facets of the community that make it such a great place to live.
A new Branding Advisory Committee has been set up. A statement from the city said the committee is inviting community stakeholders and all interested Northfielders to share their insights through interviews and an online survey.
The main responsibility of the committee, which met for the first time on September 1, will be to provide input in the selection of a brand advisor and then work with the advisor on brand development. Committee members will review existing research and list current tactics where and how the brand will be used.
“This is a creative, engaging and resourceful committee,” said committee chairwoman Jennifer Sawyer, pointing out that members have significant professional experience in related areas of branding, design and communications.
Engagement opportunities will be shared with community partners and on the city’s website, as well as Northfield’s Facebook and Instagram social media pages.
Rich Larson is the director of KYMN News. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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