A notable donation to the city, an ordinance focused on disincentivizing underage sale of THC products, instances of vandalism at the new skate park and more were discussed by the Lonsdale City Council during their meeting Thursday evening.
Interviews with a selection of representatives from prospective architects for the future Lonsdale City Hall and library were put into motion during the meeting, after 10 proposals were narrowed to three due to experience with similar projects and cost. Widseth, Wold and Hay/Dobbs were the architects determined to make it to a round of interviews on May 6 or 13, depending on the architectural firms’ schedules.
For the last 15 years, a mosquito-control treatment throughout Lonsdale has been contracted by the city. The tradition continued Thursday.
A three-pronged effort by the Lonsdale American Legion Post 586, the Grand Lodge of Minnesota and the Minnesota Masonic Charities resulted in four fire-suppression systems being donated to the city.
“You throw it in as a kind of a one time deal,” Farmington Mason Ross Johnson told the council Thursday. “But it will drastically reduce the temperature of a fire, thus giving (the Fire Department) time to respond and properly put it out.”
While the statewide effort normally asks a town’s Masonic lodge to cover the last third, the Legion stepped in since Lonsdale doesn’t have a lodge.
“I was actually looking into these, and then looked into the price,” Lonsdale Police Chief Jason Schmitz said. “’How am I going to pay for that?’ So when I got the call from Ross, I was totally on board. And I know this will be a game changer when it comes to structure fires. A lot of times when we get there, our fire extinguishers, I mean it’s beyond that point. And this is just another tool that we can use to reduce the spread of the fire damage.”
Schmitz had several items of discussion to present for the council, including a request for security measures at the new skate park in Sticha Park.
“Since opening up the skate park, the police department has taken several calls for service to include vandalism and weapon-related calls,” he said. “The city of Lonsdale currently has surveillance coverage at four parks with Verkada (security-camera company), which have been working great.”
It was passed, and the skate park should have a new security camera in the coming months.
With the recent legalization of marijuana, the active ingredient that gets a user high, THC, has been a focus for cities across Minnesota. Lonsdale previously considered regulating the sale, licensing and penalties for selling these products, but decided to hold out until further progress by the state.
Councilor Brian Wermerskirchen stressed that, while it is important to prevent underage people from buying the products, it is also important not to stifle future business. His concern was regarding the possibility of Rice County limiting the number of licenses for people to sell marijuana.
If the county were to cap marijuana licenses at 10, he worried about five going to Faribault and five going to Northfield.
“So that’s why I just asked: to stay ahead of that,” Wermerskirchen said. “Just in case, I mean, I don’t want to see us miss out on an opportunity to expand business, because Faribault and Northfield got all the licenses.”
However, the ordinance that was passed Thursday essentially mirrors the tobacco ordinance. It sets fines for selling to underage people, establishes licensing for anywhere that might want to sell these products and preventing vending-machine sales, along with several other rules. Most the rules are already established in statute, according to City Administrator Joel Erickson.
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