City Council Meeting Date: January 6, 2026
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Ben Martig, City Administrator
Sara Hoffman, Deputy City Clerk/Executive Assistant
Title
Consider Council Member Roles on Boards and Commissions for 2026-2027.
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council consider a motion to approve which boards and commissions will have council representation on them for the coming year.
*Boards that are discretionary to be considered in the “Alternative Actions” section of this memo and attached slides for summary illustration of the options. Staff recommends Option #2 but defers to the Council on which boards to be included.
Summary Report:
Per city code, state statute, agreements, or other enabling legislation, select boards, commissions, and committees are required to have a Council representative(s) on their board, commission or committee. These include the following:
Economic Development Authority (EDA) 2 members
City/Hospital Governance Committee 3 members
Council Employment Committee 3 members
Convention and Visitor Bureau (CVB) Board 1 member
Mill Towns Trail Joint Powers Board 2 members
Rice/Steele 911 Center Board 1 member
In recent years, Council members have also been placed on other boards, commissions, and committees per the mayor’s discretion. As part of the board and commission governance review, Council decided, via Ordinance 1081, that they will decide annually if there are boards and commissions, outside those required, the Council will have a representative on and if their role will be voting or advisory. See the referenced code update below.
SECTION 4. Northfield Code, Chapter 2 - Administration, Article VI. - Boards and Commissions, Division 1. - Generally, Section 2-283 - Membership types and eligibility, Subsection (c) - City council ex-officio and liaison members:
(c) City council member roles. The mayor may appoint, with the confirmation of the council, council members to attend meetings of boards, commissions, committee, or like where state statute, agreements, or other enabling legislation or document indicates the requirement to do so or where the council deems a need. The council will decide annually prior to the appointment process for the following year what boards, commissions, committees, or like shall have representation by a member(s) of the council and if their role shall be voting or advisory. Unless specifically stated in state statutes, agreements, or other enabling legislation or document, only one council member shall serve as a voting or advisory member to a board, commission, committee, or like. Council members shall act as intermediaries between the boards and commissions and the council, facilitate a close working relationship with the council, and periodically report back to the council activities of such boards and commissions. Council members appointed as voting members shall serve as fully participating members of the board, commission, committee or like and be counted for the purpose of establishing quorum for a meeting. Council members appointed as advisory members shall serve as fully participating members of the board, commission, committee or like, but shall not have a vote and shall not be counted for the purpose of establishing quorum for a meeting.
In 2025, the following boards, commissions and committees had Council representation:
Planning Commission 1 member (voting)*
Environmental Quality Commission 1 member (non-voting)
Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Services 2 members (voting)
Hospital Board 1 member (voting)
*A second non-voting Council member was initially appointed but that appointment was reversed in 2025.
Related to the Hospital Board, the City Council and Hospital Board approved Northfield City + Hospital Playbook indicates that, “To maximize success, there is recognized value in maintaining cohesive alignment of the City Council and Hospital Board. Therefore, it may be a strategic advantage to have one or two active City Council members or the Mayor serve as a seated Hospital Board member while they also serve in elected office.” This may be a particularly relevant issue considering the current environment both for the Northfield Hospital & Clinics and those in the region and nation.
Other boards and commissions Council could decide to place Council representative(s) on, but did not in 2025, include:
Library Board
Heritage Preservation Commission
Human Rights Commission
It should be acknowledged that the City Council have additional obligations starting in 2026 serving as the Housing & Redevelopment Authority Board. This will require additional time for Councilors to familiarize themselves, in greater detail, with the work of the HRA and to provide full governance to that commission.
Additionally, staff is exploring public engagement opportunities for the City Council. The added time commitments of these should be considered along with how many boards, commissions, and committees Council Members are serving on.
Starting in 2026, the board and commission timeline shifts to April appointments with a May start date. However, some boards, commissions, and committees will still need to be on a January 1st start date. Because of this, the following Council appointments were approved by the City Council on December 2, 2025:
Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) All members of Council
Council Employment Committee Dahlen, Holmes and Ness
City/Hospital Governance Committee Peterson White, Holmes and Zweifel
Age Friendly Steering Committee* Ness
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon* Beumer
Convention and Visitors Bureau Board Ness
Friends of Downtown Northfield* Peterson White
Hiawathaland Transit Advisory Committee* Peterson White
Mayor’s Youth Council* Zweifel
Mill Towns Trail Joint Powers Board Dahlen and Sokup
Rice/Steele 911 Center Board * Ness
*These committees are optional but were appointed for 2026. For next year’s appointments, they can be added to the larger Council discussion.
Alternative Options:
See attached slides for summary view of the options. The following is a written summary with
some additional explanations under Option #2.
Option #1 The City Council places Council representation for the coming year (May 2026-April 2027) on only required boards and commissions and not any additional optional ones.
Option #2 The City Council places Council representation for the coming year (May 2026-April 2027) on required boards and commissions along with the Hospital Board and NAFRS.
* NAFRS is identified due to the importance of the budgeting process for there to be support of the Council in funding and the related importance of interdependency of the joint powers board. The other members do have elected leadership on their boards from their respective political jurisdictions.
**The Hospital inclusion relates to the reference in the “Northfield City + Hospital Playbook” that it may be strategic to have one or two active City Council members on the board. This seems to be a particularly important environment to consider keeping a Council representative on the board (Peterson White has been serving).
Option #3 The City Council places Council representation for the coming year (May 2026-April 2027) on all required and optional boards or commissions.
Option #4 Some other combination the City Council may prefer.
Per City Charter and City Code, Mayor Zweifel would bring forward the actual individual to
serve for confirmation at an upcoming Council meeting dependent on Council determination of
which boards to include for 2026.
Financial Impacts:
N/A
Tentative Timelines:
January 6, 2026 Mayoral board and commission appointments brought to Council for select boards and commission on the January-December timeline (NAFRS).
April 7, 2026 Mayoral board and commission appointments brought to Council boards and commissions on the May-April timeline.