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BEMIDJI — The Bemidji City Council held separate public hearings Monday evening for two notable road projects after approving public hearing dates in January.

After the hearings concluded, the council approved each project unanimously and City Engineer Sam Anderson said he believes both will begin in the spring, as soon as the roads and weather, permit. He also suspects both projects will be worked on throughout the summer and will conclude sometime in October.

The first project will reconstruct .9 miles of city streets, stretching through Hannah Avenue NW, Norton Avenue NW, 14th Street NW, Taft Avenue NE and Mill Street NE.

The project will provide stretches of sidewalk in various locations and will also reconstruct or add sewer main lines. Additionally, the project will provide metal light poles to Hannah Avenue NW and Paul Bunyan Drive.

Some rural roads included in the project will be urbanized to include curbs and gutters while paving existing gravel roads. Other segments of the project aim to narrow, widen or make the road width consistent. Each road included in the project has a different goal.

Courtesy / City of Bemidji

One resident who lives on 14th Street NW spoke during public comment and stated that water collection has been an issue on their street. They also mentioned that the city laid asphalt to deal with the issue in the past. The resident then asked if this project would fix the street's persistent issue.

"The plan up to 14th Street is actually a rural street now, there is no curb and gutter," Anderson explained. "We are planning to urbanize to implement curb and gutter. ... It should be an improvement."

Completing this project in a timely manner is important as Hannah Avenue NW will be slated as one of the detour roads while the Highway 197 reconstruction project takes place in 2026.

The second project will reconstruct around .5 miles of city street between Park Avenue NW and 15th Street NW. This project aims to narrow the road from 36 feet with a curb to 30 feet with a curb while implementing calendar parking year-round — the stretch currently does not implement calendar parking.

This hearing also drew one resident during public comment. The resident of Park Avenue asked why the project needed to be done as from his perspective, the area did not need reconstruction.

"The scope of the project does include a significant replacement of existing water main. The other big driver for this is the sewer and it was in dire need of replacement; we've had some issues with that," Anderson explained. "When we did that work in the '90s, we did not replace a lot of it. Some of (the project is) a totality of all the other infrastructure that has to be redone."

This project will also replace the current sidewalk but will not replace existing light poles.

Courtesy / City of Bemidji

Anderson expects both projects to be done in October. After the projects conclude, the city will hold a final assessment hearing. This will provide a final assessment of the project as well as provide the final cost. The cost of the first project comes at an estimate of $1,746,963 and the second is estimated at $2,214,115. Anderson explained that the costs can fluctuate but shouldn't change by much.

This hearing will give the council and city residents another chance to ask questions to learn about the projects and their effect on the city.

"There is another opportunity if there are questions about specific assessments at the end of this process," Anderson said. "I just want to make sure everybody is well informed and understood that."

More specific details of what will ensue on each road included in these projects can be found on the

The council then discussed different charter ordinances — each was amended and needed the full support of the council in order to be officially published. The can be viewed under the "Government" tab of the city of Bemidji website.

Four of these changes failed while another four passed:

• The Council-Manager Charter, Chapter 2 "Form of Government," Section 2.05, "Vacancies" failed.
• The Council-Manager Charter, Chapter 2 "Form of Government," Section 2.08, "Investigation of City Affairs" failed.
• The Council-Manager Charter, Chapter 3 “Council Procedure," Section 3.03, "President Pro Tem" failed.
• The Council-Manager Charter, Chapter 3 “Council Procedure," Section 3.06, "Procedure on Ordinances" passed.
• The Council-Manager Charter, Chapter 3 “Council Procedure," Section 3.10, "When Ordinances and Resolutions Take Effect" passed.
• The Council-Manager Charter, Chapter 5 “Initiative and Referendum," Section 5.07, "Recall" passed.
• The Council-Manager Charter, Chapter 6 “Administration of City Affairs," Section 6.02, "Powers and Duties of the City Manager" failed.
• The Council-Manager Charter, Chapter 12 “General Provisions," Section 12.12, "Damage Suits" passed.

The "Power and Duties of the City Manager" ordinance in particular caught the eye of the council. The proposed change solely cleaned up language to match the Minnesota Legislature. Mayor Jorge Prince stated that the ordinance needed further work as the only change was adding "or persons" under Subdivision 8 of the ordinance.

He mentioned that after the removal of City Manager Nate Matthews in April 2023, the city was unable to appoint an interim city manager due to the language in this specific ordinance.

"I'm not living in the role of hypotheticals; I lived this two years ago and what came out of it was we were not able to appoint an interim city manager because the appointment of the city manager is, in fact, indefinite," Prince explained. "I don't see how this language cleanup really solves the major issue, which was that, at least from my perspective."

During the time leading up to current City Manager Rich Spiczka taking on the role in December 2023, City Clerk Michelle Miller was tasked with the city manager duties on top of her regular work.

Prince asked that the ordinance be further workshopped to address this issue. This specific ordinance failed with a vote of 4-3, as unanimous approval was needed to be accepted.

The full meeting can be viewed on the city's website,