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BEMIDJI — The Beltrami County Commissioners heard a multitude of updates during their Tuesday evening meeting. Chief among them was an update to which is the subject of a revision.

Beltrami County Soil & Water Conservation District Manager Brent Rud mentioned that the changes are to streamline the ordinance, as it has not been updated since 2006.

The revision aims to delete unnecessary sections and standards, clarify existing practices, clean up any confusing sections and create new tables and appendices to make ordinance navigation easier. Broadly, this translates to amended definitions, revised lake classifications and new or revised standards.

It also adds sections, like one for solar collectors; deletes sections like the one for septic systems, which has a separate ordinance and creates new rules, like validating permits for two years instead of one. Other changes will touch on patios and platforms, guest quarters, earthmoving and resorts.

The planning commission will approve a final revision on April 28. This decision will use feedback gathered from an April 7 public hearing alongside notes from the commissioners.

One final public hearing will follow before the ordinance is presented for a vote. At the earliest, the hearing could take place during the second board meeting in May but is not officially set.

Once the ordinance is approved, county townships will need to review their own to ensure it is up to date.

At the tail-end of the work session, the commissioners added a new item to the regular meeting, a bid from BCI Construction Inc. The last-minute addition was to improve and remodel the Bemidji transfer station office and enhance the Blackduck transfer station carport.

The county set the project's budget at over $2.3 million. When the bid came in at $2,105,000, the county rushed to approve it.

Solid Waste Director Brian Olson explained that supplies are rapidly fluctuating in cost as the market is volatile. He worried that the bid would become obsolete if the board waited to approve it, hence the rush.

"(It's) 10% less than what we had projected," said Olson. "That's why I'm coming before the board. I think that there's some sense of urgency on this: tariffs (and) everything that's going on in the world right now, it's a very fluid environment."

The board approved the project bid in a 3-2 vote, with District 2 Commissioner Joe Gould and District 4 Commissioner Tim Sumner opposed.

Sumner expressed support for the bid, the project and the cost, but wished that it was saved for the next meeting or that it became the sole focus of a special meeting in between, citing concern with the rush. Sumner also stated that simply adding a placeholder to the agenda would have been a better solution.

Gould shared a similar sentiment. Without it on the published agenda, anyone interested in the topic would not be in attendance to speak for or against it during the public comment.

Despite these concerns, board policy does allow the commissioners to add an item to the agenda if they deem it important.

Another contentious moment surrounded the bid's language which states that it will stay open for 30 days. It does not necessarily state that the price would lock for 30 days, however.

"They're not required to fulfill (the price)," District 1 Commissioner Craig Gaasvig stated. "They would not lose money on the job. If they had a significant cost increase overnight, that would be something where I could see them pulling their bid, and then all of a sudden, we're out (of those) savings."

Olson corroborated this by stating that one of the contractors for the project saw a large increase in material cost, leading to a higher bid than the one approved. This, in part, led to the urgency to lock the bid price by approving it as soon as possible.

Natural Resource Management Director Shane Foley provided a 2024 budget and profit report for the commissioners. The department had a gross income of $1,560,654 with a net revenue of $780,749 after expenses.

"These last two years, 2023 and 2024, have been better than the last several years," Foley explained. "But 2024 was really good for us. ... Our office is really privileged to run as a business. All of us in that office really enjoy that aspect of it and take pride in being as profitable as we can be."

The department's profit is distributed throughout the county based on where it was earned, split via districts.

Here is a breakdown of where NRM's profits ended up:

• County school districts were awarded just over $156,000, with $122,000 for Bemidji ÍáÍáÂþ»­ District, $32,000 for Blackduck ÍáÍáÂþ»­ District and $2,000 for Kelliher ÍáÍáÂþ»­ District.
• County townships were awarded just over $78,000, with $30,500 for District 1, $21,500 for District 3, $20,000 for District 4 and $6,000 for District 5. District 2 was not awarded profit as it does not offer timber sales.
• County parks were awarded $156,149.
• County development funds were awarded $44,893.
• Timber development funds were awarded $189,331.
• The county general fund received $156,149.

"Those numbers fluctuate based on where timber sales actually happened," Foley explained. "District 1 kind of has the benefit of having a gravel pit that a fair amount of revenue comes through in Turtle River Township. Turtle River Township is kind of the township that gets (the) most revenue in most years, or the highest number of dollars each year."

Beltrami County Historical Society Executive Director Emily Thabes provided a comprehensive update for the commissioners, including efforts to digitize Beltrami County history via She also mentioned that the history museum has successfully replaced shelving and storage housing for all on-site artifacts and that it is still set to get an HVAC upgrade soon, courtesy of the city of Bemidji.

Thabes thanked the board for its $7,500 contribution each year, which is roughly 10% of the museum's total budget.

"Your annual contribution helps us to leverage over $70,000 each year in competitive grant funding," Thabes explained, "and that's a really powerful return on investment. It helps us to retain staff, deliver free and low-cost programs and make history accessible across Bemidji and the county."

Thabes finished by providing a list of events coming to the museum, which can be found on its  This year's theme is "empowering women: Beltrami County's journey toward equality."

Following the meeting, the commissioners highlighted an upcoming meeting about the Northern Township Wastewater Treatment Facility project. They confirmed that it will feature a public comment.

This informational meeting will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22, in Bemidji State's Beaux Arts Ballroom.

The commissioners will next meet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, in the County Board Room, preceded by a work session at 3 p.m. All meetings can be viewed on the county's