BEMIDJI 鈥� Beltrami County has two new properties under consideration for the county jail, after withdrawing its purchase agreement for a previous property last month.
The properties, dubbed the Nymore/Crown Property and Quello Property were discussed by the Beltrami County Board of Commissioners during a special meeting on Aug. 7 that included details about each location.
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The Nymore/Crown Property, located on Pioneer Street Southeast and with secondary access to Railroad Street Southeast measures 9.2 acres and is zoned as general industrial. All of its property is usable, and it is not wooded and has no pre-existing structures.
The Quello Property is located on Carr Lake Road Southeast and is 10 acres, all of which are usable. It is moderately level, moderately wooded and zoned as industrial or light industrial.
The county noted that both properties have good access to the highway and to town, and were ranked second and third in the updated scoring, respectively. The owner of the highest-ranking property is unwilling to sell the land to the county and so it is currently not under consideration.
鈥淭hese are the two properties the county has been closing in on, if you will,鈥� said Beltrami County Administrator Tom Barry. 鈥淏ecause one of them is likely to be pursued we are holding a public hearing to collect information and comments and maybe answer some questions.鈥�
The public hearing on these locations will be held at 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 15, at the County Administration Building in Bemidji.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking for feedback, essentially, on these two properties,鈥� Barry said.
The county had previously considered the Wiebolt Property for the location of the new county jail, however, the community expressed its disapproval of the location and the county withdrew its purchase agreement.
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Much of the opposition to the property related to its location near a residential area and concerns from the public that it was too far removed from essential services in downtown Bemidji.
After hearing the public鈥檚 feedback, the county adjusted its scoring criteria to consider a broader definition of community impact. After a moratorium was issued by the local zoning authority, the county has also disqualified properties zoned as residential from consideration.
A project for a new jail was approved by the county board last November after the Department of Corrections found in 2019 that the county鈥檚 current facility no longer meets standards.
It鈥檚 estimated that the cost of building a new jail will come to around $80 million. The county is pursuing a local option sales tax to help fund the project, which will be presented to voters to approve during November鈥檚 general election.
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