BEMIDJI 鈥� Monday evening鈥檚 Bemidji City Council meeting was prefaced by a special open house for Ward 3 Councilor Ron Johnson, celebrating his 24 years of service to the city.
Johnson has been on the council since 2000, but due to redistricting in 2022, he was unable to run for the seat and instead ran for the Ward 1 position in the Nov. 5 general election against incumbent Gwenia Fiskevold Gould, who won 509 to Johnson's 381 votes. Mark Dickinson was elected as the new Ward 3 representative on the council, leaving Monday night as Johnson's final meeting.
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Following the open house, the regular meeting saw a smattering of topics and presentations including an annual report from Visit Bemidji and two public hearings regarding the 2025-2029 Capital Improvement Plans, followed by the approval of the 2025 tax levy increase.
City of Bemidji CIP
The first public hearing focused on the city's Capital Improvement Plan with Donna Coe, the city鈥檚 finance director, explaining some of the key changes to the plan for the 2025 budget.
A few items of note were $45,000 for upgrades in the city-owned portion of the Law Enforcement Center. There was also an additional increase of $150,000 for annual street reconstruction projects, leaving it at a total of $535,000.
Other changes included a new MCPA 25 project for public works, which is set at $132,500, and the City Hall land purchase valued at $500,000, although this land purchase doesn鈥檛 have funding yet.
After a few clarifying questions from councilors, the hearing concluded with the council approving the 2025-2029 City CIP unanimously.
Sanford Center CIP
The second public hearing addressed the Sanford Center鈥檚 2025-2029 CIP. Bobby Anderson, the general manager of the Sanford Center, began by emphasizing that the plan is a continuation of what has been in the works for the past six years.
"As far as the overall capital investment spending this year, it was approximately $421,000," he added.
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He continued by outlining the 2025 budget for repairs.
"There's a lot of curbing that needs to be repaired," he said, adding that no masonry work was done last year. "There's a ton of sidewalk that's chipping out that needs to be repaired. The ADA rumble strips by the road crossings are all completely gone, as well as a lot of the benches and sidewalks are also in need of serious repair."
He then laid out some funding priorities.
"Safety, security, ADA compliance, return on investment, things like that, that can directly potentially reflect the bottom line of our budget,鈥� Anderson said.
The hearing concluded with no major questions and unanimous approval of the 2025-2029 Sanford Center CIP.
2025 tax levy finalization
Once finalizing the CIPs, the council discussed a resolution to pass the final tax levy for 2025, set at $8.45 million, which represents a 4.76% increase over 2024.
鈥淵ou see before you a little bit different number than you saw last time. It is a reduced number," City Manager Rich Spiczka explained in opening. "A lot of staff work went into trying to be as efficient as possible."
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He added that the most important thing for the councilors to consider in moving forward with the budget number was to find a baseline where the city could operate and while still addressing overall needs. He also emphasized that staff didn't feel anything was being neglected with the current levy amount.
Coe then provided the councilors with a breakdown of the levy totals.
"The (packet) information shows you the breakdown of what will be showing up in our financials for the property taxes in the general ledger fund of $7.4 million, Sanford Center $210,000, Street Improvement, $535,000 and the bonds, $300,971," Coe said. "That equals the total levy amount of $8.450 million, which is a 4.76% increase from 2024鈥檚 levy."
Ward 4 Councilor Emelie Rivera inquired about how the levy would affect average homeowners.
Coe replied that they had previously found the average impact on a $230,000 home would be approximately $88, though she noted it would vary from one household to another, with this lower levy amount reflecting an even lower increase to property taxes if there would be one at all.
This process was not without challenges, and Ward 5 Councilor Lynn Eaton acknowledged the hard work of city staff that led to the reduced levy amount.
鈥淲e started down this path at a 10% increase,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was hoping to keep it under 9%. There were those wanting to keep it under 7% and now we're just over four and three quarters and I just want to express my appreciation to the city manager, our financial management and all the department heads really did a nice job doing the right thing for the community. So, thanks so much."
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The remaining members of the council echoed these sentiments, appreciative of the lower levy amount while still finding a way to meet community needs.
The 2025 tax levy was then approved unanimously by the council.
Johnson reflects on years of service
At the conclusion of the meeting, Johnson delivered his farewell speech at the final meeting of his term. He began by expressing gratitude to the mayor and the rest of the city council along with city staff for the open house held in his honor.
Reflecting on his time in office, Johnson shared a photo from his first council meeting and recalled the start of his career on the council, supported by his family.
"My wife and my daughter, they were here to see me get sworn in. And (my wife) Carol is here tonight. My daughter would be here, but I had front-row seats to the Bears game, and I鈥檇 like to have been there, too, but I had a council meeting," Johnson said with a smile, acknowledging the sacrifices his family made during his years of service.
"In 24 years of council meetings, workshops, trainings, you miss a lot of things. You鈥檙e away from the family a lot. So a supportive family is really important. Actually, it's essential to a committed council member," Johnson said.
He also shared a life-altering experience in 2014 that deepened his appreciation for the importance of fully funding the fire and police departments.
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"I was racing in the Dragon Boats, and my heart stopped. Fortunately, my team got me to shore, and there were a lot of EMTs hanging around Dragon Boat races, and they were able to get me to the medical tent and give me CPR," he recalled. "One of the persons who jumped me to life is in the room tonight, our Fire Chief, Justin Sherwood. He鈥檚 one of the ones that saved my life."
He also spoke about the accomplishments of the city, including the relationships forged with neighboring tribes.
鈥淚 want to particularly call out this particular council, especially council members Thayer and Mayor Prince, for the improved relationship that we've made with all three of our neighboring tribes,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淲e had stabs at it early on, all through the last 24 years. But I think we've really made some great strides. 鈥� And displaying all three neighboring tribal flags in the city hall are just a couple of tribal milestones that I'm proud to say I was part of.鈥�
He noted with pride that he began his political tenure on the council by serving with the first Indigenous man ever to serve on the Bemidji City Council, Herb South. And he is ending his tenure with the first Indigenous woman to serve on the council, Audrey Thayer.
In closing, Johnson expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to serve Bemidji, acknowledging the council's collective efforts and the city's progress.
鈥淭hanks for allowing me to address you all," he concluded. "Thanks for your support, thanks for your trust and thanks for the memories."
The Trust Project
