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BEMIDJI — At Monday's Bemidji City Council meeting, officials expressed that cleanup efforts will continue throughout July and beyond following the devastating storm that traveled through the area on June 21.

Although no schedule for cleanup exists, the city is prioritizing the worst areas and aims to reach everyone before making second trips for free curbside pickup.

Traveling through harder-hit areas, like Lake Avenue NE, is more difficult and will take time for city crews. Additionally, the city is still trying to figure out how to collect tree debris from private roads.

City Engineer Sam Anderson believes a timetable for curbside pickup will be established later this month and that the city has made good progress in collecting debris thus far.

This cleanup effort is backed by a Local Emergency extension that will last until July 22, allowing city crews to continue surveying storm damage to ensure everything is reviewed and addressed. The extension was made during Monday's meeting.

The initial declaration was made on June 21 and coincided with a Beltrami County State of Emergency Declaration made earlier on the same day.

Since the area does not qualify for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding, Bemidji is partially responsible for funding its recovery. A Peacetime Emergency Declaration made by Gov. Tim Walz on June 27 will provide a 75% reimbursement toward infrastructure repairs.

The reimbursement does not cover the cost of lost trees in city parks unless they specifically damaged infrastructure.

Therefore, the city is still considering options for how to revitalize its parks, as more than 200 trees at Diamond Point Park alone fell or were damaged.

The city could use emergency funds to pay for damages to its parks. Councilors spoke in favor of devising a plan to utilize its emergency funds to help the parks, private homeowners and businesses, though no official decision has been made as of yet.

To further help residents, the city has been waiving late fees associated with water bills, partially due to slowed mail service. There has been no internal conversation to determine how long the city will offer this benefit following the storm.

The city has also created an inventory to monitor trees that still hang on powerlines. The inventory has determined which trees pose the greatest risk and with time, all will be safely removed.

Anderson was asked if the collected trees could be reused for construction or other efforts. He explained that the collected limbs and trunks would likely be used to make mulch, as they are not deemed reusable based on the way they were knocked over.

Currently, the city is working with five tree service crews and will likely not add more as it becomes a logistical problem to manage each, according to Anderson.

City Manager Rich Spiczka did offer advice for those who are seeking tree removal services, namely to gather multiple bids, not to pay upfront and to research what such a project should cost and if the removal service is reliable.

Those with questions regarding the recovery process can reach out to the city, as every individual nuance could not be addressed during the meeting.

The council approved a resolution during Monday's meeting to rescind the termination of former paid on-call firefighter Bill Batchelder.

Batchelder held his position at the Bemidji Fire Department from 1985 until 2023, when an off-duty incident that occurred in January led to an investigation that revealed alleged misconduct. He was placed on non-disciplinary administrative leave as the allegations were investigated, but he was later terminated in May 2023.

Batchelder appealed the termination to the City Merit Hearing Board; the city denied the appeal. However, the appeal process was delayed and a hearing had not occurred.

Now, the approved resolution reinstates his employment, effective May 17, 2023. It states that Batchelder was on leave from May 17, 2023, to January 1, 2025. From this date, Batchelder has agreed to voluntarily resign and retire from the department.

"Based on further review and consideration of the totality of the circumstances related to the appeal, the city determined that proceeding further with the appeal is not warranted," the resolution stated. "(The) city and William Batchelder mutually feel that it is in the best interests of each party to avoid the time, expense, effort and risk of proceeding with the appeal."

The city is prepared to pay a lump sum payment of $80,000 to Batchelder from payroll funds. This includes compensation and benefits as established by law through his last date of employment with city.

"Neither (the) city nor William Batchelder admits to any legal liability or violation of any contract or law, or that it or he has engaged in any wrongdoing in this matter," the resolution stated. "Nothing in this agreement shall be construed to be an admission by either (the) city or William Batchelder of any liability, violation, or wrongdoing."

This action was taken during the consent agenda and did not spark conversation between councilors.

The council will next meet for a planning board meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, July 14, at City Hall. All meetings can be viewed on the