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BEMIDJI — A myriad of topics, including an update to the were discussed during the Tuesday Beltrami County Board meeting.

The CSAH 20 project, taking place on a stretch of Birchmont Beach Road between CSAH 21 and County Road 414, has been in the works for roughly seven years and is expected to begin next year.

Courtesy / Beltrami County Highway Division

A few issues surfaced once the Public Works Department began researching the right-of-way. These issues were resolved, aside from one, which requires more work.

In the 1920s, a portion of the project area's right-of-way was not designated to the county during work done at the time. Instead, it still belongs to the 1920s developer.

"The underlying land was never deeded over to the county, so that was just found when we started looking at this project," Public Works Director Bruce Hasbargen said. "We've assumed we've had that right-of-way since that time. We would like to get that cleared up."

Thus, Hasbargen requested that the board approve a resolution to utilize condemnation, a court proceeding to determine the property owner.

"Condemnation would provide the right of way in the timeliest manner," Hasbargen wrote in a "In condemnation proceedings, the county makes a case that there is a transportation need for the right of way and if granted, we immediately have the right of way. The valuation of the acquisition is done separately and is the only decision that can be appealed."

District 2 Commissioner Joe Gould requested the board table the item to a later date to hold a larger discussion, potentially adding a public hearing.

"I wonder if we shouldn't table this resolution, just stepping back and looking big picture at everything that's going on in our county and city and neighboring townships," Gould said. "I've never had a good feeling about this road project since the start of it. Never been a big fan of eminent domain and condemnation. I just think this is government overreach and too much bureaucracy, and we're opening ourselves up for yet another lawsuit with this."

District 2 Commissioner Scott Winger chimed in.

"I just wanted to clarify the condemnation," Winger began, "isn't removing anybody from a home or anything like that. I just wanted to clarify that."

District 5 Commissioner John Carlson added to the discussion.

"This is a couple of parcels of land, a few parcels of land that aren't owned by any existing landowners," Carlson said. "All the existing land owners have already agreed to transfer over their property. This is not government overreach. This is resolving an issue that's been ongoing for over 100 years, just because someone forgot to file a title. It's not taking any land that we didn't already have and used for the last 100 years."

Ultimately, the board approved the resolution 3-2, with Gould and District 4 Commissioner Tim Sumner opposing.

During the work session, the commissioners heard from Public Health Director Amy Bowles regarding the annual opioid settlement funding allocation.

These Beltrami County funds are used to support local organizations in an effort to deal with the opioid epidemic. The board was asked to approve up to $70,050 to be distributed to five local entities — Face it Together, the Bemidji Fire Department, Stellher Human Services, Nameless Coalition for Homeless and the State of Minnesota Drug Court — during the consent agenda.

The motion was not approved in the consent agenda; instead, Carlson moved it to new business and then led a 3-2 vote to table the item for a later date.

"Generally, I would be in favor of following a committee's recommendation; we typically do that," Carlson said. "I did still have a couple of questions, and I didn't find that there was necessarily an urgency to do that this week. I would really love to table this until next meeting, so we get a little bit more opportunity to see those proposals between now and then.

"I think generally I'm going to be in favor of it, but I just really would like to have that two-week period to do that."

When it came up in new business, Sumner made a motion to approve and Gould seconded. Then Carlson made his motion to table the item, which sparked confusion. County Attorney David Hanson then clarified that a motion to table takes precedence over a motion to approve, leading to the 3-2 vote to table. Sumner and Gould were the dissenting votes.

“We're not experts in mental health and drug addiction," Gould said. "There was a committee of experts from the community, from Health and Human Services, from the sheriff's department (deciding where the money should be allotted), we should not invalidate their work.

"A lot of these organizations' budgets are $50,000, $100,000, so this money is more important to them than it is to us. These are people who are hurting in our community, as you know. These are other organizations that can provide services that the county doesn't provide right now."

The board will likely revisit this topic during the next meeting.

The board approved its consent agenda, but one item was revisited at the tail-end of the meeting. This item, which asked the board to approve a bid to construct a bike trail between Bemidji High ÍáÍáÂþ»­ and Jefferson Avenue, did not have an attached bid amount. Hasbargen later found that the bid was greater than the project budget.

Thus, the board was required to rescind its consent agenda vote, reopen it to remove the item and hold two separate votes to approve the consent agenda and amend the bike trail item.

The amendment allows Hasbargen to make cuts to ensure the bid is affordable. Sumner posed two motions to table the discussion for the next meeting, but was unsuccessful. The amendment passed 3-1. Gould left the meeting early and was not present for the vote.

The board discussed Beltrami County's Shoreline Management Ordinance, which is being updated. Updates are to streamline the ordinance, making it more user-friendly. Two more steps must be taken before the ordinance can be adopted, including a public comment and conditional approval from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. These will happen before the board approves the newly drafted ordinance.

The county's Solid Waste Ordinance is being updated as well.

On June 3, the board will hold a public hearing where constituents can learn about and discuss changes.

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