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BEMIDJI 鈥� The Bemidji City Council convened on Monday evening for a hefty meeting, with the most discussion focusing on the State Highway 197 project, the Preliminary Tax Levy for 2025 and the Sanford Center's financial status.

A public hearing on the Minnesota Department of Transportation's final layout for the State Highway 197 project was the next step in a years-long process to reconstruct the section of highway that runs through Bemidji's city center.

Matt Upgren, MnDOT Project Manager, outlined the years of planning and community involvement.

鈥淭onight is the culmination of two separate corridor studies spanning a couple of years of a piece," Upgren said. "Plus a couple more years of roadway planning, design and adaptations to this corridor and community.鈥�

The project aims to improve safety and traffic flow along the Highway 197 corridor, with features like roundabouts, intersection realignments and multi-use paths.

"We will also be installing a new structural snow fence along the airport fence to alleviate blowing and drifting snow concerns in that intersection," Upgren noted.

He emphasized community involvement in shaping the project.

"Since 2018, there has been some form of public engagement going on. Over 30 businesses were interviewed by the Corridor Study Group back in 2018-21," he explained. "Then more recently, over the course of the past two years, we sat down in person with 25 individual business owners."

The project has secured significant funding, including an $18 million and an additional $5 million matching grant. These funds are essential for completing the project within budget.

Upgren also highlighted safety benefits, referencing a 2023 MnDOT study that found roundabouts deliver reductions in fatal and serious injury crashes for all users in Minnesota on the more than 450 roundabouts that exist today.

A key element of the project includes roundabouts at the Menards entrance and at Hannah Avenue, which will require detours.

"We expect to see over a 40% reduction in delay at Menard鈥檚 access and Hannah Avenue,鈥� Upgren said.

During the public hearing, several Bemidji residents came forward to share their views on the project.

Bemidji resident Charles Biberg voiced his concerns, requesting a more complete design: "What I would like to see from the mayor and the council is that, hypothetically, in two months' time, a 50% design is presented that hammers out some of these concerns."

Muriel Gilman, a Northern Township resident, supported the project, particularly from a cyclist鈥檚 perspective: "As a multimodal transporting person, I like this design. It may not be perfect, but I used to travel on my bike ... with this project, a person can now pretty safely maneuver through the roundabouts."

Scott Turn, executive director of the Bemidji Chamber of Commerce, raised concerns about the financial impact on local businesses.

"I have heard a little bit about cost, and it's not going to cost the taxpayers any money," Turn said, "but we do know there is going to be a cost to the businesses along this corridor."

Craig Little, representing Lueken鈥檚 Village Foods, expressed concern about the incomplete design and long-term impacts.

"You don't give your municipal consent on a plan that's only 30% in play here. It scares the crap out of me as a business owner," he said before adding his worries about future expansions. "We've got a grant for one half of this, but we don't have a plan for the other half of this."

Despite these concerns, most attendees agreed that improvements to Highway 197 were necessary for the long-term benefit of the community.

Mayor Jorge Prince expressed his hesitation about approving the project with only 30% of the plans complete.

"We are talking about fundamentally changing the entrance to our city for decades," he said. "We鈥檙e being asked to do that with 30% of the information. That causes me a certain amount of hesitation."

At-Large Councilor Audrey Thayer also raised concerns about the appearance of the roundabouts and their reflection on the city, mentioning feedback from residents.

"There's also been (letters to the editor) in the paper about the roundabouts looking pitiful,鈥� she added.

After these comments, Ward 3 Councilor Ron Johnson shared his support for postponing the vote until more information could be presented.

The councilors initially voted 4-3 against approving municipal consent. After further discussion, they voted 6-1, with Peterson against, to revisit the final layout at the next regular meeting in a few weeks.

During the meeting, the council also discussed the 2025 Preliminary Tax Levy, with a proposed rate of 10.3%.

City Manager Richard Spiczka explained the need to approve the levy by Sept. 30.

鈥淭his is just an initial budget forecast that identifies the amount we feel is our current approximate need to maintain current operations and level of service along with some capital expenditures,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e prefer to go a little high initially," Thayer said. "I would definitely look at us having a little bit of a higher mark this time around.鈥�

Ward 2 Councilor Josh Peterson strongly opposed a double-digit levy increase, adding 鈥淚 will not ever support a double-digit tax levy increase. 9.9% is my cap.鈥�

Ward 1 Councilor Gwenia Fiskevold Gould favored starting high and lowering the levy if necessary.

"It is better to set people's standards at a certain place," she said. "And then if it's lowered, then that's better."

Mayor Prince highlighted the challenge of making decisions without the full scope of the financials.

鈥淭his is really not a great situation to be in because we're setting this levy without our audited financials from last year," he said.

The council deferred the decision and will revisit the levy in a work session on Sept. 23.

City Manager Spiczka requested approval for $350,000 from city reserves for working capital at the Sanford Center.

"The memo in front of you is requesting a motion from the council to approve staff to use $350,000 from city reserves to provide working capital to the Sanford Center," he explained.

The motion passed unanimously without much significant discussion.

Another agenda item of note was considering a proposal to replace the aging electric boiler at the Public Works facility.

"We鈥檝e been putting a lot of money into an existing electric boiler that鈥檚 original to the building," City Engineer Sam Anderson explained. "We spent about $15,000 to fix it once. Some of those same heating elements and some additional ones are looking like they are starting to wear out."

The council reviewed bids for the project, with the lowest bid coming from Gregg鈥檚 Plumbing and Heating at $87,929. The total project cost, including design and contingency fees, was estimated at $110,000.

Anderson recommended replacing the electric boiler with a natural gas model, which he noted is 鈥渁 much more efficient and a smaller unit."

Peterson expressed support but raised concerns about the repeated use of ARPA funds.

"We keep nickeling and diming away the ARPA funds," Peterson said. He pointed to other city priorities, including the Sanford Center marquee, which he mentioned was "only half working" with hockey season approaching.

It was agreed that a separate meeting needs to be held to address ARPA funding for different projects.

Despite the concerns, the council unanimously approved the motion to award the bid in the amount of $87,929 to Gregg鈥檚 Plumbing and Heating for replacing the boiler, using ARPA funds.