Bits From Around Bemidji: Community Initiatives Worth Checking Out

Do you ever feel like there is so much going on in Bemidji that it is hard to keep up? ME TOO! Here are some really cool things that are happening in Bemidji thanks to volunteers (and paid staff) who are stepping up and making our community better.

Active Living
“Active Living is a way of life that integrates physical activity into daily routines.” This initiative is funded by a contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield through their foundation, Prevention Minnesota and the tobacco settlement money. They are the organization behind the "Do" campaign. This is the first year of a four year initiative. Their project includes "Fit City Bemidji." Wondering what there is to do for recreational activity in Bemidji? They have listed just about every possible activity available in the Bemidji area (including phone numbers), here.

Shared Vision
"Shared Vision is a community effort to address the issue of racial diversity and racial disparity." Based on information gathered through a community survey, this group of community volunteers has proposed a set of goals and strategies for improving the community. They have organized several strategies under these categories:

• Cultural Understanding and Respect
• Educational Attainment and Skill Development
• Civic Engagement and Leadership
• Economic Opportunities

This group has been very successful at getting Ojibwe language signs up in nearly 100 business and government locations in Bemidji. Their next big project is sponsoring Leadership in Ethnically Diverse Communities with the Blandin Foundation. The program is designed to help a diverse group of community members effectively engage across cultural differences to create a more inclusive community of Bemidji.

You can (should) sign up. The program is four sessions spread out over two months. All program sessions will be held at the Hampton Inn in Bemidji, MN, and each participant is asked to attend all four sessions. The sessions are from 9am to 1pm except the first session which is 9am until 5:30 pm on first day (May 5) and (May 6). The other dates of this free program will be May 19th, June 2nd and June 17th. Call Becky Adams at 877-882-2257 to register. Register sooner than later. Did I mention that it's FREE?

Community Resource Connections (CRC)
"Community Resource Connections, Inc. exists for the purpose of improving access to and the effectiveness of community services through collaboration, coordination & integration." Their website has an amazing search tool that will help you locate service providers and agencies in the Bemidji Area. When you click on "Find Service," you will be able to browse service providers by service or by name. For example, if I want to find all the "disability supports," it will bring up twenty-two providers with links to their information or website. Pretty awesome. CRC is currently working on a volunteer matching site that will be searchable for types of volunteer opportunities available in the community. No link yet. They are beta testing it right now, but when it goes live, I will let you know.

A New Chief Bemidji Statue?

Do you think the current Chief Bemidji Statue in Library Park should be replaced? A group of local volunteers does. They have been meeting over the past nine months or so to figure out how to make that happen. At Monday's (3/15/10) council meeting, the council will formally appoint the committee to work on a process for a new statue. A list of the proposed committee members is listed on page 8 of the council agenda. The committee invites your comments on their blog.

Documenting Pre-contact History
The Beltrami County History Center received a Legacy Grant of $6,990 to hire a professional historian to complete research and documentation of an archaeological site of a Woodland Period fishing camp (1,000-3,000 years ago), in preparation for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Thirty-one organizations from 18 counties received a total of $147,955 in January. Congrats to the History Center for being one of them! Their website also has information about upcoming history center events.

These initiatives are aimed at improving our community and are only a few of the great things that local volunteers are doing to make Bemidji a better place to live. Can you share any others?

Want to Connect? Pay Up

If the city can't assess the Northern Township properties that will benefit from city sewer and water utilities, they can apparently charge a connection fee equal to the proposed assessment. You may recall that annexation has been delayed for two years in order to settle the Birchmont Drive assessment process. Northern Twp is in the process of re-assessing all the affected properties because of a lawsuit challenging the original assessment.

The council will be asked to act on a resolution setting the fee for the affected properties at their meeting Monday (3/15/10). From the City Engineer's memo in the packet:

There is nothing prohibiting the parcels that are involved in the court case from connecting to the city sanitary sewer and water. If they do wish to connect, they should be required to pay a City Connection Fee, so they are not receiving the benefit of the system for free, while the other property owners are paying their assessments.

The connection fee would only apply to the parcels that have not been assessed for the project. Many properties have already hooked up because of failing systems. The proposed connection fees:

• Sewer only: $13,390
• Water & sewer: $20,315

Who says their aren't any creative ideas coming out of city hall?

Civic Engagement Rewind

Crowds are not beating down the doors of city hall to sign up for the volunteer spots available with the city.  There are still two volunteer commission spots open: one on the Charter Commission, and most recently, a spot on the Joint Planning Commission (JPC) came open. I blogged about volunteer opportunities last month. On Monday, the council will approve an appointment to the HPC. And now a city appointee to the JPC has resigned, leaving a new opening.

 [2009 RDG Downtown Plan]

The JPC is a twelve-member commission that advises the Joint Planning Board on planning and zoning applications.  They meet monthly on the fourth Thursday of the month and occasionally for special meetings. This is the only city commission that is paid--$50 per meeting--and has interesting work to do. The application process is online here.

Let's Make a Deal, Round 3: South Shore Application on JPB Agenda

The Edgewater Group representative, Rich Siegert will make his case for an amendment to the South Shore Planned Unit Development to the Greater Bemidji Area Joint Planning Board when they meet on Wednesday, March 10.  The meeting is at 6:00pm at City Hall.  This is Siegert's third appearance before the JPB, after having presented twice in February.

His application would allow him to build a new hotel attached to the Green Mill. (Read my original post on the project.)  The muddle has been caused by local MN DNR opposition to shoreland setbacks requested in his proposal.  After Siegert's last appearance before the JPB, and under threat of legal action against the JPB by the DNR, he was instructed to meet with the DNR to find a workable solution that both sides could support. He met with DNR officials, the planning administrator and the JPB legal council for more than two hours last week. 

The state has given the DNR responsibility to develop shoreland guidelines through model ordinances, but has assigned responsibility to local governments for ordinance adoption, administration and enforcement.  The variance process is an administrative/enforcement issue and should be left to the local governing body (LGU), the Joint Planning Board. while finding a compromise makes sense, the DNR should let the LGU decide the issue. A recent Supreme Court ruling on a similar issue on the St. Croix River affirmed the enforcement role of the LGU and the attorneys in the case explained it in an editorial in today's Star Tribune.

It will be interesting to see if an agreement has been struck and how the JPB handles the issue. You can tune in to see the outcome; the meeting is televised on Channel 2.

Also on the agenda, a public hearing for the semi-annual Ordinance update, which can be found here; and changes to the fee schedule.  Here is the old (2009) fee schedule. (I can't find the proposed fee schedule changes online; one can only assume that some fees are going up!)

Weekly Bits from the City Newsletter 3-05-10

 (Governor Pawlenty)

 City finance director Ron Eischens, outlines the need for LGA (Local Government Aid) in this week's city newsletter.  He and the Mayor will deliver the city's case to the Governor during Bemidji Day at the Capitol on Tuesday. According to Eischens, "Compared to all cities in Minnesota, Bemidji’s tax rate is below the average and also lower than similar sized cities. Bemidji’s spending per capita is also below similar sized cities."

He also outlines the major capital improvements that the city has made in the last ten years and explains (again) that 43 percent of Bemidji's property base is non taxable.

The newsletter also has a list of upcoming meetings, updates from department heads, and meeting agendas for the BREC advisory board, the Park and Trails Commission, and the Heritage Preservation Commission, which all meet this week. (The agenda for the Joint Planning Board, which meets on Wednesday at 6:00 pm is not included in the newsletter, but can be found here. I'll have a separate post on that tomorrow.)

Old Fairgrounds up for Bid

The former County Fairgrounds is for sale. While perusing the legal ads Sunday (2/28), I came across the County's advertisement for bids for (what remains of) the former County Fairgrounds. The 16.4 acre parcel is located south of Target and the Westridge Development.

I am not sure why the County has decided to put it on the market at this time, but if it sells, the City is in line to receive 50% of whatever it brings.

That's right, the County has to split the proceeds of the sale 50/50 with the City. The arrangement stems from a deal struck several years ago (ten or more?).

The County was contemplating building a new administration building on the fairgrounds site. The Downtown Development Authority wanted to keep the County employees downtown, so through the leadership of Mayor Peterson, the City "drained their reserves" and using $1 million or more, purchased an entire city block of homes for the county building. The residents were relocated, the new building was constructed, and "Lot 9" was built to serve the County buildings and the downtown.

In return, the County struck an agreement (County Administrator, Greg Lewis) to repay the City the equivalent of 50% of the fairgrounds property. The property was put out on bids at that time, but there were no takers. Then the County hired a broker to sell the property, but were again unsuccessful in selling the property. Maybe the third time is the charm.

Was it worth it? While dislocating a block of single family homes was controversial at the time, in retrospect, it was money well spent. Having the county "campus" and the scores of employees and customers it pulls into the downtown, has been a boon to downtown businesses and is one reason our downtown is still viable.

Putting off the sale of the property for ten years wasn't the worst thing that could happen either. The property is currently appraised at $1.75 to $2 million.

Two questions remain:
Will there be an acceptable bid?
Maybe the start of construction on the Menards store next month will be a catalyst for more development in the area.

What will the City do with the proceeds?
With the recent hits to the City's budget, there are plenty of places for any unexpected "windfall". Personally, I don't think it should go to a "one time" budget fix.

Given that the funds were originally leveraged for economic development, it seems reasonable to use the proceeds for economic development as well. That could be the creation of a new business revolving loan program, an investment in updating or expanding the City's liquor stores, or the creation of a set-aside for BREC operations. What do you think?