Outdoor dining approved by Bemidji City Council

Nicole Ronchetti, The Bemidji Pioneer, Minn.
·2 min read

May 7—BEMIDJI — During its meeting on Monday, the

Bemidji City Council

approved outdoor dining for two downtown restaurants, awarded a bid for reconstruction of 15th Street Northwest, and heard from a former county commissioner who criticized the city's 2022 redistricting process.

Jim Lucachick, who served on the

Beltrami County Board of Commissioners

representing District 5 until the end of 2022 spoke at the beginning of the meeting during the period for public comment.

Having recently been involved in a lawsuit against Beltrami County over its 2022 redistricting process, which resulted in the districts being

redrawn by an independent commission,

Lucachick also criticized the city's process from two years ago.

"Very plainly speaking, it was a flawed process," Lucachick said. "(The city) sent one map (to the county) that totally threw our whole redistricting issue into a whirlwind."

In addition to sharing his belief that the problems with the county's redistricting began at the city level, Lucachick also shared that he believed it was intentional that he had been redistricted out of the area he represented.

He closed by urging the council to be more diligent.

"You need to do better. You need to do your homework as an elected official," Lucachick said. "It could have been done differently."

Both Keg N' Cork and Bar 209 applied for outdoor dining for the upcoming summer months, with public hearings held for both requests.

While no residents commented on Bar 209's application, Roy Booth, a fellow downtown business owner, spoke during the hearing for Keg N' Cork sharing that although he supported the application he had some concerns.

"About four times last year, I went past Keg N' Cork and I had people laying hands on my (wheelchair) and myself as I was going by," Booth shared. "I support Keg N' Cork having their outdoor facility, I would just like to make people aware that this is a bit of an issue."

Booth also shared stories of catcalling and other rude behavior that people have experienced when walking by Keg N' Cork's outdoor dining in previous years.

Council members were receptive to his testimony, with Ward 4 Councilor Emelie Rivera asking about the possibility of increasing police foot and bike patrols in the downtown area like the city has done during previous summers.

Both Keg N' Cork and Bar 209 had their outdoor dining applications approved unanimously by the council members present.

The council also awarded a bid for the reconstruction of 15th Street Northwest, a project that will extend from Irvine Avenue to Bemidji Avenue and take place this summer.

The bid was awarded to Sparky's Construction Inc. for $761,727.50. The total cost for the project is estimated to be $876,000, with most of the funding sourced from state aid the city has received.

City Engineer Sam Anderson shared that the project will begin on July 8 and that it's expected to go through October.