Second housing proposal approved by Bemidji City Council

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

Apr. 16—BEMIDJI — A second housing proposal came before the

Bemidji City Council

during its meeting on Monday, this time for a local developer to build six single-family homes on the south end of town.

Mitch Rautio brought the proposal to the council, asking the city to consider being the grantee for funds the project is requesting through the Workforce Housing Grant, which is being offered through Minnesota Housing.

Rautio's is the second project to come to the council seeking to utilize these grant funds. The first was a project proposed by the Beltrami County Housing Redevelopment Authority to

construct 39 units of affordable housing

east of Bemidji's Sanford Health campus.

Since both projects would be applying to the same grant program, there was some concern expressed by the council that they could directly compete. However, Rautio shared that the main competition for both projects won't be each other.

"We're really competing against the rest of the state, not specifically against (Beltrami HRA's project)," he said.

If Rautio's project is selected to receive funds, the six-family homes with three bedrooms each would be constructed and priced according to the area's median family income. Currently, the rent would be set at $1,500 a month.

While some members of the council shared some concerns about the affordability of this price, all were in favor of building more housing, with a resolution supporting the project passing unanimously.

"We've been talking about additional housing for months, and this looks like a good proposal," said Ward 5 Councilor Lynn Eaton.

During its meeting, the council also approved special event permits for the Mississippi Musical Festival to take place this summer and approved discounted liquor permits for the events due to their limited hours of sale.

Some discussion occurred about the appropriate level of discount, with the language that passed reducing the fee to three-quarters of its total amount, or $30 per event rather than $120.

The resolution passed 6-1, with Mayor Jorge Prince opposed. Prince shared he would have rather seen the price reduced to $50 per event.

The council also approved a bid from North Central Overhead Doors to replace the garage doors at Fire Station One for $36,600. Funds for this will be allocated from the city's American Rescue Plan dollars.

"We have some doors at the fire station that sometimes operate, sometimes don't," said City Manager Richard Spiczka. "I would rather us replace them before a fire truck has to drive through them in responding to a fire."

Ward 2 Councilor Josh Peterson took the opportunity to remind the council of the importance of looking at replacing the aging fire station, a topic that has previously been discussed by the council as a project

that could be done in conjunction with building a new city hall.

"As the fire station continues deteriorating, we really need to start looking at replacements — sooner rather than later," Peterson said.

The council also discussed a potential workshop for council members and city staff, with a proposal from Spano Group Advisors presented with a cost of $19,825.

Several councilors expressed concern about the cost and the necessity of a workshop, with Peterson describing the expense as a "misuse of tax dollars."

"I just cannot get over shelling out $20,000 when we have all the capacity to do (a workshop) ourselves," he said. "I can't support spending that kind of money."

While the proposal in front of the council did not see approval during Monday's meeting, councilors did agree to offer feedback on what they would like to see from a workshop in the hopes that an alternative method could be agreed upon.

"If we're going to do something here, we have to have a certain level of buy-in," Prince said.