The Bemidji City Council welcomed the seventh and final member of the Council after a year of vacancies.
At-large member Dan Jourdain, a member of the Red Lake Nation, was sworn in Monday, with a brief drum ceremony that followed.
The council now has two Indigenous members, as Jourdain joins Ward 1 member Audrey Thayer, an enrolled White Earth member.
The council tabled a motion to award a street renewal bid to Reierson Construction, the lowest bidder, over concerns on the company’s previous work.
Ward 5 council member Nancy Erickson supported the motion to table until the next meeting on March 15, citing an issue two years ago that resulted in sewage backing into homes in the Nymore area.
The bid in question was for this year’s street renewal project, for the areas of Fern Street from Power Drive to Highway 71, Ash Avenue from Paul Bunyan Drive to 23rd Street, and 26th Street from the dead end west of Delton Avenue to Bemidji Avenue.
These street renewals generally include rebuilding the road and replacing aging infrastructure.
Other construction issues discussed included landscaping concerns, where vegetation did not grow back properly on private residential lots affected during construction projects.
