The Bemidji City Council will consider seven items of new business in their meeting tonight.
The council will discuss a resolution supporting a temporary exception to city codes around lawn mowing in recognition of “No Mow May.”
The concept behind leaving the lawnmowers in the shed through this month is to allow emerging insects and pollinators habitat and food sources.
The council will also consider a professional services agreement for a Sanford Health Master Planning Traffic Study.
The study would review streets and intersections as Sanford Health plans its future campus needs for the next 10-15 years. The cost of the study would be split with Sanford, with the city’s portion to come from the Construction Reserves account.
The council will also discuss a City Hall remodel.
City Hall flooded in the heavy rains just over a week ago which created a county-wide state of emergency.
The city has filed an insurance claim and will be included in the county’s disaster declaration.
Eleven employees from the Building, Joint Planning Board and GIS departments were relocated to the Public Works facility.
The council is tasked to choose to restore the severe damage in the basement or consider a remodel of the entire building.
Insurance would reimburse the costs of the repairs, but not of the remodels.
One of the ideas for a remodel is to combine Fire Station 1 and City Hall on the east side of the current block or elsewhere downtown.
If the council opts just to repair the flood damages, it would take two or three months to complete the repairs.
Staff is recommending at least a remodel of the basement and to address other ADA and State Code deficiencies present in City Hall.
