Mayor Jorge Prince jointly made a proclamation to declare the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day during the Bemidji City Council meeting.
Council members Audrey Thayer and Dan Jourdain, the council’s first Indigenous members, delivered some of the remarks.
The council also discussed a feasibility study for next year’s street renewal project.
Roads to be redone from the utility lines up will be 10th Street Northeast from Bemidji Avenue to Lake Boulevard, Dewey Avenue Northeast from 10th Street to 12th Street Northeast, Ridgeway Avenue from 30th Street to Paul Bunyan Drive, and Spruce Street, a connection road from Ridgeway to the mall that runs behind Lueken’s North.
Councilmember Josh Peterson suggested, to the agreement of the council, that additional lights be installed along Ridgeway as a measure to reduce crime.
City Engineer Craig Gray said the measure may be costly and could limit the renewals going forward.
These street renewals take small segments of road, paid for in part by street assessments, and replace aging water and sewer infrastructure, some of which is around 100 years old, as well as rebuild the blacktop.
