The Bemidji City Council will hold the first hearing of the proposed redistricting of city ward boundaries.
After the orderly annexation process was completed in 2020 with Northern Township, those new city residents went to Wards 2 and 3.
As the current Ward boundaries lie, Ward 2 and Ward 3 have nearly a 1,000 population difference.
For this redistricting process, the ideal number is 3,089 for each ward to be close to an equal population.
For the proposed redistricting, Ward 1 will extend further north into current Ward 3, up to 23rd Street.
Ward 4 would include the Mississippi Avenue neighborhoods of current Ward 1.
Ward 2 would include the neighborhoods around Cedar and Lilac Avenues from Anne Street to 30th Street on Irvine Avenue.
Ward 3 began the redistricting process with 647 people over the ideal population and in this proposal will have 82 people under the ideal.
