Optimism still remains that the legislature will pass a bonding bill before the November Election.
According to House Majority Whip Liz Olson, House Republicans seem to be willing to come to an agreement.
In prior special sessions, the House minority promised not to agree to a bonding bill unless Gov. Tim Walz ended the peacetime state of emergency.
The legislature can pass a bonding bill after Sept. 20, since the state is still in a quiet period after the sale of bonds last month.
Bemidji’s stakes in this year’s bonding bill include between $8 and $10 million in funding for a water treatment plant. The bill in the House has language indicating that if the city of Bemidji is successful against litigation of the source of the pollution, the city would reimburse the state $4 million.
The water treatment plant is to treat PFCs that are above recommended levels in the city’s drinking water. Work began earlier this summer on a water treatment plant designed to remove these substances. The project underway is the “near term” plant, with a secondary project in the future to complete the water treatment facility.
