BEMIDJI — The Beltrami County Board of Commissioners is homing in on two proposed jail sites for the new Beltrami County Jail.
The public is asked to provide input on two sites — both in Bemidji’s industrial zones — at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15, immediately following another public hearing on the county’s Grant Creek Horse Camp.
The County Board authorized the construction of an $80 million, 242-bed facility in November 2022, after warnings from the Minnesota Department of Corrections to explore long-term solutions for the 34-year-old current facility.
Earlier this year, the Board announced a purchase agreement for a bare lot on Jefferson Avenue Southwest in Bemidji.
Throughout June, the Board heard numerous comments from concerned community members about the site in a residential zone, and they received a memo from the Greater Bemidji Area Joint Planning Board on a six-month moratorium on correctional facilities in residential neighborhoods.
The announcement from the zoning board led the county to select new sites under new criteria.
“The criteria that the National Institute of Corrections recommends doesn't even have anything to consider public impacts on properties or adjacent neighborhoods or those sorts of things,” said County Administrator Tom Barry in a special meeting of the board on Monday, Aug. 7.
“The County's criteria is actually much more sensitive to neighborhood impacts than the NIC guidance.”
The hour-long meeting largely occurred in a closed session, with the summary following the reopening of the meeting. Local governments are permitted to close meetings under Minnesota Open Meeting law to discuss real property negotiations, personnel issues and pending lawsuits.
The board is actively considering two ranked sites from the site selection criteria metric.
The Quello property, off Carr Lake Road in Bemidji, is zoned for light industrial use and has 10 usable acres across four parcels that would need to be joined by the Joint Planning Board.
The Nymore/Crown property, on Pioneer Street in Bemidji’s Industrial Park, is a 9.2-acre parcel zoned for general industrial use.
These properties are ranked second and third on the list, respectively, with interested sellers.
"So you might ask, ‘Well, why is the (Bemidji Regional Interdistrict Council) property rated No. 1 not being pursued?’” Barry said in his presentation. "And that's because we did not have a willing seller in that particular situation. We are, as the County Board had initially directed, trying to avoid any kind of eminent domain proceeding.”
Both of the contending sites have water and utility access, but use permits are still required from the Joint Planning Board.
"I've just received recent information from staff that the Joint Planning Board may be considering adjustments based on what they had initially told the county … on jails being permitted in industrial and commercial areas,” Barry said. “So we'll see how that develops."
Minnesota statute requires jails to be located within the city limits of the county seat, which is Bemidji.
Planning and zoning is under the purview of the Greater Bemidji Area Joint Planning Board, which will be dissolved at the end of this year as Northern Township announced its intention to separate last year.
As the Joint Planning Board is currently structured, two seats are filled by Northern Township elected officials with three filled by Bemidji City Council members.
After the dissolution, planning and zoning within the city of Bemidji will be under the authority of the Bemidji City Council.
