BEMIDJI — The Bemidji City Council passed a unanimous resolution on April 21 to reopen wastewater treatment negotiations with neighboring Northern Township.
Meanwhile, Northern Township has declared its own intentions to incorporate as a city and is blazing ahead with plans for its own treatment plant. Township officials hosted a community information meeting the day after the city’s resolution.
With so many communities downstream on the Mississippi, water quality has been a top issue for decades. The city of Bemidji and the township have previously discussed working out an arrangement to remove aging septic systems from the shores of Lake Bemidji.
Bemidji and Northern Township began discussing wrapping sewer services around the lake in earnest in 2021. The two parties agree that something needs to be done to remove aging septic systems around Lake Bemidji, but the impasse has occurred at how to address the issue.
As a longstanding policy, the city of Bemidji does not extend city sewer or water services without annexation. Northern Township’s appetite for annexation over the decades, though, has run its course. Township residents have told officials they do not want to see any further annexation.
In the multi-page resolution that came after deliberation in a closed session, Bemidji leaders point to the millions of dollars invested into its wastewater treatment plant. Northern Township constructing another one on the lake would be “duplicative,” the resolution stated, given that the existing plant is currently operating at 60% capacity. That plant first opened in 1985, with expansions to capacity and operations occurring over the years.
" ... the City has invested significant resources into its wastewater treatment facility for the purposes of serving the City and planned urban growth areas within Northern and Bemidji Townships while ensuring strict environmental protections are followed," the resolution states.
In the resolution, the city also asks Northern Township to rescind its notice to incorporate — a step that would prevent any further annexation from Bemidji. Bemidji’s resolution also states it will pursue annexation around the lake if Northern Township continues its path toward incorporation.
"The incorporation of a new city adjacent to Bemidji would likely lead to inefficiencies and unnecessary and wasteful duplication in delivering needed municipal services, and conflict regarding future regional growth," the resolution states.
One of many different scenarios Bemidji proposed in 2022 included an arrangement in which Northern Township would be responsible for its side of infrastructure construction, with the two parties working out a fee schedule to connect to the city’s services. That solution — the only one offered to Northern Township that didn’t include a form of annexation — was later rescinded, citing Bemidji’s longstanding “no connection without annexation” policy.
Northern Township officials declined to comment as of April 28, and are slated to discuss the city's resolution at their meeting later that evening.
