Beltrami County tallies nearly $10M in storm damage to public infrastructure

BEMIDJI — Local states of emergency have been extended in Beltrami County as the Bemidji area continues to clean up from a storm that struck nearly a month ago.

Beltrami County says the June 21 “microburst” storm caused an estimated $9.7 million in damages to non-insured public infrastructure. The county’s Emergency Management Director Chris Muller said the number far exceeds the threshold for state and national disaster assistance.

“Eighty-eight times what we would need to get to for state assistance, and 44 times what we would need for federal assistance," Muller said. "We're still working through that process with HSEM [Homeland Security and Emergency Management.]

"Originally, it was not looking like we're going to go after a FEMA declaration. We are one of seven counties that are going to be going through the PDA [preliminary damage assessments] process, but we are by far the largest and the one that has the most damage.”

Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime state of emergency for the area on June 27, after touring the storm path that caused a 20-mile path of destruction through the county seat of Bemidji. Beltrami County extended its state of emergency for another 30 days at its Tuesday, July 15, meeting. The city of Bemidji will meet again in regular session on July 21, with its emergency declaration valid through July 22.

Muller encouraged local jurisdictions to contact him directly to ensure damages are captured for disaster reimbursement assistance. This includes townships, schools, cities or other state-recognized political organizations.

Tree debris disposal

Beltrami County’s tree disposal site near Bemidji’s Target will close after Sunday, July 20.

The disposal site will remain open through the weekend.

The county’s Solid Waste Director Brian Olson told the board at its Tuesday meeting that the site costs up to $10,000 a day to run, and support from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency also ends after Sunday.

Tree debris will continue to be collected at the county’s demolition landfill, but Olson sought approval for additional staff as the county will likely see increased volumes through the summer and possibly even into next year.

"Looking at a forecasted estimate ... we're looking at about $1.8 million just to do all the cleanup and processing of all this debris," Olson said.

With the state’s disaster relief fund, up to 75% of the storm response costs for public entities could be reimbursable. Olson’s requests for additional equipment and staff were unanimously approved.

“So we'll end up paying for 25% of this. But we do get 75% of this reimbursed," Olson said. "So it's either doing this or paying for a contractor to come in, which will cost us more money. If you look at the cost of what we're paying right now for a contractor every week to process this waste, it's a lot higher than that.”

The trees downed from the June 21 storm are being ground into mulch on site, and Beltrami County plans to allow residents to collect free mulch from its Target site beginning on Monday.