Newest Northern Minnesota city — Northern, MN — to elect mayor, Council

NORTHERN — Early voting for the Aug. 11 primary election begins Friday, June 26, but another round of candidate filings will open next month, including for the soon-to-be new Northern Minnesota city of ... well, Northern, Minnesota.

Candidate filing for the first-ever Northern City Council begins July 14.

Northern Township successfully petitioned to become its own city, which became official earlier this year by order of an administrative law judge. The process was contentious at times with the judge also considering a counterpetition from Northern’s nearest neighbor, the city of Bemidji.

“Everything is on track for us to seat the first Council and new mayor at the general election here in November,” said Northern Township Administrator Chris Lahn in a phone interview Wednesday.

“Shortly after that, is when we officially become a city. That is basically, the first meeting where they take their oaths of office.”

A large piece of Northern’s push to become a new city involved addressing aging septic systems around Lake Bemidji and moving toward wastewater infrastructure. Lahn said the two-phase project is set to begin construction in 2027, with some utility work underway this summer.

“We're aiming to get all sides of the lake completed in 2027 from the northwest side along the north end of the lake, and then all the way down to that northeast boat landing,” he said.

The township recently entered into an agreement with Beltrami County, which stipulated it would reimburse the county for any grant dollars lost by delaying the road construction along the new sewer’s route. The Birchmont Beach Road near Lake Bemidji State Park has been on the county’s highway improvement plan for years.

Beltrami County announced Thursday that all through-traffic will be detoured from Birchmont Beach Road for utility work until July. Visitors and residents going to residences and businesses along that road will still be able to access them as local traffic.

Many local units of government, like school boards and cities that don’t host primary elections, will also begin candidate filing periods on July 14. The filing period will close July 28, with candidates appearing on general election ballots on Nov. 3.