100s of Northern Township Residents Attend Meeting on Incorporation

Northern Township, located just north of Bemidji, held an informational meeting on Wednesday regarding their intent to incorporate into a city. Hundreds of residents packed the 4-H Building at the Beltrami County Fairgrounds to learn more about what the process would entail.

The township filed a notice of intent to incorporate last month and has been wanting to build a wastewater treatment facility on the north side of Lake Bemidji. Northern Township argues border stability, higher tax rates, and keeping local control are why they wish to incorporate, with officials saying that close to 23% of the township has already been annexed by the City of Bemidji.

“We just can’t do long-term planning when it comes to bigger projects and whatnot, too, when you don’t know what your borders are going to be and when you don’t know how much tax revenue is coming in year after year,” said Chris Lahn, Northern Township Administrator. “We should be able to determine what our future looks like and that it shouldn’t be the Bemidji City Council making those decisions.”

Some residents had questions like how the township would change should they go through the incorporation process.

“Things don’t have to change,” added Lahn. “They don’t have to look that different than they are today. Incorporation just simply allows us to have the authority, into the future, to plan our community how we want to plan it, and if you guys, the residents, wanted to stay this more local north woods character, that’s exactly what it can be.”

Should Northern Township become the city of Northern, officials also say they will have access to local government aid, which would drastically help fund certain projects.

“We think it’s going to be a six-figure number,” offered Northern Township Attorney Michael Couri. “That’s money that is coming from the state solely because we become a city.”

With the City of Bemidji attempting to halt Northern Township’s attempt to incorporate, some residents were wondering how much this will all cost.

“We don’t know. Is it a five-day trial? Seven-day trial? Is it a two-week trial?” Couri said. “We’ve had them as long as two-and-a-half weeks, we’ve had them as short as one day. My guess is, realistically, that number [the cost] will probably between $200,000 and $300,000.”

Most residents who made a public comment during the meeting were in favor of incorporation.

“[Bemidji] has made one major extremely poor decision that we would all be paying for, so I would support incorporation,” said Northern Township resident Lisa Boulay.

Some residents, however, disagreed, like former state Sen. Rod Skoe.

“It might be worth taking one more little stab at this,” he said. “People want to keep the property taxes down. We want to keep the Northern character of their land. That would indicate to me we should keep township government. It’s up to townships to maintain the rural areas of the state. There is a reason that city taxes are more than township taxes, and you need to think about these things just a little bit.”

The meeting took a turn once Bemidji Mayor Jorge Prince stepped up to the microphone. He mentioned the resolution that the Bemidji City Council recently passed, saying they would stop their annexation process if Northern Township ceased their intent to incorporate.

“None of us can predict what the outcome of a court case will be, not a single one of us,” said Prince. “I’ll tell you who wins in a court case: the attorneys, yours and ours, because they both get paid. With the choices that get made at the council and at the town board won’t just change what’s going to happen in our community for a week or a month or a year, [but] for generations. And if that’s not worth a pause to take a little extra time to see whether or not we can figure this thing out, then I don’t know what is.”

At the end of the meeting, Northern Township Chairman Jess Frenzel asked the residents in attendance for a vote on what they want for the township. Almost every hand went up showing support for becoming a city as opposed to being annexed by Bemidji.

The township board says they don’t have a trial date set yet but will let residents know as soon as they do. Residents who attend the trial will have an opportunity to provide a public comment. The board wants as many residents as possible to show up during that to voice their opinions.