Beltrami County is considering two new properties as the proposed jail site after withdrawing their original proposal for the Wiebolt Property.

This decision to look at new sites also comes after the Greater Bemidji Joint Planning Board placed a moratorium on jail construction on all residentially zoned areas and public feedback. Both of the newly proposed properties are in or near the Bemidji Industrial Park and are zoned to meet the new zoning requirements.

Today, the Beltrami County Board of Commissioners met for property negotiations in a special session.

The two properties the county is currently looking at are the Quello Property along Carr Lake Road SE and the Crown Property along Pioneer Street SE. Both of these properties ranked third and second, respectively, with the revised criteria, which updated the neighborhood impact score. This revision came as a response to recent public input regarding the Wiebolt Property.

“If we’re going to built this jail, we want it there it’s not going to impact the community as residents,” explained District 3 County Commissioner and Board Chair Richard Anderson. “So we’re real careful with that.”

The BRIC Property received the best rank, but due to not having a willing seller, the county could not move forward with that option.

A public hearing about the two properties will be held during Tuesday, August 15th’s county board meeting, which is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.

By — Mary Balstad