Property Owners Share Thoughts On Grant Valley Township Annexation

One of the outcomes from Monday night’s Bemidji City Council work session was the decision to seek an orderly annexation of four properties in Grant Valley Township north of Division Street as part of annexing the property for the new Gene Dillon Elementary School. Half of those properties to be annexed are recently relocated business who built on those locations because it was located outside the city. Now with news of annexation, strong feelings are forming about the issue.

When the city of Bemidji began planning the possible annexation, the city knew they would face some opposition.

The city of Bemidji originally planned not to annex the properties and just annex the property where the school will be located. That all changed when the Bemidji City Council voted to approve an agreement that the school district would pay to install water and sewer lines to connect to city services and then turn the lines over to the city for maintenance and upkeep.

For the property owners north of Division Street, being annexed into the city means not only big changes but also possible changes in the way they run their businesses.

Going forward the hope is that there will be more transparency between all parties involved.

The Grant Valley Township board will discuss the matters of annexation during their regular business meeting Thursday night.