On April 22, 2025, the City of Bemidji sent via certified mail a request for negotiations over an orderly annexation agreement (resolution 6616) and also a letter serving notice of their intent to file a request for annexation of Lake Bemidji properties in Northern Township after 30 days.
In response to these letters, the Township Board authorized the statement below:
City of Bemidji Mayor and Council Members
317 4th Street NW
Bemidji, MN 56601
Re: City of Bemidji’s Notice to Annex and Resolution to Negotiate for Orderly Annexation
Dear Mayor Prince and Bemidji City Council Members,
At its meeting of April 29, the Northern Township Board of Supervisors directed me to respond formally to Bemidji’s recent resolution no. 6616 and accompanying notice of intent to annex portions of Northern Township.
Consistent with the Board’s directive, this letter (1) outlines the negotiation history to date and (2) explains why the Township must, at this point, decline further negotiations predicated on annexation.
History of Discussions
• June 16, 2021 – At a Joint Local Government Unit (LGU) meeting, the City of Bemidji approached Northern Township, requesting annexation of Township properties so they could install a wastewater system connecting the northern shores of Lake Bemidji to the City’s infrastructure. This was the Township’s first indication of Bemidji’s interest in further annexation, despite the City having just concluded a three-phase orderly annexation agreement with Northern Township in 2020, which had already resulted in the annexation of approximately 22% of the Township’s original land area.
• July 28, 2021 – First Task Group meeting comprised of members of Bemidji and Northern Township. Discussed all options including annexation, wastewater district, or Northern as paying customer.
• August 16, 2021 – Bemidji Council passes vote authorizing requesting orderly annexation from Northern Township. City Manager emailed request 8/17/21 to Northern Clerk.
• October 5, 2021 – Northern Township held an informational meeting with residents, where attendees supported cooperative wastewater solutions to protect Lake Bemidji but overwhelmingly rejected further annexation by Bemidji.
• November 16, 2021 – Joint LGU meeting: Council, Township, and JPB Board members discussed the North End of Lake Bemidji and Ruttger’s. Members discussed potential solutions and the possibility of a subcommittee and/or all council and township board members to meet and discuss the matter further. Staff reiterated that there is a short timeline of six months in regards toRuttger’s sewer solutions that will have to be submitted to the MPCA by November of 2023.
• January 4, 2022 – At a joint meeting, the Township proposed a “Northern Township Cooperative Agreement” to Bemidji, suggesting Bemidji extend utilities without annexation, with Township residents paying a premium for services.
Northern Township’s initial Cooperative Agreement Proposal consisted of:
1. The City extends water and sewer utilities outside the city limits, without annexation.
2. Township residents pay a premium above city resident fees for services.
3. Township requires all non-compliant or system upgrades to hook up to services.
4. Cooperative agreement would serve as model for future extension around entire shoreline.
• January 11, 2022 – At a joint meeting, Bemidji countered with six options, all but two requiring annexation. The Township indicated their desire to pursue Option #5, where they would construct their own wastewater system and connect to the City’s infrastructure for a fee.
The City of Bemidji’s proposal consisted of the following options:
1. City extends water and sewer to Ruttger’s through Birchmont Beach Road with immediate annexation of all benefitting parcels.
2. City extends water and sewer to Ruttger’s through Birchmont Beach Court with annexation upon connection.
3. City extends water and sewer to Ruttger’s through annexing CSAH 21 roadway and Ruttger’sitself.
4. Ruttger’s constructs a private sanitary sewer force main system along CSAH 21 to the NW Landing, City allows connection and annexation of Ruttger’s.
5. Township constructs its own public water and sewer system from the NW Landing up to Ruttger’s through Birchmont Beach Court and connect to the City system as a paying customer. The Township would be responsible for the building, maintaining and repairing the infrastructure and the City would establish a fee system for Northern Township residence for water and sewer.
6. Township contributes $1.5 million to GBJPB, and then GBJPB creates a grant program to provide up to $15,000 to each property owner to upgrade their individual system to current standards.
• January 20, 2022 – City staff confirmed with the Township in early 2022 that the City Council supported Northern Township’s Option 5 plan, which allowed the Township to design, construct, and connect to the City’s sewer system without annexation. They made it clear that from the City’s perspective at that time, there were no major obstacles to the Township moving forward with their project as independent customers connecting to the City’s system.
• February 1, 2022 – City staff met with the Township to discuss details on how the Township would connect to the City’s system, including the City Engineer’s preference for the Township to contract with the City for maintenance and billing, or the City Manager’s suggestion of the Township paying a single fee based on flow from a meter at the Township/City connection point and the Township would be responsible to maintain their own system and billing.
• February 1, 2022 – Bemidji Pioneer article confirming Township and City were moving forward with the Township as a paying customer option. City Council member Emilie Rivera also was quoted:
Ward 4 Councilmember Emelie Rivera also supported a general letter of support and give time to figure out the specific parameters of the project. We have a commitment. I would support the city getting behind this project. I don’t want to condition support on all the future stuff because we don’t know all of that yet,” Rivera said. “I want to get behind this, and if this is what it takes, then let’s do it.”
The City manager is also quoted as being able to give a letter of support for bonding requests:
“Taking from previous lobbying experience, City Manager Nate Mathews emphasized preparation of answering the question of why the state should give the township money when the city is offering to extend services through annexation. ‘We can give a letter of support for a project to build your own system, but the state has resources and the project has to be of state significance,’ Mathews said.”
• April 2022 – The Township, in partnership with Beltrami County, submitted a federal grant application for wastewater infrastructure funding and notified the City.
• April 12, 2022 – Bemidji provided letters of support for the Township’s federal grant application.
• June 2022 – At a joint meeting, the Township updated Bemidji on funding status, with federal officials optimistic about a potential grant award by September.
• September 26, 2022 (a) – Another joint meeting was held, where the Township reaffirmed its commitment to pursuing its own wastewater system. Bemidji questioned whether there was a “Plan B” if funding fell through and continued to push for annexation, which the Township rejected.
From the meeting minutes:
Frenzel reported that not a lot has changed as far as the status of the funding for the project. The request was in the state’s bonding bill up to the point of the legislature adjourning, and nothing has happened since. There is still indication that the Federal request is active, and the Northern Township Board continues to push forward as long as there is momentum. The County Hwy Engineer has indicated that there is still some time on their end, as their design work has not begun. Also, Ruttger’s has asked for an extension from the MPCA for their wastewater treatment system, who is the regulatory authority in this case. They continue to pump their tanks as needed for compliance, and will do so as long as they are allowed. Another bonding request application will be made for 2024, with Beltrami County included on the road improvement portion. For this to proceed, Bemidji reps are being asked for another formal Letter of Support, and for further committal on the operations of the utility extension.
• September 26, 2022 (b) – The Northern Township Board held a meeting after the joint meeting with the City of Bemidji. Northern’s minutes indicate the following:
As a result of the meeting held earlier this evening, the City has asked that a smaller group meet to work out some of the questions that they still have. They are asking for alternate plans if the state/federal funding does not come through. It has been agreed that annexation is not a part of the alternate plan, since the affected residents have indicated that they do not want to be annexed.
• December 29, 2022 – The Township was awarded a $5 million federal grant for Phase 1 of the wastewater project and immediately informed the City, requesting collaboration on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for connection.
• January 17, 2023 – At a Joint LGU meeting, the Township again asked Bemidji to finalize an MOU.
• January 31, 2023 – The Township submitted a draft MOU to Bemidji, outlining terms based on previous discussions.
• February 18, 2023 – Town Board submits a letter to the editor for the Bemidji Pioneer calling on Bemidji to resume discussions on an MOU as they said they previously would after we received funding for our project.
• March 6, 2023 – Bemidji reviewed the MOU at a council meeting and scheduled a work session for further discussion.
• March 13, 2023 – Bemidji had a work session where they discussed reasons why they are hesitant to take Northern on as customer. The City Attorney provided the Council with a memo that contained inaccurate historical information of previous talks between Bemidji and Northernincluding the statement that “Since the end of the Legislative Session ended in May of 2022, the City, not hearing from the Township that they would want to continue to explore the option of connecting without annexation, the City did no further exploration or assessment on the prospect of allowing connection of water and sewer without annexation.” The record above, rather, shows Northern Township indeed had stayed in contact with Bemidji and let them know of their intent to continue with the project.
The Council also discussed multiple options to move forward, including:
- Doing nothing
- Contested annexation
- Orderly annexation
- Negotiating the MOU
- Mediation
- A potential merger
• March 20, 2023 – Bemidji passed a resolution to invite Northern Township to another joint meeting.
• City/Township meeting April 5th, 2023 – Northern had a joint meeting with Bemidji where Bemidji became very hesitant to any MOU discussion without annexation.
• April 18, 2023 – Northern Township passed Resolution No. 2023-0418, reaffirming its commitment to working with the City in good faith on a cooperative wastewater solution without annexation.
• May 8, 2023 – Bemidji held a special meeting to discuss if they could move forward on an MOU. Bemidji officially told Northern they could not without annexation. This came well over a year after Bemidji first offered Northern the ability to connect without annexation. Motion by Johnson, seconded by Fiskevold Gould to reaffirm the city’s policy to require annexation with the extension of municipal sewer and water services. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yeas: Rivera, Johnson, Fiskevold Gould, Prince, Eaton. Nays: Peterson, Thayer.
• June 2, 2023: Bemidji Pioneer article outlining Township’s frustrations with Bemidji backing out of proposal to connect as a customer.
• Nov 20, 2024 – Northern Township Administrator and Board Chair Frenzel had a meeting withMayor Prince and the City Manager of Bemidji to see if there was any final chance of further negotiations for Northern to connect as a paying customer before ordering their current project. Following this meeting there was no formal response from the City to have further negotiations and Northern heard informally the City will not change their position requiring annexation for the Township to connect to its wastewater system.
• December 9, 2024 – Northern Township Board held wastewater project public hearing.
• December 16, 2024 – Mark Dickinson, Council member elect, attended the last City Council meeting of the year just before he was sworn in and asked the Council to renegotiate with Northern. They did not take him up on that offer. They still had no response officially to Northern’s request for further negotiations.
• December 23, 2024 – Northern Township Board ordered wastewater project plans and specs.
• Apr 14, 2025 – Northern Township sent Notice of Intent to Incorporate to neighbor government units.
• Apr 21, 2025 – Bemidji adopted resolution asking Township to rescind its intent to file for incorporation and negotiate an orderly annexation of the same territory.
Over this four-year span the Township participated in many joint LGU or task-group meetings, staff meetings, exchanged multiple draft agreements, and consistently signaled willingness to cooperate so long as annexation was not required. Each time, discussions ended when annexation was put back on the table.
Why Further Negotiation Is No Longer Feasible
• Financial commitments are now irreversible. The Township has invested over $700,000 in engineering, environmental review, and permitting for its wastewater system and holds federal grant agreements tied to that plan.
• Operational timelines are fixed. Design must be finalized in 2025, with bidding in early 2026, to align with Beltrami County’s CSAH 20 reconstruction schedule and grant deadlines.
• Residents’ directive is clear. In public meetings (October 2021 and November 2022) and through scores of written comments, residents have rejected annexation and supported local control through incorporation.
• Practical governance, not personalities. The Board’s decision is grounded in cost-effectiveness and service delivery—not in animosity toward Bemidji. Redirecting the project now would waste public funds and jeopardize environmental protections for Lake Bemidji.
For these reasons, the Northern Township Board has concluded that re-opening negotiations whose premise is annexation or boundary adjustment would not serve either jurisdiction’s taxpayers. The Township therefore respectfully declines the City’s invitation to negotiations on those terms.
Path Forward
Northern Township remains willing to coordinate with Bemidji—and all regional partners—on matters that do not require annexation, not limited to but including:
• Emergency interconnections or mutual-aid planning;
• Shared technical data that support Lake Bemidji water-quality goals; and
• Future regional planning discussions held on a government-to-government basis.
We value the long history of collaboration between our communities and trust that this clarity will allow both parties to focus their resources wisely.
Respectfully,
Chris Lahn
Northern Township Administrator
218-444-1857 | chris.lahn@northerntownship.com
cc: Northern Township Board of Supervisors, Northern Township Attorneys, Bemidji City Manager