May 16—BEMIDJI — In a busy meeting on Monday, the

Bemidji City Council

approved a grant application for the Bemidji Regional Airport, heard an annual report by the Public Arts Commission and extended a search for a consulting firm to aid in hiring a new city manager.

The first portion of the meeting featured the annual report by the Public Arts Commission, which was given by Cindy Burger and Kristi Miller. Alongside successes, the report also addressed the challenges the commission has been facing,

Struggling to attract new members, currently only three of seven seats are filled and there has also been some confusion over when publicly displayed art requires the PAC to weigh in on its approval.

The council also approved a grant application on behalf of the Bemidji Regional Airport to support

the development of Planning Area 3.

The project would be done in two phases, the first being the construction of a taxi lane and the second looping a dead-end water main.

Another item of business was the approval of a project to extend sewer services along Irvine Avenue from 30th Street to Anne Street. That stretch of road is set for construction this summer by Beltrami County. The cost for the project is an estimated $386,000 with the city's share sitting at $322,200.

The city council also extended a search for a consulting firm to aid in the hiring of a new city manager, following the

resignation of Nate Mathews in April.

After the council's last regular meeting, a request was sent out to several consulting firms to provide proposals for the city. However, in the time frame provided, only one firm submitted an offer.

Several councilors raised concerns about the lack of options and speculated whether it would be beneficial to extend the search process in hopes that more firms would send responses.

"I'm a little concerned having only one proposal for review," said Ward 3 Councilor Ron Johnson. "We have nothing to compare it to cost-wise or even with services."

Johnson speculated that the time frame might have been too short for other firms to submit their proposals, and asked whether it might be better to extend the search for a consulting firm to allow more proposals to be submitted.

Other councilors opposed a delay, however, citing the importance of a city manager's role and the need to fill the position quickly.

"Yes it's important to get it right, but there's no guarantee that we're going to get more than one (offer)," said Ward 4 Councilor Emelie Rivera. "It's not just about inconvenience or delay, it's much larger than us here. I'm not comfortable delaying."

Of the six companies who were contacted, only GovHR submitted a proposal and two others declined citing workload issues. GovHR's proposal featured two options, limited and full service, with estimated costs of $21,500 and $24,500 respectively.

Rivera made a motion to select GovHR's full-service option, which was put to a roll call vote after additional discussion. This motion failed 3-4, with only Rivera, Ward 1 Councilor Gwenia Fiskevold Gould and Ward 5 Councilor Lynn Eaton in support.

Following the failure of the vote, the council extended its search for a consulting firm with the new discussion set for the council meeting on June 5, an extension of two weeks.