One Week to the First Deadline: Pepsi Refresh Everything Grant Opportunity

Got an idea to improve the community? Pepsi is giving away up to 32 grants a month ranging in size from $5,000 to $250,000 for a total of up to $1.3 million per month.

We're looking for people, businesses, and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact. Look around your community and think about how you want to change it.

Anyone can submit an idea online at Refresh Everything. Pepsi is accepting 1000 ideas every month. Supporters go to the site and vote for their favorite ideas. Visitors can vote for up to 10 of their favorite ideas every day. If you submitted an idea, you are free to vote for your own. Voting starts on the 1st of the month and continues through the last day of every month. New ideas and Refresh Grant recipients will be accepted and awarded every month.

Six categories help you figure out where your idea fits in:

• Health—impact the health of anyone from hospitals and clinics to exercise programs
• Arts and Culture—celebrate the arts in all its forms
• Food and Shelter—provide things to eat, wear and live in—and sometimes all three
• The Planet—help improve the environment on a local or massive scale
• Neighborhoods—make any neighborhood a better place to live
• Education—help people learn and grow at any age

Dates to Remember:
January 13, 2010—first day to submit your idea
February 1, 2010—voting for ideas starts
March 1, 2010—first awardees announced

Off the top of my head, I can think nearly two dozen local initiatives that could benefit from this opportunity. . . . . .
Skate park, Science Center, Active Living, Dental Access Center, Sustainability Initiative, Evergreen Services, Peacemaker Resources, Community Resource Connections, BWELL, Historic Preservation, Sculpture Walk, BREC public art, Food Shelf, Soup Kitchen, Boys and Girls Club, Community Garden, 4-H, BYAC, Farmers Market, Headwaters School of Music. . . . . .

Who in Bemidji can be the first to submit an idea? Get your creative game on and get busy! Then tell the community so we can go online and vote for your great idea.

Will Live Nation/Ticketmaster Merger Mean Higher Ticket Prices?

MinnIndy is reporting that the proprietors of First Avenue in Minneapolis are launching a protest against the proposed merger of giant show promoter Live Nation and giant ticket seller Ticketmaster.  Opponents are afraid that the merger will mean increased ticket prices for the acts that Live Nation promotes.

If the fears are realized, it could mean higher prices for shows at the BREC, which is slated to open October 2010.  Live Nation is one of only a handful of concert and show promoters that book shows into arenas and one that we will definitely be using.  Ticketmaster is already the chosen vendor for our ticketing service.  May be something to watch.

Last Days of Community Development

December 31, 2009 marked the last day of the Community Development office in Bemidji City Hall. My job was eliminated and I now join the other 175,000 unemployed workers that are currently drawing unemployment benefits in Minnesota.

The City Council eliminated the 2010 budget for my position in a surprise move (and I believe outside the authority vested in them by the Charter) during a work session in August. Many individuals and community organizations protested the decision, but the Council chose to ignore their pleas and instead suggested that the duties be distributed to other staff. Unfortunately, the work that is generally considered “community development” will probably not get done.

The city has reduced its workforce by 10% in the last three years. Not only is there is no other staff with the time for it, there is no staff with the passion for it.

The City will pay me about $585 a week to stay home until I find a new job (or for 72 weeks, whichever comes first). The State will send a quarterly bill to the City for reimbursement of my unemployment claim and there will be negligible savings realized from the elimination of the position. The costs to the community will never be known, a realization The Pioneer alludes to in today’s editorial—unbelievably, their first comment on the issue (emphasis mine):

Bemidji is on the cusp of something great, we only hope that increased development is both welcome and well-guided. That is perhaps our weakest link, as Beltrami County has halved its grant to the Joint Economic Development Commission and the city of Bemidji has eliminated its community development director position.

Still, 2010 holds promise as a great year for economic development in Bemidji. We’ll be looking for opportunities to foster that.

Kinda late. Many opportunities to foster development were lost when four members of the council orchestrated the elimination of the CD position. There is enough money in the City’s 2010 budget to fund the CD position; they have just chosen not to.

Weekly Bits from the City Newsletter 11-20-09

In this week's newsletter, the city finance director explains how laying off one employee will impact next year's budget. He also gives an overview of the changes made since the budget was presented on August 10th and the levy was adopted on September 14th. A broader explanation of the city's budget will be presented at the Truth in Taxation hearing at 7:00pm on Monday, December 7th. The community will have an opportunity to comment on the budget at the hearing. For background, last year's TNT report and additional miscellaneous financial information is available on the city website.

The newsletter also has an update on preschool skating opportunities and an adult broom ball league starting in January.

First City of Lights

It's a week away! Black Friday. Buy Nothing Day. Whatever you call it, the best part of the day after Thanksgiving is not the fabulous sales or the satisfaction of boycotting the sales or even the turkey leftovers. Its the First City of Lights parade in Bemidji.

Thousands of people converge on the downtown to watch the parade and celebrate the lighting of the downtown and trees in Paul Bunyan Park.


Like every year for many (how many years? 10? 15?) floats are under construction, costumes are being created, downtown businesses are planning specials, lights are being strung, and Santa is scheduling his arrival. There's only one problem: the fund to pay for the lights still needs help.


If you can donate a bit to help this fun community event, please drop your donation at the Chamber building or even better, go online and make a donation to the First City of Lights fund hosted by the Northwest Minnesota Foundation. Its safe, secure and easy. The Chamber website has a link to the online giving site. AND, don't forget to gather the family and get downtown for the event. The parade's at 6:00pm.

Do-it-Yourself Mapping

"Thank's for the map you sent last week. Can you get me an airphoto of another location downtown?" That's the question I got the other day at work and I was happy to make the map, but along with the new map, I sent the directions for do-it-yourself mapping available for Bemidji and Beltrami County.

Since Google Earth hit the web in 2004, people have been fascinated with zooming around the globe, looking for their house, finding great hunting locations and learning about places on the other side of the world. Teachers use Google Earth in the classroom, businesses use it for marketing; and when we need directions and a map? It's Google Earth that gets us there.

Most of us know about Google Earth, but how many people know about a local online mapping application that is user friendly and has a host of great features and information.

Beltrami County online mapping has several layers (map features like lakes, streets, parcel numbers, etc.) that you can turn on and off; a search feature for finding properties by parcel ID, address, Plat, and more; and an identify feature that gives the names of property owners, number of acres and legal description. You can do linear or area measurements, select areas (highlight them) by drawing a box or radius. And finally, you can create mailing labels and make maps. Here's a map I made in just a minute or so. Our GIS specialist and I get a lot of calls at City Hall asking for air photos and maps. Since Beltrami County put their mapping program online for free (it used to have a subscription fee), we are trying to help people "do-it-yourself." Check out the site, play around a bit and pretty soon you'll be making maps and impressing your friends and relatives.

Weekly Bits from the City Newsletter 10-30-09

This week's newsletter has updates from the City Manager, Finance Director, Waste Water Treatment Facility, and Parks Director. Meetings this week include a Council meeting on Monday, a Park & Trail Commission meeting on Tuesday, and a Joint Planning Board Meeting on Wednesday. The Tuesday Parks meeting is an opportunity for citizens to share ideas for a new city park on 30th Street.

Ever wonder what would happen if they pulled the pylons out at the Nymore boat access? That entire area is "accreted" land that was built on pylons and then filled in. A 1909 Sanborn map shows the land being used for the Crookston Lumber Company sawmill. Subsequent maps show the sawmill until about 1939. The pylons pop up every year and the parks department cuts them off or adds fill around them. This week, they pulled up a couple. See a picture in the newsletter.