Blackduck Receives SCDP Grant

With assistance from the HRDC, the City of Blackduck was awarded $502,000 through the Small Cities Development program to conduct downtown improvement activities, housing rehabilitation, and construction of affordable homes.  With these dollars the City expects to:

• Help four downtown businesses complete storefront renovation projects;
• Assist 10 homeowners make structural repairs, energy improvements, or eliminate any health and safety issues their home may have; and
• Provide Homeownership Assistance to four families

Commercial renovation and homeowner rehabilitation projects will likely begin sometime this summer.  The Homeownership Assistance activity will involve the construction of four new single family homes and their construction will likely begin next spring.

Bemidji Downtown Revitalization

Exciting changes are happening in Downtown Bemidji because of the success of the Bemidji Downtown Revitalization Project.  The City was successful in its efforts to access more than $600,000 in grant funds from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development to help finance the renovation of commercial buildings and affordable rental housing units in the downtown.  HRDC staff is providing general oversight for the project and Bi-CAP is administering the rehabilitation activities.

The program has generated a high level of interest from downtown property owners.  Eighteen rental units (apartments) are being renovated.  These upgrades will substantially improve the stock of affordable housing in the downtown.

Repairs and storefront renovations on fourteen commercial projects are underway with the potential to fund one more project.  Storefront renovations provide exciting, visible changes, but many buildings are also receiving needed repairs to improve safety and ensure soundness.  Examples include roof repairs, heating and air conditioning system upgrades, new windows, lighting, and accessible rest rooms.

Because of the program’s success, we have more interest than funding!  Additional property owners would like to participate in a second phase of funding, which may be pursued upon the complete expenditure of the first round of grant funds.

Greening Up Bemidji

Bemidji GreenUp is a volunteer group dedicated to “greening up” Bemidji by planting trees.  The group has been very active over the past year, including successfully executing several plantings, developing a website, creating a Bemidji GreenUp graphic, and redefining what success for the group will look like.

Bemidji GreenUp has recently shifted from planting thousands of seedlings in the right-of-way of TH 2 and TH 197, to planting fewer and larger trees in the City of Bemidji.  The following mission captures the new strategic direction for GreenUp:

To plant trees of varying sizes and types, focusing on the highly visible areas in which trees are noticeably absent, in order to create a more forested, park-like atmosphere in the Bemidji Community.

Bemidji GreenUp has completed several successful projects over the past two planting seasons:
Fall 2007:

• Planted 20 deciduous trees around the perimeter of Nymore Park
• Planted several trees around the parking lot of the Erberts and Gerberts property
• Planted eight trees at St. Marks Church, located near the airport

Spring 2008:

• Bemidji GreenUp hosted the group’s first “tree giveaway” at City Hall to celebrate Arbor Day.  The group gave away 1,000 seedlings to residents of the Bemidji community.  The giveaway included four types of deciduous trees: green ash, red maple, and two types of flowering crab.
• Bemidji GreenUp celebrated 150 years of Statehood in Minnesota by sponsoring a community event utilizing volunteers to plant 150 good sized trees (between 10 and 12 feed tall) in Lincoln South, a new housing development near the south shore of Lake Bemidji.

For more information on Bemidji GreenUp please contact Matthew Dyrdahl, or visit the Bemidji GreenUp website.

Bemidji Community Pursues Active Living

HRDC has partnered with Beltrami Wellness Education for Long Life (B-WELL) in a planning project for wellness.  “Active Living” is a way of life that integrates physical activity into daily routines.  The project received funding from Blue Cross/Blue Shield through Prevention Minnesota to focus on changing community attitudes about physical activity and changing policies to promote active recreational choices.  HRDC will provide research, planning, and meeting facilitation for this quality of place initiative.  Other project partners include Bemidji Community Education, MeritCare, and the City of Bemidji.  Our goal will be to increase access and reduce barriers to routine physical activity in the Bemidji community.

During the first year, the partnership will assess existing policies and environmental conditions, engage stakeholders, develop a strategic action plan, and identify additional resources.  With demonstrated progress, we will be eligible to apply for implementation funding for up to an additional four years at $125,000 per year.