 It has been a topic of discussion for years. What to do with Bemidji's railroad corridor? Josh Peterson shows us one likely proposal that could help move the project forward. The possibilities are endless for this plot of land. However, through a marketplace study that was presented Tuesday to the Bemidji City Council, shows that this site has potential. Our goal, our assignment here was to try to get the railroad, our project, to an understanding of reality. What could really be built there at what cost? The cost has always been the looming question hanging over this project because of issues with the land. One of the major obstacles for the railroad corridor project is all the contaminated soil that lies throughout the property. But under one of the new proposals, that soil would be strategically moved to other locations on the land. So the one issue with the whole scenario that we are looking at is to take a lot of the slightly contaminated soil and put in these berms. While the 14 acres of land has the potential for 34 townhomes to scale back on the cost, some of the originally proposed buildings have been removed, with green space added near the existing railroad depot. We took out, there was two other buildings in the site at one time. We took that out, made a park area, open space in front of the historic building. With more information yet to come from the Port Authority, the Bemidji City Council can now prepare for the next step of writing grants. Where we're at with what they've discovered, what they've heard from the state, the VCA and the grant funders. What are the next steps that we need to get there? In Bemidji, Josh Peterson, Lakeland News. The market study presented to the council showed the possibility for housing and commercial uses on the railroad corridor site. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.