 With plans moving ahead for the new Jean Dillon Elementary School in Bemidji, a plan to annex properties near this new school is now on the table. Our Josh Peterson met with some of the property owners and shares with us their thoughts on this new development. One of the outcomes from Monday night's Bemidji City Council work session was the decision to seek an orderly annexation of four properties in Grant Valley Township north of Division Street as part of annexing the property for the new Jean Dillon Elementary School. Half of those properties to be annexed are recently relocated businesses who built on those locations because it was located outside of the city. Now with news of annexation, strong feelings are forming about the issue. The city's purpose is of expanding the city a little bit, keeping their boundaries a little bit straighter, but I think if we were informed ahead of time, it might go a little bit easier. When the city began planning the possible annexation, the city knew they would face some strong opposition. When I first met with the Grant Valley Township to just try to do an introductory meeting with them in September, some of those property owners were there and expressed to me that they do not want to be in the city. The city of Bemidji originally planned not to annex the properties and just annex the property where the school will be located. That all changed when the Bemidji City Council voted to approve an agreement that the school district would pay to install water and sewer lines to connect to city services and then turn the lines over to the city for maintenance and upkeep. We need to, as a community, I say not just the city and the township, but all of the community. What makes the most sense here as the city looks at expanding and growing? For property owners north of Division Street, being annexed into the city means not only big changes, but also possible changes in the way they run their business. Fees of taxes and, you know, the second whack fee, the storm sewage water runoff, all that can kind of add up and, you know, you worry that you can't build up enough new business to maybe cover that. Going forward, the hope is that there will be more transparency between all parties involved. In Bemidji, Josh Peterson, Lakeland News. The Grant Valley Township Board will discuss the matters of annexation during their regular business meeting Thursday night. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.