BEMIDJI - The Bemidji City Council has directed city staff to halt work on switching the mandatory bar closing time to 1 a.m.
The council told City Attorney Al Felix to set aside the task of working on a draft ordinance switching the times. The time is currently 2 a.m., as it is statewide. Felix said he had received a large amount of negative feedback on the proposed ordinance change.
"I too can tell you from a staff perspective, at least in my experience... a lot of folks expressed concern," he said.
Council Member Nancy Erickson said the switch wasn't worth pursuing. However, she reiterated law enforcement faced difficulty in policing due to the 2 a.m. bar close. She said the city shouldn't develop the ordinance idea further unless law enforcement continued to advocate for the switch.
