It is um March 24th at 5 15.

We're in the Tom Baker room of the City County building.

This will be the Board of City Commissioners meeting.

Um but before we get started, if Chaplain Carr would be available to have invocation and lead us in the uh Pledge of Allegiance.

Thank you, Mayor, Commissioners.

I'll be praying according to my tradition today.

So let us pray.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for being able to gather together in freedom in this room and uh discuss the things of our city.

I thank you for these commissioners, God, and uh the love that they have for Bismarck.

I thank you for the city of Bismarck and all that it offers us as citizens.

Pray for tonight, God, and we just ask that your presence will be in this place, and that if anyone needs wisdom in their decisions, that you will give them wisdom.

We also pray for our first responders and our city workers, protect and watch over them and bless them in the mighty name of our Savior.

We pray.

Amen.

If you can't stand, please do, and let us do the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, sir.

And uh it's an honor to be here and uh remind everybody to get their tickets for you uh the 2026 mayor's prayer breakfast.

Thank you for the reminder.

All right, if we can call roll to call the meeting order, please.

Commissioner Vish.

Here, Commissioner Zenker, here commissioner Connolly?

Here, Commissioner Cleary, here Mayor Smith.

Here.

Our first item tonight uh before public comment is a proclamation for child abuse prevention month.

Whereas families flourish, North Dakota has offices in Bismarck and works across the state in programs highlighting child abuse prevention, including network building, advocating for change, educating the community, and supporting families.

Therefore, be it resolved that I am Michael Schmitz, mayor of the city of Bismarck on behalf of this commission do hereby proclaim April as child abuse prevention month and call upon all citizens, community agencies, faith groups, medical facilities, elected leaders, and businesses to increase awareness by wearing blue on April 10th, 2026 to support the families, thereby helping prevent child abuse and strengthening the community in which we live.

Signed this day, the 24th of March 2026.

Thank you.

Do you want a picture or please?

Okay.

And then I have car means.

Okay, we are at public comment, uh, which is for anything on the consent agenda, the regular agenda that's not a public hearing or the prior commit prior commission agenda, excluding public hearing.

I guess I already said that.

So anyone who wish to speak to a topic, please come forward, identify yourself, sign in and tell us which topic you're speaking to.

Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Here it is.

I would encourage you to keep it how it was last time as you keep it in place.

I don't know.

Thank you.

Any questions?

Thanks, Trevor.

Anyone else who wish to speak, please come forward.

A second call for public comment.

A third and final call for public comment.

Seeing no one, hearing no one, public comment period is now closed.

Commissioners, what are your wishes with regard to the consent agenda?

Mr.

Mayor, I'd like to pull up item D to it's a letter of support for four partners LLC.

Okay.

Other than that, anything else?

I'll make a motion to approve as presented.

Second.

Any discussion?

Minus D2.

Minus D2, yes.

Any discussion?

Hearing none, we'll call roll.

Commissioner Zenker.

Yes.

Commissioner Connolly?

Yes.

Commissioner Cleary?

Yes.

Commissioner Rish?

Yes.

Mayor Smith.

Yes.

Commissioner.

Well, D2 is another letter of support for uh interest buy down low loans through the Dakota Community Fund.

Dakota, North Dakota Opportunity Fund Loan Program.

Uh remember two meetings ago we supported one for a building that was already built that some dentists built.

This one now is for some financial advisors.

They want to build an office building, which is great.

I'm all in favor, I'm all in favor of economic development.

But this is an investment for some pretty people that are doing probably pretty well in life.

And I know it's not city money, it's state money that would buy down their interest on their loan, but it's still tax money be given to these folks that are going to build this office building.

And I don't think there's any shortage of office space in our community currently.

Um and I'm all for them doing it.

Go ahead, build it, do a good job, make some money, but I don't think the state or the city should have any involvement with it.

And that way I I'm opposed to sending a letter of support just because um they'll do it even if we don't they don't get the interest buy down.

I'm convinced of that.

Okay.

Any other comments?

I've agreed with that all along when we talk about even the um vision fund is it a new business when it initially came out.

Is it a new business that's gonna impact our community in a different way in a positive way?

Or is it uh like a nonprofit that needs that a little extra help?

Um when it's just a free-for-all for people that can afford it.

Um I struggle with that.

So the comment um go ahead.

I want to make it clear that I'm not critical of this business and these guys applying for this interest buy down.

I'd do it if I were them as well.

I mean, it's there for the asking.

So I probably great people, successful people, and I wish them all the best.

I just don't think the government should be engaged.

Well, I'm gonna just make the comment.

This this is dollars, these are dollars that are made of have been made available primarily by the state of North Dakota for all communities across the state, and um I know that we have not been getting our share of those dollars in North Dakota, and this is one way that we do, and this is not coming from cities vision fund.

This is uh money that they're borrowing and have to repay to the North Dakota Opportunity Fund at a higher rate than they would pay to the city through the vision fund.

Um so I I mean I think it is also provides opportunity for people to put up real estate and increase our tax base.

So we are you know we're we're winning from that perspective.

So just my general comment.

Um I I don't like losing to other communities if we don't have to on that.

Yeah, I guess I'm just gonna add, I think that the the opportunity fund is different than the vision fund.

It's not funds that we control or that are local funds.

Um and it also is less strict, like commissioner Commissioner Connolly was saying, like there's certain people that apply for the vision fund that makes sense, and some of those people aren't gonna fit into that criteria.

This is an opportunity for them to make use of at the state level.

Um I I agree with the mayor.

I don't I want to see people using these programs because it means that they're investing in our communities.

Um for that purpose.

Um I'm gonna move that we approve.

Second.

Further discussion.

Call the roll, please.

Commissioner Connolly?

No.

Commissioner Cleary, yes.

Commissioner Rish?

No.

Commissioner Zenker?

Yes.

Mayor Smith.

Yes.

Moving to the regular agenda.

Uh item A is a public hearing on ordinance 6658 to amend the 2025 budget ordinance.

Um, what this is a fairly regular occurrence because we budget 18 months in advance.

So Eric, I'll let you make your presentation.

Thanks, Mayor.

Commissioners.

So budget ordinance 6658 is to amend the 2025 budget in order to maintain compliance with appropriations.

Um as the city spends money.

Uh appropriations are needed by century code for general fund, special revenue funds, and debt service funds.

The five items that we um are considering for tonight for the amendment are related to the public transit system.

Um we need an increase for that, and it's simply related to timing of grant dollars.

Um as we are working through the budget process, we have an idea of how much grant dollars we're going to have.

Um, so we make those appropriations.

But when the timing of those don't quite work out based on when the federal awards get to the city, um, we sometimes fall a little bit short.

And so the increase there of 100,000 to get uh just over 4.4 million will cover the amount of grant dollars that we have passed on to transit.

The second item is the police asset forfeiture fund.

Um this fund typically doesn't have a lot of activity.

Um the the reason we need the increase here is for unforeseen vehicle maintenance and equipment maintenance, as well as some training that we're sending our officers to related to drug enforcement in our community.

The Motel Hotel Tax Fund.

So this is a direct pass through that the city receives two percent um on overnight stays at Motel Hotel.

It is passed on entirely to the CVB and the Bismarck Event Center, 75% to the CVB and 25% to the event center to support operations.

We collected more money than we anticipated through the budget process um mid-year 2024.

So we need to increase that amount in order to maintain compliance for the money that we passed on.

Um the fourth item is for the sales tax fund.

This is in recognition of two commission actions that took place in 2025.

Um the use of the money to buy the first installment of the new land of the land for the new police department that we're going to be building in upcoming years.

Um, just over a million dollars with the advertisement and the cost of the first installment, and the second part of that is the six hundred and forty-nine thousand dollars or so that we authorized to help fund the deficit for um transit's operating budget.

And the last piece is for the special deficiency fund.

Um we have some timing things in the budget process.

Um, this money here is used for extra width and depth to buy down um the special assessment process for our citizens when a road is built bigger um by nature than a uh actual residential street, and so this small adjustment is to account for the money that we contributed to the special assessments.

Okay, any questions of Eric.

Good job, thank you.

Commissioner Zenker.

I do appreciate you don't have 40 slides like your previous person.

Thanks.

Yep.

All right, we'll open the public hearing.

Anyone who wish to speak to this, please come forward.

A second call for public comment.

A third and final call for public comment.

Hearing none, seeing no one, public comment period is now closed.

Commissioners, what are your wishes?

Move to approve as presented.

Second.

Any discussion.

Hearing none will call roll.

Commissioner Cleary, yes.

Commissioner Rish?

Yes, Commissioner Zenker?

Yes, Commissioner Connolly, yes, Mayor Smith.

Yes.

Next item B.

Consider request to award contracts for the furnishing finishing payment pavement materials for 2026.

Excuse me, furnishing.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners.

I'm presenting this item on behalf of uh public work service operations as uh with the engineering department held bids on behalf of public work service operations for various uh paving materials.

Uh in your memo, uh, we had the or I should say the bid summary was presented to you and is a here on the board.

Our recommendation is I guess we have a couple of recommendations.

We have multiple parts, uh, each part was reflecting a different material that uh was being requested through this bidding process.

So our recommendation is to award uh for part A.

Zoom in here a little bit.

Award a contract to Strata Corporation for their bid of $75.96 per ton improvement for $77.84 per ton, subject to the unavailability of Strata Corporation for part B, bituminous tack oil for Northern Improvement Company at a contract price of six dollars per gallon.

Part C asphalt cement awarded to Northern Improvement Company at a price of 1,214 per ton.

Part D and E did not have bids.

We'll cover those here at the end, but part F was crushed granite awarded to Strata Corporation at a price of $90 a ton and cold mix Part G award to Northern Improvement Company at a contract price of either $15.25 per bag or $188 per ton.

We're listing these all as just bid prices.

We're not sure exactly how many how much quantity is needed, but we're establishing the unit price that public works would be able to purchase this material from these particular vendors for their payment maintenance needs here this summer.

Lastly, we did not receive bids for part D or E, the asphalt cement sealant, or part E Bituminous Seal Oil through conversations with our procurement officer.

Our recommendation here is to go out and do a sole source sole source procurement of that due to our unsuccessful bid.

So we would look for a vendor and try to purchase those items because we've unsuccessfully went to the market to try to bid on those items.

It could be something specific to the volatility in some of that and not wanting to sign up for a longer term commitment with the city for the a fixed price for a period of time.

But at any rate, public works would like to have permission to do a sole source procurement for those two items.

So with that, I take any questions that you may have on this item.

Any questions for Gabe?

What are your wishes move to the first time?

Which approved is presented.

Second.

Is there any discussion?

Hearing none will call roll.

Commissioner Rish.

Yes.

Commissioner Zenker?

Yes.

Commissioner Connolly?

Yes.

Commissioner Cleary.

Yes.

Mayor Smith.

Yes.

Next item C consider request to hear insufficiency of protests for on the resolution of necessity for street improvement district 597.

Go ahead, Gabe.

Mayor and Commissioners, the street improvement district 597 is a concrete pavement repair project on Main Avenue from approximately Washington Street Bridge to 7th Street.

We had a protest period.

There are 42 parcels within this area that would be benefited from this improvement.

Protest period ended would have been 320, I believe it was, and uh no parcels protested.

So we have insufficient protests, and we'd like to uh move forward with the project.

So the request is to accept the insufficiency of protests for all units in 597.

Commissioners, so moved.

Second.

Any discussion?

Hearing none will call roll.

Commissioner Zanker.

Yes.

Commissioner Connolly.

Yes.

Commissioner Cleary?

Yes.

Commissioner Rish?

Yes.

Mayor Smith.

Yes.

Item D, consider requests for resolutions creating district, approving plans and specifications, and authorize to advertise and receive bids for the annual 2026 concrete concrete contracts, parts A1, A2, and B.

Go ahead, Gabe.

Okay, Mayor Commissioner, if I could try to get the share link up for a second so I can type in the password here.

Perfect.

Maybe unable to connect.

We're just going to do this without that then.

So Mayor and Commissioners, the project that I have in front of you is part of our city contract.

It's three parts parts A1, A2, and B.

Part A1 is for new driveways, new sidewalks, and driveway widenings, typically reserved for new developing areas where the developer or homeowner petitions for that work to be special assessed or to be constructed on their behalf and then special assessed against their property.

So we would bid a project similar to what we went through on the furnishing pavement materials where we bid a quantity that's unknown, but we establish bid prices.

And so we establish the bid price and then give the homeowner or builder what that cost would be prior to them making the selection to use our contractor.

Part A2 is our sidewalk gap project where every year the commission, if they so choose, uh selects which areas in our community uh that do not currently have a sidewalk may be improved by having a having a sidewalk.

So working with uh Commissioner Zanker as the sidewalk portfolio, uh we've come with a recommendation that was in your your packet for some areas.

Uh we did work through some timing changes last year in terms of how much time do we give the landowners to work through uh and get that uh sidewalk constructed.

So we'd follow a similar uh practice.

We've laid out in the agenda memo if the commission chooses to to move forward with this recommendation that we would inform the landowner that they have to have it completed by the end of the 2027 construction season uh to give them both this 2026 construction season as well as next year to have that work completed.

If they choose to use the city's contractor in 2026, we would offer a uh subsidy of 25% of what that cost is to install the sidewalk to incentivize them to install it earlier rather than later.

Um so if they end up not installing it and giving a petition by 2027, uh the way the agenda memo reads is that we would look to install that uh in 2028.

So it would really be two years from right now is when we look to install that.

But that is also subject to to whatever decision you guys would like to make.

Um we've had some internal discussions on if the better timing would be uh request that it's done by the end of next year, and if they don't have it done by or at least indicate that they've uh submitted a petition to construct it by September kind of time frame, that then we would move forward on on that particular project or that that owner's behalf.

Um so I guess that's something to determine as you make your way through.

Uh would want to note in the last couple of years we've had a uh increase in the utilization of our sidewalk suggestion tool that the public uses.

So in the um the recommended recommended uh areas that we have, and including in our table that I would have had up on the screen here, uh it shows the number of pins or number of locations.

Those are the number of uh public people that have noted, hey, this would be a sidewalk or it would be beneficial to have a sidewalk in this particular area.

So we're trying to show how that information is getting um you know brought in from the public and filtered its way up uh to this board as those decisions are getting made.

So the the list is on uh on the on the agenda for your consideration.

Uh the lastly, the part B is for hazardous sidewalks and miscellaneous concrete repair.

Uh we'll pick three areas in this uh season is what we're proposing to do an inventory of the sidewalks if any of them are hazardous in nature due to heaving or uh settling or anything along those lines, we would mark that in the uh in the field, write a letter to the landowner indicating that they have a hazard they need to address with either a contractor of their choosing or they can utilize the city's contractor and special assess it.

So those are the three projects we're looking for is the A1 project, which is new construction, A2, which is sidewalk gaps, and uh part B, which is our sidewalk, uh hazardous sidewalk and miscellaneous concrete repair.

And I take any questions that you may have.

Commissioner Rish.

Uh Mr.

Mayor, uh Gabe, what if you know of a hazardous sidewalk?

Do they call the city engineering department and just say, hey, this is a bad sidewalk, I walk there every day?

And what's the process?

Sure.

Mayor and Commissioners, Commissioner Rish.

Uh we have more of our proactive areas where we go out and look at you know the areas of neighborhoods and try to just canvas the entire neighborhood.

We find some efficiencies from the contractor's operation by doing it that way and canvas that entire area.

Uh we also, though, will take requests from the public or or or or notice from the public when someone calls in and says there's a really bad spot at XYZ Street.

Uh, we would go out and evaluate that location as well as a couple of blocks or I should say a couple of houses, you know, in each direction.

So we aren't just picking that one, we're picking all the houses on that frontage and doing kind of ad hoc, you know, at least one block at a time locations in case there's other spots to have the contractor go address those as well.

But yes, we receive those comments from the public as more of our miscellaneous areas as well.

So if a citizen has something they call the engineering department or reach you by email or whatever the case may be.

All of those uh communication paths would work just fine.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Commissioners.

Move to approve is presented.

Second.

Any further discussion?

Hearing none will call roll.

Commissioner Connolly?

Yes.

Commissioner Cleary, yes.

Commissioner Rich?

Yes.

Commissioner Zanker?

Yes.

Mayor Smith.

Yes.

Item E, consider request for approval of the project list and the home rule charter amendment language for the half-cent sales tax extension on roadways.

Okay.

Mayor Commissioners, in your agenda packet is the recommended or I guess the proposed language for what the half cent sales tax for the extension of roadways uh would look like.

So I guess this mirrors what we've had in previous conversations in terms of the project list and the language as drafted by city attorney Mees.

Uh I guess we take any questions that you may have on the language.

Uh there were some other uh items added to this list reflecting uh some of the language that wasn't added in the city citizen initiated uh measure from from previous uh that was passed uh I guess two two years ago just about now regarding remote sales or allowing remote sales to be collected and as well as a component on when that sales tax expires.

So those are two elements that we could contemplate including in here, or those could be removed from this particular issue and just uh left to their own devices.

I can confirm that the remote sales language isn't an issue.

We could we are allowed to collect uh sales tax on remote sales, even though our our sales uh our home rule charter doesn't specifically indicate as such, so that's probably more just a cleanup that all the paragraphs match each other.

Um but I would say and and I couldn't note also the expiration of of the sales tax.

Um I guess because both uh uh because the sales tax for um transit and uh emergency services doesn't have an expiration or uh a sunset on it, it's it's probably assumed to be continual unless otherwise noted.

But I guess I'll stop rambling at this point in time and take any questions or comments or direction that you would have.

Commissioner Connolly.

You're not suggesting putting uh sunset on the citizen-driven in this language.

Mayor, Commissioner's Commissioner Conley, right now there's a paragraph that's specifically says that the first penny, the first sales tax that was passed uh back in the the 90s doesn't expire.

There is not a similar sentence currently regarding the expiration or lack thereof for the uh transit and emergency services related one.

So it would be adding in if it's worthwhile to add in that clarification that that tax also does not expire unless some other action is taken.

Okay.

Because when the people that went and got signatures, that was never part of the conversation.

Understandable.

Commissioner Rish.

Uh Mr.

Mayor Gabe, but I'm looking at two and a half pages here.

How much is this do you plan to would we put on the ballot?

Just the end of it or all of this two and a half pages?

Mayor, commissioners, commissioner Rish, uh feel free city attorney combs, or city attorney meets excuse me.

Ooh, sorry.

Uh if there's a I can't see you back there.

So we're looking for outside attorneys now.

Our typical practice would be to include all of that language in in the questions.

Uh I know on our previous time that we passed the half or that I shouldn't say we the citizens passed that in 2018.

It it had the entire project list, it had all those details in it.

So I guess that's bearing under uh other direction, that's what we would propose.

Commissioner Rish.

Mr.

Mayor Gabe, um, if you want to look at it, um where we get into section two, it it's part of the existing ordinance that we're not modifying.

I it would make more sense if we didn't have that in there because people may get a confused.

And then at the end, uh it says yes, as it published home rule charter or amendment to the home rule charter for the city of Bismarck as published in the Tribune.

I mean, if we already gonna are going to list the roads up above, I don't think it to put as published in the Tribune might confuse people, because somebody might say, Well, I didn't I don't get the Tribune, I didn't see it in the Tribune.

Something to that effect.

But shorter generally is better.

Longer is more confusing, and um when people are confused, the tendency is to vote no.

So I I would suggest that we get rid of the stuff in section two, middle of the second page, all the way to the bottom and all the way to where it says a yes vote.

So publish it in the Tribune, the whole works.

So I'm um we'd be we'd still be listing all the closed roads.

And we'd be listing the expiration date and ten years and all that.

It might be simpler, just say a continuation of the uh sales tax.

And people will know that we're not putting something additional on, just a continuation.

Where I find the confusion and I don't know about you mean all of section two, I actually think in paragraph.

Paragraph 17 C could be removed.

Which is says to impose the retail sales tax on gross receipts, and it goes into paragraph one and then sub one or sub-I sub I two, the three cent, three percent, three-tenths of a cent for public safety, two-tenths for public transportation.

Because me to me that looks like we're imposing another sales tax.

It's already there.

We're not gonna just eliminate that entirely.

We can't do that because we'd need approval of a vote of the citizen to change that.

It's why I'm saying not just we don't we're not amending that section, so we're just remove it from this entirely.

Okay.

Yeah.

Because you we don't have to revote on it.

It's right.

That's my point.

And I don't want anybody to think we're implementing another half cent sales tax.

Well, we could take out five as well.

But Mayor and Commissioners, Commissioner Rish, if I may, the paragraph five does need to be changed because there is language in our current homeworld charter that refers to the half-cent sales tax used for roadways will expire ten years from the passage of the original of the home rule charter amendment.

So that sunset we would need to modify.

Now it's a question of is there we we brought in the entire paragraph to give the entire context of where that sits.

Really, it's just a little bit outstriking.

But it would be in conflict if we don't amend that.

Now it's your turn, Julie.

So yes.

So Commissioner Rish and Mayor and Commissioners.

Five should stay in because it does say in the in the Home Rule Charter now, it just does say ten years after the imposition of the um or the first collection, I think is what the language might say.

So if we clarify it's December 31st of 2038, then we're clear and we're not in conflict and there's no confusion regarding the termination date.

And I and if I could also I do agree with the mayor that we could remove 17 C one little I too little I just to be I had originally put it in just so we're telling the voters what we're doing, but it is getting long and and I do agree that the confusion may come in if they think if anybody thinks that we would be imposing a new tax.

Mr.

Mayor?

Yes.

Yeah, just as a follow-up, if we're gonna leave five with the expiration date, then we could take out two altogether.

I mean with the um sunset, because we've already explained it in five.

Mayor and commissioners, Commissioner Vish, it's also located in the current Home Rule Charter in two locations.

So we're trying to get rid of it or amend it in both locations is what we're trying to accomplish.

Other comments.

Commissioner Cleary.

Maybe this is a silly question, but is all of this gonna fit on the ballot?

I guess I look to uh Julie to help with that one if that's a if we have a page limit or a size limit regarding I mean I remember all the projects being listed on the last one.

I'm just wondering if like we're able to replicate that or if this is too much.

I can check with the auditor for this.

Okay.

The county auditor, but we could also take out the spaces.

So we're because it's double space for ease of reading, but um I we can check with him to make sure I'm sure it will fit, but I just I understand the uh the concern.

Commissioner Zenker.

And honestly, it depends which machine you go to, right?

If you get a paper ballot, it'll be different than the electronic right, the iPad kind of looking thing.

So, well, it's a really big iPad because I don't need my glasses when I use it.

Um I think I mean I get it if we pare it down a little bit, keep it simple is always a good adage.

But we I do I do agree that all of the projects were on the the last one and to make sure we're explaining somehow in there that it's an extension, not a new one, right?

Yeah, so just to clarify too, I I don't think we need in it as much as I love the Bismarck Tribune, my trustee tribune.

I'm afraid that if you sit put at the end as published in the Bismarck Tribune and the guy says, Well, I don't get the Tribune, I didn't see it, he's gonna think, oh, there's additional stuff when we in fact already list all the stuff right above.

Yeah, I guess m would the only point of saying it that way is if we didn't list the projects.

Um don't we have a go ahead, Commissioner Connelly.

I'm sorry, I missed your finger.

Yeah, I can provide some a little bit of context on some of that.

When the county extended the half cent for the combined jail and then added the additional half cent.

And then also in the uh uh 22 Home Rule Charter amendments, they didn't print all of the wording that was passed.

They just had that statement as print published in the Bismarck Tribune.

And that's where some of the confusion, say with the auditors' position and the whole controversy with their side of the table this year, is that a lot of people didn't understand what they were voting on because it wasn't printed on the ballots.

I'm just afraid people will think there's more stuff that we're they're voting on than what's listed in the on the ballot itself, and they won't you know maybe be confused and say, I don't know what it's about, so I'm gonna vote no.

Commissioner Cleary.

Yeah, I guess my thought would be like could we just take the as published in the Bismarck Tribune off of those sentences, unless for some reason we're not able to list all of the projects, and we have to go that route if we're able to list all the projects.

I think the sentence is fine without those that last like six words.

Um so my question really is more legal.

I suspect we are obligated to print in the Tribune, and this is probably just saying that we have printed this.

It's not the root, it's not the list.

It's the home rule charter amendment.

And so I think we're getting a little bit into the weeds on what the as published in the Tribune.

We're supposed to publish the whole thing in the Tribune.

Okay.

And that so I I would suspect we have to say that we published it in the Tribune, but I don't know that if there's a legal question.

And the county auditor has the published uh sample.

Well, it says primary ballot.

Well, that's it.

That's the it's the whole ballot.

Well, Mr.

Mayor, maybe we should clarify as outlined above and as published in the Tribune.

Something to that effect.

So somebody will look at it and say, okay, I see it here.

That's why we're going to be able to do that.

It was published in the Tribune as well.

I'm okay, adding that.

And I love publishing in the Tribune.

But to keep Zach employed over there.

Drama keeps Zach employed.

Okay.

So we need to make we need to have a motion if we're to uh do something here to get it to get it moved forward.

Well, I'll I'll take a swing at it.

I'll move that we go as presented with the following exceptions, eliminate C one, one I, and one double I?

Um and then clarify at the end of the ballot language.

A no vote means that you reject his proposal.

Both sides, no one yes.

Proposed amendment to the home rule charter of the city of Bismarck as outlined above and is published in the Bismarck Tribune.

Something to that effect.

Do you think I got it about right?

Second.

Further discussion.

Hearing then we'll call roll.

Commissioner Cleary?

Yes.

Commissioner Rish?

Yes.

Commissioner Zenker?

Yes.

Commissioner Connolly?

Yes.

Mayor Smith.

Yes.

Moving to item F, consider request for approval of the Bismarck Event Center operations and food and beverage service contract between the City of Bismarck and Global Spectrum doing business as Oakview Group and Chad Walker is going to present based upon the fine work of the Bismarck Event Center Authority Board, of which we have a few members here in the crowd, and I thank them for their service.

It has been uh a significant amount of work they put in over the last three months.

Go ahead, Chad.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, Commissioners.

My name is Chad Walter, and I'm with the I serve on the Bismarck Event Center Authority Board.

The Authority Board is a seven-member group appointed by this commission.

It is made up of community volunteers and city leadership.

Our role is to provide oversight, accountability, and strong community voice for the Bismarck Event Center and the Bell Mayhouse Auditorium.

We oversee and provide guidance on operations, policy, support long-term planning, and ensure these facilities are run responsibly and aligned with the expectations of the community and this board of city commission.

Over the past several months, we have worked with our consultant JL.

And we've worked with them to evaluate to evaluate options for a professional third-party operator.

This has been a structured and disciplined process focused on long-term success, strong management, and improved performance.

As part of that work, the authority board was tasked with identifying the right third-party manager for these facilities.

Based on that process, the authority board has selected Oak View Group as the best qualified manager for the event center and the Bell.

Therefore, we will be making a recommendation to approve a master management agreement between the city and Oakview Group.

But before we formally make that recommendation, we would like you to hear directly from JLL, who's our consultant on the process that was followed.

And then after that, I'd like to have Oakview Group also speak so we can get a good understanding of who they are and what they bring to the table.

So at this time, I'm going to go ahead and uh turn it over to Dan and Mitch at JL.

Thanks, Chad.

And also just want to also echo Chad's comments about the involvement, you know, of the authority board in this process too.

And we'll certainly talk about that.

If you look at what you see in front of you, and I think you also have a copy of this, uh, we just really want to talk about quickly the uh four key phases in terms of this project and sort of where we are.

And let's start with the beginnings.

And if you remember, we were brought in to really conduct a uh objective uh, if you will, approach to really evaluating, analyzing, and sort of supporting, if you will, the current operations at the event center.

And uh Mitch and I both uh had a very thorough uh three-day plus mini phone calls in terms of our engagement with the current team, really trying to understand where uh sort of everything was.

Uh and I think everybody remembers that the goal of that process was to really objectively determine what was the what was going to be the most impactful sort of next steps here as it related to the event center.

And after we did that, and after we uh spent time thinking about what the possibilities were, we made the recommendation to uh use or go out for um use a third party in terms of the management of the event center.

And again, the spirit of that was certainly to continue to support the internal team in terms of their success.

If you remember a lot of discussions about that, so it was the ability to bring in uh new third-party manager, go out and have a competitive process to make sure that we had a chance to really understand who was out there in terms of options.

And so we uh developed an RFP, we put that RFP out into the market, we talked to probably half a dozen different management companies, ended up shortlisting two in particular that we thought were worthy of uh the board, who also the authority board, by the way, also functioned as the selection committee in this process.

And so we were able to go through an extensive RFP process.

I also want to say that in the development of the RFP, which the commission saw, that was also designed to really talk about what was important to Bismarck.

And so when when we put the RFP out, that was our goal.

And when both of the management companies responded, the authority board was very interested in not only experience, but also how were they going to assimilate and really be a part of success in Bismarck with the two, you know, the two venues that we have that we're gonna be operated.

And uh felt very good, frankly, about uh, you know, the responses that we got.

The authority board was very clear with those responses in in determining that OBG was the right direction to go.

Uh and so that that was a very uh it was a thorough process, but also a uh unanimous process in terms of that decision.

Uh we also came back to the commission at that point uh to do an update.

And then at that point in that process, and we call this phase two, but you know, we're we it's it's really all part of the same phase.

The authority board was being formed.

And one of the things we also want to say about this authority board formation is we are really excited about the commission sort of approving the approach that's being taken to how the board members are selected.

Uh we uh Mitch and I have been involved with a lot of different governing approaches and the group that has been put together as members of the authority board, not just because of the great individuals they are, but because of the backgrounds that they bring are really gonna create a very dynamic governance model that I will tell you and Mitch would tell you don't always exist uh with other oversight boards of public assembly buildings like the event center.

So really felt like that was an important thing.

And then also in this process, if you remember, in the original RFP, we were very clear about the employee protection plan right up front.

And we wanted to make sure that as part of a new management company coming with us, they understood how important that was in this.

And so if you kind of move to phase three, which really speaks to the fact that okay, now we have you know made the selection, the authority board has made the recommendation, and we're now in the sort of transition period that we have been in.

Uh I I will say this, and I really say this very sincerely because again, we we have experience all over the country.

The specific regional group, two of which are on the call today that make up a key part of the leadership from OBG from minute one, once the announcement was made, and once we began to discuss both contract and transitional type conversations, have really been superb just in their thinking around how to make sure that all the priorities that the commission has approved, all the priorities that the authority board feels are important through both KPIs, the employee protection plan, and really just the bigger picture of how we make sure that the event center really becomes a thriving or continues to evolve as a thriving part of our community.

I just want to say this as a personal observation that you know we are thrilled with the uh key leaders that are part of this from OBG and what we've already been able to spend time with them on.

So if you go to the next piece, phase three, which is really about the management transition, and that's the fact that part of what we really finalized with them was if you think about a uh uh a process like this, there's a lot to finalize.

And so things like the employee protection plan really coming up with a management agreement, which I think we will also speak to as part of this presentation, um, and also making sure we talked about you know what what's we had a great conversation with them about you know how do we think about success.

You know, what is how do we define success?

And I think together we have a really broad, comprehensive uh sense of what's what success really means.

And I think that some of the leadership will speak to this today too uh in terms of that, and you know, we're excited about that.

And then the last piece, and I know that uh Julie's here and she's been a big part of this process, as has others, is we did have a very extensive contract negotiation process, which I think Chad will talk about more.

But again, I think we have in we have ended up with an agreement that we all feel comfortable with in terms of what the goals are.

And I'm gonna leave leave it up to Chad to talk about some of those key uh pieces when it comes to the agreement that has been negotiated.

So we'll stop here.

And as we turn it over to Ann and Brad from OBG, I just want to restate this.

Uh I just kind of want to restate this to the commission because uh we've had a chance to spend really some quality time with the two of them and Rick who's another member of their team, and and uh just really uh, you know, it's this is post-agreement.

This is after selection, right?

Um continue to be really excited about uh you know their thought process and sort of their overall approach.

So uh Anna and uh Brad, Chad, I'll turn it over to you.

And again, I'm just gonna say this publicly, excited to have you part of us.

Awesome.

Well, thank you so much, Dan and Mayor Schmidt, um Schmidt's members of the commission.

We're super excited to work with you.

Uh my name is Anna Rossberg.

I am the district general manager for Oakview Group.

I'm based out of Grand Forks, North Dakota.

So just a little drive that I've gotten very familiar with now, uh, away from you.

I oversee the basically the cold states, so Nebraska, parts of Iowa and the Dakotas, um, and then Upper Minnesota as well.

Um I would say I would echo Dan's comments from our standpoint.

You know, we manage facilities all over the U.S.

and Canada, all over the world.

We also are owners, we're the only uh management firm in the world that is actually an owner as well.

So we really understand the day-to-day operational challenges that you face with capital investment and what that looks like to make sure that your venues are successful.

So we're really excited.

And again, I think the advisory board um is made up of really talented, dynamic people that understand the bigger picture and and why it's so important for us to come in and be all aligned with the commission, the advisory board, um, and you all from from our standpoint from OBG, um, so that we can come in and really just raise the bar on driving revenue and guest experience.

I think there's a ton of potential.

Um, we're really looking forward to bringing in more regional and national conferences, working with the CVB very closely.

Um, and then of course, trying to drive more touring acts as well.

So from our standpoint, I don't think we could be more aligned in what we think those KPIs and those goals are.

Um, and we're just really looking forward to kind of applying all of the resources that our company has to all of the employees there.

Um, and to again echo Dan, um, we've already been able to start working in good faith with all of the employees.

We've met one-on-one with every full-time employee.

Obviously, those folks have been through a lot the last couple of years, and I think um coming in with an empathetic ear and really trying to approach them and wrap our arms around around them with the resources has been beneficial.

Um, and we should have offer letters pending your uh approval tonight.

Um we should have offer letter solve those full-time employees, um, following that employee protection plan, making sure that they're whole and that they have comparable you know compensation packages from what they had at the city and really just trying to get them all of the tools that they need to be successful and to get on board with the new chapter.

Um, but we're we're really looking forward to it.

And as you know, I'm sure Chad will go over as well.

Part of the um OBG contract is um an investment as well into capital.

And so I think there's just so much potential on what we can do together, um, and we're really looking forward to it.

Um I would like to turn it over to Brad.

He is um a very seasoned uh general manager, he served in our company for almost a decade now, but he's got decades of experience.

You guys are really getting um the best of the best, knows the drill in and out when it comes to transitions, what the employees are gonna need, um, and he'll be your day-to-day leader.

Um, and I'll be here to support and work with you as much as needed too.

But I think you've got a really a good local leader that has been through this um enough times to know exactly uh what the recipe is for success.

So we're looking forward to it, and thank you guys for all of your efforts so far.

Hey, thank you, Anna.

Appreciate that introduction.

Uh, Mr.

Mayor, City Commissioners, uh, again, as uh Anna mentioned, my name is Brad Murphy.

I'm a native of Montana.

Uh grew up on a large cattle ranch in central Montana, so I'm uh our home place is only five hours away from Bismarck, so that's pretty exciting for us as well.

Um I will be, like I said, the the general manager of the uh Bismarck Event Center uh upon approval of this contract.

Very excited.

Uh there is a plethora and a wide variety of opportunity in these buildings.

Uh, you know, a lot of diversity, a lot of ability to go in a lot of different directions, but also uh a great chance to form collaborative partnerships uh with the uh city of of Bismarck, the local region, and the state of North Dakota and throughout the the Midwest and wet and west.

So I've been in this industry, like Anna mentioned for for a very long time, uh stops in in Bozeman, uh working at the field house and football stadium, uh, made that cardinal sin and went to Missoula and took over the Adams Center as executive director there.

So I went from a being a bobcat to a Grizz, which is like being, you know, going from being uh uh a red hot or a hawk to uh to a bison.

So you know you you understand the drill there.

Um and then I I joined OVG ten years ago uh as the general manager of the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper.

Uh was there for six years, and then have spent the last three and a half years on the road being the transition manager for the company, onboarding new accounts all across all across the US.

So uh a very wide variety of understanding and getting to know what's going on in our company and know uh knowing all the players, which really helps when you go back to this level of running buildings because you know all the context, you know, all the individuals that you can reach out to help, and uh that's one thing that OVG will bring to this account is that we have 300 buildings that we manage, and all of those buildings have something to contribute and help us run Bismarck.

So really excited about the support.

And that's really why I got into working for a private management company as opposed to being in the public sector.

I was in the public sector for over 20 years, and I just wanted to have that business entrepreneurial spirit and and really be able to drive revenue and increase that bottom or decrease that bottom line, however it pans out.

So that's the thing that OVG will bring to it.

I mean, we'll we'll improve the efficiencies, we'll drive revenue through uh increased bookings through food and beverage sales, through corporate partnership sales, and really make this a business opportunity for the city of Bismarck.

Um really super excited um to work with the advisory board to work with the city.

Uh I will say that the your entire staff has been just greatly accommodating, has worked with us through this whole process.

And so I feel very good.

And uh I know that North Dakota has really good people, so I'm excited to be working in this juncture.

So with that, uh very happy to be involved with this process, and I'll turn it back over.

Chad, I think we'll turn it back to you.

I just have to say one thing, Brad.

I just gotta say, make a little anecdotal comment.

Is remember that Brad's excited about being part of the community.

And so uh even you know, assuming a pause devote today, he's gotten all sorts of advice already about where everybody wants him to live and what they want him to do.

So, you know, excited, Brad, they had you uh I think everybody's excited to have you part of the community too.

So, Chad, uh back to you.

All right, thank you very much.

So, as you can see, the authority board has spent a significant amount of time vetting options and completing due diligence.

We bring forward to you an agreement for what we believe is the best choice for a third-party company for the event center and the bell.

This agreement provides professional venue management, includes a five million dollar private investment in our facilities, and it creates a structure where Oakview earns their largest fees only when performance improves.

Just as important, we built in strong protections and oversight for the city in our agreement.

The city owns all of the assets.

They own the buildings, the equipment, the data, the brand.

All of the revenue flows through the city controlled accounts.

The authority board approves major decisions.

The Commission retains final authority over budgets.

The manager must follow city procurement policies.

Existing employees get strong protection.

The city's IT director has final authority over hardware, software, and internet.

The city has the right to audit the operations.

And if necessary, the city can terminate this agreement with cause.

So if it's not working out, we have options there.

So some of the key questions that I thought that you would you would have tonight would be who funds any operating deficit?

Well, the city does, just like we do today.

The difference is that OVG is incentivized to reduce and eliminate that deficit.

What does this cost annually?

The base management fee starts at approximately $200,000 per year.

Beyond that, additional fees are tied directly to performance, including food and beverage, sponsorships, and other group revenue growth.

If those fees being earned, if those fees are being earned, it means revenues have increased well beyond the cost.

And we're all making money.

What is the worst case scenario?

If OVG underperforms, we terminate the agreement.

At that point, we would owe remaining unamortized investment that they would have made.

Remember, they're going to make a $5 million investment in the facility.

But however, this situation would only occur if we chose to exit due to significant issues.

And the Authority Board is in place to identify and address problems early to prevent these things from happening.

Mayor and Commissioners, Oakview Group runs venues like ours across the country every day.

This allows us to tap into their network, their bookings, their relationships, and their operational expertise.

Therefore, on behalf of the Bismarck Event Center Authority Board, we would respectfully recommend approval of the master management agreement between the City of Bismarck and Oakview Group, subject to final review by the City Attorney.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chad.

Commissioners.

I'll move that we approve, subject to approval by the city attorney.

Second.

Discussion.

This came to us in an email at 5.13 last night.

And haven't had time to read the entire thing.

When I think about it, I appreciate the fact, and everything that Chad shared was good.

I mean when it was stated to align with the Board of City Commission.

I mean, when we run for office, we basically tell the citizen we're going to review everything.

I haven't had time to review it.

And that.

So can we postpone the vote a day or Thursday or Friday?

If it's tomorrow or Thursday, it'd have to be a specific time, just to give me a little more time to read.

I had too much on my plate.

I just couldn't do it by five today.

So the comment I have to that, and we can be respectful of both parties, but the authority board was created by this commission.

And this commission gave the authority board certain responsibilities, including vetting this contract and negotiating the contract.

In fact, in our December meeting, I believe we actually asked the Authority Board to negotiate the contract.

And I believe we approve that.

Um much of what's in the contract is a lot of a lot of things from a legal standpoint to make sure those things are there.

I think the critical things that we need to be aware of are what the fee is, that we have employee protection, uh employing every employee who's at the event center today, that their compensation all package, total package is equal to or better.

And then um just as a FYI my own numbers, um the they're putting five million dollars into our facility.

Two and a half million basically in year one, five million in year four, and another two million in year ten.

Their base contract fee, if that's all they earn.

Two and a half, five hundred thousand and then two million.

It's five million, two and a half, five hundred thousand is three.

You said five million.

Total of five million.

Right, but you said two and a half, you said two and a half million, five million and two million.

I'm sorry, I meant five hundred thousand.

It's five million total.

If if they don't perform if if they don't perform, and all they're paid is their management fee in the first ten years, we'll have received three million dollars for our kitchen facility, and they will have earned back about two point three million.

And so we're getting more than the base fee is.

They'll only get the rest if they perform in advance.

The authority board has spent hours.

We have other contracts that have gone through the same way through the same process that would have hit our consent agenda.

But because this was coming so late in the day, that's why it's we uh and we wanted them to make a presentation because it's it's that important.

And and I've run the numbers by the way, if they hit their numbers that they should make uh by year three or four, we get to probably break even at the event center.

Plus, we've improved the economics in the community with having more hotel stays, more restaurants, and people coming here and spending time.

Commissioner.

With that being said, I don't want to vote for anything that I haven't read through.

I wouldn't give that advice to my daughter or any of my kids.

I want to give that advice to other people.

Yeah, and I just based on the people involved.

I can trust the on some levels that everything you're talking about.

100 percent in there.

I still haven't read it.

That's fine.

I'm just explaining to the process.

I I'm on I've gotten 15 pages in.

Okay.

Commissioners, other comments.

I I I somewhat sympathize with Commissioner Conley.

I did get it yesterday as he did, and I spent quite a bit of time today going over it.

It's a hundred pages long.

I want to thank uh Mr.

Walker and the whole team there for the diligence they did on it.

It looks like no stone was left unturned.

I I I I mean, I'm gonna I'm supporting it tonight just because I have you know, I got a chance I had a chance to review it first of all.

And I have confidence in the authority board and the administration that there's been some good work on this.

So everybody knows my stance on this.

So I'll just say this.

First of all, I I appreciate the authority board because I think that's a that's a huge positive moving forward.

Uh the dynamics of that group is fantastic.

There are things in this contract that I would have I would have included.

One of them would have been a cap as to the risk that the city would have from an operational standpoint.

Um I think anytime you go into contract scenarios, you want to you want to make sure you're taking care of risk risk mitigation, expose yourself to the least amount as possible.

On this side of things, just as you stated, Mayor, um, hey, if the if Oakview Group does nothing, right?

If they're net neutral, they're gonna get paid their fee and nothing above that.

But the city, the city of Bismarck is still gonna have to cover operational losses.

Right?

Just like we do, just like Mr.

Walter said, just like we do today.

So from my perspective, that one item changes nothing for what the what we currently have to what the what the new um contract has.

The other thing that the other two items that I think should have been addressed in here is some of the events and things that are already booked through our staff, what we've done and traditional items that that come across.

I didn't see anything in the contract that that acknowledges that.

Um if there is, I could have missed it.

Like I mean, it's a hundred pages, and we all had a few hours to do that.

And I and I mean so.

And I do have one more, so just let me finish, sir.

So the other thing would be is um along those contract lines is other contracts we have with with current vendors.

Um those are the two that I would highlight.

Um I there's a third, so let me expand on that.

One thing I think you gotta we gotta look at is page 55 of 79.

Um where it says premium seating, including 16 luxury suites and 400 club seats.

I can 100% tell you as many times as I've been in the event center through all my coaching um things that I've done.

I've never seen a suite or club suit club club seats in that uh venue.

So I think we need to uh for sure before you guys approve this is is remove that because that's 100% wrong.

So that's all I got.

So to the to the contracts, that's a fair question, Commissioner.

Um those are all being addressed through an attachment that we have to list them all.

They're assuming them on both sides.

So no But it's not in here.

You're you're right, it's not in the agreement because we have to we still have to accumulate all the list.

Sure.

Okay.

And there might there's moving parts to some of those.

So I don't see an acknowledgement of of moving parts or anything again within this hundred pages.

That'll be I saw the KPIs will be detailed later to be determined.

There will be an exist exhibit for all the contracts on both sides as well.

Sure.

Okay.

And that's part of Julie's uh to-do list to-do list.

Fantastic.

Um as far as a premium seating, uh that only happens if they find a way to make it the premium seatings happen.

I but I don't know if you're I guess I interpret it that way that the the um that's what the event center currently has.

No, it would be they would look for opportunities to come.

Because it says description on page 55, it says Bismarck event center description, gives the address and the main arena, and then it lists it it's one of the items listed on there.

So I think um I don't know, was it listed in the RFP and stuff that way too, I guess.

Just like the loading docks, there's I mean, there's doors to unload things, but it doesn't have a true what I consider a loading dock where you back the semi up to it and you can drive the four.

It's as the it's out of the facility exists.

Sure.

If they can create a premium seating, then they then they will.

Commissioner Connolly.

When you I just wanted to make the point when you mentioned the consent agenda, it was I had a talk with uh city administrator, and I do read through every page on the consent agenda, and and it's not a comfortable thing some weeks.

Um Commissioner Risch and I said on the uh planning and zoning for Burley County, and we had a uh bucket dump on us of like 947 pages.

And um it's a it's an interesting um thing to overcome some weeks.

I I read them all too.

Okay, yeah, I understand.

Any further discussion hearing none will call roll.

Commissioner Rish?

Yes.

Commissioner Zenker?

No.

Commissioner Connolly?

No.

Commissioner Cleary?

Yes.

Mayor Smith.

Yes.

Moving to item G, consider the request to partner with Bismarck Parks and Recreation District to solicit proposals for a community recreation facility feasibility study.

Somebody was tall.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners.

Uh looking back to the February 24th, a commission meeting, I was standing here at this podium uh requesting permission to uh approach the Bismarck Parks and Recreation District Board and uh hopefully partner with them on a community recreation feasibility study.

I'm here today to tell you I was in front of that board uh last week, Thursday, March 19th, uh, with a request to partner with the park district.

Uh some questions from the park board, uh good questions, good engagement.

Uh short version of the results of that.

The park board voted unanimously to partner with the city of Bismarck uh with a price range of 50 to 75,000 for each entity for a total project study of 150,000.

Uh looking back to the meeting that we had here on February 24th, uh the initial cost estimates were based on conversations that parks director Kevin Clipfell had had with a consultant that had done the work back in 2019.

Based on the feedback from this group, uh Kevin and I worked on narrowing the scope of the project to really get focused on uh the key components of the actual study, and so what would those be uh primarily for the park district?

It's a the ask is what are we lacking?

What do we have in the community today that we didn't have five or six years ago?

What do we need to add to the community to uh to bolster the offerings from the park district?

Is it a community center?

Is a sports complex suitable for hosting uh competitions, tournaments, things like that.

Um I guess if we knew those answers, we wouldn't be asking for the study.

The city's interest in this study isn't just what is lacking in the community for parks and recreation, but more importantly, the location of the facility.

And when we talk about the location, why that's important to us is because we will be the ones, if it's out on the edge of the community somewhere, we will be the ones tasked with extending all the infrastructure to get to that site and supporting the growth and development in and around it.

It is typical that if this were a uh a greenfield edge development, there would be ancillary uses that would come in with it as well to support the activities in and around a sports complex, particularly if it is the type that would be able to host uh tournaments and uh sporting events from people outside the community.

Um so with that information, I just wanted to come back to you and let you know that the scope had been narrowed.

Parks is a willing partner at a 50-50 cost share up to $75,000 for the park district, up to $75,000 for the City of Bismarck.

Excuse me, executive director Clipfeld did provide a bit of a timeline.

Uh it's Kevin here.

Yes.

Oh, great.

Hi, Kevin.

Um the the timeline that was shared with the park district would be to uh push the proposals out uh with the request of April 23rd, 2026.

Uh proposal selection would be the end of that month and likely interviews the first part of May and develop a contract, come back with a consultant approval by the park district and obviously this group as well, uh, with a projected start date of middle of June.

We're looking at probably an eight to nine month study, so wrapping up in hopefully February of 2027.

I did mention this uh back in February when we talked about this.

Part of the interest also for the city in this is to help with the continuity of the project.

As many of you know, executive director Clipfell is scheduled to retire in June of this year.

And being in the middle of a study and having a transition in leadership and and the learning curve that goes along with that, I think as city staff, we could help support that transition, uh, not to do Kevin's work or the next person's work, but to help continue those conversations with the consultants, the stakeholders, and all the people that are engaged in the project to that point.

Um I think that adds value and really shortens the time uh that would necess be necessary to complete a a study of this nature uh in an appropriate eight to nine month timeline.

So if you have any questions, I'm happy to try and answer those.

If you want to bring Kevin up here, it sounds like he's available too.

Well, you didn't you have your back to I just being a friendly commissioner and I'm not always mean.

No, I didn't say you were.

Kevin and I actually spoke before the meeting.

I wasn't expecting him to be here.

So I do I do appreciate the fact that we've narrowed that down to instead of 250,000 to 100 twenty-five or whatever, or one fifty.

So I do I will make a motion to approve as presented.

And I do appreciate the park district's uh partnership on this.

Second.

Do we have further discussion?

Commissioner Rish.

I just want to thank you, Jason.

Thank you, Commissioner Zinker for bringing it up that the 240, 250,000 was a lot of money.

So save $90,000 in a heartbeat.

Has there been some discussion of where this might be?

I've been looking around the city.

We've got um land down by Cottonwood, by the airport, by Gateway Mall, there's some vacant land, Northeast Bismarck, North Central Bismarck, Northwest Bismarck, all over the place there.

What will happen is this thing drops someplace, the surrounding property will dramatically increase in value.

So that'll be a big benefit to wherever it goes, to whoever owns the uh land around it.

Have you thought about where it might go?

I suspect so, or maybe this study is gonna come up with some plans.

Commissioner Rish, Mayor and Commissioners, uh thank you for the question.

As staff, certainly, we have some ideas.

We're well aware of the large tracts of land that are in and around the community, particularly those today inside city limits.

Um the future land use is guided by the 2045 uh together 2045 plan, the community development at the time adopted today's planning department.

We also have a map on our GIS map gallery that shows vacant parcels.

And so a quick review of that if we're looking for something that's fifteen to twenty acres, yes, you're right, Commissioner Rish.

There's a variety of parcels throughout the community.

Some might be on the edge, some might be an infill or a redevelopment opportunity.

Uh but until we know what components may be part of the complex, it may be too early to say this is exactly where it should go.

So having those two uh two tracks uh kind of working in concert with one another, I would anticipate we would have a recommendation or recommendations on potential good site locations near the end of the project, not necessarily on the front end.

Any other comments we'll call rolling Commissioner Zenker?

Yes.

Commissioner Connolly?

Yes.

Commissioner Cleary?

Yes.

Commissioner Rish?

Yes.

Mayor Schmidt.

Yes.

We're at a point of other business, and then we have an executive session.

So before executive session, do we have any other business?

Uh something remarkable happened yesterday.

Somebody came and picked up my garbage.

And I just want to point out how significant that really is.

I put it out on Sunday night.

Somebody comes on Monday and it's gone, and I never want to see it again.

I just want to commend all the things our city does.

Sewer, water, garbage, and you can go around the world.

It's not the case all over the place.

And we've got a good folks taking care of us.

So I just want to shout out to my garbage man who's there before I ever get up.

He's there like at six o'clock.

So anyway.

If not, uh I would entertain a motion to enter into executive session.