It's June 9th, it's 5 15.

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

This will be the Board of City Commissioners meeting.

But first, if we can have invocation, Chaplain Crowley, and also the Pledge of Allegiance.

Bow your heads, please.

Heavenly Father.

We come before you today grateful for the privilege of serving this community.

Grant our commissioners wisdom that is steady, clarity that is fair, and unity that seeks the good of every neighbor in Bismarck.

Guide their decisions toward justice, safety, and flourishing for all who call this city home.

Bless this meeting with cooperation, humility, and integrity.

Thank you, Father, for your steadfast love in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

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.

If we can call a role to call the meeting order, please.

Commissioner Rish?

Here.

Commissioner Zenker.

Here.

Commissioner Connolly?

Here.

Commissioner Cleary?

Here.

Mayor Schmitz.

Here.

All right.

First, we have a couple of proclamations and celebrations.

So you might notice that we're all dressed a little bit uniquely tonight, and that's because we're going to honor a hometown hero and present a certificate of achievement to her, and also proclaim a day in the name of Brita Curl Salome.

I hope I pronounced that correctly.

But we're honoring her by uh we're going to give her a jersey at the Larks game next Thursday, and that's going to be her day.

So I'll have a proclamation for that as well.

But she started here in Bismarck as a very little youngster playing hockey with the Bismarck Blizzards as she went through high school and was the leading scorer twice in the state, and then ultimately moved on to college, had success there, where uh she was in three national championships with the University of Wisconsin, um, has collected Walter Club championships with the Minnesota Frost and is now going to be part of the new Detroit expansion team in the professional women's hockey league.

Uh she was just selected over the weekend, I believe it was.

Um she also, this past winter Olympics, was a member of the 2026 U.S.

women's hockey team in the Olympics.

And we don't often celebrate our local heroes who have had accomplishments, and that's that's what this is about.

So with that.

Whereas Britta Curl Salami Solomon, proud native of Bismarck, North Dakota, has distinguished herself through extraordinary athletic achievement, community spirit, and national representation.

Therefore, be it resolved that I am Michael Schmitz, mayor of the City of Bismarck, on behalf of this city commission, do proclaim June 18th, 2026 as Britt at Curl Solomon Day, and encourage all residents to join in celebrating her achievements, hometown roots, an ongoing legacy as a champion on and off the ice.

It'll be signed today, the 9th of June 2026.

I should mention I believe she's got a hockey camp next week as part of her being in town.

And then we're also awarding her a certificate of achievement in recognition of her extraordinary athletic achievement, community spirit, and representation.

Your perseverance, leadership, and unwavering commitment to excellence, continuing to uplift the community of Bismarck and its residents, inspiring the next generation of young athletes through the Capitol City and across North Dakota.

Your legacy as a champion on and off the ice stands as a source of pride for your hometown and a testament to what dedication and determination can achieve.

So whereas Dave St.

Peter, born January 3rd, 1967 in Bismarck, North Dakota, is a distinguished alumnus of the St.

Mary Central High School in Bismarck and the University of North Dakota.

And whereas Mr.

St.

Peter began his illustrious career with the Minnesota Twins in 1990 as an intern and rose to serve as a team's president and CEO, CEO from 2002 through March of 2025, guiding the franchise through its most successful era, including orchestrating construction and opening of target field and achieving record high attendance figures.

Therefore, be resolved that I'm Michael Schmidt's mayor of the city of Bismarck on behalf of this commission do hereby welcome Dave St.

Peter and proclaim June 25th, 2026 as Dave St.

Peter Day in the City of Bismarck.

And on that day he is uh serving as a role temporary role manager, president something of the LARCs.

So those are the reasons for those proclamations.

All right.

Now we're to public comment.

Public comment is restricted to items on the consent agenda or the regular agenda.

That is not a public hearing or a prior city commission agenda.

Anyone who wish to speak, uh please come forward, identify yourself and let us know what you're speaking to, please.

Also sign in.

Trevor Burrus, uh citizen.

Um I'm here to support the voucher program for Bisman Transit, and I would just ask that you approve it.

Things have been working well, and I think we got the kings from we just need to move forward.

And uh we just need to get this done.

People have been waiting for it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Trevor.

Anyone else who wish to speak?

Uh hi, my name is Lott.

There you go.

Probably don't want to hear too much loud anyway.

Um, my name is Jeff Stewart, and uh I'm here tonight to address the 7th Street uh across BHS uh becoming a school zone.

Um my granddaughter uh was hit October 27th and drugged on that street.

She received uh very very serious injuries, uh, broken femur, uh broken fibroken ribs, broken arm, broken pelvic, uh lacerated spleen, and a collapsed lung.

I think uh people drive way too fast and they don't pay attention.

And I know we have crosswalks with the flashing yellow lights, but um I've become pretty close to the fire and rescue people uh over this whole deal and learned a lot about what they do in this town and what they serve.

Um, and it's it this was a life-changing experience for these guys.

Um we're very fortunate to have Jaden today, and uh believe it or not, today's her birthday.

So um I would I would really really appreciate it.

The community would really appreciate it if we do something about this.

Um, I've talked to a lot of people in the city uh and I've talked to a lot of the engineers.

Um I actually had one of the engineers tell me that they did a survey and it was acceptable to drive 10 miles over the speed limit.

Um I'm sorry, but I don't think that's right.

The speed limit is for a reason.

And if we're gonna do that, then I guess it's okay to shoot somebody in the leg as long as they're not dead.

Um probably a bad omen, but I I just gotta say that um these flashing yellow lights, these kids trust them lights.

And the the people that are driving down these streets, and I'm guilty as well, they drive too fast.

They're not paying attention.

They're oblivious to what's going on.

Yellow has become a caution, it's not a stop.

Um, the fire and rescue told me they changed that their lights and their trucks to blue and white.

They've gotten a lot bigger response from those lights than they ever did from yellow or red.

Um I know a lot of this boils down to money, but you can't put a trade uh price tag on a kid's life.

Um, and that's why I've been such a champion on this, is because I don't, this was a near miss.

And I don't want to be vulgar, but this is not if this isn't considered a school zone, then I consider it a kill zone.

And we came really close to this one.

There was also another one December 24th uh at the stoplight that was a hit and run.

Um there was another kid hit up at Century.

Uh, you know, we we've got big problems with the traffic in this town, and I know we're growing and so on and so forth, but I think this is so important that we take care of our kids.

Uh so that's all I've got to say.

Thank you.

And we are addressing that topic later this evening in a public hearing as well.

So yeah, and I want to thank Julie.

I don't know where she's at.

She's right over here.

Julie, thank you.

She's a champion for this.

So can you sign in to sweep your record, please?

And now I believe it's actually item D on the regular agenda.

Thank you, sir.

Yep, thank you, guys.

Appreciate it.

Again, this is public comment.

Anyone else who would wish to speak, please come forward.

A second call for public comment.

A third and final call for public comment.

Seeing no one else coming forward and I don't hear one on online, so public comment period is now closed.

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

Move to approve is presented.

Second.

Is there any discussion?

Harry None will call roll.

Commissioner Zaker?

Yes.

Commissioner Connolly?

Yes.

Commissioner Cleary?

Yes.

Commissioner Rish?

Yes.

Mayor Schmitz.

Yes.

Moving to regular agenda item A.

Consider a request from the Bisman Transit Board to establish a bus voucher program.

Deedra, I know you've got a presentation, so it's just a a short request, and then I did bring um some supporting information to hand out to you all.

Uh good evening, Mayor Schmitz and Commissioners.

Thank you for the opportunity to address you this evening on behalf of the Bisman Transit Board.

At the February 24th City Commission meeting, Ministry on the Margins submitted a request to utilize a portion of the public transit sales tax funding to purchase CAT bus passes.

In response, the Commission asked that the Bisman Transit Board help facilitate a voucher program to support the community's need.

The Bizman Transit Board discussed the proposal at the March meeting and tabled the item for further review until the May board meeting.

To ensure we fully understood the scope and the implications of the request, the Bisman Transit Finance Committee met with Mayor Schmidt's on May 7th to discuss the board's concerns and explore a workable path forward.

Following that productive discussion, we are presenting the following recommendation.

The Bisman Transit Board recommends that the Bismarck City Commission authorize the use of $5,000 in public transportation sales tax funding for the purchase of CAT bus fixed route passes.

Under this program, the City and City Commission will determine which agencies are approved to apply for and receive the passes.

Agencies receiving the passes will be fully responsible for tracking their distribution and reporting any required data to the city.

Bisman Transit will serve as the facilitator of the program by distributing the prepurchase passes in accordance with the City Commission's direction.

Lastly, Bisman Transit will not be responsible for determining approved agencies, establishing trip purposes, setting ticket limits, or creating the program rules.

This structure allows the city to maintain appropriate oversight and control of the program while leverage leveraging Bisman Transit's operational expertise to efficiently distribute the passes.

We believe this collaborative approach will provide meaningful support to vulnerable members of our community while maintaining clear lines of responsibility and accountability.

We respectfully ask for your approval of this recommendation.

Bisman Transit remains committed to working closely with the City Commission to make this program a success.

Thank you for your time and continued support of the public transportation in our community.

And I welcome any questions or discussion.

Are there questions?

So I'm going to ask one just for clarification.

As we talked about it when I met with your finance committee.

Part of the reason for us to not just give the money as a grant, so to speak, to Bisman Transit, is it would cause some issues for your federal grants, correct?

Yeah, there would be uh kind of a sticky situation, whether it's fare money, is it sales tax money, how are we recognizing it?

If we're recognizing it as a grant, then there's a lot more stipulations on what we can do.

We need to provide something that's equally funded for the ADA passengers.

Um rather having a bulk ticket purchase and us simply facilitating distributing those passes makes um a lot less of a headache for us and a lot less potential issue come our triennial time when the FTA is reviewing.

Okay.

And I just to make it clear as to why it's orchestrated this way versus and then to have the city have the oversight.

Yes.

And I have done quite a bit of research on other agencies that have done similar things, and there's not a ton of them out there.

Um, but I do have kind of a basis for what that agency application may look like.

Um how they plan to be tracking those funds, how they're distributing them, things like that.

So I can absolutely hand out um these as well so you guys can review that too.

Okay.

Indeed, we're just a follow-up question, I think.

So at one point in time there was a voucher program used.

What was the usage like?

So I can get so we had an idea of how long maybe $5,000 would last.

So that was facilitated through the homeless coalition.

Um the first program it lasted about six months.

The second program was about half that time, so about three months.

Um you we did see a lot of agencies repeat requests, um, which if they're using them, that's great.

Um at that point there was a limit on how many uh tickets could be requested by agency.

Just the whole goal was to not have one agency come and submit a ret request for a thousand dollars worth of tickets and then sit on them forever.

Um we wanted them to be able to distribute them and actually use them.

Um so we had a limit of five hundred dollars per agency could request.

Um is about three months most recently.

I would anticipate if this is something ran by the city with a bit more exposure, we might be within that time frame.

Um but obviously it's hard to say add to the dollars.

Absolutely.

Pretty as long as they fit within the parameters of what the sales tax collections meet.

Correct, Commissioner?

Yeah, how the um initiated measure is for um to keep in mind the status of uh elderly, disabled, and people of low socioeconomic status.

Yeah, and within that application, there is kind of that mechanism that would need to be tracked.

So if the city was looking for particular information on how many of these passes are being used for education, how many are being used for medical, you could request um hypothetically that the agencies who are getting these passes need to, you know, kind of take that upon themselves to report either back to you or me, and if I you know create a report.

Commissioner Zenker.

Uh so I just got one question.

Um so this is just for 2026, and then you'll go through the budget process for 27 with the same amount, or you think you'll change that or I'm out of curiosity.

Sure.

I think hypothetically this is gonna have to be viewed as a pilot program because we don't under don't fully know the number of agencies that are gonna use the service.

Um I do also recommend limiting limiting it to only distributing one day or one-way passes, because that makes tracking a lot easier.

When you're saying the most you can get is a $6 pass for each individual, the money might last a little bit longer with the homeless coalition.

We allowed them to do 30-day passes, but again, you don't really know what they're actually using those passes for.

So if the goal of the commission is to actually get that information, my recommendation would be just stick to the one-day one-way passes.

Okay.

Thank you.

And I do think this is this would be a 2026 action right now, but it may be additional funding later this year and budgeting through 27.

Are there other questions?

Um I'm gonna ask Daniel to come up if he wouldn't mind, because I'm gonna pose something to him because he's got actually a uh committee that might actually help serve in a role for the city uh on on these particular requests.

So Daniel, can you tell us about the community development advisory committee?

And do you think this would be something it could assist the commission with vetting those applicants?

Sure.

Thank you, Mayor Commissioner.

So the community development advisory committee is a new committee that was appointed by by you uh this last year in 2025.

So they were formed early 2026.

Their primary role is helping us select uh projects for HUD for our C D BG community development block grant funding.

Uh so we get applications in and uh they use the performance criteria and help select those applications.

Uh that only happens once a year.

Um so their role is pretty limited at the other times of the year unless we have changes in in that.

So uh they could certainly be involved in this if you would wish.

Um, and it could be a similar process to how they function with HUD.

Okay.

So thank you.

Commissioners, what are your thoughts?

I'll make a motion to approve is presented.

Second.

Okay, we have discussed Commissioner Connolly.

Do you have comments?

And this is a good start.

We have some flexibility with this funding source.

And the nice thing about it is is that with the history of transit and um just keeping um uh managing their resources well.

It's been a long history, it's been a bumpy road.

Um we can grow into a special place.

There's a lot of needs that aren't getting met still.

Um Ministry on the Margins came up and presented, there were people losing their jobs because they couldn't get to um Bobcat, for example.

And sometimes transit can't be um flexible into that.

So but our transportation uh committee found that there weren't a lot of people providing services, so we're in a little bit of a crux.

So we're still moving forward.

This is a good way to move.

Um finding other ideas to where we can start uh meeting some of those needs that both transit can facilitate and maybe other answers.

We still have to keep the foot on that gas pedal.

All right.

So for say would it be the thought of the commission that we use like the committee that Daniel has available to do the vetting to then also gather information for the commission?

What about the transit board vetting them?

Wouldn't that be more that causes them some they had fact said no.

Okay, at this point, I think we allocate the funds and whatever admin deems necessary to manage it.

Manage it.

Okay.

All right.

Any other discussion?

Uh, my only comment in the scope and relationship to the size of the transit budget, five thousand dollars is really modest.

I don't know how many trips that will actually get them on transit.

It it depends on if they're purchasing one day or one way past this.

It's going to be, you know, probably 2,000, 3,000 trips.

It's quite a few.

Okay.

Okay.

Any other discussion?

Hearing none will call roll.

Commissioner Connolly?

Yes.

Commissioner Cleary.

Yes.

Commissioner Rish.

Yes.

Commissioner Zenker?

Yes.

Mayor Schmitz.

Yes.

Thank you, Dieter.

Item B.

Consider recommendation from the Vision Fund Committee to support a flex-based program interest buy down for maximized chiropractic.

Noah will present, and then I believe the applicant is also here.

Yes, that's correct, Mayor.

Mayor Schmitz, Commissioners, you have in front of you an application from maximized chiropractic for a vision fund match of a flex pace program from the Bank of North Dakota.

The city's portion of the program will be structured as a loan.

The loan will be exactly 107,000, 692 and 36 cents.

Project will comprise of the purchase and remodel of 1720 burnt boat drive.

The Vision Fund did recommend approval on May 28th of last month.

The project is here.

They have a short presentation for you.

My wife and I opened in 2013.

We're Bismarck Natives, graduated from Century, came back after school wanting to bring our talents to Bismarck.

And we've grown explosively since starting.

We are now in our second location, and we've expanded out of this one also.

Our clinic has doubled in staff over the last two years, and we have plans to double again in the next two years with this expansion.

We are unique in that we are not a traditional what you would think of when you hear chiropractor.

We are a prenatal family and pediatric clinic.

We have three specialized chiropractors.

We have two nurses.

We have an IBC LC, a CLC.

We have uh we have just expanded into pediatric occupational therapy as well.

And over the last few years, we have um this is the last slide.

Well, over the last few years we have realized that there are uh disconnected care loops with the pediatric population in our town.

When a family is struggling with something and is having to see a provider and a provider at this part of Bismarck, a provider across town at a different clinic.

These providers aren't able to collaborate care.

They're not able to compute communicate with each other as well.

And the the parents get taxed and stressed having to manage schedules across town.

When does mine can have to be where?

So we are trying to solve some of this chaos by bringing this all under one roof in regards to therapies with pediatric occupational, physical, and speech therapy.

On top of this, every year, you marry is graduating around a hundred therapy students from their programs, and many of these students are leaving because the salaries here are either too low or there are not enough jobs in the niche that they're wanting to specialize in.

So I know this pain personally.

One of my sisters and one of my best friends, both of them are from Bismarck, graduated from UMARI ten years ago, and moved away from the OT program, moved away because there was North Dakota is kind of known as a low salaried therapy state.

So they found jobs elsewhere, and we're trying to increase the revenue for or increase the salaries for these uh employees because our clinic, since it's already well established high volume chiropractic office, all of our overhead is already distributed very well.

So when we add therapies, the expenses do not go up very much, which means that the expenses per provider stay very low.

So that translates to higher salaries for our therapists.

The one that we have already is already at 30% over the North Dakota average for occupational therapists for her salary, and she's working 30 hours a week.

So our goal is to be able to to expand this into other therapists and other modalities down the road.

So the remodel is 1720 burnt boat.

This is what I consider an iconic Bismarck building.

Bill Claremont built it back in 79 for his personal office, and it's a little weathered and a little past its glory days.

So we're going to on top of the purchase price of we're still negotiating the numbers, but around 1.6 million.

We will be injecting somewhere between six and seven hundred thousand immediately in renovations.

Some to the interior, some to the exterior.

The goal is to make the exterior more modernized and up to date and looking sparkly new.

The interior, our goal is to make a kind of a universal floor plan that works very well for us, but also can be an asset for Bismarck long term and isn't just specialized to us.

So this expansion will help us expand our retail footprint dramatically, which will increase some sales tax revenue.

But the biggest two are new skilled job creation.

The first phase of our expansion is going to create four skilled jobs for high-paying jobs for therapists, and also keeping new grads from New Mary in Bismarck.

So the goal is to be able to create these new jobs, keep kids in Bismarck for longer.

After our first expansion, in about 2028, more leases will be terminating.

So lastly, a big corporate business has never been our goal.

But we are uh we have a vision where our community can have access to preventative health care, especially with the young families in our community to help them reach the the health care providers that they need.

Um is there any other questions that you guys have for me?

Go to Commissioner Rush.

Mr.

Mayor Docker, um my concern oftentimes is we subsidize one business or contribute to one business that's competing with other businesses.

It creates a competitive advantage for the one we're we're helping out.

Are you saying that you're unique?

You're doing things that other chiropractic clinics are not performing.

Right now, it's my knowledge, there is no chiropractic office in the city of Bismarck or the state, honestly, and then any that I know of anywhere that encompasses all of the modalities that we have in one business.

So we are unique in that, in which there are no chiropractors that have also a team of therapists, nursing staff, and lactation counselors under one roof.

Okay.

Commissioner Connolly It's a good endeavor.

And that I know of another chiropractor that was going to take a swing at that, and they just couldn't get all the parts to come together.

And they found some deficiencies in our communities in that same area.

I work in medical as well on a different venue.

And we at the we're competing for providers in different areas as much as uh we're running in significant shortages.

Um similar to the what Commissioner Risch was saying as far as um one business against another and not showing a like a winner or loser.

I've probably been the hardest on these type of programs of anybody at this table.

Um but I like what you had to show as far as the um remodel to where it's not just internal.

We have a lot of buildings to where they um address only deferred maintenance and don't do anything to the outside, so it looks old and aged.

And that and um with that I would motion to approve.

Second, do we have further discussion?

I guess one last thing.

This isn't like a uh tax incentive to where um a person's getting tax breaks.

This is an actual loan.

So that's also one thing I like about it.

Okay, any other discussion.

Hearing on a call roll.

Commissioner Cleary, yes.

Commissioner Rish?

Yes, Commissioner Zanker.

Yes.

Commissioner Connolly, yes.

Mayor Schmitz.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you to all.

Item Club hearing on ordinance 6665 is only map amendment from A agricultural, MA industrial districts to MA industrial districts and ordinance 666 on annexation and the J Mark J Mac Industrial Second Edition Major Subdivision Final Plat.

Go ahead, Daniel.

Thank you, Mayor.

Commissioners.

Uh so this is a request of UConn Investments LLC.

Uh, there's a few other property owners in in this area as well involved, and they've all consented to the application that's Ron Knutson, City of Bismarck and Burley County.

Uh so it is, as you mentioned, both a final plat and a zoning map amendment, and also an annexation.

So there's really three separate requests in here in one.

I'll go through each of them.

The location of the project is in the north uh side of very north side of Bismarck.

This area was platted uh 10 years ago now.

So in 2016 with the original J Mac Industrial Second Edition, although it's largely been undeveloped uh since then.

So this plat would uh continue that uh and and make a couple of changes, but it would also facilitate the development of this, including improvements of the of the streets.

The um the zoning change uh extent is fairly minimal.

Uh the colors actually don't come in very well on this, but trust me, the the use of labels.

Uh MA industrial is the existing and NMA industrial will be the proposed.

The only difference is there's a strip of land in between that's currently agricultural that's being added to this plat, which would be uh become industrial, as well as portions of the North 19th Street right-of-way.

Uh I should say with the zoning change, we're in kind of an interim period right now.

Uh you've adopted the land development code, but it won't become effective until October 1st.

Uh so the way this ordinance works is it actually uses both the new and the old.

Uh so once the new ordinance becomes effective on October 1st, uh, this will become the IG industrial general zoning district.

Uh so you're really voting on both of those at the same time here.

The uh the future plans uh do support uh this change.

We show industrial, the IND area uh for most of this, so it is intended to remain industrial into the future.

Uh you can see the uh major street plan show that's that blue uh dotted line.

That is North 19th Street, uh which eventually will connect all the way from Divide Avenue up to 71st Avenue Northeast.

Uh this is the final connection that needs to be made.

Uh this plat will facilitate improvement of that street.

Uh the street will be developed from the north first, uh downward, and then eventually connect to the south aft after that.

The uh there will be a development agreement in place uh that will dictate the the timing, the financing, the construction of of this North 19th Street.

So you will see that it'll come before your desk uh when that is ready from the developers and and the city.

The uh one of the main purposes of that development agreement will be to determine how much development can occur prior to full build-out of the street network, including connections to the east along North Star Drive, connections to the south.

Uh how much of that can occur before we really need that secondary access um to facilitate emergency response for that development.

So no building permits can be issued in this plat until that development agreement is is secured.

So that is forthcoming.

Uh this is the plat uh that you're reviewing.

Uh one thing too to note that the plat does realign the intersection, that right-of-way uh with North 19th Street and uh 71st.

So that is something this plat will take care of.

And the final part of the request is an annexation.

Uh most of this area has already been annexed.

That did happen in 2016.

Uh that little strip of land, 43 uh feet in in uh width, as well as portions of the North 19th Street right-of-way had not been annexed uh during that previous plat.

So those are included within the plat, would be annexed, and so that strip of land would just be included within uh the lots within this plat.

Uh there is an access easement that'll be dedicated on top of that strip.

The planning and zoning commission uh did hold a public hearing on all three of these requests on a table uh I'm sorry, uh April 22nd of 2026, and they did vote to recommend approval of all of them.

There is one condition uh to mention that they gave that is a waiver uh for a call de sac that is shown in this plat, as well as uh a greater block length beyond the standard 1320 feet uh that is required by ordinance.

Uh that was already in place with the existing subdivision, but we're also asking for a waiver for for this one as well.

Uh if you have any questions, I can attempt to answer.

Or I know an applicant representative is here as well.

Right.

Any questions, Commissioners?

Not all open to public hearing.

Anyone who wish to speak, please come forward, identify yourself and sign in, please.

Thank you, Mayor Landon Nymiller with Swanson Hagen representing on this one.

Um, just a few notes to add what Daniel had talked about.

That that 40-foot strip that uh that is purchased for the part of this plates is more of a cleanup at this point.

That was the only piece that was not annexed into the property.

This is zoned egg, as he had mentioned before, so we're bringing that into conformance with the rest of it.

Uh some slight changes to sort of how the lots are laid out, uh, what the developers feel is more marketable for them.

So some changes in the lot lines, but generally speaking, the the second edition here it is basically mirrors what was happening in the first edition as well.

Uh just gives a little bit more room on the north end of 19th for some future turning lanes.

But I can certainly answer any questions if you have them.

Anyone have questions for Lennon?

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

This is a public hearing.

Anyone wish to speak, please come forward.

A second call for public comment.

A third and final call for public comment.

Seeing no one and hearing no one, the public comment periods now closed.

Commissioners, what are your wishes?

I'll move we approve as presented.

Second.

Is there any discussion?

I will say one thing there.

Um this is good because we need some industrial shovel ready land.

So I just want to thank the developers and get to be able to get this thing done.

So yep.

It's a good it's a good site to see.

Any other discussion?

Here and on will call roll.

Commissioner Rish?

Yes.

Commissioner Zenker, yes.

Commissioner Connolly, yes.

Commissioner Cleary, yes.

Mayor Schmitz.

Yes.

Next item D, a public hearing on ordinance 6667 to amend Section 120308 of the city of Bismarck Code of Ordinances related to violations of registration provisions and to an Act Section 120512 of the City of Bismarck Code of Ordinances related to speed in school zones.

This is a public hearing.

Anyone who wish to speak, please come forward, identify yourself and sign in.

A second call.

Good evening, Mr.

Mayor, Commissioners.

Um, Jeff Fosnut, superintendent from Bismarck Public School.

Um, you've already heard uh um kind of uh uh passionate grandfather speak tonight about some concerns about this.

I just want to share our support that as we have worked very collaboratively with the city, uh Mr.

Tomonik and his staff to address some concerns around school zones, and that's really all the schools in the community.

Um we always are focusing on safety.

Um you hear it in the questions we're asking tonight in the election.

We have many issues dealing around safety, safety of our kids.

This is just another one, and we would support changes to allow the city engineer to make those revisions when it's appropriate.

And so we'd stand in support of the revisions.

Okay, thank you.

Commissioner Connolly.

Uh Superintendent uh Fosnot.

Um has anything come up?

I know, like when around horizon, there was um some initial with the reconstruction.

Um the uh walkway on the west side of the roundabout.

Has the there been any concerns?

I haven't heard any um as far as kids crossing that way.

So I was just curious since you've been here because I remember the night that it was proposed, there was a lot of questions.

So since we're have it in front of us, might as well ask.

Um Commissioner Connolly, members of the city commission.

I have not heard any there.

Now I do hear on occasion concerns just about middle school kids in general and how they walk home, um, but nothing's that specific to that location.

Um, I think uh I think it was addressed earlier in public comment.

The ones that have been uh addressed to us as of recent has just been speed and traffic around BHS, also at Century have been both a concern for us.

And again, uh tremendous support, just so you know from your workers at the city level.

Um, Bismarck PD have all been very responsive as those concerns have been raised.

So thank you.

Commissioner Rish.

Oh, thank you.

Jeff I'm reading the proposed ordinance language, and it says the posted school zone speed limit shall be affected during school recess, although children are going to or leaving school during opening and closing hours.

I see our distinguished uh principal of Bismarck High here, David Wiskock.

When I go down um 7th Street, are there there's students walking across the street all the time, not just before and after school and during recess.

And to be fair, I don't know what time recess is.

You know, so high schools don't have recess.

Well, high school doesn't have no, no, but for the other schools it does.

But typically what I've seen in the past was um 15 miles an hour when children are present or something to that effect.

So I, as a driver, I see children, I see the sign, of course.

I'm going to reduce speed, but I I don't know.

I'm just concerned about having the thing that we're recessed.

I can tell you when recesses are scheduled, Commissioner.

But I I agree with um Commissioner Zenker.

Um this is a high school, so kids are passing all the time.

I'm not it's all day long.

It's all day long.

Um if we could slow traffic down around our schools all day long on all my schools, regardless of recess, that's a win for our kids.

That helps them.

So uh I'm not an engineer, and I didn't stay at the right hotel last night to be one.

Um so I would leave that up the engineer, and I think that's the per that's the preservision in front of you.

If we give that authority to our engineers, let them have the discussion.

Attorney Mees has got a comment on that.

Yes, Commissioner Rish, Mayor Commissioners.

The language in the proposed ordinance is directly from the century code.

So we're just using the legislature's language regarding school times and when children are present.

So but if they're present, that means they're present, so it doesn't really matter what time of day it is.

If they're present on the school grounds, it's not opening and closing only.

It's pressed so like at high school when they're coming and going all day long, they're present.

So school zone ordin the speed ordinance would apply then.

So Mr.

Mayor, Julie.

So if we pass this as is written, the city engineer will be able to um look at 7th Street next to Bismarck High and say, okay.

Um specifically address the speed on 7th Street.

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

Is there anyone else who wish to speak?

A second call.

A third call.

Seeing no one else and hearing no one else, the public comment period is closed.

Commissioners.

Move to approve.

Second.

Okay.

So my only one one two comments.

One, this applies to all schools, so whether they're public or private.

Uh two, I want to make sure we fund it so we actually get the signage in this the lights in place.

So if that requires ultimately, Gabe or Chief, some additional funds that we need don't have in our budget.

I would like us to find that out so we can secure that, because I think that's really part of what we need to do.

Wouldn't the signs be Mayor?

Wouldn't the signs be installed by public works, right?

Or whichever department.

Okay.

But I just want to make sure we don't pass an ordinance and then don't actually take care of the issue.

Just get it done before August 1st when school.

Right, right.

Perfect.

So is there any other comment?

Hearing none, call roll.

Commissioner Zenker?

Yes.

Commissioner Connolly?

Yes.

Commissioner Cleary.

Yes.

Commissioner Rish?

Yes.

Mayor Schmitz.

Yes.

Item E is a public hearing on ordinance 6668 to amend Title 701 of the City Code of Ordinances relating to the purchasing thresholds.

This is to match the policy that we approved of a couple weeks, a couple meetings ago, probably.

Yes.

Go ahead, Eric.

Um Mayor, Commissioners.

Um this one's pretty easy, like you'd mentioned, Mayor.

Uh we passed procurement policy on May 12th, and we had the um call for public hearing on May 26th.

We advertise in the Tribune um for tonight for the public hearing on May 30th and June 6th.

Um the only real changes to um section 7103 is cleaning up the language and the dollar threshold so that way it aligns with our newly passed procurement policy, and it's primarily taking the $50,000 threshold and moving that up to the 100,000 dollars to match the the procurement policy.

Okay, thank you.

This is a 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.

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

Commissioners.

Move to approve is presented.

Second.

Is there any discussion?

Hearing on will call roll.

Commissioner Connolly.

Yes.

Commissioner Cleary, yes.

Commissioner Rish?

Yes.

Commissioner Zenker.

Yes.

Mayor Schmitz.

Yes.

Item F is consider request to release part of the stormwater and drainage easement on lot two, block one of the Frank edition.

Go ahead, Daniel.

Good evening, Mayor Commissioner.

So Mullenaro properties LLC is making its request.

Uh the store winner and drainage easement was placed on the plat uh within Frank edition.

You can see on the screen right here.

Uh this when the site plane came through and they started designing the site, placing the building, placing the parking lot.

Uh it just turned out that having an additional two feet uh for the parking was advantageous for the site development.

Uh so during that process, uh they reached out and spoke with city engineering uh and the engineering department approves a release of that two feet uh just to allow the parking spots to extend into that easement area.

So the uh this does require city action because it does change uh the plat that has been recorded, and so we record the resolution which is in your packet uh to that effect.

So the this is a public hearing, as with all easement releases other than franchise utility easements.

Uh staff do recommend that you approve the release of the west two and a half feet of the east 57 feet of the north 105 feet of the store wind and drainage easement on lot two block one of Frank Edition.

Okay, any questions?

It's on the record.

Okay, any qu questions?

All right, just public hearing, so anyone wish to speak to this, please come forward, identify yourself and sign in.

A second call for public comment.

A third and final call for public comment.

Seeing no one and hearing no one, the public comment period is closed.

Commissioners.

Move to approve is presented.

Second.

Is there any discussion?

Hearing none will call roll.

Commissioner Cleary, yes.

Commissioner Rish?

Yes.

Commissioner Zenker?

Yes.

Commissioner Connolly?

Yes.

Mayor Schmitz.

Yes.

Moving to other business.

Do we have other business commissioners?

Commissioner Rish.

Yes, Mr.

Mayor, Commissioners.

I've been getting a number of complaints from citizens about e-bikes and e-scooters that are going far too fast and children that are perhaps too young to be riding them.

The police have been getting a lot of reports uh down the sidewalks, through the red lights, all kinds of things.

So I've asked the um police department and our crack legal team to look at perhaps drafting an ordinance to address the issue.

This technology has really gotten ahead of our ordinances.

And I have a neighbor two doors down.

Her e-bike failed, and she went down to one of our local businesses.

They gave her a loaner bike.

It goes 45 miles an hour.

She said it's just astounding to ride this bicycle can go 45 miles an hour.

So I've asked the our our department and and Julie and her folks to look into some suggestions for the a possible ordinance.

I was discussing it with the mayor earlier, and he said Dickinson has got a pretty good ordinance, and I reviewed that as well.

So that's something we'll be working at.

And uh, I just want the public to know that we've heard you loud and clear.

This is a concern.

We're working on an ordinance, and please, parents, don't put a nine or ten-year-old kid on a cycle that'll go 40 miles an hour.

That's just it's just unsafe.

Commissioner Connolly.

Well, I'm glad you brought that up, Commissioner Rish.

Um I had four bird scourgers parked at the end of my driveway.

And you try to move remove those by hand.

They make all kinds of noise and they they're heavy.

Is there any other business?

Hearing none, uh, we stand adjourned.

Thank you, everyone.