Fargo City Commission Regular Meeting - March 3, 2025
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Fargo City Commission Regular Meeting - March 3, 2025
The Fargo City Commission met on Monday, March 3, 2025, at 5:00 PM in the Commission Chambers. The meeting included the launch of a departmental spotlight series, a Rising Star award, consent agenda approvals, multiple public hearings, presentations from Gate City Bank and Sanford Ambulance, policy discussions on downtown code enforcement, camping resolution, lead service line replacements, and a heated debate on overtime management. The meeting adjourned at 6:38 PM.
Consent Calendar
- Approved 29 items en bloc (with Item 1 moved to Regular Agenda) including:
- Final adoption of ordinances on license plate impoundment, after-hours alcohol consumption, and rezoning of Grafstrom First Addition.
- Games of chance applications for six organizations.
- Developer agreements for Grafstrom First Addition and Skyline Addition.
- Change orders, bid awards, contract approvals, and improvement district creations.
- Items from the FAHR meeting including a $190,867.95 reimbursement to Cass Rural Water User District and transit financial model modifications.
- Purchase of service agreement with ND Department of Health and Human Services for behavioral health.
- Extension of CredibleMind platform license and Employee Assistance Program contract with The Village Family Service Center.
- Benefit plan agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota.
- Police uniforms and equipment agreement with BALCO Uniform Co.
- Bid awards for water main materials, aggregate materials, and street lighting.
- Approval of bills totaling $9,457,504.28.
Public Hearings & Testimony
- Vacation Plat (Item 31): Continued to March 17, 2025, on a unanimous vote.
- Alcoholic Beverage License Transfers (Items 32 & 33): Both continued to April 14, 2025, on unanimous votes.
- Edgewood Tavern License Change (Item 34): Approved ownership change from Spirit Properties, Inc. to Edgewood Tavern, LLC, located at 19 Golf Course Road, on a unanimous vote.
- Nuisance Abatement Special Assessments (Item 35): Approved unanimously; covered mowing, Dutch Elm disease removal, and code enforcement fees.
- Sewer Repair Special Assessments (Item 36): Approved unanimously; program covers 50% of first $4,000 and 25% thereafter, with 15-year financing at 5% interest. Total assessments: $2,707,452 across 203 properties.
- Public Comment on Code Revisions (Item 40):
- Deb Frederickson, private citizen: Expressed full support for recategorizing public urination and public alcohol consumption from non-criminal fines to infractions, citing the need for a family-friendly downtown.
- Rocky Schneider, Downtown Community Partnership: Supported the change, emphasizing it gives police tools to engage and correct behavior, not just arrest.
Discussion Items
- Department Spotlight & Rising Star Award: The commission launched a new series highlighting city departments, starting with the Water Treatment Plant. Matt Hager (Water Treatment Plant Operator III) received the first "Fargo Rising Star Award" for exceptional service.
- Gate City Bank 2025 Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI) (Item 30): Bank representatives presented a $2 million check for the program. Since 2003, NRI has invested $127 million in home improvements for properties over 40 years old east of I-29.
- Sanford Ambulance Annual Review (Item 37): Tim Meyer (Senior Director) presented 2024 data: 15,453 ambulance calls in Fargo, 65% transport rate, average response time ~6 minutes 55 seconds for time-critical calls. The service achieved top 1% accreditation with zero deficiencies. Opioid overdoses down 34%. Challenges include recruitment, retention, and reimbursement below cost.
- Fargo Dome Convention Center Proposal (Item 38): Dave Soup presented a request to authorize the Fargo Dome Authority to develop a proposal for a new convention center at the FARGODOME site. Approved unanimously.
- Lead Service Line Fee Waiver (Item 39): Troy Hall presented. The city has over 2,100 lead service lines, mostly in core neighborhoods. Grant funding of up to $23 million (66.5% federal/state) is available. The recommendation: a $1,000 fee waived if property owner completes EPA-mandated follow-up. Local share (~$11.7 million) to be financed via a 0.5% interest SRF loan; annual payment of $421,000 covered by infrastructure sales tax if extended, otherwise through rates. Motion passed unanimously.
- Code Revisions for Public Intoxication and Urination (Item 40): Chief Zabolski explained that current non-criminal fines for public urination and alcohol consumption are ineffective because officers can only issue citations. Reclassifying as infractions allows arrest and potential deflection/diversion through public health partnerships. The motion directed the city attorney to draft revisions for these two codes and review additional similar ordinances. Passed 4-1 (Strand nay). Commissioner Turnberg expressed concerns about criminalizing homelessness and suggested portable toilets instead.
- Camping Resolution Extension (Item 41): Brenda Derick recommended aligning the camping resolution's end date with the winter warming shelter closure, extending from March 23 to April 30, 2025, to allow the United to End Homelessness campaign more time to find permanent housing. Passed 3-2 (Piepkorn and Turnberg nay). Commissioner Turnberg argued the timing risks spring flood debris and safety.
- Property Tax Exemptions (Item 42): 21 applications for 5-year exemptions on building improvements approved unanimously.
- Public Hearing Time Change (Item 1, moved from Consent): Moved to shift public hearing start time from 5:15 PM to 5:05 PM effective July 7, 2025. Passed 4-1 (Kolpack nay). Commissioner Kolpack opposed due to concerns about working citizens who arrive after 5 PM.
- Overtime Management (Added Item): Commissioner Piepkorn moved to require commission pre-approval of all overtime hours immediately, citing a Forum article revealing $31 million in overtime over 10 years and one employee earning $80,000 in overtime. Several commissioners argued overtime is budgeted and necessary (e.g., snow removal, public safety). A motion to delay discussion for two weeks to allow a formal presentation from HR was passed 4-1 (Kolpack nay).
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously (all items except Item 1).
- Public Hearings: Four continuances and two approvals (Edgewood Tavern, nuisance assessments, sewer assessments) passed unanimously.
- Fargo Dome: Authorized to develop convention center proposal (unanimous).
- Lead Service Line Fee Waiver: Approved unanimously.
- Code Revisions: Directed city attorney to draft changes (4-1).
- Camping Resolution: Extended to April 30, 2025 (3-2).
- Public Hearing Time Change: Approved effective July 7, 2025 (4-1).
- Overtime Discussion: Delayed to March 17, 2025, for a comprehensive report (4-1).
Meeting Transcript
Call the meeting to order. But again, with Pledge of Allegiance, I invite you to join us. Roll call. Cole Peck here. Pepcorn? Here. Strand? Here. Turnberg here. Mahoney? Here. We're gonna do a little something a little different tonight. This evening we are launching an ongoing effort to showcase and highlight each of our city's departments and everything they do to keep our city running smoothly. No matter the season, we have city employees serving our residents 24 7, 365 days a year. Our departments and our staff are truly exceptional, and we will be taking time at the beginning of our commission meetings to honor them for their dedication, hard work, and customer service that makes local government work for all of us. We look forward to sharing this information with our community and continue to show the commitment to our going above and beyond for our residents. Tonight we're highlighting the water department that operates the Fargo's Regional Water Department or Water Treatment Plant, which serves residents of Fargo, West Fargo, and Cass Rural Water District. The staff at the water treatment plant monitor our water quality around the clock, ensure it's pure and safe to drink. We're monitoring the cost daily, each each chemical and each treatment plant, which is more favorable to treat. So whichever is most suitable to treat uh from a cost and quality, that's what we choose to do. So we have two treatment plants, uh, an older lime softening plant that can produce roughly 30 million gallons per day, and then we have a newer membrane plant that can produce 15 million gallons per day. A typical average usage in the winter time in the city of Fargo is right around 14 or 15 million gallons per day, and then the summer it almost doubles. We've seen peak flow is up to uh 32, 33 million gallons per day. So attributed to that is a lot of lawn watering. It really increases or doubles the demand on the treatment plant in the summertime. Some of the things you might not think about that impacts the water in the city of Fargo. If there's a heavy rain, there is dams and reservoirs in the state, the snow melt, the spring flooding that brings a lot of turbidity or cloudiness of the water. And then with seasons, with the river freezing over, we can run into frazzle ice. We have a lot of things that we have to watch out for. One thing really important to us is uh drought supply, Red River Valley water supply project. So we recently completed a pumping station that will lift water out of the Cheyenne River, and it'll run by open channel all the way to water treatment plant. In Fargo, we have to have the plant operated 24-7 because sometimes we're making 20, 30, 40 changes a day because the river in Fargo can change really fast, and we really strive to provide consistent water quality. We have online instrumentations and operators constantly looking at water quality trends, the flows that are going out of the plant, the chemicals that we're using. Our river is very challenging, and we do have to make a lot of changes throughout the day. So in the city of Fargo, you know, we do have 11 water towers, and we have a computer model of the entire water system, which has all of the pipes, all the water towers, our ground storage reservoir in it. In a typical water tower, when you design them, you can think of it as having a couple different sections in the water tower. One of the sections is used for fire protection. If there's a fire in town, there's water that's readily available to the hydrants in the city. There's another section in the water tower that's for equalization storage. So like in the morning when everybody's using the water, there's a really big demand on the water system. And then there's one other section in the water tower that's kind of reserve or emergency storage also. One of the cool things about working in Fargo is we we work with several other departments. We we work, I think, very well as a as a team together in getting projects done. So it's really important. So we deliver really good projects for our citizens. As we spotlight achievements of our city departments, we're instituting a new honor of our city employees called the Fargo Rising Star Award. In each department, the award will go to an employee who has been with the city of Fargo for seven years or less and has gone above and beyond in their service to the community. Tonight we'll be saw our very first Fargo Rising Star Award. The recipient was chosen by the department leadership with the water treatment plant. This award goes to Matt Hager.
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