We'll call the meeting to order.

We'll begin with the pledge of allegiance.

I invite you to join us.

Roll call, please.

Call pack here.

Pepcorn.

Here, strand.

Here.

Chairman, here.

Mahoney.

Here.

Sir, motion to approve the order of agenda.

Second.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Motion carried.

So motion approved the minutes of April 27th, 2026 regular meeting.

So move.

Sir, second.

Second.

All those in favor say aye.

Motion carried.

So motion to approve consent agenda items one through 26.

I so moved.

Is there a second?

Second.

Roll call motion.

Roll call, please.

I'm sorry, Jody.

Epcorn.

I strand.

Yes.

Chairberg.

Aye.

Mahoney.

Aye.

Regular agenda.

Recommendation for appointment of place chief.

Michael Redingler to explain.

Thank you very much.

Very pleased this evening to present the unanimous recommendation of the selection committee to appoint Travis Devanowitz as the new police chief for the Fargo police department.

I thought it'd be just important to give you a brief recap of the selection process and just to tell you where we've been, but really appreciate your consideration of this appointment tonight.

So the police chief vacancy was advertised both externally as well as internally.

It closed on April 28th.

Our selection committee then met the next day on April 29 and interviewed the sole finalist candidate after that.

Also took the opportunity to meet with our captains as well as the lieutenants of the department.

I just really want to appreciate and lift up, you know, their good work that they provided, not only to the department, but also in support of the HR team, myself, within the search process.

We received some great uh feedback on questions that we could potentially ask when we got to the in-person interview.

So I just want to make sure I acknowledge the captains and lieutenants for all the things that they did to support our process and uh and support uh our interim leader.

Uh the in-person interview uh with the sole finalist was held on May 6th, and that included both a presentation from the candidate on his vision for the Fargo Police Department as well as a conventional question and answer format again sourcing some of that direct information from our leadership within the department as well as our HR team.

We received uh some great input, great ideas, but had a very good uh exchange uh with the interim chief.

Uh that is actually all available to uh if members of the public want to watch that.

That is on our YouTube channel that was conducted just last week.

Uh so tonight again I'm very pleased to advance the unanimous recommendation of the selection committee and their recommendation to appoint the interim chief.

And I just want to add uh my uh complete endorsement and support of this recommendation of the selection committee as well.

Uh we believe that we've identified the candidate that's the right candidate for the right time to really take us to the next level in the department and move the department forward.

I would be remiss if I didn't thank the selection committee for all of their time, all of their effort.

Um I listed their names so you can see that in the packet.

We had a great amount of representation from within the department as well as um outside individuals, including Rocky Schneider from the downtown community partnership, as well as other staff members within Team Fargo, and so with your approval uh this evening, an appointment of the chief designee, Mr.

Stefanowitz, uh we will then conduct a swearing-in ceremony, and I've talked to the assistant chief or the interim chief about that.

We would like to conduct that uh simultaneous to our police academy graduation, which is going to be held later this month on May 27th.

So nice opportunity to also swear in uh the new chief at that time.

So I'll leave it at that.

Your recommended motion is in your packet this evening, and again, just really appreciate the city commission's consideration of this unanimous recommendation of the selection committee, and I just want to add my congratulations to uh chief designee Stefanowitz on reaching this career milestone.

So thank you.

We have a motion, so move sir.

Second, second any discussion, so I have a question for Mike.

Uh, do you feel the public had an adequate opportunity to be involved in this process?

Well, that's a good question, uh Commissioner.

Thanks for that.

It was a very condensed process, and so we did not have a in a conventional kind of search process.

We would have had uh different kind of opportunities for public input and public forums, did not have the opportunity due to the condensed schedule.

So I think that we accommodated as best we could, you know, given the kind of limited time that we had with this schedule, but again, be able to turn that as quickly as we did.

I just really have to say thanks to the HR team because this was a very unconventional search in that way, and then it was done in a very, very short amount of time.

So uh, but yes, I would say we did the best we could with the time we had.

Mr.

Pipcorn, just one more question.

Why was there a limited time?

What why was there urgency?

He is the interim chief.

We we have lots of time.

What was the urgency?

Yep.

So I'll just go back.

Thank you for the question.

Commissioner, I'll just go back to the previous uh city commission discussion on that.

We absolutely presented a variety of options.

We could have uh done it over a more conventional search process, but this is really responding to the majority wishes of the commission at the time, uh to be able to move forward as quickly as we could.

Um, and then also with the identification of a sole finalist, uh, with a sole finalist, we're able to move uh more rapidly and be able to meet uh this timeline here on May 11.

And so uh yeah, just in consultation with the liaison commissioner as well.

Uh, we had uh got that advanced, and and we're able to get that in last week, so just uh feel good about that and being able to move forward.

So any other questions or comments, Commissioner Strand.

Thank you.

When we were going through this process, and there were some really great minds involved, and I especially appreciated the five members of the law enforcement community that were part of this selection process.

But one of the things I learned I asked and learned was how long do how long do police chiefs typically last?

And I got an answer maybe three to five years across the country.

Uh so I'll I'll I'll share this.

Uh uh Chief Stefanowitz, when he indicated he's giving us a commitment for 20 more years.

I'm on board that you've been here for 25 years, I think already.

And uh I'm saying that entirely tongue in cheek, but uh the longevity of his service and the likelihood that we have a local candidate that's part of our community with the blessing and the support of the of the people they serve is just really a great place to be at this moment in time going forward.

And I and I hope our new chief lasts more than three to five years, Chief.

I was surprised to your ability to really explain yourself during the public discussion we had with you.

I think for any of those who watched it, you saw somebody who put out there what he's planning on doing, what's hard is in it, as well as not having all the solutions but looking for them and listening to people and working with teams to try to find those answers.

So I think he does open a new light in the police department of uh years that listen, and he's uh thoughtful uh chief that will work with us, the variety of different challenges we have.

So uh congratulations on this new position and looking forward to exciting times going forward.

So thank you.

Any other comments, Mr.

Kolpak?

I too want to add my thanks to the selection committee and the staff that navigated this on the shortened timeline.

Um, excuse me, Chief Stefanowitz.

Thank you for for stepping up at this time.

Thank you for your 25 years of service to this point, um, and for continuing through this process to completion.

Um, I know there's been a lot on your plate and your team's plate in this short time period, and um I think you've managed very well.

So I'm I'm glad to support this appointment.

Thank you.

Any other comments?

Roll call vote, please.

Strand?

Yes, Chernberg?

Yes, cold pack, aye.

I mahoney aye.

Thank you.

Item 29.

Uh application.

Excuse me, recommendation for appointments to the board of appeals.

Do you have a motion?

So moved.

Is there a second?

Second, any discussion?

Roll call vote, please.

Colpac, aye.

Pepcorn, strand.

Yes.

Chernberg, aye.

Mahoney.

Aye.

Application for property tax exemption for improvements made to buildings.

Do we have a motion?

That's the move, sir.

Second.

Second.

Kind of reluctant on these ones we like to give away.

Helps people out.

Motion and second.

Any discussion?

Roll call vote, please.

Pepcorn.

Strand?

Yes.

Call pack.

Aye.

Chairman.

Aye.

Mahoney.

Aye.

Liaison commissioner assignment updates.

Commissioner Pepcorn.

No update, sir.

Commissioner Turnberg.

I have updates listed on my Fargo Facebook page.

Thank you.

I have a couple departments I want to talk about.

I want to talk a little bit of the finance department debt load.

So last week uh Susan did a thing to the commissioner candidates to try to explain the debt load.

And it was working with us a little bit, trying to is our way to simplify it a little bit.

So I'm basically doing this for the general public to kind of understand because in the candidate discussion, it gets a little confusing.

So number one, we have a debt load uh a 1.3 million, 1.3735 billion.

And if you look at it closely, the biggest one is improvement bonds, which are specials bonds basically.

It's property owned assessed portion of street repairs in established neighborhoods, infrastructure for new development.

The special assessments are paid for by benefiting property owners, and basically what the city does is get a more favorable bond rating so your interest rates are lower when we have rehab and things like that done.

People forget where I'll on the specials.

We were going to go to a 50-50 cost share on rehab specials, and we assessed it back up, and we pay almost 75 to 80 percent of your rehab specials, in which you only have to pay 20 to 25 percent.

That's better than any place in the state of North Dakota.

So I think number one, we treat our people very well.

But that is really a bond that's really held by the owners, the property owners themselves.

And then we have uh a city city uh you fill uh excuse me, facility debt, $48 million, and that purpose is fire stations, city hall, public health building, police headquarters, and other essential facilities.

That repayment is dependent on general fund, and the facilities are long-loan community assets that included an annual general fund budget.

Now the utility infrastructure debt, and that's called state revolving fund loans, is 328 million, and that's really for our water plant, wastewater plant, expansion and improvements, utility and solid waste upgrades.

Repayment is utility rates and the one cent infrastructure sales tax, how it's managed is a sales tax allows visitors to participate in the cost of infrastructure they use, and steady revenue from utility rates, low interest on program via the state of North Dakota.

Most of those in the utility, the orange one, have a 2% 30-year loan.

So it's very good for the city to have good loan set up on that.

Now, the good news I have different people have asked us to bring our debt down, the Fargo diversion debt, 41 million, is going to be paid back this year.

So we're gonna raise 41 million from our costs.

So it's reimbursed fully by the FMDA using sales tax revenue fund, and it's uh directly billed, diversion authority, and it's paid to us this year in 2026.

The other good thing that's happened is in our last year of savings from our budget, we have nine million dollars that we've added to our revenue, and we actually are now at twenty, we have to have a reserve fund, and we are 25 percent.

We were at 20 at one time and we're back up to 25 percent.

Parking ramps, when we initially looked at the downtown, what we needed to do in the downtown, we needed downtown parking ramps, so 37.3 million, and that includes the mercantile, ROCO, and NP grants.

Repayment is gonna be parking revenues and TIFF revenue with the general fund as a backstop.

Uh good news, bad news is that right now the parking ramps aren't full, so they're not fully clearing their costs, but we have a TIFF that's bringing in a million dollars a year can backstop any operating losses that we have, and in planning right now, is looking at that very closely and trying to figure out how to make parking work for us.

Next thing we have is development related debts.

So we had a lot of development economic projects, lockdown and other economic projects.

Developer pays and TIFF revenue pays it as a backstop.

These structures are these these projects are structured to pay for themselves via developer payments and TIFF revenue.

And then we have the non-traditional obligations.

What people forget sometimes is when you have pension fund, you have to have obligations for that.

So we have accrued employee leave and pension options of 265.5 million with some software prescriptions.

Those are all part of the department operating budgets, and those obligations are built in annual budget.

And the good news with the market doing so well, we're decreasing the amount of obligations we have because the money grows in our pension fund.

And then lastly, you have bond premiums 35 million with leases of 11.6 billion in Fargo Dome Equipment.

All those are covered by the different operations they have.

So I beg you to look at this a little bit different because if you really look at it in totality, what we have for debt load, next slide, please.

We have 1.37 billion.

We're gonna take special assessments because really those are owned by the residents or corporations that own the property, and we're gonna take the diversion off.

So really our debt load is 752.7 million.

So I just want you to rethink that a little bit of how it's all, and it's all covered debt.

So that's number one.

Number two, some things have been talked about the finance department, and all of you were part of an audit done August 27, 2025.

And that audit, what happened is an audit is conducted by I.

Bailey.

So I've heard people about doing forensic accounting.

The forensic accounting typically looks for fraud.

So any one of the commissioners who talks about forensic accounting should report it to Michael and he lets you look into whatever department you think is doing something wrong.

But we are audited every year.

We've been audited every year since I've been on the commission, and we've had clean findings.

And that is how that goes.

And lastly, Commissioner Kolpak can't talk about this, but I can.

Commission uh the communication department only has six members.

It doesn't have a huge amount of members.

And we went from a $2 million budget to a budget of $486,000.

So we can just considerably cut that budget back.

So when people talk about a bloated department, it's basically we have core services for our department and they're doing an excellent job.

I think all six of those members should be congratulated for all the hard work they do and the great work they do.

So just helping the public understand a little bit about city government, and I think we're doing a great job.

I think we have a great city.

We had the chambers awards last week uh in uh Delta, and I can't tell you how many businesses said it's a great pleasure to work in the city of Fargo.

We love the economics that are going on in our community, and we think it's a great place to live.

So I end my report.

Commissioner Copak.

Yeah, I've got we're in the middle of spring cleanup week.

Um, can I can I make a request, Mr.

Chair, can we respond to your thing when you when she's done with all the reports?

Excuse me.

Thank you.

So solid waste and public work crews are more than halfway through, as I mentioned, and so far collected 773 tons of things from the curb.

Um and this week, residents on week B recycling schedule will have their items picked up.

And just a reminder to place your items on the boulevard before 7 a.m.

on your scheduled recycling pickup day.

And you can find out more at backslash recycling schedule.

Thank you.

Mr.

Stern.

The only thing I'd like to acknowledge is that we had our employee appreciation employee appreciation event uh last week.

And you know, the number of people we have that is have as many as are more than 40 years service for the city, you know, and the number of people that have five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five years.

What was the number it came to?

4,000, some years of service in the city.

It's I just want to acknowledge all those who were there and all those who aren't there getting awards every year because uh that's what we do.

That's who we are.

That's what delivers everything we are that we deliver is our people.

So it's just a really great event to have them acknowledged in that fashion, and it's not often enough.

Commissioner Pipcorn.

If you could go back to that pie chart, I'd appreciate it, and just to review a couple things, but one of the things that we have to do uh with our new land development code, uh, the 42 percent to the right there, the 580 million for uh improvement bonds.

So that with the new land development code, uh, our special assessment system is that's part of it.

We're gonna be changing reforming it.

Uh we are one of the few areas where we subsidize the taxpayers are the bank financing infrastructure for new developments.

Uh and so that's a risk that we can no longer take uh with our taxpayers.

And so that's the reason for the Moody's downgrade.

Uh we're taking a risk.

What that needs to do is move to the responsibility of the developer, and when you buy your house, then you pay for the infrastructure in that new development.

And so uh that it's an important uh point to make.

The a couple of the other things, uh, the diversion obviously we had great news last week too about the 100 million, but I'd like to know how much is left to pay for the construction of the diversion and how much of the proposed one cent uh tax extension is going to go to pay for the diversion because the thing that bothers me is right now Minnesota has paid zero uh for their participation in the construction of the diversion and so for the taxpayers we've already paid more than our share as you're aware most projects are 80 percent federal 20 percent local we're the opposite we're 80 percent local and 20 percent federal and so for us to be asking the taxpayers uh to to pay more for the diversion when some of our uh quote unquote partners have paid zero is not is not correct the other thing is the the water supply project uh is that included in here because there I think it's about 50 million that we we owe for that is that in the do you know if that's in there all the debt conversions for the the uh diversion and for the water supply are in their different buckets are not part of the city uh debt load but but they are debt that the city has the city does pay all the utility sum to respond to that Commissioner Pepco no no that's no that's not I appreciate that Mr.

Chair but it's just quite I'm just saying this is debt but this isn't all the debt and I just want the taxpayers to be aware that uh I'm very pleased obviously last week the hundred million that's fantastic and the also thing I want to congratulate you is you and the other mayors got a medal from the army that that was fant uh that is a huge honor uh and congratulations for that because sitting there you're like wow the army is giving mayor mahoney a medal that that was a huge moment so anyway congratulations if you don't mind let's give them a round of applause because that was awesome all right thank you mr chair uh okay I'm not gonna debate back and forth uh we don't have any public speakers tonight this is the first meeting we've ever had where we don't have anybody talking to the general speaking public speakers you got five guys over here do you want to say something about the chief for anything or anything you feel happy about or no Mosher you don't have anything you're happy about okay uh then we stand adjourned thank you