Fargo City Commission Meeting - May 26, 2026
Fargo City Commission Meeting - May 26, 2026
The Fargo City Commission met on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at 5:00 PM in the City Commission Chambers. The meeting began after a closed executive session (4:33–4:46 PM) to discuss contract negotiations with Interstate Parking. The public session included the Pledge of Allegiance, a video on the Name a Garbage Truck Contest, approval of the agenda and minutes, a consent calendar, numerous public hearings, and regular agenda items. Commissioners present: Denise Kolpack, Dave Piepkorn, John Strand, Michelle Turnberg, and Mayor Timothy Mahoney.
Consent Calendar
- Items 1–23 were approved unanimously by roll call vote. These included ordinance amendments, settlement agreements, site authorizations, bid awards (e.g., $390,845 for Project UR-26-A1, $571,947 general construction and $38,919 electrical for NR-26-C2, $233,000 for a refuse truck, $556,065 for WA2512), service agreements for snow removal, creation of improvement districts, plats of minor subdivisions, and bills totaling $11,452,313.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Dylan Hanson asked the commission to reconsider the animal disturbing the peace ordinance to allow video evidence as proof, stating that current procedures require an in-person police response to non-emergency calls and that by the time officers arrived (44 minutes), the nuisance had ceased. He requested a different enforcement route.
- Scott Brekke raised concerns about special assessments on city-owned properties. He noted that the Fargo Civic Center has $467,000 in specials and pays over $20,000 per year in interest, and that the city pays interest on its own infrastructure loans. He called for greater transparency in how these costs are allocated and reported.
Discussion Items
Public Hearings (Items 24–30)
- Items 24 & 25 – Class W and Y Alcoholic Beverage Licenses (Polished Nail Spa and North Brewing): Continued unanimously to June 22, 2026, at 5:05 PM.
- Item 26 – PILOT Exemption for Fargo HRA Low-Income Housing (65-unit apartment at 1711 25th Avenue South): Jim Gilmore explained that the project serves very low-income tenants (rents can be $0 for zero-income occupants). Commissioner Strand asked about housing need; Gilmore cited over 600 people on the waiting list for a 100-unit building. The Fargo School Board and Cass County voted to fully participate. Vote: 5-0 to approve.
- Item 27 – Property Tax Exemption for Najaxa Software LLC (201 5th Street North, 14th floor of Radisson Building): The company, a staffing technology firm, plans to relocate from 2,800 sq ft on Broadway to larger space, bring remote workers to Fargo, and add two jobs per year for five years (average salary $81,000+). EDC gave a score of 178 (threshold 120). Commissioner Strand asked about clawback provisions; Jim Gilmore said a new business incentive agreement with annual reporting and automatic end is being developed. Founder Jamie Evanson praised the EDC process. Vote: 4-1 to approve (Commissioner Strand voted nay).
- Item 28 – CDBG and HOME Action Plan and Budget (2026): Planning Director Nicole Crutchfield presented the $1.3+ million allocation. $550,000 of CDBG is earmarked for alley paving in core neighborhoods; $390,000 in HOME for tenant-based rental assistance. Public commenter Dan Madler (CEO of Beyond Shelter) urged the city to dedicate a meaningful share to housing production, noting only 3 vacant units out of 406 (less than 1% vacancy). Crutchfield responded that federal compliance requirements make large projects difficult and that this is a nationwide issue. Commissioners Kolpack and Strand suggested an informational meeting with housing partners. No action taken; hearing closed, final vote scheduled for June 8.
- Item 29 – Plat of Lake Agassiz Addition (417 and 501 Main Avenue): The plat formally divides two parcels previously unplatted (owned by the city and Lake Agassiz Regional Development Corp). The city intends to sell its platted lot. A prior plat (L.J. Laffine Addition) was withdrawn. Vote: 5-0 to approve.
- Item 30 – Lost Creek First Addition (zone change, first reading of rezoning, and plat): Proposed 193 lots (180 residential) near Veterans Boulevard and 64th Avenue South, part of a 320-acre master plan. Developer John Eunice (Eagle Reach Development) argued that Fargo has only about 100 single-family lots available, far below the needed 360 annual starts, and that the project would create $250 million in new value in Phase 1 and over $1 billion over ten years. Staff recommended denial or continuation due to timing, infrastructure costs, the 3% property tax cap, and a pending MOU with Horace. The Planning Commission had recommended approval. After debate (Commissioners Piepkorn and Mahoney favored a pause; Kolpack supported the Planning Commission's approval), the commission voted to continue the public hearing to June 22, 2026, with staff discretion to move to July 20 if needed. Vote: 5-0 to continue.
Regular Agenda (Items 31–34)
- Item 31 – Convention Center Project Due Diligence: Ian McLean reported on the two finalists ("Bruhalla" and downtown). He outlined transactional vs. selection due diligence and proposed using Baker Tilly for an independent financial analysis. Commissioner Strand moved to limit that analysis to the downtown proposal only; that amendment failed (2-3). The main motion to continue due diligence with Baker Tilly and report back by June 22 passed unanimously. Vote: 5-0 to continue due diligence.
- Item 32 – Newman Outdoor Field Conversations: Authorized city staff and the city attorney to engage with NDSU and Fargo-Moorhead Baseball on future operations, deferred maintenance, and a new operating model. Vote: 5-0 to approve.
- Item 33 – Mid-America Steel Site Conversations with FM Science Museum: Authorized discussions on potential use of the site (92 and 106 NP Avenue North) for a 60,000 sq ft science museum expecting 200,000–250,000 annual visitors. Commissioner Piepkorn raised concerns about the need for an RFP and the site's environmental issues; Ryan from EDC discussed the certified sites program. Science museum board chair Reed Matson and Jesse presented the vision. Vote: 5-0 to approve.
- Item 34 – Liaison Commissioner Reports: Commissioner Strand promoted the Recovery Resource Center ribbon cutting (May 28, 2 PM). Commissioner Kolpack reported on spring cleanup (1,200 loads, 1,572 tons of debris), a fire captain pinning ceremony, and the Fargo Police Academy graduation with the new chief sworn in.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar approved unanimously.
- PILOT exemption for Fargo HRA housing approved 5-0.
- Tax exemption for Najaxa Software approved 4-1 (Strand nay).
- CDBG/HOME Action Plan taken under advisement; final vote scheduled June 8.
- Lake Agassiz Addition plat approved 5-0.
- Lost Creek First Addition continued to June 22 (with potential to July 20) for further policy and financial discussions.
- Convention center decision deferred to June 22 pending independent analysis by Baker Tilly.
- Newman Outdoor Field and Mid-America Steel site conversations authorized 5-0 each.
- Public comments noted; city attorney to follow up on animal disturbance ordinance.
Meeting Transcript
Call the meeting to order. We'll begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. I invite you to join us. Okay. Roll call, please. Cole Pack. Here. Pepcorn? Here. Strand? Here. Turnberg? Here. Mahoney. Here. Tonight we have a video about the Fargo name, a garbage truck contest. So we'll start off with that. My name is Kyle Blanchard. I'm equipment operator too here at uh City of Fargo Solid Waste. Recently I've been dumping the uh child care center at Sanford, and every day there's kids coming in and coming out, and everybody's got to stop and see the garbage truck work. I've never met a kid that doesn't like a garbage truck, and it's so much fun. They're either uh asking us to honk the air horns or wanting to see the truck work and get dumped, and it it's a lot of fun to see. Well, I think it's really cool for them to give them a sense of uh community involvement. You know, they're just probably starting to learn about civics and giving back to the community and stuff like that. I think that it's nice to see them uh have the opportunity to give an active role to be a part of what goes on in their community, especially for the winners. Like how cool is that for them to see their name truck come by on their street or buy them. It's gotta be a pretty cool experience. So the Solid Waste Department contacted our communications team for help doing this name a garbage truck contest. And from there, uh, it was posted online asking residents to submit their ideas for names of garbage trucks. All those results were forwarded to us at Solid Waste Department. We narrowed it down to ten names, and then it was put out for public vote, and that's how we got to the three names that that were selected by the public that you'll see on trucks now. There's actually over 200 submissions for naming a garbage truck, so I feel like it was popular with uh the residents wanting to participate. Because it just kind of fits changing it from Trannosaurus Rex, not much of a change, but really applies to what we're doing here at the Solid Waste Department. Um, so that was an easy kind of transformation to incorporate garbage or solid waste into that name. And then um, I would say the the top pick is the truck Norris, because who doesn't love Jeff Norris? Uh also his recent passing. Uh we thought it would be a nice way to remember him and incorporate him into our daily operations. So I thought it was really cool. Like uh, we're kind of on our own island out here, like you said. So it's it's really neat that uh we I don't know, get some fanfare on the social media and seeing you know these trucks rolling around uh on different videos or news platforms. It's pretty neat for us to get recognized because it's outside of cleanup week, nobody really knows that we exist, their garbage comes and goes, and they're happy about that. Especially uh any of the kids that maybe tried to name the truck or even especially for the winners to see the the stickers on these trucks and oh there goes truck Norris right down the road. I seen him in North Fargo yesterday. Now he's in South Fargo, or now he's at uh this career fair. I think it'll be a cool cool thing. Nicely done. Thank you. Do I have a motion to approve the order of agenda? So move. Is there a second?
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