I'll call the meeting to order.

We'll begin with the Pledge of Allegiance.

I invite all that are able to stand to join us.

I pledge allegiance to the flag.

To the Republic, which it stands.

Thank you.

I invite up Judge Dawson and Judge Webb, who are both here to swear in our newly elected members of the board.

You please raise your right hand and repeat it after me.

Aye, Josh Boucher.

Aye, Josh Boshe.

Having been elected mayor of the city of Fargo.

Having been elected mayor of the City of Fargo.

You solemnly swear.

You solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

The Constitution of the State of North Dakota.

The Constitution of the State of North Dakota.

And the Home Rule Charter of the City of Fargo.

And the Home Rule Charter of the City of Fargo.

And that I will faithfully discharge the duties.

And I will faithfully discharge the duties.

Of the Office of Mayor.

Of the Office of Mayor?

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations, Mayor.

Thank you, Judge.

Thank you.

If you raise your right hand, please and repeat after me.

Aye, Nikki Gullikson.

Aye, Nikki Gullickson.

Having been elected to the office of the Fargo City Commissioner.

Having been elected to the Office of Fargo City Commissioner.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

Constitution of the State of North Dakota.

The Constitution of the State of North Dakota.

And the Home Rule Charter for the City of Fargo.

And the Home Rule Charter for the City of Fargo.

And that I will faithfully discharge the duties.

And I will faithfully discharge the duties.

Of the Office of Commissioner.

Of the Office of Commissioner.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations, Commissioner.

This will be fun.

This is going to be fun.

This is gonna be fun.

Are you ready, brother?

Yes, sir.

Raise your right hand.

Repeat after me.

I Chad M.

Peterson.

I Chad M.

Peterson.

Having been elected, having been elected to the Office of Fargo City Commissioner.

The Office of Fargo City Commission.

Do solemnly swear.

You solemnly swear that I will support.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

The Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution of the State of North Dakota.

And the Constitution of the State of North Dakota.

And the Home Rule Charter of the City of Fargo.

And the Home Rule Charter of the City of Fargo.

And that I will faithfully discharge.

And that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the Office of Commissioner.

The duties of the Office of the Commissioner.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations, Mr.

Commissioner.

Congratulations, Commissioners.

And with that, we'll do roll call.

Strand.

Here.

Peterson.

Here.

Gullikson?

Here.

Boshe.

Here.

And for everyone's awareness, Commissioner Strand is joining us virtually, so we'll allow time for a potential delay when we do roll or need anything from him.

Is there a motion to approve the order of the agenda?

So moved.

Second.

Second.

Thank you.

Any discussion on the agenda?

If not, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Opposed say nay.

Motion carried.

Thank you.

Is there a motion to approve the minutes of the June 22nd, 2026 regular meeting?

So moved.

Thank you.

Second?

Second.

Second.

Thank you.

Any discussion?

Hearing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Pose nay.

Thank you.

Motion carries.

Is there a motion a motion to approve consent agendas item one through 29?

Mr.

Mayor.

Commissioner Peterson.

I'd like to ask respectfully to pull items 16 and 17 down, please.

Okay.

Items 16 and 17 will be pulled from the consent agenda.

Commissioners, any others?

Okay.

With that, is there a motion to approve consent agenda agenda items number one through 15, 18 through 29?

So moved.

Second.

Second.

Any discussion on the consent agenda?

Hearing none.

All in favor say aye.

Or excuse me, that's a roll call vote, isn't it?

Yes, sir.

All right.

We'll do a roll call vote.

Gullikson?

Yes.

Aye.

Strand.

Yes.

Peterson?

Yes.

Moshe.

Aye.

All right.

We'll move on to our regular agenda items.

We have our 505 hearing.

The cul-de-sac of Cottagewood First Edition located at 3856 and 3870 47th Avenue South.

Approval recommended by the planning commission from their June 2nd, 2026 meeting.

And with that, we have Mr.

Crest from the planning department provide us more information.

Thank you, Mayor.

Good evening, Commissioners.

Donald Cress of the Department of Planning and Development.

As the mayor has stated, our item here tonight is the cul-de-sac of Cottagewood first edition.

This property is located at the end of 47th Avenue South.

Just is I 29 here, and 52nd Avenue is just off the map here.

There are two residential lots.

And then this is looking from the back, the south side, and here's the cul-de-sac out here.

These properties as you see are undeveloped.

And they are zoned SR2, single dwelling residential.

This plant comes before you because the cul-de-sac area is currently in easement, and at the city's request, the applicant is uh replatting this to dedicate this area of the cul-de-sac to the city.

As you see, the uh cul-de-sac has been rebuilt there.

Uh so it dedicates the area of that easement as right away and also revises some of the uh utility easements in there.

The uh applicant Craig Halinski was uh not quite made it yet, but uh Mr.

Halinsky was going to be here.

Uh the plan commission's recommendation is stated in the staff report and shown on the screen.

That concludes staff's uh presentation for the cul-de-sac of cottage with first edition.

Thank you, Commissioners.

Thank you, Mr.

Cress.

Any questions for Mr.

Cress?

Is there anyone present who wishes to address the city commission regarding this plat?

Is there anyone present to who would like to speak to this move to this item?

If not, we'll close the public hearing.

Is there a motion?

Is so moved.

Thank you, second, second.

Any discussion from the commission.

All right, hearing none.

Roll call, please.

Peterson?

Yes, strand.

Yes.

Gullickson, yes.

Moshe, yes.

Thank you, Commissioners.

Thank you.

We'll move on to item number 31 and following 31.

We'll move 16 and 17 to follow that for everyone's awareness.

So uh we're gonna receive and file an ordinance amending section 3-2011 of Article 3-20 of chapter 3 of the Fargo Municipal Code relating to a sales and use tax for infrastructure capital improvements.

Mr.

McLean from the attorney's office is here.

Um on June 9, 2026, about 73% of the voters approved amending Fargo's home rule charter to allow for a 20-year extension of Fargo's 1% infrastructure sales tax.

So home rule charter is the North Dakota Constitution mandates that uh state legislature provides home rule powers to the city to home rule cities.

Uh those powers sort of go beyond what you might find for in the general state law, so it allows the citizens of Fargo or other cities to have certain powers that the state legislature allows them to choose from to implement that could supersede state law in certain circumstances.

So the city's home rule charter is sort of like its local constitution is the best analogy that I that I can give.

And we and even though when the city voters amend a home rule charter, the actual power has to be enacted through an ordinance.

So while this voters gave us the ability to extend our sales tax by 20 years, we still have to pass an ordinance which actually puts that into law.

So sales tax was set to expire December 31st, 2028.

With the approval of voters will now go to December 31st, 2048.

That has to be implemented through ordinance.

So we will need to amend Section 30, 2011 to extend the sales tax through December 31st, 2048.

So that's the recommended motion.

How it typically works with the city is we put it on for receipt and file that gives people the ability to come and they can give comments on it.

And then it'll be back up for a first reading at the next meeting and a second reading at the uh at the meeting thereafter.

So usually takes three meetings to get an ordinance amended or passed in the city of Fargo.

So that would be the recommended motion, but happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Mr.

McLean.

Any questions, Commissioners?

Any questions?

Right?

Is there a motion?

I so move.

Second.

Second.

Thank you.

Any discussion?

Discussion.

I think the only thing I'll add is that uh I think for many of us we were pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming support from our voters in regards to the importance of the sales tax to not only have us sell for everything we purchase, we're putting some money towards it, but also those that visit and use our roads and our infrastructure are also contributing to that.

So wonderful to see.

With that, if no other discussion, we'll go on to roll call.

Hi.

Peterson.

Yes.

Strand?

Yes.

Ellikson?

Yes.

Oh, Shea.

Yes.

All right.

We will move to items number 16, followed by 17 from the consent agenda.

Item 16.

Is a bid award and contract for boiler replacement at Fargo Cast Public Health?

And it looks like we'll have Ms.

Majuris from the facilities team here.

Good evening, Mayors and Commissioners.

I was not aware that these items were pulled until about three minutes ago.

So I will try to answer any questions that you might have.

Commissioner Peterson, you pulled this item.

Mr.

Mayor, may I?

Commissioner.

Thank you, sir.

Uh appreciate this.

No, you did not have warning.

Uh we got and we'll talk about the discussions of timing later, but uh my curiosity is twofold.

So, first there's two boilers being replaced.

Do is it the boiler and a backup, or are there two boilers that are required to heat the building?

There is a boiler and a backup.

So and both are failing.

Perfect.

What's so they are in a catastrophic state of disrepair?

Correct.

Then my not being critical to simply educating myself.

Um typically the worst time to bid a boiler is in the middle of summer, right?

You want to bid a boiler in December or January, ideally, so then they can phase in, which is why I think we only had one bidder.

Uh why did we wait until June to bid this thing?

Um, so we had discussions on where the funding was going to come from.

And we also had to wait to finish out the cooling season and then or sorry, the heating season.

Um, we then put together the bid package and put it out in June because we do need to complete this before the next heating cycle.

Um, and that's just kind of how the timing played out this time around.

This was an emergency repair.

Can I jump in quick?

Yeah, I just want to quick add to it.

Um, we had a bond also uh a couple of years ago that we found some cost savings.

We had so many projects assembled to that bond, and we do have a cost savings through those projects, and so that is one of the projects that we're able to add on to that bond.

And so we do have a funding mechanism that will close out in October for the project also.

Wonderful.

If we could do our best to avoid this in the future, that would be stellar.

Absolutely.

But what we left on the table, I don't know what the dollar value is, but when you have one bidder ideally, that's not great.

You typically want two or three.

You guys know all this.

Yes, uh, but then further a boiler in the middle of summer when everyone else is working means we probably paid an accelerated rate for this.

So I'll trust you.

I believe in you and your team that we need these things.

And with that, Mr.

Mayor, I'd make a motion to approve.

Is there a second?

Second.

Any discussion about the item.

Any further discussion.

Hearing none, we'll go to a roll call vote.

Peterson?

Yes.

Turnberg?

Aye.

Strand?

Yes.

Gullikson?

Yes.

Oh, Shea.

Yes.

Thank you, Commissioners.

Moving on to item number 17, a bid award and contract for fence installation around the east lot of the Fargo Police Department headquarters.

Ms.

Majors.

Okay.

Again, I'll defer to Commissioner Peterson as to what questions you might have had.

Mr.

Mayor?

Mr.

Commissioner?

Thank you.

Uh yeah, so my main curiosity is why we're doing it.

Okay.

This was a request from the police department.

We have been looking to vacate the road actually between where the civilian vehicles are parked and the police department.

That process has met its delays.

But again, this is a project that is funded with bond funds from the 2024 bond issue.

And so we do have a deadline of October 1st.

So we made the decision to do just the civilian lot right now to provide additional protection as those vehicles are targets.

So my concern there is that this is no different than any of other any other parking lots or public employees have to deal with.

I'm not a big person, I'm not a big fan of fences that don't do anything, right?

So these are probably four.

I didn't Google them, but they're probably four by four aluminum powder cast posts with some one by one spindles, they're not going to stop a lawnmower, right?

So if someone wanted to do harm, they can jump over them pretty easily, even if it's with a quick ladder, or they could drive through them with a car.

So they don't suppose they don't propose or they don't provide any security other than psychological, and 188,950, which doesn't include energizing them, unless that's somewhere else, which it should be somewhere.

So it's going to be 200 and some thousand dollars to finish this.

Point being fences that don't do anything, I do not support.

This is a security-rated fence.

Um it's very similar to what West Fargo placed around their uh parking area.

And I respectfully don't like fences that don't do anything, right?

So car can this is not they're not pipe ballards, this is an aluminum fence.

And we have a lot of public employees and a lot of public parking spaces.

I contend that if someone's afraid adjacent to police station, how are they gonna feel outside City Hall, right?

You have an entire building full of badges and guns there to protect you.

Here we have a couple, we have our chief and a couple wonderful officers.

I will not be supporting this because again, $200,000 plus for a fence, it doesn't make sense to me.

I realize that some people may want things, but the reality is $200,000 for a fence that don't that won't stop a car, that won't stop a serious incident.

It's just a fence for sakes for the sake of having a fence.

We have it's probably similar to the fence we have at the public works where we service our buses.

I can't I didn't when that went up, however many years ago, that blew my mind too.

We have we're fencing off parking lots to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars for reasons.

So no.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

And if I can just add, um, so completely hear your position.

Um, it is a project that has been asked for repeatedly.

Um, and it's a project that got added to that bond uh a couple of weeks or a month ago, and so completely understand that your stance is not for it, um, but it is a project that was approved to move forward, at least for bidding purposes.

Mr.

Mayor?

Commissioner.

Thank you, sir.

Uh one of the rules I have within my family is just because we have money doesn't mean we need to spend it, right?

Absolutely.

And I again follow with we have a lot of public employee parking lots, and a lot of public employees.

I'd rather not fence all of them with fences that don't you don't have like things like pipe ballards that are going to prevent cars.

It's it.

That's my stance.

That's how I feel.

That's my logic.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other questions from the commission?

Commissioner Kernberg?

So I know police officers have been asking for added security for quite some time.

Does this fence offer anything other than a basic fence around a residence yard?

Or is it a is it of better quality to actually prevent any bad actors from doing whatever they would happen to do?

This is more than just a fence you would have around your yard.

Um this, you know, Chad has talked about the the um properties of the fence, but it is a deterrent.

It also has secured entrances that will be badge activated.

So we don't have people just wandering into this parking lot and damaging vehicles, which has happened in the past.

Um so this was again, this was a request and uh it was approved by administration to move forward with the bid.

And is that in this in the 2026 budget, or is this in the 27 budget?

So this is back to we had that 2024 bond, and there were some additional funds.

Um this is a request that's been coming back on the budget.

Um, and so we did look to add it to that bond and to go out for bids and see what they came in at.

And so it's part of a bond that's already been let.

Got it.

Thank you.

Commissioner Strand.

Mayor, thank you, Mayor.

Um, my sense is that with this just being pulled off consent today, folks don't have enough time, nor do we to really like look at the details of it and dig deeper.

My recommendation would be an ally, I'll advance a motion that we simply lay this on the table specifically till the next meeting so everybody can have their information ready and then and be prepared to answer whatever we would need to ask.

I'd second, Mr.

If you can look in for a second, Mr.

Mayor.

Okay, there's a motion uh to table this agenda number 17 to our July 20th meeting, along with a second.

Any discussion on the motion?

Discussion on the motion.

Hearing none, we'll do a roll call vote on the motion.

Strand.

Yes.

Peterson, yes.

Bosch.

No.

All right, Commissioners.

Thank you.

We'll go on to item number 32.

A recommendation for commission liaison assignments.

Uh we have the opportunity, I had the opportunity to visit with each of you individually uh to understand more about your goals and some of the priorities that you had.

Uh so taking in everyone's information and kind of reworking what's been done in the past, it was my understanding in visiting with former mayor mahoney that often what happened was uh when a new commissioner came in, they just inherited the portfolio of the previous commissioner.

Uh and after visiting with staff some, I decided to create some buckets, uh, some more themes within the to try to align how some of the specifically the departments uh align within a commissioner's portfolio, uh, and sort of give a little bit more background around this.

Um Commissioner Strand uh is going to be tasked to help co-chair uh my mayor's uh council advisory or advisory council on renters, so things that touch renters is primarily under his portfolio.

Uh Commissioner Gullikson, we moved engineering and planning together.

Traditionally, those have been apart, but since those work so hand in hand is part of the growth plan, and as we look at the LDC, the land development code, uh trying to partner those things there.

Uh Commissioner Turnberg with communications and government affairs and her background there, and then bringing facilities under one bucket with Fargo Domin Library, and then Commissioner Peterson uh with keeping the utilities together with solid waste, water treatment, and water reclamation on top of information services as we continue to look at opportunities there.

So you have before you the Commission liaison assignments.

With that, I'd take a motion.

Discussion, Mr.

Mayor?

Commissioner Peterson.

Thank you, sir.

I understand how things have been done in the past, and that's wonderful.

I think some of the things you've said were pretty quite logical, like the buckets analogy, which you probably carried from your legislative days.

And this is coming from a statement or a stance of I'm fine with what I have right now.

The only thing I would like is actually the Fargo Dome, but that's that's probably the only thing that I would actually like to have.

I guess what I would have rather seen done is replicating what we did in my prior life.

What we did before my prior life was we'd get together in a formal planning meeting, and all of us would sit, the five of us would sit together in an open public meeting, which is incredibly important.

We all know that, and then we discuss sort of our wants and needs, right?

And we then push back on each other.

And let's pretend we both let's say uh let's say I, Mr.

Mayor, let's say I wanted police.

You and I would say, I want police, I want police.

We'd either flip a coin, pull a card, whatever.

Uh, we never got to the point in my 12 years of doing this of debate or of any more than boy, I want that.

Okay, can I have it next year?

Cool.

That was our compromise.

Uh so going forward, I think in future years, what I'd recommend is we have that.

Again, I think this is a fine baseline.

Other commissioners have to weigh in on what they want.

Uh pretty clearly, I'm guessing you selected things that you wanted to do.

Uh so I would I would now invite that conversation to have happen.

And then, like I said, in preceding years, respectfully to the organization, that's all five of us.

I'd love the five of us to sit down in a planning meeting and figure out what the next year will hold.

Uh with three new faces, I think we can change, and I'll be talking about this probably in the next couple segments too.

If we're going to make a cultural shift, now is the time to make the cultural shift.

And that's I'm praying God that don't take offense to those of you that served, those that are in office prior, those that served a decade ago.

Commissioner Strand especially, please, sir, do not take offense by this.

Uh the way you operated was fine.

It worked for you.

Uh, but for me, I would rather have the open, transparent dialogue of five of us sitting around a table collaborating as a team and saying, this is what I think might be best.

And I have different strengths too.

Uh one could argue that I should have different portfolios based on my prior experience, my professional experience.

The reason I like where you suggested that I be, Mr.

Mayor, is because this is an area where we talk regional things.

So I've got a little bit of experience there too.

Uh but this is probably among the least things that I know.

So I get to have a year to learn about something that I don't know enough about.

And that to me is the most important part.

And I talked about Commissioner Gullockson, you heard this in our in our fat head rambling at our little forums.

Um, the most important part about portfolios rotating is education.

I've served, and mayor, you may have had a bit of this experience out in the legislature, Commissioner Turnberg maybe locally, regionally, and Commissioner Gullickson, school board member Gullickson.

Uh, the interactions I've had on multiple occasions on multiple boards where commissioners simply don't understand what the organization does because they've either stuck with one thing the whole time or frankly don't have interest in learning, even if they're assigned to portfolio.

So, long story short, again, I'm rambling.

Uh, you'll have four years of this, mayor, so sorry.

But long story short is rotating these things so we all become educated in what we do and why we do the things we do, that's also important in budgeting.

Uh, I think is incredibly important.

But long story short, uh, Commissioner Turnberg, the only thing I would ask of you uh is the Fargo Dome, and I might suggest whether it's Commissioner Gullickson, Mayor Bosch, you're on Red River Dispatch.

I was part of dispatch when we discussed the re-governance.

So we restructured the way we did governance within dispatch.

It used to be our our law enforcement team and our firefighting team would guide that.

They'd then come back to us with a budget inclusive of hiring, growth, all those things.

We reinvented the way we governed that body because we had struggles hiring staff across the river.

They're governed different across the river, and it is what it is, neither good nor bad.

So we were struggling hiring staff with the resistance of that side of the river, so we redid the way we governed ourselves.

I think it may be prudent, and Mr.

Mayor, if you weren't on there, I'd suggest it'd be you.

Uh but it might be prudent, whether it's Commissioner Gullockson or even Commissioner Turnberg, if you and I swapped, because that gets you into dispatch, which is calls for service.

It's the logistics of how those things operate.

So if you're interested in that, maybe you want maybe you and I switch Fargo Dome for dispatch, I don't know.

But uh I would contend that if I'm going to take one thing, I should give one thing up.

So I don't know if you're interested in that or not.

But dispatch to me is I I'm happy to have it, but I did it for a number of years.

I was there when we reorganized the governance and we built our new structure.

There's an amazing team that keeps all of us safe.

And it may be prudent for someone else to have that, just to get educated in that.

But again, happy to keep whatever, but that's my only request of my fellow Commissioner Turnberg, and she can say no without offending me at all.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Commissioner Turnberg?

And I don't get offended, so don't worry about that.

Well, I wonder instead of reinventing inventing the wheel, and if we're trying to make a cultural shift, why don't we have a brown bag sit down and do exactly what Commissioner Peterson brought up?

Because we each have strengths and we each have weaknesses.

Now, when I was first elected as commissioner, I went to every single meeting that was available, whether it was in my portfolio or not, and I learned a ton, but you need to do that anyway, just to become uh familiar with the city.

So I would like to see us start over and do things a new way rather than replicate what's been done for the last 20 years.

So I would make the motion, let's sit down, the five of us together, and discuss these portfolios, where what we would like, what we would rather not like, because a lot of them are just repeat of the same people that have had them, and there hasn't been a rotation before.

It's been every two years.

So whatever your uh thought is on rotation, if that's yearly, that's wonderful, because then we get to learn more about different departments.

But I would like to see us all sit down and do what Cass County does.

What I'll speak to in terms of the point of order, Mr.

We actually do have a motion on the floor.

Okay, thank you.

So there's a motion on the floor.

I would move that we sit down, have a brown bag lunch this week and discuss what portfolios as a commission together.

I'll second the motion for sake of discussion.

There's a second discussion on the motion, discussion?

Commissioner Commissioner Strand here, Mayor Commissioner?

No, I really wish I was there.

Can you hear me, folks?

Okay, we can, thank you.

Keep going.

Okay, I'm I wish I was there for this discussion.

They're very important discussions.

Uh my sense is you probably as mayor talked to everybody.

And you probably vetted these avenues of consideration with each of the commissioners or as best you could.

And I'm okay with that.

I don't know that I need to reinvent the wheel.

I I'm I can live with the appointments and I can live with the inherited process that the mayor got when he arrived here, and this is your first meeting.

But it's you know, and I'm not so sure we could pull up our policies, they probably spell out that the mayor appoints these with commissioner approval.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Other discussion?

Commissioner Peterson?

Mr.

Mayor, thank you.

Yeah, Commissioner Strand, the governance policy actually does say uh the mayor makes the recommendation.

So you are not wrong in that fact, but again, that doesn't preclude from having discussions beyond that, right?

It doesn't mean he just says something and it's done.

If that makes sense.

So you're not wrong at all, is my point, I guess.

Right, because this commission still ratifies the recommendation, correct?

Any further discussion on the motion?

Hearing none, we'll go to a roll call vote on the motion.

Would you clarify the motion, please?

I believe it's to have a brown bag on this topic.

Commissioner Turnberg, would you clarify?

Yes, to get together the five of us and have a discussion of portfolios.

We'll do roll call.

Turnberg, yes.

Peterson, yes, Gullickson?

Yes.

Strand?

No.

O'Shea.

No.

Mr.

Commissioner Mayor.

Commissioner Peterson.

Uh, could you set the date?

What what's logistically, or maybe I look at our associate to my left?

What's the most logical way in proceeding with picking a date?

Because I think ideally sooners rather than later.

Like tonight, even or tomorrow.

Again, typically what we would do is to share conversation and learning.

We would typically meet after our regular meeting.

So we would actually hand a planning meeting scheduled for after this.

Sure.

But I'm available.

My concern right now is Commissioner Strand not being available.

Because I want I and I and I hear you say it, Commissioner Strand, you want to be here because being in person is exponentially more easy.

You can read body language and those sorts of things, and I think that's important.

But uh if I may be so pointed, Commissioner Strand, are you available this week?

Mayor, may I speak?

Yeah, Commissioner Sand, please.

I expect to be back tomorrow.

I might not look like you expect me to look.

I had an accident last week, and but I expect to be back tomorrow.

Some people didn't expect me to look like this either, Commissioner.

So uh with that and and with the motion passing, uh I we will consult everyone's calendar and do it as quickly as we can uh because there are uh commission meetings actually scheduled for this week, and I know departments are interested in getting especially with onboarding for some of us.

So uh Commissioner Peterson.

Mr.

Mayor, can you lead that charge, please?

Yes, thank you.

I'll take that with uh the city staff.

So thank you.

One point I'd like to make uh as you may have noticed in the liaison assignments as proposed.

Uh I've been I place myself as an alternate to the Lake Agassiz Water Authority Board.

Uh traditionally that is a seat for the mayor.

Um I have asked Mayor Ma former Mayor Mahoney to serve in the chair uh or the formal position, uh representing Fargo, and I'll be the alternate part of that is uh West Fargo has done that with uh former mayor uh Dirtis, Valley City is doing with their former uh mayor.

Uh the importance of this project and the work that they have done to continue that forward, especially through the next legislative session, uh, was was a priority for all of us in that.

So um traditionally again the the the chair or the city of Fargo has had its own seat, but I am deferring that and making the recommendation that that would be Mayor Mahoney to keep that continuity going.

Uh and then I'll continue on side by side with him on that.

So just for a note for you all.

All right, we will move on to discussion or agenda item number 33 recommendation for appointment of a deputy mayor.

You received in your packet uh that I'm recommending Commissioner Strand as deputy mayor.

Uh my thought process with that is uh his seniority on the commission, and knowing that he has publicly stated that uh within two years he will not be running for re-election.

Um, but uh, you know, having someone with his sage advice will be important for me uh as we continue to navigate the next two years in this role, so is there a motion?

So moved, second, is there a second?

Motion does not carry.

Commissioners, any discussion?

Commissioner Peterson?

Oh, your light was on.

We will uh I'm looking to Mr.

McLean for any advice.

We have it a city ordinance that says we need to elect a deputy city mayor at our first um regular meeting, so we do need to have another motion if that one's not gonna pass.

Mayor, for the sake of discussion and to keep us moving forward, I will second the motion.

Okay.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Uh Commissioner Gullicks and sending by your primary motion since we paused.

Okay, thank you.

Any discussion, Commission?

Commissioner Peterson.

Mr.

Mayor, thank you.

Yeah, Commissioner Strand, that's what I was waiting for.

Ideally, you don't want to nominate yourself, but you can comfortably make a second.

When you were silent on your second, that led me, and I've not talked to the mayor or anyone about this.

That led me to believe you were reluctant in taking the position.

So I'm presuming with that second commissioner that you are content in taking this position, yes?

Might I ask your mayor?

I am absolutely honored to be put up for deputy mayor, and I look forward to it.

You know, this North Dakota humbleness, where we're the last people in the world to put ourselves up for something, but uh we also have to have a vote.

And if it went down, I could move with that also.

Commissioner Peterson, again, just want to reassure you that it wasn't uh criticism, it's just I was looking for you to say, yes, you'd like to do this, because I didn't want to put you at.

You know, usually the person that winds up leading the club is the person who's absent in the first meeting, right?

So I didn't want to volunteer you for something you didn't want to do.

So thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Any further discussion?

Discussion.

Hearing none, we'll move on to a roll call vote.

Gullickson?

Yes.

Strand?

Yes.

Turnberg?

Yes.

Peterson?

Yes.

Oh, shape.

Yes.

Thank you, Commissioners.

We'll move on to the next agenda item.

Uh, recommendations for appointments to the Board of Adjustment and the Library Board.

Uh, you have on the packet the recommendations.

Uh, for the Board of Adjustment, it's continuation of service.

Uh, in the library board, it is a new appointment due to uh someone termed out.

So do I have a motion?

So moved.

Thank you.

Second?

Second.

Wonderful.

Any discussion on the appointments to the board of adjustment or library board.

Commissioner uh Peterson.

How many applicants did we get for these openings?

If if any, Mr.

Mayor, do you know?

I don't know that answer, but I think it was nominal.

You can just scream.

Few and far between.

And the reason I'm asking you is it's important for our public to engage.

Uh, and it's not to be critical of any one of these people.

I'm supporting it, but the main message I want to convey to folks is if we've got openings.

I did so I chaired the board of adjustment for years prior to any involvement in anything else, because I Mayor Furness actually said here's how this is gonna work, you're gonna do this.

So I want up as an alternate, wound up hearing it after a while.

Uh we need our public to engage, and I realize how stressful and painful these can be because they do not pay.

There are multiple meetings, and they typically take place during the day.

So you'll be taking vacation time to serve the public and gain nothing from it.

But it's imperative that you become involved as citizens because we need your volunteerism.

And I know volunteerism has been a bit of a struggle in the past years, but uh hopefully we can engage in a grant.

Luckily, we have two folks that want to serve.

Uh, but if anyone else in the audience are listening online playing the home game, as I've often said, uh please, please, please engage.

We need your help.

Thank you much.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you, Ms.

Dirk.

So so we had eight for the board of the library board.

Um I don't I don't know for sure how many on the other.

But to your point, too, apply at any time, because you never know when there's an opening.

So we keep a running list of anyone that turns in an application.

So I will I will enhance what you just said, and if you ever find a board that of interests you and would like to apply, please do, because those openings can come any time throughout the year.

Well stated.

Any further discussion?

Hearing none.

Roll call vote.

Turnberg?

Aye.

Gullickson?

Yes.

Strand?

Yes.

Peterson?

Yes.

Oh, shape.

Yes.

All right.

We're getting to the end here.

Uh we with it being our first meeting.

We also still have our liaison commissioner assignment updates.

Some of you have been engaged with your commissions uh or your departments already.

Uh so we'll also use this opportunity if there's just any general statements that anyone would like to make.

Um, but we'll start with our incumbent uh commissioners.

Uh Commissioner Turnbird.

Sure.

I had a wonderful meeting with the chief of police today for about an hour and a half.

Uh, went over many, many different topics, but I think we see some light at the end of the tunnel.

The police are doing a wonderful job in improving the situation in town.

And if you do have any sort of incident, if you do notice any bad behavior, if you do see any criminal activity, please call the police.

Police should be called, no one else.

It's the police.

If it's not an emergency, then call that line.

But if it is an emergency, you should call the police, not any other number that you have been given.

Also, also had a great meeting with our library director, and of course, they continue to do wonderful things.

And it's important to check out what is on the agenda at the library because they are very busy and they are very good at what they do.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Commissioner Strand.

Thank you, Mayor.

I initially I'd like to join the community in inviting you as our new mayor, and Commissioner Gullicks and then Commissioner Peterson to the dais.

We're in for a really interesting, exciting new time, and the people have spoken, and it'll be an honor and pleasure to work with you all.

Lastly, you all maybe know me and my birthdays.

Tomorrow is Commissioner Turnberg's birthday.

So if anybody bumps into in the street, wish her your best.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Thank you.

Commissioner Peterson.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I think long story short is uh honored to be here, happy to serve.

Looking forward to four blessed years uh with the folks that are here.

Maybe some here.

Commissioner Strand, I think you're termed out in two.

Uh and chances are you can't run for mayor in two because you're here for four.

So at least two with Commissioner Strand.

So honored to be here, happy to serve.

Look forward to our meeting when the mayor sets it regarding portfolios.

And I think uh Godspeed, thanks.

Thank you.

Commissioner Gullickson.

Uh thank you.

I would echo some of the same sentiments.

Hats off to our police as I visit with various businesses around town.

I'm hearing that the changes have been immediate and positive.

So I just want to give a shout out to them.

Um thank you to Fargo.

I'm grateful to be here.

I will serve you with my heart, soul, and mind.

And um, I guess the only other thing I had is I met with the planning team already this morning and uh was a great meeting.

I think we were gonna do a half hour, and we ended up over an hour before we all kind of called it and said we'll see each other tomorrow at the three o'clock meeting.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Uh this morning I had the opportunity to meet with the cabinet uh in some key points that came out of there.

Um, I thanked uh the Fargo Police Department for their flock safety transparency portal that anyone can access now at Fargo Police.com.

A growing concern of license plate readers and what can and can't happen with those.

So there's a lot of information there uh that the public has access to.

So thank you to Fargo PD for doing that.

Uh also this today they welcomed Academy Class 10, which we have 13 new recruits to uh the police academy, and so continuing to build that pipeline.

Uh Fargo Fire is working on their next class, and that uh is coming up as well.

Uh the for those that are of interest of the city's budget, the finance budget workshops are scheduled for the mornings of July 20th, 21st, and 22nd in this room.

You can also watch them online, but that'll be an opportunity for not only the commission but the public to learn more about the individual budgets of each department.

Uh you'll see it's quite uh quite extensive because we spread that out over three days to get as much information out in the various uh revenue sources as well as the requests coming in.

So another way for the public to engage in the budget process.

And with that, uh want to thank you for the opportunity to serve as your mayor.

I look forward to working with this uh this amazing commission uh and continuing to move our great city forward, especially as we address the challenges and opportunities that that we face each and every day.

But uh the part the the what makes Fargo the strongest is the people uh and I think we learned over the last several months that as uh some of us campaigned and others were engaged in different ways uh was that uh Fargoans are always willing to rise to the challenge.

Uh and I know that we will be better to tomorrow than we were yesterday, and that's because of the commitment of each and every one of you.

So thank you.

With that, we will move on to public comments.

As a reminder, two and a half minutes is offered for each person signed up to speak.

And tonight we have one speaker.

We'll ask the speakers to come off to my left to your right.

Uh, and is there is Mr.

Sletmo here?

Mr.

Sletmo.

Is that him?

All right, so all right.

Seeing that he is not present, we will close uh public comment or the public comment, and with that I'll adjourn the meeting.