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Record of Proceedings

West Fargo City Commission Meeting Summary - January 19, 2026

City Commission MeetingsMonday, January 19, 2026
BodyWest Fargo, North Dakota
SessionCity Commission Meetings
DateMonday, January 19, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record

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Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

0:01

Welcome to the Monday, January 19, 2026, West Fargo City Commission meeting.

0:07

Would you please join the commission in a pledge of allegiance?

0:12

I pledge allegiance through the fly of the United States of America.

0:16

And through the Republic for which it stands.

0:19

One nation under God.

0:21

Individual with liberty and justice cloud.

0:30

Commissioner Jorgensen.

0:32

Ah here via the teams.

0:34

Commissioner Zundell?

0:35

Here.

0:36

Commissioner Dartis.

0:37

Here.

0:37

Commissioner Olson.

0:38

Here.

0:38

Commissioner Anderson.

0:39

Here.

0:40

Let the record show all commissioners are present and participating.

0:45

Item D is to approve the order of the agenda.

0:49

Commissioner Zendel moves to approve.

0:51

Is there a second?

0:52

Second.

0:52

Commissioner Anderson seconds.

0:54

We have a motion and a second to approve the order of the agenda as presented.

0:58

Is there any discussion?

1:01

Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

1:05

Aye.

1:05

Aye.

1:06

Opposed.

1:08

Motion.

1:09

Hearing none in favor, please signify by saying aye.

1:11

Aye.

1:12

Aye.

1:17

Aye.

1:18

Aye.

1:24

Okay.

1:25

Next order of business is to approve the minutes of January 5th.

1:29

They have been distributed and in your packets.

1:31

Move to approve.

1:32

Commissioner Anderson moves to approve.

1:34

Is there a second?

1:35

Second.

1:35

Commissioner Anderson, excuse me, Commissioner Olson seconds.

1:38

We have a motion and a second.

1:40

Is there any discussion on approval of the minutes?

1:44

Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

1:47

Aye.

1:51

Opposed.

1:53

Motion carried.

1:54

Next order of business is the building permits.

1:57

Again, the building permit report has been distributed in your packets.

2:00

Move to approve.

2:01

Commissioner Olson moves to approve the building permits as presented.

2:04

Is there a second?

2:05

Second.

2:06

Commissioner Zundell seconds.

2:08

We have a motion and a second to approve the building permits as presented.

2:13

Is there any discussion?

2:17

Hearing none.

2:18

All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

2:20

Aye.

2:22

Opposed.

2:24

Motion carried.

2:26

The next order of business is a consent agenda.

2:29

Consent agenda consists of items A through M.

2:34

Move to be approved.

2:35

Commissioner Zundal moves to approve consent agenda items A through M.

2:39

Is there a second?

2:40

Second.

2:41

Commissioner Anderson seconds.

2:42

We have a motion and the second to accept uh and approve the consent agenda items A through M as presented.

2:49

Is there any discussion?

2:51

Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

2:55

Aye.

2:56

Opposed.

2:58

Motion carried.

3:00

We are now in the regular agenda.

3:01

At this time, first order of business is public comment.

3:05

Madam Secretary, do we have anybody signed up for public comment?

3:08

I do not have anyone.

3:09

All right.

3:10

We move on to item number two, which is public hearings.

3:15

Uh on public hearings, the commission adjourns out of the regular meeting and listens to any uh conversations that the public wants to bring forward.

3:26

This evening we have no items that are require a public hearing.

3:31

We move on to item number three.

3:34

Item number three is the second meeting of A25-23, Meyer Second Edition.

3:39

Request for approval of a zone change from R-2 to C to commercial.

3:45

Aaron Nelson, Director of Planning, City of West Fargo will present.

3:49

Good evening and welcome.

3:51

After you good evening, President Artisan Commissioners.

3:54

So item three is a uh request for rezone from R2, limited multiple dwellings to C Light Commercial for the property located at 1202 Prairie Parkway.

4:03

Item was originally um presented to the commission and approved after a public hearing at the January 5th meeting.

4:10

Uh there have been no changes to the request since that time.

4:13

Uh so I'm here to answer any questions you may have.

4:15

Otherwise requested action tonight is to approve the second reading of the rezoning ordinance.

4:21

Thank you.

4:23

Any questions from Mr.

4:24

Nelson?

4:25

Commissioners?

4:27

We approve.

4:28

Second, second.

4:29

Motion and a second.

4:30

Motion to approve by Commissioner Olson, second by Commissioner Anderson.

4:36

Motion and a second regarding the A twenty five-23 Meyer second edition.

4:42

Uh change of zone from R2 to C.

4:45

Is there any discussion?

4:50

Hearing none.

4:51

All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

4:53

Aye.

4:55

Opposed.

4:57

Motion carried.

4:59

Thank you.

5:00

Item number four is land acquisition from Cass County.

5:03

We're going to call in Jerry Wallace, the city engineer for the City of West Fargo.

5:07

The purpose of this discussion is to approve a land acquisition from Cass County.

5:12

Mr.

5:12

Wallace, good evening and welcome.

5:14

Thank you, Mr.

5:15

Commission President.

5:16

Uh and Commissioners.

5:18

Here before you tonight, I'd like to think we have a great working relationship with our counterparts over at Cass County.

5:27

A couple months ago, they reached out to us essentially explaining that there's a couple of parcels uh within the city limits here that for one reason or another they acquired over the years to you know assist in a construction project or uh you know something along those lines.

5:46

Um to date they still retain ownership of of those parcels, and essentially it was um you know they reached out and and made the comment that you know given they don't have jurisdictional authority in these areas or anything like that anymore, it would just make a lot more sense if uh they were handed over to the city of West Fargo for ownership instead.

6:08

Um I apologize, but in my packet, I'm a little out of order with the uh the presentation or the uh the memo that the county sent over on these.

6:18

The uh the the first uh parcel in the in your packet here is up on uh 12th Avenue North.

6:25

Um essentially many years ago uh when the county undertook the project of removing the bridge over the Cheyenne up there and put the box culvert in.

6:33

Uh they acquired the parcel um as an aid to construction type thing.

6:39

Um essentially uh you know obviously not needed anymore and doesn't really make sense given that they no longer have jurisdictional authority of the roadway for them to hold on to it.

6:50

Um the second parcel is down by uh 52nd Avenue in Cheyenne, the roundabout down there, as you can see in the exhibit.

7:00

Uh you know, essentially that was acquired many years ago to facilitate construction of the original roundabout.

7:06

Uh since then, uh again, no longer any reason for the county to retain ownership of that parcel.

7:13

Um so uh essentially I'm here before you tonight uh I guess to try to uh uh recommend that we uh we proceed with the uh uh land acquisition of these two parcels.

7:25

Um just pointing out that uh essentially they'll be quick claimed for a dollar.

7:29

Um there are uh some special assessment obligations uh with the one on 12th up by public works that uh has a little more uh usable space to it.

7:40

But uh essentially that uh is the um item I'm here presenting before you tonight again uh looking for you to approve the uh land acquisition from Cass County and uh with that I'm available for any questions you may have.

7:53

Do you know the dollar amount of the special assessments on the 12th Avenue North product?

7:57

Uh it's currently sitting at a little over 25,000 dollars.

8:01

Thank you.

8:04

Questions, commissioners?

8:05

Anyone commissioner Zendal moves to approve the land acquisition from Cass County?

8:13

Is there a second?

8:15

Second.

8:15

Commissioner Anderson seconds.

8:17

We have a motion and a second to approve the land acquisition from Cass County on 12th Avenue North and 52nd Avenue South.

8:24

Is there any discussion?

8:30

Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

8:33

Aye.

8:34

Opposed.

8:36

Motion carried.

8:38

Thank you for your time.

8:39

Thank you, sir.

8:40

Item number five is a city administrator's report.

8:44

We call in Mr.

8:45

Dustin Scott, City Administrator.

8:47

Good evening and welcome, Mr.

8:49

Scott.

8:50

Good evening.

8:50

Thank you, Commissioner President Dotis and Commissioners.

8:53

Uh consistent with our light agenda, I have a brief update for you tonight.

8:57

Uh our HR director search is going well.

9:00

We had interviews last week with four candidates, and I'm happy to announce that we are uh working right now to extend offers to three finalists for a second round of interviews tentatively scheduled for next week.

9:12

Uh our team is still working on the details for that process, but it will involve a couple stakeholder groups as well as uh an interview selection panel.

9:22

As we uh determine those details, we'll engage the commission uh accordingly and uh hopefully everything it in place for next week, and again, three finalists.

9:32

So be I guess on the lookout for more information this week.

9:37

All right.

9:37

Uh well I the only other thing I have is just to uh extend a very big thank you to our street department for keeping our streets clean.

9:45

I think it was in record time.

9:47

I I know throughout the uh the uh rough weather uh this weekend they were out there keeping things uh under control and this morning the streets seem to have been just as good as they would be in the summertime.

10:00

So uh big kudos to them.

10:02

With that, I would stand for any questions you have.

10:05

So uh just a point regarding your human resource uh search.

10:10

You started with 34 applicants.

10:12

How many were uh applicants were interviewed?

10:15

So of the uh 34 applicants, we did extend an interview offer to six.

10:19

Uh four accepted an interview, so we did interview four of those candidates, and again we are moving forward with three finalists.

10:28

Very good.

10:28

Thank you.

10:29

Any other comment anything else from Mr.

10:32

Scott?

10:32

Commissioners?

10:33

Thank you.

10:34

Thank you.

10:37

All correspondence has been distributed and in your mailboxes.

10:41

Does any commissioner have any have any non-agenda item they'd like to bring forward at this time?

10:50

Does any department head have anything you'd like to bring forward at this time?

10:58

Wow.

11:00

Thank you.

11:01

We're done.

11:02

Uh Commissioner Zundell.

11:04

Uh Mr.

11:05

Jane.

11:05

Commissioner Wilson.

11:07

Second.

11:07

The West Fargo City Commission stands adjourned.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████56%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████████████████████27%
Personnel Matters██████████████17%
Summary of Proceedings

West Fargo City Commission Meeting - January 19, 2026

The West Fargo City Commission met on Monday, January 19, 2026, at an afternoon session. All commissioners were present. The meeting covered routine approvals, a second reading of a zone change, a land acquisition from Cass County, and an update on the HR director search.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of the order of the agenda.
  • Approval of the minutes from January 5, 2026.
  • Approval of the building permit report.
  • Approval of the consent agenda (items A through M).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were received.

Discussion Items

  • Zone Change (Second Reading) – A25-23 Meyer Second Edition: Aaron Nelson, Planning Director, presented the request to rezone 1202 Prairie Parkway from R-2 (Limited Multiple Dwellings) to C (Light Commercial). The first reading was approved on January 5, 2026. No changes were made. The commission approved the second reading unanimously.
  • Land Acquisition from Cass County: City Engineer Jerry Wallace presented two parcels: one on 12th Avenue North (acquired during bridge removal) and one on 52nd Avenue South (roundabout construction). The county will convey the parcels via quick claim deed for $1. The 12th Avenue North parcel carries special assessments of over $25,000. The commission unanimously approved the acquisition.
  • City Administrator’s Report: Dustin Scott reported on the HR director search. Out of 34 applicants, six were offered interviews, four accepted, and three finalists are moving to a second round of interviews scheduled for the following week. Scott also thanked the street department for quick snow removal over the weekend.

Key Outcomes

  • Unanimous approval of all consent items.
  • Approved the second reading of the zone change for Meyer Second Edition (motion by Olson, second by Anderson).
  • Approved the land acquisition from Cass County (motion by Zundell, second by Anderson).
  • No further business; meeting adjourned.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Monday, January 19, 2026, West Fargo City Commission meeting. Would you please join the commission in a pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance through the fly of the United States of America. And through the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God. Individual with liberty and justice cloud. Commissioner Jorgensen. Ah here via the teams. Commissioner Zundell? Here. Commissioner Dartis. Here. Commissioner Olson. Here. Commissioner Anderson. Here. Let the record show all commissioners are present and participating. Item D is to approve the order of the agenda. Commissioner Zendel moves to approve. Is there a second? Second. Commissioner Anderson seconds. We have a motion and a second to approve the order of the agenda as presented. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed. Motion. Hearing none in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Okay. Next order of business is to approve the minutes of January 5th. They have been distributed and in your packets. Move to approve. Commissioner Anderson moves to approve. Is there a second? Second. Commissioner Anderson, excuse me, Commissioner Olson seconds. We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion on approval of the minutes? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed. Motion carried. Next order of business is the building permits.

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