00:00:07,730	Welcome to the November 21st meeting of the Bismarck Board of Park Commissioners. I will call the meeting to order and ask Julie to please call the roll. Comm Gilbertson, here. Herzog? Here. Redmond. Here. Jessy here, President Zimmerman, here.

00:00:27,530	Uh, second item of business is the Pledge of Allegiance if we’d all stand please and join if you wish. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Third item of business is approval of the agenda. Second.

00:00:57,600	Motion by Comm Gilbertson, seconded by Comm Redman, uh, Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Comm Gilbertson. I. Herzog? Yes. Redman? I Jeski I President Zimmerman. I. The next item on the agenda is our featured partner and programs this evening. It’s our pleasure to have the Bismarck Gymnastics Academy present and their president of the Bismarck Gymnastics Academy.

00:01:22,570	Jay De Schmidt will appear before the board. Good evening, Jade. OK. We go, um, hi, my name’s Jade. I am currently serving as the president at the, uh, Bismarck Gymnastics Academy Board of Directors.

00:01:44,470	So thank you for inviting us, um, today to come give an update, uh, basically, you know, gymnastics is, is what we do there, and we continue to see a high demand for gymnastics in our community, um, one of the biggest things we’ve been working on is being able to offer enough gymnastics, um, to, to satisfy the demand that we have in our community.

00:02:02,070	Uh, a couple of nice things that we’ve seen over the past few years is that we have an executive director and a director of our recreational program who are relatively new to their roles in the gym, but have strong really shown really strong leadership and established the smoothest operations that I’ve seen, um, in my time serving as a board member there.

00:02:21,270	Um, I’ve been on the board about 4 years now, and I think this is the, the strongest leadership we’ve seen in that time, which is really great. Um, our financial position also continues to be strong. We’ve still been able to offer gymnastics at what is one of the the lowest costs for families that we see across the country.

00:02:39,470	And I think that’s a really You know, a really nice thing to be able to offer in our community and, and, you know, tells a lot about the strength of our community. Uh, our biggest challenge has been and continues to be the space we have available to offer gymnastics, uh, our team has been getting more and more creative and has been able to work in partnership with the

00:02:58,900	team at Capitol Rocket and Fitness, which has been really nice. Uh, we’ve been able to outfit one of the racquetball courts there with some gymnastics equipment to be able to offer more classes.

00:03:15,300	I believe this past summer and fall, we’ve been able to offer more classes than we ever have before, which is really nice and those classes continue to fill. Uh, the facility we have right now was built about 35 years ago.

00:03:36,530	To To how what was at the time a growing program and still continues to be a growing program, and that’s, you know, just our reality is that we just don’t have the capacity to to meet the current interest and demand from our community. So that’s the biggest. Biggest piece for us looking forward is figuring out a way to get more kids in the gym. So Comm Gilbertson, do you ever have to turn, We do.

00:04:03,300	We often are, when our registrations open, uh, they tend to feel very quickly on the days that they’re open and, uh, then, and then the phone calls come afterward of, hey, can I get into class? Can we sneak you in? And we, you know, we try to get as creative as we can, but we do know we’re still turning families away. Comm Jessy. Mr. Jeske. Thank you, President Zimmerman.

00:04:21,930	So, um, Jade, um, how, what is the age range for the people who participate in your program and then what is the max number of people you could have in your program. So our age range, uh, I believe our youngest athletes are about 18 months or able to walk, basically.

00:04:44,400	Signing up my granddaughter, so we have a parent participation classes that started about 18 months and until kids are 3, and then they’re able to go independently and then, um, all the way up through seniors in high school is our oldest ages that we serve right now, uh, as far as the number that we’re able to serve, I believe currently we have about 800, um, athletes in the recreational

00:05:03,070	program and we keep feeling like we are at the max, and then we’ve been able to find more ways. to kind of sneak things in and add, you know, where we can and in the racquetball court and on the weekends and Sundays even, so, um, we, we keep thinking it’s the Maxx, but maybe there’s a

00:05:21,200	little room for more. And Jade, when you sit here in front of the park board, I mean. What would be your wish besides a new facility and what else could we be doing to help you with your program? Honestly, I think we felt really good about the partnership that we’ve had, um, especially, you know,

00:05:36,770	Capital racket and fitness is the facility that we’re attached to. So we’re always close with them and feel like they’ve been very helpful with, you know, helping us come up with some of these creative ideas, keeping our facility going, all of that kind of stuff.

00:05:52,900	So, um, I think in that aspect, we’ve, we’ve been very pleased with that partnership. It’s truly, you know, the The issue of space, which is, we’re not the only ones, you know. Yeah, space is an issue, a lot of programs, so yeah, thank you. Jade, I have a couple questions.

00:06:13,030	Uh, Do you look at other locations? I know, I’m sure it’s best to be in one spot, but you look at like cooperate with the school district for use of gym space or is that not feasible? We have looked at a lot of different things.

00:06:29,630	The gym spaces at the schools are also very busy with, you know, varying activities and one of the things for gymnastics is that once equipment is set up, it’s not always quick to set it up and then tear it down and move it and store it in those kinds of things. So we have explored options and thought about going to other places.

00:06:47,270	Unfortunately, a lot of time that indoor facilities are more available is during the summer, but that’s also when we see the lowest demand is because they’re doing their outdoor activities during the summer. So. Thank you. My other question deals with competition. Is there a sanctioned competition across North Dakota where there’s other communities that have a similar program? Yes.

00:07:17,070	So we have a USAG program in the gym, which is a national program through uh USA gymnastics, which is the national governing body for, uh, gymnastics on the Olympic level. And we have athletes competing in what they call an Excel program, which is designed to be a little bit less. Rigorous and then a developmental program which is designed to build toward um a collegiate or an elite level athlete.

00:07:39,530	We currently have athletes in both of those programs that compete. Within the state, uh, during the winter months and then, um, throughout the region and even up to national level competitions, uh, we also work together with the public schools to house the high school programs for the state of North Dakota, so we have a high school team for Bismarck

00:07:57,900	High Legacy and Century each have their own individual teams that train at Bismar Gymnastics. My question is, are there Participants from other communities that do you draw, say from the area or is it basic Bismarck Mannan. Uh, participants.

00:08:24,300	Basic Bismarck Mandan as far as I know, we may see some that come from, you know, nearby communities, but uh there’s a gymnastics facility in Mandan and then also one in Bismarck, and I think most of our participants are coming from the Bismarckandan area. Thank you, Comm, Comm Redman, thanks, President Zimmerman.

00:08:42,000	Well, first of all, this is just a little bit freaky because like history is repeating itself because I still envision you flipping around in the Bismarck Gymnastics Academy area. So, but here you are. Um, how many instructors do you hire? How many do you have on on staff at one given time. You know what, that’s a really good question. I wish I knew the answer. That’s. That’s right.

00:08:56,330	I know we have a lot of staff because a lot of our staff are, um, high school and college age students who are working part time and only work a few hours a week. Uh, we have 3 full-time staff members, and then a lot of part-time staff members. OK, thank you. Comm Jeske, President Zimmerman, um, one last question.

00:09:17,670	I know like Aquastorm says after the Olympics they see a huge surge in people interested in the swimming, uh, program. Do you see that with gymnastics as well, given what the USA team did this year. Yes, we do almost always tend to see a bump in interest, uh, after an Olympic year.

00:09:39,570	And right now, especially with Simone Biles and her prominence and her fame in the sport, uh, we see a lot of that. I do think one thing we would love to offer too is we no longer have a boys program. For gymnastics, and that’s a combination of space and staff and and being able to offer that.

00:09:55,730	But that was another, um, you know, another area that got a lot of attention during the Olympics and more interest, and it’s just not something we can offer right now. Thank you, Jane. Yeah. Comm, other questions or comments for Jade? If not, Jade, thank you and best wishes as the season progresses here. Thank you so much.

00:10:14,270	And I would just add, make sure you take care of your, your father a little bit there. I’ll do my best. Thank you. Thank you. Our next item is a disposition of bids. Our first, uh, one for consideration is the Eagle Park’s electrical project and John Klein from Apex Engineering has provided information regarding this project. John Good evening. Um, President Zimmerman, Commissioners, um, little history on the project.

00:10:52,200	We were approached by uh executive Director Klipfel and his staff in the latter part of the summer to come up with electrical design for phase 2 of the Eagle Park RV pedestal installation. And this entailed 5 more pedestals along the uh loop.

00:11:16,330	Of the campground and during that process we put together the plans and excuse me, in the middle to the end of last week we submitted an open bids. We had 3. Bidders on the for the project, uh, the qualifying low bidder was Edley Electric with a base bid of $67,300 that is over the top of our engineering budget that was done or estimate that was done

00:11:38,770	back in May, um, and reaching out to Edling and talking over with the gentleman that bit it. It, he didn’t really notice anything out of line with the numbers that he got from his suppliers. It just seemed to be the progression of cost.

00:11:56,300	s from back in May when we did the estimate till now, and then he also was put escalations in there because the work won’t be completed until next spring. So based on that and discussions with executive Director C Klip Feel and his staff. It is our recommendation that the park board consider awarding the contract to Edling Electric in the amount of $67,300.

00:12:18,600	Are there any questions? Commissioners, any questions for John? Comm Jeske. Thank you, President Zimmerman. And maybe this question, John, is more for executive director Cliffel. So given the fact that this is $17,300 over the estimate, where are we looking to pull that extra, extra funding from.

00:12:41,270	President Zimmerman and Commissioners, Comm Jeske, two things, so we do have construction reserves that would be available to offset the cost of this project, but we also reached out to the Eagles Club to see if they would be interested in helping out and they were going to go back to their gaming committee that doesn’t meet for a couple of weeks, but, uh, um, so we could have some potential to

00:12:53,870	get some extra dollars from the Eagles club also. OK. And, um, back to you, John, one more question. Do you think there’s value in waiting and rebidding this in the spring, or do you think that costs are just can continue to escalate, so we should just. Go with it now.

00:13:11,870	Comm Jeske, President Zimmerman, Commissioners, um, I do believe that if you wait till springtime, the prices are only going to go up. Everything that we’re seeing in the projects that we’ve been watching, being bid over the last few weeks. Price escalations are just getting higher and higher. Thank you, John. Thank you.

00:13:30,400	John, my question, uh, what’s the timeline for the project if we approve of the, of the bid for Edling, what, what are you looking at here for completion of it, uh, President Zimmerman Commissioners, uh, the right now the substantial completion is scheduled for May 1st.

00:13:49,930	And substant and final completion would be May 15th, so the intent is the contractor be out of there before camping season starts. That’s what I was wondering if we’d be out of there before camping season gets underway. I know a couple of the state parks were, had shut down camping to try to get in and do electrical work.

00:14:04,500	So, I was hoping we’d be on a schedule to get it done before camping season starts. Yeah, and, and President Zimmerman, I With the lead time, the contractor has all winter to go ahead and stockpile their materials.

00:14:22,070	And then if, if it is awarded, they are obviously paid for that stored materials as long as it’s in a stored facility with insurance, so they, they have the ability to procure the equipment ahead of time and have it available for installation first thing in the spring. Thank you, uh, Comm, other questions? If not, what are the wishes of the board? I moved to approve the estimate from Ed Edling, um, Electric in the amount of $67,300 for the um Eagle Park.

00:14:51,400	Um, RV pedestal installation project or phase 2. Second, Motion by Comm Jeske’s 2nd by Comm Gilbertson. Any further discussion? Comm Herzog, President Zimmerman, executive Director Clipel, will, will you let us know after you talk with the Eagles Club, just kind of maybe where they were at with, with this as well. Absolutely. Thank you.

00:15:16,000	Julie, if you’ll call the roll. Comm Gilbertson. I. Herzog? Yes. Redman. Jess. Hi. President Zimmerman. The second item on, thank you, John. Second item on the disposition of bids is the municipal Co club. We have information in your memo, and we have uh operations director. Uh, David Meyer to give us some information. Good evening, David.

00:15:44,270	Good evening, President Zimmerman. Commissioners. As you said, we quoted out for the beginning of October of 2025, a new lease agreement for the Bismarck Municipal Country Club, uh, we put that out for bids and received one bid from the current lessee, which is Lady Jay’s uh catering, um, the certified that they would be able to meet all of the

00:16:10,930	requests that we had listed in the specifications for the lease agreement and staff’s recommendation is to award to them. Commissioners, any questions? Comm, here’s all. I thinks President Zimmerman, Dave, do we, how do we, or we just put this in the newspaper for the, the, the open bid. Yes, it’s advertised. Thank you. Other com uh questions.

00:16:37,070	I’d have a question for David or our director just for public information, uh, what The term of the contract. The term is 5 years. 5 years.

00:16:57,530	And Lady Jay’s just for information as well, David, or Kevin, how long have they? I want to put you on the spot, but I know they’ve had it for a number of years, is that? Director of C Klipfel, President Zimmerman, and the Commissioners, ladies Jay’s has been in there. This is at least their 4th, uh, 5-year term. So I think it’s approach over 20 years. Thank you. Other questions from commissioners.

00:17:21,500	If not, then what is the wishes of the board? Perman, I move that we award the bid to operate an on-site food service and off-site catering business at the municipal Cory come to Lady Jay’s Catering Inc. Motion by Comm Redmond, seconded by Comm Jeske. Any further discussion? If not, Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. May I just clarify that this also includes the agreement. Yes. Comm Gilbertson.

00:17:46,030	Herzog? Yes. Redman. I Jes President Zimmerman. Thank you, David. Next item of business is um our item 6 on the agenda is the, uh, City of Bismarck flood control project update, and we have with us this evening city engineer Gabe Schell, who will present some options to the board and the community. Good evening, Gabe.

00:18:11,100	Good evening, chair, Commissioners. Uh, first of all, thank you for having me. Uh, as Chair said My name is Gabe Schell, the city engineer for the city of Bismarck.

00:18:34,470	I spoke to you last in July of this year on this project, uh, since that time, I just wanted to give you an update of what we’ve been up to, uh, including the coordination we’ve had with your executive director and other staff and kind of where we will go next after this. So the outline I have for you today, first a refresher, so we’re all familiar with what we’re talking about.

00:18:48,470	Um, I’m familiar with it because I deal with this every single day, but I’m guessing you are maybe not as familiar or the general public on a day to day basis with this particular project.

00:19:01,670	I’ll work through our activity that we’ve done since July and then we’ll walk through uh the impacts that we would have on your property, and I, I put those in this order first is avoidance. I mean, that’s always the number one goal for any project that we have is try to find ways to avoid those impacts, um, and if we have to impact, OK, how do we minimize that impact and if we can’t once we’ve done that.

00:19:14,530	How do we mitigate for that? So mitigation is the last thing that we try to do, so we always try to just avoid it if possible or minimize but at some point in time we do have to then talk about mitigation. That’s kind of one of the main crux of this conversation. Um, and lastly, we’ll talk next steps.

00:19:28,330	So our refresher, this is our South Bismarck drainage ditch, uh, the area in pink is the 2013 effective floodplain. The area circled in yellow. I get my little highlighter out here. Laser pointer we’ll call it this time.

00:19:48,870	Uh, this is the South Washington drainage structure that intercepts the South Bismarck drainage ditch, uh, in the 2024 mapping update that FEMA performed in our community, uh, the area east of that drainage ditch was was included in the mapping update, uh, and is then now therefore, uh, included in the 100 year flood plain from a Missouri River flood. So this is kind of the thing we’re trying to avoid.

00:20:06,530	This is what would happen in Bismarck if we did nothing during a flood, obviously in 2011 we did something and and we have other flood protection. in place since the 2011 flood, uh, but none of those are recognized by FEMA as being certified, so therefore their risk map doesn’t take those components into account.

00:20:25,600	So the 950 or so structures within the new flood plain, uh, would be at risk of flooding and then starting in, I guess June of this year, um, have been required to purchase flood insurance if they have a federally backed mortgage.

00:20:39,830	So not spending a lot of time on, on the history because we just talked about this in July, but I just want to maybe put a refresher out there for everyone. The project that we will be considering or the the option that we’re considering the most seriously at this point in time is the South Bismarck, uh, excuse me, the Bismarck Expressway option. This is two components.

00:20:56,730	Uh, the first being this work that would be performed on the drainage ditch, um, so on the ditch itself, we would uh replace the, the structure the on South Washington Street, uh, with a closure structure and a pump station attached to it, so when the flood occurs, we’re able to close the gates and still pump rainwater out from the river, or excuse me, from

00:21:13,170	the city’s side and the storm sewer network over and into the riverside, uh, during those late closure events. We’re also needing to upgrade our existing box culverts, uh, on South 3rd Street and Wachter Avenue to increase the conveyance and the ability for that ditch to move water.

00:21:30,170	um, this drainage ditch is flat, as flat as flat can be, uh, it’s flatter than the Red River and the Red River is very flat as well. So just as people try to get a perspective, um, there’s not a lot of drop in this thing.

00:21:42,730	We call it a ditch, but effectively it’s, it’s doesn’t move a lot of water, so we have to do everything that we. can to make that as efficient as possible. The other component of this project that would affect the park board more directly.

00:21:58,100	Uh, is the expressway component, but we will intercept a lot of the water that eventually makes its way to South Bismarck drainage ditch and then allow that to convey out to the river through a different conduit a new discharge into the river, um, through a series of box culverts underneath the expressway how that eventually would, as I said, discharge to the river. Uh, the pond that we’re proposing on Park District property within Clem Kelly, uh, fields there.

00:22:17,170	That’s in place in order to minimize, uh, or really just make the pump station work effectively, um, without any storage, uh, and that pump station, uh, we would need to pump every drop of water that that falls as it’s falling as opposed to let some of that um fall into the pump or into the pond and then pump that out under a more I

00:22:34,270	guess reasonable time frame from the pump station, that’s kind of the last high ground that you would find. At Clem Kelly after that, you’re in the floodplain.

00:22:49,800	So the reason that it’s located there and not closer to the river, um, is because once you get past, uh, really where that, that box is today, um, you’re in the floodplain at that point in time, there’s additional requirements and you’re really having to build a levy structure at that point in time to keep that certified.

00:23:07,900	So the activities that we’ve done since the last update, as I said, was in July of this year, um, pretty much I, I think it might have been the day after, uh, the board meeting. Kevin gave me a call and said let’s go sit down. So kudos to Kevin for initiating that.

00:23:24,100	Uh, that was one of the key takeaways just additional engagement, uh, Kevin brought along the, the Dakota Zoo executive director, uh, and we met with our consulting team, uh, in early August, it would have been to kind of just map out what are the options, what are the things that we should be exploring at this point in time, uh, and then through that.

00:23:38,800	exercise, uh, we gave direction to our consulting firm to give you the options that we’ll be talking about here coming up is ways to, to look at Clem Kelly and way, ways to fit this flood control improvement within the park property and then look at what would need to change within that park property for all this to still work in a cohesive manner, um, so I put that as the first bullet, but it’s the first bullet that occurred and it’s really been occurring this entire time,

00:23:55,430	even up through today, if you will. Uh, the next one I have on there, Senator Hoen called a meeting. from the federal perspective to talk about the FEMA investment in this project brought along the FEMA Region 8 director from Denver and her staff, uh, brought along uh representatives from our local legislative assembly as well as

00:24:16,200	then state and federal agencies to to this meeting just to kind of talk, make sure we’re all on the same page about what this project is and what it means to our community. Uh, your operations manager, Dave Mayor was able to attend this as well, um, through that discussion, we did talk about the FAA.

00:24:30,130	Coordination that we’re trying to know and have a better clearance or better understanding of what that that bar that that they’d want to set, um, through those discussions, Senator Hoben’s office reached out to FAA, um, and then we got a similar answer of 12 to 18 months it might end up with a no at the

00:24:44,530	end of this process, uh, and also there might be up to $24 million that would have to get paid back to FAA if we select that option.

00:24:56,770	So those are all the elements that kind of, that we, we knew of and it was, I guess, good news in the sense that we got the same answer when asked from a different perspective that we didn’t get a different answer when asked, um.

00:25:13,330	When someone else asks, so there, there is a, um, benefit in that, but unfortunately no, no direct or different answer that maybe made that option more clear for us to evaluate as we moved into the fall, we’ve done geotechnical evaluations on both options, um, mostly, uh, it is an environmental review and a desktop review at the South Bismarck drainage ditch and the, um, airport property to better understand what the water table is like down there and what sort of, uh, you know, mediation, what we have to do if we put a pond on that

00:25:28,970	airport property, and then we did put a geotechnical bores into the ground to understand the soil and the underlying soil conditions on park property as well as a long expressway to better understand that, that corridor.

00:25:44,600	So to get a better handle on both of those, but definitely more um evaluation on the expressway option at this point in time. Uh, the last one I have on there is agency coordination. We kicked that off in October, uh, the NEPA process, uh, which is the National Environmental.

00:26:04,070	Policy Act that all federal agencies are required to follow with their federal dollars is being led by FEMA, so FEMA will be drafting the environmental document for this project, as well as all the other projects that they’re funding in their region. Once that document is done, they’ve indicated to us that we’ll have a, uh, an addendum to that will be more specific to our property and to our project.

00:26:20,600	It’ll be our responsibility to provide them the information on the wetland impacts, the endangered species impacts, all the other impacts that might be out there. So this agency coordination meeting was held with those agencies at the state and federal level to better understand what those impacts might be, uh, 6F would be one that would be of particular concern to you with the investment that the National

00:26:35,070	Park Service has had on Clem Kelly and Sir Toma Park that those impacts would have to be mitigated through the National Park Service for the 6F component. Uh, we did ask on 4F, which is another element that you may or may not be familiar with.

00:26:52,630	The 4 F impacts are associated only with federal highway or the DOT funds a particular improvement and because there’s no DOT federal money in this, uh, a project, the 4 F doesn’t apply, but we were able to receive guidance from Fed Highway that was in attendance that even if F RF did apply, uh, what we’re talking about in terms of the mitigation that we would

00:27:10,200	provide or the avoidance within Clem Kelly would generally satisfy that for F impact if for whatever reason federal dollars were. Federal highway dollars were added to this project at a later date. So it’s it’s interesting the different perspectives.

00:27:24,870	I think FEMA’s really used to having to go into a park and maybe build a levee and fed highway really never wants to build a road through a park, so they have just different rules and for their own reasons and different, um, regulations that they have to follow. So now on to Clem Kelly itself.

00:27:42,870	Uh, I’m sure you’re all familiar with, with your park, but I just try to put this on the screen here because these are all the elements that are there today and really this exercise that we went through that we’re continuing to go through is an evaluation of where do all these elements sit today and where could they be reformatted or repositioned, so they would still function in that cohesive

00:27:57,670	manner. Uh, but as you see on the screen, there’s a collection of ball fields, uh, 6 tennis courts, 2 bile ball outdoor workout, uh, to separate parking areas and a soccer field, primarily are the components that we would constitute Clem Kelly, uh, at this point in time.

00:28:15,470	As we look into the options of this first option and really all the options with the one in front of them are kind of of the same ilk, uh, all option ones, uh, in fact, the two ball fields and then try to find a new spot for those two ball fields in the same location and all the options that we were working

00:28:30,430	through, uh, but then it comes to what else gets impacted when we move the ball field. So it’s kind of a domino effect when you move one thing it might impact the next, and then where do you find a home for the next and the next and the next.

00:28:40,100	And so the goal with all of these is to try to just lay out some options as uh And, and see where the, um, which, which ones looked the best, which one’s passed the eye test for all of us to understand how this would look both now and during construction and then when it’s done, um, I would note in the top left corner

00:28:53,200	might be hard to read on the screen here, but all of these options that we’re talking about at, at a bare minimum would replace the facilities at a 1 to 1 type ratio, that is the first commitment that we would make as a project.

00:29:07,170	So if there’s a restroom facility there that gets impacted, we’ll put back a restroom facility. We don’t have the details whether that’s a 20 by 20 building or 40 by 40 building.

00:29:20,070	But we, we know there’s enough room, we’re still at a really high level with any of these concepts that we haven’t gotten into that detail, but at a minimum it’s a 1 to 1 type thing as well as in parking. If there’s a parking stall, um, you would look at any of these options that you will see. They will all have at least a, a net neutral parking number.

00:29:32,870	Many of them are a couple of spots higher than what you might have today, um, but we didn’t go through the exercise of telling you that it’s 3 extra spots or 7 extra spots, it’s probably minor in the grand detail of what we’re talking about at this higher level planning stage about would refine that as we get further. Along in this process. So, more details on one A here, um, as noted.

00:29:48,270	Get my back up here, so, uh, with the two ponds being constructed on these two ball fields, moving the ball fields to this location, impacts tennis and the existing pickleball courts. So pickleball in this iteration was moved, um, soft, uh, to the west of where it’s currently located.

00:30:06,970	We showed this and this would be a theme that you’ll see in all of these exhibits is, um, that 1 to 1 ratios being, you know, what’s proposed in the sense of, of showing equal impacts, um, but we’re also trying to provide where those opportunities are as well for either expansion.

00:30:23,030	Some of those facilities as part of the project or at a later date, or at least show where that room could be for that expansion to be. So we don’t want to show 6 pickleball courts unless we plan on putting 6 in there, but just note that this is a spot that 6 could fit.

00:30:37,330	That was probably part of then the negotiation, the discussion of what is the appropriate number of courts to have on there if this moves forward and it might be 6 right out of the gate, but we just wanted to show this as kind of a 1 to 1 to start, and then that would be the basis for this discussion to uh, to continue, um, so with this one

00:30:50,370	tickleball, uh, located. Near where it is, the outdoor exercise equipment would be relocated to a similar type location, um, and then in this iteration, tennis has moved over to the current soccer fields as long as well as some additional parking, uh, placed, uh, in that facility. As we move to 1 B.

00:31:11,070	Um, similar concept ball fields in the same general location, parking in the same location, outdoor workspace, but as you’ll notice here, uh, the pickle ball is moved away from this facility to move it closer to wherever the tennis courts will be, um, and in this iteration, this would require the acquisition of a an adjacent piece of

00:31:28,200	property. So that piece of property is currently for sale. There’s not a building on it now, so we looked at all those as opportunities for us to potentially expand the park footprint, if that’s the, the best um situation uh for all the parties involved.

00:31:44,170	In this situation too, we show where two Courts could be located for pickle wall, but understanding that there’s room there for a couple more if that was, you know, so desired, um, so one a would not require the acquisition of any other property that would all be within Park District footprint, 1B as well as 1C, as you’ll see here would require the acquisition of of some of the

00:31:59,200	neighboring properties. So, one C and 1b really the only difference between those is to recognize that there’s another lot there as well, so we, we could draft up if that’s a need for additional parking or if it’s a need for additional court space.

00:32:17,800	It’s really up to the uh you as, as in the project to to kind of come to a conclusion in that regard. Uh, we showed this here in case parking was uh a priority. I would want to note that the access to that would likely have to be through some of the commercial property to the, the east to to get access to this.

00:32:31,130	It might not be the most conducive or easy thing to clean or or maintain potentially, um, but just also just want to show that as a um a potential option.

00:32:50,330	The next option, option 2, leaves your tennis courts, leaves, uh, pickle ball leaves outdoor recreation space alone, uh, but then puts all those impacts into the ball field concept of really utilizing the orchard space, utilizing some of the soccer field, utilizing some of the part the existing parking lot to fit 6 fields, um, on the easter easterly side of this complex, so this would obviously impact the mature trees that are there, the facilities that you have would be difficult to incorporate

00:33:09,930	into. this new layout, but it is a layout that at least showed that uh there there’s ways to do this without impacting the tennis facilities if that was a supreme priority, um.

00:33:27,130	wouldn’t know if some of those other options, there’s also the concept of timing that we’d want to discuss a little bit too if this does move forward, we would be able to kick off some of these elements earlier because we would be able to build the new tennis courts in the spot where the The soccer field is before we potentially start building the flood control.

00:33:46,430	So we would have the opportunities to start that mitigation process, potentially before even the impacts occur, so that that time at which the impacts are occurring is shortened and hopefully minimized or even eliminate it if we’re lucky on some of those activities that you have on this in these facilities.

00:34:01,870	And you may have asked, that’s great, all of these options, so the so the soccer fields being impacted and where, where do those go? And really, it was through the uh discussions with executive Director C Klip Fell, um, to understand like, are there any other properties that something like this could work that is not a burden to the park district, uh, and this is what was identified, uh, because they’re, they’re just really isn’t enough space at

00:34:18,030	Clem Kelly to fit all those pieces in there and add one more thing. I mean, there’s really something has to go and this was the thing that was probably the easiest to pick up and and move in that sense.

00:34:32,870	Um, so this is, uh, Hidden Star Park adjacent to Cottonwood Park, uh, where we would propose installing a new soccer field as well as the requisite number of parking stalls to support that soccer field, but note that there’s additional, additional room for expansion, uh, at this facility as well, if Park board desired in the future.

00:34:54,130	So my last slide with pictures on it, uh, shows what will happen or what is being proposed west of Clem Kelly as it makes its way through the land leads to the zoo in coordination and conversations with Terry Lincoln at the Dakota Zoo. uh, we feel comfortable with this concept as being uh workable from their perspective, uh, as far as not being impactful to their current or future operations.

00:35:14,700	Um, so with this at the regardless of what let’s say this looks like. Within Clem Kelly, the pond and the pond structure would would remain in the same general area and so this would be the conveyance ditch from the pond to the river, uh, that would be 8 10 ft deep or something along

00:35:32,400	those lines from a slope down to the bottom of it, but the trail that’s there today would be relocated closer to the fence liner I guess to where the new fence line would be, um, further into the zoo property and further away from Bismarck Expressway.

00:35:47,600	So your experience on that trail moving forward would be looking out over the, the, the ditch and then the Expressway as opposed to being closer to the expressway roadway itself. Um And then a box culvert crossing uh here at the tail end, providing connectivity to the pedestrian underpass on expressway and the rest of the trail network that runs along the The outside of

00:36:08,600	the zoo, uh, west of the zoo and in between the river and the zoo. So with that, that’s really all I had for The update, uh, take any questions that you have on all the, the stuff that I just threw at you, uh, we’re not asking for any, um, actions from this board, but just

00:36:26,500	really wanted to provide an opportunity for feedback so that we know if we’re on the right direction if there’s any direction that you can provide that would be beneficial.

00:36:39,400	We’re trying to use our time wisely as a sure I mentioned at the previous update, the FEMA grant that they gave to us, uh, for the the 1st $50 million towards this project, I was granted in July of 2024 and they requested all those monies are spent by the July of 2020.

00:36:53,770	7, so it’s a long ways out but not really when you think of how long it takes to do some of these things and design them and get them constructed. Uh, we definitely are feeling the pressure of making sure that we can fulfill that requirement that FEMA has put before us. So with that, I would take any questions you have. Well, Gabe, first of all, thank you for keeping the board updated. We appreciate you working with David and, uh, Director C Klipfel.

00:37:12,470	work through these alternatives, uh, I’m going to start with a couple of questions and certainly commissioners as well, if you don’t mind taking some questions just to keep us up to date, knowing that. Things could change.

00:37:31,200	Uh, one of the last slides you had was From the proposed ponds west along those, what I’ll call the zoo property, the south end of the zoo. You say it’s a ditch. Was there not some discussion of perhaps of a box culvert or a covered.

00:37:52,530	structure to the river and not an open ditch, is that still something to be discussed or is it a ditch if we would go with that plan, is it a ditch Comm President Zimmerman, at this point in time we are proposing a ditch there as, as we’re looking at as we refined the preliminary planning design elements into a more refined version, we tried to look at elements that are um gonna be cost savers and elements that are going to be more expensive.

00:38:10,670	So, unfortunately, as we learn about project. Generally speaking, we find more things that will be more expensive. So we look for ways to find cost savings measures, and one of them was, uh, that ditch scenario. If there’s ways for us to convey that water in an open channel as opposed to having it, uh, inside a closed conduit.

00:38:29,330	It operates a more efficiently hydraulically and be at a significantly less cost to do so, um, so at this point in time that is what we’re proposing. Um, we’re trying to find ways to be able to maintain that ditch, um, in a Manner that’s satisfactory to our public works team that we’ll have to potentially clear

00:38:44,200	that of of debris from time to time, make it usable for the traveling public that wants to ride along that trail and then have something, you know, decent to look at and make it work for the zoo, your, your, your tenant at the zoo to make sure that this is a beneficial thing from, from their

00:38:59,200	perspective as well. So that we’re trying to find that, but at this point in time, we would be proposing a ditch in that location. Thank you, Gabe, my next question, uh. Back when you spoke of the FAA plan, I I could not hear part of it. You said there was a $24 million payback. Consideration.

00:39:16,900	What was the other consideration that to me doesn’t make the FAA plan all that attractive. President Zimmerman Commissioners, the, the two primary components from the FAA’s perspective are the clawback provisions that they have on previously invested dollars that they’ve put towards Bismarck Airport, um, and, and that’s an up to 24 million, so it doesn’t give me

00:39:37,230	a lot of clarity if that’s a 0, because it could be a 0 or it could be the 24, that’s a, it’s a risk and that’s something that we’re just, we’re, we’re trying to, to understand. better.

00:39:52,200	The other component is the land use change that they would have to go through that would change their pond that the airport has, as well as the property that’s adjacent to that, so it’s not all pond right now, so that is just airport high ground, but all of it in the proposed plan would have been converted to a flood protection um infrastructure piece, FAA in our discussions with them and confirmed through Senator Hoeven’s outreach would

00:40:10,730	require a separate NEPA process for the land use change for that land. From what could be, uh, FAA, you know, revenue generating from a lease on that high ground to then something that can’t do that.

00:40:28,430	So at a minimum, it’s paying for the land, which I think is is straightforward, but they might even not approve the land use change and that to approve the land use change is the process that they say will take 12 to 18 months once they’ve seen the plans that they’re fully designed and they understand what the impacts are, then they’ll say yes, you can do this, or no, you can’t.

00:40:42,800	So that’s the element of of risk that would run into our timeline of the FEMA grant potentially expire. before we would even hear back from FAA if that option is viable. Thank you, Gabe.

00:40:59,870	I see most commissioners have a light on, so I think we’ll start it this end with Comm Gilbertson I’m OK for right now. OK. All right. Uh. You, you hit on a couple of them there, so. Yeah. Comm Redman, thank you, President Zimmerman. I appreciate that. Gabe, thank you so much and I, I appreciate that, that walk back and the walk forward. So thank you for that.

00:41:15,830	You said something that um stuck with me about previously invested dollars, and I’m thinking about that tennis court and the, and the pickleball courts on there and I probably want you to chime in a little bit here, if you could executive director Clipfield, but I’m thinking about, um, and certainly do not want to throw a wrench in anything, but the question comes to my mind of taking the

00:41:30,870	two softball fields away. Was there any discussion in the past few months of Moving those softball fields to Cottonwood rather than at Clem Kelly because I remember saying replacing them but could cotton would be a, a possible location rather than at Clem Kelly. Just a question.

00:41:50,600	Comm Redman and Comm, yes, that could be a possibility. It wasn’t when we looked in this scenario, we were looking for options to, to kind of keep Clem Kelly as is as best we could, and that was we’re keeping the, the softball in a, in one location like that really it tends to from a management and the tournament aspect works a little bit

00:42:06,530	better. Um, we do have softball down at Clemel or at Cottonwood, but these would be a little bit, a little bit of ways from it, but it is an option that we can still consider. Thank you. President Comm Jeske thank you President Zimmerman.

00:42:25,900	So Gabe, I do appreciate the fact that you have been working with the Park District on this, so that’s important, um, that those lines of communication are open and that their, um, thoughtful. I will say I have some concerns about the ditch as well. I mean, I just think that that’s a beautiful area that we have right now, that trail is highly used.

00:42:42,500	I mean, I’m on it Saturday mornings, Sunday mornings. I, I think just Can we just think about the aesthetic value of how we’re going to make that pleasing to people who are using that, that trail, um, so just a couple of things there and then I was playing tennis the other day and I’ll tell you the tennis community is a little bit up in

00:43:00,030	arms on all of this. Um, I told him, don’t worry, this is, you know, we’re gonna get this all figured out, um, I think it’s so important that if we’re gonna. In their minds take something away. We need to give them something better than what they had before.

00:43:17,600	Um, biggest concern for me, and I did ask Kevin to come up with some pros and cons for all the concepts, and I haven’t had a chance to look at those in, um, give them a real deep dive, but the biggest thing too is the cost to the park district. And I know you talked about special assessments.

00:43:34,170	I know there’s FEMA money out there, but the biggest thing is what is going to be the cost to the park district on this, because right now, um. You know We’re all good, um, but I do think back to when we had the flood in 2010 and They asked us if they could put the trail or they could put the um.

00:43:52,870	Uh, flood protection area on our trail on Riverwood, and they said, don’t worry, we’ll put it back and it’ll be perfect, and they did, but then they turn around they special assessed us for it too, and, um. That was, that was one that really hurt and I was talking with a former Comm Mike Schwartz today.

00:44:09,400	He was in my office and, uh, yeah, we talked about that, how that really stung, so something to think about, you know, um, how do we, how do we make this so that the park district is cooler even better than coal, and that, you know.

00:44:28,270	Um, we’re not getting stung for all of this and the biggest thing is, and I’ll say it again, I mean, I lived in Grand Forks. I moved there after the flood. It’s horrible to experience a flood. I lived in Jamestown, our house was flooded back in 1969, um, it’s horrible, so we need to do what’s right for the citizens, but, you know, we have to think about.

00:44:46,470	A bigger and broader picture on that too. If I could Ads that one. go ahead, uh, Comm, uh, Comm Jeski, uh, regarding the, the cost piece, I think I’ll handle that one would be the one I’d want to make sure we address, you know, obviously the, the park district and the city of Bismarck have a unique

00:45:02,970	relationship. If this was a, uh, the city of Bismarck asking a privately owned piece of property for this thing, the expectation would be that we are buying this and we are paying for fair market value for that impact as well as the damages to the property, and that would be the process that

00:45:17,200	we would use because of the relationship between the political subs. Um, there’s a desire to figure out efficiencies, you know, not going through a process that we have appraised the value of the park and and compensate, and then assess you for the cost of the things that you just were compensated for.

00:45:32,370	So I think to your point, I think there are opportunities here um if there is the ability to use Parks district property to make sure that that value that’s being contributed to the project is red of who is contributing it and make sure that that is carried forward in whatever the the local share is that we as

00:45:47,870	the city of Bismarck will have to pay, whether it’s special assessments or whatever else it might be um to be able to fairly recognize that value that the board is providing. I Comm Herzog. Thank you President Zimmerman.

00:46:11,230	A couple questions gave on options one B and 1C where the additional property would be purchased, um, how was, is it a shared use or how, how’s that snow cleaned between the two banks and Taco Bell and and that whole situation Comm President Zimmerman, Comm Herzog, I’m not exactly sure. I have had, we’ve had conversations with their listing agent.

00:46:29,330	We’ve had conversations with actual, you know, one of the owners of, of the partnership that owns the property to. understand Tasers are we barking up the wrong tree? Is this really not anything that they would be interested in doing.

00:46:43,230	um, and, and thankfully they, they’re receptive to the conversation of what we’re talking about, um, both the listing agent and and the owner were unaware of any, I guess, restrictions or deed restrictions or covenants that would preclude the use of a parking lot or a um a tennis facility or a pickleball facility on the property.

00:46:59,330	We really didn’t get into the discussion though of who’s currently maintaining even some of the asphalt that’s on that property that’s that’s for sale and and how that came to be. So. that would be something we’d have to explore further.

00:47:13,870	There could be concepts if, if really you’re just using the land for, um, Picklebo courts and that’s all without any other parking there might be even a moot issue that you don’t really care who’s paying for the rest of that as long as you’re excluded from, uh, commercial association fees or whatever the, the mechanism that they are paying for that, the joint stuff today. And we’d have to have it rezoned as it CG or something now so we would have to look at that.

00:47:34,000	I mean, there’s generally speaking, we have most of the publicly owned property as a P public zoning district we’re going through a code rewrite that we’ll talk about what that, that.

00:47:48,800	is, but um the city also can own or the park district can also own property that’s, um, CG in nature or egg land in nature the park district owns or has owned egg land in the past as well, as well as the city, um, so the fact that it’s CG doesn’t mean it needs to be rezoned to the public, um, as long as a pickleball court is an acceptable use on a CG lot, which I don’t know if that’s the case, but I can’t imagine that that is going to be a

00:48:01,970	problem. If I can continue President Zimmerman, um, I think 1B would be tough to do without having The parking like with option 1C because Just from my day job, I know people park as absolutely close as humanly possible to those, so they’re going to be parking and other people’s lots, and I think that that that would

00:48:25,070	maybe be problematic for one bee if that’s the route we we choose to go, but so either one see or. You know, one, I think would be more usable, um, and then I think to to a few of the commissioner’s points as little downtime as humanly possible in the construction phasing.

00:48:46,470	Portion of this would be important as well and, and when that’s taking place, obviously we’ve got McQuaid’s softball tournament and other things and uh It’s going to be a delicate. Construction situation altogether.

00:49:09,330	So, um, I’m sure you’ll keep us in the loop and we’ll help people if we decide to go forward as a part of construction meetings or if we could weekly or whenever you’re doing them, would be great. Mr. Horzog, it would be please me nothing more than to think about our weekly construction meetings.

00:49:22,670	That means we have got this thing so far down that we’re like doing it, that’d be that’s a, that’s a, that’s a great thought for me to have in the future. Yeah. Uh, Comm Gilbertson, I know that question. Yeah. I guess, One question I would have is in looking at and 1 C. President Zimmerman Um, and executive director C Klipel and Gabe on the, um, Be what the West side there, um, with the reconfiguration of the, of the softball fields.

00:49:50,530	Is there any concern with the, Um Like the distance and the closeness of the trail and the uh the outfield fence. Such there. Comm President Zimmerman, Comm Gilbertson, we’ve looked at all of those every, every scenario probably has, you know, some of those components to it.

00:50:17,830	Um, right now we have softball fields that, that softball players that can hit softballs on the Expressway Avenue. Um-hum. Um, we do have them hit from field to field, sometimes you’re into parking lots, but every different design is going to have some of those, um, components that we’re going to have to be aware of, and we’ve looked at and thought about options.

00:50:32,200	Do we try to make defenses higher? What other ways, what ways can we mitigate those challenges? Yeah, I mean, I’ve seen softballs land on top of Staples at the time and the elk, I mean, it, it’s amazing how far that that they can go.

00:50:51,330	I it’s and it’s just part, part of it and, and, you know, and to Comm Herzog’s point that, uh, with that, A parking, you know, if. The I mean, I’ve lived in Bismarck my whole life and I’ve, I’ve often wondered what that Pool, I mean, that, that’s been no man’s land there for, and I would submit, I don’t think anybody maintains that asphalt in the driving through there, like it, it’s crazy, but um, I

00:51:13,270	mean that, um, It’s in people do need to park as close as, as they can. Um. But, um, I, I mean, I, I like these plans and I like the idea of the mitigation, um, some of the medication before the actual taking away.

00:51:34,630	I think that that would go a long ways with our user groups and, and now that this, you know, these are out there and whatever and to bring the user groups to the table, I think is, is gonna be a good thing. Thank you. Comm Redman, that was my question.

00:51:55,530	Thank you, President Zimmerman, is, is to the executive directors, um, what are the plans on bringing those user groups together, um. Kennis as Comm Jesske mentioned, but also pickleball and men’s and women’s softball and things like that. So what it, what’s the process of working with the community as part of our mission and vision to, to move forward President Zimmerman, Comm, Comm Redmond, that’s a great question.

00:52:11,970	We’ve already, I’ve already started to reach out to some of those groups that have called me and, and asked about what’s going on and, and how are we down in the process.

00:52:26,500	I’ve talked to Gabe Schell, uh, we’ve looked at some tentative dates and early and mid, early to mid December to try to have a meeting and get all those user groups in a room. Look at these concepts and get their feedback, get their feeling on what, what are the positives, um, to each, each proposal and what are the negatives to going that route and and trying to get a consensus that, you know, if one of one of the options is better than the others, and so

00:52:41,930	that would be our next step is to, to schedule that meeting and then get that set up with those user groups. Thank you. Gabe, again, I want to thank you for working with um our director C Klip Fell and David, I know has been involved in a number of the meetings as well, and I certainly appreciate that,

00:52:59,300	as I’m sure the whole board does, and I know tonight we have A lot of folks watching from the community. Again, I know, I know you realize or I realize you don’t know the exact timeline, but. For my benefit and perhaps other folks, a general timeline.

00:53:17,870	We’re not talking summer of 25, we’re going to be down at Clem Kelly tearing up softball. Can you give us a general idea if, if anyone’s, uh, digging up Clem Kelly softball field it’s not associated with this project. So in 2025 anyway, I can, I can guarantee you that.

00:53:33,970	Uh, we, we’d be looking at 2026 would be the first year that we would be able to do really anything, um, significant, and that might just be some of the, the pre-work, some of the, um, sourcing of the materials and, and really we would anticipate this being more of a heavy hit in 207 and 28 was when we anticipate most of the construction activities occurring on the project itself.

00:53:49,430	of herz on? Thanks, President Zimmerman. One other quick question, um, the, the community orchard replacement or, you know, if they could be invited to that meeting would be great too. FEMA could sell us. cherry trees and Executive director Cliff Bell. Yes.

00:54:14,730	Uh, President Zimmerman Commissioners, Comm Herzog, uh, Dave and I have also looked at options for that, and that isn’t part of this plan, but something we’re trying to do more internally with our staff, but yes, that would be another uh opportunity that we would want to take advantage of.

00:54:30,470	Again, Gabe, thank you for keeping the board informed, and we know you’ll work with our staff and hopefully we’ll see you back with some, some updates. Yep. Thank you very much and we appreciate the opportunity. Thank you. Thanks. Commissioners are item 7 on the agenda is the consent agenda, a variety of items have been placed in a consent agenda.

00:54:56,970	The consent to agenda can be approved with one motion or an item or items can be removed for additional discussion and separate action. Staff recommends approval of the following items consideration of the October 17, 2024, board meeting minutes. Consideration of 2025 matching grant application. Consideration of professional consultant list for 2025 and 2026. Request board authorization to call for the 2025 fertilizer bids. Appointment of Elise Pucklich to the BSC Aquatic and Wellness Center Advisory Committee.

00:55:35,470	Consideration of change orders for the trail cultural resource studies. And consideration of accounting policy and procedure handbook changes. Any discussion from commissioners or questions, Comm Jeske. Uh, thank you, President Zimmerman. I would like to see us just pull back the consideration of the 2025 matching grant application. I have a question for, um, For consideration.

00:56:04,900	OK, we can pull that one any other requests to uh pull out items for separate consideration. If God is there motion to uh Move forward with the con uh consent agenda on all items with the exception of the consideration of the 2025 matching grant application.

00:56:31,200	I’d moved to approve the consent agenda minus the item pulled for discussion. Second. Motion by Comm Herzog, uh, seconded by Comm Redman. Any further discussion? If not, Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Comm Gilbertson. I. Herzog? Yes. Redman? I. Jessy. Hi. President Zimmerman. Then we’ll look at uh consideration of the 2025 matching grant application. The proposed application is included for a review.

00:57:01,400	Comm Jeske, you know, I’ve, I’ve looked at this for probably 14 years now, and it really hasn’t struck me as today I was just going through the purpose statement, and the last thing is the project completion.

00:57:18,070	And the one thing it says is the approved projects must be completed in the year they are awarded otherwise BPRD funding will be lost, um. You know, our last set of grants, we do 2 sets. First set, um, in February and round two is in June, which probably means it comes to July board meeting for approval. I’m thinking most.

00:57:39,270	Of the projects probably cannot be completed within that year because they’re given 5 months and I don’t know if it’s just something that needs to be rewarded. I did talk with executive director Clipful today on this one, you know, I don’t know if we need to wordsmith that a little bit differently.

00:57:57,600	I’m, I’m open to suggestions and Kevin, like I said, we had a conversation today, so I’m going to ask, uh, Mike Wald to step up here. I know my, uh, I’ve had that question, I’ve had that question in the past as well. So, Mike, can you provide us some background here? President Zimmerman and Commissioners, yes, most of the projects do get completed in that timeline, um, by the end of the year.

00:58:14,700	Um, there are some Such as the electrical. Um, panels at Eagles Park, um, that carry over, but those funds aren’t as far as I know, aren’t, aren’t lost or have never been lost for a project extending that way. We work our as best we can with the user groups and myself.

00:58:36,400	Overseeing the matching grant project to get those projects done by the end of the year. Yeah. And I can fully understand why you’d want to, you know, have this contained within the fiscal year as opposed to having it run over, but. Is it appropriate to say that they must be completed.

00:58:53,500	I mean, is it something that the project must be started within the fiscal year and completed within the following year. I don’t know, and, and maybe it’s just fine the way it is, but I just, it kind of begs the question to me.

00:59:11,070	Um, President Zimmerman, Comm, Comm Jeske, I guess we could take, you know, we can take a look at that and rewarding that and um I know that bringing this to the board, um, at this board meeting is so that we’re prepared for the 2025 matching grants and have the application ready for, for individuals that want that, you know, matching ground. Thank you, Mike. I’m going to turn to uh executive Director C Klipfel.

00:59:33,130	President Zimmerman and Comm, Comm Jesske, I think one thing to, to, to consider is we try to get all these user groups to come to us with projects so that we’re aware of them so that we can vet them before, so that we make sure that they fit our mission and our vision and they’re part of our gonna fit

00:59:48,530	in in our matching grant program, and I would say any construction type projects that we need to, to get done in the fiscal year. Uh, we try to get those folks to apply in February, and sometimes some of the smaller ones we may say, hey.

01:00:03,070	There’s, there’s enough time, maybe you’re not ready, or you can, you can wait until June and and depending on timing, that works a little bit better. But like Mike said, we’ve never, in, in my time I’ve never taken any funny away because somebody didn’t get it done because they they couldn’t complete it because of some construction constraints and things like that, so.

01:00:19,930	I just think about the slack line people that came to our matching ground. It was years ago, probably 4 or 5 years ago, probably pre COVID, um, they were awarded like a $10,000 grant and then nothing ever came to fruition of that.

01:00:34,500	But I think money was they raised the money if I’m not mistaken, so just kind of I was just thinking about them and, and the history there, but maybe it doesn’t need to be changed, but it’s just begs the question. Oh well, yeah, Comm Gilbertson, President Zimmerman, I mean they’ve been sitting here trying to think of the word, but I mean, approved.

01:00:57,330	Projects must be completed in the year they are completed, um, otherwise, BPR funding will be lost. It means something to the effect of unless communi, you know, I mean, I, the words are escaping me right now, but something in there with approval of The, the Park District or whatever.

01:01:22,000	I mean that, I think that something like that would be easy to add that gives. Loophole isn’t the right word, but some wiggle room. Yeah, here’s a little wiggle room for people so. My, any thoughts or Director Klipfel, and we, Change some language here.

01:01:44,430	President Zimmerman and Commissioners, we can look at that and take your suggestions and come back with some, some language that would fit what you’re trying to pervade. Thank you. So at this point we would leave this item. In abeyance this consent to gender, just leave it. Of Thank you, Mike. Thank you. All right, uh, the last item on the agenda is approval of bills, so move. Second, motion by Comm Gilbertson, seconded by Comm Herzog for approval of bills.

01:02:10,570	Is, uh, Comm Jeske Yeah, yeah. Uh, Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Comm Gilbertson. Hi. Herzog? Yes. Redman. Hi Jessy. I, President Zimmerman, I. This concludes our meeting.

01:02:40,000	Uh, the next regular scheduled board meeting is December 19, 2024 at 5:15 in the uh Tom Baker fabulous Tom Baker meeting room, but before I Adjourn, I want to just say to the public we uh had the staff recognition appreciation, luncheon this past week and publicly on behalf of the board of Park Commissioners. We want to thank all of our employees, all of our staff, full time, part time.

01:03:00,070	time for another great year of programming and maintenance of facilities, so thank you each and every one.