00:00:11,800	September 11th meeting of the Bismarck Board of Park Commissioners to order before we join in the Pledge of Allegiance, I wish to make a statement. on this fateful day in 202001, September 11th was a dark day for America, forever a day burned in our collective memories.

00:00:32,730	The loss of life by the victims at the Twin Towers, the field at Shanksville, Pennsylvania. and the Pentagon will never be forgotten. The heroic actions of those first responders, firemen, police, and port authority officials. who ran toward the danger will always be remembered and honored as we stand for the pledge of allegiance tonight.

00:00:56,070	Let us pause. In a moment of silence. to honor them all and resolve to never forget. Please stand. 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.

00:01:31,370	Thank you. Our next item is we’ll call the roll. Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please, Comm Gilbertson, here, Herzog here, Redman here Jesske here President Zimmerman, here Next item is the approval of the agenda. So moved in 2nd to approve the agenda as presented. Julie, if you’ll call the roll please, Comm Gilbertson.

00:01:56,900	Herzog, yes, Redman. Jesske, President Zimmerman. I The next item on the agenda is our featured partners and programs, and it’s with great pleasure that I present an old buddy of mine, a running friend, and a longtime active gentleman in Bismarck, Lynn Biswanger will appear before the board this evening on behalf of the Bismarck Marathon. Good evening, Lynn.

00:02:22,100	Thank you, President Zimmerman and Commissioners and Director Klipweld it it is a pleasure to be in front of you this evening. And, um, I’m looking forward to just sharing a little bit of information about the current status of the Bismarck Marathon.

00:02:39,630	Unfortunately, our current coal race director is Pat Johnson and Andy Nielsen were on on available this evening, so they, they brought me in uh someone that, uh, served, excuse me, served as core race director for a number of years, as Mark knows because we served together. basically. So, um, what I’d like to do is begin looking back a little bit.

00:02:57,270	I will provide some statistics and things where things are right now, but I want to go back to 2007. That’s when the first year that we started to build a relationship between the Bismarck Marathon and the Bismarck Park and Rock District.

00:03:13,900	So it’s been a while but for those of you that were around back then, you know, we started out some pretty humble beginnings and look at where the organization has built it up to um being really successful today.

00:03:32,000	So a lot of trial and tribulations, but one of the things that we focused on was a commitment as part of our mission statement basically was looking at community wellness. We wanted to make this event a part of organizing community wellness and all I can say is if you look around right now, not just this year but in past years and throughout the trail system that we have a magnific magnificent trail system is

00:03:49,170	constantly being used, but from the months of around the first of July until the race day. Go out if you’re riding bike, if you’re walking, if you’re running, it doesn’t matter. There are so many people out there right now that are utilizing this for training, whether they’re groups, individuals, or relay teams.

00:04:06,800	Some of you, I know it might be on a relay team this year. And so it’s quite evident that the investment that Park and Rec has made throughout the years in the trail system has paid off.

00:04:25,530	Not just now, but we’ll pay off in in the future and so um debt of gratitude for everybody that’s been involved in that over all these years. So now I’d just like to prevent or they asked me if I just provide a few statistics for you so this event doesn’t happen just by the the current board of Bismarck Marathon or anything like that. It takes a lot of volunteers.

00:04:43,800	Last year they had 510 volunteers in order to make this happen, and we’re talking water stops, traffic safety, all kinds of opportunities to serve this year. Currently we have 500 volunteers signed up and hopefully we still have about a week and a half to go and so that can still grow.

00:04:59,800	Uh, you should know that they currently are 47 states that are represented and that will have runners here in the Bismarck, um, event that on September 20th it is We have also runners from Canada, Australia, uh, Ukraine, and even one from Germany and so it’s not just from the 47 states we’ve

00:05:19,900	reached out beyond. Last year in 2024, we had a total of 1,648 uh individuals registered and of not included in that was 218 kids that signed up for the kids’ mini marathon and 77 dogs that were in the biz bark.

00:05:41,170	I got a, I get trouble saying that one. The Bismarck Walk but I have to tell you, when you look at 200+ kids in the mini marathon. When we talk about leaving a legacy by them watching their parents and.

00:05:55,800	grandpa and grandma and everybody else, they’re encouraged to continue to run and so we’re starting them out early, so hopefully that will help. This year we are at, uh, let’s see, 104 kids so far, and only 39 dogs, so we need to pick that up a little bit. Yeah. So, you’re not too late, registration is still open.

00:06:12,900	The other thing is charities, so people ask what happens with the money if there is money left over after expenses, um, last year in 2024. the Bismarck Marathon was able to donate back $28,500 to 22 local charities. and since 2007, they have distributed $415,580 to local charities.

00:06:44,800	And I want to highlight one local charity and as part of I’m also part of the Bismarck Reck console, which is a part of Bismarck Park District, and I take great pride to say that the Bismarck Marathon since the inception of the endowment fund under the Bismarck Recono has made a con a contribution each and every year.

00:07:00,370	and we think it’s important to give back because of that relationship, not just because of that relationship, but we wanna leave if for those that are unfamiliar, it is a legacy fund. It is there to hopefully someday, um, offer support to future programs.

00:07:17,370	that you operate on or facilities and so um we’re just proud to be a part of that, uh, each and every year, and we hope that not only with the partnership continue, but that will also continue as well. So some fun facts um, Johnson and Anderson are tied for the most common last name of participants. Each have 11.

00:07:36,630	and the other one is just to give you kind of some where everybody comes from 668 runners from Bismarck, followed by 125 from Man Dan, 41 from Fargo, 35 from Dickinson, 32 from Minna. Those are the larger numbers, uh, more importantly, we have runners off from all kinds of local, smaller communities that still participate in here.

00:07:59,000	And so I just wanted to share that, share those, um, numbers with you a little bit, but when you look at 668 from Bismarck, it does go back to us creating a community of wellness, which is the business that. we’re all in, especially the Bismarck Park and Rec Council.

00:08:17,100	So before I close though, I do have to bring up something that’s very near and dear to me. 2011, everybody remembers the flood year. The Bismarck Marathon was scrambling. Everything we had in courses was unavailable The trails are down, water everywhere, and it wasn’t until a Sunday morning on July 14th when we did when they came up with this vision about creating and starting and stopping the marathon at Cottonwood.

00:08:41,700	and running to Mary, yes, it was up the hill and down the hill, but running to Mary, and it was important for us and we called and gotten uh connected up with because of our relationship, we got a hold of Bismarck Park and Rec, executive Director at the

00:08:55,530	time and said, can we make this happen? Because we were afraid if we didn’t make it happen and we lost the marathon that year, it would be tough to keep the marathon going after that. In 14 days we had all the permits We had the OK to use cottonwood.

00:09:09,970	we had OK to use the trails that partnership was so invaluable to this organiz to our organization, to the Bismarck Marathon. Because of that relationship, it happened and we didn’t lose numbers or anything.

00:09:27,000	It was so it was, it just went off without a hitch, and I think people were so sick and tired of talking about the flood. They wanted to come and just release some energy. So for that, I personally am forever grateful because I was part of the Core Race Director at the time and so it was a stressful time, but he made it happen and I appreciate that.

00:09:40,900	And with that, I thank you for your time and we’ll just simply answer some questions if you have some about the organization. Thank you, Lynn. I’m opening up. The Comm Redman. I’m good. Comm Jeske, I have a couple questions.

00:09:58,500	So Lynn, when did you come on the board? Because the Bismarck marathon’s been going on for a while, um. so I, I love to tell this, but uh I ran the Bismarck Marathon in 1987. I won the women’s division. My dirty little secret is there are only 2 women.

00:10:17,270	so I knew I had her mile#20 because she started zigzagging all over the road and I’d never run a marathon before, but I thought I think if I just keep going straight, I’m going to run a lot less miles than she did. So I always say I ran 26.2 and she ran 29.

00:10:27,730	She was all over the place, but so when did it actually start because it used to be a YMCA marathon, correct? So, the, so the YMCA had it for 25 years. At the end of 25 years, they approached um Dave Nash and Dave Nash and myself, Dave and I were Co race directors that started out as Core race directors.

00:10:46,100	We organize a group of running enthusiasts, and of which Mark was on the group at the time and sat down and just organized and then at that time, Kroll’s diner came up and said we want to be your main partner and so they, I mean, as far as sponsorships, and they did,

00:11:01,530	that’s how we got enough money to kick it off. And so it took us a while to build everything up. I remember those early days and so as time went on, we, our numbers grew, um, interest groups, sponsorship grew, you know, and continues to, um,

00:11:15,530	this day. But yes, uh, and so I was on in 2007. Dave and I, I think we served as Corey Core directors for 12 years, and then, uh, a number of other individuals, um, took over and filled in throughout, but, um, so yeah, now I can’t go away. I’m still on. I’m not on anything officially. I’m just.

00:11:36,230	around it and for me I guess one of the statistics I’d love to know more about is like again back in 1987 2 women we probably it was probably 50 men but 2 women.

00:11:54,900	It’d be really interesting to know how many women are now running cause even when I’ve done Boston or New York, it seems like maybe the women have outnumbered the men percentage wise in those races. So it’s fun to watch how marathons and women’s participation in marathons has evolved over the years. So 59% are female right now and 41% are male. Yeah. That’s the breakdown right now. Currently. Average age of participants are 37 years.

00:12:16,430	37 years old, and then there’s um 147 like uh 25 year olds, there’s like 50 and 35 year olds about the same, so that kind of gives you a breakdown. Yeah. Um, but there are those, there are those that are still running that just can’t give it up, and they’re gonna be there for a while, hopefully.

00:12:37,900	And my last question is, do you still have your, uh, Winnebago? I do So I just remember it helped me to set up a couple of years and you were, you and Dave were camping out in the Winnebago the night before the race.

00:12:57,530	We actually we own two campers unfortunately, we just can’t part with campers apparently, so I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to say anyway, thank, thank you for all you do, Lynn. I mean, it’s been amazing and the way you have evolved the marathon, you and Dave, you know, taking it to here and then passing it on to people like Pat who’s.

00:13:10,800	Yeah, Pat and Andy’re doing a fabulous job, and, uh, no, it’s in good hands and so we’re looking forward to continue for many, many years, so with your support, Ken, I can’t end without a big thank you, because really it is a positive relationship we’ve had for all these years.

00:13:27,370	So thank you very much for the time appreciate it. Thank you, Lynn. Any final comments or questions for Lynn? No. All right. Thanks, Lyn. Have a great marathon.

00:13:50,370	Thank you The next item on the agenda is perhaps our much anticipated final consideration and public hearing of our 2026 operating budget and our finance director Kathy Feist will review the information on the budget. Good evening, Kathy. Good evening, President Zimmerman and Commissioners. I will, um, before the public hearing starts, I will provide a brief overview of the budget that was introduced in July since the budget was introduced in July.

00:14:11,170	We received only one email communication regarding the budget and so that was shared with commissioners, um, when we received that, um, email right after the budget was introduced. So I’m just gonna, um, have a few slides to go over.

00:14:30,370	It’ll be a brief overview, um, these are a summary of the information that’s in your agenda packet, and we will start by looking at the district. as a whole. So the overall budget for 2026 is $28,217,650. That would be a 3.5% increase over 2025. In the general fund, that increased 4.8% and is coming in at $22,396,900.

00:15:02,800	We’ll take a closer look at the general fund expenses and so here’s a chart that shows um by percentage which categories they are salaries and wages for full-time and part-time employees combined to make up 41% of the budget supplies and operations is about 2.7 million or 12% utilities are 2 just under 2.2 million or 10% capital expenditures are about 15% of the overall general fund budget, insurance is just, um, over 2.

00:15:28,500	7 million at 12% and contract services is just over $2 million at 9% and then the other is at 1%. On the revenue side in the general fund we have taxes and state replacement that combine for um 60% of the overall budget and generated revenues are at 40%.

00:15:50,900	When we look at all funds combined, taxes and state replacement are at 65% and 35% are by generated revenue. The value of the mill is estimated to have increased 4.32% over the prior year or $22,688. This chart is showing what our current mill levy is for the current, um, year and so we are estimating to be at 32.31 mLs.

00:16:25,000	This is compared to 32.68 mLs for the current, um, budget year. This is a decrease of 0.37 mLs compared to the prior year. This is a breakdown of the current year mill levy and of the 257 mills that are levied, the Park District levies 12.

00:16:50,800	7% of the overall local property taxes, and that means for every $1 of local property taxes assessed the park district gets 12.7 cents of each of those dollars. When we take a look at the impact of a property owner. So a property owner that has a home that is valued at $365,000.

00:17:12,170	Once you work through the math and apply the estimated mill levy of 32.31 mils, that property owner would pay about $6 less in in Park district taxes for the 2026 budget. Um that would be, um, the only change that would be incurred unless there was a evaluation change to the um to the property.

00:17:37,700	Additional information to note in the budget, we have a 3% merit increase included for full-time employees. There is one new full-time employee funded in the Gulf for a golf courses that would bring our full-time number of employees up to 70 for 2026. There are changes proposed to the seasonal and part-time pay plan.

00:17:56,000	Those would be adjustments to the part-time hourly 12, and 3 categories, as well as full-time seasonal 4 and 5. Junior golf instructor rates are, um, being adjusted and then some recreational class instructors are also being proposed to change. We are removing bus drivers from the pay schedule since we no longer have the baseball program and don’t, um, require bus drivers for that.

00:18:15,600	We did have, um, several changes to the fees and charges. Those were reviewed in more detail, um, at a, at previous meetings, um, the thing that I will note with that that some fees, um, in particular, the youth volleyball fees, those would be effective when the season starts, um, this fall if approved this evening.

00:18:36,430	On Capitol Pros, there’s an extensive list of capital projects included in the budget for, um, funding in 2026 as well as capital equipment purchases. And then on the debt side, we are scheduled to pay down just under 3.6 million in debt principal payments for 2026. So this concludes my summary of the budgets.

00:18:59,900	Are there any questions for me? before the public hearing is opened. Any questions from commissioners before we open it for public comment. Comm Jeske, um, thank you, President Zimmerman.

00:19:20,730	Kathy, you talked about, um, the valuation increase occurring has the city kind of determined what areas and what that evaluation increase will look like? Do we know anything about that? President Zimmerman, Comm, Comm Jesske, the, um, city assessing department would be the um the agency that would, um, take care of all those valuations, and I don’t have any particular information on that, but they are required to send out, um, letters or notifications which would have occurred in the

00:19:39,170	spring of the year, um, for any properties that would have had a larger, um, valuation increase. Thank you Uh, other questions from Commissioners at this time? Thank you, Kathy At this time, we will open the public hearing on the proposed 2026 budget. I would ask that anyone appearing before the board, please state your name.

00:20:08,730	I will ask 3 times if anyone is opposed to or concerned with the budget to appear before the board, so do we have anyone who wishes to appear? in opposition or has concerns on the budget. If anyone is here for parted on Broadway or Fifth Street.

00:20:33,970	We got, we’re moving cars for the downtown. How far up the street? Uh, up to there there I’m across from the um the light place, yeah, I think we’re all good. All good. I didn’t see a sign, so. Thank you. I’m a block away. Thanks for checking.

00:20:54,100	Yeah. OK. I will ask a second time for anyone who is in opposition or has concerns on our 2026 budget. I’ll ask one final time if there is any one who wishes to speak as opposition or concerns on the budget. If not that part of the public hearing will be closed.

00:21:23,000	I will now ask if there is anyone who wishes to speak in support or favor of the budget to uh please step forward, state your name. I will ask for a second time if there is anyone who wishes to speak in favor of the budget. to appear before the board at this time.

00:21:45,900	If not, I will ask for a third and final time if there is any anyone who wishes to speak in favor of the proposed budget. If not, I will close the public hearing on our budget.

00:22:07,800	and now I would ask if any of our board members have further discussion on the budget as presented by uh by Kathy. Commissioners President Zimmanan um, thank you, President Zimmerman. I, I was just wondering if there’s been any other discussion, um, either internally.

00:22:32,370	I know, um, our finance director Kathy Feiss prepared some information, um, regarding my question last month about the possibility of raising, uh, staff from a 3% um merit increase to looking at the budget of what it looked like a 4%, and she was so kind to explain where that could come from if we needed to adjust revenues or expenses in any other areas and so I would still, um, propose a, a discussion if that is of interest to the board.

00:22:46,730	Um, I would be interested in seeing that go from 3% to 4% for 2026. I have great faith in our staff to be able to, uh, make up that $47,200 in revenue that we, we would need uh to, uh, to meet that goal.

00:23:04,530	So I would just like to see if the other commissioners have any other thoughts on that. Comm Herz, thanks, President Zimmerman, and Comm Redmand, we, I, I don’t know if everybody else meant, but we met separately with Kathy and um Mc Kevin just to talk about it, I would be fine with that.

00:23:22,900	Um, I asked Cathy, and Kathy, I don’t want to speak for you, but if, if she had any concerns with it or if it, you know, creates kind of a, a rolling effect because a percent is a little different, you know, where everybody’s at, but um she didn’t seem to be problematic, so I would, I

00:23:35,900	would support that if um if there was a motion made for that, but we did go over it and it didn’t seem to be problematic in any way. Comm Gilbertson, President Zimmerman, fellow Commissioners, um, yeah, to me it’s not the number, um, it’s me having sat in that chair and gone through the

00:24:00,430	development of the process, um, of the budget and having the information and the preliminary discussions of, you know, what you think this and this, um, and the president holding the financial portfolio, um I, it rests with the president to make that determination, um, I mean, do I think that the um,

00:24:28,800	do I think that the employees deserve all that they can get? Absolutely. And I mean, I, like I said, the, the number isn’t the, the number isn’t the issue to me. It’s, it’s the press and it’s the precedent and, you know, if the board um makes a motion and the motion is approved.

00:24:51,370	I, I will probably vote for it, but I don’t, I would caution in that becoming a yearly thing that um we set it at 3 in the preliminary budget, the staff develops the, um, you know, develops the budget and then every year, I, I wouldn’t want them to get into a habit of every year being, OK, now we got to do

00:25:15,730	this. and this and this. Um, because you know, right now, you know, in my real job we’re we’re struggling. I mean, we, we have, we have some major budgetary issues and um things might not always be rosy for the Park District.

00:25:37,100	I mean, I, it’s, it is, um it is, it’s good now and they do a good job. Kevin and Kathy do a fan a fantastic job. planning, but, um, things happen and you know, and at some point, um you know, an $80,000 lawn mower.

00:26:03,730	becomes a huge issue, and if the budgets are planned in accorded for and then uh that is my thing. I just don’t want it. I just don’t want to it to become a habit to continually put the, um, the staff in that position.

00:26:25,170	But I do believe that the staff is entitled to and should get everything that, that they can because they do an amazing job and you know, everyone is, everyone, everyone needs what they can get right now, so. Comm Jesske, thank you, President Zimmerman.

00:26:50,230	Um, you know, I look at the uh, comparison that Kathy put together for us and you know we’re talking Bismarck Parks 3%, Dickinson Park District 3%. My not Park District 3%. Jamestown Park District 3%. Like you said, school district, Valley City Park District, they haven’t determined it’s, uh, proposed is anywhere from 3 to 4, so I don’t think we’re out of line with um other park districts.

00:27:08,900	I do think that last year, you know, doing thisandry, um, uh, plan and putting that into effect, I think that had a um hopefully a, a good outcome for a lot of our employees, but just looking at what is prepared from executive Director Cliffel that was in our packets today and from Kathy Fistist in the second

00:27:28,700	paragraph that says the budget includes a 3% merit increase for all full-time employees. The seasonal pay plan is adjusted to remain competitive with the job market. So I don’t think we’re out of a line based on what Kevin and Kathy prepared in this.

00:27:55,370	budget memo I would agree with Comm Gilbertson and Jesske in working with Executive Director Klipfell, Cathy, and I know all the department or division heads had input in the budget and I, I, I feel strong that we can support them with this plan at 3% and again adjust our seasonal. paid to stay competitive in that. So that’s, that’s where I’m coming from.

00:28:16,800	It’s, I agree with Comm Gilbertson. The work is there. I know, yeah, I, when I was in workforce, yeah, I would take every pay increase I could.

00:28:37,500	but the reality of it is here we’re you know, this was worked through by all the division folks brought their information into Kathy and Kevin, and they all worked together on the budget and at this time I support that budget at 3%. Comm Herzog I thank you, President Zimmerman.

00:28:54,730	I think looking at the comparison, I think when I, when I look at a little bit is what the cities are paying because I think that’s who our biggest competition is, and and just having some dialogue with them.

00:29:09,530	I think they were at 5% or like a 3 and 2, so I’d say, yeah, and I’m, I’m sure we’ll do fine with 3 or 4%, but I think our biggest competition is probably whatever that next level of government up is that has a similar um maybe job for for someone like that, so, um, again, I, I could do 3 or 4.

00:29:28,900	I’m happy to, happy to support Comm Redman at 4% and um see what happens, but um I think when we’re looking at who we compare to, it’s this, you know, the city is fighting with the state, you know, and we might kind of be fighting with the city in terms of, uh, of salary.

00:29:48,100	Comm Jeske, thank you, President Zimmerman, just to comment on that, and this is a, um a comment that I made to executive Director Clipel and, um, finance Director of Fece too, you know, what we were given is not totally accurate in, in some respects because the cities at 5% is actually 3.5% and then a merit of 1.5%.

00:30:11,630	So to put him down as 5% is really not, in my opinion, inaccurate reflection on what every employee is getting because they’re going to get 3.5% Some are not going to get the merit, and some are going to get more than what the merit is. And then same thing with Burleigh County. I mean, they’ve got two steps, so they’re at 5 talking to Wayne Munsen. He said they’re pretty close to 4.

00:30:28,630	4, but they’re doing two steps to bring them in a line and then plus the percentage increase. So I have asked like next year if we could maybe when we get something like this, if we request it, it’s a little bit more reflective of what their pay. scale is actually based on.

00:30:46,170	Comm Redmand just in comparison to last year where I know a lot of people, um, looked at the percentage and there were some, looks like a pretty large increases for some, but that was also part of that study that talked about classification changes and bringing people into equity, so

00:31:03,730	it wasn’t um merit, all of it merit, so it’s a little bit, a little bit apples and oranges, but I just wanted to point those things out that it wasn’t a large increase because of merit, but because of classification changes that needed to be made.

00:31:16,170	And, and I agree with Comm Herzog that we should look at what, what the competition is for us local ly not necessarily statewide. I also think when you underpay, um, people, it sends them away, and I think it, it really costs much more to hire new people than it does to pay our very professional staff well, and so that’s where I’m coming from on

00:31:34,900	that and of let’s keep that percentage going. Let’s pay our people well and keep the talent here. Am I also concerned about, you know, succession planning and making sure we can continue to draw, um, the best talent we can to be employees now and in

00:31:48,170	the future is my comment about 4%. And so I’m not sure if the, if I made President Zimmerman, I would like to adjust the budget to a 4% increase for 2026 as, as, um, has been presented 3, but I would move that we adjust that to 4% and allow the staff to make adjustments throughout 2026 to,

00:32:09,630	um, to account for that. There is, there is that motion, as her second? I’ll second the motion. Motion by Comm Redmond, seconded by Comm Herzog to make that adjustment in the budget. I’m we’ll look to Kathy to make sure we’re saying that correct.

00:32:27,730	Thank you To make that adjustment in the proposed budget to raise the salary from 3% to a 4%. I will ask Cathy to uh call, uh, excuse me, I’ll ask Julie to call the roll, please. Comm Gilbertson. Uh I just I have to go with my God. I’m, I, I’m, no. Herzog, yes Redman, yes Jesske. President Zimmerman, no.

00:33:05,600	President Zimmerman, Comm Jesske, May I make a counterproposal. Uh, perhaps I need to say that motion has failed. Yep. So, can I make a motion? Go, Comm Jeske. Um, I would make a motion then that we look at 3.5% increase, that would be in alignment with basically what the city is doing.

00:33:34,370	and that would be my motion Second motion made in 2nd that we consider a 3.5 salary adjustment in the 2026 proposed budget. I want to make sure we’re getting that out there. Any discussion on that? motion. Comm Gilbertson. Can we get the number of what? Uh, just 3.5.. 0, I’m sorry. Yeah. Is it 20, 235. is the total.

00:33:59,430	23,000 Sorry, I’ll let Cathy do it 23s. Man down mouth, OK God. President Zimmerman and Commissioners, that would be $23,600. Would you repeat that number, Cathy? 23,600. Thank you. Any further discussion then now that we have what the monetary amount would be.

00:34:37,370	We have a motion on the floor to adjust the 2026 budget to include a salary increase of 3.5% for full-time employees. Any further discussion If not, Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Comm Gilbertson, yes. Herzog, yes Redmond, I Jesske, I President Zimmerman, I OK, I’m following the following discussion and or changes.

00:35:13,700	if there are no, if there are changes to the budget reading from June, July, excuse me, we would entertain a motion to approve the second reading of the 2026 budget and approve the mill levy. That’ll be one motion So moved. motion by Comm Gilbertson, seconded by Comm Redman. Any further discussion If not, Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Comm Gilbertson.

00:35:49,370	Herzog, yes, Redman, I, Jesske, President Zimmerman, I the second necessary motion would be a motion to adopt the 2026 operating budget with the approved changes. I make that motion. 2nd. Motion by Comm Jeske, seconded by Comm Herzog. Any further discussion? If not, Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Comm Gilbertson. Herzog, yes. Redman.

00:36:16,700	Jesske, President Zimmerman. Before we move on to the next item on the agenda, and I think I would certainly allow the commissioners to add their comments Again, my thanks to our management team, uh, executive Director Klipfel, Kathy, perhaps doing the yeoman’s work on the budget, but I know that all the

00:36:36,500	divisions had input on the budget. and that’s a tough job I appreciate all of their input when I would meet with them and all of us did, you know, they had all the information that I requested, so I appreciate that very much.

00:36:56,630	Personally, I appreciate when Cathy can stand up here and say we’re, you know, we’re paying down the debt by several million dollars. That I think is always a shows what the district is mindful of, of the use of our uh our tax dollars and the monies that are provided to the park district, but certainly if other commissioners at this time to, I’d certainly entertain or

00:37:14,470	allow uh comments that you wish to make. Comm Gilbertson, I’ll start there and we’ll just work around the table. I guess any time, well, President Zimmerman, Commissioners, uh, the one thing I would like to just say is anytime on that evaluation sheet, you can see, uh, reduction or the the number in

00:37:36,800	parentheses, that’s a good thing, regardless of what the, the the total is, you know, I mean, people can spin it however they want, but it is a reduction, so that is, that’s, that’s a good thing and it shows fiscal responsibility and um and that is one thing, um.

00:37:58,630	being on the inside and seeing it, um, that is one thing that um fiscal responsibility is, is a hallmark of this district, regardless of what of what of what is out there, um.

00:38:26,970	the people who have sat in that Executive director, chair, and the, you know, um, have done a great job, um, Kathy and Agie before her have done a great job and um and it’s, it makes our job easier. So, thank you.

00:38:49,900	I Comm Redman, thank you, President Zimmerman, Commissioners and, uh, certainly, uh, a big ditto to the comments and, and the, and the accolades that have been, uh, made thus far at this table, but, um, just appreciate the work that goes into it, the deep thought that goes into it, and not just in the budgeting process, but I appreciate what this park district does for this community every single day, um, and the, the services that are provided, um, and the quality of the services that are provided.

00:39:03,730	It’s just something to be very proud of and I hope everyone in this community feels that. We hear it from our partners all the time, and I think sometimes we forget to say it’s not just at the budget, but it’s every single day of how that budget is used, um, to make a difference in this community.

00:39:15,000	So I certainly appreciate, um, practice district staff and all of our, all of our partners for what they do for, for health and recreation in Bismarck. Comm Jeske, thank you, President Zimmermann. you know, just to reiterate what everyone else has said that. you know I’m really proud, um, to be on this board.

00:39:34,700	I’m really proud to say that I represent an organization um that makes a difference in our community. They always talk about the three things that make, uh, bring people to a town to live here and also what retains them and it’s the education system, so Goodel’s Comm Gilbert Gilbertson.

00:39:53,430	It’s a healthcare system, but it’s also the amenities that the city is able to provide. And I spend a lot of time on the streets, um, running, biking, um, you know, I work downtown and I just have to say as I go through our parks and I’m on our trails.

00:40:11,100	Um, I’m incredibly proud of the community in which I live. When I moved here in, um, 2008. I have to say I was a little taken back.

00:40:30,230	about how we didn’t have a a ton of parks, uh, we didn’t have places for kids to play and, and, uh, you know, later on we’re gonna talk about uh another potential park coming to our community. And it really makes me proud that we have an active community in which kids have a place to play and adults have a place to recreate and those that want to can have a quiet space to go to and just enjoy the amenities of our community and what the Park

00:40:49,900	District brings. So thank you all for what you do. Greatly appreciated Comm Herzo, thank you, President Zimmerman. Comm, I, I wanna thank Kathy and Kevin and I, um, maybe it’s because I’m German, but I like, uh I ask weird questions and I get like, what’s our bond percentage, you know, blah blah

00:41:07,630	blah. And so it was really nice to go through the budget with you all this year because last year when I was just starting it, it was mostly done and so this was my first year for the full budget.

00:41:18,800	So appreciate everything that you guys walked me through and I think I said it in our other meeting, but, you know, we provide a service and so usually our biggest investment is the people that are providing that service are employees, um, you know, we’re not selling a widget or something like that. We’re selling an experience, providing that to the community.

00:41:32,900	So, um, I really appreciate you guys’ time taking me through the budget and answering my questions and weird questions and, um, it, it’s nice to just understand how you guys go through the process and how the department heads do so that I can understand it better. So I really appreciate you guys taking the time. Thank you.

00:41:52,370	Alright, thank you, Commissioners for your comments. President Zimmerman, I have to excuse myself and leave and go. Thank you. and I’ll be looking for those turkey drumsticks or something.

00:42:14,530	The next item on the agenda, and I thank Susan for waiting to get to this part of the agenda is, uh, the disposition of bids on the Ser Toma Park restroom I improvements. Good evening, Susan. And again, thank you for your patience. Good evening, President Zimmerman, counselors. um the Easter Toma Park Resroom Improvement Project. Uh, we opened bids on September 3rd. Only one bid was received.

00:42:38,900	from Celel Plumbing and heating in the amount of $345,000. $400 Uh, it is Apex’s recommendation that you do not accept this bid. Uh, I seem to be up here doing that a lot. Some of you remember the last time I was here.

00:43:02,970	So, um the Park District had gotten a quote from Denny’s Electric back in May for 142,000 um they chose not to submit a bid on this project at this time. They filled up their cards, so to speak. So, um I will be glad to work with the district and figure out what to do next. but right now this is not the bid to take.

00:43:31,230	A Comm Gilbertson. Uh, thank you, President Zimmerman. Susan, is this just a matter of everybody being too busy and. or I mean because that twice a month that, that’s significant. That’s huge. Um, yes, that’s huge. And only one bid coming in. Right.

00:44:00,000	Uh, part of it is people are busy, yes, um part of part of it is Denny’s filled up their card before the Park District had a chance to act on it. Um. bidding again later this year. may work. How many times have we bid this, Kevin? Um admittedly this is an odd project. so you’re not gonna get um perhaps the variety of bids you would want on this.

00:44:28,370	Um-hum. Uh as to why we’re not getting more bids. I don’t really have a definite answer. I can guess all night. Um-hum. Yeah. Thank you. Comm Jesske. President Zimmerman, thank you Susan, do you think we need to really go back and look at the engineer’s opinion and maybe adjust there too before we put this because obviously we’re

00:44:55,000	we’re way off. we’re way off, but I’m wondering if the engineers opinion might be a little low. The, the estimate in here is based on Denni’s estimate on on their quote, I did not go back and look at the numbers for this. Um we could certainly do that.

00:45:22,370	Uh, I, I did call the manufacturer, the supplier of the list station itself. it’s only $20,000. Yeah, because this is at 155 Yeah. it’s crazy It is, and looking through Kufffel’s bid, they had 3 electrical subcontractors. Why you need, I don’t know.

00:45:56,430	Susan or executive Director, executive Director C Klipfel, what what’s our next? What’s your recommendation N next step? I like what Comm Jeske said it’s a time to dig into this a little more, or Excuse me, President Zimmerman and Commissioners, you know, uh, we visited with Susan after the bid opening in, in our recommendation, I think at this time would be to, to take a look at it to see if we are

00:46:14,170	lowing in the area. We feel like we’re pretty comfortable because we did get a, a, a quote from a, from a contractor to do it. It just happened that, that the, like she said, filled their card up before he could.

00:46:28,500	Our thought process is maybe if we bid it out early next year and gave them a like the whole calendar year to get it done, that they could fit it into their schedule at that time, so that we’d have the, the groundwork laid and had to have the bid accepted with, with giving them a time frame that maybe they could be more flexible with.

00:46:44,500	Susan, does that evidently work? Do you think that would be feasible? It is feasible Um yeah, we’ve did this 3 times already, so I, I can’t guarantee anything, obviously. So President Zimmerman and Comm Gilbertson, executive Director at Cliplow, are we talking like bid in January.

00:47:10,070	So So they get it on their President’s immigrant commissioners, immigrant immigrant commissioners, that’s what we’re thinking is, you know, do it right after the first of the year when everybody’s little they, they have the opportunity to sit down and look at the project. They’ve had the information. Now, let’s get it done in 2026. And they’ve got all year to do it.

00:47:25,630	With the the projected completion date October or whatever. whatever. So wider whatever.. Comm Jeske. I’m just going to ask the question, President Zimmerman, um, executive Director Cliffel is, is there anything wrong with putting it out on bid now for 2026? I’m just thinking some of those businesses like in January might already be starting to fill their card.

00:47:50,170	President Zimmerman and Commissioners Commissioners, Comm Jesske, we could do it earlier. I know right now a lot of those contractors are busy.

00:48:02,970	Uh, I think if we did it, we’d want to wait until freeze up, give them a chance to kind of finish their fall projects because a lot of them are, are doing as much outdoor work as they can until the weather changes. So maybe it is late November, early December, sometimes around the holidays, you have to be careful too, because things may slip through the cracks. Yeah. But I OK.

00:48:18,500	I would not be opposed to doing it toward the end of this year. President Zimmerman, I would move that, uh, the park district rejects the bid, uh, presented from coal plumbing and heating, and would, uh, direct the staff to work with Apex Engineering to um rebid the project um, in a timely manner. Does that sound good? I will second that. That works.

00:48:45,800	That works for you. That works for me. The second, the Comm Redmand motioned by Comm Gilbertson, seconded by Comm Redmond. Any further discussion? If not, Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Comm Gilbertson, I Redman, I, Jessy, I, President Zimmerman, I, thank you, Susan. Thank you, Susan. Thank you.

00:49:09,700	Fingers crossed, Susan Thank you very much. All right. Our next item on the agenda is consideration of the William Blackstone Park Development Agreement, and we have with us operations director David Mayor. David, good evening.

00:49:34,270	Good evening, President Zimmerman and Commissioners, uh I’m gonna spare everybody the time and pain and agony of listening to, uh, listening to me read out about a dozen pages and, uh just summarize that, uh, what we’re talking about is a park development agreement with, uh, for the William Blackstone edition.

00:49:53,430	which is slated to be located about 1 mile west of Heritage Park on the other side of the Heritage Ridge, um just to the west of the Heritage Ridge development, um, just to the west of 15th and north of 57th, uh, that development is moving forward.

00:50:14,270	They plan their initial plan is this subdivision before you, uh, uh, which would include the first park of hopefully many in their, their master plan, uh, with the Park District and um we have been working with the developer and their consultant, um, for almost probably 1.5 to 2 years to, to try and get this thing moving forward. They’ve had a lot of hoops to jump through with uh. the Army Corps of Engineers and all those kind of steps that they follow through.

00:50:30,800	So it’s taken a while to get to get to this point, but we’re to the point of approval and uh. as staff we’re in support of the project and, uh, moving forward with the park development agreement and hopefully in the near future having a new park. Any questions for David? Comm Jesske.

00:50:52,800	I was just going to make a motion if no one is, um, has any questions for Dave, but I would, um, make a motion that we have the Park District move forward with the Park development Ag agreement documents with the William Blackstone Park um, at the proposed location that was, um listed West of North Washington and north of Fifty-seventh Avenue, Northwest. Second.

00:51:19,430	motion by Comm Jeske, seconded by Comm Gilbertson. Any further discussion? If not, Julie, if you would call the roll, please, Comm Gilbertson, I Redman. Jesske, President Zimmerman. I, thank you, David. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is the consent agenda, a variety of items have been placed on the consent agenda.

00:51:45,530	A consent agenda can be approved with one motion or an item or items can be removed for additional discussion and separate action. The staff recommends approval of the following items consideration of the August 20 August 21st, 2025 board meaning minutes request authorization to add Bolton and Mink to the approved list of of engineering architect and planning services

00:52:13,370	and the the district has received the information needed from Bolton and Mink to add them to the list of approved consultants. What is the wish of the commissioners? I move the consent agenda be approved as presented. Second. motion by Comm Gilbertson, seconded by Comm Redmand, to approve the consent agenda as presented.

00:52:36,070	No further discussion, Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Comm Gilbertson, I Redman, I, Jessy, I, President Zimmerman, I Last item on the agenda is approval of the bill. So oh, second. moved by Comm Jesske, seconded by Comm Gilbertson.

00:53:04,630	Any further discussion If not, Julie, if you’d call the roll, please, Comm Gilbertson, Redman, Jesske, President Zimmerman, I thank you all, uh, Commissioners and staff for the meeting this evening. The next regular scheduled board meeting of the Bismarck Board of Park Commissioners is October 16th at 5:15 p.m. in the fabulous Tom Baker meeting room. Meeting