00:00:13,100	Meeting, um, we will first have an invocation from Chaplain Turness and then the Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Boy Scout Troop 1089 for their citizens of the community badge. Good evening. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

00:01:41,730	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. You Scout cities. You, thank you. OK All right. I think it’s gonna do that every like 90 seconds from what Jason. Um, OK, we’ll go ahead and call the meeting to order. Go ahead, call roll.

00:02:13,270	Comm Risch. Comm Zenker here, Comm Connelly. Here Mayor Schmitz. Comm Cleary, here. All right, I have 5 proclamations tonight, um, first one is for Arbor Day, whereas in 1872 J.

00:02:42,670	Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that the that a special day be set aside for planting trees and whereas this holiday called Arbor Day was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska, and whereas Arbor Day is now observed throughout the nation and the world, and whereas the city of Bismarck has been a part of Arbor Day Foundation program.

00:02:59,230	Tree City USA for 48 years, and therefore be it resolved that I, Comm Anne Cleary, on behalf of the commission, do hereby proclaim May 2, 2025 as Arbor Day, I urge all citizens to celebrate Arbor Day and support efforts to protect our trees and woodlands and there and Further, I urge all citizens to plant trees to gladden the heart and promote a well-being

00:03:18,030	for this and future generations. Next is a proclamation for the Day of Prayer. Whereas throughout the history of America, we have poured our poured out prayers to the God of Ho in times of crisis and celebration and prosperity and need in times of war and peace, we have poured out praise to

00:03:40,800	God for all He is thanks to God for all He has done, confessions and pleas for forgiveness. When we have parted from his word and will and poured out intercessions as for his heart and hand to move for the sake of our neighbors and nations, and our history is filled with the grace, with His

00:03:59,630	grace, goodness, and abundance. Answer our prayers and therefore be it resolved that I, Comm Anne Cleary, on behalf of the commission, do hereby proclaim May 1st, 2025 as a day of prayer throughout our city, I commend this observance to our citizens and request prayers be poured out.

00:04:18,730	to our city for our neighbors as we live, serve, work, and learn together that we may be filled with joy and peace and abundant abound in hope. I believe we have a photo to take for that one.

00:05:21,400	for Historic Preservation Month, whereas the National Trust for Historic Preservation established May as historical historic Preservation Month in 1973 as a way to promote historic places for the purpose of instilling nation and community pride, promoting heritage tour tourism, and showing the social and economic benefits of historic preservation.

00:05:42,100	And where and therefore, let it be resolved that I, Comm Anne Cleary, on behalf of this commission, do hereby hereby proclaim the month of May 2025 as historic preservation month in the city of Bismarck and encourage all citizens to join.

00:06:01,730	Me in this worthy obser observance, and I believe Comm Cleary, yes, if we could, um, if I could have Lauren Oster come up from, uh, Community Development and shows what we have going on next month for historic Preservation Month and give us a synopsis that’d be fantastic, Warren. Perfect.

00:06:21,630	So right here we have a flyer that’ll be going out, um, we’ll be posting this on the city website as well as different announcements throughout the month of May, um, as stated me, uh, historic Preservation Month, so we have a couple different opportunities to celebrate and and promote historic preservation or, or just celebrate Bismarck.

00:06:43,500	Um, we have a display for local literature, um, with the help of the Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public library staff who were able to help us, uh, find some local literature. Um, we also have Bismarck’s Founders Day event, um, hosted by Bismarck Historical Society, um, and we have two separate, uh, presentations, uh, one at the former governor’s mansion and the other at Hancock. Just highlighting different historic preservation activities.

00:07:10,670	Um, there is additional information if you’re looking to just do things on your own, um, that you can visit at the QR code on the bottom of the flyer or the link as well. Thank you. Thanks, Lauren.

00:07:34,670	OK, next I have a proclamation for law enforcement Memorial Week, whereas the courage, the courageous men and women of law enforcement provide a vital public service for safeguarding the rights and freedoms of our citizens, and whereas Bismarck law enforcement officers and personnel wear the uniform and badge with pride and and are dedicated to protecting our families, homes and communities, and therefore let it be resolved that I, Comm Anne Cleary, on behalf of this commission, do hereby proclaim

00:07:54,030	May 11th through the 17th. 2025 as law enforcement Memorial Week. And lastly, the Saint Alexis Medical Center Day, whereas Saint Saint Alexius Medical Center founded by the Sisters of Saint Benedict in 1885, 4 years prior to North Dakota becoming a state has faithfully served the community of Bismarck and surrounding region for 140 years, providing

00:08:23,230	compassionate health care grounded in principles of faith, compassion, and service, and therefore be it resolved that I, Comm Anne Cleary, on behalf of this commission, do here I proclaim May 6, 2025, as Saint Alexis Medical Center Day in the city of Bismarck, Bismarck recognizing it’s 140th anniversary, and I believe we are going to stand for a photo

00:08:43,730	for that one as well. OK OK. OK Yeah OK, this is the time for public comment. Public comment is restricted to items on the consent agenda and regular agenda excluding public hearing items. First call for public comment. And the process. But I haven’t grown any taller. So I still have to do tippy toes.

00:10:47,870	Thank you, Chair Cleary, Commissioners, Mayor, wherever you are. Um My name is Jan Wangler, and I am an ETA resident. And I’m here regarding item G3 of the consent agenda. Which deals with the proposed access variants for midcontinent that is under consideration for approval.

00:11:12,570	While the location of a driveway isn’t usually of major consequence to most. There are a few things about this one that concerns me. And concerns my husband and our adjoining neighbors as well.

00:11:29,730	While we were notified of tomorrow evening’s planning and zoning meeting for the Platte, we were not notified of this meeting, which could actually have more impact on us, the use of our property and our property values. You see, the location of this access driveway will determine the building’s orientation on the lot. We’ve never seen a site plan for where this building will sit.

00:11:49,270	But my understanding is at the front of the building would face south on Tandem Drive. And that would mean that the back of the building would face north. So my concern is that my property faces 52nd Street, right across the street to the east of this proposal.

00:12:11,830	When this development was first discussed, assurances were made to the area residents that this type of orientation would not be permitted, and that buildings along the erm would be required to face west, and no storage or vehicles would be allowed behind buildings or visible to the east. The current, I’m calling it a variance, but I think you call it a release.

00:12:34,200	This proposal appears to contradict those assurances and raises significant concerns for me and my neighbors. Any lot with supplies and vehicles would need to be lit up for security. Like I mentioned, my property is right across the street, and we are already experiencing dramatic light pollution from the UPS facility. So I’m sure you can see why we’re concerned.

00:12:52,000	Granting this uh release or variance would set a precedence that undermines previous commitments made to the community further eroding the trust between the residents and this commission.

00:13:16,370	Optics wise, the variant seems to benefit the applicant at the expense of the established neighborhood and reasonable expectations of existing homeowners that the city will not capitulate to the pressures from large businesses. We’re not asking you to deny anything except this access location so that the city commission, the planning and zoning commission and the variants applicant are all required to comply with the provisions of the original PUD.

00:13:38,400	I respectfully urged the commission to reconsider granting this release, and please just uphold the original comment commitments rather, and prioritize the long-term interests of the neighborhood. Thank you, and I’d stand for any questions.

00:14:02,870	Madam, excuse me, which item was it again? Under the consent agenda, I believe it was G item number 3 G3 and this has to do with the Midwest business complex. And this is something that has almost been two decades and In the fight, I’ll call it, and, and it’s not that we don’t want to be good neighbors.

00:14:22,100	Um, we just want for everything to be as it was promised to us. We don’t want to have to look at stored junk and supplies and vehicles. And I, I I see there’s items in tomorrow evening’s planning and zoning commission that are dealing with some of the things that we have had to deal with, but we have never seen the building plans or where it’s

00:14:42,300	going to go, but My understanding is that they want the South facing driveway because the building is going to face south and that. That puts stuff and junk and vehicles and storage items, and this is going to be a facility for, I believe, Midcontinent is the applicant and this would be

00:15:03,830	for like Site improvements and things for You know, where they go out their equipment and that kind of thing, so it wouldn’t be looking at the back of a building, it would be a lit up storage yard. So air my concerns. All right, thank you. Second call for public comment.

00:15:38,630	Third and final call for public comment. Public comment is now closed. What are the wishes of the Commission? On the consent agenda? Correct. I’d like, Madam Chair. Um-hum. I’d like to pull E4 off the consent agenda. It has to deal with a fire alarms at the airport. We’ve got to do a little more work on that. OK.

00:16:08,300	So just removing it for a later date. Yes. OK. Chair, um, if we could pull G3 for more discussion. And then with that I’ll make a motion to approve the remaining items on the consent agenda. Second. We have a motion and a second, go ahead and call roll. Comm Zenker. Yes. Mr. Connelly? Yes. Mayor Schmitz. Yes.

00:16:42,500	Comm Risch? Yes. Comm Cleary, yes. OK, so then we will move right on to consent agenda item G3, the non-access line release and dedication of portions of non-access lines over the southern line of Lot 5, Block A, Midwest Business Park Edition. Warren, if you want to come on up.

00:17:17,300	Uh, greetings chair Clery Commissioners. Um, so this request is uh to release a portion of the current non-access line, that’s a long Tandem drive, as well as, uh, dedicate another portion. It’s basically moving the non-access line further away from 52nd Street. Uh, there is currently an access.

00:17:41,730	Uh, on the southern side of this lot. I, I, from Tandem Drive, um, they’re just looking to shift it for safety reasons further to the west. Um, part of the A minor plot that was mentioned, uh, that will be considered by the planning and zoning commission tomorrow mirrors this exact request here.

00:18:05,400	They’re just trying to facilitate, uh, a quicker timeline within a month’s span, basically is what the request is for. OK, so on the map that we’re looking at up there right now, the like blue or purple. That’s marked is is the one that it already exists, correct? And so it’s just shifting.

00:18:31,900	It’s not moving sides of the lot, right? So currently, uh, to the western side as well as the eastern side, there’s a 150 ft non-access line on both of those sides with an axis of about, I believe. 43.45 ft.

00:18:58,100	They’re, they’re just looking to push the access just slightly further west, um, they would have an additional 10 ft, so the axis would open up to about 53 ft there, um, but basically they’re, they’re trying to move it further to the west for safety reasons. So I’m, I’m a little confused because in the testimony we got, I thought it was the Access point along 52nd.

00:19:28,400	That was and we’re having some IT issues, so our stuff’s not coming up on. So, is um, So, is this the, a driveway access that they want? Uh, Comm, anchor Commissioners, it’s basically a driveway access, they wouldn’t be removing any of the non-access line along Fifty-second Street. It would just be for the portions along tandem Drive.

00:19:56,200	So none of the setbacks to the, to the east of that lot are gonna change. With this with this request, no, uh, the setbacks that would be within the conditional MA district.

00:20:20,300	are not changing with any of staff’s awareness at this time, um, the only other requests that are out there for that minor plot. Can you show us details of that minor plant. I, I don’t currently have the information with me. Um, but minor plots do come to the city commission on consent Agenda for their final. Until, not until they’re approved by PNZ though. Right.

00:20:46,100	Which, which is Lauren, is that meeting for that tomorrow. Uh Mayor Schmitz, that is correct. The, the PNZ meeting is tomorrow, and it is discussing that minor plot, which mirrors exactly this. I thought I saw that. I remember seeing it on the agenda, so, but. Thank you for clarifying that.

00:21:11,000	Can you see it on yours? Madam Chair, Lauren, just, just to address Ms. Wangler’s concerns, even if we said no on this, they would still be able to develop the property, correct? That is correct.

00:21:28,470	They could still submit a site plan, um, and it would go through all the relevant reviews, so it would be following all the conditions within the, the conditional MA for the zoning, and it would also follow all requirements for for site plan approval as well. Laura, now that, um, Whitney has that up there for us, so we’re going from the blue, that’s the original 60 and the red is the proposed 70.

00:21:53,630	So on the western side, they’re looking to remove 70 ft of the 150 ft and then on the eastern side, they’re looking to add an additional 60 ft onto the 150 ft. So there would be 210 ft of non-access line, uh. Uh, to the, the eastern side. If that makes sense.

00:22:19,100	There, it’s kind of a two-pronged approach where they’re releasing a small portion, but they’re also dedicating a small portion as well. OK. So this is Go ahead, Mayor. So this is moving the access point further away from the residential area. Am I seeing that right? That is correct, Mayor. Yes. Thank you. For sure Connelly.

00:22:55,630	Mhm Your, uh, and commissioners, uh, Is there a reason why the access point can’t come off a transport drive versus, um, Tandem Drive. Uh, I haven’t been through the site plan approval process.

00:23:19,000	Others within my department handle that, but I believe they are looking to have an access, uh, onto transport drive as well as tandem, uh, just for the flow of traffic. through the site. Do you know? And then the second question, do you know if, uh, the building proposals, um, if they, it plans to The uh business.

00:23:43,030	Plans to face to the West versus any other location, or do we have that information? Uh, Comm Connelly, Commissioners, I’m unaware of at this time what the building position would be uh. Uh, like I said earlier, part of the site plan approval is. Making sure that portions that are relevant to the site development do follow.

00:24:07,130	What’s written within the zoning, so if there is a condition within the zoning that necessitates the placement or the facing of the building a certain way. It, it would be Discussed during the site plan approval process. Hm Thank you. Any other questions for Lauren? Doesn’t look like it. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have any further discussion or questions, or what are the wishes of the commission. painful representative from the.

00:25:22,400	Go ahead, Mayor. If there is a representative For the project, I listened to them, but otherwise I had emotion. OK, he’s coming up. Evening Commissioners uh Aalmer with Independent Land Surveying and Engineering. I’m the engineer on the project, uh, on the site plan, uh, Medco is proposing a large site or a large.

00:25:51,230	Large building and um contractor’s yard pretty much for storage, um. The main building will face south. We are per the original plat and how it is right now, we, we would be able to have an access off of tandem Drive on the south end.

00:26:08,000	We’re looking to shift it West mainly it’s, it’s more of a, a grade issue than it is anything that we’re asking because the grade is a little steeper there. We’d like to flatten out our driveway and push it further west.

00:26:25,870	That’s the reason why we’re asking for this access, uh, for the site design, I can speak to a couple things, um, the main part of the building will be facing south, uh, per the ordinance, um. All the garage doors, everything else, can’t face to the east, 252, so those will be mainly facing West and there are a couple of small maintenance stores on the north, uh, the site does not plan on any major lighting other than

00:26:46,730	just lighting on the building, so the, the whole yard isn’t planned to be lighted. Um As for the minor plat, the main intent is they bought both lots 4 and 5, we’re looking to add more. More uh land to the southern lot lot 5.

00:27:08,670	I think it’s approximately 220 ft of lot 4 will be combined with Lot 5 in the minor latte and then that way they have another. I think it’s an acre or two on the north which would be the remainder of lot 4 that they could sell in the future.

00:27:22,000	They don’t they bought both lots knowing that they needed a good chunk of land, but once we laid it out, they didn’t need all the land. Thank Mr. Connelly. Chair Commissioners, um, are, is there a plan to be any buffering between the business itself because you got residential directly across from 52nd. There is an existing buffer yard.

00:27:46,130	That’s a good question. There is an existing buffer yard. Uh, it does have a berm. It does have landscape, but some of that landscape has decayed our my client has recently purchased the land as part of the site plan process we are required to replace all those dead trees and make that buffer yard come up into.

00:28:04,870	So we do actually we. In the last couple of weeks we’ve had guys out there trying to figure out what’s dead and what’s alive, to know what to replace, and we have a, we have the standard buffer of what we need to. Come up with for how many trees, shrubs, evergreens, and such, so.

00:28:26,100	Any additional questions? Thank you. OK, thank you. I’ll make a motion to approve. OK. a motion in a second, go ahead and call roll. Comm Connelly. No. Mayor Schmitz. Yes. Comm Risch. Yes. Comm Zenker. Yes. Comm Cleary, yes. OK, we are moving on to the regular agenda.

00:29:02,900	Item A, consider the request to receive the report from Jeff Huel. You wills design group relating to the capital improvements plan for the Bismarck Event Center. Jason. Good evening, uh, Madam Chair, Mayor, Commissioners, uh, tonight you’re going to receive, uh, two reports relating to the Bismarck Event Center. First one will be the capital improvements plan.

00:29:26,030	Uh, this was a project that was approved by this commission at the November 12, 2024 meeting, and the purpose of this project is to essentially evaluate uh the multitude of studies and projects that have been proposed but not successfully completed at the event center.

00:29:49,370	As well as looking at a comprehensive approach to addressing infrastructure needs within the building, as many of you are aware, uh, this building that was first opened in 1969 still has some, uh, original infrastructure in the building, which poses some challenges to the staff and the general operations of the facility.

00:30:08,030	So Jeff and his team put together a nice report that will kind of walk through a series of improvements over the next 8 to 10 years, as well as some funding. Options to consider going forward.

00:30:26,630	Um, we don’t anticipate a whole lot of discussion on this particular item tonight because I want to remem remind everybody uh one week from tonight, April 29th, you have a special city commission meeting, uh, which is a workshop to talk about not only these recommendations that you’ll be getting from Jeff tonight, but also the next recommendations that will be coming from Dan Fenton with uh JLL. That was a project for the capital or I’m sorry, the Management and operations study.

00:30:43,200	So between those two things, uh, those will be your primary items for discussion at your special workshop meeting next week, uh, as staff, we would be looking for direction to include anything else uh next week’s agenda after you uh receive the two presentations tonight.

00:31:01,100	Um Before I move away from the podium, I, I do need to, um, Make some remarks about the leadership that Mandiello has demonstrated over the last 1314 months, uh, this commission put her in the acting role as the event center director back in March of 2024.

00:31:27,130	And throughout this time, she has done a phenomenal job keeping the team together, keeping everybody moving forward and just Making sure everything was still running as smoothly as it could.

00:31:39,200	So for that, I wanna make sure I thank Amanda publicly and I think all of you should be proud of the work that she has done because it’s not the work that she signed up to do, but she has done a great job keeping it together. So with that, I’ll get out of the way. Let Jeff Ubl. Get started and we will listen for direction after that. Thank you. Thank you, Jason. Commissioners, it’s good to see you this evening. And Mayor Schmitz.

00:31:59,630	Um As, as Jason mentioned, I’m here to provide you with a summary of our report, uh, certainly you have a big crowd tonight and I don’t want to take up a ton of your time knowing that we’re going to have a workshop next week where this will be discussed, but I will go through the report and the efforts that uh

00:32:13,930	we went through to to develop it. Um, I do want to thank the Event Center staff, Amanda and her entire staff, uh, there was a lot of input, um, and robust and energetic conversation about some of the things that need to happen down at the event center and their input was invaluable throughout this

00:32:32,770	entire process likewise, uh, uh, finance department, uh, Demetri and Eric, the effort that they put into helping us in terms of laying out a funding plan so that we can start to look at considering implementing some of these uh.

00:32:48,530	organizations and improvements to the event Center was, uh, was equally as valuable. Um, So our, our agenda is fairly straightforward. We want to go through what the planned goals were, um, we’ll talk a little bit about our process and timelines so you understand the path that we went down, uh, the approach that we’re taking towards developing the capital improvement plan, the plan itself will have a graphic that

00:33:10,170	will identify that and then some of the recommendations and next steps that we’ll be offering in our, in our final report. Uh, the first thing is, and I’m not going to give a dissertation on what a capital improvement plan is, but typically what I found is that this is a very vague term.

00:33:25,570	Um, I’ve seen capital improvement plans that are extremely detailed to the point where they almost represent a building maintenance plan, talking about fans and motors and filters.

00:33:42,730	The other extreme to that is their capital improvement plans that are developed that almost start to resemble a master plan where the intent is just simply talking about space. That the problems with both of those is that they aren’t necessarily always linked directly towards funding or towards some value in terms of determining what the path forward is.

00:34:02,400	And so the our intent behind this plan is that we take the entire, the entirety of the needs that have been identified through the effort. We connect those with funding and also along the way because we have established goals for the plan. They have some value mechanism that helps in the decision making process. So this is a little bit more of in depth.

00:34:20,000	The key to this though is that there’s a planning effort that’s a as a component to this throughout the whole process we’re always looking forward. So in the beginning we established some, some basic goals that we were using to help become a decision making tool.

00:34:38,200	Uh, ultimately we knew that throughout the planning process we would run into a crossroads where we would have to make a decision. Are we going to do A or are we gonna do B? Having established plan goals that helps us be or becomes a tool to help make those types of decisions when we have to choose between what,

00:34:52,570	what of 2 or 3 or 4 different items or or improvements we’re going to be looking at. And so generally speaking, we looked at is an improvement going to affect revenue positively or negatively as it relates to the event center, is it gonna improve the visitor experience, the vendor experience, the

00:35:09,770	staff working environment. Uh, is it an improvement that is in dire need, something that’s been deferred for multiple years that needs to be addressed because it may have an immediate impact or or an unexpected impact on event center operations.

00:35:31,130	Uh, is an improvement that’s gonna, uh, an improvement that’s going to change the efficiency, not just from an energy efficiency perspective but also an operational efficiency perspective. Um, and then finally, whatever the improvement is. Is, does it have an eye on, on being forward thinking.

00:35:51,230	So in other words, something that may not impact or inhibit the ability for another improvement to happen down the road or that consequently m might force the city to change something that was just recently changed. And so these became our plan goals and you’ll see how these came come into effect, uh, shortly. Uh, our process, as Jason mentioned, we started in November. We had a 5-stage process.

00:36:07,800	We’re in the 5th stage of this right now, which is, is this presentation and the assembly of the final report. Uh, the first two tasks, I’m not going to get into great detail on, but they essentially evolved around gathering up all of the existing information that that related to prior ideas, thoughts, plans, construction, uh, studies that had happened over the many

00:36:32,030	years, uh, at the event center and so many of these reports go way back, um, even back to prior to the exhibit hall being expanded. So we collected all of those reports. We looked at all the existing material we conducted a variety of facility tours with the team that supported us.

00:36:50,730	This was meant to just give us a foundation to start from, and also to understand what some of the ideas of the other ideas that were developed over the years. While this was wrapping up, we conducted listening sessions.

00:37:10,400	With stakeholders and staff now unlike a a master plan where we would get outside input our listening sessions were primarily with staff. We wanted to hear about issues that they’ve had over the years with the buildings. These are the people who are working and living in the building every day and so having their input was valuable and understanding some of those small nuanced improvements that may, may be very beneficial.

00:37:32,870	Um Once we’ve completed that stage, we had essentially with the information we needed to start developing our plan, which led us into task 3, which I’m going to expand on here in a minute. Task 3 was where we we categorize the needs, we prioritize the needs.

00:37:51,870	We started looking at different approaches and scenarios on how improvements could happen at the event center. Uh, and we started the process of testing those scenarios along with the help of finance to start looking at opportunities to allow or to align funding with these improvement projects.

00:38:12,230	Um, task 4 was primarily focused on moving the plan in and out of development related to funding and funding opportunities. And so The first step we took, this is a really a pretty elementary slide, but it makes a a substantial point in that. Once we gathered all of the needs, it was pretty obvious that they could easily be categorized into these three buckets.

00:38:31,630	Uh, the first one were needs that related to new space and so we’ve heard and seen all kinds of discussion over the years regarding new ballrooms, new new meeting rooms. Uh, those types of things. So there were certainly needs identified that fell into a new space category.

00:38:53,630	There was modernization bucket that related to aesthetic improvements, technological improvements, and then certainly things like I mentioned here is an example, ADA compliance issues, so these are things within the footprint of the building that that haven’t changed over the years and then finally the last bucket was deferred maintenance and what we really found in the deferred maintenance bucket is these started to become items that really became immediate or

00:39:14,200	what we classified as urgent needs. For instance, we mentioned the HVAC improvements. This has been discussed over the last few years, uh, the aging equipment in both the arena and the uh the original exhibit hall expansion. So after categorizing the needs, we set out to prioritize those needs.

00:39:36,670	What we found though is that the deferred maintenance bucket was pretty big and had some pretty significantly important items in it that needed to be resolved, so we decided to do then was to categorize these buckets. In order to have to start the discussion of an approach and how are we going to do this? So we realign the buckets.

00:39:56,470	Um, and you’ll see when we start talking about the plan itself that we pointed our focus towards dealing with the deferred maintenance issues first and then starting to transition into modernization of various aspects of the buildings.

00:40:19,270	The two buckets in a in itself essentially starts leading down the path of taking care of what the city currently has with the building before we start navigating towards new space. What we also then and then as we start uh uh continued on from, from this step.

00:40:39,170	We also started to do is have discussions about, OK, how do we approach this? We had this, we have all of these needs, we have these different categories of needs. There were two really real sort of general ways to approach this. One is that we can start identifying projects scattered throughout the building. Uh, the benefit being that that taking that scattered approach or generalized approach is that we’re starting to have little impacts throughout the entire, the entirety of the building.

00:40:59,870	The, the disadvantage to that is if we start approaching little projects throughout the building, it creates a certain amount of uncertainty for the staff. It creates some challenges in terms of scheduling events, you know, for if we’re.

00:41:18,000	Doing an arena project and then next year we’re doing a project in the in the convention center side of the building, it starts to create some some difficulty, but that was one way to approach it.

00:41:33,930	The other approach that we discussed is maybe we take more of a focused approach, which we look at a certain area of the building and we make improvements in that that area of the building before we move on. And after, so after discussion, that was the strategy that that we had consensus on. And so with that, then again, we needed to start to continue to build on what our approach is going to be to developing the plan. And so all of this is building up towards the plan.

00:41:51,630	So we had two strategies. One strategy was to focus on the arena. First, we wanted to take care of all the urgent needs in both the arena and the convention centerer side of the building.

00:42:11,500	And then following that, we shift our focus over towards modernizing the arena, which you’ve taken a step forward with, with just the replacement of the seats that will be happening this summer. So this starts to focus in our strategy and approach.

00:42:32,200	But strategy too was essentially flipping that is that we take care of the urgent needs in the arena and the and the convention center side and then we shift our attention over towards modernizing the the the convention centerer side of the building. Now, as I mentioned, this was a crossroads. We had a decision that we had to make and so in order to do that, we went back to our plan goals.

00:42:48,670	We started looking at, OK, of these strategies, uh, relative to our goals, how do they impact us choosing this, and so we started looking at what side of the building generates the most amount of revenue or has the most amount of ability to impact revenue.

00:43:05,400	All of the goals then led into us making our final decision, which was that strategy we’re going to choose was to take care of the urgent needs in the arena. And the uh convention center site first and then start to move towards modernizing the convention center side. From there we had a structure for our plan. So the plan itself He’s broken into two parts.

00:43:24,630	We have a 5 year plan and we have a 10 year plan. You’re actually going to see when I show you the report, uh, 12 years of planning because we started in 2025, which we had not originally anticipated. Um, our 5 year plan is focused.

00:43:46,930	It includes budget numbers for that for that 5 year span or 10 year plan is more set up to establish a potential path forward for the city following the completion of what ultimately is those urgent need projects we haven’t provided any budgeting for years 5 through 10 just simply because It would be really Difficult to do that and the numbers would certainly not be anywhere remotely accurate when we start getting 5 years out, let it,

00:44:07,900	let alone one year out. The other important aspect of the plan I mentioned this a couple of times now as we wanted to ensure working with Dmitri and Eric in finance that the plan has funding mechanisms, so you’ll see that we have some funding uh uh concepts anyway on how the plan could be

00:44:25,530	implemented. And the last item, which was an important one, that came up over and over and over again as we discussed the development of the plan is we want to make sure that we hold back money every year annually for emergency reserves or for one-time expenditures.

00:44:45,670	The event center generally has a, a one time uh expenditure requests on an annual basis that in some cases is replacing equipment in some cases in cases has to do with with building infrastructure and there’s a lot of value in doing that in order to ensure that we’re able to address those emergency needs as well as just

00:45:01,300	the continued operation of the event center. So with that this is a graphic that represents our plan. Uh, as I mentioned, there’s 12 years of planning up here. Uh, with the focus in then became taking care of the urgent, uh, the urgent needs.

00:45:24,130	So what we are proposing is that in 25 through 27, the focus shift towards a complete building HVAC modernization of the original exhibit hall which was completed in 1989. And the arena which was completed in 1969. Uh, none of that major equipment has been replaced in all that time.

00:45:43,400	Um, and certainly there’s from our review, there’s a fair bit of it that’s living on borrowed time. And so that would be a larger project, you see the dollar value of, of $15 million over that time, over that time frame. In addition to that, you’ll see in each one of the budget years were identifying those one-time expenditures.

00:46:03,270	Um, in 2026, we’re also identifying a smaller project which is a facility wide way finding program and digital sign package. This has been one of those things over the years that has come up continuously that has been a challenge for the staff as well as for visitors is just simply navigating your way through the building.

00:46:22,370	There hasn’t been a comprehensive wayfinding and signage package ever developed for that building. And so we felt a smaller project that impacts all sides of the building that helps improve that visitor experience would certainly be useful to to kick the project off.

00:46:43,630	In budget years 27, 28, 29, 30, we’re looking at making improvements to uh we’re proposing making improvements to the restrooms and the arena, uh, a lot of this has to do with ADA compliance and just simply again, these are areas of the building that haven’t been touched since 1969. And that have a direct impact on visitor experience.

00:47:01,870	Um, we’re also looking at the arena roof replacement and the parking lot de repair. Now those two projects are currently budgeted in 2025, but after review with the staff, uh, and to help jumpstart the HVAC improvement.

00:47:20,630	We made the decision to move those into the future budget years, uh, the feeling was is that both of them had a little bit of time left that they weren’t they’re urgent, but not necessarily over the, the uh HVAC improvements.

00:47:43,870	Uh, the funding for these and, and I know that Demetri and or Eric have run models uh to represent this is that we would use the current reserves that the event center has available that are dedicated to capital improvements. We’d utilize the annual revenue that comes in at least the portion that’s available from the liquor and lodging tax and then there was discussion about potentially doing interdepartmental borrowing to help any offset any additional costs that may, that may need to be incurred.

00:48:06,170	And then, uh, following 2028 and beyond the event center would then start to pay back that debt using their their revenue from the liquor and lodging tax. In 2031 and beyond, uh, we’re recommending that in 2031 and 2032 there really be a pause in major expenditures.

00:48:25,130	Part of the intent here is that we that the event center will continue from a cash flow perspective to need to continue to pay down that internal debt, but then also start to build the reserves back up that starts to, uh, at least move towards doing the modernization projects in the uh convention centerer side of the building, so 2031 and 232 are quieter years.

00:48:46,500	Uh, we are recommending in 2031, uh, that an update happened to this capital improvement plan so that the commission and that the event center have more current cost related to these future project efforts. And so you’ll see in 32, 30. 3 and 34 are all focused on the convention centerer side.

00:49:07,270	Um, and then at the end of 2034, that’s a pretty key milestone. And that, that’s when the exhibit hall, the 2013 exhibit hall bond payments end. Which is a where a significant portion of the liquor and lodging tax goes right now is to pay a uh right around, you know, 2 million or so of that goes towards paying

00:49:27,530	off that or covering that bond payment and so following 2034, there’s a lot more revenue available for the, the commission and the event center to consider looking at, at either continuing the modernization or then starting to look at expansion again at that time.

00:49:48,370	And so at that stage we’re suggesting a facility-wide master plan be completed. There’s a lot of, a lot of changes that happened in the uh convention and visitors business. Uh, and in the entertainment business on a regular basis, so it might be a good time to take a pause, take a look at what the market conditions are, go through the the facility-wide master

00:50:05,730	planning effort before any decisions are made on, on expansion at that point. So that is the plan that that we developed. In addition to that, we will be prioritizing a long list of miscellaneous projects. These are projects that are gonna add some flexibility to the plan.

00:50:26,400	So these are little things that can be done if funding is available, and this is just an example of some of them that we pulled out, that wouldn’t necessarily impact or impede other projects from happening.

00:50:43,800	So in the event that uh there was some money available uh and uh the event center felt like they needed to replace the ballroom carpet. This would be a small project. That they could incorporate it, so we’ve got aside from the plan we’ve got additional projects that this the event center and the commission can use uh during the budgeting process.

00:50:59,630	Uh, there are some recommendations that we are making in our plan. This is a few of them. Um, Certainly the plan, uh, should be reviewed on an annual basis along with the budget cycle, and this is more intended to ensure that the plan is aligning with the funding models that have been developed so that there are no surprises, uh, as the, as these

00:51:20,370	projects come in front of the budget committee. Um, again, we’re recommending that the capital improvement plan be renewed approximately every 4 years. Now, our first renewal date that we identified is 6 years out, and that’s just simply because there’s a robust amount of projects that we’re proposing in that 1st 6 years and so it really doesn’t quite

00:51:41,630	make sense to do it at year 4. Um, as I mentioned a couple of times, maintaining a fund for one-time expenditures, uh, number 4 on here is to develop some tools and policies that will allow the staff who are who are continuously living and working in that facility to identify specific projects that

00:52:02,930	may not be currently listed in the capital improvement plan. Now this is start this effort has been started. uh Toreado Public Works has started this process on some of the city buildings. And I think continuing that to the event center would be beneficial.

00:52:21,630	Um, uh, certainly at this early stage, so the tool already exists within the city. I think it’s just a matter of starting to connect it with the other buildings.

00:52:39,730	Uh, the, uh, number 5 on our list is organized and digitize a facility documents currently all the documents that we’ve collected or identified or or paper copies, very few of them are digital copies. And And honestly they’re scattered in a variety of different locations and so if somebody came to do work on this building, it would be a real, real challenge if you haven’t been connected with it for the last 20 years to get off the ground.

00:52:56,370	And so this is just simply a housekeeping measure that we’re proposing is, is to take the time to get this stuff organized and get digit get it digitized and hopefully before Tony retires because he’s one of the few people who know where that stuff is at and, and, uh, and how it’s organized Uh, the last one is Uh,

00:53:18,770	consider an IDIQ style contract for design and so IDIQ is indefinite deliveries in definite quantities project. This is really similar to the way that the airport’s contracts are conducted with their design team. And the reason that we’re proposing this is essentially what it is, it’s a contract that has term, you know, usually 3 or 5 years.

00:53:38,470	Where each project is is negotiating on a task order format. The idea behind that is just simply that, particularly in the early years of the, of the plan, there’s a lot of work that’s going to be happening and having continuity would be, uh, certainly beneficial to the city and make that process a

00:53:55,100	lot more efficient. And so some of the next steps that you could consider, and I know these will get talked about next Tuesday. Uh, I do think it would be beneficial for the commission and the event center to have some sort of technical advisory committee formed as you start looking at

00:54:13,200	implementing some of these projects, um, typically you would do this on a larger project in the, in the city. In this case, this might be an ongoing committee that really becomes the committee that helps direct some of these improvements that are happening down there. Typically they don’t have any.

00:54:31,370	decision-making power they’re more or less making recommendations to the commission and then being the uh group that’s essentially accountable for moving these projects forward. Um, and then certainly down the road, you’re gonna have to go through the process of developing RFQ for the services related to implementing these things and get and get the process started.

00:54:52,770	And so, so with that, um, I know that was relatively quick, but if you have any questions tonight, I’d certainly be willing to answer them. Uh, the mayor has asked me to attend your workshop next week, so I will be there too. Any initial questions for for Jeff? OK. Thank you for your time. We’ll see you next week.

00:55:11,100	Thank you, Madam Chair, I just, I wanna. Go ahead, note that I’ve asked that the finance team be available next Tuesday because I think we’re going to need them as a, as we start looking at whatever this planning might, uh, encompass financially. Absolutely thank you. OK, we will move on to item B.

00:55:31,730	Consider the request to receive the report from Dan Fenton, Jones Lang and La Salle, JLL relating to the management and operation study for the Bismarck Event Center. All you’ll have to do is hit the arrow turn. Yeah.

00:55:53,200	Madam Chair, Mayor Commissioners, just a brief introduction of, uh, Dan Fenton, it looks like we’ve got some technical issues here with the PowerPoint. Um Uh, let’s see. Here we go.

00:56:19,770	Apologies for that, uh, Dan is part of a three-person team that represents JLL, uh, Jones Lang LaSalle is a an international company that specializes in, uh, these types of facilities, hotels as well and uh another a number of other commercial.

00:56:42,170	type ventures, but the, the purpose of this project, the management and operations study was to look at exactly that the management and operations of the event center and to come back with some recommendations on best steps moving forward, um, I’ll let the report uh speak for itself when Dan is here, but Dan has also agreed to be available for the meeting next week on the twenty-ninth, so I guess after Dan’s presentation, I’ll stand here briefly just to see if there’s any specific items that you would like added to the agenda

00:56:56,100	other than just these two broad topics for next week Tuesday, but other than that, I will get out of the way. Thanks everybody. Dan Fenton with JLL. Happy to be here. Um, let me just jump in and talk a little bit about what we’re gonna go through today.

00:57:15,370	This is a little bit of a flow of the presentation. Just a little bit, um, so you’ll see this sort of things that we’re going to talk through executive summary operations overview that broader recommendations sort of next steps. We have a whole part that we want to take a moment on, on what we call key performance indicators.

00:57:31,800	And then, um, sort of key other considerations as well as where do we go from here? So just to start with the flow, we, um, Had several meetings with the city internal city administration and others just to make sure there was sort of alignment on data.

00:57:53,800	Existing information studies that had existed. So that we had a good sense of that. If you look at the next sort of pillar here. We talked to 20 plus members of the community.

00:58:12,030	Um, that were sort of determined based on to some degree their knowledge base and their interaction with the Event Center as well as their general sort of interest in the project. We had a regular cadence with with the internal city team. Um, and the key thing, the key sort of nucleus behind how this was done, was what you see here, and that was a two-day site visit. Uh, with the internal team.

00:58:31,730	And we’ll talk about a little bit more of that process and the second that we looked at historical data, so we have a We’ve got a sense of what’s the current event mix in the building, um, and then as part of all that, we evaluated.

00:58:48,300	So when you think about all that coming together, then we said to ourselves, what do we think is going to position the event center for the future. Uh, most beneficially. So we’ll talk about that and then um we’ve got some comments on next steps and what that would look like and so uh we’ll sort of move through that. Um, so just to Just to start right here. OK.

00:59:11,730	Just to start right here. So we, so the, the tact that we took in conducting the review. was we took a, uh, standard operating procedure manual. That we had put together JLL had put together sort of a sample, uh, SOP.

00:59:32,470	Right? So most convention centers Or event centers, if you go to them and you say, I’d like to see your standard operating procedure manual, there will be this thick Sort of X-page document that will really show you by department, by function.

00:59:55,470	What are the procedures, what are the things that create the sort of, if you will, what’s that, what’s that underlying approach that delivers, whether it’s on the service side or construction side or finance side, so we used a sample. Uh, SOP as a way to start to work through the discussions we had with the internal team. We met with every department. We sent them in advance some of the things that we had, we had sort of wanted to prompt.

01:00:16,130	In terms of the conversations we had with them. Um, and I’ll say a couple of things here, and you see this in uh in our notes. And that is that The outlook of the internal team.

01:00:31,130	So in terms of when you, if you think about sitting in a meeting with someone who’s asking you, You know, all these questions about can you sort of walk us through procedures. And we do this a lot. Sometimes we go into, we go into teams and we do this and you can almost sense that there’s sort of an immediate wall put up.

01:00:47,800	There can be defensiveness, it can be, you know, those processes can be, um, Sometimes not that productive if you can’t sort of get that open dialogue. This really was the opposite. So the team was very open. You talking through things.

01:01:06,200	There was a lot of discussions that we had because obviously we spend a lot of time in buildings where, you know, we would identify an opportunity. And instead of saying, boy, why isn’t that in place? We would really have conversations about, well, what, what could we do? So what are ways we could move that particular procedure forward. So that was sort of the spirit of how we conducted the meetings.

01:01:24,530	So that it didn’t, it wasn’t designed so the internal team would sort of look at this as some sort of audit. You know, but we wanted to look at the process as actually a benefit that then could be used going forward.

01:01:38,570	So again, some of the outcome could be then part of where do we go from here? So that was the spirit of how we conducted the discussions and you’ll, you’ll see that. You know, after we spent the two days, And after we sort of gathered everything in our minds and thought through it, you’ll see our first bullet point.

01:01:55,530	And that is what we’re not coming to you today is saying, let’s just keep everything the same. Right. What we’re saying is that essentially it cannot stay the same.

01:02:15,800	And so we need to figure out, and we’re gonna make some recommendations here about what does that mean? And how do we proceed or how do we move forward under the premise that there’s agreement that the, the JLL is not coming here saying let’s just keep everything as it is and You know, turn over the report and sort of that be our recommendation. Uh, we mentioned here fundamental changes. So really, almost to a department.

01:02:34,500	When we went through that, when we use that SOP as our guide to a department we saw opportunity. Right, so we saw procedures that needed to be put in place. And we saw opportunities where With additional structure.

01:02:59,630	We could move our performance forward? So whether it was preventive maintenance, whether it was sales, whether it was financial overview, whatever it may be. So, but when we were done, we said, and when we looked at the body of work, and you’ll see our second bullet point. We said, There really needs to be fundamental change and there needs to be sort of evolution of all facets of the operation.

01:03:19,370	So that What we don’t want to do is come here, make a recommendation, and everybody says, OK, well, that’s great. We want to sort of talk about a way that we think makes sense to take some of the findings, put a structure together that would support The outcome And then sort of move forward with that potential structure.

01:03:36,500	So then you’ll, you’ll notice here that we also said, There’s actually a cost. If we were to do nothing. So there would literally be a cost to the city if we just sort of said we’re going to absolutely keep everything the same.

01:03:51,500	We’re not going to provide, you know, any more support to the internal team, we’re just gonna kind of keep going. So, the reason why we wanted to say that right upfront. is because We think that’s an important part of the takeaway. If you look at the next slide, we’re going to move through this pretty quickly.

01:04:08,530	This just shows that we, we did an analysis of what is currently in the building. A couple of interesting stats here and again this is just more sort of informational that you’ll see here, but, you know, there’s a high percentage of really great, by the way it currently, there’s a high percentage of events that are repeat events.

01:04:24,570	So they’re sort of here annually. And that, those events, the nature of how we service those events and everything we do, they do take up a significant amount of resource to make sure that, you know, we keep those events in place, so there was an understanding that when you look at our mix of business,

01:04:41,530	There’s a high mix of basically large local events that sort of make up the current calendar of the Event Center. You see a little about seasonality. You know, sort of interesting that, um, this is what you learn when you get a chance to spend time in a different market.

01:05:00,830	But you know, we learned a little bit that the summer is actually a softer, softer months than others. So it gives you an idea if there’s, you know, is there a strategy there where we could ultimately sort of build a summer business. So this is more of data for you.

01:05:17,470	Um, so we said here earlier that what we did was we went through, use this SOP and what we found was Real opportunities here. So, some inconsistencies in terms of procedures, policies, practices that we really think again with the right support, with the right structure and moving those forward. We can really make a significant impact.

01:05:39,830	So, so this, the point of this is not to say that there isn’t a plan. That could take what we have found, put some structure behind it, and then really start us moving forward in some of these areas. We think there is, and you’ll notice that. We make the statement here about KPIs.

01:05:59,270	Right? So in Every building that we get a chance to spend time in. One of the outcomes that we, we, we like to see. is developing a set of KPIs, so the council will be involved with this. Everybody would be involved with this. And really spend time going, how do we define success at the event center.

01:06:18,230	You know, oftentimes, you think about success and people think it’s profit and loss. So they think the only metric here is, you know, top line revenue and bottom line. Whereas you’re going to see a list of potential KPIs.

01:06:34,900	That we use Where we think there’s other aspects of success that should be part of the outcome, should be part of how we move forward so that everybody in this room says, if I was walking up and giving you a quarterly report. You would see all these KPIs as well as physical performance, and we’ll talk a little bit about that in terms of sort of what we what we would do going forward.

01:06:50,730	So if you see some things we’ve listed here where we talk about SOPs and KPIs and operational procedures, revenue optimization, um, the standardization of how we monitor financial reporting. Um, abilities to align operations with city priorities.

01:07:12,670	Um, sometimes there are challenges right now and you know, how do we measure You know, how do we measure and then what do we measure? And then how do we use those measurements sort of falling under the KPI area to really demonstrate what we’re trying to do. Um, and so you can see some of the broader areas that surfaced.

01:07:27,630	You know, as we were going through the process that we were going through with the internal team. There’s more here. We talked about the two days that we spent, um, I just want to restate here that to a meeting, The internal team was very positive.

01:07:48,000	Interested You know, these weren’t conversations, you know, we, we didn’t, we didn’t have a conversation like why is this this? We, we are the spirit of our conversation was, OK, so here’s where we are. How do, where do we go from here? And I, and I would tell you this, and, you know, we probably, I think Amanda would agree.

01:08:00,730	We probably talked to at least 60, 70% of the team. And probably to a person, we had very few interactions where somebody just sort of, sort of put the hand out. And said, no, no, no, no, no, we’re not interested. Right, there was a lot of interest.

01:08:18,870	In terms of, you know, where do we go from here, which really speaks to how do we create a structure That takes a look at these priorities and really supports that going forward. And so the key is going to be, and we’ll see this in a second in terms of what we’re proposing, but, you know, what does that structure look like? So I won’t go through all the lists here.

01:08:33,830	A couple of interesting side notes that I think are part of the Should be part of the consideration you’ll see here in bullet 0.4. On this page, you’ll see this notion of incentive plans. Right, so for example, oftentimes we see in buildings that we’re in.

01:08:50,870	That whether it’s sales teams or general managers or senior teams, they are part of an incentive plan. And that that incentive plan says if you hit certain metrics. Then there will be incentives built into your compensation that you’ll be able to earn. Right, somewhat common.

01:09:10,630	If you think about creating a, a sales, you know, if you want to call it a sales environment or a team environment we think incentive plans can be helpful. And this is an example where when you deal, when you’re purely in the public sector. So if, if our entire environment is in the public sector, incentive plans are not as easy.

01:09:29,200	Right, it’s not as easy to administer those, and I think, you know, Jason and I had Many conversations because we never want to say that it’s not possible. But we know that some of these things are not as easy. To administer in the public sector. Right.

01:09:49,670	The other one you’ll see here is how groups are how you negotiate with a group. So oftentimes the nature of how negotiations go on in this world is, it’s pretty fluid. Sales managers have the ability to really be pretty nimble.

01:10:08,400	In terms of how they determine whether something, whether a group is going to produce the right amount of fiscal results to really be the right group. And there may be different revenue streams that make it up. There may be different aspects of a group being the right group to book. And our understanding is that’s not as easy. Again, in a pure public environment.

01:10:24,270	Right, you have, you know, sometimes you have posted prices that everybody’s agreed to. So it’s not as easy to have that sort of latitude, if you will. Um, so we looked at some things beyond just The procedural pieces where we said, Are there other structural issues that kind of do impede progress, that we should at least acknowledge and then

01:10:44,170	figure out kind of where we go from here. You’ll see on the right There’s a lot of different bullet points here. We won’t. Necessarily go through each one, But you’ll notice how we’ve sort of characterized those. We’ve characterized those as opportunities. You know, so we’ve said here, there are opportunities here.

01:11:05,500	That we think is an important way to look at this again, not, you know, why did we or didn’t we, but what are the opportunities? And so the list you see on the right are a series of different things that we believe are opportunities.

01:11:21,400	Going forward and again back to the Talking about the internal team and You know, their overall, um, Responsiveness as we talk to this spirit of the conversations were great, you know, the spirit of the conversations where you, how, how can we do this or how can we move some of these things forward.

01:11:40,630	So when you think of the process we went through, spending all the time we did, getting stakeholder feedback, thinking about the, the amount of, if you will, what, what is it going to take? To take all the things that we think we see as opportunities and what is it going to take? What’s the structure that could support the internal team. That can support the priorities of the city.

01:11:59,300	That are going to get us, we think. Have an opportunity to really, um, you know, get us in, you know, moves in the right direction. So if you see this slide, Here’s the recommendation. And, and this is something that we spent a lot of time thinking about, a lot of conversations. So here’s what we’re recommending.

01:12:18,100	So we are recommending transitioning. The oversight of the event center to a third-party management company. Right We’re also talking about enhancing the relationship with the CBB. And we’re talking about proposing a new governance model that you sort of see here on the right that’s being depicted.

01:12:41,000	Now, if you look at the next sentence here about, we think this provides the structure for success. But what we’re not saying Is that what we should do is just generically go out and put an RFP out there and just pick a company. What we’re saying here is this approach has to be guided.

01:13:01,400	By what we’re calling Bismarck focused set of key performance indicators. So that when we go out and talk to third parties. We’re not just going to say, you know, tell us how many buildings you manage. We’re going to tell them what’s important to us. And ask them how they are going to support our priorities.

01:13:19,530	And I think that’s a very different approach than just saying we’re going to go sort of do kind of a generic RFP approach. We want to spend time, have the internal team involved with this too and really spend time and say, What do we want to make sure we hear.

01:13:38,530	In this process from potential candidates as to how they’re going to approach the event center in a way that’s right for Bismarck. Right? That’s, that to us is the key to the recommendation. Um, we don’t necessarily think that Just the notion of moving to a third party to do it just to do it for doing its sake. We don’t think that is the answer.

01:13:56,270	It has to be coupled with all the things that we believe are key priorities for us. If you go to the next slide, a little bit of next steps.

01:14:11,470	This goes through, we can talk, I think we, we had the opportunity to talk more based on the council’s sort of digestion of all this next week. But we have steps here that you can see. are very specific related to developing the KPIs, making sure we have a very, you know, customized scope of service, really thinking about this new governance role.

01:14:30,500	So if we’re going to have this authority board or this, this board. You know, how do we implement that in a way where it’s going to provide value. Because we’ve seen governance models that are put into place where they don’t really give the governing community, a lot of authority, a lot of real authority. And then they become much less effective.

01:14:47,470	Right, so how do we create something that really is going to bring The right kind of a, you know, the right kind of, um, if you will, input and support. To help the Event Center continue to move forward.

01:15:03,470	Um, Solicit competitive bids, review financial terms, make sure there’s transparency, those are some of the things that relate to this piece. Um, you can see here that, and the reason we want to take an extra moment on this is, you can see all the areas here. Some of these tie right back to the areas that we saw opportunity in.

01:15:19,630	When it came to our work with the internal team, and we want to make sure. That whoever a potential partner would be going forward? That we have addressed every area.

01:15:37,170	That has been, has been identified in this process and that we really listen to whether they’re going to be the right partner, and they’re going to be able to deliver on the priorities that we think are important. Here is a slide that we can go through again next week, but What this, what if you look at this slide, and you start just running through them. Event make, you know, event mix.

01:15:55,530	What that has to do with, it’s just one example. That has to do with a measurement that says, We don’t just want to have a lot of events, we want to have the right events. As an example. And you look at some of these other ones about, um, community benefit, sustainability. There’s other areas that aren’t just sort of P&L based.

01:16:14,530	If you look at these KPIs and so what we’re saying is we want to develop with everybody here. What are the KPIs that are the highest priority for Bismarck. And how would we weight those KPIs. When we were thinking about what success looks like going forward.

01:16:32,370	And there could be KPIs that aren’t even on this. That we would ultimately come up with together. So you can sort of visualize a process where we go out to the, we go out with that and we say we want you to tell us how you’re going to impact. Bismarck’s KPIs and not just how you’re generically going to, you know, engage with the event center.

01:16:53,470	Two other pieces we want to talk about. So I think everybody knows that the CDB is going through a process right now. So they’re they’re involved in an annual planning process. Mm And um As it turns out, we’re fortunate enough to also be involved with that process too.

01:17:14,900	And we think there’s benefit here in the fact that it gives us a chance to really look at What’s that relationship? Between the event Center and the CVB and what does it look like going forward? And what is going to, again, back to KPIs, back to producing results. What’s going to ultimately deliver.

01:17:34,170	As a collective team, the best results possible. So you’ll notice here that we are starting those conversations. And as part of finalizing. The CBB process as well as continuing to think about it from the events Center standpoint, we want to come back with a formal recommendation.

01:17:53,800	As to how we see Specifically, the relationship with the CBB. What does it look like? How is it measured? You know, how is it structured, what are the duties? What is accountability look like, all those sort of questions.

01:18:07,130	We want to make sure are part of a recommended approach going forward, and we think there’s a real opportunity here. So I’ll stop here. And hopefully that gave you a sense of how we approach this. Kind of what our, you know, what we did, you know, what was our approach? What’s the outcome? And the fact that we see this recommendation as it has to be specific.

01:18:29,170	It has to meet and, and really speak to what Bismarck’s priorities are. So I’ll stop there. Comm Chair Clery, I have two questions. One, Um Since obviously we’re seeing this for the first time, I’m assuming. That’s some event center staffs that’s sitting here seeing this for the first time as well.

01:18:52,000	Did anybody go down and talk to the Event Center staff prior to today to find out that the endgame here is to go to a third party. It’s 25 employees down there. Comm that might have just got their world turned upside upside down. Mr. Zenker, I will address that.

01:19:18,900	Um The, uh, there’s not been a direct go down to the event center because, hey, I don’t know what we’re going to do. Um, this does not necessarily mean That those employees are not employees of the city of Bismarck. It might well mean that the Person or the entity that is Directing how we’re creating events in the event center is the contract.

01:19:39,030	We don’t know yet what we will do. Um, Amanda was Made aware of where their recommendations were coming. She knew already. Did you have a second question? um I’ll tell you right now, and I’ve said it before, um, I’m not going to support a third party.

01:20:04,100	Um We’ve already got the, the presentation, which is fantastic, by the way, sir. Um, that we found that the staff was more than willing to make any adjustments. To it And I’ve said it when I had the portfolio, we do what we have to do. But to Mister Ubl’s presentation about implementing, um, a quick math was about 22 million bucks, give or take.

01:20:24,400	I’m not about to turn invest $22 million in our facility and then turn the keys over to somebody else. So Uh, we’ll have more discussions about this next week, obviously, but I’ll just give you that food for thought. Thank you.

01:20:47,300	Does anyone else have anything, Comm Rich? Madam Chair, as I recall, we had this discussion leading up to this, um, process, um, we explicitly excluded a third party. Um, operation of it. That’s what I recalled it. But you, you did a wonderful job and that might be the route to go, but I think that’s what our decision was early on.

01:21:04,930	I think that the general ask, at least the way that I remembered it was we wanted. JLL to present us with Their recommendation. I think that that could scale anywhere from leave it exactly how it is.

01:21:27,870	Or third party, I think that there’s a lot of things in between there that can be discussed, um, which is why we’re certainly not leaving tonight with a decision. That’s why next week is already on our calendar because I think that there’s a lot of information here, and I think that we can take the parts that work for Bismarck and move forward, whether it’s all of it, whether it’s just some of it, but I think that.

01:21:45,930	Um, the ask in general was To provide us with a recommendation. I don’t, at least I don’t think that there was any like what’s your recommendation besides a third party.

01:22:06,170	Obviously, the, there’s no consensus at this table that a third party is what we want, but I think we in general we’re wanting their recommendation at this stage. Comm Connelly. To uh chair, uh, commissioners to clarify Comm Risch, what it was in that discussion is I talked about as far as that third party option that we just leave it out there, and if somebody came in and we gave them an opportunity to present. Maybe.

01:22:33,100	They blew our socks off with the opportunity of what that might look like, not putting any parameters about it, just allowing it to be on the table. So, maybe we make a decision to Go with whatever they came up with versus going the consultant route and I agree it’s a good presentation.

01:22:51,900	Um, that was the one thing removed at that point. Opting for the consultant portion. Knowing that at some point in time this might be part of the recommendation.

01:23:09,800	I just thought it might be a little bit of a missed opportunity to see If we got something on the front side of things, so we didn’t have to spend the money twice, so to speak, but that’s water under the bridge, and this is where we’re at, so going forward with it. Um, any other questions for Dan at this time. He will be present next week.

01:23:29,130	I think we all have a lot to go over and think about and relook at and I’m sure we’ll have a list of questions for you next week, but any, any immediates. The OK. Thanks. Thanks, thanks. And again, I’ll say it, I’ll say it again. Uh, I want to thank everybody that was involved here because virtually every team member.

01:23:49,370	Played a role here, so a lot of, a lot of collaboration around what you see. I appreciate the extensive time that went into this. So thank you, Dan. Thank you. Um Jason, would you like to add before we move on, Madam Chair, Comm, Mayor Schmitz, uh, nothing to add, just letting you know that it would be our intention to uh build the

01:24:08,570	Agenda packet for next week’s meeting tomorrow. So if there is anything beyond these last two items that you received, um, That you would like on tomorrow’s or on next week’s agenda, please feel free to catch either myself, Whitney or Doug, after the meeting or we’d take a list right now if you’ve

01:24:25,630	got something, um, so I thought to one other thing that we were, we discussed when we did this was, um, more of those economic impact type information off of that, so did Dan, did you guys bring, bring a bunch of that information, right? Cause it’s, sometimes it’s.

01:24:44,870	When I had the portfolio, we’d bang our head against the wall, having that argument about bottom line, top line and and impact so if we have all of that information and then specifically, um, Going back a few years, we kind of had a, uh, discussion about what it costs to operate that event center on a daily basis, so finance can bring those

01:25:04,830	numbers and then we can, I think the Mayor alluded to it earlier that they’re gonna be here and he’s, we’re gonna need that, so just to reiterate that that we have that information. Thank you. All right, I think Got it, yep. Thank you, Commissioners.

01:25:27,100	All right, we will move on to item C, public hearing on ordinance 6613, a zoning map amendment from the RM 30 residential zoning district to a CG commercial zoning district for parts of Lot 9-12, block 82, Williams survey, Ben. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, the, the project proposal that, uh, Madam Chair just described.

01:25:53,370	Uh, is located in central Bismarck, north of East Main Avenue, uh, in the north and essentially in the northeast quadrant to the intersection of North 12th Street and East Broadway Avenue. Uh, Project area does comprise 10,226 square feet, uh, within one parcel in one block, uh, future land use associated with the proposal is, uh, community mixed use in the existing zoning as RM 30 residential.

01:26:16,730	The the requested action would allow the development of a barbershop as indicated by the applicant. Uh, the planning and zoning Commission. Did consider this request at the March 26th, 2025 meeting. Uh, there was one member from the in addition to the applicants who spoke, there was one member of the public who spoke in opposition.

01:26:34,870	Indicating that in general that they had a desire to purchase this particular property and develop it as a residential use. Uh, at the conclusion of the public hearing, the planning and zoning Commission did recommend approval of the zoning map amendment from the RM 30 residential zoning district to the CG commercial zoning district for parts of

01:26:54,800	Lots 9 through 12, Block 82, uh, Williams survey as outlined in Ordinance 6613 in your packets. Are there any questions you may have for me? Any questions for Ben? Doesn’t look like it. Thanks, Ben. Or sorry, Comm Zenker. Go ahead. No, I don’t have a question for Ben. I’ll just, um, bring it up for.

01:27:17,630	Conversation piece, um. The applicant is a shirt tail relative. I’m not part of the business. So if the commission thinks I need to recuse myself because our last names are the same. I will do that. I don’t have no financial interests, right, Comm? No, I’m not in the business of cutting hair, sir.

01:27:38,470	I think we are fine. Yeah, I would agree. Uh Alright, this is a public hearing first, uh, we’ll go ahead and open the public hearing first call for public comment. Hi, my name is, uh, Travis Zinker. I’m the Shirttail relative of Greg.

01:28:05,130	Oh, thanks for throwing that out there, um, yeah, I’m just, I would like to build a barbershop on the lot, and I have a purchase agreement in place, so. Just waiting on to see if that goes through or not. Any questions for me? Any questions for the applicant? I’ll just say, um, Mr. Zinker has cut my hair. He does an excellent job. Noted. Thank you.

01:28:24,800	Second call for a public hearing. 6613. 3rd and final call. Public hearing is now closed. What are the wishes of the commission or is there any further discussion? Motion to approve, and I’d just like to say with it, I watched the planning and zoning, and the one dissenting thing, um, that

01:28:54,300	lot’s been available for a long time. So, Um, it’s, you’re the first that came to the table and that’s why I made the motion. Second Emotion a second, go ahead and call roll.

01:29:13,870	Comm Schmitz Yes. Yes. Comm Cleary, yes. All right, item D public hearing on ordinance 6614, a zone mapping map amendment from the Agricultural zoning district to the PUD planned unit development zoning district and Future land use plan amendment for the urban reserve midterm designation to community mixed use designation on lot 2, block 1, George

01:29:45,100	Subdivision. Ben. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, the property, uh, that was just described is located in uh Northe or it’s actually located northeast of Bismarck. Uh, north of 43rd Avenue, Northeast, and on the east side of 80th Street, uh, northeast, the project area is comprised. Of 22.

01:30:06,370	85 acres within one lot on one block. Uh, future land use associated with the proposal is currently designated as Urban Reserve midterm in the existing zoning as a agricultural.

01:30:30,300	Uh, the requested action would allow for the development of a worship facility, uh, with an associated, uh, sports complex or soccer field and ancillary uses to support the worship facility and, and soccer field. Uh, the planning and zoning Commission did consider this request at the March 26th, 2025 meeting.

01:30:53,470	No members of the public provided uh oral or written testimony and aside from a representative of the applicant, uh, planning and zoning Commission did identify a one following condition that’s in your uh agenda packets, and that is the approval of the platte of a plat modification addressing stormwater easements is granted by all applicable entities and recorded in conjunction with future site plan development and approval.

01:31:14,200	Uh, at the conclusion of the public hearing, the planning and zoning Commission did recommend approval of the aforement, uh, including the aforementioned condition of A zoning map amendment from the agricultural to the PD or planned unit development zoning district as outlined in Ordinance 6614, as well as a future land use plan amendment from the Urban reserve midterm to the community mixed-use designation on lot 2, block 1, George subdivision.

01:31:34,900	Uh, any questions, uh, that any of you have for me? Any questions for Ben? Rich, Madam Chair Ben, so what about the sewer and water and things that’ll, they’ll be able to access rural water, I suspect, and.

01:31:56,030	Yeah, the, uh, thank you for that, uh, uh, question, Comm, um, the applicant is here in or a representative of the applicant is here and can speak more to their plans, but it is outside of, uh, the corporate limits of the city B business markets in the ETA, um, so water would not be immediately available, so they would need to rely on rural water, uh, as well as, uh, you know, some.

01:32:12,000	Some type of private septic system that, that they would need to address. Uh, they are aware, and it is noted in the staff report that fire suppression may be needed, uh, for some of what they’re proposing to build, um, and, uh, they will, the rural water typically doesn’t have the, the, the, the type of pressure

01:32:30,630	needed to, for a fire suppression system, so additional measures in the site plan process additional measures may be, may be needed, uh, based on the design of the facility. So Any other questions for Ben? I think we’re good, um, go ahead and open the public hearing for Ordinance 6614. Anyone who wishes to speak.

01:32:59,300	Thank you, Chair. Cleary Lanna Neim Schwarzenegger Engineering representing, um, yeah, just to add a few more details of what ban had presented. This is basically a church campus will be some, some partnerships with some other groups in the area.

01:33:14,900	The intent, of course, with that first phase is, is a church and then possibly the sports facility at the same time. Uh, we’ve had some conversations with Rural Fire and with uh the city engineering and of course the county engineering concerning access and things like that. Um, as far as the first phase goes, everybody seemed to be fine with just that one axis point off of 80th right now, um.

01:33:29,670	Future phases that may, that may change in additional access points might be needed at that point. Same with the septic system, as you mentioned before, uh, that might drive how much how development really happens depending on how much sizing is really available for for septic in the area.

01:33:43,100	But uh I can certainly answer any questions if you have them that are members of the church here who are happy or Or at least willing to to speak if you have any questions for them. Any questions? I think we’re good. Thanks. Second call for this public hearing.

01:34:03,000	Anyone who wishes to speak, please come forward. Third and final call. public hearing is closed. Commissioners, what are your wishes? Move to approve as presented. The motion and a second go ahead and call roll. Comm Zener, Comm Connelly? Yes, Mayor Schmidt. Yes Comm Risch? Yes. Comm Cleary. Yes.

01:34:41,800	Item B, public hearing on the ordinance 6615, a future land use plan amendment for the urban neighborhood designation to neighborhood mixed use designation, a zoning map amendment from the RR residential and R 10 residential zoning districts to the commercial RM20 residential zoning districts and minor plat title south Meadows 3rd edition. Ben, thank you for that introduction, Madam Chair. Uh, the project that was just uh introduced, uh, is located in Southwest Bismarck.

01:35:09,100	West of South Washington Street in the southeast quadrant of the intersection of West Burleigh Avenue and Merdian Drive, the project areas comprised of 3.98 acres within one lot in one block. Future land use associated with the proposal is urban neighborhood and the existing zoning as a combination of RR. Residential and Ran residential.

01:35:30,870	Uh, the planning and zoning Commission did consider this request at the March 26th, 2025 meeting, um, aside from the applicant, no members of the public provided any oral or written testimony at that time.

01:35:49,630	At the conclusion of the public hearing, uh, the planning and zoning Commission recommended approval of uh the future land use plan amendment from the urban neighborhood to the neighborhood mixed-use designation. A zoning map amendment, uh, excuse me, a zoning map amendment from the RR residential and R 10 residential zoning districts to the conditional RM20. Residential zoning districts as outlined in ordinance 6615 in your packets. Excuse me.

01:36:12,000	And then finally, uh, also approved a minor plat uh titled South Meadows 3rd edition. Are there any questions you may have for me? Doesn’t look like it. Thanks, Ben. Um, this is a public hearing for Ordnance 6615. Anyone who wishes to speak on the agenda topic, please come forward. Thank you again, Chair Cleary.

01:36:37,200	Um, yeah, we have a just a few items to to add to what Ben was speaking about the, the intent, of course, here is is a multi-family, um. Structure, there are multi-family structures to the east of this, uh, in the area, and then there’s some uh lower downstate residential around the, the

01:36:49,870	West and the south, um, with this proposal and and we’ve, we’ve had some discussions with staff about this kind of going back and forth as uh as how this best work with the neighborhood and so you can see what’s in your packet there’s, there’s a little map showing sort of some additional

01:37:02,200	landscaping that we’d be doing to sort of preserve that, that the lighting and things like that, it won’t be shining into neighbors, uh, areas and things like that. We also have the the first floor of the complex actually would be parking so we can reduce some of that.

01:37:15,000	Cocrete that you would typically see in a, in a multi-family setting, you’re not gonna have such an enormous parking lot because the, the bulk of the parking will actually be in the building itself. Um, I do have some, some drawings if you guys would like to see them with the, with the intended layout is to be.

01:37:25,770	I can certainly hand those out. Do you want to take a look, but I also, any questions? I can try and answer them for you. Any questions? Doesn’t look like it. Thank you. Second call for public hearing. 3rd and final call for public hearing on ordinance 6615. public hearing is now closed.

01:37:50,170	What are the wishes of the commission to approved.

01:38:02,100	Promotion in a second, Comm Zenker? Yes. Comm Cleary. Yes. Item F. Public hearing for Ordinance 6616, a zoning map amendment from the RM 30 residential zoning district to an R to R 10 residential zoning district on Lot 1, Block 5, Sonnet Heights, subdivision First Replats.

01:38:28,130	Thanks again for that introduction, uh, Madam Chair, the property is located in North Central Bismarck, East and North Washington Street and north of East La Salle Drive, Project areas comprised of 31,226 square feet within one lot in one block. Future land use associated with the proposal is, uh, urban neighborhood in the existing zoning is RM 30.

01:38:51,100	The planning and zoning commission did consider this request at the March 26th, 2025 meeting and no members of the public provided any oral or written testimony. Uh, at the conclusion of that, uh, public hearing, the planning and zoning Commission did recommend approval of Uh, the zoning map amendment, uh, from the RM 30 residential to the R10.

01:39:12,630	Residential zoning district in Lot 1, block 5, Sonnet Heights Subdivision First Replatt as outlined in Ordinance 6616 in your packets, uh, any, any questions for me on this item. Any questions for Ben? Doesn’t look like it. We’re gonna go ahead and open the public hearing for ordinance 6616. Anyone who wishes to speak on the topic, please come forward. You should just sit up here, man.

01:39:32,730	I’m trying to cut walking out of my life entirely, so that might be

01:39:39,800	case we’re sort of doing the opposite of what, uh, from the last one was, we have a multi-family lot right now where we have single family and twins to the to the West and the north, and we have multi-family to the east.

01:39:52,400	In this case, they would like to reduce their, their density a little bit, probably a twin home and a single family home, but possibly 3 single family homes in place of the multifamily, uh, but I can certainly answer any questions if you have them. Any questions for landed? I don’t think so thank you. Second call for public hearing. Third and final call for public hearing ordinance 6616.

01:40:15,530	public hearing is now closed. What are the wishes of the commission? we approve as presented. A motion in a second. Go ahead and roll. Mayor Schmitz. Yes. Comm Risch Comm Zenker Comm Connelly? Yes. Comm Cleary. Yes. Item G.

01:40:40,470	Public hearing on ordinance 6617, a zoning map amendment from the PUD, um, to a Public zoning district for lots 1 and 3 through 19, Block 1 Missouri Valley Complex. Thank you, Madam Chair. Landon and I have one more item, uh, for you tonight, and then, uh, then we’ll, we’ll give you a break from us for a little while.

01:40:57,630	Uh, the property, uh, in question as, as Madam, Madam Chair described is located in East Bismarck between East Main Avenue and Apple Creek Road and between East Bismarck Expressway and Midwest Drive, uh, the project areas comprised of 416 acres within 18 lots in one block.

01:41:18,470	Future land use associated with the uh proposal is a combination of institutional and parks and recreation in the existing zoning is PD or planned unit development. Requested action would allow for new uses within the area without the need for the property owners to, uh, continually come back and, and amend the existing planned unit development. Uh, planning and zoning Commission did consider this request at the March 26, 2025 meeting.

01:41:38,670	Aside from the applicants, no members of the public provided any oral, uh, or written testimony at the conclusion of the public hearing, the planning and zoning Commission did recommend approval of a zoning map amendment from the PUD planned unit development.

01:41:59,100	To the P public zoning district for lots 1 and 3 through 19 block 1 Missouri Valley Complex as outlined in Ordinance 6617 in your packets. Any questions for me on this one? does not look like it. Thanks, Ben. Um, we’ll go ahead and open the public hearing for ordinance 6617. Anyone who wishes to speak on the topic, please come forward. Thanks again, Sir Cry.

01:42:19,800	Yeah, just to add a couple of details to what Ben had laid out for you, um, the area right now is a PUD, in this case, the PUD has become a little bit cumbersome for what the county is trying to do with the property.

01:42:31,570	They have some, some master plans that they’re trying to work through, and the PD is kind of limiting what their, what their purposes would be. So we’re gonna switch it over to P. Uh, this would also include the detention center that’s in the area.

01:42:45,400	They use also would fall under a public use and so we can get them out of that PUD and eliminate some of those, those difficulties when if they want to make any minor changes that wouldn’t require another PUD amendment that can take.

01:42:57,000	3 or 4 months, so it’s a little faster method for, for going forward that, um, we’ll also be following this up with the latte in the next few months, uh, to sort of change the roadway alignments and things like that, but That’s coming down the road a little bit, but I can answer any questions if you have them. Thank you. Any questions for Landon? Doesn’t look like it. Thank you so much. Second call for public hearing. 3rd and final call for public hearing on ordinance 6617. Public hearing is now closed.

01:43:15,200	What are the wishes of the commission? Moved to approve is presented. Second, we have a 1st and a 2nd. Go ahead and call roll. Comm Risch? Yes. Comm Zenker? Yes. Comm Connelly, Mayor Schmitz. Comm Cleary, yes.

01:43:44,800	Item H public hearing on ordinance 6618 a zoning ordinance text amendment to revise and clarify certain sections of Title 14 on the city code of ordinance related to animal boarding and similar non-medical animal services. Thank you, uh, Chair Cleary, Mayor and Commissioners, our next regular agenda item we’re mixing it up a little bit from all the zoning map amendments, um, Yeah.

01:44:30,670	So, this uh particular request comes to us from the Community Development department who is requesting some a zoning ordinance tax moment to revise and clarify some zoning requirements for animal boarding and similar non-veterinary animal services as well as uh some clarifications to some veterinary-based animal services just to maintain consistency with new definitions and things like that. Uh, this will be for Title 14 of the City Code of Ordinances, specifically sections 140203, 14,030.

01:44:55,770	7, 140308, 140,410, 140412, 1404, 14, 1404, 15, 1404, 17, and 140421. I promise there will not be a pop quiz at the end of this, and for, uh, put that in a little more plain language and more direct language, those stated sections of the code refer to, uh, definitions, uses and use groups, special use

01:45:19,200	processes as well as the relevant zoning districts where these uses uh might be. See So, the intent of this request is just to do some housekeeping of, uh, some clarifications that will then help bridge the gap between where we are at right now and the full zoning code rewrite as part of the upcoming

01:45:40,000	land development Code and the reason for this at this time is because staff have received some inquiries from the public regarding this general topic and as of right now, Title 14 does have two main categories for customary household pets, uh, that would be, uh, pet shops or the sale of pet.

01:45:57,170	and then veterinary services for pets defined as small animal veterinary clinic and animal hospitals. Staff have noted that this lacks some clarity for businesses that kind of fall in between those two main categories such as animal training or um uh grooming, for example, and then what is currently defined as kennels have generally been included

01:46:19,470	with animal hospitals as far as criteria go, and this has been noted to lack some flexibility as well. So at The, uh, September 25th, 2024 meeting of the planning and zoning Commission planning staff requested some direction from the planning and zoning commission on how to proceed with this, and the Commission did direct staff to address

01:46:39,200	these issues. So the proposed changes which are on the screen before you and for the audience, and I will get into those in a moment. These proposed changes come as a result of research from peer communities throughout the region, as well as conversations between uh community development staff, uh, both planning and building inspection staff.

01:46:57,470	As well as public health and police department staff meaning animal control. So as you can see on the screens here, these definitions, uh, the, the intent of this is to just clarify some definitions for those veterinarian and non-veterinary, uh, services as well as that inclusion of other business types which are not necessarily explicitly stated,

01:47:15,270	uh, in the ordinance right now, as well as adjusting some of the staff procedures for the animal boarding aspect of things. So on the left side here, we have the old terms or perhaps I should say the current terms still on the right side of the screens there have the proposed terms, the

01:47:33,130	two main boxes on the left there, we’ve got those pet shops and then we have the, uh, veterinary stuff on the bottom box that animal Ho and small animal veterinary clinic and the intent of the sort of dashed line box there is just to show that channels do fall somewhere in between.

01:47:49,370	Most kennels don’t necessarily provide veterinary services, but as of right now, the criteria For approval or or or things like that, 4 kennels are lumped together with animal hospitals as of right now. So the proposed changes here on the right side would create a new definition, uh, currently titled Animal Services non-veterinary.

01:48:11,770	This would include those things like, uh, the sales of pets, grooming and training as well as, um, the animal boarding components of things, and there will be a few different classes of this which we will get into on the next slide and then we’re just uh, adjusting the uh name of animal Ho and small animal veterinary

01:48:30,470	clinic to try match up with the new definitions of non-veterinarian animal services. So we’re just renaming those as veterinary services for large or small animals. The intent of that, the definitions don’t necessarily change. This is just a, a clerical thing on that.

01:48:50,100	So with this, uh, we are proposing just a few different classes of things for the sake of staff procedures. The class one animal services non-veterinary would include the sale and or related services for customary household pets that training and grooming, and it would not include animal boarding.

01:49:08,930	So basically what is currently pet shops would be class one, but it would include those other things just for the sake of clarity. Class 2 would be businesses that provide all of those services provided by a Class one, non-veterinary animal service business, but they could provide animal boarding as well, so long as the boarding was entirely enclosed within a building.

01:49:32,730	The class 3 would be the same thing as class 1, but could provide animal boarding as well, and it could have an outdoor component to the animal boarding such as an exercise area or a recreation area for the, the animals, and they, they could provide commercial breeding services as well.

01:49:50,000	They of course would not have to to uh still be a class 3 if they just had boarding and no, no breeding. And then lastly, this, uh, slide here is just to show where these uses would be proposed. In general, the intent was to say if it was allowed in this area already or this zoning district, it is still permitted there. That is not changed.

01:50:09,770	Just again trying to match up these new definitions here and some of these staff procedures. So on there you can see the P4 permitted the S with the asterisk would be an administrative, uh, special use, meaning it would go through a higher level staff review.

01:50:25,100	Uh, as well as likely a site plan process depending on what is being proposed, and then the uh regular special use permit there is designated by the SUP that would still go to the planning and zoning commission.

01:50:42,130	Currently, uh, animal Hos and kennels go to a, a public hearing for a special use permit at the planning and zoning Commission that would still hold true for the animal hospitals, but we are proposing to shift the boarding components of this a way to a administrative special use, so still a higher level of review, just not as high as that full public hearing component and then the boxes that are uh

01:51:00,930	blank right now that you would not be permitted there. So just some other uh background on this, the planning and zoning Commission considered this request at their February 26th, 2025 meeting and then called for a public hearing which was held at the March 26th meeting.

01:51:20,100	The public, of course, was notified of this via publications in the Bismarck Tribune on March 14th and 21st, and then there were additional Uh publications in the Bismarck Tribune in between that hearing and this hearing on April 11th and 18th.

01:51:38,200	You, of course, considered this item at the April 8th meeting and now here we are on April 22nd for the public hearing here before the board of City Commissioners at the conclusion of the public hearing at the Planning and Zoning Commission, they unanimously recommended approval of the proposed tax amendment as outlined in Ordinance 6618 and uh perhaps unsurprisingly, staff are recommending approval as well.

01:51:59,630	And The, uh, to my knowledge, we have not received any public comments uh regarding this request prior to this hearing, but as a cumulative result of all the findings, city of Bismarck staff find that the proposed text amendment would not adversely impact health, safety, and general welfare and that it is generally consistent with the comprehensive plan, Bismarck Code of ordinances and relevant state law.

01:52:17,200	So with all that, uh, staff do recommend, um, approval of the zoning ordinance tax Amendment to revise and clarify certain zoning requirements for animal boarding and non-veterinary animal services as outlined in ordinance 6618. I will not read through all these sections again, but I certainly can if you want me to.

01:52:36,630	Does the Commission have any questions for me at this time. Go ahead, Comm, Comm Connelly, go ahead. Um This could the chart itself be moved to the front of it and then when you’re reading through it, it seems like there’s I mean, I know you’re gonna take out all the cross

01:52:55,630	lines, so it’ll be fewer pages, but like the, um, 15 ft for Um, smaller animals in the 30 ft and then the 1000 ft for the setback, that seems like it’s redundancy, it kind of covers a lot of different sections, can those areas be um condensed, so

01:53:18,570	it’s not so much wording, cause you get buried in it sometimes. Thank you, uh, Comm Connelly, Chair Cleary, and, and Commissioners. So the, the formatting of the ordinance in the proposed version here is trying to match up as closely as what the current formatting of Title 14 is, of course, the

01:53:36,300	struck through lines and the underlines like that will go away, but, uh, the intent there is just to have the formatting be as close as possible to the current formatting, of course, again, we are redoing the zoning ordinance, so the new land development code when it is adopted in the future, that

01:53:51,130	formatting might look different, but this is what we are working. With as of right now, as far as your uh note on the, the size or space components that 15 ft and 30 ft, that’s a square footage requirement for the, the size of, uh, the, the business or have you know a minimum space per animal

01:54:11,470	involved there, that 1000 ft listed just for clarification, that is a distance to residential buildings or residential zoned property, that is a criteria for approval that is currently in the uh current version for animal hospitals and kennels, and there, there was discussion about whether or not that could be adjusted or or reduced from

01:54:35,470	1000 ft, but both public health and the police department recommended that we maintain that criteria. Go ahead. To clarify, I guess, the reason why I mentioned it is I was trying to be less wordy. Um-hum. Um, but like under class 2, all of that information, or one, all of that information’s there.

01:54:55,830	And then it’s mentioned again under Class 2 and class 3. Can it be condensed to where All of the stuff that’s the same is just mentioned once, and only the differences are mentioned later, as a way to condense the wording, not necessarily a question on the specific, uh, measurements or the impacts to

01:55:16,630	the actual buildings. That’s what I was pertaining to. Sorry I got confusing. Thank you, Comm Connelly. I, I misunderstood your question.

01:55:36,870	We can certainly look to see if that can be condensed for the sake of uh legibility there, the community development directly, uh, involve stakeholders to make sure that they would not be adversely affected by, uh, the new guidelines.

01:55:58,400	Comm Zenker Chair Cleary and Comm, we did, uh, reach out to, uh, an individual who had previously inquired during the drafting process, but we did not hear back from that individual, so the conversations were city staff specifically. Thank you. Any other questions for Isaac? Doesn’t look like it. Thank you. This is a public hearing will for ordinance 6618,, 1st call for public hearing. Second call 3rd and final call. Go ahead and close the public hearing. Any questions? What are the wishes for the commission. Move to approve is presented. Second.

01:56:30,900	Motion in a second, go ahead and call roll. Comm Zenker. Yes.

01:56:45,200	Yes. Item I consider the request to receive bids and award contract for street light and traffic signal Pro SV80. Linda Good evening, Chair Cleary, Mayor and Commissioners. Yesterday we received bids for street light and traffic signal utility project SV 80, which included 6 units of streetlight feedpoint replacements at various locations in Bismarck.

01:57:32,730	The engineer’s estimate for the project was $195,00651. We received 3 bids. I’ve left a copy of the bid summary at your workstation. Uh, we evaluated the bids that we received for each unit and combinations of those bids in an effort to maximize the use of the dollars allotted in the CIP for this

01:57:58,030	project. Uh, for the, the best use of the program funds we recommend awarding units 1 through 4. If you’ll notice on the 2nd page of the handout. Um Uh There’s an evaluation of units 1 through 4. And feder Electric is a low bidder, uh, with a bit of.

01:58:28,800	$143,0805 and no cents, and with that we ask that you award Project SV 80. Units 1 through 4. To fets are electric. Any questions for Linda? Moved to approve is presented 2nd. Well in a second go and call roll. Thank you. Mr. Connelly? Yes. Mayor Schmitz? Yes. Comm Risch? Yes. Comm Zenker. Yes, Comm Cleary, yes.

01:58:58,670	Item J consider the request to receive legislative update and provide direction to staff. Chair Cleary, Commissioners, uh, just 3. Uh, bills that I’d like to touch on that we’ve talked about, I think just about every, every time this group has met and we’ve done a legislative update.

01:59:20,270	Uh, in, I guess, chronological order, uh, lowest to highest House Bill 1020. This is the bill that contains the State Water Commission budget, uh, this morning, I had the good fortune to meet with uh Representative Swante and Senator Sorbog, um, To discuss the South Bismarck flood control project.

01:59:39,000	I was pinch hitting for our city engineer, Mr. Schell, who was feeling under the weather, so it’s a good thing I heard his presentation a few times cause I, I don’t know how to be a civil engineer. I did my best.

01:59:55,370	I think we, we had a great conversation, good discussion, good questions from, uh, both Senator Sorvaag and Representative Swiontek, uh, House Bill 1020 is in conference committee and the individuals would be uh

02:00:07,530	and Bekkedahl, and so I believe that is coming up in the next 2 days. That will be on their calendar for more discussion. House Bill 1176. This is the property tax bill that we’ve talked about, uh, quite substantially from the beginning.

02:00:27,370	Again, conference committee here, uh, committee members included Representative Nathe, Representative Bosch, and Representative Headland, and Senators Weber, Bekkedahl, and Erbele. Um, we would look forward to some hopeful resolution on that bill as it moves forward, um, where it stands today, still a 3% cap on general fund, um, collections, and, uh, budget increases as well as.

02:00:52,100	the um new growth for communities and then the uh residential primary property tax credit, I believe is still at uh $1250 annually. And the 3rd bill that we’ve talked about a little bit the last few meetings is Senate Bill 2307.

02:01:15,000	This is the, uh, bill, Relating to materials within public libraries and uh public school libraries, uh, both sides, the House and the Senate passed the bill, and it has been sent to the governor for his signature. I just checked before walking up to the podium that is still the position it sits in. It’s my understanding the governor has two choices. He can either sign the bill into law or choose to veto it at his desk.

02:01:30,870	Um, so we will watch the proceedings on that one as we go forward, uh, as always, you have an updated, um, List of all the bills that we’ve been tracking from the beginning. If you have any questions on any of those, I’d be happy to try and answer them. Any questions for Jason? I think so. Thank you.

02:01:50,200	I have a few things for other business, but does anyone else have anything? For sure Connelly, you had something. Yeah. During the first legislative update, there was, um, Bill’s mention related to the ETA and I’d mentioned that, uh, the county, um.

02:02:18,000	Still has not everybody at their table is in agreement with some of the information shared in the Bismarck Burleigh meetings to where there seems to be consensus there, but not at the county. So, um, I mentioned that that might be one of the times to where um When the boards are meeting separately, there’s pointing fingers in different directions and things, and, um, we should get all 10 of us in the room and then

02:02:37,000	allow people from the public, uh, to speak at that time, um, when we had that discussion because it surprised people at this table. Um, it was like, yeah, we can have a discussion whenever it’s just not consistent with this conversation, um, um, the county’s been a little interesting lately and talked to.

02:02:58,870	Somebody about it and they said, no, let’s go forward with that just because Other stuff might just take a little too long and we don’t want it to trickle into, say, an election year where everything gets a little bit more interesting.

02:03:14,400	Um, so, Just bringing it up here if, uh, it’d be all right to we call it and we’re all 10 of us can have that discussion. Specific, specific to the ETA, correct? Go ahead, Mayor.

02:03:37,370	Comm Connelly, I guess I’m, I’m wondering what the topic of discussion would be because we task force or committee, I should say, and It gets it’s being reviewed on an annual basis now for planning and zoning and both planning and zoning departments. At the county and the city were in agreement with where it stood.

02:04:02,630	Oh, in talking with other commissioners, there’s not consensus from the Burleigh County table itself, and that’s the reason for I know the discussions and not to get into the little tidbits from the Bismarck Burleigh meeting is, is that not all of the people at the commission table and uh residents feel like they’ve been heard, so they’ve requested that. So, even like uh.

02:04:28,170	Prior to you being in your seat, um, that was a discussion promised to be brought up during that tenure of the previous person in the mayor’s seat and county members were frustrated that that promise wasn’t followed through on. So that’s why I bring it up here.

02:04:47,000	I guess, I guess I would like to know what the anticipated result is or what the topic is gonna be. So we aren’t just Having an open agenda on it. OK. Well, I, I can reach out to you if that’s OK with everyone else then we can have a discussion and talk about it next meeting. Sounds good to me.

02:05:06,130	Um, the items that I have for other business are that it is just to remind people it’s currently cleanup week, um, so if it has not been your garbage pickup day, you still have time to participate in the curbside pickup.

02:05:23,130	If you missed the curbside pickup, um, the landfill drop off is free all week if you’re a resident. So you can still participate that way. Secondly, um, the Bismarck Rotary is, um, hosting the annual Keep Bismarck Beautiful on May 3rd. It’s an annual event where volunteers.

02:05:43,400	He’s, um, assist in collecting, uh, trash around town, you meet at Peace Park between 9 and 12 and you get assigned an area of town last year there was a lot of city staff that participated and it was a great event, so I just want to invite people to join there.

02:05:58,370	You can register ahead on um on the website, uh, there’s links on Facebook and on the city’s website, um, but you also, I believe, can just show up and sign up on a day of, and then thirdly, because Uh, the mayor is not present today.

02:06:14,870	I just wanted to remind people that the Mayor Prayer Breakfast is May 20th at 7:30 in the morning, so just all of those reminders was all I had for you guys. Any other business, Mr. Connelly. If I could add one additional uh mate is the community conversation through the human relations Committee and tandem with the, uh, subcommittee for uh um.

02:06:41,000	Transportation, reviewing the initiated measure, um, process where we’re inviting anybody and everybody to, uh, if they have uh direction on how we should, uh, improve our public transportation system for the elderly, disabled, and the low socioeconomic status, um, please come to the event. It’s in this room, um, because the library is booked that night from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on May 8th. Perfect. Thank you.