00:00:08,330	We’re in the Tom Baker room of the City County building. It’s August 12th at about 5:15. We have two meetings tonight. The first will be the Board of Health, and then the second will be the Board of City Commissioners.

00:00:24,530	However, before we get started, we would like to if Chaplain Kallis could come forward and lead us an invocation and pledge of allegiance, please. As you’re able, please stand for, uh, our opening prayer and remain standing for the Pledge. on behalf of Chris Kirk Chaplaincy, thank you for the opportunity to open this meeting in prayer. Let’s pray.

00:00:48,500	Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, for this beautiful evening. Thank you for your creation, for the enjoyment we experience with the change of seasons, the warm summer weather Thank you as our state’s farmers begin to harvest season for the promise of a good harvest and at the same time be with those who deal with disappointments due

00:01:07,600	to recent summer storms Be with others among us that experience health issues I think of several chaplains and family members among us that wait for your healing hand, please give them your strength and comfort Thank you for the privilege of living in the city of Bismarck as well as in this state.

00:01:25,430	Thank you for the many blessings and opportunities that this local community offers for our families and each of us who live here. I pray today for those who are in the offices that govern this community I ask that Your spirit guide as they make decisions.

00:01:45,100	Thank you for the freedom, citizens have to speak up and be heard, for in discussion and diversity comes strength in our community. I pray for Mayor Schmitz and those who work in that office. I pray for each Comm as well.

00:02:05,870	and other elected officials and city workers and ask that each one would be be blessed by you as they carry out their responsibilities. I also pray for our first responders. those who put themselves in harm’s way to protect the citizens of this community. our police and other law enforcement, firefighters EMS workers, dispatch, healthcare workers, and others.

00:02:28,800	Please protect them in their line of duty so that they might continue to protect those of us who have placed our trust in them. So God, we ask for your guidance and everything said and done this evening.

00:02:49,700	I’m so thankful for each and every one of the blessings you give us in Jesus’ name we pray Amen Say the pledge together I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, sir If we can call the Board of Health to order, call a roll, please.

00:03:15,270	Comm Risch Comm Zenker, here, Comm Connelly, Comm Cleary here, Mayor Schmitz, here, and even though it’s not published, and I’m not sure that there will be any, I am going to offer public comment. for the Board of Health, as I believe we should be having that at all of our meetings.

00:03:31,800	So if there’s anybody who wish to speak regarding public health um, and the update, please come forward. A second call for public comment a 3rd and final call Seeing no one and hearing no one, I’ll close the public comment period. Renee. sorry to delay you, but I just wanna make sure we are in a proper accord with the law. Absolutely. Thank you, um, Mayor Schmitz.

00:03:55,270	Um, as a Board of Health, I am asking for um a review. I have a presentation tonight of our strategic plan that we’ve been working on.

00:04:09,170	Um, this will be the, uh, the plan for the next 3 years, and, um, that’s the only item I have on the agenda unless you have any other questions uh following that. So I will get started. I think Whitty put my presentation up here for me. I do have the, the strategic plan on the consent agenda for the City Commission tonight.

00:04:27,630	So just for your, uh, reference, um, if anyone’s watching at home, they’re aware of that too. Uh, so our strategic plan, as I stated, would provide uh direction for the next 3 years. It’s evolving, um, to the community health needs that we’re seeing in our community.

00:04:46,000	We had the Community Health needs assessment that we work with the local healthcare providers and our stakeholders, um, that was completed and also our community health improvement plan that the board and and Commission approved in March of 2025.

00:05:03,170	And so this is basically the, the final product of all of those things, um, giving us a roadmap in public health to be able to determine what our priorities, goals and objectives will be, uh, moving forward, um, in the next few years. Um, our strategic plan does align with the city of Bismarck’s strategic plan.

00:05:18,100	It was actually very helpful for me to be part of the steering committee for the city’s plan, um, that helped inform uh the goals and objectives there in this um department plan aligns and uh we’ll feed into that once it’s um finalized. So that’s currently under development. So our planning process included um an environmental scan and review of data. Uh, we looked at, as I stated, the assessments, um, are program reports and services, internal documents within the department.

00:05:41,530	And we did a uh SWAT analysis looking at our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and some of the challenges that we have, um, in the community gathered input from the staff and stakeholders and then really looked at strategic focus areas um similar to what the city of Bismarck’s plan, uh,

00:05:58,100	will be, uh, will be doing as well to give us priorities and then developed goals and objectives, um, for the development of that final strategic plan.

00:06:15,230	So some of the terminology you’ll see in our final plan, um, the strategic focus areas in our last plan, we used priorities, but we wanted to align with the same language as the city, um, and so our focus areas, uh, we have 4, and our mission and vision, of course, define who we are in our department, uh, but the focus areas will provide the overarching direction that will guide us in our work.

00:06:34,370	Our goals and objectives, our goals are broad outcomes, um, that we’re going to be working to achieve and then the objectives will be how we get there to make those goals a reality. So our priority areas moving forward, um, would be behavioral health, that includes, um, mental health, um, addiction, um, overall, uh, mental health and wellness and healthy living is our second priority.

00:06:56,900	That includes chronic disease, um, some of the work that we’re doing with maternal and child health and overall uh health promotion and nutrition, healthy living, um, and, and just living in general, healthy living in general, and then access to healthcare, we’re working with um, individuals in the community and community partners to help people get

00:07:17,100	access, remove barriers to care and really get them um the care that they need and, and referrals to uh appropriate support services. And then lastly is preparedness and public safety, and um that is an ongoing thing that public health has been a part of and will continue to be a part of.

00:07:34,230	We’re working on our, um, emergency preparedness plans. Uh, we will be doing exercises and then also working, um, to, um, of course, prepare for any infectious disease outbreaks and keep the community safe in that way. So that takes me to the end of my presentation.

00:07:55,630	I’m here for any questions if you have them. Uh, the plan, I believe was included in your packet and um after we have the, um, questions answered, I would ask for your approval of that plan, um, through motion if possible. Are there questions Rich, I just want to say I read through the plan. Excellent job. Thanks for your good work.

00:08:17,500	Thank you. OK. I will move to approve the strategic plan. Is there any discussion here none will call roll Comm Zenker. Yes, Comm Connelly. Yes, Comm Cleary, Yes, Comm Risch. Yes. Mayor Schmittz. Yes. there being no further business for the Board of Health. The Board of Health is now uh, Adjourned.

00:08:45,100	We will call the board of City Commission to order if we can call a roll, please. Comm Connelly Here. Comm Cleary, here, Comm Risch. Here. Comm anchor. Mayor Schmitz here. Our first item is the proclamation. It’s for the 90th anniversary of Social Security.

00:09:14,470	whereas on August 14, 2025 marks the 90th anniversary of Social Security Acts signed into law in 1935 establishing one of the most enduring institutions in American history and whereas for nine decades, Social Security has transformed the lives of millions of Americans by providing critical financial protection for retirees, people with disabilities, surviving spouses and family.

00:09:35,430	Therefore, be it resolved that I, Michael Schmitz, Mayor of the city of Bismarck, on behalf of this citycom Commission, do hereby proclaim August 14th, 2025, as the 90th anniversary of Social Security in the city of Bismarck. signed today So I think there’s a picture opportunity, so John. I brought some volunteers to help. Oh, come on, I’m, I’ll get. Oh, it’s both sides.

00:10:20,330	and knows she’s small so she moved to the front. I remember those days. I don’t do Bear with me. I’ve got 2 cameras, so don’t go anywhere after I’m done with the wrong here. second. That’s Thank you Thank you See All right, we have now arrived at the time for public comment.

00:11:32,270	which is restricted to the items on the consent agenda, regular agenda or the prior commission agenda from 2 weeks ago, or actually 3 weeks ago because of the cycle. Um, other than public hearing items. anyone who wished to speak, please come forward, identify yourself, and tell us which topic you’re speaking about.

00:12:02,270	A second call Mayor Schmitz about members of the committee, um, I guess I’m Mike Frelich from Laughing Sun Brewing Company, but also a new partner in a new venture called the Eclipse, going to be a new venue in downtown Bismarck, uh, coming, um, on 3rd Street, um, but, um, in, in reference to uh changes in the liquor license,

00:12:23,000	um, in a number of special permits, um, any restrictions to that are going to severely limit what we’re doing. We’re a caterer in this town as well, and there are constant need for events, but if we’re limiting the number of liquor license, uh, special permits that they can have.

00:12:41,800	We’re gonna severely detriment our business coming up, um, in any future business that kind of thinks that that venue space, I just wanted to mention that to you guys before Re on the consent agenda. So thank you for your time. You bet, and we do have a call for a public hearing on the consent agenda on that topic.

00:12:56,630	I forgot to ask you to sign in to. Oh, sorry. Comm Risch. Um, Mike, uh, I think, sir. Yes, I think the thing on the agenda would allow us to uh issue more liquor licenses or consider that. Well there’s, there’s actually two items. Yeah.

00:13:21,730	So there’s a title 5 Ordinance change that we have a public hearing coming next meeting on that probably addresses part of what Mike is talking about, um, the other item is whether or not we need more liquor licenses issued. That’s on the regular agenda. What I’m speaking in the references is limiting a special event permits.

00:13:43,070	So just um being able to serve liquor off-site from your license establishment, um, being able to, how many of those we’re going to be able to do a year. We don’t have a liquor license, but we will have a venue that will do live concerts, um, caterings, weddings, corporate events, uh, charity galas, all sorts of things.

00:13:59,800	And that’s going to require, um, caterers to come in and provide the alcohol and the food. So we will be open to all sorts of people around this town. So limiting the number of events that they can do with that, uh, will be a detriment to what we’re doing. So thank you. Yep, thank you. Appreciate the comments. Again, this is public comment period.

00:14:15,100	Anyone who wish to speak, please come forward. Hi everyone. um, thank you for taking the time today. I’m Heather. I’m Lady Jay’s Catering. I’m speaking to the same subject, um, about, uh, limitations to offsite, um, liquor permits, um, if we were going to go back to them.

00:14:41,270	I know at one point we had, I believe it was 30 in place per year or percentage. They went away with that after January, and now it’s just a percentage of your overall sales, um, it then of course we’re hearing that there might be another one imposed where it would limit the amount you could do

00:14:58,970	throughout the year. Um, obviously, I think if that moves forward, um, not only would it affect all the businesses that, that, um, are involved with off-site caterings, um, but it also as you guys well know, um, would affect the city in the long run too, because of course every

00:15:14,170	time we apply for the special permits, it’s payment, um, and then of course, the more liquor we sell, the more taxes we collect off of that.

00:15:28,330	And so I’m sure those are all things that are in consideration as we move forward with um looking at that proposal, um, but I just wanted to um say that uh obviously we would be against putting something proposed towards us like that, um, just because a small businesses and in caters, that is our job is to go out in the community and provide a service outside of our doors, um, for people that are wanting

00:15:46,970	to gather, um, and so I think it would be kind of, you know, at some point, if we’re opening more liquor licenses, I get where you’d might want to have a limit on the outside ones that you would do, but on the same hand, at some point, you know, people are always gathering, people are always

00:16:01,000	wanting to meet. Um, and so just obviously going forward, I just want to show interest in the in the fact that um we would be opposed to that. So I’m going to ask you to read the actual ordinance because I think it addresses that in a positive manner. OK.

00:16:19,170	So, just please, please do, and we do appreciate your comments, but as I recall, the ordinance, it actually opens up the special events. without limit, but there might be restrictions upon how many or what you can do on unique not how many. It’s like you can’t have repetitive, same place event of the same name the same theme. Got you.

00:16:44,630	So, but please do read because if we’ve missed something we want to hear about it. OK. Thank you. I’ll call for public comment, please A second call for public comment. A 3rd and final call seeing or hearing anyone. Public comment period is now closed. Thank you for your comments.

00:17:14,630	Commissioners, what are your wishes with regard to the consent agenda. Moved to approve is presented. Second, is there any discussion Hearing none will call roll Comm Cleary, Yes, Comm Risch, Comm Zenker. Comm Connelly, yes, Mayor Schmitz, yes. Moving to first item A on the regular agenda.

00:17:41,270	This is a request for public hearing on ordinance 6632 to amend the chapters 9-07 and 9-08 of the city. of Bismarck Code of Ordinances related to the city. employee pension plan and the police pension plan. Um, these are required amendments under Department of Labor Law.

00:18:10,070	Is that, do I have that correct, Julie? What We’ve met the HR and the pension board in Leg have met. and these are required changes, and I believe Leanne can also give some detail about this, but they are changes that are required to be made. under other regs and regulations, so, OK. this is a public hearing.

00:18:29,270	Anyone who wished to speak to that, please come forward. A second call for public comment A 3rd and final call for public comment. seeing or hearing anyone public comment period is now closed. Comm, what are your wishes or do you have any questions? Moved to approve. Second, Any discussion Here, go ahead, Comm.

00:18:55,630	I was just wondering what the practical impact, I read through it about two different times and I couldn’t, the, the, what kind of impact does it have on those that are retiring? Do, do, are they able to change, is the formula changed or what’s the deal? Anybody know? Leanna, I think you can maybe speak to that, but as I recall

00:19:11,970	when looking through it, there’s no, no benefit changes, uh it’s clarifications and making sure we’re in compliance with law Merit Commissioners, uh, uh, Comm Risch, yeah, you are correct. Um, these were approved in January by the Pension Board, the Combined Trustee Board, and it was related to some law changes. So it’s not affecting benefits.

00:19:35,330	And it’s, it’s kind of routine that we have ERISA law cause requirements to change or amend plans on, uh, more more regular basis than I would care to have to admit to knowing it’s an area I practice in sometimes.

00:20:03,370	So, anything else? Comm? OK, OK Any other discussion I think we had our 1st and a 2nd, right? OK, we’ll call roll Comm Risch? Yes, Comm Zenker. Yes. Comm Connelly. Yes, Comm Cleary, yes, Mayor Schmitz. Yes Item B a call for public hearing on ordinance 6633 to amend the obstructing law enforcement officers discharge in discharge of their duties.

00:20:29,370	This is a public hearing, um, but I think we wanted clarification first, Julie. Yes, Mayor Comm. So we, we have an obs uh currently existing obstructing law enforcement ordinance. This just adds the failure to identify, particularly in traffic stops where people are already required to identify themselves. It’s just when they fail to do so, they’re hindering law enforcement’s ability to investigate.

00:20:51,800	OK All right So thank you for the clarification. Anyone who wished to speak to this, please come forward. A second call for public comment. A 3rd and final call for public comment. Seeing nor hearing any one, the public comment period is now closed.

00:21:15,270	Commissioners, what are your wishes? Move is presented Second, Is there any discussion Comm Connelly, um, I asked a question of somebody and um they gave me a list of, uh, um, pros, cons, um. criminalizing a constitutional rights, um, the right to remain silent if the inaction includes not speaking or refuse to answer questions.

00:21:51,630	Um, there’s some question whether or not it would, uh, collide with the Fifth Amendment, um, and could a person be punished simply for asserting that protected right. um and I don’t know one way or another, I’m just reading the email I got, um as far as like the right to assist police, um.

00:22:18,370	the US Supreme Court held citizens generally to have affirmative duty to assist police, um, criminalizing inaction or inadvertent. principle, there’s some concerns with, um, it being a slippery slope without having more. definitive wording than what I have, and I just got this email late so I didn’t get a chance to forward it on to have it addressed, so that’s why I’m reading some of it here.

00:22:42,230	So, um, I know that the motion came out so fast, but yeah, could we table it until next meeting and revisit it so I can share this with Julie. because there’s more Well, we have a 1st and a 2nd. We are in discussion period.

00:23:06,970	We can certainly ask questions of attorneyees, um and that there’s more to it. That’s why do we want to go through it piece by piece or give her a chance to look at it and see if it stays the same or do we adjust it? So first off, I think that I would like to have attorney Meese, can you come up

00:23:20,900	to the podium, please. So, I don’t know if you, uh, if we can address any of the questions or comments because they think this was brought forward as a as a request.

00:23:47,370	to help make sure we can discharge our duties as law enforcement, right? So Airor Comm, so we’re seeing, especially in traffic stops, people are refusing to identify themselves and within the sentry code and other laws across the country. when a driver is stopped, they are required to hand over their driver’s license and identify themselves. That’s case law.

00:24:06,800	So but we’re seeing people who are refusing to do so, and that is hindering the officer’s ability to investigate whatever’s going on with the traffic stop. I don’t know what else you have. I mean, we could I’ll, I’ll, leave that to the Commission to decide what path should be going forward, but um the the uh the refusal to identify themselves as a problem for officers because then they’re stuck with somebody who they

00:24:25,370	don’t know who they’re dealing with. We don’t know what their background is, and it’s a simple matter of pulling out ID or identify themselves. OK Well, if we passed it tonight and I sent the information, we need to make adjustments. We can always do that too. Certainly, we could.

00:24:41,600	I’m comfortable with that. OK. Any other discussion Hearing no we call roll. Comm Zenker. Yes, Comm Connelly, Yes, Comm Cleary, yes, Comm Risch, Mayor Schmitz, yes. I’m C is public hearing on Ordinance 6630 to amend sections 12-05-01. 03 11, 12-07-0412-09-1812-10-06. 12-10-07, 12 13 - 26 of the city of Bismarck Code of Ordinances related to careless driving, speeding.

00:25:29,900	and in construction zones. etc. and drive it under suspension. um, this is a public hearing anyone in the background, this is, these are amendments due to the law changes in our 2025 legislative session. So anyone who wish you to speak to this, please come forward. A second call for public comment.

00:25:51,330	A 3rd and final call for public comment. Seen nor hearing anyone, public comment period is now closed. Commissioners, what are your wishes? approved. is there any discussion Hearing none will call roll Mr. Connelly. Yes, Comm Cleary, Yes, Comm Risch. Yes. Comm Zenker. Yes, Mayor Schmitz, yes. moving to item D.

00:26:20,630	Consider a request from the administration department for discussion on releasing one or more Class D for alcohol on off sale licenses for sale through sealed bid Opportunity. Go ahead. Evener Commissioners, um, currently the city of Bismarck has 26 Class D licenses that are in use.

00:26:43,530	Um, according to our ordinance, uh, the total number of Class D licenses issued in any year may not exceed the 2 may not exceed 24 plus one additional license for each 2500 people in excess of 60,000 people in our city or individuals. as shown by the most recent official estimated census based on, uh, the Census Bureau where at 77,772.

00:27:06,600	And so that would give us 31 licenses that we have total for the city. So that would be 5 available. Over the last several months we’ve had several entities that have requested a de license in the last probably 4 months since, um, some of these entities have more than one location, so there’s quite a bit of interest right now and

00:27:22,100	I’m just coming to you tonight to see what you would like to do. If you would like to release any of them. And under the current ordinance we could release them. up to 5 more. That’s how many we have available. Yes, sir.

00:27:39,170	And if there was more interest, we’d have to look at whether or not organs was changed to change the calculation somehow. That’s correct. OK. Uh, the last license that we released was in, I believe January of 24, um, our process for releasing those, we would request, uh a sealed bids for those, uh, and we do typically have a reserve of $200,000 that we set for those

00:28:02,900	licenses. That’s been our, our history. and we would put it out for bid, um, and then open those whenever that date closes and go from there. So based on, based upon the contacts you’ve had how many, how many we’re looking at that are really looking for licenses.

00:28:23,070	There’s potentially 7 locations that are looking to have a license OK And we only have 5 Comm Risch, I’ve got a question. Well, in the ordinance itself, the license sells for what,, $4500 but we don’t charge that. We put it out for bids. No, that’s the renewal. That’s the renewal. Oh, that’s the renewal.

00:28:40,470	OK, I see, I see. OK. Comm Cleary. Um, I guess, Doug obviously, we have another public hearing coming up for that 6623, that’s gonna be making amendments to the like liquor license process is any of that going to be affecting the D license? It will not affect the number of licenses

00:29:01,870	that we would allow to go out based on our population. We’re not making any changes to those requirements. OK. Would you say, Comm We could. We could. I mean, we could amend that.

00:29:22,100	We, we could amend it to the Increase the total amount of licenses available, which I mean, at some point in time, I think might be a discussion and maybe that is when we do that, but. Right. It’s kind of been a hot topic. Yeah. I mean, since I’ve been on the commission that. It’s hard to change it without. Well, well, here’s what happens is government has made it a commodity.

00:29:38,100	and that’s typically not how you want your government to treat businesses, but again, those, those 20, what did you say? 24, 25, 26, 26. I mean, they have, some of them have had to pay a lot of money just to get those licenses. So you have to respect that as well.

00:29:52,000	So it’s a, it’s a fine line to walk, very fine line. And I, and I totally respect that, and I don’t want to disrupt that because it’s been created and it’s, it’s out there, but at the same time we have potentially 7 applicants. which means to me there is a, a demand.

00:30:09,630	It certainly is a potential demand for more than what we currently have available, so. um, the, the request as I understand it, is what do we want to do? Do we want to release some? all do I put them all, and then of course set the reserve for sealed bid.

00:30:29,900	Um, I guess my opinion would be that we do release some of them. I think that the last time we talked when we did the last one, it was like there was only the availability for 1 or 2. maybe 3, I guess, but it wasn’t that it wasn’t 5, so obviously we’ve grown.

00:30:44,330	The need is there I mean I, I don’t, I don’t know if we want to do all of them, but I certainly think we could do. some of them if we’re sitting on 5. They’re the enough growth for 5. Miss Rich I’ve just got a question. So whoever paid $311,000 in 2024.

00:31:03,170	What happens if they go out of business or whatever, can they resell that to somebody else? Yes. Yes, the license is transferable. OK. Mr. Zakker. Uh, it’s a golden ticket. It sure is. I would think, I’d be comfortable with three letting 3 out.

00:31:23,870	In fact, I’ll make a motion that we have direct staff to um release 3 licenses. based on traditional means of of bidding and move forward with that. Do, do we want to have a set of reserve in that or I think it’s in the ordinance, isn’t it? It’s not an ordinance. Uh, the reserve, the, the minimum bid is not right.

00:31:42,000	What’d we do last time? Excuse me, hold on. I think it, I thought it was. It was 200,000 last time. OK, and I can’t remember without going back to the 250. I just want to make sure we cover it. I I, I can’t, without going back to the ordinance, I can’t remember.

00:32:10,370	Someone is looking, right? We’re just not waiting. No, just two of them that we’re looking. That’s a fair question. Mayor and Commissioners, uh, the ordinance reference says the board may set a minimum bid or other conditions of the bid which shall be stated in the advertisement, and that’s in relation to, uh, an additional class D or Class E license.

00:32:50,900	So the commission establishes the base bid price. And we don’t remember what we did last time. Uh, Mayor and Comm, I believe it was either 200 or 250,000. Whitney’s saying 200,000, and just for clarification, I, I think there was maybe a, a misspeak.

00:33:08,530	I think the last class D was issued in 2023. So we’re 2.5 years past that, not just a year and a half. I’ll continue my motion to include the same minimum bid as the previous license. How’s that? Yeah. Do we have discussion Whitney, you don’t have to put that long pause in there for that. OK.

00:33:31,970	I don’t see any discussion. We’ll call roll. Comm Cleary, Yes, Comm Risch. Yes, Comm anchored? Yes. Comm Connelly, Mayor Schmitz, yes. Next item E is fall leaf collection update. Steve.

00:34:04,730	Good evening, uh, Mayor, Commissioners Commissioners, um, about 3 weeks ago, um, we uh, had talked about the subject and at that time you’d asked me to go back and find a little bit more information and report back. And so that’s what I’m here, uh, to do this evening.

00:34:26,370	Um, over the course of the last 3 weeks, I did have um uh, a few people reach out and offer some comments and, you know, the the first comment that was most prevalent was that um instead of the bags, maybe residents can just place garbage cans out for collection, you know, those 35 gallon garbage cans. And by all means, if we do a fall leaf collection, they can place those cans out there. And so, um, they were thinking that instead of the bags, just place cans.

00:34:45,230	And then I also had one take it one step further and um they actually recommended that the city furnish those 35 gallon trash cans for everybody to put their leaves in and collect, and so I’m, I’m passing that along as well.

00:35:06,530	Um, I did have another individual that reached out and um said, you know, there’s an, no need to collect, um, the leaves in the fall. Um, they recommended that everybody just mulched them And so I’m also passing that along, um, had several individuals that reached out. and, you know, said, you know, we’ve got 17 grass dumpsters across town.

00:35:26,270	Um they didn’t think that there was a need for the collection as well. Um, that, you know, everybody could utilize those, those 17 sites. And then, um there was another one that had a concern that we were taking away their ability to put the leaves and grass in their city furnished 96 gallon can, and I explained that, um, no, that

00:35:47,600	this, that ability is still there. Um, we’re not talking about removing that if they so choose to put anything in that 96 gallon can, um, they can, they can continue to do that, and so, um, those were some of the comments that I had received.

00:36:09,000	And so, um in doing the research on the, the recyclable bags. Um, I did find that they are available locally. and the, the prices that they’re advertised online is anywhere from 50 cents to 60 cents a bag. Usually they sell them in a pack of 5.

00:36:26,630	And so, um, however, when I did go out to, uh, to get some of the bags for samples for you. Um, one of the places actually had them on sale, so they were 30 cents a bag versus the 50. And so anyway, the range is from 30 cents to, to 60 cents.

00:36:44,170	Um, there’s also numerous places that you can order them online and uh, the shipping is uh relatively quick for, for a lot of those places and so um in doing a research, I also noticed that there are, um, recyclable plastic bags out there.

00:37:05,530	And so, um, we kind of reached out to get a price on those, but then in doing a little bit more research on those, they’re compostable, but only under a controlled environment. meaning control temperature, controlled moisture, and for what we’re doing is dumping them at the landfill, they’re probably not going to biodegrade out there and so I, I didn’t bring that option forward this evening and, um, so in looking at um what we

00:37:30,800	can buy them for. Um, there’s several distributors out there that we could buy them from. uh some of them, the lead time was out several months.

00:37:49,900	and so, um, for those, um, we had to go with a distributor that could actually get them here in in a lot shorter time frame. And so the, if we bought them in smaller quantities. our cost would be about 88 cents a bag. Um which is quite a bit more than you can go downtown and buy them for. Um, if we bought them in bulk, which is a truckload, meaning about 66,000 bags or a cost of about $45,000.

00:38:15,530	Our cost came down to 66 cents a bag, still more than you can go and buy them on the street, and so, um, with that, um, I just want to report that back this evening, uh, because that was the the, um, my assignment was try to figure out, you know,

00:38:31,730	could we buy them and how much would they cost us if we did buy them. So, um, those are the costs. So, um, with that, we, we’d still be looking for um a decision um if we should be, if we should move forward with the fall leaf collection. Um.

00:38:48,170	if the answer is yes then should we require the residents to place them in a paper bag or um, put them in a paper bag. Therefore they could all be composted and recycled, or would we allow residents to put them in a plastic bag and then therefore they would just end up in the landfill like the um

00:39:12,600	do if they set them out in previous years. And so, um, and then if we do more, move forward with it, how often should we do it? And, um, last time, if you recall my recommendation was, uh, twice in the fall, probably once in mid-October and once in late October.

00:39:35,000	with the flexibility to be um to adjust should a snowstorm or something come through and, um, because in order to make this happen, we do have to take roads and Streets employees to do this collection for us and we have a snowstorm, I’m gonna have to shift them into priority, which would be snow removal.

00:39:53,270	And so then I’d like to shift this around if, if, if at all possible. So, um, with that, uh, any questions of me? Commissioners Yep, thank you, Steve. What do I do Your portfolio. Correct. Um, I guess, uh. I, I know that staff, um, I think feels the same way as I do.

00:40:25,170	If we’re going to do the leaf pickup, um, we want it to be combustible. We don’t want it to end up in the landfill, so like when he, he still leaves the option, sorry, Robert, he still leaves the option of, of the plastic bags and like the general pickup and them going in the landfill and I think that though obviously

00:40:42,800	that’s an option, I don’t think it’s an option that we want to take, um. I think that the question on the table is if we do a leaf pickup, which I do think that there’s a portion of the population that does want it, um, do we just ask them to supply their own bag and or.

00:41:04,270	bin, um, because then that way, obviously he is also getting calls for people who don’t think it’s a requirement. And if we’re going to be funding it, then there’s not balance for those people, um, if we’re providing the service, but they still have the obligation of the bag, then at least it’s not

00:41:24,470	costing the additional funds, uh, for purchasing them and then having citizens that aren’t using the service. still footing that bill, if that makes sense. is kind of where I’m at with it. Um, I still would like to offer the surface service.

00:41:41,100	I think there is a decent amount of people who have asked about it and are worried about that and that it was one of the bigger questions when we talked about stepping away from extras, so. um. that’s I guess where I’m at with it. If anyone else has thoughts. Rich, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, I feel comfortable with the two week pickup.

00:42:02,900	paper bag or cans in the citizens provide their own cans and paper bags. I think that’s reasonable, rational, and it, it’ll be helpful to a lot of folks. Yeah. And I mean, I think too, like, I’m glad we looked into it.

00:42:17,530	If it would have been way cheaper for us to buy them in bulk and provide them, then I would have probably considered it a a viable option, but it sounds like it’s probably more expensive for us to do that for and then for them people to just go out and buy them, so, um, I guess. that would be um, my preference at this point.

00:42:36,730	So we should probably we could do it by consensus, I guess, but it would. Do you, Steve, do you want? Unless he wants motion No. I, I don’t think we need a motion or is consensus OK? And I need to make sure, Comm Connelly, your consensus, because I haven’t heard from you or seen your head, and I

00:42:55,370	I’m fine with the consensus. OK, I don’t, I don’t need a motion if, if that’s the consensus of, of the commission. I’m fine with that. OK, perfect. And I would just agree to that like your flexibility in those dates is probably necessary, so we’ll leave that up to you. OK, perfect. Thank you. OK.

00:43:11,800	Thanks, Steve. Moving to item F. Consider requests from the finance department to accept the 2024 audit results and the 2024 annual Comprehensive Financial Report. Dmitry Uh, good evening, Mayor Commissioners. Well, this, this meeting seems kind of short, so I’m gonna take my sweet time. Oh, so, so then I’m gonna cut you off.

00:43:40,170	Um, you know, this is just kind of a, uh, you know, really just a report. I wanna uh present to the city commission, uh, we do it each year, but really it’s the annual financial report that we put together in the finance department.

00:43:58,730	It really is a uh a compilation of entire years of, of the entire year of 2024 and in our work and the city’s work on preparing basically what really happened during that year. It really is, whereas a budget is kind of a forecast of what we’re thinking into the future.

00:44:17,470	This is kind of a look in the past to see what has happened or what are the results of of our financial operations and how are we doing, um, in reality, and honestly, uh, uh, kind of like the mayor.

00:44:34,000	I, I worked for a CPA firm and I’ve, I, I, I understand the intricacies of what goes into preparing these reports and the compliance that has to be followed and, um, it is, we’re obviously audited by a third party that you will hire I Bailey is our auditor, um. and they, uh, have performed their audit, uh, once again, um.

00:44:54,270	and like I said, it’s 160 page report that really provides an in-depth look onto how the city is doing financially or has done in 2024 and the really what, what I would or my department does is really puts this report together based on these accounting standards that we have to follow and then we have the auditors audit them, but I use this when we project out future budgets and things of that nature.

00:45:12,900	We, this report is integral um into our understanding of how things are going to work out in the future and how things look in the budget. So, um, that being said, you know, we, uh, we’ve, they’ve looked at our internal controls. They’ve evaluated how we’re operating internally, you know, no, they obviously can’t look at every single number that we have in the system.

00:45:30,100	They look at things over a certain threshold the auditors do. And so the auditors also evaluate our control controls and see how they operate. Um, they had nothing to report to us in terms of um controls uh overall controls, um, they had, they’ve audited our federal grants that we are required to,

00:45:48,800	uh, we, we receive um uh,,, 10/10 million dollars, and if our federal grants, um, I, I don’t remember the number, um, but we, we are required to have a compliance audit on several and so they’ve performed that on several grants. We had no findings on that.

00:46:08,000	So overall we have a, what’s called a a non-modified or clean audit opinion. Uh, once again, um. and so, uh, we, we passed the audit. We did have a finding, uh, related to, uh, uh, the event center similar to last year.

00:46:29,500	Um, it’s related to the controls, related to the event center, um, you know, as you all seen and discussed, um, they’re all related to, uh, design of controls related to various things, um, at the event center and how they run operations, uh, that’s nothing new that we’ve, we’ve seen, um, it’s something that they’ve brought up a finding on last year, so that’s nothing unusual, but you know we’ve kind of

00:46:47,000	reassured the authors that it’s being taken care of and the city commission and the staff are working to, uh, mitigate those findings. Um, with that being said, we also prepare, uh, what’s called an annual comprehensive financial report which is submitted to the the governor of finance Officers Association Association, the GFOA, and they do a separate

00:47:07,730	review of our financial report to kind of see if we complied with all the requirements, um, accounting requirements and so we usually get comments about 6 months later, um, and we go, if we did a good job, we get a little award, a little little thing we put on our, on our plaque and um, but yeah, we’re

00:47:27,170	very proud of what we do. Our staff are very proud of, of our fiscal Services staff put together this report and it takes a lot of time.

00:47:40,870	We started in February and we finished it in June, so it’s a long time to put together while we’re trying to run the day to day operations of the city, so it’s a, it’s a big undertaking and I just wanna uh thank our thank the auditors that worked on our I Bailey to who worked on our on on the audit and thank our staff, uh, led by Eric Lundon Paig Gilgallen, uh, really appreciate their hard work and

00:47:57,500	dedication. I’ll send for any questions Commissioners Comm Risch. Excellent. 159 pages. I didn’t read every line, but it’s a lot of data. How’d we do in 2024? We had a budget that we uh come in under budget overall? Yes, uh, Comm Risch, great question.

00:48:19,900	Yeah, we came in under budget overall, um, and, and, and various funds, um, uh, like I said, the only funds were really required to budget by um by statute or general funds special revenue funds and debt service funds.

00:48:41,170	I know that might not mean a whole lot, but basically, um, any funds that mainly receive tax dollars are required to be budgeted and followed, but we came in under budget on on all of them Any other questions? I, I, I would like to personally compliment, I mean, I know your staff put this report together.

00:48:59,430	Um, I do know in some situations actually the audit firm puts the entire financial statements together, so the fact that we have the quality staff that we have to be able to do that and not have a finding on the financial reporting is is good because I issue several where there’s findings because people can’t put their financial statement together, so thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you.

00:49:13,730	And we, we need to accept this, so we need a motion. Um, move to accept the audit results of 2024. and the financial report Second, do we have any discussion? He know no call roll Comm Zenker. Yes, Comm Connelly, Yes, Comm Clery, Yes, Comm Risch, Mayor Schmitz, yes Uh, item 5 is other business.

00:49:42,530	Do we have any other business? Go ahead, Comm Risch. Mr. Mayor, we had an incident down in Michigan Avenue. You’re, you’re, um, depart portfolio, but we had the sewer backup and I was just going to, I, I talked to Mr.

00:49:58,170	Martin this morning, and, um, ask him to explain what the situation is. And the reason I’m bringing it up because when I look at my, um, utility bill, it says 30 cents, sewer backup protection.

00:50:16,730	So it might incline folks to say, oh, I got insurance on my, uh, my sewer backup when probably not as clear cut as that, and I just we had a, it was a bad situation, as you well know. But, um, could you brief us on what the 30 cents is and um what’s the situation is with the claims that are being filed. Yeah, absolutely.

00:50:34,970	Um, Mayor, Comm, Comm Risch, and uh, the 30 cents goes to a sewer backup policy is what we have, and it’s to help, um, relieve the financial burden due to sewer backups that may occur, and this, this covers sewer backups that happen due to blockages or obstructions in the sewer main, so not your service lines.

00:50:54,530	So that’s what our policy is there to cover, um, with, with what happened on July 20th on Michigan Avenue. I mean, I think we’re, we’re on we’re 20 residents. Um, we’re waiting for ENDEF to review all the information to, to give us a determination back before we’re able to make next steps of what, what we’re able to participate in. So, that’s what we’re waiting for.

00:51:10,100	There’s certainly a lot of information to, to be reviewed on that one. Comm Rischch, go ahead So, there’s this 30 cents go to Endur or do we keep it at, uh, we keep it in the city, right? Correct.

00:51:28,900	The 30 cents, uh, goes into a special fund to, to help with financial burdens on these properties. Um, so the 30 cents with our counts equates to roughly just $84,000 a year. Any other questions Thank you Is there any other business If there is not, then I, the next item is an executive session, so I would request the motion to move to Executive session.

00:51:59,170	Move to enter executive session under North Dakota Century Code 44-04-19.2 regarding contract negotiations for land acquisition. Second Any discussion? Hearing none will call the roll. Comm Cleary? Yes, Comm Risch, Comm Zenker. Yes, Comm Connelly, Mayor Schmitz,