unknown:
City current.



unknown:
Produced by Dakota Media Access.

unknown:
In depth discussion with

unknown:
Bismarck and Mandan city officials.

unknown:
Watch on Government Access Channel 602 HD or tune in to

unknown:
Radio Access 102.5 FM.

unknown:
Always local, always current.

unknown:
Welcome to City Current.

unknown:
I'm Tom Gerhardt with Dakota Media Access, joined by Jason

unknown:
Tomanek, the city administrator for the city of Bismarck.

unknown:
Good to see you,

unknown:
Jason. Glad to be here, Tom.

unknown:
Thank you.

unknown:
That was extra hours at the meeting last night until about

unknown:
9:30, I think, and then executive session.

unknown:
So it was a long, a long

unknown:
meeting, but a very productive one.

unknown:
We had a full day.

unknown:
We had a, a lot of good items on the agenda last night, a lot

unknown:
of good discussion, um, so.

unknown:
Well, we'll highlight a few of the things that we're gonna be

unknown:
talking about coming up, including, uh, the Ottawa

unknown:
Street reconstruction project, which is up in that plant

unknown:
perfect sky zone area which is old Highway 8.

unknown:
Got a little history lesson last night on that, uh, police

unknown:
chief Dave Draovitch is retiring at the end of July.

unknown:
Some, uh, future fire station analysis, uh, show you a couple

unknown:
of maps of where, uh.

unknown:
Some future fire stations will be and, and tell you what

unknown:
happened last night.

unknown:
And then, uh, Misty Waters, that saga continues.

unknown:
So we'll get into that as well as a number of other topics

unknown:
from last night's city commission meeting.

unknown:
Did want to let folks know that starting last night, uh, Quinn

unknown:
from our staff here has produced a nice graphics, so

unknown:
we'll be starting meetings off.

unknown:
Uh, this just had the date of May 6th, which actually wasn't

unknown:
a city commission meeting.

unknown:
This is just a graphic that we were working on, but, uh, we do

unknown:
televise live over 300 government meetings a year, and

unknown:
then we archive them so you can always go back and, and, and

unknown:
watch them.

unknown:
And we thought a lot of people, we put a QR code on here

unknown:
because we thought a lot of people on their pontoons this

unknown:
summer may want to watch the city commission meetings from

unknown:
the river, right?

unknown:
Of course we're better to consume municipal government

unknown:
than on the river.

unknown:
So we're in lockstep, uh, thinking, uh, that way.

unknown:
Um, on the consent agenda last night, just a couple of items I

unknown:
thought would be fun to talk about, and one you noted is,

unknown:
uh, Bismarck Expressway has that pedestrian underpass, and

unknown:
they're looking to put a mural in there and we have a couple

unknown:
of, uh, drawings of what that could look like.

unknown:
That's a, a place I've used a lot as a jogger and a biker and

unknown:
a walker, so it'll be fun to see.

unknown:
Uh,

unknown:
what that could look like here in the near future.

unknown:
Definitely it will brighten up the corridor.

unknown:
Uh, there'll be some obviously some work to do ahead of time,

unknown:
some prep work to get it cleaned up and, and ready to

unknown:
go, and I believe the two artists that are working

unknown:
together on this are Nicole Gagner and painter Nicole.

unknown:
Many may know her as.

unknown:
I know she teaches a variety of classes in the community, has

unknown:
some other murals that she has been a part of, and, uh, Molly

unknown:
McLean as well.

unknown:
And so Molly is a Another very accomplished professional local

unknown:
artist and so looking forward to the work that those two

unknown:
women are going to do, it's gonna be fantastic and um

unknown:
looking forward to seeing what it's all, how it all comes

unknown:
together at the end.

unknown:
Yeah,

unknown:
that, and you know, it just does make such a difference

unknown:
when you go through those spaces and.

unknown:
Uh, usually I'm just worried about getting done with my

unknown:
running and I'll make it to the finish, but, uh, that'll be

unknown:
something to look forward to along the path.

unknown:
Uh, also wanted to talk about the annual deer and turkey, uh,

unknown:
licenses for the bow hunting, and you noted that this is a

unknown:
very, uh, I think it's limited to 20 licenses.

unknown:
So these are sought after.

unknown:
They are, yes.

unknown:
And so in the past there have been 25 licenses that were

unknown:
issued, and what we're talking about here is, as you

unknown:
mentioned, bow hunting for either deer or turkey, and this

unknown:
is in.

unknown:
Within city limits, there can be years or seasons where

unknown:
there's troubles with the populations of deer and turkey

unknown:
in that, uh, Riverwood golf course area, the those natural

unknown:
areas where we're kind of impeding on the river and, and

unknown:
the corridor as well.

unknown:
And so annually, the Bismarck Police Department has issued

unknown:
licenses to hunt those critters

unknown:
during certain times of the year.

unknown:
This year, it should be noted, uh, the number of licenses is

unknown:
limited now to 20, uh, based on the harvest from last year,

unknown:
the, the quantities are smaller.

unknown:
So, if you're interested, you better get there early.

unknown:
I believe the, uh, the sale starts at 6 a.m.

unknown:
and I wanna say it was June

unknown:
17th, I think was the date for that.

unknown:
Uh, I'm not entirely certain, but there will be an

unknown:
announcement from the Bismarck Police Department when that's

unknown:
going out.

unknown:
So if you're interested in Trying to procure a hunting

unknown:
license in city limits.

unknown:
You better get there early, yep.

unknown:
And I don't know if it's just me, but you know, we're both

unknown:
grew up here.

unknown:
The turkeys seem to be all over lately.

unknown:
There seems to be an abundance of them, yeah, and I've, I've

unknown:
heard reports and I've seen firsthand, there's a few places

unknown:
that feed them, which will encourage the flock to get

unknown:
larger over time.

unknown:
Well,

unknown:
uh, so yeah, check that out if you're interested.

unknown:
uh, the regular agenda was full of, uh, items that, uh, of

unknown:
interest, and I guess we'll start with the Misty water

unknown:
zoning map amendment and, uh, in some ways I guess this is

unknown:
kind of a, a broken record, but, um, in other ways it's

unknown:
continues to evolve and last night, uh, very, uh, passionate

unknown:
residents from that area, uh.

unknown:
Talking about the zoning map amendment and so tell us what

unknown:
happened last night.

unknown:
A lot of, like I said, a lot of passionate people as you saw at

unknown:
the podium, uh, worried about their property and the North

unknown:
Dakota Supreme Court ruling and just all these things that go

unknown:
into it and then where we stand coming out of last night.

unknown:
Uh, and, and what the city now will be looking to do in the

unknown:
coming weeks.

unknown:
Yes,

unknown:
there's definitely a lot of moving parts here and there

unknown:
have been a lot of iterations, a lot of changes over the

unknown:
years, and I think it should be noted too that there are a

unknown:
number of homes within the Misty Water subdivision that

unknown:
are built appropriately.

unknown:
They're within the setbacks.

unknown:
They're Uh, not encroaching in any stormwater easements or any

unknown:
of the lomar, which is a flood term, a letter of map revision.

unknown:
It's a, a line on a map to avoid.

unknown:
There are a good number of homes out there that are

unknown:
perfectly fine.

unknown:
Uh, there are a small handful of homes that over the years

unknown:
have had some encumbrances or some encroachments into these

unknown:
areas, and it comes down to an interpretation of where are

unknown:
these lines on the ground, where are the homes positioned.

unknown:
And unfortunately they, as you mentioned, the saga will

unknown:
continue uh for a little bit longer.

unknown:
Um, what we heard last night was testimony on both sides.

unknown:
Some were opposed to the proposed changes and the

unknown:
changes were proposed by City of Bismarck staff to try and

unknown:
unify as many of the homes in, in the zoning district that

unknown:
applies in place.

unknown:
Um, there were some folks that

unknown:
Had concerns with the proposed changes.

unknown:
There were a good number of uh property owners that stood in

unknown:
support of the changes just to, uh, kind of put an end to the

unknown:
means, uh, in many ways, um, but as the commission tries to

unknown:
do in many cases, it's trying to resolve all the issues and

unknown:
although there were many in support of one resolution, it

unknown:
maybe didn't work for a few others.

unknown:
And so I think where the commission's direction was back

unknown:
to community development to Ben Erith and his staff.

unknown:
is to identify these uh kind of the, the, the one-offs, the,

unknown:
the very unique situations, and find a way to address them.

unknown:
So everyone is made whole in those situations.

unknown:
There are no

unknown:
loss of land.

unknown:
In one case, a gentleman was referring to the easement line

unknown:
moving and it would effectively render about 900 square feet of

unknown:
his property uh different than it would be today.

unknown:
And, and sometimes that term is referred to as a taking.

unknown:
Um, I'm not gonna get into the legal matters of all of that,

unknown:
but understanding that he wasn't comfortable with the

unknown:
resolution that many others were.

unknown:
So, the commission trying to make the best out of this

unknown:
entire situation, also looking for an end to these means.

unknown:
I believe we will see this come back if I heard Mr. Earth

unknown:
correctly, the first meeting in June, uh, Commissioner Connelly

unknown:
had asked for some more conversations with between

unknown:
staff and the property owners.

unknown:
Um, I guess ultimately, best case scenario if we can get to

unknown:
that meeting in June or sometime thereabout, and

unknown:
everyone that was in the room last night comes to that next

unknown:
meeting and says, we can live with this.

unknown:
That sounds like the best

unknown:
compromise for all parties involved.

unknown:
We, we aren't looking to drag this out any longer, make it

unknown:
any worse than it than it has been.

unknown:
I think staff is very interested in the resolution

unknown:
and then a solid plan moving forward because there are still

unknown:
vacant lots that will have

unknown:
homes built on them in the future.

unknown:
And we did have a proposed zoning change map up from last

unknown:
night, uh, I guess in some senses that will, that's old

unknown:
news now as we're moving forward from that but that

unknown:
darker black line was the proposed change if I understood

unknown:
correctly last night and now in some senses, uh, not totally

unknown:
back to the drawing board, but as you mentioned, I think Ben

unknown:
and his staff are gonna take a look at this again and then

unknown:
come back.

unknown:
In June, so yeah, hopefully there's some resolution to this

unknown:
in the coming weeks.

unknown:
Another, uh, big project that, uh, I guess could start

unknown:
construction, uh, not to jump ahead in 2026 is the Ottawa

unknown:
Street reconstruction.

unknown:
Project, uh, which, as we mentioned at the beginning of

unknown:
the show is uh old part of, uh, highway and basically from I I

unknown:
Plant perfect and, uh, Sky Zone are two well known properties

unknown:
along along that route.

unknown:
Stockman's Association built that brand new, uh, beautiful

unknown:
building up there as well.

unknown:
And so the highlighted, uh, highlighted portion is what

unknown:
would be.

unknown:
Under construction and so, uh, more engineering came to the

unknown:
podium last night to explain and it sounds like from last

unknown:
night's meeting that they've done a tremendous job uh with

unknown:
this plan, but there's some heartburn here too as well.

unknown:
Couple of different concerns brought forward.

unknown:
We've got a very uh unique mix

unknown:
of uses along this little corridor.

unknown:
Retail, office uses.

unknown:
We also have some residential on the far north end.

unknown:
We've got some condos that are there and so we heard from

unknown:
business owners, uh, representative of the

unknown:
homeowners association for the condo, and concerns that I

unknown:
heard, uh, first, this is a common concern, and it's an

unknown:
understood concern in this situation is the impact through

unknown:
special assessments.

unknown:
The, the estimates for the cost of this project, it's a $4

unknown:
million build, roughly a little over $4.3 million.

unknown:
When you spread that out, we're looking at.

unknown:
The percentage of property those uh particular individuals

unknown:
own along that corridor, and

unknown:
that's how the specials get spread.

unknown:
And with the condo situation, we heard it could impact an

unknown:
individual unit as much as $15,000 to $17,000.

unknown:
We heard from a commercial property owner that he was

unknown:
looking at an assessment more like $700,000 for the Plant

unknown:
And when you think about the size of Plant Perfect along

unknown:
Perfect site.



unknown:
Ottawa Street, it, it's one of the larger parcels.

unknown:
Um, but also I heard that particular individual say a

unknown:
good bit of their business is occupying about 30 days of an

unknown:
entire year.

unknown:
I think 50%, he said.

unknown:
So some of the other concerns that he raised and, and we all

unknown:
understand this times of the year, parking is at a premium

unknown:
and they currently the the roadway section does not have

unknown:
parking, it's just a two lane

unknown:
road with a ditch on both sides.

unknown:
The two alternatives that were proposed was a 32 ft roadway

unknown:
section which wouldn't really allow for a lot of parking or

unknown:
or a 40 ft section which could enable a little more of that

unknown:
street parking and the parking wouldn't just be on the street

unknown:
for Plant perfect.

unknown:
It was noted that there are other businesses that often

unknown:
will have events or activities and will cause people to park

unknown:
in each other's parking lots.

unknown:
And so it sounds like the neighborhood all shares some of

unknown:
the same concerns, and I think the commission was.

unknown:
Uh, listening very closely last night.

unknown:
We've got a very unique situation here with, uh, an

unknown:
urban corridor that is essentially a rural road, and

unknown:
so we're recognizing there, there needs to be some work

unknown:
done here.

unknown:
I think the ask from most of the folks that testified were

unknown:
to find another way or find an additional way to help offset

unknown:
some of the expense of this particular build out.

unknown:
And I think the commission that resonates with the

unknown:
commissioners, we're not looking to cripple a business

unknown:
owner with a $60,000 annual

unknown:
special assessment over 15 years.

unknown:
That's That that can be a lot.

unknown:
And so I'm not gonna suggest a different number.

unknown:
I don't know what that right formula is.

unknown:
That's, that's the role of the engineers and the commissioners

unknown:
to try and come back with a, a proposal that is something that

unknown:
everyone can support.

unknown:
And I believe, uh, the alternative B the 40.

unknown:
Uh, alternative A was do nothing, just leave it as is.

unknown:
Alternative B was 32 ft of roadway, and alternative C is a

unknown:
40-foot roadway which could

unknown:
have parking or a center turn lane.

unknown:
And is that, uh, am I remembering right that that the

unknown:
40 ft wide was advanced?

unknown:
That's the preferred recommendation

unknown:
recommendation with also I think the direction as you

unknown:
mentioned to find some help with these tops at some of the

unknown:
expense with the special assessments, uh, there would be

unknown:
parking on one side of the 40 ft with the potential for

unknown:
parking on the other side if I understood right and the

unknown:
potential that a turn lane down the road, uh, with that wider

unknown:
width so.

unknown:
Uh, really interesting presentation last night and I

unknown:
know that's, uh, that corridor really needs some help,

unknown:
sidewalks, wider roads, uh, potholes, I think what did

unknown:
that, the, the highway goes back to the

unknown:
20s I believe I heard the late 20s,

unknown:
20, right?

unknown:
Yeah, so,

unknown:
so it's a 100 years plus that people have been using that

unknown:
corridor and It's, it's definitely time to, to fix

unknown:
things up over there.

unknown:
We had a really interesting, uh, a pretty brief, uh,

unknown:
presentation, but on this methane gas capture project at

unknown:
the city landfill and, um.

unknown:
It's a, uh, uh, essentially a company could come in, capture

unknown:
some of this natural methane gas, the city would get a

unknown:
portion of the proceeds for

unknown:
revenue some additional revenue.

unknown:
Talk about that.

unknown:
Yeah, that's an an interesting proposal.

unknown:
Um, I was actually part of the group that evaluated the the

unknown:
various proposals from multiple consultants.

unknown:
Uh, where we're going forward with is an established company

unknown:
that has a number of other

unknown:
sites where they're operating currently.

unknown:
And we're not talking about the active landfill where we're

unknown:
currently, you know, filling with household trash.

unknown:
We're talking about the.

unknown:
Uh, retired landfills, the old

unknown:
cell sites that have been capped.

unknown:
There's grass over the top of them.

unknown:
We, you know, there's hay land on them.

unknown:
They're talking about coming in and putting a network of wells

unknown:
throughout that system and capturing that naturally

unknown:
occurring methane.

unknown:
The methane occurs through the decomposition of the household

unknown:
trash that is there.

unknown:
The methane would be captured.

unknown:
Injected into a pipeline and pushed somewhere else for all

unknown:
of its consumptions from there.

unknown:
And the proposal that uh it's Tariva Renewables is the name

unknown:
of the the entity that was recommended for approval, uh, a

unknown:
portion of their revenue between 10 and 20%, depending

unknown:
on the quality of the gas, would come back to the city of

unknown:
Bismarck as a profit share,

unknown:
essentially is what it would be.

unknown:
So an interesting way for the city to capitalize another one

unknown:
of its resources, uh, there's obviously concerns with

unknown:
decommissioning down the road, what happens if they just

unknown:
abandon it.

unknown:
That was discussed by the commissioners there would be a

unknown:
surety bond or a reclamation bond that would be posted at

unknown:
the beginning of the project.

unknown:
If at any time the company were to dissolve, fail, go away,

unknown:
whatever that bond would be then.

unknown:
Used to extract all those materials and decommission the

unknown:
site and things like that.

unknown:
So we are by no means the first community to be doing this.

unknown:
I believe our friends over on the east side of the state in

unknown:
Fargo have been doing methane capture at their landfill for a

unknown:
number of years, um, but for

unknown:
us, this is a great opportunity.

unknown:
It's a fun little project and,

unknown:
and we'll see how this proceeds.

unknown:
And

unknown:
I think the number, uh, And again, subject to change, uh, a

unknown:
couple $100,000 a year potentially more.

unknown:
So I mean you're talking about a nice little chunk of money

unknown:
Definitely and the landfill, the collections and

unknown:
there too.



unknown:
distribution, uh, that's the two divisions within the

unknown:
landfill what we refer to the landfill as an enterprise fund.

unknown:
So in other words, it is not supported through property tax.

unknown:
It is supported exclusively through.

unknown:
The fees that we pay for disposal and the fees that

unknown:
anyone pays to dump trash at the landfill.

unknown:
So this would offset, uh, you know, it would become another

unknown:
piece of revenue for the

unknown:
landfill to continue to operate.

unknown:
It's not cheap running a municipal solid waste facility,

unknown:
and we have one of very limited number of landfills like ours

unknown:
in the state of North Dakota.

unknown:
So we actually accept trash from a pretty good sized region

unknown:
around Bismarck, um, you know, basically within 50, 60 miles,

unknown:
the next municipal landfill

unknown:
like ours is going to be Jamestown.

unknown:
So, if you're a smaller town and you don't have your own

unknown:
regional landfill like this,

unknown:
your garbage is coming to Bismarck.

unknown:
So, this is another way to just help continue to increase

unknown:
revenue for the landfill operations.

unknown:
Uh, future fire station conversation.

unknown:
So, uh, Chief was there last night and, um, we have a map

unknown:
that shows the current 5 stations in Bismarck and, um,

unknown:
you can see them right there, but of course as our community

unknown:
continues to grow the need.

unknown:
Uh, for more fire stations, uh, becomes obvious.

unknown:
What I found interesting last night is, and I won't get all

unknown:
the terminology right, but the chief talking about response

unknown:
time and how, uh, you know, if they can meet criteria can

unknown:
actually save the city a lot of, a lot of money so it's not

unknown:
just like, hey, let's build fire stations, uh, just to

unknown:
build fire stations that there can be a uh.

unknown:
A real savings to the city and obviously safety being the top

unknown:
priority residents and property but uh second is if you can

unknown:
save some money along the way,

unknown:
uh, that makes a difference too.

unknown:
Definitely, and this was a great discussion.

unknown:
I, I like planning projects.

unknown:
I like looking forward and I really appreciate all the

unknown:
research and the data that Chief Bass Flu and his team

unknown:
pulled together to support the recommendation that came

unknown:
forward last night.

unknown:
As you mentioned, 5 stations

unknown:
strategically placed throughout town.

unknown:
What really drives the conversation for the next fire

unknown:
station is primarily growth, and then right after growth,

unknown:
it's response times.

unknown:
And so,

unknown:
Our fire department, the Bismarck Fire Department, is an

unknown:
ISO rating of one.

unknown:
And what does that mean?

unknown:
That means they have excellent response times, but it

unknown:
translates to property owners in a

unknown:
Reduced fire insurance, reduced property insurance, because the

unknown:
response times are good, the insurance companies say you've

unknown:
got a wonderful fire system,

unknown:
you're less of a risk than some areas.

unknown:
So, that's a good message for the citizens.

unknown:
What we heard last night is.

unknown:
There are parts of South Bismarck, particularly

unknown:
Southwest Bismarck, that are getting beyond the comfortable

unknown:
response times for our fire department.

unknown:
Our comfortable response time is 4 to 6 minutes.

unknown:
We've got areas where the call times are getting closer to 89

unknown:
minutes, and that's for the first firefighters to show up.

unknown:
There's a second truck that comes to support an active

unknown:
fire, and so then we're talking maybe 12 minutes by that time.

unknown:
That's getting to be a little beyond our comfort level.

unknown:
And so, through an analysis that the fire department did

unknown:
along with our uh GIS staff, our mapping staff, they

unknown:
analyzed a variety of different sites in South Bismarck that

unknown:
could Be considered for a future fire station.

unknown:
And fortunately for us, the site that makes the most amount

unknown:
of sense is along Burley Avenue and it's on property that the

unknown:
city of Bismarck already owns.

unknown:
It's part of the wastewater treatment plant system.

unknown:
And it's amazing the, the graphics that Joel shared, how

unknown:
placing a station in that particular location really

unknown:
alleviates all of their, I shouldn't say all, but many of

unknown:
their concerns in that southwest portion of Bismarck.

unknown:
And it's not just rooftops that are being analyzed, it's also

unknown:
the density, other uses in that

unknown:
area, are there commercial activities?

unknown:
Are there high hazard or high risk situations that could

unknown:
cause a fire response?

unknown:
And so looking at all of that data and information, it became

unknown:
very apparent that the next station isn't in Northeast or

unknown:
Northwest Bismarck where we're also growing, but it's actually

unknown:
South Bismarck.

unknown:
And the other thing it does, so we refer to it as station 2,

unknown:
many people realize it's the fire station on expressway.

unknown:
That would be the first fire station to respond to this

unknown:
location currently.

unknown:
With the incorporation of a new station on Burley Avenue, it

unknown:
actually allows the boundaries of station 2 on expressway to

unknown:
shift and move further north, and it really alleviates some

unknown:
of the response time concerns in mid in the middle part of

unknown:
Bismarck as well.

unknown:
So, it's amazing what data can help guide your decisions and,

unknown:
and really influence.

unknown:
You know, the, the important features that we are providing

unknown:
as far as services go, but ultimately the way we ended

unknown:
things last night, the request was to put out a request for

unknown:
proposals for an architectural firm to start to analyze a

unknown:
site, begin to designing some concepts, and start putting

unknown:
some estimates together.

unknown:
The other request from the fire chief was to reach out to the

unknown:
neighborhood and say, we'd like to be a part of this

unknown:
neighborhood and have those conversations.

unknown:
What should the fire station look like?

unknown:
Should it.

unknown:
Resemble more of a residential style fire station, like we

unknown:
have on Tyler Parkway, or would it be more of a commercial

unknown:
industrial type look like you would see on expressway?

unknown:
Given the neighborhood to the south, I have an idea of what

unknown:
the fire station might look like in the future, but it'll

unknown:
be fun to go through the process of design and really

unknown:
look at what are the 5 fire stations offer today?

unknown:
What should the 6th 1 offer as

unknown:
far as for the firefighters' needs.

unknown:
The city's needs, cause each station has its own kind of

unknown:
area of expertise and its own specialty.

unknown:
So, how does all of that start getting incorporated with the

unknown:
greater department as a whole?

unknown:
Yes, it's extraordinarily interesting and something that

unknown:
caught my attention last night too is uh Chief bass fluke

unknown:
saying, I think uh.

unknown:
That they try and get to the fire in terms of response time

unknown:
to maintain to the room of origin of origin, which is

unknown:
really an extraordinary uh response time and an

unknown:
extraordinary goal so I kind of provided me with a lot of

unknown:
perspective of what they're trying to do and how quickly

unknown:
they need to get there and safely at the same time in that

unknown:
map again really interesting that southwest corner will be

unknown:
the next fire station, but then

unknown:
you could see up in Northeast Bismarck.

unknown:
Um, I believe we, uh, the city owns land there already is I

unknown:
understood right, and then not in, uh, northwest part of town,

unknown:
but, uh, the plan is well, uh, in action now to I think

unknown:
firefighters have already been hired a truck's already been

unknown:
purchased, and so, uh.

unknown:
The planning there is all, all in place.

unknown:
You're right.

unknown:
And it's interesting you said a

unknown:
truck has already been purchased.

unknown:
The lead time on a fire truck is 1.5 to 2 years.

unknown:
And so we have been under the impression that there will be a

unknown:
new fire station in the not too distant future.

unknown:
For and Commissioner Cleary commented on it last night.

unknown:
For many of us, because of the land purchase in Silver Ranch,

unknown:
many were under the impression

unknown:
the next fire station would be Northeast.

unknown:
And I think for a long time, Chief Bas flew even.

unknown:
Was kind of leaning in that direction just because of the

unknown:
growth that's happening.

unknown:
When you start applying the data and really looking at how

unknown:
the response is working.

unknown:
We're gonna shift our focus a little bit.

unknown:
It's not to say we won't be building a fire station in

unknown:
Northeast Bismarck.

unknown:
It just won't be the next fire station in Northeast Bismarck.

unknown:
Well, along the lines of, uh, serving and protecting our

unknown:
police chief Dave Brevich has announced his retirement.

unknown:
I believe he's, uh, hoping to, uh, walk out of the police

unknown:
station at the end of July, and so that obviously opens the

unknown:
question of who will become.

unknown:
The next police chief and that process is underway.

unknown:
So tell us what you talked about

unknown:
last night.

unknown:
Sure. So Chief Draovitch's last day, July 31st, that'll be 36

unknown:
years of dedicated service to the city of Bismarck.

unknown:
So thank you, Dave, for all of that.

unknown:
Dave started out as an officer and worked his way up through a

unknown:
number of different leadership roles, and he's a, a great

unknown:
person, a very humble guy.

unknown:
Uh, he is leaving a department that's in great shape.

unknown:
He's got two deputy chiefs in Jason Steelmeyer and Randy

unknown:
Ziegler, who both have extensive experience and will.

unknown:
Uh, do a nice job, uh, transitioning as well, but to

unknown:
your question, how do we get to the next chief?

unknown:
That's what the discussion was last night.

unknown:
And so we will, uh, we have a process that we go through for

unknown:
department director positions and it's fairly extensive.

unknown:
I personally have been uh exposed to that and, and a part

unknown:
of it a number of times and.

unknown:
For us, we will also reach out to uh other leaders within law

unknown:
enforcement, people like the

unknown:
Burleigh County Sheriff Kelly Leben.

unknown:
I think uh Sheriff Leben has a wonderful perspective of the

unknown:
Bismarck Police Department and

unknown:
how the two agencies engage and interact.

unknown:
Uh, we just talked about him, the fire chief Joel Boespflug.

unknown:
I think his perspective on the new chief is very important

unknown:
because of the way first responders interact and the way

unknown:
those two departments are so integral to our organization.

unknown:
So we will lean on the expertise of some others, but

unknown:
we will also stand behind the process that we have used to

unknown:
get to other directors, and I

unknown:
trust that hopefully by mid-July.

unknown:
We should have some interviews in place and we should have

unknown:
some wonderful candidates.

unknown:
I, I don't doubt that we will see a myriad of applications.

unknown:
I know when Dave interviewed for the chief position in 2018,

unknown:
the two other gentlemen that interviewed with him, one was

unknown:
from Kansas City and the other was from Roswell, New Mexico.

unknown:
So clearly, uh, the police chief in any community is a

unknown:
very prominent position, a very important position, and, and I

unknown:
take this very seriously, knowing that that role has an

unknown:
influence on our community safety, the, the, the officers

unknown:
that serve in that department and just as a department

unknown:
director within the organization.

unknown:
So, Looking forward to this, looking forward to working with

unknown:
the mayor and Commissioner Risch and and Leanne Schmidt,

unknown:
our HR director.

unknown:
And um let the process begin I guess.

unknown:
And you said uh this job will be posted soon, I think, and

unknown:
then close in early June.

unknown:
Was that right?

unknown:
I believe so.

unknown:
Uh, generally we'll leave the position open about 3 weeks and

unknown:
our HR staff does a really nice job of putting that

unknown:
notification out there, whether

unknown:
it be on LinkedIn or social media.

unknown:
There are other professional platforms that they partner

unknown:
with to get the message out, so we won't be.

unknown:
Just talking to the people in Bismarck, we do a really broad

unknown:
search when we're looking for directors because it, it's an

unknown:
important role and we wanna

unknown:
make sure we attract the best candidates.

unknown:
Well, I just, uh, congratulations to Chief.

unknown:
I worked with him in my past life at KX and also in Runners

unknown:
Against Destructive Decisions and, uh, just like you said, a

unknown:
humble guy.

unknown:
Uh, really out there to serve, serve the community.

unknown:
So 36 years, that's, that's, uh,

unknown:
it's a long time to do anything that's he's probably been with

unknown:
the Bismarck Police Department longer than some of the

unknown:
officers have been alive.

unknown:
Yeah, that's,

unknown:
yeah, we're all at that point now.

unknown:
Not, not to humble him or or make, make fun or make light of

unknown:
it, but I think today in today's workforce, I'm, I'll be

unknown:
very interested to see if those coming into the workforce.

unknown:
Have that longevity with an organization and I think it's a

unknown:
testament to to Dave and his character but it's also uh uh

unknown:
it's a good representation of us as an organization that we

unknown:
really rely on that long term dedication because it's all

unknown:
about delivery of service,

unknown:
you know.

unknown:
Uh, just a couple other things we wanted to talk about, remind

unknown:
folks the mayor's prayer breakfast is May 20th at 7 a.m.

unknown:
at the Radisson, and so suddenly it's mid-May,

unknown:
mid May around the corner proceeds from the mayor's

unknown:
prayer breakfast go to.

unknown:
Support the Crisis care chaplaincy, which if you're not

unknown:
familiar with what that is, I would encourage you to check

unknown:
out one of the most recent episodes of Bismarck Insights.

unknown:
Greg Carr, Mayor Mike Schmitz sat down with Greg Carr and

unknown:
talked a lot about the chaplaincy and how they support

unknown:
first responders, um, families that are in crisis when there

unknown:
are terrible situations.

unknown:
So it's, it's noble work that they do, and, uh, we often see

unknown:
the chaplains at the onset of every city commission meeting.

unknown:
They start with the invocation, but.

unknown:
To Greg and his team of volunteers, thanks for what

unknown:
they do, yeah,

unknown:
and general, I can't call him General Dohrmann anymore.

unknown:
We can't, we gotta call him Al or Alan, I guess, but, uh,

unknown:
former, uh, editor general for North Dakota will be the

unknown:
featured speaker and his dry sense of humor will be, uh, I'm

unknown:
sure, well appreciated

unknown:
bright and early in the morning.

unknown:
Yeah, it's a usually a, a great turnout and, uh, again, a

unknown:
wonderful event to support the crisis.

unknown:
A chaplaincy.

unknown:
We haven't had time, uh, or a chance, I should say, to talk

unknown:
about red, white, and boom.

unknown:
I mean, we kind of talked about the, the, some plans were in

unknown:
the works to, uh, keep the

unknown:
Fourth of July celebration alive.

unknown:
So I just wanted to bring that

unknown:
up and I know you were a part of.

unknown:
Uh, making this happen.

unknown:
So thank you for that as a citizen of Bismarck, but tell

unknown:
us, uh, a few things about Red, White and Boom.

unknown:
And

unknown:
so this will be the first time, at least to my knowledge, that

unknown:
a 4th of July celebration hasn't occurred at the North

unknown:
Dakota Capitol Grounds.

unknown:
So for 30 years plus, the Bismarck Mandin Symphony

unknown:
Orchestra hosted thousands of people.

unknown:
Annually to an event at the 4th of July at the Capitol Grounds.

unknown:
Fireworks, full symphony, other musicians, dignitaries.

unknown:
It was a wonderful event.

unknown:
The symphony had decided to move away from that event and

unknown:
other things happening at the Capitol, of course, the North

unknown:
Dakota State Lab construction, the building that's under

unknown:
construction today used to be the site where fireworks would

unknown:
be launched.

unknown:
And so a number of factors came together and Uh, when I was,

unknown:
when I learned that there wasn't a plan for a celebration

unknown:
in 2025, I got nervous because I, I, my wife and I, my family

unknown:
and I, we have taken that event in many, many times over the

unknown:
years, and I think it is such a great opportunity to bring the

unknown:
community together.

unknown:
So I asked a few other community leaders if they had

unknown:
concerns without a 4th of July event and the overwhelming

unknown:
response was absolutely we need

unknown:
to figure out a way to do something.

unknown:
So I'm very, very fortunate to work with some influential

unknown:
people that no other influential people, and we can

unknown:
get some stuff done and I'm very pleased to say that we

unknown:
will be.

unknown:
Moving the 4th of July event in Bismarck, North Dakota to the

unknown:
MDU Resources Community Bowl, and it will be a family

unknown:
friendly event with lots of activities, lots of events.

unknown:
There will be some opportunity for some concessions, snacks,

unknown:
beverages, all of the like, but we will still have some of the

unknown:
classic features.

unknown:
We will have the Bismarck Mandan Symphony Orchestra playing.

unknown:
Celebratory music in conjunction with a wonderful

unknown:
fireworks display and I would like to tease the, the audience

unknown:
to know that, uh, the fireworks display will be using the same

unknown:
vendor that we've used in the past, but because of the

unknown:
location change, there are some things that he can do a little

unknown:
bit differently.

unknown:
And so the fireworks show this year should be bigger and

unknown:
better than it's been in the past, and I'm really looking

unknown:
forward to that part too.

unknown:
All right.

unknown:
Well, no, yeah, we're all hooked now, can't wait.

unknown:
Yeah, and my family, we've loved that event, so really

unknown:
happy to see it alive and, uh, you know, change.

unknown:
It's one constant, right?

unknown:
So I really look forward to this event.

unknown:
Also wanted to mention the police auction coming up in May

unknown:
just to let folks know they can, uh, you said that's gonna

unknown:
the at the impound just south of the landfill on 52nd Street,

unknown:
be out at



unknown:
uh, May 17th, so this coming Saturday you have an

unknown:
opportunity to buy or to bid on vehicles, bicycles.

unknown:
Uh, just some general property, but then I think what often

unknown:
gets a lot of attention, there,

unknown:
there can be some firearms available.

unknown:
If you have an interest in what is on the bill of sale, I would

unknown:
direct you towards the City of

unknown:
Bismarck website, BismarckND.gov.

unknown:
I believe the auctioneer, as it has been in the past, is

unknown:
Thompson's Four Winds Auction.

unknown:
So if that's your preferred site for information, you can

unknown:
go there too, but it'd be this Saturday, May 17th.

unknown:
right. And then, uh, finally, He didn't get a chance to see

unknown:
All



unknown:
the city commission meeting last night.

unknown:
Please go to Dakota Media

unknown:
Access.org or download our apps.

unknown:
Better yet, DMA, uh, that's the logo you'll find, uh, also our

unknown:
Radio Access 102.5 apps so you can find us wherever you are

unknown:
whenever you can.

unknown:
So if you're out on a sandbar or at the Fourth of July

unknown:
celebration, you can always call it government or community

unknown:
access programming.

unknown:
I have one more thing.

unknown:
We didn't talk about this before, but I would be.

unknown:
Terribly ineffective as my job as a member of the Bismarck

unknown:
Historical Society, which is something I do outside of my

unknown:
city work.

unknown:
But I have to mention today is May 14th.

unknown:
Today is Founder's Day.

unknown:
Today is Bismarck's 153rd anniversary.

unknown:
In 1872, this town was first cited as Edwinton, and it was

unknown:
the end of the Northern Pacific Railroad at that time.

unknown:
So, Today, May 14th, the day we're recording this episode,

unknown:
it is Bismarck's 153rd birthday.

unknown:
Well, and I guess I'd be remiss in case my wife's watching.

unknown:
It's our 14th anniversary, so we share congratulations some

unknown:
history with Bismarck.

unknown:
So we both had one more thing, Dad.

unknown:
Jason as always appreciate your time and, and really helping us

unknown:
get perspective on what

unknown:
happened at last night's meeting.

unknown:
It's always a pleasure

unknown:
for watching.

unknown:
For more information on what was discussed in this episode

unknown:
of City Current, visit BismarckND.gov

unknown:
or call 701-355-1300.



unknown:
If you have suggestions, comments, or issues you would

unknown:
like addressed in future

unknown:
episodes, contact us at info@freetv.org.

unknown:
This program airs on government Access Channel 2 and 602 in HD

unknown:
or on Radio Access 102.5 FM.

unknown:
It's also available as a podcast on Radio Access.org and

unknown:
as a video viewing link at FreeTV.org.

unknown:
Thanks for tuning in to this edition of City Current.