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City current

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Produced by Dakota Media Access. In depth discussion with Bismarck and Man and city officials. Watch on Government Access Channel 602 HD or tune in to Radio Access 102.5 FM. Always local, always current.

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Welcome to City Current Bismarck Edition. I'm Tom Gerhar with Dakota Media Access, along with Bismarck City Administrator Jason Tamonic. Good to see you

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today. Thank you for hosting once again. Pleasure to be here. We got a

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lot to talk about. Let's go right to our slate of talking points for this. Edition of City Current last night we had of course the recognition of outgoing police chief Dave Drejevich. So we'll see how he was honored at the commission meeting last night. We'll talk about the Bismarck Airport, uh, study update, some really interesting things happening there and some graphics to show you. We'll go through the 2026 city budget and then we'll end uh with the new police chief recommendation. You call it the worst kept secret in Bismarck last night so uh in case you don't know, we'll reveal that shortly but let's start with uh. Chief Drejevich, and, and we've talked about him. We've known you've gone through this process of hiring the new chief, and, uh, just give you an opportunity. You said some words last night. You've called him a very humble man. I had the opportunity to work for him when I worked for local TV and, uh, this caps off quite a career. I think Commissioner Cleary last night mentioned that he started the year she was born.

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1989, Dave joined the police force as an officer, spent 14 years on patrol, and then worked his way through a variety of other positions. Canine handler, he was a lieutenant. He was a deputy chief. He was a chief, he became chief in 2018, so I spent the last seven years as the leader of the Bismarck Police Department. Uh, some of the thoughts that I shared last night and that I've shared with others along the way when I think of Dave and, and the time that he spent as the leader. I will think of how we have embraced technology in the police department. We've adapted to body worn cameras. We've got a very robust and in some cases envious drone program when we're talking with other law enforcement agencies in the state. And then also the uh the importance of being an accredited law enforcement agency. There's only two other accredited law enforcement agencies in the state of North Dakota. State Highway Patrol, which has been longer than the city of Bismarck, but then also, um, City of Grand Forks's police department is accredited twice under Dave's leadership. We have gone through the re-accreditation process and have come out on the uh on the very high side of that recognition as well. So, um, Dave's done so many different things for the police department, so many things for the community and the organization, um, in his free time, of course, it was mentioned as well that he's a mentor with runners Agains destructive decisions. And uh the recovery community and, and just uh leaves a a great indelible mark on Bismarck's history. Uh, I think one of the things that, um, his successor will inherit a very well run and very uh high functioning police department, and I think we're very proud of that as a citizen here, as the administrator, I, I know the next chief is going to be. Uh, getting a really, really good department to continue to lead.

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And you mentioned that last night. This isn't a case where we needed to sort of start from scratch and bring in somebody from the outside. This is a case of more of

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the more of the same, more of the same, which means. Promoting from within and we're kind of teasing towards the answer here of, of the worst kept secret in Bismarck, um, but we have, uh, in my time with the city I've seen, I think 5 different chiefs and Dave has served the longest of all of those 5 and just continues to grow and excel that department and, and I think our community would agree. And thanks to the community, we often say that this is a very supportive community. When people say they back the blue, they're not kidding. They actually very much support the Bismarck Police Department and we are very appreciative of that as well.

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Couple of photos of Chief Drejevic, uh, still has a few days to go, I guess, before he officially hangs, uh, hangs things up, but I think it also should be said. Navigating the department through COVID. I mean, during that time, I think probably some tremendous challenges. Here he is with Judge Severn, who retired a little of the chief in action, but uh I think that probably needs to be mentioned too that that was a challenging time for so many, but.

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It, it was, it, it was a very strange time for everybody. Law enforcement had had their hands full, no question about it, between, you know, overcrowding and, and putting people in the jail versus, you know, serving warrants and arresting people and just what are we doing day by day things were changing constantly. And um in the end. We're, we're better off because of Dave's leadership, and very grateful for his 36 years of service, his final day. Uh, will be July 31st, so the end of this month, and then the new chief will take over on August 1st.

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Well, nice moment from last night's commission meeting where Commissioner Risch, uh, had some really nice things to say. Let's take a listen.

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Congratulations chief on making it to retirement. I'm from the railroad industry and we say when somebody retires, he's pulling the pin. There's a pin between each car. You pull the pin and the car rolls off into the sunset. But I want to thank you for your service. You've made a tremendous impact on the department and the safety of our community, and I'm grateful for that. Uh, the chief started his career in 1989, uh, 14 years on patrol from 200603 to 2006, he was. A patrol supervisor and became a lieutenant in 2006, deputy chief in 2013, and chief of police in 2018, so we got about seven years out of you anyway, uh, as police chief, Chief Jarevich led the department in implementing body worn cameras, upgraded ballistic protection, launched a drone program, and adopted intelligence led policing. He also led the department in 2021 and 2025 for reaccreditation process for the commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement agencies called CELA, the gold standard for credentialing public safety agencies. We're the only police department in the state, correct? No, Grand Forks and uh, OK, I stole a little thunder, but it's very difficult to get this, and I was interviewed actually as part of the process and you've got to be a top shelf police force playing by all the rules and proper procedures and everything like that, uh, uh, to get that recognition. A prow K9 handler during his patrol years, Chief Drejevich worked closely with K-9 partners Bo and Kodiak and was widely regarded as a cornerstone of the patrol division where he spent much of his career. He loves dogs, and he's told me numerous times, I don't dare go out to the pound because I might bring home another, uh, I might adopt another dog, so appreciate that. The chief is a public servant in our on the force, but he's also a public service in other ways. um, he serves as a mentor for runners against destructive decisions promoting healthy activities and providing social support for referrals from drug court and residents of the Missouri River Correction Center. It's an incredible commitment showing up several hours a week on his off time and never calling attention to himself. But time goes on like it always does, and even good guys like Chief Dreevvich gets to retire, uh, but your positive impact on the police department and our community will be felt long after you retire as a citizen and as certainly as a commissioner, thank you for your service, and I wish you all the best as you enter this next chapter of your life. Thank, thank you.

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And the chief came up and said a few words as well, but, uh, really nice to honor him last night. Again, you said he's got a, a weaker and we can change left on the job, but, uh, appreciation for all those years of service dating all the way back to 1989.

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Tremendous career.

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Also, uh, switching gears a little bit, the, uh, Human Relations Committee gave out their annual awards last night. We wanted to, uh, show you the humanitarian awards quickly that were presented. And there was a youth individual award, an adult individual award, and a business slash nonprofit award. And so congratulations to all who were recognized last night. Well, on to the regular agenda. We're, uh, just getting started. It was thick with content last night and right off the bat, I wanted to talk about the airport terminal study. I think it was in 2023 that Ubble was, uh, uh, given the nod to complete a study looking at the terminal at future and current needs, and that was all unbundled last night as we move closer.

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Closer and closer towards a about a $160 million project. Um, it's kind of a staggering number when you think about it, but what's causing all of this is the increase in passenger traffic, uh, plain and simple. We are not quite to the record numbers that we were at as far as in planes, people getting on, on the planes, Bismarck, uh 2019, I believe was the record high. Uh, but we are definitely on the rebound side of kind of that dip in travel in 2020 and 2021. Um, what we're noticing is that the air carriers are starting to, um, up gauge, which they're starting to talk about bringing in larger planes, which means more travelers, which means more congestion in those high traffic areas. And so, the study is looking at an expansion of the terminal area, which you mentioned. Which would essentially take the 4 gates that we have today and broaden them into 6 dedicated areas, and the possibility would exist that there could be some apron expansions to allow for those jetways to connect to multiple planes, not simultaneously, obviously, but park two planes in the same vicinity as one jetway, essentially doubling your gate capacity there as well.

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We're showing a picture, not to interrupt you here quickly, just of the terminal as it is, and then you mentioned this project. Uh, phasing and as you're talking about what some of the things you just mentioned, maybe you can walk us through, uh, some of the items you just mentioned. So phase one is a ticketing and self departure expansion, and that's in the, the green with the black or the number one circle there. Uh, not only are we getting back to pre-COVID numbers, but then, of course, this looks at the future where it's gonna get more crowded, more crowded. And so the need is is definitely there with passengers and baggage and all the things that come along with it.

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Absolutely. Phase two would be concessions, and phase 3 is relocating the TSA. So that's obviously a big part of the screening process to get passengers safely on and off the the planes. And then phase 4 would be looking at a north side expansion, going, expanding the terminal to the north. Phase one would be to the south. Phase 4 would be to the north. And then, um, increasing some of the uh area for the arrivals, and then also the final phase would be what they call the land side development. Expanded parking, uh, maybe some relocation of the um. Uh, the rental car agencies down near the baggage areas, again, trying to reduce some of those conflict zones where people are gathering because that's where you need to get your baggage, your rental car, your ticketing, whatever the case might be. So, yeah, it's a, it's a really big study. It's a really big project. It's a really big number on the back end as well, but I think it's important to note that with any airport project, there is always a blend of funding. Uh, typically federal funds from the FAA, state funds, from State Aeronautics Association. And then local dollars as well. And the intentions would be that they would be spent in that order as they become available as well.

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Here's a, uh, photo Jason of the preferred alternative. This is the departure level, so this would be the 2nd floor, so to speak, and it was interesting that you noted if people can see my cursor, this is the existing building, existing facility right here, which is in a purple color. I don't know if that's noticeable on your screen, so. It kind of gives you a pretty good idea of the size of this. It's an expansion.

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Fairly significant increase in square footage in the terminal area, which is why it's called the airport terminal study. It is creating more room for passengers to move about the airport comfortably and safely.

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And that was another, not getting too far into the weeds, but in the middle, you can see TSA queuing. And that would change the way now when we go up the stairs or the escalator that can get pretty congested. So this would actually change the flow and provide for more room for people to get through at an additional lane, I think ultimately for security. This, uh, some of the design options that are being looked at too, to bring the airport up to speed.

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Yeah, you see a lot of these amenities in other places when you travel. I think the one that sticks out in this photo that I noticed years ago and it, it kind of made me smile. I'm not a pet owner, but a service animal relief area that is a very important feature in airports today as we see people relying on service animals more and more. Obviously children's play areas, mother's rooms for privacy and, and a number of things, and it, it just. It's the right time. It's, it's the right location. We've invested a lot in our airport, but it is an important economic generator in our community. Having business and leisure travel right in and out of Bismarck is a tremendous asset, and we want to make sure that our airport, for a lot of people, it is their first impression of Bismarck. It is the welcome mat when they come to our community front door, and we want them. To realize that they are in a special place and we are proud of that airport. And, and I think today it looks great. It served a wonderful purpose and it will continue to do so in the future. So I'm looking forward to watching this one continue to To build momentum,

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here's some other areas of interest, uh, potential for some outdoor spaces, premium restrooms. I think everybody else wants to know about concessions and some of those options for food and and beverage. So a lot of things under consideration in this study that, as we said, started, I think they got the green light in 2023. So this is the

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result of a lot of work. It is, yeah,

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and, uh, moving forward, I guess we should mention that. I think they need to finalize the study and then they'll come back and work on a path forward. This doesn't say this project has been green lighted at this point, but just here's what they've come up with in this last couple of years,

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right, and dealing with the Federal Aviation Administration, it, it's a little more, um, I don't want to use the word cumbersome, but it's a little more, uh, difficult than just local government. There's obviously a lot of A lot of red tape, a lot of reviews, a lot of people looking over things for all the right reasons. And so, um, that goes into the design and that all gets considered when this project. Is brought forward.

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Also wanted to talk about the bulk item collection pilot program that began last November and 6 months was the pilot period time which leads us to July. So, uh, Steve Sally came last night and gave us an update on how that program's been going, how many people have been using it. Of course in the past there was a spring and a fall cleanup. The, the idea, I think, or one of the ideas behind this bolt pickup was to get rid of one of the, the fall, uh, pick up time and, and allow people to schedule, uh. Items to be picked up for a fee and it sounds like it hasn't been used tremendously but enough that we want to continue this program,

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right? The average is, I believe was, you know, 10 to 20 items a month and there is a fee. There is a fee to pick up the item. I believe that's a $20 fee uh per visit, but then there's also a disposal fee. So whatever the normal disposal fee would be for. The item, whether it be a dishwasher or a piece of furniture, that is also part of the, the fee that is charged. But I, I appreciate that this program is continuing to move forward. I, I think it gives citizens an alternative and it may not have the largest uh uptake of, of usage, but it is still providing a service that otherwise might not be there for some folks and I think that's a good program that we're, we're going to continue, and I think over time we will probably see an increase in some of the usage because it becomes people

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become more aware of

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it and realize that, oh, I didn't realize I had that option before.

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Yeah, well, it's nice to have somebody come and pick it up. Maybe you don't have a truck, maybe you have some, uh. Reasons that you can't do things and, and maybe you just don't want to drive out and sometimes, sometimes there can be a line so it's just kind of nice to have that option. Another, uh, big talking point last night was, uh, fall leaf cleanup.

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It got more, more airtime than I, than I thought it would, but it was an interesting discussion and I, again, kind of hinging on this, we, we're no longer picking up extras, those items that would be left next to the trash container. A lot of people are in the habit of putting their leaves in a bag and then setting the bag next to the curb and trash would pick it up. So the question was, Do we provide some type of an alternative service in those situations? And I think where consensus seemed to formulate was around this idea that the city would be able to provide a 30 gallon uh compostable paper bag that people could pick up, put their leaves in those bags, and then those would be picked up during select weeks in October by public works employees. And so it would be an alternative for those that May not have the means or the ability to get their leaves to the recycling sites because those will still be open as well. But if you would like, if you just maybe have a vehicle that doesn't accommodate large bags of leaves. This would be an alternative for you as well. And so where the conversation ended last night at the meeting. Uh, Director Saulway will go back and find out more information on sourcing the bags, availability of the bags, and then looking at, you know, what would be the appropriate dates and times. Obviously, we can't do the entire city all in one day. So we're just gonna take some coordination, communication, obviously, this is part of the um success of this program is our ability to get the information out to people so they can plan and be prepared for that. So.

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Interesting point from the mayor last night too, so I think Steve's looking into the city providing these bags, not, not finalized again yet, but, uh, looking into the cost, he's gonna come back in August with an idea of what it would cost the city to provide these bags, but the mayor made the point that he'd rather pay for the bags than the cost of digging another hole at the landfill, which is extremely expensive,

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right? And the point there is the, the paper bags would be. Put into the recycling with the other leaves and grass clippings, whereas if they're in a plastic bag, they'll end up in the hole in the landfill, taking up very valuable space that is very expensive to create. So, uh, I think from an environmental perspective, that's a a good approach to, to take on and hopefully Steve's able to come back with some information that makes this a reality for us as well.

00:19:49,700	spk_1:
Well, moving along, uh, preliminary approval of the 2026 city budget was given last night, but under that umbrella that was a lot of conversations, a lot

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of information.

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I did have a graphic. I thought we'd pop up quickly that Demetri did a nice job with his presentation, but maybe this gives people an idea of the process right now we're at that July 22nd where the city commission last night did approve the 2026 preliminary budget. Then in early September, there would be the final approval, but again, underneath this process, uh. A lot of talk about House Bill 1176 last night which was passed by the legislature with the intent of providing property tax relief, which it will do, but it's such a large bill that I think there's still a lot sure seems that all of us don't know about and one of the ideas of that bill is this 3% cap on municipalities right for so. Take it from there. That's where, uh, Commissioner Zennker brought up a point. I think there's some confusion maybe in the education piece about what this is gonna mean for people like you and me who live in Bismarck, uh, in terms of our property taxes and our home values.

00:21:11,667	spk_2:
Maybe the, the easiest way to distill the confusion. So the 3% cap, yes, there's no doubt about that. That was the, the end result of part of the end result of House Bill 1176, so 3% on. The city's annual budget. That doesn't necessarily translate to a 3% increase for every property owner across the community. And I think that's where there's going to be confusion. I think that was the discussion that Commissioner Zennker raised last night. When we talk about legislative intent versus messaging, what are we saying and, and, and then what are the people understanding? We've got 3 different potential conversations going on, all focusing around the same topic, which is property tax reform. We heard that throughout the entire legislative assembly. We understand the intent and we are working within those parameters, as are all 354 other cities in North Dakota. But 3% might translate differently if your property is worth more than an adjacent property or if you've made improvements to your property, or if your property is going the other direction and and the value is starting to decrease. And so There is, there is some confusion. There needs to be some messaging. Um, what we have now is a baseline for the conversation. We have the recommended budget moving forward for 2026, and what we focused on for the overall budget was obviously a number one, a balanced budget. We're not looking to deficit spend. When we develop our budget, one of the first things we look at is maintaining our assets, and one of our greatest assets are the employees that we have, the 670 plus full-time employees. And so how do we continue to adequately pay them and provide benefits to them that help them want to continue to work with us as a retaining, but then also to help recruit talent as we continue to. Uh, see people retire and move on to other positions. We are forever looking for new talented employees. And so, what are those ways that we can attract them by paying them and, and treating them in a way that is uh very commensurate with other jobs in the community. This year, one of the, I guess, fortunate experiences that we had is that we had a little bit of a lull in our necessary fleet purchases. And so several years ago, we developed a fleet plan identifying a life cycle for all the equipment that our staff uses on a regular basis. And this year, we were fortunate that we didn't have some of those larger purchases in the past, we've been buying front end loaders and motor graders and fire trucks. We didn't see quite the volume of, of those types of purchases, which ultimately frees up cash for other projects that are part of the request. One of the other things we get asked a lot by the 15 different departments is for additional staff. There were close to a dozen, more than a dozen requests for additional staff. The budget committee recommended half of those positions come forward and 2 of those 6 positions are actually in our human resources department, as I mentioned, 670 full-time employees plus, uh, depending on the season, retirees and then we've got part-time and seasonal employees we're dealing with thousands of people when it comes to payroll benefits, pension. And having more staff to provide those services in addition to training and safety procedures and a variety of other things that human resources takes care of, it's time to help staff them up appropriately. So the, uh, right now, there are 6 employees in a department for human resources for over 670 full-time employees. The ratio is, it's a little out of whack on that one. Um, so, and then also, we're obviously always looking at software upgrades to stay on point with cybersecurity. You heard the commissioners talk about Axon. Axon is the company that we have aligned with for body worn cameras and other technologies within our police force. We are all in with Axon and continue to see the value in that investment. It makes our law enforcement, uh, their lives are easier, their jobs are. are uh more effective and, and efficient, and we're continuing to find ways that the technology that is coming forward is going to improve the efficiencies of our law enforcement officers, and that's just tremendous. And so with those types of things. Obviously, we've got other projects, we've got building maintenance projects. We own a number of buildings throughout the community. Just like a homeowner, just like a regular property owner, we face those projects as well, whether it be a new roof, parking lot repair, remodeling, you have it, all of that stuff gets wrapped up into this budget for next year. And as Dmitri Cherniak, our finance director, pointed out, we're in the middle of 2025 and we're projecting expenses through the end of 2026. The city of Bismarck is not immune to the fluctuations in the economy like everybody else. And so we are subject to higher price increases and procurement issues and It's, it's a challenge. Yeah, great word. And so what is the takeaway for the citizens here? I would encourage anybody to go back and consume the entire discussion because there's a lot of insight, there's a lot of ideas, there's a lot of information that came forward, but also, the budget will be posted. All of the information, the full 300 and some page document it will be available on our website. I would encourage anybody. Go through that. If you have questions, you can contact staff. I'm sure our finance director would love to have a conversation. If you have a simple email, you can feel free to email them. Stop by the office. You might want to make an appointment just in case. Staff's not always available at a, at a pop in, um, but as you noted on the timeline. The preliminary budget was approved last night. We will be looking forward to early September for the final budget public hearing and hopeful adoption for 2026.

00:27:06,400	spk_1:
So changes can be made between now and then, just not additions.

00:27:10,066	spk_2:
That is correct. The number, the dollar amount cannot go up, but reductions can still be part and shuffling things around, moving things around, but the high dollar number has been established, and that would be the mark that would either be. Set or lower than that going forward for 2026.

00:27:28,667	spk_1:
Moving along, uh, the best kept secret in Bismarck, which is no secret anymore, uh, but the recommendation to hire a new police chief, and you have the honor of, uh, being on the hiring committee and then, uh, making the recommendation last

00:27:43,467	spk_2:
night. I did, and I was very pleased and proud to offer the name of Jason Stugelmeyer, 24 year veteran of the Bismarck Police Department, uh, Stoos to a lot of people, if, if you know him, uh, he's a Bismarck guy born and raised here, graduated from Bismarck High School. As I mentioned, he's been with the department over 2 decades and started out as an officer and worked his way up as a sergeant, as a lieutenant, as a deputy chief, and did both sides of the deputy chief. We have 2 deputy chief positions. One is more of the administrative support services, and the other is field services. Steubelmeyer did both sides of that position, and so he understands all the facets, all the components of the police department. He was the leader of the SWAT team for quite some time. His name came out loud and clear many times during the Dapple situation back in 2016. He became a leader in a a very strong presence, uh, from the law enforcement side of that, and all of that resonated throughout the entire hiring process and there were very qualified candidates that he faced and in the end, it, it was a it was a decision that was in some ways very easy to make, to continue to support the department. I mentioned this to the commissioners that in my mind, there's a time to bring in an outside person to lead a department and there's a time to hire from within. This was absolutely the time to hire from within because things are in great shape. Uh, police, uh police Chief Drejevich has led this department very well, as we mentioned at the onset of the program, and I know from being in that #2 position personally, I know that, uh, when Deputy Chief Steelmeyer becomes a chief, he has his own ideas of how to lead this department, and it will be fun to watch him. Continue on this path of leadership, but also to direct the course of the city of Bismarck's law enforcement team and I'm, I'm anxious to work with him. I'm excited to watch him, um, evolve in his career as he takes on this new challenge. So congratulations to him and, and best of luck.

00:29:41,600	spk_1:
Nice nod to his family last night, yeah, kind of smile about it, but it was a heartfelt moment. Uh, he mentioned the sacrifice a wife and the commitment of a wife and a family make to a position. Uh, in a police department or as now as police chief, so it was nice to hear from, uh, Jason last night and congratulations on the promotion, and he'll take over August 1st. Yeah, so just around the corner

00:30:05,100	spk_2:
is just a few days away. He'll have cake on the 31st with the outgoing chief, and then he'll have his hands full on the next day.

00:30:13,367	spk_1:
Couple more topics to talk about, uh, the request to discuss the extraterritorial, the ETA on the August 5th meeting. Now the county met earlier this week. They were gonna address that. It didn't happen for whatever reason, but, uh, what I took out of last night is there will be a meeting August 5th that'll be informational for both the county. And the city to really help understand what the ETA is and to help in the process of moving forward.

00:30:43,867	spk_2:
Yep, exactly. So August 5th, 4 p.m. Dakota Media Access will cover the program. That is the normal scheduled time for the Bismarck Burley Combined missions meeting, which is Mayor Schmitz and myself and then auditors Blonskowski and Commissioner Bakin. That meeting will be replaced by a joint meeting of all 5, I'm sorry, 5 commission members from Bismarck and Burley with the primary topic of talking about the extraterritorial area, the ETA. So what is the ETA? It is a construct of the North Dakota Century Code, where cities can have zoning and building inspections jurisdiction outside of city limits. And what is the purpose of that? It is a tool for growth. It is a tool for planning to help cities that are growing. Work their way into these areas uh around the fringe of its community. And since my time here with the city starting in 2006, it frankly has been a point of contention between the city and the county and the residents. And I think where we are today, where we will be in the not too distant future is a point where we are going to be looking at the boundary again and making some adjustments and, and what does that mean? Maybe condensing the ETA a little bit and being a little more intentional about where are the areas that we can provide services and we actually will grow as the city of Bismarck versus, you know, these areas are going to be challenging from the utilities perspective, it would be millions of dollars of infrastructure. Maybe that needs to stay rural and we walk back from that a little bit, but the purpose of the meeting on August 5th will be to allow staff from both the city and the county, primarily engineering and building inspections and planning to come forward and talk about the similarities between the city of Bismarck and Burley County and their zoning and building ordinances, but then also the differences and where is. Bismarck may be more lenient, and Burley County would be a little more restrictive or vice versa. And so we'll hear a lot of information primarily from our community development director Ben Erith, likely our city engineer Gabe Shell and our public works utility operations director Michael Mart, but then on the county side, uh, they would have staff as well to be able to speak to some of those situations and from there the commissioners anticipate that there will likely be a need for a second meeting because there will be public comment and part of the public comment. I anticipate will be uh people raising concerns from their own personal experiences or their own personal property with the ETA and rather than try and address all of those concerns at one time, I think it would be more effective to capture those concerns, schedule a future meeting, and then come back with some explanations and try and get to the bottom of some of those answers.

00:33:25,467	spk_1:
So August 5th, we'll mark that on our calendars and follow up at the appropriate time. Uh, finally, an update. There's a citizen group. They want to offer an amendment to the half cent sales tax, the Home Rule charter. Where is that at after last night?

00:33:40,667	spk_2:
So after a brief discussion, uh, Commissioner Connelly is working with a group of citizens that are intending to proceed, uh, with their own amendments and draft ballot language that would cause a 50 cent sales tax collection with the intention of, uh, paying for arterial roadway projects. Um, commissioner Zinker, who holds the portfolio for the engineering department, um, he and Commissioner Conley, myself, city engineer Gabe Schell, and, uh, one individual from the committee that is, uh, working on the half and sales tax ballot language have met a couple of times. And I think where we are after last night is the two sides have agreed to kind of go their own separate ways. And so commissioner Zener. I would prefer to follow the model that was established in 2017 when the project was really led by the city. Uh, city staff were involved, but then a very large group of stakeholders, a task force, a couple of different task forces came together and then provided recommendations for the city commission. Ballot language was drafted at that time. It went to the voters in 2018. It was approved. It was approved with a 10 year sunset. And so we're getting close to that 10 years. And so Commissioner Zennker um has asked to work with Mayor Schmitz and then established a task force that would also include Brendan Agle. Uh, Brenda is the CEO of the Bismarck Mandan Chamber EDC, the voice of the business community in many cases. And then also Kevin Stragey, who Kevin was part of the original task force many, many years ago, bring those groups together, bring city staff together, kind of constitute a reconstitute a plan and then come forward with recommendations again. And, um, city staff would be a part of that effort and would be available as a as a resource for the other group should they have any questions along the way. So kind of two similar paths, but two different projects, two different groups. Um, I guess ultimately looking forward to June of 2026. That would be the goal for both groups to have something on the ballot at that time to address special assessments, sales tax, street maintenance projects. More to come. Big

00:35:56,667	spk_1:
items. Yeah. Well, it was quite a meeting last night. A couple of final details to offer. If you want to find out about the latest in street construction in the city of Bismarck, please visit biismarckndD.gov/streets

00:36:11,867	spk_1:
and you can find out. Up to date, what's happening in Bismarck. And finally, if you can't watch us on TV, you can sure download our apps. Our DMA app gives you access to our government access channel and our community access channel, and you can watch us whenever you want, wherever you are. And of course, you can also download our radio access app which gives you Access to local music producers and multiple local podcasts. So Jason, thanks for all the information and recapping last night's city commission meeting, uh, a lot of really, uh, informative items that we were able to talk about and thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.

00:36:54,400	spk_0:
For more information on what was discussed in this episode of City Current, visit Bismarck ND.gov or call 701-355-1300.

00:37:04,467	spk_0:
If you have suggestions, comments, or issues you would like addressed in future episodes, contact us at info@retv.org. This program airs on government Access Channel 2 and 602 in HD or on Radio Access 102.5 FM. It's also available as a podcast on Radio Access.org and as a video viewing link at freeTv.org. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of City Current.