00:00:03,000	S1:
City. Current. Produced by Dakota media access. In-depth discussion with Bismarck and Mandan city officials. Watch on government access channel 602 HD or tune in to radio access 102.5 FM. Always local, always current.

00:00:25,601	S2:
Coming up on this edition of City Current, we'll see how the City Commission honored Sister Kathleen Atkinson at last night's meeting will have an update from the downtown owners, and also an update on a special assessment policy. Thanks for joining me. I'm Tom Gearhart from Dakota media access, joined by Jason Domonique, Bismarck city administrator, just before Thanksgiving the day before. So this will air after and maybe during as well, but a short week, which is kind of nice. And a short meeting last night for the most part. But you got things kicked off with. I think the mayor said the second certificate of achievement that the city has given, and that went surprisingly because she didn't know or apparently didn't know leading up to the meeting, to Sister Kathleen Atkinson for all the work she's done as she retires from, in this case, ministry on the margins at the end of the year.

00:01:17,300	S3:
Yeah, it was a nice, nice opportunity to shine a light on somebody that's done some tremendous things in this community. And not just recently with her, her work with ministry on the margins, but throughout her her entire life. For anybody that's been around Bismarck for a while, the name Atkinson resonates with a lot of people. There's a lot of history with that family, a lot of civic engagement, and I'm grateful to know more than just Sister Kathleen from the family, and they're all a wonderful group of people. But it was nice for the mayor and the commissioners to kind of pull her up and talk about some of the wonderful things that she's done in the recent past.

00:01:58,000	S2:
Anyway, I took some notes. The mayor described her leadership style and then mentioned that she had unwavering compassion, which not to editorialize, but would be hard to argue with. He mentioned that in January of 22 that they launched a coffeehouse at Ministry on the margins that now serves 62 guests. Each evening started during a bitter cold snap, and the food pantry they're just reading now distributes over £25,000 of food to close to 1800 households, and I think it was over 4800 people.

00:02:29,868	S3:
Yeah. That's impressive.

00:02:31,200	S2:
So she was called up to the podium. She didn't have to speak, but she told us as she arrived that she likes to speak. And these are a few of the things she had to say.

00:02:42,067	S4:
His back is home. I've been blessed with Atkinson family, Annunciation monastery leaders, churches, community members. Bismarck is good and recently past dozen years or so. Been blessed by being embraced by the poor and people who are struggling, and people who are raising families in great challenges in our community. So ministry on the margins has been a great opportunity and grace to be able to come together with that which I love most.

00:03:18,400	S2:
I have a feeling too. This is kind of a sea of later, not a goodbye, because I have a hard time believing so completely disconnect from community service.

00:03:27,400	S3:
Yeah, I would, I would agree, I don't think she's going to sit still. She'll find other ways to continue her ministry work.

00:03:33,167	S2:
And I don't know if we were able to pop the photo up, but she took a photo with the the commissioners and you refresh my memory. This happened not too long ago. I mentioned the second certificate of achievement, and the other went to.

00:03:46,868	S3:
Stephanie Delmore and Susan Lundberg for their work with Sleepy Hollow Summer theater, Arts Park, and all the other theatre and culturally, culturally related things that they've been a part of. Yeah.

00:03:59,767	S2:
Pretty cool to honor folks that have made and continue to make such a difference.

00:04:04,000	S3:
It is it's it's fun to talk about the fun stuff. You know, of course, we have serious business with municipal government, but at the same time, we have so many talented people in our community that share their gifts and share their talents and their treasures. And it's just nice to stop and remember that once in a while.

00:04:23,701	S2:
Really short, regular agenda. Last night, one of the things that the city asked the commission to approve was issuing municipal bonds to pay for some public improvements, like street gutters, stuff like that. Uh, maybe that's not the most exciting, but I know there was something you wanted to touch on, and that's the rating. The credit rating, essentially, that the city of Bismarck has, right?

00:04:46,100	S3:
So we do this every year. Uh, what we're doing here is selling the bonds that will back the street improvement projects that occurred in 2024. These are. Sidewalk, curb and gutter. Types of projects. But what is nice to share is that when we go to market, when we the city sell these projects, we work with a company here locally, Colliers Securities. John Lundberg was a representative last night that shared the results of the bond sale. And two things. Number one, we got really good rates, interest rates on the bonds at 3.135% on a 15 year maturity, and then a 3.2035% on a ten year maturity for two separate sets of bonds. But what gets us those lower interest rates is the fact that the city has a double A-1 credit rating with Moody's. And as our Comptroller Eric Lund pointed out at the commission meeting, to the best of his knowledge, we are the highest graded city in North Dakota. And why does any of that matter? Because it translates to essentially lower interest rates on these bonds for everybody. When the special assessments are due.

00:05:56,667	S2:
And then that translates to me as a taxpayer.

00:05:59,467	S3:
Correct. It causes a reduction or a smaller interest rate on these carrying costs for the street improvements. So we're very grateful. The AA one rating. To the best of my knowledge, Bismarck has maintained this rating for at least the ten years that I've been a part of the administration department. Um, it's it's not the same case in every city. And so it it's a gold star for our finance group. It's a good it's a good position for our commissioners to be in. But it doesn't just happen on its own. It happens through thoughtful planning, very mindful fiscal procedures and and making sure that we're not overextended or doing projects that we don't have the backing to pay for in the end. And so good work on everybody's part. Uh, very grateful that there was a very strong auction market. We had nine bids for the 15 year maturity, and we had four bids for the the ten year maturity. So to me, that signals again out in the in the market that Bismarck is a good candidate. Bismarck is a good customer because we are well backed and well funded.

00:07:08,701	S2:
Moving along on the regular agenda report from Kate Herzog in the downtown honors related to economic development services that they provide. And what was your takeaway from her report?

00:07:21,167	S3:
So the the downtown ERS provide economic development support services for the city of Bismarck. So what does that mean? Well, as the name implies, they're very interested in the revitalization, the reinvestment of downtown Bismarck. But it's not just downtown for the downtown ers. Kate talked about the advisory boards and the committees that they've been a part of the Transportation Steering Committee. Kate is a member of the North Dakota Opportunity Loan Fund Board. They advise with the Bismarck Parking Authority. They work with the Bismarck Event Center and then, of course, the Renaissance Loan Authority. The downtown ERS had a very prominent voice with the current project that the planners are going through with the Land Development Code Steering Committee. They were part of the 4th of July committee. When we were looking at a new location after the Capitol was no longer an opportunity. They're part of the urban grant program. They do a lot of work when it comes to recruitment, which is something that we'll talk about later on this program. But when it comes to advisory board positions, the downtown owners are very intentional about helping find people that may be good candidates or may be willing to volunteer in some of these capacities. And so we're very grateful for that. But they're also part of the Neighborhood Reinvestment Fund program, and we've got a couple of local banks that are part of that. And that has been a very successful program. I think Kate mentioned this year alone there were 33 applications, over $400,000 that improvements were made. What is the Neighborhood Reinvestment Program? It is intended for homeowners to essentially get a low interest rate, low interest loan for capital improvement projects in their primary residence. And we're talking about housing stock that's at least older than, I think, 1980s. And it's just to help some of those potential first time homebuyers or homeowners that have projects that maybe their older home needs a couple of new touches. Maybe the kitchen isn't what it could be today. These programs help match up affordable loans with homeowners, and the downtown ERS are very intentional about supporting these programs and raising them up and getting people involved. So we're we're definitely grateful for that. Uh, one of the other things Kate mentioned was their talent recruitment, right. They're multicultural events. They have been very engaged with new Americans and also with city staff. We have a person. Her name is Heather Mae. She is the community integration facilitator. She's part of the public health department. Her sole role is to help people integrate into the community. New Americans, people that are new to Bismarck. The work that Heather is doing, the work that the downtown owners are doing, are finding fun ways for people to become part of this community, be engaged in activities. Things like trips on the riverboat, a visit to the Heritage Center. I know they've done rooftop gatherings in the past, and then Kate mentioned next week they're having an event up at North Dakota's Gateway to Science Center. So that's outstanding. And I had heard a statistic once for a fact. I guess it would be that when somebody moves to your community, you have about 12 months to help them decide if they want to stay. If they find things that they are engaged in, things that they like in the first six months, they're more inclined to want to continue to be a part of the community. If a year goes by and they really haven't connected those next six months, they're going to be looking at a way to get out. So you've got about 18 months to help somebody become a permanent fixture in your community. And I have very appreciative for the work that the downtown ers are doing, because it's adding culture and diversity and new ideas and new faces and new experiences to Bismarck.

00:10:56,300	S2:
You mentioned recruitment. I was going to say all the stuff you're talking about. Two leads to workforce retention. Not only do you want to recruit people here, obviously you want to keep them here, uh, buy homes, pay property taxes, support local merchants. Which I wanted to remind us to talk about Small Business Saturday. It was part of the graphic that they showed last night, which is this, the 29th of November, I believe.

00:11:20,400	S3:
The Saturday after Thanksgiving. So shop local, shop often. Uh, some of the other stuff that the downtowns have been doing, as you mentioned, small business Saturday, Kate, uh, shared the Burger Slam event, which gets a lot of the local downtown restaurants to kind of pair off in a who's got the best burger? But Kate wasn't shy about saying, this is one of the things they're doing to try and generate business after Christmas, because we all know the credit card bills show up. It's cold, it's dark. There are still things to do get out of the house, go find things to do. And so the downtown is being a part of that. In addition to street fair, of course, we have to mention street fair every year. That is one of their big ticket items that they that they do. And I think we're we're all grateful that that's here. But then also, Kate has shared or brought forward Doctor Carl Novak with the University of Mary. They partnered with.

00:12:16,901	S2:
Really interesting me last night. Yeah.

00:12:18,901	S3:
So, uh, Doctor Kovac is, of course, the dean of the Gary Carlson School of Business, and he was talking about succession planning for.

00:12:26,901	S2:
Small business owners 55 and over and a couple of really interesting graphics. I guess there's quite a bit going on here, but it says, as you can see, if you're watching 1976 businesses, with owners aged 55 plus in North Dakota, which accounts for 80,000 employees, 3 billion in payroll and 17 billion in revenue. And then the next graphic shows 828 of those businesses, 55 plus are in Burley County, with 10,000 people employed, 401 million in payroll and 2 billion in revenue. And so the question that they're looking at is, what happens in this transition time is these business owners retire and move on.

00:13:12,767	S3:
It I've heard from others, the second generation of small business can be a lot more challenging than the first. And did that transition plan is that your children taking over? Are you selling the business? Does the business dissolve? All of those are. I'm sure some pretty scary things that people have to face. But knowing that University Mary's got some programs to help with that. They've got some students that are looking at ways to make sure that that second generation is successful. I think that's important work too.

00:13:42,567	S2:
Yeah, just the fact that they're looking at that and I mean, that could have significant impacts on the city of Bismarck, state of North Dakota. So be interesting to see what comes of that, but just calling attention to it. Pretty interesting topic last night. Finally, public hearing on the approval of special assessment policies, some changes that may be in the weeds a little bit for the average citizen, but nevertheless, that was the last thing on the regular agenda last night.

00:14:10,567	S3:
And we generally go through these about annually. There's always some slight tweaks and some adjustments. And, uh, city Engineer Gabe Shell does a great job explaining why the changes are being made. And oftentimes it's for clarification or if it's a unique situation that was encountered. But it is a public hearing. It's part of the process. Of course, we had no testimony, no thoughts or concerns were shared from anybody. But if they do have questions about the revisions. I would certainly encourage them to go back and watch the replay. If you have questions following that, I'm sure Gabe Schell would love to answer those questions. You can contact City Engineering at 3551505,

00:14:49,300	S3:
or you can stop by City Hall at second floor. You'll find engineering there as well.

00:14:54,400	S2:
Passed unanimously from the commission last night. Well, after the meeting, the mayor all before. I guess he gaveled out. I wanted to remind people, and so did we, that there are many city board and committee vacancies. And those are coming due.

00:15:10,167	S3:
At the end of the month. Applications will close. And so we've got close to ten advisory board and committee positions, and I'll just rattle them off here. Animal Advisory Board, which meets quarterly. Board of Adjustment meets monthly. The community development advisory committee that's brand new. That is a committee that will be meeting to help guide the programs that come along with the CDBG, which stands for Community Development Block Grant and HUD Housing and Urban Development Programs. That's part of our planning department, Forestry Advisory Board. They meet quarterly Historic Preservation Commission meets monthly. The Human Relations Committee meets monthly, parking authority meets monthly planning and Zoning Commission meets monthly, as does the Renaissance Zone and the Vision Fund Committee.

00:15:59,601	S2:
And if you're watching on at home, you can apply at Bismarck ND gov. Or if you're listening, Bismarck gov.

00:16:07,300	S3:
Absolutely. And I also need to mention. Applications are open today through the end of the month for the Bismarck Citizen Academy program. That is a 12 week program that starts the first Thursday in January, typically the first Thursday, depending on where New Year's Day falls in all of that. But it would be January, February and March every Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. you will Understand and visit all 17 city departments three hours each night. We have a maximum capacity of 20 and so seating is capped. Some of the facilities that we go through when we're doing tours, they just simply can't accommodate a larger group because of the size and the constraints of the building. But if you ever have a curiosity on what is the city doing, what are these departments up to? Where are my tax dollars being spent? I would invite you to submit an application to the Citizen Academy. We have had. This will be the fifth year for the program. And each year it gets tweaked, it gets improved, it gets a little better. But the feedback that we have received year over year has been so supportive. People have walked in with very little understanding and really just a curiosity. And when they leave, we feel that they are capable of carrying on very thorough conversations about the city's budget, tax collections, the services we provide, the things that we don't do, and we're so glad to be able to share this program with people. I realize it's a commitment. It's 36 hours. It's 12 weeks, it's winter time. But I have yet to talk to anybody that said, man, this is the biggest waste of time. So again, Bismarck, N.D. gov is where you'll find the applications for Citizen Academy and we will be using the month of December to evaluate the applications. And then for the 20 individuals that are chosen, our office will contact them and provide more information about first day, date, time, location and all that type of stuff going forward.

00:18:05,200	S2:
Well, I already mentioned this, but one other thing that's applications are due at the end of November is the Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative. Just thought I'd bring that up for one last plug too.

00:18:15,767	S3:
Absolutely. If you're thinking about making some home improvements, applications are due at the end of the month.

00:18:22,300	S2:
Finally, it's a short one, right?

00:18:26,501	S3:
Not much left. Little, little bit of snow removal. We've got our plow operators out. I was zipping around town this morning on my way to work and just kind of seeing how how winter looks today, and I saw sanding crews out. I see the plows are out. There's there's snow out there, but it's it's slippery.

00:18:43,467	S2:
It is slippery.

00:18:44,367	S3:
Had some strange moisture at the beginning. And so everybody I'm sure most of us have our stories of what we saw on our way to work on Wednesday morning because there was some.

00:18:53,000	S2:
It was an interesting commute.

00:18:54,200	S3:
It was different. So but again, to the to the public works crews that take on those tasks, sometimes it can be thankless, but at the same time it's a tremendously important job for them. And we appreciate the work they do, the hours that they are adjusting to because it's not your typical 8 to 5 work. And so if you see a plow operator out there, give them a thumbs up, give them a high five if you can, give them some room if they're working in the streets, if you've got vehicles that are on the streets, if you can get them into your driveways or off the streets when the plows are coming, that's going to make things better for everybody because they can clear out the snow, widen the street. And this is just the first of likely many snow storms. So we need room on the boulevards to pile the snow and make it all fit.

00:19:42,767	S2:
So to your point, I think I got a notification that I think it was 2:55 a.m. on the sander came down my street. So it does provide that perspective that these folks are are going overnight. They are, if they can, to to get the streets cleared and safe.

00:19:56,667	S3:
Typically our plow operators, snow removal operators are working 12 hour shifts midnight to noon, noon to midnight. And so for you to have activity on your street at three in the morning doesn't surprise me. But that's that's the adjustment that comes with the seasonal activity.

00:20:10,767	S2:
Yeah. Well, you mentioned earlier, if you want to watch the meeting back or any other meetings or check out our radio station, you can download our DMA app. Our radio access 102.5 app or visit us online at Dakota media access. Org. Until next time, thanks for joining us on City Current.

00:20:30,167	S1:
For more information on what was discussed and this episode of City Current, visit Bismarck, n.d. gov or call (701) 355-1300.

00:20:40,267	S1:
If you have suggestions, comments, or issues you would like addressed in future episodes, contact us at Info at Free TV. This program airs on Government Access channel two and 602 in HD or on Radio Access 102.5 FM. It's also available as a podcast on radio access and as a video viewing link at free TV. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of City Current.