00:00:09,840	S1:
Today is August 19th, 2025. It is 5:30 p.m. and we are in the Bosch Freilich Meeting room at Mandan City Hall. Mr.

00:00:20,440	Neubauer, could you please take the role? S2:
Commissioner Braun here. Rauh, here. Schulberg. Here. Einhorn here. Mayor Freilich.

00:00:25,840	S1:
Here. Greg Welch. Our city finance director will now lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand.

00:00:37,880	S2:
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

00:00:56,200	S1:
Thank you. Greg.

00:01:00,480	S1:
We'll move to section C announcements. And with that, Jared, city engineer will update us on construction projects in town.

00:01:14,880	S3:
Yes. Um, Mayor. Commissioners. Good evening. Um, I have a short update for you related to a few few of the projects occurring around town. Um, right now on Memorial Highway, there is 60 inch storm sewer being installed along the main corridor. Um, that is currently occurring between 43rd and 46th Avenue Southeast. Um, new six inch water services are continuing to be installed along the south side of Memorial Highway. Um, restoration of 21st Street, uh, is continuing and the street should be open by Monday. Um, removal and cutting of the south side of the highway continues near the west end of the project, and concrete paving materials have been delivered, and they will begin once the utilities are installed in the road. Subgrade is prepared. So we're moving along on Memorial Highway, um, for our water treatment plant phase three optimization project. Um, foundation concrete for the new tank CO2 tank is complete and sheet piling for the new Lime Silo Foundation. Work is anticipated to begin in the next couple of weeks. Um, our Collins Avenue reservoir project. The reservoir foundation slab was, uh, started and completed a couple weeks back, and concrete placements for wall and dome panel panels will be completed this week. Um, scaffolding. Scaffolding is being erected for installation of the dome panels for our 2025 reconstruction project near Monte Drive. And, um, Lewis and Clark Elementary. Underground work is continuing on Linda Drive and will be working on 18th Street and Boundary Street. Um, paving and concrete repairs will be continuing into the fall, and the contractor is still on track to complete water main installation and cover all disturbed roads with asphalt this fall. Um, associated with that, we do have a little map here that shows some of the completed areas. Um, the area immediately around Lewis and Clark Elementary has been buttoned up to a usable state, and there's still a little bit of work that that needs to occur in that area, but that will. The plan is to to do that in conjunction with the school's, um, schedule. So we'll we'll look for a nice little break in the school schedule to complete some of the extra activities in that area. Otherwise, the areas shown in red here will be slowly brought up to the same state. And then, um, eventually it'll all be buttoned up.

00:03:49,080	S3:
For our 2024 reconstruction project. Underground work will be completed this week, and today's shutdown is the last major one, with minor work to be done tomorrow. Paving and concrete repairs will continue into the fall, and the chip seal portion of the project will likely occur early summer of 2026 and then for a rapid rectangular flashing beacon project. Um. Right now. There was a there was a sidewalk port today. The other portion of that sidewalk pour is scheduled for tomorrow, and we were expecting the, um, the south end of first to be walkable by Monday next week. Um, so there's a little bit of a wrap up work to correct the cluster location. The other locations should be substantially complete. Um, if there's anything else specifically I could answer, I could try to help out. Otherwise, that's my update.

00:04:43,080	S1:
Any questions for Eric?

00:04:47,840	S1:
Thank you.

00:04:48,560	S4:
Thank you.

00:04:51,160	S1:
We'll now move on to section D, the public comment. And I'm going to read the, uh, the policy again, although we do not have any, uh, people in the queue. I do not believe for comment. Correct, Mr. Neubauer, but I'm going to read the policy. The Mandan City Commission values public input To speak. Submit a complete speaker card before the meeting begins. Comments must be related to an item on the current or previous meetings. Agenda. Speakers have three minutes each in the order the cards are received. The total comment period is limited to 30 minutes or at the discretion of the chair. So for those that want to speak in the future, that's the policy. And as I said, there were no comments in the queue. So we will move on to section E approval of the agenda.

00:05:46,280	S5:
Move to approve.

00:05:48,120	S1:
Second, we have a motion by Commissioner Brown, a second by Commissioner Schulberg to approve the agenda. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call please.

00:05:58,320	S2:
Commissioner Rohr. Yes. Schulberg. Yes. Yes. Ron. Yes. Mayor. Freilich.

00:06:03,360	S1:
Yes. Section F the minutes from the previous meeting. Consider approval of the August 5th, 2025 Board of City Commission meeting minutes.

00:06:13,920	S5:
I'll move to approve the minutes of the August 5th Board of City Commissioners meeting. Minutes as presented.

00:06:21,920	S1:
Second motion by Commissioner Schulberg. Second by Commissioner Brown to approve the August 5th, 2025 Board of City Commission meeting minutes. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call.

00:06:38,120	S2:
Commissioner. Schomburg. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Mayor. Freilich.

00:06:43,320	S1:
Yes. We'll move on to section G, public hearings. Consider a special use permit for lot one B block one, Lakewood Commercial Park. Third. Fourth replant. And that is 2510 40th Avenue Southeast and Jordan.

00:07:06,680	And are you going to handle this or Rachel? S5:
I think we'll have Rachel do it if she's online.

00:07:09,400	S6:
I am online.

00:07:11,480	Can you hear me? S2:
Yes.

00:07:12,800	S6:
Okay. Awesome. Good evening. Mayor. Commissioners. Um, this is a request for special use permit for lot one B block one, Lakewood Commercial Park, third edition for three. Plot at 2510 40th Avenue Southeast. Um, so it's currently a vacant lot zoned CB business commercial. Um, the applicant previously had a request for a special use permit denied, as the request included the city owned lot to the east, which bordered residential neighbors who had concerns regarding the the appearance and the impact of the proposed development for those shop condos. Um, which is what the special use permit is for. So the new application restricts the use of those multi-use shop condos to the applicant's property along 40th Avenue Southeast, and does not utilize the city owned lot. Um, the surrounding properties are all also zoned CB commercial. Um, so the shop condo development that is being requested is defined in the city code as a multi-use shop, meaning two or more attached units that are designed and constructed as a single, structurally dependent building, or designed and constructed to allow individual units to be structurally independent from each other. Sharing a common wall on one or more sides, sometimes referred to as shop condos, which are unique from a twin or row home in that the residential uses is accessory in nature, very unique from a commercial strip mall, and that they often include a large garage or RV bay, and rarely include the retail of products and visitation for the general public. So, um, that definition of side in the code section 105 one five K, they have, um, there's a list of notes and how the multi-use shop, condos and shop developments can be permitted. A special uses subject to minimum standards. And that list is fairly long. So I'm not going to go over it fully, but it is in your code or in your memo, um, the applicant also provided answers to the questions for the special use permit, um, which are also in your packet. Um, and so essentially this development that has been proposed, I don't know, Jordan, if you can go down to the building rendering and site plan. Um, I think maybe the site plan, the site plan might be the best way to talk about it. Um, the options or the requirements and the code. Talk about having, um, open space on no more than three sides, having own separate means of egress. Um, containing occupancy classifications set forth by section three in the North Dakota State Building Code that are group, business, factory, mercantile, or storage occupancy. The uses have to be declared at the time of the conditional use permit issuance. Um, no change in use can be conducted unless it's reevaluated through the special use permitting process, and the structure does need to meet all building code requirements for whatever the uses are, whether it's the change of use or the, um, the, uh, chain, the the original use. Um, traditional mixed use with residential and commercial multi-use shops are not permitted. Um, so they're the units across the board have to have the same use. Um, minimum off street parking requirements have to be planned for and provided for based on the declared uses. Um structures are limited to one curb stop. Declarations of um commercial or accessory to residential cannot affect um the valuation, special assessments, utility rates, or other or other city fees. Carriers or other agreements need to set out provisions for access and responsibility for costs of inspections for the fire inspection system. And then there are some requirements for the city's utility Building or building purposes if the units are not going to be owned by the same property. So in this particular instance, um, the owner of the the property and the development they have, some of their uses have been declared. Others have not. Um, and so we do have a note in the memo that we have as staff concerns regarding the potential future declared uses that haven't been declared with any official documentation. We also have not seen a detailed landscaping plan, which would assist in determining compatibility with surrounding residential and later commercial uses. However, our recommendation is that if it is approved, the applicant provides a detailed covenant and use agreement to the city with the building permit and the Mark application, as well as detailed building and landscaping plans at that time. Um, which should take care of most of those concerns that are listed in the code. The ones that haven't already been noted via the site plan. Um, the special use permit Findings of fact are in your memo. Um, and we are comfortable with those findings of fact based on the planning and Zoning Commission recommendation, but obviously they can be edited. Um, and then the recommendation would be that the planning commission and city staff recommend approval of the special use permit for lot one, B block one, Lakewood Commercial Park, third edition four three. Plot. On the condition that the applicant provides a detailed covenant and use agreement to the city with a building permit approved by the Mandan Architectural Review Committee, as well as detailed building and landscaping plans, which also includes stormwater drainage plans. And I can take any questions.

00:12:41,360	S1:
Any questions for Rachel?

00:12:45,000	S5:
Mayor. Rachel, um.

00:12:47,280	S7:
We've just before. Isn't that that area behind this here is the area that's owned by the city.

00:12:57,560	Is that correct? S7:
There's another strip of land behind this area that is currently the city property.

00:13:02,320	S5:
Mayor. Commissioner. Or that? That is correct.

00:13:05,560	S7:
And didn't they put a bid in? They wanted to purchase this at one time.

00:13:10,920	Is that still correct? S5:
That is correct. And it was taken to the commission here and denied. Okay. So on the on the map you'll see here they show the, um, the sectioned off piece that is there that they owned. And then the piece behind it is the city's as of now.

00:13:28,920	S7:
Be part of this project then? No, it won't be. No. That area back here will still remain.

00:13:35,080	S5:
Yeah. As is for now.

00:13:36,920	S7:
Yeah. Is. They're not going to purchase that.

00:13:39,000	S2:
Nope.

00:13:39,920	S7:
But the problem back there is no access to it. And it's kind of a no man's land back there.

00:13:43,920	S5:
Yep.

00:13:44,560	S7:
Okay. I just wanted to verify, make sure I understood that. Thank you.

00:13:52,040	S1:
Any other questions for Rachel or Jordan?

00:13:56,520	S5:
Mayor. commissioners. I'd also like to add, I know we have these public hearings, and that's what we're hoping to, um, hold tonight. Um, for the special use permit. And I know, um, there may be, I don't want to say confusion, but on a special use permit, the requirement is there for these shop condos. And and the reason is some of the explanation that Rachel had. But it's because we don't at the time of this platting process and the zoning, we don't know what is exactly going in these shops. So that that is the whole reason for this public hearing and why we do this for the special use permit and for these specific uses for this, this shop, we call them shop condos, flex space, things like that, where you have multi-tenant spaces. And, and it's for this reason so that we, we can have control of what what happens and how they get used on the back end. So as she said, we'll take care of the things on the back end from the building department and from the Men in Architectural Review Committee for the landscaping.

00:15:03,240	S1:
Thank you Jordan. And at this time we will open the public hearing. And are there any comments regarding the special use permit? Please identify yourself.

00:15:21,360	S8:
Hello, I'm Steve later. And this is my wife, Erica Schmidt. Later. We are the owners of 2510 40th Avenue Southeast. And we just, um, wanted to say that, you know, we are here, and this is for, you know, we're back here for just our lot. Our lot that we currently own. And, um, that, you know, we went through planning and zoning and they, um, in the city have, you know, approval with conditions. And we understand those conditions. I think that's kind of what, you know, Jordan was talking about that, you know, we we intend we we realized we do gotta work with them. And, and you don't have the landscaping and have, um, everything planned out with them, but. Yep. Yep. And and, uh. Yeah. Just wanted to say that we're here. If any questions for us, we're we're here.

00:16:15,280	S1:
Any questions for the leaders?

00:16:17,480	S7:
Just one question. How soon do you plan to implement and complete this project?

00:16:23,360	S8:
You know, um, I guess I'm not sure if you you must remember us a little bit from before asking a question about the city lot. Um, so, yeah, it's it's it's been, you know, a good year. Work in progress. Already meeting with Swenson. Hagen. Um, Andrew, you know, we had many meetings with him, some with Andrew and Jordan, I guess, um, we've, you know, talked to Rachel a little bit, trying to catch her up to speed a little bit on, you know, a year. Process. Um, so we would like to try and, you know, um, move sooner than later. Um, but, you know, we we also want to make sure that we address everyone's concerns. And, you know, tonight we do want to try and focus on our lot that we own. So we don't really want to talk too much about the city own lot, but we are definitely still very interested in pursuing that. Um, but we realize that that is not what we went through planning and zoning with. And we know that there is a lot of stuff up in there, and we would like to continue down that path. But for tonight, we're trying our best not to get sidetracked. And we we do want to move forward with with the property we do own.

00:17:44,840	S7:
I understand your focus there. I do.

00:17:46,840	S2:
Thank you. Yeah. Thanks.

00:17:49,640	S1:
Okay. Thank you.

00:17:50,800	S8:
Thank you.

00:17:51,360	S1:
Any other comments?

00:17:57,280	S1:
The third and final call for comments.

00:18:02,040	S1:
Hearing none. The public hearing is closed. We'll move to the Commission.

00:18:09,800	Commissioners, what are your wishes? S9:
I'll move to recommend approval. The special use permit for lot one B is in Boyd Block one, Lakewood Commercial Park, third edition four three plat 2510 40th Avenue Southeast. On the condition, the applicant provides a detailed covenant and use agreement to the city with a building permit approved by the Mandan Architectural Review Committee, as well as detailed building and landscaping plans, at which time includes stormwater drainage.

00:18:39,080	S1:
Second motion by Commissioner Schulberg. A second by Commissioner Rohrer. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call please.

00:18:48,080	S2:
Commissioner Sean. Yes, Ron. Yes. Roar! Yes. Jo'burg. Yes. Mayor. Freilich.

00:18:53,400	S1:
Yes. Item number two under public hearing. Consider preliminary plat and master plan for the call edition. Jordan. Rachel.

00:19:05,120	S6:
Mayor. Commissioners. This is a preliminary plat and master plan for the call subdivision, which would be located in the southeast quarter of section 32, Township one, 39 North, range 81 West, in Morton County within the itJ. So this portion of the southeast quarter of section 32 has been previously partially platted as lot A, and it has four existing lots, which are lot one of lot a lot two of lot, a lot three of lot A and the remainder of lot A. So it's kind of a um thank you, Jordan. So you can't see the full, uh, full lot a in the the picture that Jordan has up. But um, the remainder of it is, is to the south of it. Um, so the applicant is proposing to add two additional lots, lots one and two of block one, both of which would contain 1.5 acres. Um, so staff did request that a master plan be created for the remainder of lot A that's in the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter, although not the full extent of lot A, in order to have a future understanding of access and what the development potential is on the lot. Um, so they did include that in the application, and it shows future roadway access surrounding the property, as well as an internal 66 foot road right of way with potential for eight additional large lot residential, uh, large residential lots. Um, so I believe Jordan, it might be the next map. The next exhibit.

00:20:35,880	S6:
One more down, I think. There you go. Um, so you can see the future lot arrangement as well as that, um, 80 foot right of way on the boundary of the property and then that 66 foot internal road. So that would allow them to develop this at a large lot residential style and provides future access to all of those lots. And so that was what we were looking for with that master plan to feel comfortable with kind of the location of these two lots, um, that would be added into lot A. So the details of the actual plot, though, are three acres to be plotted into lots one and two of block one. Um, access to both of those lots would be via a 40 foot wide access easement that runs west across lot A from the existing 22.5 avenue through lot one, block one to lot two, block one. That is the hashed line that you can see on that exhibit. Um, and then a culvert may be required for this access. Um, and that would be determined during the driveway and building permit process. There is no zone change request being made at this time. Um, the future land use plan in this area is public land, and it's shown outside of the 2030 growth boundary. So the very low density residential nature of this development should be in line with that. There are findings of facts within your memo which note that all technical requirements have been met, that the proposed subdivision generally demonstrates an ability for the property to align with the future land use plan and other plans and studies. The subdivision is not within the special flood hazard area, or in an area that would adversely impact water quality and environmentally sensitive lands, or areas that are topographically unsuitable for development. It's consistent with the general intents and purpose of the zoning ordinance, the master plan, other adaptive plans, policies and accepted planning process, and it would not adversely affect the public health safety in general welfare. So the recommendation from Planning Commission and city staff is approval of the call, additions, preliminary plat and proposed master plan contingent on final plat approvals. And I can answer any questions.

00:22:42,720	S1:
Any questions for Jordan or Rachel.

00:22:52,530	S1:
Hearing none. We will now move to the public hearing. First call for comments. We'll open the public hearing and ask for first call. Second call for public comments.

00:23:10,330	S1:
Third and final call. Hearing none. The public hearing is closed. Commissioners.

00:23:18,210	S9:
I move to recommend.

00:23:19,410	S10:
Approval of the call additions. Preliminary plat master plan contingent on final plat approvals.

00:23:25,210	S7:
Second.

00:23:26,530	S1:
We have a motion by Commissioner Hinson, a second by Commissioner Rohrer. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call please.

00:23:34,850	S2:
Commissioner Braun. Yes. Roger. Yes. Yes. Yes. Mayor. Freilich.

00:23:40,090	S1:
Yes. Item number three considers shop estates. Third edition. Final plat. Jordan.

00:23:49,890	S5:
Will that Rachel take this one?

00:23:51,370	S1:
Rachel.

00:23:52,650	S6:
Yep. Mayor. Commissioners. This is a final thought for Shop Estates. Third edition at 2392 37th Street. Um, so this preliminary plat and zone change was tabled at the May 28th, 2025 meeting. Um, but then the Planning Commission recommended approval of a preliminary plat zone change request for lot two and special use permit for lot two at the June 23rd, 2025 meeting. And then the City Commission approved the preliminary plat, the zone change request for lot two and the Special use permit for lot two at the July 15th, 2025 meeting. Um, so this is now the final plat for the Shop Estates third edition. Um, lot one contains 6.33 acres and a zone CB commercial, and lot two contains 2.84 acres with a contingent zoning of our seven residential and a contingent special use permit for the parking and storage of a personal. Commercial. Personal use. Commercial vehicle. Over 25 tons on a residential property and the residential property on lot two will contain the existing shop and home, and lot one is currently undeveloped. The property is located within the itJ. The surrounding properties are undeveloped. There is a farmstead to the east. In the area is identified in the future land use plan as a commercial intersection, and the future beltway corridor connecting the interstate to North Bismarck. Go by this property. There are no changes from the preliminary plat, other than a clarification of an easement that was shown on the preliminary plat. The total area is still 9.17 acres. It's still two lots. Um, and then the findings of that for the final plat. It meets all technical requirements and all other all other needs. So the recommendation from planning commission and city staff is to recommend approval of the final plat for the Schaff Estates, third edition.

00:25:43,850	S6:
And I can answer any questions.

00:25:45,810	S1:
Any questions for Rachel?

00:25:49,810	S1:
Any questions for Jordan? Hearing none. Thank you. And at this time we will open the public hearing.

00:25:59,770	S1:
First call.

00:26:04,170	S1:
Second call for comments. Third and final call for comments. Public hearing is closed. Commissioners.

00:26:13,250	S9:
I move to recommend.

00:26:14,290	S2:
Approval of the final plat of Scharf Estates. Third edition.

00:26:18,050	S9:
Second.

00:26:19,850	S1:
Motion by Commissioner Brown. Second by Commissioner Schulberg. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, Mr. Neubauer.

00:26:28,490	S2:
Commissioners. Roger.

00:26:29,970	S7:
Yes.

00:26:30,330	S2:
Schulberg. Yes. Yes. Yes. Mayor. Froehlich.

00:26:33,770	S1:
Yes. Thank you. We'll move on to the consent agenda. Are there any items you would like removed? Commissioners.

00:26:48,370	S1:
Hearing none, I would look for a motion for approval.

00:26:53,170	S10:
I'll move to present the consent consent agenda as presented.

00:26:57,610	S1:
Second motion by Commissioner Hinshaw and a second by Commissioner Schulberg. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call.

00:27:06,650	S2:
Commissioner Schulberg. Yes. Yes. Ron. Yes. Roar. Yes. Mayor Froehlich.

00:27:11,890	S1:
Yes. There is no old business. We'll move on to section K, new business. Consider the following flex fund applications. Riverwood Avenue southeast reconstruction project.

00:27:27,690	S3:
Yes, mayor and commissioners. Um, the Dot is administering a flex fund grant program. Um, and applications are due. Uh, I think September 19th, near the end of September. And we have put together two applications that we believe will be competitive for the grant program. Um, the first of those two applications is for Riverwood Drive. This is located in between Memorial Highway and Third Street. Um, it's an industrial corridor. About 30% of the of the project or of the roadway will be reconstructed with the Memorial Highway project. And the proposed flex fund application would include reconstruction of the remainder of the roadway. Um, in our capital improvement plans, we have this project identified as a must do with $1.3 million allocated out of municipal infrastructure funds and utility funds. Um, our ask for uh flex fund program would be to, um, would be to be 50% of the total project costs, which was a threshold that the flex fund folks had identified as a higher scoring threshold, so we'd be asking for 50% of the project cost. This would greatly reduce um, estimated special assessments along the corridor and possibly eliminate them. Um, and that that is kind of how we honed in on that number. Um, we are recommending approval to apply for Riverwood Drive for flex funds. And if you have any additional questions, I can try and answer them.

00:29:05,330	S1:
Any questions for Eric?

00:29:07,730	S9:
Jared, just for some clarification, we spoke about this earlier, but just so public at home and people in the audience here can understand there's actually, um, two, um, lift stations on tonight's agenda. Right? And there are two separate ones. So the two issues aren't for one lift station, but there's a lift station on Riverwood Drive, and then there's a lift station.

00:29:36,370	S9:
Just east of the Spirit of Life Catholic Church.

00:29:40,290	Is that correct? S3:
Talking about the master lift station in a later item? Yes. Those are two separate items. Yeah. Two separate lift stations.

00:29:46,330	S2:
Okay. Thank you.

00:29:54,530	S1:
Were you going to. Are these separate items pending proper road revitalization project? Northwest.

00:30:01,170	S3:
I can present on that one right now, too. If that makes it simpler. Yep. Um, our second application is for the Mandan proper northwest, um, road revitalization project. This was labeled as Mandan proper phase one in our capital improvements program. Um, or capital improvements plan. Um, this is an estimated $11.4 million project. Um, we have expectations for DWR participation in water eligible items, and we have an allocation of $3.2 million of municipal infrastructure funds allocated to this project in our capital improvement plans. The remaining project cost is estimated to be $5.9 million. As it stands in our current funding plan, that equates to about $30,000 of special assessments per parcel. We are proposing to request $3.5 million of flex funds for this for this, um, improvement, which would reduce special assessments to $12,000 per parcel, which is much more palatable. Um, we had looked at Mandan proper, phase two as well. And the ask, um, we had kind of formed our ask around, uh, targeting $15,000 or less in special assessments, and we landed on 12,000 for this project. Um, we will for both of these applications. We're trying to get these in a little bit early so that we can continue to work with the flex fund folks to, uh, make them as competitive as possible. But this the way that it's presented in the package tonight would be substantially how we intend to to make these applications, um, for manned and proper. I can try and answer any questions. Otherwise, we're recommending approval.

00:31:53,010	S1:
Can you outline the section there?

00:31:55,250	S3:
Let me see if I can do that here. I'm going to do it probably maybe through the worst way possible here. Let's see if I can find it in the commission notes here.

00:32:06,930	S3:
I'm afraid that it's going to be sideways. Oh, no it's not. There we go. So generally south of Division, east of sixth, West of I'm probably third, west of third and north of fourth. So that would be the the general project area.

00:32:31,130	S1:
And that would consist of what.

00:32:33,010	S3:
It would consist of total street reconstruction, sidewalk improvements, Ada ramp improvements, replacement of cast iron water main pipe. I think it includes the lining of clay tile, sanitary sewer mains, and the replacement of brick manholes in the area and the installation in this portion, the installation of upsized, um, stormwater sewer infrastructure.

00:33:04,570	S1:
Streetlights.

00:33:05,930	S3:
Streetlights? Yes as well.

00:33:11,090	S1:
How old do you estimate the infrastructure is there?

00:33:15,410	S3:
Um, I believe that our estimates would probably be around the 1950s. I might ask Grant to confirm that. Yeah. 1950s.

00:33:24,410	S1:
How many breaks have we had of water mains or water lines there.

00:33:29,810	S3:
I'm sorry.

00:33:30,570	S1:
How many water breaks have we had in that section?

00:33:33,450	S3:
I don't have this that broken out specifically for this project, but I can get you that information out there afterwards. It's numerous. We can map out our water main breaks and pretty clearly identify where cast iron water main pipes are in our community. So just the presence of cast our water main pipes makes me confident that there's many breaks in this area, but I can get you that information um, separately. Um, I should should land on we we did land on this area first just because we want to, um, wait for our downtown street improvement project to complete so that we aren't don't have projects over top of each other. And we aren't when we know what we're tying into when we're making plans for these projects. So.

00:34:17,130	S1:
So how does this tie into the Monte Drive project?

00:34:21,130	S3:
The Monte Drive project would end, and I don't know if you can see my cursor here. Yeah. would end right around the end of this triangle and it wouldn't. I can't say for sure. There wouldn't be too many underground ties between the two projects, but that'd be something that would be explored more.

00:34:40,210	S1:
Where does.

00:34:40,850	S2:
The.

00:34:41,570	S1:
Where does the new main coming down six tie into this section, or does it not?

00:34:51,410	S3:
I would have to double check. I don't know exactly the the the 20 inch transmission main coming down sixth turns. Right, I think on 12th and moves over to Collins Avenue where the mains are at. And if there is a connection in between 11th and Division and this project, I would have to I would have to do more research on that.

00:35:15,130	S2:
Okay.

00:35:19,450	S1:
Any other questions for Eric?

00:35:26,130	S1:
What are your wishes? Commissioners.

00:35:29,930	S10:
Mayor. We go back. Suggested motion for the first one. Right. Separately.

00:35:35,930	S3:
Yes, I did have two motions.

00:35:37,650	S10:
Suggested I move to approve the engineering department to apply for flex funds for Riverwood Avenue Southeast.

00:35:44,050	S9:
So go ahead.

00:35:45,730	S2:
Second.

00:35:46,930	S1:
Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Hinshaw and a second by Commissioner Brown.

00:35:55,690	Any further discussion? S1:
Hearing none. Roll call.

00:35:57,970	S2:
Commissioners. Yes. Yes. Yes. Gilbert. Yes. Mayor. Freilich.

00:36:02,690	S1:
Yes.

00:36:05,490	S1:
We will now demand and proper road revitalization project. Northwest.

00:36:13,370	What are your wishes there? S10:
I'll move to approve the engineering department to apply for flex funds for the Mandan Proper Road revitalization project. Northwest.

00:36:21,730	S1:
Second Motion by Commissioner Henshaw on a second by Commissioner Schulberg. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, Commissioner Braun.

00:36:31,090	S2:
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Mayor.

00:36:34,730	S1:
Yes.

00:36:38,170	S1:
Move on to item number two. Be preliminary engineering services for street rail rehabilitation 2026 project area three, a check.

00:36:53,730	S3:
Mayor and commissioners. Good evening. Yes. We have three requests or three requests for proposals for your consideration tonight. The first of those being a request for preliminary engineering and district creation for, um, our 2026 rehabilitation project. This would be in the area that we have called that we have labeled as three A in our capital improvement planning documentation and our project project concept reports. Um, it's generally north of old Red trail. East of 47th and west of 34th. Around Red Trail Elementary School this spring, there were several several locations along Lewis Road and 40th and Corvette and Impala that started. Um, we call it blowing up. But yeah, the the Public Works Department had to respond to a lot of roadways failing in this area this spring. Um, we're recommending, uh, going out to RFP to kind of re scope the appropriate project, um, uh, rehab and, um.

00:38:07,290	S3:
Uh, help us with communication efforts through district creation and, um, and bid, uh, I were recommending approval of the request for proposal and I can try and answer any questions if you have any.

00:38:24,850	S1:
What was the cause of the, uh, blowing up?

00:38:27,810	S3:
Um, I believe that the areas that were affected, um, did not have base material from their original construction. And, um, I think there was a previous project in this area maybe 6 or 7 years ago, and this was identified as an issue. But the, uh, the residents in the area kind of protested down the scope of the project. They only wanted a chip seal rather than a reconstruction. So kind of kicked the can down the road. And, and, um, we're here again. So, um, the intent, the intent is to get the scope right, so that we only have to be in this area once for the next couple of decades.

00:39:08,810	S7:
Marriage is a primary problem up there has to do with the moisture below the base. There's a lot of up in that particular area. There's, uh, either springs or something, but there seems to be a serious water problem up there that has created that problem for the streets.

00:39:24,010	Is that correct? S3:
Mayor? Commissioner. Roger. Yeah, that's absolutely correct. It's a little surprising with how hilly the area is. But yeah, there's water. There's water problems on top of the hill and at the bottom of the hill.

00:39:32,250	S7:
And it seems like it's almost top of the plateau above Mandan. But there's people who have some pumps running 24 over seven. It's, uh, it's a little situation.

00:39:41,570	S3:
Surprising, but yeah, that's absolutely true.

00:39:45,370	S9:
Jerrick. We drove around there this past weekend, and the streets up there are terrible. Absolutely terrible. So and what we're doing for these requests for proposals, it's kind of like the first step so we can get a fairly accurate estimate on the on the cost of the projects that we can go out and pursue, sources of external funding and grants and so on and so forth.

00:40:11,490	Is that correct? S3:
And absolutely. And then also I would I would say that the timing or the order of operations here allows us to put together a robust communication plan. A lot of the times when we're approaching these projects, we would have in the past just created the district, sent out letters. People would be surprised by the letters. We're hoping to have a consultant on board that would help us with more active engagement with the public prior to, you know, sending letters out and surprising people with a with a large number and to to try to be more communicative and collaborative with the people in the affected area.

00:40:52,170	S9:
And so for those those public engagement meetings that I've personally attended, I've found those to be extremely beneficial to the city, the engineers and the folks that live in the neighborhood. So, um, it's a good, uh, good ship to sail. And I thank you for that, as well as the engineering people and our public that shows up.

00:41:16,130	S1:
Any other questions for Eric? If not, what are your wishes?

00:41:21,010	S9:
I'll move to approve the request for proposal for street rehab number 2026.

00:41:30,250	S1:
Second motion by Commissioner Schulberg. Second by Commissioner Rohrer. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call.

00:41:38,010	S2:
Commissioner. Roger. Yes. Yes. Hi, John. Yes. Yes. Mayor. Freilich.

00:41:42,970	S1:
Yes. Preliminary engineering services for Mandan proper. Northwest. Gerke.

00:41:50,970	S3:
Mayor and commissioners. This is. Yes. Also a request for proposals for your consideration related to the same project that we had requested flex funding for. So this would be the area highlighted on your screen. Um, the intention with this, uh, preliminary engineering proposal would be To properly scope the project and properly put together a communication plan to approach the the folks in the in the area and to to do a lot of that upfront design work that leads into district creation. Um, if there's any specific questions that you have, I can try and answer them. Otherwise, I'm just similar to the last one recommending approval to request proposals.

00:42:44,970	S1:
Any questions for Eric?

00:42:48,770	S1:
If none, what are your wishes?

00:42:50,850	S10:
I move to approve the request for proposal for Mandan proper northwest.

00:42:57,090	S1:
Second motion by Commissioner Hinshaw and second by Commissioner Solberg. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call.

00:43:05,250	S2:
Commissioner Solberg. Yes. Yes. Yes. Roger. Yes. Mayor. Froehlich.

00:43:10,130	S1:
Yes.

00:43:13,090	S1:
Letter D engineering services for master lift station Force Main. Interim improvements. Gericke.

00:43:22,250	S3:
Mayor and commissioners. This project is one that kind of came up during our capital improvement program. Initially, we had included in the process a $20 million project that would include the installation or the include the reconstruction of the master lift station, along with a force main all the way down to the wastewater treatment plant. So it would be a significant, um, run of force main. Um, over the last year. There have been several breaks in the first 1500ft of that force main run, and it's approximately from the master lift station location to, uh, third Street or just beyond Third Street. Um, Public Works has responded to several breaks in the area. In the last. Yeah, in the last few months. So, um, they are asbestos cement pipes and then they are they kind of have a tendency to continue to break if you have, uh, disturbed area around them so they can kind of, uh, one break can can propagate another break, which can propagate another break. So it's just a, it's just a maintenance nightmare for public works. Um, so we are requesting, um, um, approval to send out request for proposals, and this would be slightly different than our last ones. This would be to plan design and provide pre bid and bid services for the interim improvements. This project would not have an associated special assessment district and would be paid for out of municipal infrastructure funds entirely. So um, a little bit different than the last one in that we're not going to have as much public engagement as we would in the other ones, but I'm recommending approval of the request for proposals and can answer any questions if you have any.

00:45:18,730	S7:
Jerry, just as a matter of curiosity and looking back over the city as a whole, do we have a lot of ground movement? Because I know many pipes can break on the ground and a lot of problems. I think we had maybe up there by Christ King in that area. I heard once time that that the movement or the ground is not real stable.

00:45:55,690	Uh, is there just parts of the city where we have these problems, or is the ground when you do these projects? I mean, that is a reflection upon on how long things last or break or whatever have you do we have a very serious problem with our ground stability in Mandan? S3:
Um, mayor, Commissioner Rohr, I don't know if I could answer, uh, how stable our ground is relative to other communities, but I know that we do have a lot of, uh, in areas where there's a lot of water present that can that can lead to a lot of freeze thaw action, which can lead to a lot of ground movement. The the material of the pipe lends itself to how, how, how much it can deal with ground movement. And then on some, some of these projects, um, compaction standards maybe weren't where they needed to be. And um, you can, you can get natural settlement and, and ground movement in that, in that aspect too. So, um, I think most, most of our, most of our problem areas have to do a lot with, um, material aging material rather than, uh, action, ground action.

00:46:43,410	S7:
What were the experience in the past and the newer techniques, newer equipment, newer pipes should be a lot more adaptability to this shouldn't.

00:46:51,210	S3:
Mayor. Commissioner. Roger. Yes, I would say so. We I think we will have we have more reliable materials and more reliable products and outcomes today.

00:46:59,930	S7:
Okay.

00:47:00,170	S4:
Thank you.

00:47:01,010	S1:
So what's the age of this lift station?

00:47:04,330	S3:
Um, I might need to.

00:47:06,570	S2:
1950s.

00:47:07,810	S3:
1950s. Safe answer for anything, I think.

00:47:14,170	S9:
Jerk. Can you pull that map up, please? That you had up there before?

00:47:19,690	S2:
Cool.

00:47:21,050	S9:
Find Riverwood Drive and find where that other lift station was that we alluded to earlier. And just for clarification purposes, I apologize for not doing that earlier.

00:47:34,330	S9:
This is a this is a regular lift station.

00:47:37,250	S3:
Correct? This is this is a lift station that only services some of the properties along Riverwood Avenue.

00:47:43,890	S9:
And that's due to the low topographic dish, if you will, of that area.

00:47:50,610	S3:
Yeah. For for whatever reason there's not enough grade to gravity. Um, gravity flow, the, the sewage, um, to the conveyance network.

00:48:03,730	S9:
Now, could you back out of that and go to the where the master lift station is.

00:48:08,930	S3:
The master lift station is that this project is at this location.

00:48:13,770	S9:
Okay. So that's 1950 ish. And then the forced main piping, there's two of them that come out of that to to push the wastewater to the wastewater treatment plant.

00:48:26,010	S3:
Correct. It takes about 75% of the city's flow and and pushes it to the wastewater treatment plant.

00:48:31,050	S9:
What's the geographic footprint that that master lift station serves the city of Mandan.

00:48:36,490	S3:
Most of the area north and west of the master lift station.

00:48:41,410	So? S9:
So essentially all of our things that we do in the morning in the bathroom go from pretty much our whole community to that master lift station.

00:48:50,770	S3:
That would be my understanding, would be for for a majority of the community.

00:48:55,650	S9:
And the two huge force main pipes coming out of that master lift station are the ones that are essentially crumbling.

00:49:03,450	S3:
Mayor. Commissioner.

00:49:05,930	Correct? S2:
Okay, thanks.

00:49:14,170	S1:
Well, with that.

00:49:17,610	S1:
What are your wishes?

00:49:18,410	S2:
Commissioners move to approve the request for proposal for engineering services related to the master lift station for main interim improvements.

00:49:27,930	S1:
Second motion by Commissioner Brown. Second by Commissioner Hinson. Any further discussion? Hearing none.

00:49:36,770	S2:
Commissioners. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Mayor. Freilich.

00:49:41,610	S1:
Yes. Item number three. Consider the wastewater treatment plant. Master plan update. Gerke.

00:49:50,970	S3:
Mayor and commissioners. Good evening. Yes. We have a short presentation, um, regarding our wastewater treatment plant master plan update. Um, I invite.

00:50:00,290	S4:
I think.

00:50:01,010	S3:
Zach or whoever to come up and maybe give a little bit of an update.

00:50:08,010	S4:
Thank you.

00:50:10,170	S3:
Mayor.

00:50:10,570	S11:
Commissioners. I appreciate the opportunity to present tonight. My name is Zach. I'm a project manager here at Atlas. And helping me present tonight is Jason Benson. He's a senior wastewater project manager also at Aetos. He's been here for about 20 years and has worked in the Mandan wastewater plant for about 15. And also helping me present is Ryan Molson, the superintendent at the plant. Um, so this is an exciting opportunity for the city of Mandan. I know I've sat with the commission and mayor through numerous CIP special meetings, and the city staff has identified this as a as a priority. And I think we're all confident that's going to set the wastewater plant up for success in the near near future. Um, but before I get started, I know we're going to hit on a lot of the Concerns and issues with the plant, but credits do where it should be. And, you know, to Ryan and his staffs, um, you know, they've done a terrific job out there with what they have to work with, being able to maintain the plant and continue to meet the effluent permit requirements.

00:51:23,930	S11:
So just a little bit of history on the plant. It was mechanical plant was built in 1998. You know, as we all know, when it was constructed, it was surrounded by fields. Right. And now there's been lots of development and probably the nicer development in Mandan. Um, fast forwarding to 2011, E to S conducted a wastewater master plan, and what came out of that was for construction improvement projects. They did 1 in 2012, 1 in 2013 and 2 in 2016. And then come 2023, um, the city staff realized that there there's aging infrastructure out there. Capacities are getting close. So they asked us to come back in. And let's go back to that 2011 master plan and let's update it. Let's see where we're at and really where we need to go.

00:52:18,610	S11:
So as I go through this, I'm going to be listing some different treatment trains throughout the plant. So I wanted to provide a high level overview of really what happens at the plant. When you're looking at a wastewater treatment plant. There's really two aspects to it, right? There's there's a liquid treatment portion and there's a solids treatment portion. The liquids treatment portion is outlined in blue. So what happens is influent comes into the pretreatment building. Really what that does is it just screens out all the heavy rags and debris. After the pretreatment building. It'll go to the selector tank which which really just creates an ideal environment for the wastewater. After the selector tank, it'll go into the aeration basin. Here it's just filled with oxygen to reduce the organic matter. And then after the aeration basin, it goes into the clarifier. Solids settle out and then clear. Liquid stays on top. That clear liquid that stays on top of the clarifier then goes to the UV disinfection, which just kills any remaining bacteria or viruses before it goes into the Missouri River. Um, on the wastewater or the solids treatment side, all of those solids that settle out in that clarifier, uh, then go to a sludge basin, which is the source of the odor that, that we generally smell.

00:53:35,650	S11:
So just a little bit of background. Um, as I'd said earlier, we did complete a master plan in 2011. And one thing that the city staff has realized is that, you know, the population has exceeded what was projected. Um, just for example, what we estimated in the master plan for 2020 was a little over 20,000. And what Mandan actually saw for a census population was a little over 24,000. So that's a 20% variance on what we expect. So obviously, more people you get, the more flow you get coming into the plant. Um, so when we looked at updating the master plan, there are really four key things that we evaluated. And that was one population. So we went back into the basis of planning update. You know, where are we at now and where do we anticipate to be in the next 20 years? Um, and then we looked at existing and projected capacity of the plant, and then we evaluated current and new treatment alternatives.

00:54:47,730	Really, what's going to set the city of Mandan up for success for the next 20 plus years? And then lastly, uh, timeline, you know, based on these capacity concerns and where we're at now, when does the next project need to take place? S11:
And I'll, I'll touch on these a little bit in more detail in the next couple of slides. But just to go a high level on some of our findings. As I'd stated, population growth has exceeded expectations by nearly 20% in 2028. The wastewater treatment facility will exceed biological treatment capacity and then currently at capacity during peak rain event flows. And when I say at capacity, I don't mean that the plant is overflowing. It just makes treating it a whole lot more difficult. Meeting your effluent permit requirements a lot more difficult. The clarifier do not allow for routine maintenance due to lack of redundancy. The staff have no way of shutting that thing down to perform maintenance on it. Clarifier. At the end of their useful life, they're approaching that 30 year mark. And then, as we all know, older issues with the solids treatment.

00:55:45,450	S11:
So when looking at the liquids treatment, when you when you talk about redundancy, you know, regulatory requirements, when we build wastewater plants now is they? They require an additional unit, a redundant unit. So you should be able to turn one off, perform maintenance on it while still treating the incoming flow. Um, out of the selector tank. It goes straight into the aeration basin. And this is just simply a big earthen basin. The only way that they can do anything to it is by taking a boat out there, taking the diffusers out of the water and performing any maintenance. And I'm sure Ryan has his opinions on taking a boat out there. After the aeration basin, there's four large concrete openings.

00:56:27,010	S4:
In.

00:56:27,690	S11:
The clarifier. Um, and really, there's no way to stop that either. They they all the flow goes through the aeration basin, all the flow goes through the clarifier. So if you can imagine a piece of infrastructure at 30 years old without any way to, to shut them down to perform maintenance, it can be rather concerning.

00:56:49,890	S11:
Uh, capacity issues, The grit removal, which is located in the pretreatment building. Capacity is exceeded. At the end of 2025. Aeration basin capacities exceeded by 2028. The clarifier and site piping are currently exceeded and then the effluent pumping. Currently, it gravity flows into the Missouri River, but if the river is high enough where they can't gravity flow, they have to pump it. And those pumps are not sized to handle the flow right now. And again, I know it seems frightening when I say we're at capacity, but that is on a peak event and it doesn't mean we're overflowing. It just means that it's rather hard to treat. And the city does have the luxury. If they don't meet permit requirements, they can discharge into that cell three on the left side. Um, they can't discharge forever into it because there's obviously limited capacity, but they do have that option as well.

00:57:51,930	S11:
And then regulatory update. Just something to think about. Mandan discharges in the Missouri River. So we have that luxury of dilution. But you know at some point down the road that these will hit, you will may have an increase in your nutrient limits like phosphorus and nitrogen. I don't know if anyone has heard of PFAS, but it's what we call the forever chemical. It's very difficult to treat. Um, there's nothing in writing that says it's going to be implemented next year, but there's a lot of research going on on really how drinking water and wastewater plants handle it. I know Bismarck is already taking those steps to address it, but something to something to look at. And then the solids treatment. I think we all know that there are some odor issues out of there. Um, the main reason that there are odor issues is we can't the staff can't aerate that pond enough to keep it mixed. So when it's not mixed, a lot of that. Those solids go anaerobic and kind of create that rotten egg smell. And then with North Dakota winters, it's always going to freeze over. So when we have that spring turnover, I mean everyone knows in the spring when it melts it's going to create create those challenges. Um, the way the plant operates now is every fall they'll dredge the solids out of that basin. They'll put it in a truck and they'll haul it to a field to to liquid land apply. And that alone creates challenges with with weather, with timing, with finding a farmer that even wants to take the solids and then finding drivers with CDL to do so. It's a very expensive process. And as I'd say to future regulations, PFAS could ultimately eliminate liquid land application. And if that does happen. Um, the question is what? How do we dispose of the solids? Um, and then even if even if there isn't a regulation, farmers could say, I don't want it anymore. I don't want it on my land. It could be a concern. So just something to. Something to think about. And that. With that said, it's it's one thing coming from an engineer or all these problems that we see, but it's another coming from, you know, the guy that operates it. So with that, I'll hand it off to Ryan to speak a little bit on what he's seeing at the plant.

01:00:13,530	S12:
Good evening, Mayor Freilich and commissioners, I'm Ryan Mollison. I'm the superintendent at the wastewater plant. Uh, I've been there for 13 years, and it's been a really great plant plant over the years. Uh, so it's been it was a great, great job by the engineering team and contractors that worked on it back in the 90s. But it's it like Zach said, it's a lot of it's at the end of its useful life. Um, we're coming up on the 30 year mark on, like, the clarifier, the final clarifier building. So some of the challenges would be, uh, trying to get parts. Uh, parts don't seem to exist anymore. You gotta scour the internet. Uh, it's it's getting stressful. And, uh, electrical work that gets done in there. Now it's got to be done by a professional electrician, and they don't just come in and know what to do anymore. They're kind of have to. They gotta brainstorm and troubleshoot. And it takes takes a while. They gotta set up camp in there. Sometimes it seems like, um, along with, uh, the clarifier being close to 30 years old. Uh, so in 2016, we had two turbo blowers, which worked great. Before that, we had six PD blowers, which aren't as strong. And, uh, when we put the two turbos in, we had, uh, we saved three of the old ones. And since we've had the turbos, there's been three breakdowns, and one turbo can handle the load of the plant, blowing the the air that it needs. So we have to. Fire up the old ones and hope they still work there. You know they're there. They're close to the 30 years old too. So, um, that's some of the redundancy in the blower situation. We're seeing, um, valves throughout the plant and site piping, some of the piping and valves that where you could, uh, you know, this this isn't working here. We want to bypass and go this way. Some of some of that stuff doesn't work anymore. It's, um, uh, in the, uh, pretreatment building. Uh, right. When the flow comes into the pretreatment building, it hits the fine screen, which gets rid of the the rags and the the flushable wipes. But as time goes on, there's more and more rags coming into that thing, and it kind of can bind it up. And if that's that one fine screen stops, it's stuck in the channel. It'll. It'll overflow if it breaks down. And, uh, we're coming up a pretty common where everything we're, we're looking to replace or repair, it's like a six month wait for parts or so. If that's down for six months, that that could be an issue for sure. Um, so operational challenges and then. Yeah, uh, facultative sludge phase. And that's, that's where the, the pond the waste goes to that stinks the odors. We've tried a lot of, uh, a lot of equipment in that pond over the years to try to mitigate the odors. It's it doesn't seem to work very well. I mean, we keep trying, and then when we dredge the solids out of there, I mean, that's getting some of it out, but it doesn't seem to help with the odors, unfortunately. But yeah, if we could find a different way to deal with the odors instead of putting it into that pond. It's an 11 million. Approximately 11 million gallons. So it's it's a large pond. It's hard to contain that odor or do anything with it. Um, as, uh, we've talked about exceeding capacity. So something that happens and it's happened for years. If there's a real heavy rain, um, what happens at the plant is in the clarifier is where that sludge blanket is supposed to settle. It rises and it wants to go over the weirs. And so we got we get a call, we got to come in and divert it to an emergency storage pond that we have at the plant. It used to be part of the old lagoon system, but we kept it out there and uh, basically. So we we sent it over there. Usually it takes one less than a day where we can go back to discharge into the river. But if it, you know, if it really was bad, we have approximately 15 days of storage in that pond. So, you know, that's kind of our emergency pond. If, if, if flows. If it's not, if treatment's not working, that's where we send it. And, uh, it, it'll give us 15 days. But the high rain event kind of gives us a glimpse into what might start happening when we're at capacity with the growing population and things like that. But, yeah, that's about all I have.

01:05:10,450	S12:
Any questions?

01:05:16,210	S12:
Benson's got some stuff to say. Thank you.

01:05:21,050	S2:
All right. Thank you, mayor and commissioners.

01:05:23,450	S4:
Um.

01:05:24,650	S13:
Um, Ryan and Zach did a great job of kind of establishing the need for the project. Um, and I'm going to talk a little bit real briefly on, you know, kind of the treatment alternative evaluation, what we looked at. You know, some of the different alternatives. Um, and, you know, it's from a liquid treatment perspective. We looked at four different. Liquid liquid treatment alternatives. Um, really, um, for different technologies that are widely used in the US or, you know, even, you know, throughout the world. Um, and really with the goals of, you know, addressing the capacity, you know, out to 20 years, um, making sure that we have the redundancy needed in all treatment units. Um, and looking out to those future regulations, you know, providing a treatment facility that can be set up to handle those. Um, and, you know, on the solids treatment side, we also looked at a number of alternatives. Um, but really those were focused around, you know, actually looking at liquid versus solid versus cake solids. Currently you land apply liquid biosolids, you know, from the pond, you know, in the fall. Um, but looking at, you know, alternatives, you know, instead of hollowing liquid, looking to go to a cake product, which way we do water the cake to a cake product, you know, less volume to haul. Um, also gives you the ability to, um, dispose, you know, outside of land application. You could take that cake product to a landfill. So, um, looking to sort of mitigate some of the risks associated with the land application in the future. Um, Bismarck recently went to, you know, a dewatering process, and they, um, so they went from liquid hauling, liquid biosolids to, um, producing a cake, biosolids as well.

01:07:17,530	S13:
Um, you know, so from with all those alternatives, what we looked at from a recommendation perspective, um, we looked at, you know, going with a membrane bioreactor from a liquid treatment perspective. Um, and then looking at really going to a dewatering, um, cake product for solids treatment. Um, you know, really, with this project, we want to, you know, we want to do it right the first time. Um, we need to provide that capacity for the next 20 years and beyond. Um, obviously, the the odors, um, associated with the pond at this point is a big, big, big issue. And we want to kind of focus on, you know, reducing those odors with both on the liquid side and the solid side for treatment. Uh, but, well, let's plan the facility for those future regulations. Um, you know, I think ultimately that's. Um, you know, as we, as we look to the future, we want to be able to handle some of those things that will come down the pipeline in the future. And really, another goal is we, you know, discussed with staff was really kind of providing a tertiary quality effluent. Um, you know, for potential reuse.

01:08:30,490	S13:
Um, so with that and, you know, all the needs and all the things that we have, you know, from a from a total project cost perspective, it's roughly, you know, approximately around 120 million. Um, you know, this is a planning level cost. Um, it is, you know, there are a lot of contingencies at this point, a lot of unknowns. Um, you know, the goal with, you know, kind of putting together these planning level estimates is to, you know, make sure that we, you know, have enough money in there as we look to go for funding sources. We don't want to fall short, you know, at this point. Um, and really, we want to, um, you know, as we get through the, you know, design process, we can, you know, those numbers continue to get refined. But at this point, we want to make sure that we have, um, enough dollars in there. So as you pursue funding opportunities, you know, you're not going to fall short.

01:09:22,850	S2:
Um, but.

01:09:24,250	S13:
Based on, you know, recent or similar projects, um, you know.

01:09:28,850	S2:
It.

01:09:29,890	S13:
Falls within that 100 to $120 million range. Now this is a total project cost includes the capital cost plus engineering, legal, admin. It also includes inflationary numbers because it will be a multi-year construction project. And so, you know we have to inflate those numbers for, you know, those multiple years of construction.

01:09:51,250	S13:
Um, you know, as we talk about, you know, kind of the schedule for this, you know, really we'll be looking to spend, you know, the entire year of 2026, in early 2027, in the design process, um, with, you know, construction starting in 2027 and really going through probably this is a two and a half to three year project, you know, from a construction timeline perspective. Um, so when we look really when we look at, you know, overall project, we're still 4 to 5 years out before we have an operational facility. So there's, you know, there is a there's still quite a bit of time that Ryan has to, um, you know, try to keep, um, the facility operational. Um, you know, and keep it. Keep. Keep it maintained. Um, so we are looking at it's still a long process at this point. Um, and with that, I will turn it over to Jared to kind of, you know, finish. You know, from a recreation perspective. But if, if you we welcome any questions you may have.

01:10:56,250	S7:
Mayor, I'd like to speak to Ryan and the to a to s the question I have. Has to do with converting sewage to renewable energy fuels. I went on internet and I did some, you know, a lot, a lot of research. But I checked into that and I spoke to an engineer who works in renewable fuels as well about that. And, you know, you have a hydrothermal vilification projects and things like that. Is that going to be put into looking at the future of our wastewater treatment plant? We have this because, um, I think this is a new emergency technology there, but it also can help pay for certain things there as well. And it eliminates some of the problems of waste.

01:11:44,140	So were you out with that? S13:
Um, yes, certainly. I think, um, where the, you know, from a standpoint of, uh, recovering energy and from, from the wastewater treatment plants. Um, one of the big things is, um, from the biosolids processing where they do anaerobic digestion and we recover methane, um, and use that methane to, um, either, like combined heat and power, so provide power for the plant or even heat a heating source. Um, and as well as other other things that we have done too is we've done that with we've also done renewable natural gas. So we've taken biogas that coming off a digestion process and put that back on the national or the natural gas grid as well. Um, other things that facilities have done is recovering heat. Um, you know, from the wastewater as well. Um, and so there are several different technologies. Some of them are newer and emerging. Right. Um, but there are certainly things that, you know, could be considered. Right. Um, you know, with, with some of those newer technologies that does come. Um, you know, at a cost. Right, as well. And so ultimately it's, you know, evaluating where it might make sense. Um, you know, in the process, you know, um, a lot of the renewable, um, sort of technologies are done probably more at larger plants because they have more a larger resource to, um, um, either provide a source of energy, such as, you know, biogas or, um, you know, even heat and power, um, as well as a recovering the nutrients from the wastewater. Right. So we can. There are technologies that we can recover. Uh, phosphorus and nitrogen. Um, and use it as a as a fertilizer. Right. Um, however, it, um, it becomes more cost effective. At larger facilities. And so we're, you know, kind of as that technology, um, gets better and less costly. Um, or more scalable down to smaller, um, levels. Um, I think it's certainly something to consider as part of of any project. Yes.

01:13:56,900	S7:
I just want to make sure that that is on your horizon, looking into this overview and.

01:14:02,500	S4:
Planning very good things like that. Thank you.

01:14:05,660	S9:
We've also looked at relocating the entire plant.

01:14:11,780	Is that correct? S4:
Yes.

01:14:12,100	S13:
So in addition to looking at, you know, various technologies to treat the wastewater, we also looked at actually moving the entire wastewater plant farther to the south, and we looked at, um, sending the wastewater to the city of Bismarck. So we had some initial discussions with the city of Bismarck. Um, you know, the challenge is with with either of those is really the cost of conveyance to either get it to a new site or get it across the river to the city of Bismarck. Um, it's a very large cost. And really so, you know, with those two, you know, alternatives, um, it really became cost prohibitive, um, compared to, you know, doing something at your existing site. Right. So, um, you know, even if you look at, you know, just upgrading your master list station and that's, you know, and force main, right? That's $20 million, um, you know, to, you know, say, have a new site to the south. We'd have to have, you know, almost another, you know, lift station and force main out to that new site, which is, you know, you know, in that neighborhood of at least another $20 million, right? So and getting it across the river. Kind of similar, right. So from a standpoint of, you know, they were, you know, certainly looked at, but ultimately, you know, became cost prohibitive.

01:15:35,740	S2:
Thank you.

01:15:38,100	S1:
Jason or Zach. Um, why only 20 years? You said 20 years plus, but why 20?

01:15:45,620	S13:
Well, typically.

01:15:46,220	S4:
From the.

01:15:46,580	S1:
Redundancies in.

01:15:47,740	S13:
Yeah, redundancy is there. Right. Um, really it's about sizing the units um, for um.

01:15:57,980	S13:
Kind of handling that growth for 20 years. Um, you can do more. But ultimately like, um, it's kind of a balance between, you know, um, putting in, um, you don't want to have too much, too many basins, too much tank age. Right? Um, um, at some point it becomes detrimental because it's under loaded. So you're sort of balancing that sort of future growth in the sizing of your treatment units. And so ultimately the goal is, you know, while we're providing, say, the equipment that'll be able to handle the next 20 years, we're actually setting we're setting the site up to be able to expand for the next 50 to 100 years. Right. I mean, that that really is the the the goal is to, um, make sure that we can continue on and expand, you know, these processes easily. Um, you know, one of the challenges with the existing system is, you know, with the single large basin and the and the clarifier that has no redundancy. Um, there was really no room to necessarily, you know, construct that same thing right next to it. Right. And so from a standpoint of looking, you know, so that was really set up for, you know, 20 or 30 years, right. What we want to do is set this up for much, you know, beyond that. But we don't want to build we don't necessarily going to build all the tanks, um, to get us 50 years. But we we want to recognize the things that we need to do to make it easier to get, you know, to that 5060 plus year mark where, you know, we're not putting any, you know, undue cost or we have to change everything again. Right. We're setting this up so that we can put in enough to get us to 20 years of growth and easily expandable to, you know, much farther in the future.

01:17:46,420	S1:
So what you're proposing is a is a redo, a reconstruction of the current wastewater treatment plant.

01:17:53,180	S4:
Right. Correct. Yeah.

01:17:55,980	S1:
Uh, and you would find the equipment that you place in, not the basins. Uh, but the equipment would last.

01:18:05,660	S13:
So, yes, a typical equipment life is in that, you know, 20 to 30 years, right? So, you know, depending on what it might be, you know, pumps might last that run 24 over seven might last. You know, you might replace them once in that 20, you know, to 30 year mark. Other equipment might last. You know, in that time frame. Um, but yeah, that's kind of the. So as you, you know, that's a typical life cycle of, you know, kind of major process equipment, which is, you know, kind of like your classifiers there at that sort of, you know, there at 30 years. And, you know, they're kind of getting to that point where they're at the end of their useful life. And, um, replacement is necessary.

01:18:50,380	S1:
Any other questions?

01:18:54,780	S1:
Okay. Thank you. Jason.

01:18:59,940	S1:
Gerke.

01:19:03,380	S3:
Mayor. Commissioners. Um, so I guess for tonight, for your consideration, we are asking for adoption. Official adoption of our master plan planning document. Um, and I can I can try and answer any questions if you have any more.

01:19:23,540	S1:
Well, it just sounds like it's hit the fan, right?

01:19:27,340	S4:
Yeah.

01:19:28,020	S9:
I think a lot of people don't understand what's what's, uh, excuse the expression, but, uh, off gas or something from that intake unit produces H2 gas, which is not some not very nice. So that has to test, has to be addressed and recycled through at least that first stage or maybe the second stage to minimize the impact on our employees and um, and not create a hazardous atmosphere outside of that building.

01:19:59,740	S3:
Mayor. Commissioner. Absolutely. Yeah.

01:20:03,340	S2:
Gentlemen, we've looked at, uh, we've talked about ways that you could recycle.

01:20:09,460	S14:
Or reuse renewable in some.

01:20:11,620	S2:
Of these products, and you made the comment that it's more cost effective if you have a larger facility, so I understand that. But what about just ways to run the plant itself, for example? It's wide open back there. The sun rises in the east, sets in the west, and it's got excellent sunshine. What about solar panels on a lot of these roofs? Um.

01:20:35,540	S15:
Um, you know.

01:20:39,460	S13:
Yes, definitely. Definitely. I think, you know, from a standpoint of, um, solar panels on the roofs of buildings, we've done several projects, you know, wastewater projects where we've done that. Um, having solar panels on the roof. Um, several other facilities have actually. You know, you have a lot, you know, more available land as well, you know, out there. Right. And so, um, several facilities, you know, have, you know, even put solar panels, you know, kind of in on the site as well. Um, you know, there are a number of facilities that are kind of working towards, you know, the future really is is working towards what they call net zero, Right? Energy. So they're trying to recover and produce, you know, enough energy on site. Um, on their at the wastewater site to be able to, you know, basically net zero. Right. Not have to use, um, any energy. Right. And, and, uh, you know, those are it's something that certainly as you look to the future. Right. Doing things like that, you know, starting with things like that, you know, is definitely, um, you know, a good practice.

01:21:43,660	S2:
So based on this, can this be part of that discussion as you proceed forward?

01:21:47,860	S13:
Yeah, I think, you know, as you get into the design process, right, and get into those. Those are all things that, you know, um, can be considered. Um, we didn't necessarily get into those types of details. You know, in this, you know, high level planning. But those are all things that are, you know, definitely, you know, certainly warranted to be considered as you kind of work through, um, that detailed design process.

01:22:12,780	S4:
Thank you.

01:22:17,740	S10:
Mayor. I think I know the answer to this, but maybe this is an administrative Neubauer question, but this is a you know, it's a large amount. We got a lot of large projects going on. Traditionally, there isn't state or federal funding for wastewater. Is that pretty or you know how. From a funding level, I mean, this would be something that the city takes on probably by itself. That'd be a fair statement.

01:22:46,380	S16:
Mayor Freilich and Commissioner Heinsohn um, yes, that is true. This last legislative session, um, we assisted with introducing a bill that would have provided some state grant money for wastewater treatment systems. Um, we had hopes that to be able to start it at 50 million went down to 25 million. And then the federal government took back some funds that they had kind of earmarked or tagged for a couple, 2 or 3 North Dakota communities. And in turn, the funds that were included in that bill got moved to those communities, and they turned wastewater funding assistance into a study versus I put any hard dollars into it. So that's a long answer to a short question. But the short answer is no. There is very minimal funding for wastewater treatment, um, plants other than through 2% infrastructure loan funding and clean water or drinking water loan amounts at 2%.

01:23:50,100	S4:
Thank you.

01:23:57,060	S1:
Okay. What are your wishes, commissioners?

01:24:01,300	S9:
I'll move to approve to adopt the wastewater treatment plan. Wastewater treatment plant. Master plan as presented.

01:24:10,300	S1:
Second motion by Commissioner Schulberg. Second by Commissioner Brown. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call please.

01:24:21,580	S2:
Commissioners. Braun. Yes. Rohrer. Yes. Schulberg. Yes. Yes.

01:24:27,020	S1:
Yes. Item number four. Consider change order number four for the 2024 Street Reconstruction project. Eric.

01:24:36,420	S3:
Mayor and commissioners. This is related to our reconstruction project in the Culver's area. Specifically, this change order includes pavement markings that would occur after the chip seal on the project occurs. That would bring the city back up to, um, back up to compliance for its, uh, Quiet Zone permit with BNSF. So this change order includes pavement marking, updates around this at grade crossing, as well as, um, some centerline striping along Missouri Drive. Um, we have the change order amount is $69,000, and we have about $686,000 budgeted for contingencies. So only represents about 10% of the contingencies we have budgeted for the project. Um, it's our recommendation to approve the change order, but I can answer any questions if you have any.

01:25:32,700	S1:
Any questions for Eric.

01:25:36,420	S1:
If not, what are your wishes?

01:25:37,860	S2:
Move to approve change order four as presented.

01:25:42,860	S1:
Second motion by Commissioner Brown. Second by Commissioner Hinson. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call.

01:25:52,140	S2:
Commissioners. Roger.

01:25:53,260	S7:
Yes.

01:25:54,060	S2:
Yes. Yes. Yes. Mayor. Freilich.

01:25:56,740	S1:
Yes. Thank you. Eric. We move to section El Resolution and Ordinances. Item one. Consider the introduction and first Consideration of Ordinance Number 1474 to create new article seven to chapter two of the Mandan Code of Ordinances Relating to the Authorization of Annual Appropriation Bonds. Greg.

01:26:23,060	S17:
Mayor. Commissioners add some background for this ordinance at the City Commission. Long term financial planning working session. On May 27th of this year, the Budget and Finance Committee recommended the adoption of an ordinance that would allow the city to have broader authority than what is currently provided in the North Dakota Century Code to utilize bank loans and leases to finance machinery and equipment purchases. The proposed ordinance will formally establish a legal framework authorizing the City of Mandan to issue annual appropriation bonds in the future, entering into bank loans. execute equipment lease agreements for the purchase of machinery and equipment as outlined in the city's long term financial plan. The city's long term financial plan includes a scheduled program for acquiring essential machinery and equipment required to maintain high quality municipal services. Traditional funding sources, such as general obligation bonds and cash reserves, can be limited or inefficient for certain capital purchases. Creating article seven provides the city commission with expanded financing tools that one increase flexibility financial flexibility by enabling annual appropriation bonds, which are not backed by a general obligation pledge from property taxes. Secondly, to incorporate private financing instruments such as bank loans and leases, allowing the city to take advantage of competitive rates and terms. And thirdly, to align with fiscal responsibility by ensuring that debt obligations are only incurred in the annual budget approval. And fourthly, to support operational efficiency by securing critical assets without delays associated with larger bond issuances or capital campaigns. Staff recommends the adoption of the proposed ordinance to enable timely and cost effective financing of equipment purchases, consistent with Brandon's long term financial strategy. This approach enables fiscal control, leverages market options, and protects the city's long term financial integrity. Um, the consideration of this ordinance was kind of modeled after the City of West Fargo's ordinance, which is very similar and working with City Attorney Oyster in drafting this ordinance. We also had our City Bond Council review this ordinance before this meeting, and we got the green light from that. Um, and I will certainly stand for any questions. Uh, one practicality of this ordinance, for example, uh, fire apparatus units are very expensive. You're looking at anywhere, um, you know, little north of $1 million. Um, depending upon which section of of the century code that you follow. Uh, some of those purchases can be limited as far as borrowing with bank loans and leases. Some of the limitations in one part of the code is that you're, um, you're restricted to 500,000 or 5 years. Um, this ordinance through the city's home rule charter would give us a financial tool in our toolbox to use when we need to help financing, let's say a fire apparatus that is $1 million and we would need to finance that certainly over longer than a five year period. So we feel that this ordinance will certainly allow the city to have the flexibility to meet the needs of providing critical public services, but at the same time, being fiscally responsible and being able to utilize all the financial tools that that we can put in our toolbox to assist the city to purchase the equipment that is needed.

01:30:40,900	S1:
Any questions for Greg?

01:30:47,220	S7:
I move to approve the introduction of first consideration of Ordinance number 1474 to create new article seven to chapter two of the Mandan Code of Ordinances relating to the Authorization of Annual Appropriations Bonds.

01:31:00,820	S1:
Second motion by Commissioner Rogers. Second by Commissioner Schulberg. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call please.

01:31:11,980	S2:
Yes. Yes. Yes.

01:31:14,660	S7:
Yes.

01:31:14,980	S2:
Mayor. Freilich.

01:31:15,940	S1:
Yes. We'll move on to item number two.

01:31:25,140	First consideration of ordinance number 1475 S1:
to amend and reenact section 12, dash eight, dash one and 12-89 to the Mandan Code of Ordinances relating to the Cigar Lounges. Mr. Neubauer.

01:31:39,620	S2:
Mayor.

01:31:39,860	S16:
Freilich and commissioners. Um. North Dakota Century Code was amended this legislative session to allow pipe tobacco in cigar lounges. Um, so that's in essence, what this ordinance would do would be allowing pipes and pipe tobacco to be consumed in a cigar lounge.

01:32:00,900	S16:
Have any questions. We'll be happy to answer them from a non pipe non cigar smoker.

01:32:07,500	S7:
But mercury blend is really makes for a better aroma in pipes than some some cigars anyway.

01:32:18,460	S1:
Yes. Any other questions for.

01:32:25,540	S1:
Mr.

01:32:29,900	Neubauer? S1:
Okay, commissioners.

01:32:38,980	Josette, did you want to speak? S18:
Good evening, Mayor and commissioners. As you know, I am Josette Dupre, co-owner and general manager of Big Stick Cigar Lounge, which is just kitty corner across the street from here. We are respectfully requesting consideration to adopt Century Code HB 1440, allowing pipe tobacco to be smoked in cigar lounges. Big Stick Cigar Lounge is currently North Dakota's only cigar lounge, established under the 2023 legislative session. I am grateful to the City of Mandan for supporting and allowing cigar lounges within our community. We have now been operating for over a year with no violations, and we take pride in respecting and following both Sentry Code and municipal codes. Pipe tobacco is, in essence, simply a deconstructed cigar. We kindly ask that our pipe smoking patrons be allowed to co-exist along our cigar smokers within the lounge. I appreciate your time and consideration, and I'm open to answer any questions that you might have.

01:33:38,260	S1:
Any questions for Josette? Commissioner. Roger.

01:33:41,820	S7:
I'm not a poster. I'm not a pipe smoker. Leave the stage. I am not so.

01:33:46,860	S4:
Okay.

01:33:47,620	S7:
But it sounds like a good idea. I don't have any objections to it.

01:33:52,860	S1:
Anyone else? Thank you. Joe.

01:33:57,420	Said commissioners, what are your wishes? S10:
I'll move to approve the first consideration of ordinance Number 1475, which amends and re-enacts section 12, dash eight, dash one and 12-89 of the Mandan Code of Ordinances.

01:34:12,420	S1:
Second motion by Commissioner Hinson. Second by Commissioner Rohrer. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call please.

01:34:20,860	S4:
Commissioner.

01:34:22,220	S2:
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Mayor. Freilich.

01:34:25,940	S1:
Yes. Move on to section M. There is no other business. Uh, future meeting dates for the Board of City Commissioners are as follows September 2nd, 2025. That meeting is at 5 p.m., not 5:35 p.m.. September 16th, 2025 at 530 and October 7th, 2025 at 530. And with that I would look for a motion to adjourn.

01:35:00,700	S9:
Second.

01:35:02,220	S1:
Please be kind to your neighbor, and it's onward and upward. Man down. Meeting adjourned.