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.

00:00:25,440	S2:
And coming up on this Mandan edition of City Current, we'll talk about last night's City Commission meeting, inmate housing agreement, build grants and a couple projects underneath the build grants Mandan proper and McKenzie drive. I'm Tom Gerhart from Dakota media access, joined by Jim Neubauer, city administrator for Mandan. We got some winter weather returning this fine Wednesday.

00:00:47,920	S3:
Something we haven't seen for a few weeks. It's been a while. We go from 50 degrees to, I think zero degrees over the next couple nights. So but just a reminder, you know, travel safe, take extra time, use caution. And yes, our street crews are out sanding intersections and streets this morning and we'll be into the day.

00:01:05,379	S2:
Yeah, a little slick. Like you said, go from hitting golf balls to shoveling and had to start the snowblower this morning. Uh, pretty quick meeting last night, but still some really interesting information. Good things to pass along. Uh, right off the bat, I wanted to let people know about a website that I think will probably reference. Right. Just about every couple of weeks. And that's the city of Mandan. Com backslash projects. And so, uh, that'll take you to everything going on. Really. In Mandan, I went to the page myself and checked it out. A lot of good information there.

00:01:39,939	S3:
A lot of our construction projects have updates. I know that, uh, our city engineer, Jared Wiggins, and also our assistant city engineer Riley has, uh, have been doing regular updates, and I think for the public to consume and for the commissioners to hear, here's what's going on, because infrastructure projects aren't just going on in the summertime or the spring and the fall over the wintertime. As you will see, we've been doing some work on those things too.

00:02:04,879	S2:
Well, let's take a look at some of those project updates, which include Collins Avenue, Reservoir Street Improvement District to be the 242 in Mandan proper. Phase one. But uh, wow, demolition of the Collins Avenue reservoir is just about complete.

00:02:21,960	S3:
Right. We were talking earlier in the last 20 plus years, we've seen what we had. We called it the Tin Can was one of our water reservoirs on this site. And we had a concrete reservoir that you will see has. You can't see it now because it's been taken. It's been demoed and that work has continued over this winter. I think Riley said last night that it is the kind of last pieces of that puzzle are coming together. So when that is fully complete, then the contractor will move over to the intersection of Collins Avenue and Division Street, and we're going to do some adjusting on that retaining wall that has caused some sight issues for folks over the years, and pull that back to the east so that there's a better sightline in that area. So that would be our next project that will be happening as weather permits as we go along.

00:03:13,419	S2:
And I don't know exactly when this photo was taken, but it's still kind of mind blowing that. And I even admitted, you know, kind of that old man taking a photo of my yard because I can't remember growing up here. I'm sure there's been a time or two in mid-February where there hasn't been a stitch of snow in our yard. But look at that photo. It's just. Yeah, it looks like it could have been taken.

00:03:33,580	S3:
In the middle of summertime or.

00:03:35,099	S2:
Summertime.

00:03:35,860	S3:
Or anything like that, but, you know, encouraged folks. There was a we have some drone video that was shown at last night's commission meeting. So to see what it looks like live in and move in in color. Not that this isn't color, but you can watch the the live drone shots from that site. And and actually, I was surprised to see that I know they had been working over the winter, but I didn't realize it. Pretty much all of it is is gone right now.

00:03:59,530	S2:
Yeah. And for those of you listening, the big Collins Avenue reservoir is pretty much reduced to rubble. So that's what we're looking at right now. Surrounded by, uh, no snow, just round part.

00:04:12,009	S3:
Part of that demo is we'll be taking that rubble out. Yeah. Correct. Which which is which? We always do construction projects and you never know quite what's underground. And, um, where we constructed the new reservoir, found out that pieces of an old reservoir were left in the last time it was taken out. Who knows how many years ago? Um, those things that are unknowns that you find out. And in this, in this project, we're saying, let's do it right, let's, you know, clearing that site. So if, when it when it comes time and there will be a time when that new reservoir is considered an old reservoir, and we'll have to replace it so we can move back over to a clean site. And hopefully there will be no unknowns on that site.

00:04:51,569	S2:
Uh, another project is the area to be. We're recording this February 18th. Wednesday, February 18th. There's actually a second input meeting tonight from 6 to 8 at Roosevelt Elementary. Uh, with public input, of course. So just a quick update on area to be.

00:05:10,870	S3:
Yeah. Um, this is an area that we had tried a few years ago to get a street improvement project done with water lines replaced and things like that. Um, shortly after that, um, project was protested out. We had a number of water line breaks in this area. We had residents coming and asking, when are you gonna come back? When are you going to get this project back on the books? Um, we decided this over this winter that we should try and bring it back again. So we've done one public input meeting before the assessment district was created, and we have another one tonight. Again, it is February 18th from 6 to 8:00 pm at Roosevelt Elementary School. We'd like to have these input meetings in the area that is most affected by the construction. And again, this is a we've heard a lot of There's been a lot of social media, um, activity on this project. We want folks to make sure, you know, come to this meeting tonight, get the facts so that we can explain clearly what will happen and what is planned to happen. And these projects don't get any cheaper as time goes on. And we know that we have some grant funding that is available to help reduce that burden to the local residents in this area, and that may not always be there. And that's just a fact. So again, we're taking another run at this area. We know that the roads and we know the water lines in this area need to be replaced.

00:06:32,089	S2:
So I think last time we talked about the expense of chasing those breaks versus repairing them. And I know it was very expensive.

00:06:39,649	S3:
Yeah.

00:06:39,889	S2:
You started those one at a time.

00:06:41,250	S3:
That's kind of like if you think of a water line as a straw and you have one bad, you have a hole in that straw, and then you start chasing back to find a good piece of that straw to hook onto. Sometimes takes a long time to do that. It's not. You go and fix that one spot because you need to have good pipe to attach on to. And that's really what we're having trouble finding in this area is where do we where do you stop once a break occurs? Because there's no good place to continue on. So again, public meeting tonight on that. And like I said, our engineering team will be there to to provide answers to questions that folks may have.

00:07:16,829	S2:
Mandan proper phase one public input meeting coming up February 24th from 6 to 8 at First Lutheran Church.

00:07:25,990	S3:
Yeah. Again, another one of these. This is our second input meeting. We we try and have a public input meeting prior to an assessment district being created. So we have done that. Um, and now this is the follow up to that meeting. So again February 24th, 6 to 8 p.m. at First Lutheran Church. Again, our engineering team will be there to answer questions and explain. Here's what this this piece of the project will entail. So again, um, trying to get out in front of these and help answer people's questions before we get to a protest period.

00:07:57,490	S2:
Or and these things are so important because so often we hear people say, oh, we didn't know about something, but there are public input meetings. There's an opportunity to have your voice heard in many cases, or all cases mandated soliciting from information and ideas and suggestions from the community.

00:08:16,250	S3:
And the reason we're doing these is to want to inform the residents, number one. And number two, it's sometimes the folks who live in that area know exactly what's going on with the water. They know exactly where the streets are cracking up all the time, and sidewalks are bad and things like that, and they can help our engineering team put those plans together with that valuable input they provide. So, um, so many people well, the water goes here and really it doesn't go where the engineering lines may say it should go. So again, these are really valuable for folks. And we want to hear what people have to say. And it'll explain sometimes the funding on how these projects work too. So again, February 24th, 6 to 8 p.m. at First Lutheran Church.

00:08:55,309	S2:
Chief Zeigler came up. We're talking about that inmate housing agreement. Burleigh Morton County Detention Center. Uh, and, uh, some nuance in the language there that they were sorting out last night.

00:09:06,429	S3:
Right. This agreement was brought by Chief Ziegler back in, I think November, December. We had a couple of commissioners ask about the issues of who pays for what on medical things that may occur while an inmate is incarcerated and who pays for what. So, um, Chief Ziegler went back to, um Kelly Lieben, the Burleigh County sheriff, and said, hey, we've got some questions on this. They made a couple of adjustments to the language, and that language has been brought forward back to our commission for our approval. And these are these changes are not easy to make, because I think there are 31 different agencies that are a party that are utilizing this facility. And so you need to be consistent on how all the the entities are treated. So making one change and effects, it has a pretty big ripple effect on down the line. What we appreciate, and I think Commissioner Schulberg did a nice job of giving kudos. You know, thanking the folks for considering what our commissioners had and questions that we had. So this one came back to us a little ahead of schedule. I think we had March 31st as a deadline for it to come back. It comes back in the middle of February. So again, thank you to all the folks that work with us in making those changes.

00:10:18,929	S2:
Let's talk about Build grants. We got a little sneak peek at one of the graphics, but this is another program that can help offset costs of a couple of projects that have been identified.

Yep. 00:10:29,409	S3:
It all goes down to, you know, how is the city utilizing our resources and what kind of grant opportunities are we looking for all the time? And believe me, we between our city staff and between engineering firms and other firms that we may engage, they're all looking for the biggest bang for the buck. And where is that what we call free money. Right? Grant money, but usually free. There's always some kind of string attached to it. But these build grants are used to help, um, reconstruct whether it's water, sewer, streets in areas that are usually economically disadvantaged. Um, and doing these build, build grants and these projects, there's a series of criteria that need to be met. It's not every area in Mandan will be a good application for a build grant, because it just doesn't it may not meet all of those criteria. And therefore we are carefully going through and making sure that the Build grants have an opportunity to be successful. There's no guarantee we applied for one for the entire Mandan proper. A year or so ago and were denied on that grant, which we thought we had met every box that needed to be checked off. We've had meetings with the grant writers and found out how could these have scored better for the grant graders, I should say. And like I said, we're always we're always working to make improvements in that process. But again, not every project is a opportunity to be funded or funding assistance through a build grant.

00:12:01,259	S2:
So Mandan proper is one of the projects that you've identified again, moving forward. And this kind of would give a breakdown of what could happen. And then financially and then the McKenzie drive extension. Another key project that the city's.

00:12:17,500	S3:
Yeah, really a long, long term project out in the in the horizon many years. But there's opportunity again to kind of, um, do a study. It's not going to cost, um, the city of Mandan any dollars to have this study done if that application, again, is successful. But it really creates a corridor from McKenzie drive and hooking over to highway 1806. And what would that look like and what might it cost? So again, very long term, um, but if the funds are available now, we think it's wise to take advantage of them. It also helps with development that is planned for that area. And how do we make sure we accommodate this? You know, one of the things we often hear about the northern bridge corridor between Bismarck and Mandan, they're going to build another bridge that is a bypass around the city of Mandan and Bismarck so that I-94 traffic can move smoothly through this area. Um, that was great in the mid 2000, but all of the growth north of Bismarck, really, it kind of jammed that idea up. But again, you're trying to plan for a corridor and you're playing trying to plan many years out. That study I think was done in 2005. And here we are in 2026, 20 years later, and nothing has been built. But and again, today would be probably a different route because North Bismarck has grown out so much, in North Mandan has grown out so much that this would not be really a bypass anymore. It would be another kind of a local four lane carrier.

00:13:47,480	S2:
All this information gathered in a study, though, as you just said, extremely valuable looking down long term. And I'm sure it also helps inform some other decisions the city makes.

00:13:57,820	S3:
It's kind of like, how do we plan if that is a corridor to be utilized in the future? How do we make sure that we're not, um, you're not putting a 40 foot right of way where you should have a 60 or 80 foot right of way for a future road to go through. So again, a good planning document and we are thinking well into the future.

00:14:15,539	S2:
I wanted to talk about the bond resolution for the just about $4.5 million, the water revenue bond, which would work with a lead service replacement. Uh, that's a big project demand on as well.

00:14:28,220	S3:
Yeah, this is another one. Um, you know, obviously we have been surveying folks on whether their service lines are led or copper or what they are. Um, that's why there is a team, I think, of 11 folks out there.

00:14:40,460	S2:
That might be.

00:14:41,299	S3:
Knocking on doors. Um, don't be afraid. Don't be scared. But they're trying to figure out where do we have, uh, who has lead service lines, and we need to get those replaced. And what we saw last night was roughly a $4.5 million revenue bond to help pay for lead service lines and replacements. So at the at the end of the day, we're hoping not to pass any of that cost on to the resident so we can get these things fixed. We know it's a hazard, and when we do a street improvement project like we're talking about 242 be, um, we need to go through there and make sure that we've identified where those lead service lines are. So then we can come up with a really solid plan on how to replace them, and we want to replace them when we're doing a street improvement project in your area. So they're not we're not digging up an area once, then we're having to come back and tear it up again. So great terms on this. It is again, $4.5 million. Um, responsible for repayment is really about a million and a half dollars at a 0% rate, which is again subsidized by the federal government. And also, you know, Senator Dakota administers this through the Bank of North Dakota? They peel off a half a percent for an admin fee, but again, it's really cheap money and repayment, I think if I remember right, doesn't wouldn't start until 2031. And it's kind of like you have a line of credit out there. If we don't tap into that money, then we're not being charged for it. So it's really it's a pretty good program. It's a very good program.

00:16:09,899	S2:
For Mandan for sure. Yeah. Yep. Lots of kind of fun things to talk about. Wanted to mention that North Dakota third and seventh graders can take part in the North Dakota League of Cities. If I were mayor essay contest.

00:16:24,419	S3:
Yeah, it's always good. And like I said, the benefit of this is it gets our young kids thinking about, you know, what, if they were the mayor and what would they like to see in Mandan in years to come. And right now. And so at the end of the day, there's a judging panel that will judge those. And, um, usually the mayor will visit either the classroom or we usually have the student who wins the mayor. contest will come down and they'll get to sit with the mayor during a city commission meeting.

00:16:52,600	S2:
So those are due by March 13th.

00:16:55,759	S3:
Correct.

00:16:56,440	S2:
Want to remind folks that the city of Mandan would like your input, and you can go to the City of Mandan website to provide your input. But, um, the surveys for businesses and residents is open until the end of March.

00:17:11,400	S3:
Right. There's a kind of two parts of this, and we know that we had a there was an input meeting and with the business owners on the West or on the the east side of this project, the one that was currently under construction last year and will be under construction this year. Um, how's here's what we have planned to share with them. Here's what the contractors, here's how many days I'll be working. You know, I think two of the contractors will be doing seven days a week, 12 hour days. One of them will be doing six days a week, 12 hour days. And at the end of the day, um, July 9th is the scheduled due date of the entire East End from 32nd over to the end of the project going to the east. We're asking as a survey is how do we best communicate with you? Is it weekly newsletter? Is it text message? Is it you know? What other kinds of communication can we do to help this? You become better informed on the aspects of this project. So again, we encourage folks to take that survey. We want to hear your feedback. Um, there's also, I think, a March 18th meeting that is being scheduled right now for for owners of property and the public on the west side to find out, okay, what's going to happen in 2027, 2028 or 2026 and 2027 on this project on the west side of Memorial Highway.

00:18:32,779	S2:
I've already talked about the lead service led water service line project, but here's a phone number that you can call and a website. City of Mandan are again, you can call the that number with questions as it says here or schedule it again.

00:18:51,559	S3:
The idea is we need to have we need to find out who has those, because those lines may have put in in the in the 1930s, 40s or 50s or 30s. And we, we don't have that information. So again, we would like you to call in and tell us what you have or have us come out and we'll we'll tell you whether you have a lead service line or not.

00:19:11,640	S2:
And we thought we'd remind people one more time because, you know, we're getting closing in on. We are then the April 1st deadline to get your application in for your $1,600 2026 primary residence credit.

00:19:25,200	S3:
Right. And make sure I think you've seen the tax commissioner on advertisements saying this needs to be done by March 31st, April 1st, in order for you to receive that $1,600 tax credit on your property tax statement. And again, it's 3 to 4 questions. You have to do this every year so they can verify that this is still the primary residence of the individual getting the credit because it is not available for commercial properties and things like that. It is a primary residence credit and therefore you need to answer those questions. And it takes maybe 30s of your time for $1,600. That's a pretty good rate of return.

00:20:02,910	S2:
That is a really good rate of return. Yes. Well, just want to remind people, as we always do, that if you weren't able to watch the Mandan City Commission meeting live last night, that you can find it on Dakota media access online, or you can download our Dakota media access app and find all of these meetings available on demand and for great music and podcasts. And last night, the City Commission meeting was on radio access 102.5 FM on your radio dial. So lots of good ways to access and keep informed on what's happening in the city of Mandan and the city of Bismarck.

00:20:42,589	S3:
Do we have radio dials any more time, or is it.

00:20:45,190	S2:
The dial that's dating me, isn't it? The digital push.

00:20:48,650	S3:
It's dating me because I understood what you were talking about. It's not the push button, but, um. Yeah. Radio dials. And we appreciate all the DMA does for, uh, whether it's school board, park board, all of our commission meetings that are broadcast live and also watchable. Yeah. And the reruns.

00:21:05,930	S2:
And it is really helpful. I, we keep track of our website visits, and we can really tell who's coming back to look at video on demand. And that just makes sense. I mean, sometimes you're getting home from work, which you can listen on the radio and find out what's happening. But if you want to watch later on at your own convenience, that is available.

00:21:27,049	S3:
If you want to watch the February 17th drone video of the Collins Avenue Reservoir demolition, what it looks like today, you can see that because you will not see that from the street or driving. That is an aerial shot that I'm going, oh wow, I didn't understand all that had been done already. So we always learned something.

00:21:44,789	S2:
Well thanks, Jim, and thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time on seeker.

00:21:49,309	S1:
For more information on what was discussed in this episode of City Current, visit city of Mandan. Com or call (701) 667-3215.

00:21:59,470	S1:
If you have any suggestions, comments or issues you would like addressed in Future City Current 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.