00:00:03,501	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.

00:00:25,767	S2:
Coming up today on the Mandan edition of City current will get an update on the Memorial Highway project. All the rain. It's got to be helpful. We'll check in on the Art alley project taking place in Mandan. Some really beautiful art already up and more to come. And last night, a public hearing on the 2026 budget. Welcome. I'm Tom Gerhardt from Dakota media access. And joining me. Mandan city administrator Jim Neubauer.

00:00:54,267	S3:
Good morning, Tom. A little rain again.

00:00:57,667	S2:
It's pretty gray and dismal, but we've had a lot of rain.

00:01:01,400	S3:
We've had a lot of rain, obviously affecting a lot of construction projects and normally not in a positive way. Um, but like I said, we'll we'll get to that.

00:01:09,200	S2:
We'll get to that in just a second. I wanted to kick things off with a nice touch. Last night the new employees were introduced and you had a few of them.

00:01:17,567	S3:
Yeah, a couple of things that we we really like to do. We do a quarterly work anniversary recognition. So those folks that have completed three years, five years, ten years, 15, 20, 25, we like to bring them up in front of the commission, present them with a certificate. It's, um, we think it's beneficial to our employees. We're recognizing good work that you've done. And, you know, in today's world of having someone for three years as an employee, it's a big deal. And so we've made some changes. We like to do that. And we also like to bring our new hires in for introductions. Um, demonstrates a lot of things. It demonstrates that, yeah, there is turnover within our departments. And yes, we like to get We get our employees in into the commission room, which they probably have never been in before. We get our commissioners to meet our new folks and our new folks to meet our commission commissioners. So we like to do that again. It brings more of a sense of community and a sense of team to all of our employees and our commissioners.

00:02:14,601	S2:
And a nice touch. Also, we learn a little bit about these people and some of their families and hobbies and things.

00:02:20,367	S3:
So Chief Ziegler likes to go ahead, and this one lives in Bismarck, Mandan and things like that, which, you know, it means something to us. And like I said, we we just like to, um, again, it's a it's a chance for our commissioners to interact with new employees and new employees to see, oh, this is our commission room. These are our elected officials. And and let's say a howdy.

00:02:41,968	S2:
Let's get into those construction updates. And let's start with Memorial Highway. But there are several projects to update, including what's happening at the water treatment plant, Collins Avenue, the reservoir, some really cool photos from that project and a couple more, but let's start at Memorial Highway. I know it's we're knocking on October here.

00:03:04,267	S3:
We're not only knocking on October, I think we're passing through October right now. Um, Memorial Highway, a lot of, um, rain obviously has affected this project all summer long. Um, contractor the general keeps assuring us that this project will be completed. Be completed. I think the end date is November 23rd. We can pour concrete when it's cold out with heating blankets and things like that. We want to make sure that we're not taking shortcuts on this project and make sure that moves along. Contractor is also. Uh, I think Dot had signed an additional subcontractor for the underground work, so there would be two contractors working and are going to bring on a third underground contractor next week. So again, rain obviously has a lot to do with this project. They keep assuring us we will be done. A lot of folks have asked about the what we call the wavy bacon, um, driving service right now, and that will be leveled out before winter hits. And you'll have a smooth driving service to be on. And we look to see a significant amount of progress here in the next few weeks as we get towards that October date.

00:04:13,601	S2:
And we did hear the term winter shutdown used a few times. I believe you were correct that November 23rd was about that time. We also heard a term monolithic concrete. I don't know, I you know, I know you're not an engineer, but it sounded like, uh, it's a way to pivot and still be able to get that poured, uh, if need be, before the end of the season.

00:04:36,200	S3:
Yeah. When the, um, the concrete pours happen, they can go pretty fast. Um, once all the subgrade prep is down in Ddot is has approved some measures with some geo grid and things like that can minimize the amount of subgrade that work that needs to be done to make this project move faster. Again, we want to make sure that we're getting a quality project. We're not skimping and just to get things done. The contractor also, if we hit a point in the weather where we see that there's a drop dead point, obviously that has to happen where it says we need to start buttoning up for winter. Um, we will be assured of a five lane smooth driving surface before winter hits. That is on the contractor's responsibility to do that. But the contractors also said that pouring concrete can move pretty quick once you get your son to that point. And so the monolithic pour as you just keep pouring and pouring and pouring. And like I said, we look forward to that day when the underground on the summer sewer is done and we can move great strides in that direction.

00:05:38,367	S2:
And like you said, a third crew coming in to finish that underground work starting next week. So hopefully this starts moving along quickly. Yeah. Let's talk about the water treatment Phase three optimization.

00:05:51,767	S3:
Or treatment optimization? Phase three. I think it's like phase 103 for my time. But again, a lot of that has to do with some of our internal parts out at the water treatment plant. We've got the CO2 tank slab. CO2 is part of adding the fizz and things to the water so that you drink it, and it's clean, and there's some significant work that's going on out there right now. And that project seems to be on time and within budget. And so it's one of those things that people don't see. We can spend millions of dollars and we do millions of dollars on our water treatment system to make sure that when you turn the faucet on, you've got clean drinking water that's there that no one really ever knows about. I never sees, but it certainly takes a lot of time, effort, resources and dollars to make that happen.

00:06:40,701	S2:
And from what I heard last night, to work can continue into the winter on this project, but they should be done with all the outdoor work. Like you said there. Uh, things are looking good outside the Collins Avenue reservoir. I was really struck by the videos that were shown last night. That's some cool stuff. We've got some photos we can show you that, I think really give a perspective. You can see some of the crew working, and that really tells you how large of a project this is.

00:07:08,300	S3:
Yeah. You get to a point when, um, we like underground reservoirs because they're easier to maintain and things like that. We have elevation at this point on Collins Avenue that matches elevation on our south side reservoir. So those two water reservoirs work in conjunction with each other on water pressures makes it easier for a staff. But the construction of this is is way cool, which again, you don't see from Collins Avenue or Division when you drive up there. But, um, we've taken some drone shots of work that's going on in the evening and work in the daytime that really tell you, here's what the inside of a water reservoir looks like. Not many people will ever see that or need to see that. They just want to know. Hey, faucets on water is coming out. But again, we need to replace the I think it's 75 year old reservoir that's directly adjacent to the new one. When this project is complete, we will take down the old reservoir and then hopefully in 100 years, when that reservoir needs replacement, you can build where the old one was. Yep. Which is interesting too, because when we were excavating for this new reservoir, there were things found that were leftovers from an older reservoir there. So we want to make sure that, um, when we take down the old reservoir, we're taking down everything. And the new folks that come on 7500 years from now have a clean slate to work with.

00:08:32,167	S2:
I was just fascinated by the photos. I think it shows the complexity of the work and really the scale of the project. I mean, like you said, you don't really get a good view of it, but those drone shots really provided a perspective that, Yeah, worth looking at.

00:08:46,000	S3:
I think this is a two plus million gallon reservoir. One on the south side was built as a two plus two or a 4 million gallon reservoir. But there's also a reservoir inside a reservoir so that we we knew we'd need 4 million gallons at some point in time. But right away we just needed two. And that two again, function is just fine. And now we're making use of the for.

00:09:08,601	S2:
2020 for street reconstruction projects. Just a quick update there.

00:09:13,801	S3:
Yep. We have we're finishing up in the low Strader area. We are also doing work in the Monte Drive area which is mainly water line replacement going on. That's a I think a $9.5 million project. And honestly, it's a mess. Like, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Low Strader drive is finishing up. There's final walkthroughs going on as we speak, and the the area on Monte Drive up by the Lewis and Clark School. Um, strides are being made to get that thing buttoned up, um, for the rest of the construction season.

00:09:46,501	S2:
And then, uh, this map attempts to show a series of bad luck for the city of Mandan. Yeah, a number of water main breaks that have taken place. And I mentioned to you I was driving down I-94 last night, and I could see a little work still being done as. As twilight came upon us. But a series of water main breaks that, uh, all in a similar area.

00:10:09,901	S3:
I was, I was actually backing out of my parking spot on, uh, first Street on Monday night after work, ready to go home. And our, our utility maintenance superintendent drives by, says, hey, if you want to come and see a water line break, we got one going on right now. So that's about five 2530. Um, that was the first break. There's another break. I'm very close to that one. And then, um, I think Tuesday morning or late Monday night when we had the other two buttoned up, here comes a third water line break in the same general area. And this is an area where we had proposed a special assessment district roughly a year ago, because we knew water lines needed to be replaced. And if we're going to do the underground work, we're going to do the we'd like to do the above ground work to follow that up. And so we knew the pipes were old. And when you have a water line break, our utility maintenance guys, um, fixing that, it's usually just not putting a clamp on an old pipe you're chasing back to find where we have some good pipe to latch on to and then fix that break. So, um, you know, apologies for the folks in this area for water outages at this point in time. Um, we I think as of about. No, I think 6:00 this morning, I think we had folks back in water. Um, but like I said, we're hoping that holes in those fixes, um, will get us through a time period when we can then replace that pipe.

00:11:34,100	S2:
Yeah.

00:11:34,367	S3:
No kidding. This stuff happens, and it's age infrastructure. We we plan to replace it in certain points in time, and sometimes stuff deteriorates a little faster than we had originally anticipated.

00:11:46,100	S2:
Another item, the police Chief Zeigler, came up and just wanted to remind folks about parking their campers and trailers. And we're approaching.

00:11:55,067	S3:
It's that.

00:11:55,400	S2:
Time. Is that time? Yeah.

00:11:57,167	S3:
Post September 15th, it's time to get your campers and boats and trailers off of the streets. We do that because we're not sure when our next. I don't even want to say the word snowfall, but I'll just did it, um, occurs and we have to be out moving snow and things like that. And getting those, those items off the street is always it. It needs to be done this time of year.

00:12:17,100	S2:
Well, really fun item. The Art alley projects. We have some stuff to look at, some really great art. And, uh, just give us an update on what's taking place with that project.

00:12:27,367	S3:
Yeah. If you are in the neighborhood of, um, we'll just say Vicky's Bar and, um, star in that area. We've seen, I think, three or 4 or 5 mural murals go up. I took these pictures Tuesday. Right before noon, Richard Sloman was out there painting. I said, hey, you want to smile for the camera? Yeah. I said, this will be on city commission tomorrow night or tonight. He said, awesome. Here's my name and license. Just awesome artwork. And thank you to all those folks that have put a lot of time, energy and their creativeness into these projects. We we can see an increase kind of in foot traffic going down here and checking things out. And it's just a it's a really nice addition for folks to look at. Um, please be mindful if you see someone like we saw Richard earlier on a on a lift painting. Try your best not to drive through the alley when they're doing that, because they would appreciate that. But like I said, we look forward to these being completed. And then I think we've got, I think 15 in total going up. And I'll do it.

00:13:30,868	S2:
Five done. Now about a third of it.

00:13:33,100	S3:
Yep.

00:13:33,367	S2:
So and then that last photo. You pointed the salt last night, and I'm glad you did, because I took a closer look. But you mentioned the braid. Yes. And then if you look closely, just the number of things that represent Mandan in the area.

00:13:47,000	S3:
A lot of stuff going on in that braid. And I remember I walked over to pick up some lunch one day when Emily was just started this and going, oh, this is pretty cool. This is pretty cool. And then I went back after it was done and said, how do you do that? I just and I even I was questioning, well, don't you sign it? Where is your name? And then I found out where her name was. And you have to really look and see. But it's so intricately woven into this artwork. It's like you would look at it. You would never know. But once you see it, you'll know it. And so it's like within that braid, there are so many things going on from blockhouses to there's a cowboy on a horse, there's bison, there are the Fort Lincoln blockhouse, there's the railroad bridge and.

00:14:36,467	S2:
Crying.

00:14:36,868	S3:
Hill. There's. Yep, Crying Hill and a Native American and things like that. So if you stop by, just don't look and go, oh, that, that's a braid. There's a lot of things that are going on in there. And it is like, in my opinion, I'm not an artist. Like I said last night, I have trouble drawing a stick person. Um, but there's so many things going on here, and I admire those folks in the talent that they're bringing to downtown, man. And it's pretty special.

00:14:58,767	S2:
Uh, we're in the same boat with talent for art, but we can sure appreciate what they're doing and fascinated by, uh, how that will turn out eventually, because it's off to an amazing start. Yeah, there was a public hearing on the 2026 budget last night, but didn't hear from anybody last night. I think, uh, uh, Greg said he had a comment shortly before the meeting started. By once we.

00:15:22,367	S3:
Had a citizen, uh, shoot in a couple of questions at, I think 334, we got the email and, um, and didn't have time to put to put together a prepared response back to them, but we will respond to that individual with answers to their questions. Do not have any one else from the public come up and make comments on the budget last night, so we will have the second and final consideration on the first meeting in October on the budget. And we like I said, we have not received questions and comments on that. If you do have them, please feel free to reach out and we'll do our best to answer them.

00:15:57,000	S2:
Something we've talked quite a bit about through the months. In 2025, The Shores at Lakewood Phase two project have a photo we can share there, but tell us what's going on now.

00:16:09,901	S3:
Yeah, um, a substantial development which would be south of, um, Prairie West Golf Course, just north of the wastewater treatment plant in the area to the, to the west. Um, the first phase was Shaw's one, where Dutton Drive and we see a number of homes going up in that area already. This is phase two where we've got the underground, the water, sewer, storm sewer was agreed to be put in via three way agreement. We accepted bids on on that work last night and also plans to move forward with the above ground work, which includes your streetlights, your paving, your gutters and things like that. So that project will now move forward into its next phases. How much work they can get done yet this fall is still they can do a lot of underground work, still doubt that there will be any pavement that will go down. Um, I think developer asked that if they get the underground work, could they come in and start building homes? We've got a series of specifications that have to be met so that we're not you're not driving in a big ball of mud, right? And things like that over the wintertime because we know accidents happen. And if there happens to be a medical call or a fire call or a police call that we have to get to, we need to have a drivable service on and to do that. So, um, that moves forward, I think. All in all, there's over between maybe 300 lots that might be available for additional homes to be built on this. It's a very popular area to be.

00:17:45,167	S2:
Yeah. Right down by the heart River. Yes.

00:17:47,567	S3:
Nestled in the great view of the block houses in Port Lincoln State Park. So absolutely.

00:17:54,167	S2:
New business. Wanted to talk about five special assessment districts that were seeking approval last night. Just have you run through that?

00:18:02,567	S3:
Yeah. It's the kind of the end, the culmination of a of a whole series of events over several years. It usually happened where you've got a project that's envisioned, um, you create a special assessment district. You if that assessment district moves forward, you bid the work, you complete final plan and design. You bid the workout, you construct. And here we are, where the benefits or the cost of that project are then spread to those benefiting properties. This is the end of that project and that process. So for these five projects, Special Assessment Commission had met in August and September to take public input on how the method and means and method of divvying up these costs and benefits work. Um, and Jared said last night there was minimal questions or published in the Mandan News on what those assessments will be, and from the city commission approving them last night will move on in those in the affected areas. We'll see those assessments on your property tax bill coming out in the end of November, first part of December.

00:19:09,667	S2:
Also a class A liquor license. You're considering a transfer from Lonesome Dove to Missouri Riverboat Incorporated?

00:19:18,767	S3:
Yep. Um, this is about ten years ago. Um, city Commission changed the way liquor license bars are the numbers that go out. We looked at several different communities and it used to be based on population. You could have X number of class A licenses based on your census. Well, that those numbers come out every ten years. I felt it would be much more viable to say you can come in and buy new licenses if you want to, or we wanted to protect those current holders of class A licenses so that they retain some value. The amount that was agreed to, I think was $60,000. Way back ten years ago, um, Lonesome Dove had not transferred their license in the past. So this was their freebie, their one time transfer. After that, the new owner. There's really no value to that liquor license. They can't sell it on the open market or do anything else with it. Um, Missouri River landing is in essence a charitable organization, I believe, or as part of a group of entities that is buying the Lonesome Dove. We do have when there's a change of ownership on property, then they need to do some things to bring it up to codes. And so the motion last night was to approve the transfer of that license and contingent upon meeting all health, safety, fire, building codes and things like that. So they will need to do some work on the fire suppression side. And now that that ownership will change, effective October 1st, I believe, um, Commission, I think will make some accommodations to say, all right, you maybe have three months or 60 days in order to get your fire suppression system in, will allow you to remain open, provided we receive signed contracts and said you are committed to moving forward.

00:21:03,167	S2:
And we've heard some questions from the commissioners and then heard from the fire chief bits, that conversations have been ongoing, just haven't been able to write things up quite yet.

00:21:14,400	S3:
And with, um, that transfer of ownership having October 1st, it's a matter of, okay, we get an application two weeks ago to be put on the agenda, and there hasn't been a whole lot of time for the applicant to, you know, line up all that work to be done yet.

00:21:28,467	S2:
So also had, uh, selected several engineering firms for projects last night.

00:21:34,868	S3:
Kind of has been the the Jared our city engineer show. He got.

00:21:38,000	S2:
Last few we got some airtime.

00:21:39,267	S3:
A lot of airtime for Eric. But again this is a result of a lot of planning meetings and sessions that the commission started last January. And what is our, you know, what is our strategic and our capital improvement plan look like over the next 5 or 10 years? Um, in order to move those things forward, there's some street maintenance projects and street reconstruction projects and work on our master lift station, which handles all of our wastewater that comes in from the residents and businesses and gets moved out to the treatment facility, selecting those engineering firms. So you do a request for qualifications. We had an internal team score and rank those those applicants and I made recommendations up to the commission meeting last night. So those projects again, the first step in moving in or not the first step, but one of the early steps in moving these projects forward.

00:22:32,300	S2:
Well, the pieces always seem to just fall in place magically, but how far ahead are you working?

00:22:39,300	S3:
These projects are probably and we we and we will bring back. Now that the Commission has agreed to select these firms, we will start our contract negotiations with those firms, bring those contracts back to the City commission, hopefully the first week in October, approve those. And then the that gives those engineering firms time yet this fall to okay, let's get some of our surveying work done. And then depending on how and the extent of those projects could be okay, we get to 30% design, we get some cost estimates, we do a lot of public where we will be doing a lot of public engagement on some of the assessment projects that we have. Prior to us getting there, so that we get some of that feedback and then create your assessment district. There's a protest period. If it moves forward, you then get from 30% to 100% on design. You bid and then you start construction. And sometimes that might be a year from now. It could be. We hope to have some projects moving the spring of 2026.

00:23:44,667	S2:
Well, you're always looking down the road. You're a two, five, ten. These are these things.

00:23:51,100	S3:
These are a little more complicated than I need to replace this panel of concrete on my sidewalk. Call the contractor. They come, they do what they're done. There's a heck of a lot of work that needs to to be done to go into these projects. And some of the more complicated. We have ones coming up in the in some of the older parts of Mandan where, you know, there's curb, there's water lines, there's the storm sewers are either non-existent or they need complete reuse. So these are not cheap and they are very complicated, so it takes a little while to get that point.

00:24:23,000	S2:
I thought we should mention we're right in the middle of free fall landfills week two, so there's still some time. If you're a Mandan City resident.

00:24:31,367	S3:
Bring your identification out to the landfill. We do not pick items up on the curb. I know I've seen some folks put it out on the curb, and normally there's a free sign on it, so there's still some of that going on. But, um, again, it is free through September 20th and encourage folks to, when they're doing the cleanup of their, their homes and their yards and things like that. We still have the, um, the grass bins are still out for if you're doing yard cleanup and garden cleanup about now, I think people are probably tired of tomatoes and cucumbers that you've been giving to your neighbors. Or if you've got the garden, you're the one giving or you're receiving.

00:25:06,767	S2:
I think it's the zucchini. I always say like.

00:25:09,567	S3:
It's zucchini time.

00:25:10,567	S2:
What? What? That we love. And I'm not against zucchini. Do we go and leave on our neighbor's porch and then run away? You mean so it's. It's good. It's just not. We don't give away, you know, cookies and leave those on neighbors doorbells.

00:25:23,067	S3:
Carry on. I can't remember what the term is for it when you run away and all that good stuff, but, yeah, I think the cucumber season is now over with and. Yeah, and we're moving into the zucchini and pumpkins and squash and things like that.

00:25:36,267	S2:
Well, it was a busy night. Mandan City Commission if you want to watch on demand, you can go to our website, Dakota access.org. Or you can download our Dakota media access app and find all of the government meetings and community access television events. We also have a fantastic app for DJ and podcast local producers. That's the Radio Access 102.5 app, so make sure you download those to stay up to date on what's going on in Bismarck Mandan. Jim, thanks for joining us.

00:26:10,667	S3:
Thanks for having us. As always. We appreciate.

00:26:12,501	S2:
The time. See you again next time on City Current.

00:26:15,667	S1:
For more information on what was discussed in this episode of City Current, visit City of Mandan. Com or call 701 6673215. If you have any suggestions, comments or issues you would like to address 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.