00:00:02,667	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.

00:00:24,801	S2:
Coming up on this edition of City Current, we'll recap the Mandan City Commission meeting and look at an update from Memorial Highway. Get some interesting insight on a flood protection project and some updates looking to happen there, and remind everybody about parking along city streets in Mandan this winter is on the way. Good morning everyone. I'm Tom Gerhardt, executive director here at Dakota Access, along with Jim Neubauer, Mandan city administrator. Good to see you, Jim.

00:00:54,467	S3:
Good morning. Tom, it's been a couple of weeks.

00:00:55,868	S2:
It's been a couple of weeks. He had some pinch hitters last edition.

00:01:00,100	S3:
I think Barb and Shauna came over from the Morton Manor Public Library, and I did watch that episode. They did a fantastic job, as always, talking about all of the exciting things going on at the MPL.

00:01:09,868	S2:
So yeah, that that Grant can't wait to see that come to fruition. And that's going to be a great addition for me.

00:01:15,000	S3:
They're a good crew and do good things.

00:01:17,000	S2:
Well, we wouldn't know it as we're talking here today, but I guess it's bound to happen every year. About this time, talking about the possibility of snow. And at the meeting, um, there's some talk about some trial runs that will be taking place. So I guess the word is if you see some heavy equipment out.

00:01:35,300	S3:
That is the word. We've got concerns. We've got some new operators on board, and we like to send out an experienced operator with a new operator to kind of show them the route. Um, it's not as simple as folks. The old saying it's complicated. There are a lot of nuances to moving snow versus getting off the street, getting up on the curb and getting into your driveway, or minimizing the amount of snow that gets dropped in someone's driveway. There's there's things that new operators may not know that old operators, not old, but experienced operators can teach them. So if you see some of our plows and some of our trucks out, I think it's November next week, November 12th through the 16th. Just know that we're all out making trial runs and we're doing and that is for training for our folks. And again, several new operators. Get them behind the wheel and show them the ropes. And like I said, makes things go a lot easier. So if you see them, we're not out there just wasting money and wasting fuel. There is a method to the madness.

00:02:33,701	S2:
Yeah, I can't imagine what folks would think if they didn't know ahead of time. But anyway, uh, they make it look easy. That's. And ultimately a huge help to all of us, obviously, as snow begins to fall. A big shout out to to Brad Glass, operator of the year.

00:02:50,067	S3:
Brad is our utility maintenance superintendent. Superintendent won a North Dakota award for the operator of the year given away a few weeks ago and at their Fargo conference. So congratulations, Brad. Brad's been here for a number of years, I believe, and does a does a really good job. And when you have water main breaks and sewer line breaks and things like that, Brad is the guy and Brad makes no bones about it. He's he is not quiet in any shape or form, but he does not like the camera. Therefore he was not at the.

00:03:21,067	S2:
I didn't see him last night, I was waiting.

00:03:23,067	S3:
Yeah, that's just not Brad. But I think we're going to get a picture of Mayor Freilich and Brad and get that posted on our social media pages and recognize Brad for those good things that he's done for us and everyone and the whole department. Um, like I said, Brad would be the first one to tell you he doesn't do it alone. He has a great crew of the utility, maintenance and also our street crews and our grounds maintenance crew. They're all there to help. Um, and that goes for every department, because when a water line breaks, it kind of like all hands on deck. Yes.

00:03:54,200	S2:
Yeah. It was a fun moment at the meeting when the mayor asked if Brad was aware of this photo often. The answer is he is now.

00:04:03,300	S3:
And Brad knew there would be a photo op. And that's why Brad just he had something come up, I'm sure. So we will we will get him and.

00:04:11,501	S2:
Keep an eye out for that photo. We're going to get absolutely on city crew in one way or another.

00:04:15,567	S3:
Two weeks from now we'll talk about and here's Brad. Here's Brad.

00:04:18,367	S2:
That's right. Anybody can meet him. Well, let's talk about the Memorial Highway progress out there date last night. And I have a screenshot of some drone footage that's been taken that I think will provide somewhat of an overview, of course, with the buildings and everything. A lot going on there. But give us an update where things stand.

00:04:38,100	S3:
Yeah, we mentioned unfortunately we mentioned that's word, the snow word coming up. And I think the main thing we want folks to know is from a business standpoint, we still want to encourage people to it's a little more inconvenient right now because I think the intersection of 46 is under heavy construction, the intersection of of 40th and 32nd. And those things are there's a lot of stuff going on right now, but businesses out there are still open. It might take a little while to get there, but please patronize those folks because that's what we need to do to be supportive of those of those places. But there is, like I said, that's snow coming up. We know it's going to be here. We need to start with the North Dakota Department of Transportation. They have the winter ization plan in progress right now. So what you will see in the wintertime, the wavy bacon roads will be gone. You won't be you know, a lot of people like to drive the roller coaster. It's not real convenient. In the winter time, um, the traffic will be moved over on the south side. We should see concrete going from 40th to 32nd by midway lanes. In the next few weeks, there will be kind of two driving lanes of concrete, and one they're going to extend the concrete to the North to make like a seven foot asphalt lane. So there'll be three lanes, three lanes going through that during the winter. They will make those connections to driveways, to the businesses on the north side. The south side will be fully functional with driveways going into the businesses where the approaches are there. But again.

00:06:11,100	S2:
The wavy vacant road will be essentially closed then.

00:06:14,000	S3:
Wavy bacon. Yep. They have actually started working on the north side for getting utilities installed, water, sewer and things like that. We did have a question come up the other day. That was, why are we replacing some of the utilities under the roadway? And that's because the roadway is dropping by two feet from the old elevation, and when you drop it by two feet, then your underground utilities need to go further down, which again provides that layer of protection so that your water lines aren't freezing and your sewer lines aren't freezing and things like that. So as we said earlier, road projects, they are complicated. This one is very complicated. Um, you know, rain in the summertime didn't do us any favors on that project, but they're doing everything they can to make sure that there are those approaches to businesses are well documented, well identified, and during the wintertime that it will be passable.

00:07:04,868	S2:
So MnDOT on the slide, it says we'll have a social media, uh, winter ization plan to announce that. We've heard we've been hearing this. It's not a surprise. But that November 23rd date, give or take a couple of days, is is the target date for the construction company to shut operations down?

00:07:25,868	S3:
Yep. The general contractor, I, I'm guessing there will be some work that goes on after that 23rd date, but that is kind of substantial completion date. We understand that the north side of that roadway will not be concrete at this point in time. But again, that's the winter ization shutdown plan. And they are working on that communication plan as we speak.

00:07:45,367	S2:
All right. Well a couple more weeks and things will be for the most part wrapped up until next year, 2026.

00:07:52,167	S3:
They'll continue to work as long as weather allows. Um, the key there and then what? They don't get done this fall. They'll be back in the spring right away.

00:07:59,467	S2:
Yeah. We've been lucky, I guess, while the rain has been hasn't been great for that. But as far as snow and things, uh, it's gone pretty well. How about Collins Avenue reservoir? We had an update there, and that.

00:08:09,567	S3:
Is a good project. Um, that project, I think we are starting to fill that reservoir up. Um, test for leaks, um, things like that. And then they'll fill it almost probably to the top. Test for leaks, drain that, um, chlorinated. Um, make sure everything's cleaned up. The control panels are all working, and that should go into service, I think by the end of November, if not sooner. So that's good. Folks are still probably wondering on that intersection of Division and Collins Avenue that will be next spring work, where we will kind of pull that retaining wall back to create some better sight visual visualization sight distances for those people, um, turning in and out of that intersection. So good project has gone fairly smooth to date. Knock on, knock on what? Um, next spring, uh, during this winter time will be working. I think a question came up last night about will there be some artwork on that reservoir? We are working through that right now. We would love to have some artwork on there, so stay tuned.

00:09:07,367	S2:
Fargo had done something similar. Stay tuned.

00:09:09,601	S3:
A lot of water reservoirs. You will see whether the aboveground tanks or the surface level tanks like this is have artwork, public artwork on there, and we hope to have something on that.

00:09:20,267	S2:
And since we last spoke, you had the ribbon cutting at the Mandan Art alley?

00:09:24,200	S3:
Yeah. Mandan Art alley that went over. Yeah. Really fun to go through there and see all kinds of different, um, artists, I think 15 or 17 different artists, um, um, putting their talent up on the walls and things like that. So if you haven't been there yet, take a walk through that alley. We encourage you to walk, um, alleyways or sometimes, um, you know, walk through that alley.

00:09:47,567	S2:
A little.

00:09:47,801	S3:
Narrow. Spend some time. Look around. It's a really cool project that we had the ribbon cutting two weeks ago. Now.

00:09:54,467	S2:
A couple of projects, just the 2025 street reconstruction, and then a quick note on the 2020 sixth Street rehab. Just kind of some finishing touches on the year as we get into the winter months.

00:10:05,267	S3:
Right. Moving up into the what we call the Monte Drive water line replacement up in the Lewis and Clark School area, kind of the north central north part of town, that is, they are right now doing a lot of cleaning up, putting a base lift of asphalt down on the trenches that were dug. And we'll get that done. They'll come back in the spring and kind of finish that work up, but that all the water line work has been completed right now. Streetlights are still not reconnected. Those will be reconnected here in the next few weeks, and they're still doing some of the concrete curb and sidewalk repair where they had to bust through those. So again, probably 90% complete and working on that 10% over the next few weeks.

00:10:45,467	S2:
And In 2026. You're looking at that northwest part of town. Um, up by Red trail.

00:10:52,200	S3:
Up in the Red Trail elementary school area. Um, we did have a kind of an open house public input meeting last week. Um, we'd like to have those public meetings in that area. We are well in advance of that project, even starting and getting to where we have a special assessment district created, we we've kind of revamped our public input based on lessons learned over the past few years. So this was a chance for residents to come in and tell us what they think needs to be done. Here's what we think needs to be done. What do they think needs to be done so we can incorporate some of those ideas into the plans as we move forward. So very good turnout. Um, we don't have a cost projection that's nailed down to what those assessments will be yet, because we we need to wait until we gather some of that feedback and that input from the residents. So I think that was a very good step that was taken kind of like a preemptive move to say, we're going to be coming into your area next year. What would you like to see? And we know there's a lot of street work that needs to be done.

00:11:54,467	S2:
Well, we've been winter. The theme continues. Just wanted to update people. We talked about this a while back, but, uh, Chief Zeigler talked about it again last night. Just be aware of of, you know, anything parked right on a Mandan city street that it could ultimately be towed.

00:12:11,467	S3:
Yep. That is the the warning. Because as we even when we are out practicing for snowplow and doing some training and things like that, it's a matter of, um, keep your campers, your trailers and things like that off the streets as much as you can right now so that, um, our operators can move through those neighborhoods in the most efficient manner. If they're right now, we could simply go and and ticket folks, there's no 40 hour warning. We understand that there are some contractors that might be building a house that have a construction trailer that's parked there, but we've been asking them to move them off the street in the evenings, or if there's a snow event that comes up, we'd like those off the off the roadway too. So again, um, campers, boats, trailers, things like that. You know, if you're cleaning them up, clean them up, get them off the streets and go from there.

00:12:58,467	S2:
And I think the chief said, ultimately, you can always call the police department, let them know if there's some unusual circumstance. But, uh, yeah, it's not just snow removal, right? I think.

00:13:08,667	S3:
Not just snowmobiles.

00:13:09,601	S2:
Came up and talked about, you know, EMTs, fire crews. Everybody needs room to pass.

00:13:14,467	S3:
We know that the there are times in the wintertime when if we get large amounts of snow, those roadways become a little narrower. Um, and again, the passage of, um, whether it's a fire truck or a snowplow or, you know, right now we'll probably be out doing some street sweeping and things like that. Those vehicles need they're a little wider than your normal Subaru, right? So again, it's making sure that those vehicles are off the street.

00:13:39,367	S2:
A little more fun news. Uh, transition to trunk or treat, I think. Yes. Chief Zeigler mentioned it's the seventh, was the seventh annual. Got some great photos from that. Apparently the Grinch was in the area. We did not have a Grinch.

00:13:50,667	S3:
But yeah, rumor has it the Grinch made an appearance here and like, it's a great event. Really good turnout weather quasi cooperated with us a little bit, but a great event for kids to come down in a safe environment. And, you know, our public works team is down there. A lot of our city hall folks were down there, um, police department helping hand out candy and goodies and treats and like I said, get in the spirit and likes. It's seventh annual. Um, chief Zeigler, through a lot of shout outs to all those folks that helped promote this and also participate and also provide funding, I think we had the was the Eagles. Eagles, who provided $1,500 worth of money to go buy candy. And that was done. And that was gone within probably the.

00:14:32,767	S2:
First.

00:14:33,400	S3:
Hour. 6:00 I think we started at 4:00 and all of a sudden we're going, we're out. And thankfully, you know, Morton Mandan Public Library had Morty the bookmobile there. We had Lewis and Clark development group there. Several of the groups Metro Ambulance was there providing candy and things like that, interacting with kids. And that's one of the big things that we're trying to do. And this is a great opportunity to interact with young ones so that it's not. If a cop shows up to your house, it's not as scary if the snowplow driver, you know, give them a wave when they're moving by. The librarians are great. And like I said, it's a good event for kids to come down it. A lot of adults were dressed up too, which was almost scarier than some of the kids. So again, really a good event and a big shout out to all those folks who helped with that on it. It's these events just don't happen. There are some sponsors. There's the the employees that help put it on and things like that. And I believe Morton County had the haunted courthouse going on at the same time. So I know when we were done with Trunk or Treat, I was walking back to work and going, what is that line over there? And then I realized, okay, it's it scares the bejesus out of everybody in the courthouse. So there's that fine line, right? We want to we want to bring young ones down so they can interact with police and fire and ambulance and librarians and be nice. And then you go over to the next building and where they're going to scare the bejesus. So, um, if you you could have gotten all ends of that on Halloween.

00:16:02,467	S2:
Right in one area.

00:16:03,467	S3:
Yes.

00:16:04,467	S2:
Uh, new business last night. Pretty interesting from my perspective. Uh, good history and really geography lesson. Talking about Mandan flood protection and the lower Hart River flood risk reduction project. Some updates to go over there. Um, but I learned that this all started back in the 1940s. And, you know, it's pretty crazy when we pop this map up the the extensive, uh, Hart River Valley area.

00:16:31,467	S3:
Yes. The the, um, what do we call it? The the drainage area for this all the way from the. There are two reservoirs in Dickinson. The Dickinson dam. Patterson Lake. You've got Heart Butte or Lake China, as they're known as in this drains all through the heart River comes through the center of Mandan. If you think about when you talk about all the construction that was going on in the late 40s and mid 50s, we've got the lower heart levee system. We've got a new Mandan high school being built. We've got the refinery building being built, all kinds of. The Garrison Dam was probably being built in the 40s and 50s. So a lot of construction activity in this area. This flood control project is, is one that has been, um, I'll just say, being worked on for the better part of a decade and longer than that as the in in my world, the the the buildup of sand and sediment in the Missouri River, um, increases the chances for ice jams and things. And we've seen those over the last decade or so. More of those are more frequent that water backs up and therefore it affects the levee system and how that levee system is functioning. So we know we need to make some repairs and those will be done. I think the project timeline would be to bid those out in the spring of 2026.

00:17:57,667	S3:
Start some construction, more than likely the fall of 2027, the majority of that work done in 2028. So again, big project and obviously probably won't have that much of an effect on the traveling public. We hope there will be some adjustments on the Mandan Municipal Golf Course on hole for that runs north and south. So like I said, they're making some arrangements there that had the hole maybe have to be taken out of service for a summer. And but they've already made plans. I think they've got a temporary or they've got another group built another hole already going up right now. Um, so again, big project. Um, last night the the cost of the of the project have changed. So we needed to adopt some of those resolutions to kind of restart that assessment district. And that assessment district will include the entire city of Mandan. Because of the there's a big swath of property that would go unprotected through the central part of Maine and even City Hall down through the Memorial Highway on the strip area in Lakewood.

00:19:04,567	S2:
I think this does this kind of show that two tiered, the area that you're referencing there? Yeah.

00:19:10,167	S3:
Big swath and that inundated area. If you're watching us, that is shown in yellow on the screen. Those properties in there would be required to buy flood insurance. And which means that every single year they're having to buy flood insurance if you are buying or selling property, as I understand it, and you're taking a mortgage out on that property. There's going to be a requirement for flood insurance if you're just privately Buying and paying cash that need may not be there. But again, if those properties. If we get into a situation where they have to buy flood insurance, the valuation of those properties will probably go down, which will affect everyone in the city as far as what the value of the property is and what your property taxes are and things like that.

00:19:53,501	S2:
So this is a lot of numbers, but like, right, I guess it just kind of gives folks an idea of.

00:20:00,167	S3:
Yeah, costs. If we're looking at the project as is proposed right now in, you know, we've got a $13.5 million FEMA grant, we've got other North Dakota State, um, Department of Water Resources grant to help pay for this through our legislative activity and things like that. We're really looking at, um, if you are in an inundated area, which means you're in that yellow, you might have to buy flood insurance, you're looking at $153 over a 15 year period. Um, if you're in a non inundated area, it would be $36. Um, over a 15 year period. So again, the costs are fairly minimal because we know that if you're having to buy flood insurance, you're going to be paying well in excess of that every single year. So again, big project we would expect again, construction to hopefully start the fall of 2026 and most of it in 2027, 2028.

00:20:58,367	S2:
Yeah. So a couple of resolutions, ordinances that were talked about toward the end of the meeting. And that was the second and final consideration for ordinance 1479. And that goes back to the parking right of vehicles and trailers.

00:21:12,367	S3:
Yep. Again, it's a it's a fine system where we can ticket those vehicles right away. We don't have to give you 48 hour notice. Um, we can. And it's also part of that dealt with, um, vehicle registration. And that has to be displayed. And you have to have the current registration on those vehicles.

00:21:29,000	S2:
And then the second was the resolution establishing rates for water and sewer utility.

00:21:34,567	S3:
Not fun. Yep. As part of our budgeting process. Rates will be adjusted with the first bill that you receive in 2026. So those rates are moving up a little bit. We know that we've got several big projects from a potential wastewater treatment plant coming on board, and we're starting to make some of those incremental adjustments. So we don't hit all those in one year and our costs go up for. We've already done the contracts for the waste management on the recycling side and the also the regular household garbage. Um, on that side too. So this was again just adjusting the water and sewer rates.

00:22:10,601	S2:
I know you already mentioned it, but the meeting ended last night with Mayor Freilich just making a pitch again to support local businesses, especially along Memorial Highway.

00:22:18,767	S3:
And we know that comes up. Um, after Thanksgiving, their support, their shop, Small Business Saturday and things like that. There will be some efforts going on there. And again, we just want to point and encourage folks that guess it. Right now, there's a lot of activity out on Memorial Highway. It's good to see because they're trying to get things done and that's positive on the other side. We want to encourage folks to continue to patronize those businesses on the strip. They might be a little more challenging to get to. We know there are some businesses that on the intersection of, I think 32nd, there were that intersection is closed right now. So to get back there, you'll have to go back by the McDonald's area and back on Long Spur and get to those businesses there. But we again encourage you to, um, to frequent them continue. They need to be patronized as much as possible, especially during this, this time period.

00:23:10,667	S2:
Well, thanks Jim, for all the knowledge you dropped. Again, I just want to remind everybody you can take us with you wherever you go by downloading our DMA app or our radio access 102.5 app, where you can listen to all sorts of local music, podcasts and producers. For Jim Neubauer, I'm Tom Burkhart. See you next time on City Car.

00:23:34,767	S1:
For more information on what was discussed in this episode of City Current, visit City of Mandan. Com or call (701) 667-3215.

00:23:45,000	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 and 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.