00:00:18,930	Right, OK. Show we pray Hely Father, we come together this afternoon to Transact the business of Burley County. Rather than coming before you with our plans and asking for your blessings, we We also come with a humble heart. Coming before you and ask for your guidance and direction. We are grateful for our community.

00:00:54,030	We are grateful for the many blessings as we consider our surroundings. As we think of those who contribute to the welfare and the betterment of our county. Those that are seen and unseen who contribute to the welfare Coy, we pray for our law enforcement.

00:01:18,270	Personnel We pray for our first responders and their spouses and children. And to the many numerous individuals that work in our health care systems and hospitals, clinics and, Other responsibilities we pray for them. We think of the unseen work.

00:01:43,800	That is provided by those who Come to work each and every day to provide safe streets and highways and flight operations and transportation that blessed so many of our people. I pray for those who are in our community who are in need of shelter and Employment and health. This afternoon I pray for knowledge to be seen and wisdom to be revealed for our commission members and Chair.

00:02:03,700	But you guide them and lead them in the decisions that are made and may there be unity and profitability in all these proceedings. As the needs and demands of Bur counting are considered. We us, we ask all these in the name of your dear son. Jesus Christ. Amen.

00:02:31,930	I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic, which it stands, one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, chap. Thank you, sir. You know, call the June 16th, 2025 meeting of the Burley County Park Board to order. First item on the agenda is roll call members. Comm Bam. Comm Herman. Here. Comm Woodcock. Comm Munsen, Comm Bakke. Comm Schwab.

00:03:03,400	Here. Chair Bittner. Here. Next item is the approval of the agenda, um. We got meeting minutes and then Comm Munsen for the boat ramp. Anybody you need to add anything or anything. I’d ask for a motion to a privilege. Move to approve. Second, motion second to approve the agenda. Any further discussion? Caro. Comm Woodcocks.

00:03:27,500	Yes, Comm Munsen, Comm Bakken, Comm Schwab. Yes. Comm Herman. Yes. Kircher? Yes. Cha Bitner? Yes, Motion carries. Consideration of the May 19th, 2025 meeting minutes. Move to approve. Second. Motion to approve. Comm Woodcock.

00:03:48,970	I’ve got, I don’t, I think it’s a change of some kind on the May 19th minutes, about halfway down it says, this is Mark Parks and Rector Dave Meyer discussed the dredging quotes received earlier this spring. One quote for dredging for was for Kimble Bottoms at $6 except, I think we should accept that bid right away, and, uh, another one for Nyquil at 9. 750. So I don’t know, maybe that’s what, 6,000 6000. And they’re only missing. Missingze.

00:04:11,500	Missing the 02 or three zeros, OK. Yeah. Well, we still take that 6, $6. So I would just that minor change that’s all I got. I would think of motion to approve with that change, uh, with that correction would be with the correction. Second. Motion in a second to approve any further discussion. cold.

00:04:31,000	Comm Munsen. Comm Bakke. Comm Schwab. Yes. Fisher Hermann? Yes. Kushner Bae? Yes. Comm Woodcox? Yes. Chair Binner, yes, motion carries. Comm Munsen steel boat ramp ADA upgrade request. All right. Thank you, chair.

00:04:58,270	Uh, last week we opened up bids for both the, uh, improvement for the vault toilet to replace the vault toilet and for the uh Sidewalks and Rey mix work, uh, that we were requesting, uh, at the boat ramp. Uh, first item is the um, Concrete work we are requesting to reject, uh, that bid. It came in 3 times higher than engineer’s estimates. Uh, for about 200 and some feet of sidewalk and two parking, handicap parking stalls.

00:05:24,930	So, we would request to reject that bid and go back out for bidding, um, This go around. These were the only folks that bid it. Uh, the day of bid, we received 3 calls from other contractors that missed the dates, so we rejected them, obviously, uh, but this came in extremely high and so we’re requesting to

00:05:46,470	reject. My motion would be to reject the concrete bid and put it back out for rebid. Second. Motion the second too. Motion second to reject the bid, uh, any further discussion. Chair Comm Bakken. For the bid rejection, do you need the reasoning for that is part of the motion.

00:06:09,770	I don’t know if I can if we need to um just for clarification Clarification, the rejection of the bid is based on Beyond Be the engineer’s estimate for the cost of the project. Second that OK, any further discussion? Paul Comm Schwab. Yes. Comm Herman. Yes. Comm Bain. Yes. Comm Woodcoxck. Yes. Comm Munsen. Yes. Comm Bakken, Chair Bitner. Yes Motion carries.

00:06:40,230	Second item, um, I would move for approval, uh, for the vault toilet replacement from boom concrete for $15,00064. Their bid was obviously half of the other bid, but they’re also. The reason I’m requesting this to be done kind of out of order.

00:07:05,270	Uh, it’s not the full project, but these folks are coming through North Dakota doing other projects at the same time, which is why we got the price that we did. There no travel is involved in this job. Is the Sure, um, they, uh, Any rationale, sometimes I’m a little curious if it’s over half of, of it, so. They’re just their timing lined up their timing lined up.

00:07:31,500	They’re coming out of. Believe Kansas, don’t quote me on that, but there are several states away and they have a route. Uh, coming this direction for other projects including North of us and so this fit perfectly in their schedule.

00:07:49,600	OK, any concerns on any warranty work or anything like that? No, we’ve, we’ve, we use, when I was on the park board, we used these folks often. Moved to prove that. Most of the second to approve. Boom, concrete for the vault toilet and any further discussion. Col. Uh, Kusher Hermann. Yes. Tricia Woodox. Yes. Comm Munsen. Yes. Comm Bakke? Yes. Comm Schwab. Chris Sherman Bitner. Yes. Motion carries.

00:08:15,900	Any other, um, items for the B Burley County Park Board. That’s all I have. Thank you. That I’ll Adjourn the Burleigh County Park Board. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you. Now conven Uh, June 16, 2025 meeting of the Burleigh County Commission called to order. The first item is roll call of members. Comm Bakken. Here. Comm Schwab.

00:08:48,370	Comm Woodcock, Comm Munsen, Chair Bittner here. Nice to see nobody disappeared in. In Next is approval of the agenda. Um, Thing that I was gonna add is that, uh, Coy engineer Hall give us a little bit of an update on 80th Street in his, uh, 80th Street upgrade, uh, turn lanes just briefly under 7A.

00:09:18,730	Um There No decisions necessary there, and then under the consent agenda or other business, I’m sorry, under other business. Um, Comm Woodcoxox has asked for a an item of USA, United States of America, 250th anniversary July 4th.

00:09:50,800	I, um, so we’ll add that to other business and then we have a Charles White from Arum Capital Ventures concerning Informational presentation on Missouri Valley Co complex, so I’d like to add those. Anybody else want any additions or deletions. Mr. Cher I object to the Missouri Valley Com complex since we don’t have any information upfront. I agree.

00:10:15,400	Um We at the last meeting we said that it would be fine to leave it on the agenda if we had the information upfront. We don’t have any information. OK. I won’t argue that. Um The auditor did ask me if it should be on this one or the next meeting, there was no mention of any information for the packet. So, Figured it was just a discussion only. There’s no decisions to be made on it.

00:10:37,730	If you want to have information, if there’s information to provide. Do you have any actual information. I have not received any information. OK, so we don’t have any information. I love to have something if you don’t have information. Well, maybe, maybe the, The opening discussion is The other agenda items, so I would be in favor of listening.

00:11:01,830	Um, And If we’re going to have, I, I, without having a discussion on it tonight, um, just from a factfinding perspective, I would like to, cause we’ve pushed this off, I would like to see what they have to say. We could always add add it to the agenda for the next meeting for um.

00:11:24,200	Actual information, but since I don’t know where the person is from. Um, I’m not opposed to hearing what What he might have to say, but like I said when I communicated with the auditor, there’s no decision to be made on that at this point.

00:11:42,970	It’s only some information and maybe he has some information to present, but again, there’s no decision. And so my preference is to leave it on there, but duly noting the objection because if we were making a decision on it, I would certainly want to see.

00:11:59,800	We wouldn’t make a decision, there was a decision to be made at this time, I absolutely, if it’s not in the packet, I Yeah, I, I totally agree with that. Um, but like I said, I don’t know where the guy’s from and it could be from the I don’t know. So, um, for future reference, um, We will want to have any supporting documentation in the packet.

00:12:33,130	Any further changes or anything to the agenda. If not, My shoes. Moved to approve. OK. Motion second to approve any further discussion. Comm Woodcox. Comm Munsen? No. Comm Bakke. Comm Schwab. Chair Bittner. Yes, motion carries. Consideration of June 2, 2025, meeting minutes and bills. Uh, Mr.

00:13:06,730	Chair, I had an opportunity to look at the bills this afternoon and I’ve read the minutes and I move that we approved them. Second Motion second to approve any further discussion. In non Christian Munsen. Yes. Comm Bakken. Yes, Comm Schwab. Yes. Commission Woodcocks. Yes. Chainner. Yes, motion carriers. Consent agenda, we have abatements, special use permits, liquor license renewals, um, any items that commissioners want to pull off for discussion.

00:13:32,970	If not, But we approved the uh consent agenda. Second motion is second to approve the consent agenda any further discussion, the rule. Comm Bakken. Yes. Comm Schwab. Yes. Comm Woodcock. Yes. Comm Munsen. Chainner. Yes, motion carries.

00:13:58,530	Next item number 6 public hearing on a resolution and plan for separating elective office of Burley County Auditor treasurer to elective office of Auditor and appointed. Office of Treasurer. Um will open a public hearing, um, and the first thing is I would ask if the state’s attorney has anything to add to the discussion at this point.

00:14:24,170	Good OK, in your packet, there is, um, the resolution and the plan for separating the offices, and this is a public hearing, um. If, if there’s anybody wishing to speak on this item, now would be the time. Um, come to the podium, um, just so you know we’re gonna have a Kind of a gentleman’s agreement here on the protocol.

00:14:43,900	We’re gonna kind of limit the time and the, and make sure we’re not getting distracted on issues, so Um, other than that, um, We Welcome anybody that wants to speak on this item. This is a public hearing on the resolution and plan for separating elective office of Burley County Auditor treasurer to elective Office of Auditor and appoint of Office of Treasurer. Does anybody wish to speak on this item? Third and final call.

00:15:16,730	Does anybody wish to speak on this public hearing. Seeing none, I will close the public hearing. Um. Mr. Chair. Yes. We have one more scheduled I believe so. So I don’t think there’s any action required on this? Is that right, State’s attorney? That’s correct. OK.

00:15:51,330	So the public hearing is now closed and any other, any other discussion. Seeing none, we will move that forward to the next regularly scheduled public hearing, and we’ll move on to item number 7, Coy engineer hall. Um, while you’re on your way up here, I did request just a brief update on the 80th Street, uh. And then we’re going to talk about Northridge estate subdivision.

00:16:12,530	Welcome workers. Yes, uh, the first item is, uh, 80th Street Project. As you know, this is the corner of Ver Street and Highway 10. It was a safety project that we basically put together for that area. Uh, we’ve noticed an increase in turning movements at that location. We did have a traffic study done.

00:16:30,630	It did require or, or I need at least, at least meet the warrants for having those turn lanes. So we, we let that project, a knife River, uh, from Minnesota got that. They came in, did a really quick job, a really nice job as far as putting everything together.

00:16:47,400	There’s still a, a few things that need to be done, uh, tomorrow they’ll be pouring the, uh, the base for the light, uh, we have illumination in that area, not a street lights, um, not turn signal lights kind of thing, but just illumination in that area. They’ll be pulling those bases. Um, they also need to pull up the shoulders yet on that up to the pavement.

00:17:05,430	Uh, you’ll see rows of dirt along the side that has to be done, Uh, in addition to that, uh, chip seal. Both the chip seal and the pulling the shoulder should be done in the next 2 weeks. Weather dependent, of course, but that’s what the timing is right now. Uh, after that, we’ll scrape that particular project.

00:17:20,870	I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have on that. Comm, any questions? Uh, Marcus, I had, I had a little comment. Well, a couple of comments.

00:17:36,900	First off, um, I, I thought that they did a, you know, I, I go through there a lot and I think that the contractor did a, did a good job on, on the project from the way it looks, and it also seems like they did it, they handled the traffic control real well, and I, I wanted to know, I appreciate that.

00:17:54,400	Um, the only concern that I had is it seems to me that there’s quite a bit of pavement breaking up on 80th Street from And in the southbound lane. The existing pavement or? Yeah. Yeah, we’ll have to take a look at that, yeah. Yeah. Someone was breaking off and falling into the, Thing and then I noticed quite a bit of OK. Yeah, we’ll take a look at that. So OK. All right. Thanks for the update.

00:18:12,070	Uh, Northridge State Subdivision. Hay Creek Township has requested the Burda County create a special assessment district for Northridge State subdivision. The work that we were planning on or that they would like us to perform in that particular subdivision is some extensive patching work out there, and then a microsurfacing application to the existing roadway.

00:18:32,430	Um, they would like the county board to move forward with the special assessment project. Now there is a proposed resolution in in the packet. Uh, the first step in the, this process is basically directs the county engineer, uh, to prepare an engineering report on the nature of the project, purpose, feasibility and estimated pro probable cause.

00:18:52,770	Now, you will notice that this is different than the process we normally follow. Normal processes that I work with the champion out in an area, uh, we develop a petition. They take that petition out, uh, get signatures of at least 60%. the people, we bring that in and then we start this process to a certain extent.

00:19:12,870	Um, we have done, it is allowed to have, uh, the governmental entity to move forward without that petition. You can move forward and do that, and hey Creek Township has requested that we do that. Now, we’ve done this twice, uh, where we’ve moved forward with the petition.

00:19:33,230	We did this exact same subdivision, a chip seal, uh, back in 2011 without doing a petition, went ahead. Uh Went through the process, had a public hearing, uh, at that time, I don’t think we had any residents opposed to that particular SAD when ahead and established it and moved forward.

00:19:54,670	Uh, we’ve also done a special assessment district and, uh, Gibbs Township, uh, that was only like two years ago, uh, where the, the township asked us to move forward with that process. Uh, so we established one there. Uh, that one also very well. That was a chip seal and some repairs on that project.

00:20:12,870	Marcus, just for, just for clarification to the public, um, before that moves forward, there will be a public hearing scheduled and, and we’ll have a chance to determine sufficiency of protest or anything like that.

00:20:34,230	So what, what’s the, uh, I guess, for the public’s benefit, what’s the threshold for the project to move forward? Well, there is no theoretical threshold that requires us to say no, yes, um, you know, from your perspective, I would think that if you had at least 40% of the residents coming in and rejecting it, then that would be something that I would say that really doesn’t meet our criteria we’ve used on all our other subdivisions, in general we’ve looked at a 6% 60% is what we’ve always tried to

00:20:52,500	maintain at least, and we have done that at least 60% on all that, but from a dollar perspective, there is no criteria. So thank you. So describe your resolution.

00:21:19,730	Yes, it’s just a proposed resolution in the packet, and this is just the first step, if you look through the whole process in, uh, Uh, the century code, this is just the first step that needs to be done. And really all it is is directing us to move forward, establishing a number uh for the SAD.

00:21:38,100	And that will be 77, I think, or somewhere in that realm, um, that we’ve done and directing me to prepare a report, so I looked in detail at the cost associated with this particular project. Is it feasible to do this particular project? Those kind of things, and then report that all back to the board. And then the board gets to make. decision if you feel this is worthy enough to move forward.

00:21:53,830	And at that point, you make the decision if it’s worthy enough to move forward, then we’ll set a public hearing date and we’ll go ahead with have a public hearing on it. I moved to to approve. resolution to create a sad up there. And whatever else you said you’re going to do. And whatever else he said in other words, you’re moving the resolution.

00:22:20,470	I am looking at the proposed resolution instead of reading it, just so they know that is what, Motion is on. Yeah. Emotion the second any further discussion. See, Comm Schwab. Yes, Comm Woodcock. Yes. Comm Munsen, Comm Bakke. Sharing better. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Marcus.

00:22:43,970	The only questioned why the You had in there the word required to create the numbers instead of like authorized or. OK, didn’t really want to require you to do it if you have a problem with it. But Now we have Commission continued items. Um In front of you, Mary dropped off some, uh, a couple of items Um, discussing the process for approving change orders. And, um, she has a form here.

00:23:22,200	And it’s highlighted that commission needs to decide the amount. This amount was used for the courthouse remodel. So Comm, in a conversation on that. Mr. Chair Mr. Woodcock. I think, uh, we had this, the $50,000 limit was on the court offices that that we remodeled several years ago, and that worked out fine.

00:23:42,570	We never had any problems, I think there was only 11, change that we made that was more than that, that we had to bring to the commission and we did and it was approved, so, uh, this looks good to me. Good. Do you need a motion? Yes. I would move to approve the Burley County change order form.

00:24:00,730	For the remodel at uh Provident building. Second, motion of 2 to approve the form. Any further discussion. And uncul. Comm Woodcock, Comm Munsen, Comm Bakke. Comm Schwab. Sharan Bittner, yes, motion carries. Reimbursement resolution for Provident building. Renovation 75 80 Welcomely Good evening, Chair Bitner and Commission.

00:24:40,200	Uh When we spoke last meeting, we discussed funding options for the Provident building, um. One of those options was just mentioned briefly was the BND infrastructure revolving loan fund, uh, just as an update, we submitted our application. For that fund last week. So that is, that is done, that’s not to say we’re gonna get approved, but we’re, we’re submitted.

00:25:06,600	Before I go on with the refunding resolution, does anybody have any questions about the, the, the BND infrastructure revolving loan fund. No, I don’t think there’s any questions, probably just reiterate the amount I think it’s in the amount of there’s a cap on it of 5 million, right? Correct if you’re, if you get selected or what have you.

00:25:27,200	Yep, they’ve, uh, I shouldn’t say cause I don’t exactly recall. I, I think. There was maybe a little bit less money than. They were anticipating this round, so they capped it and, and there’s a lot of interest, of course, and so it’s capped at 5 million per uh application for this funding round, the rates are 2% and the term is

00:25:48,530	the lesser of 30 years or the useful life of the project. I think you have a maximum of 20 million that you can have outstanding on this program at any given time. I do believe we have some for the hall road, the McKenzie Hall Road, and then possibly for one.

00:26:06,300	Special assessment district, but, uh, we’re nowhere near the cap. So I don’t, I don’t know when we’ll hear back on that, but, uh, I already got a response, um, with some follow-up questions, so they were. Very, very quick, very responsive. So the, the end uh end on that is kind of the end of June.

00:26:24,870	To My notes here say June 20th, but I, I think that was in an email, but I think I also saw June 30th, so end of June. OK. That’s fine. I don’t know how soon after that we’ll, we’ll know.

00:26:41,130	They score these things, so they’ve got a whole criteria, and I think we meet some of the criteria. One of the criteria is they want to offer gap funding and they want to leverage other sources of revenue to, you know, probably do a bigger project than they could do, uh, with the fund alone. So, because, using the ARPA funding that will, we’ll check one of the boxes, um.

00:27:02,800	And uh and so it’s definitely gap funding, but it’s also going to leverage those federal funds that we’ve earmarked for this project. The, so the actual topic here was the, uh, I think I put reimbursement resolution that should have read Refunding resolution. This is a continuation, as I said, uh, last meeting we got.

00:27:25,870	Charged uh by the commission to go ahead and I guess inquire more with our bond council about this refunding resolution and then bring it back. So I emailed our, our, our bond council, Scott Wagner, and I did include a question that, um, I think, um, Comm Bach and I think you had, if asked the question if By passing this resolution, we are

00:27:51,930	obligating ourselves to Issue bonds and the answer I got from uh Bond council, which is in the packet is no, we’re not. So Again, one of our, one of our funding options, it’s, it’s just an option is tax exempt bonds. These require a a a refunding resolution according to the US Treasury regulations.

00:28:17,470	That resolution is in your packet. I Had a couple blanks to fill in as far as the amount I put the whole amount of the project, 16.5 million, um. I wouldn’t anticipate we’d get to that amount, but I figured we should just, or maybe it would be best to just.

00:28:38,930	Do a resolution for the full amount, and I think we can go anywhere up to that amount cause I believe the, I believe that language is in the resolution, um. I don’t think we’re obligating ourselves to that amount. I think it’s an up to. I don’t have it right in front of me here, but. Approximately.

00:29:03,970	Estimated to be approximately, so we got both ways, estimated and approximate. But if you wish to have a different number in there, it’s your resolution. Well, I don’t, I don’t see any harm in having, having the amount in there at, at, at that amount because pretty sure we’re not gonna use that amount anyway, but it’s just paperwork,

00:29:25,270	right? That was my thought we can change it at any point. There’s no. Oh Nothing that’s chiseled in stone with that, so I didn’t want to have a blank in the resolution. Right. Quite honestly, when it was in the packet, so I. Yeah. Just spilled it in. OK.

00:29:48,300	Um, for what it’s worth, I think it’s good to keep our options open as we’re discussing, um, the methods of payments and figuring out the best rates and the best path forward. So Comm, do you have any further questions of Lee on that. What are your wishes? I would move to approve the resolution relating to the issuance of bonds and the reimbursement.

00:30:13,370	Of expenditures. Second, I have a motion in a second to approve any further discussion. Mr. Chair. Comm. You’re, you’re sure this resolution does not commit us to any bonding at all. We have that authority down the road, correct? That’s. If we decide to do that way. That’s, that’s correct. If you, I, I’m not sure if you have the.

00:30:35,200	Resolution up in front of you, but I, I do have a, I, I included an e-mail from Bond council and what he said is, The resolution does not commit the commission to issue bonds. Or even move forward with the project. It is simply a precaution that allows the reimbursement of prior expenditures if needed.

00:30:59,200	I don’t think there’s any downside to adopting the resolution. I should add, it, it’s also for future um expenditures, but in this context, the prior expenditures is we wanna get it resolved as soon as we can, as early on as we can in the project to, because I think it’s.

00:31:25,500	60 day um expenditures incurred 60 days prior to the resolution or something like that, and then it’s like 18 months into the future. So the earlier on you do it in the project, the more of those expenditures you catch. If that makes sense. But no, that’s.

00:31:42,570	My understanding from Bond council is no, we’re not obligated to to even to issue bonds at all or even do the project. Thank you. OK any further discussion. Col. Comm Munsen. Comm Bakken. Yes. Comm Schwab? Yes. Comm Woodcock. Yes. Charan Bittner? Yes, motion carries. Thank you, Lee.

00:32:07,070	Um, did you have any, uh, update at all that you wanted to provide in regards to the I know you had a meeting scheduled today, if you had that, if there was any new information briefly. We, we had a training that this afternoon that the Association of Counties put on, uh, EPSC and it was very well attended. There were probably 150 people in attendance and another it was as high as 425 online. So these are, I should have said this.

00:32:30,700	First is this is training on HB 1176, which is the 3% property tax cap, very, very well attended people from all kinds of, I mean, every political subdivision probably every, certainly every, every manner of political subdivision. I did catch the someone from the tax.

00:32:55,130	State Tax department, um, on, on break and I, I kind of brought up some of our concerns about sales tax and how that’s gonna impact us. And You know, quite honestly, this individual was on the assessing side and so it wasn’t, it wasn’t really. Um He wheelhouse per se, but.

00:33:21,870	Some of the Discussions that we’ve had Chair Bittner, I, I related to her that we feel that there might be some significant um legal interpretation here that may require maybe a state’s attorney opinion or even all the way up to an AEG’s opinion, so I, I kind of discussed those. Those discussions with her, and she concurred that that’s probably um, Probably where we’re where we’re at.

00:33:44,270	We did have an attorney panel that was, that was present, but our situation is sort of unique with the sales tax, so it didn’t come up, um. Although I do think it’s gonna become more and more of an issue as other counties have adopted this, this, um. sales taxes to offset property taxes.

00:34:04,300	So, and I did bring up the question, you know, should we schedule something in the future, but she really felt that the legal route was probably our best bet at this point. OK. Thanks for the update on that.

00:34:24,270	We’ve been having, just so you know, Comm, Lee and I have been having significant conversations about how the 1176 is going to impact Burle County and how that’s going to relate to the mill levies versus the sales tax versus everything else for property tax reform in Burley County. And, uh, we’re working through those. I think we’re going to work closer with the, um, State Tax department now we’ll find the connection there.

00:34:46,900	It’s been recommended to me by one of the legislators that wrote 1176 that I just contact the State Tax Comm directly, but I thought I’d wait until after this meeting they had today. So, if you have any specific concerns or questions about that, let me know and we’ll, um, kind of direct that to uh the state tax department and state’s attorney, lawyer, and pretty.

00:35:05,330	Sure we’re going to need to chat a little bit about what we’ll need for an opinion, so when you. have time if you wouldn’t mind. Give me a call. OK, thank you. Anything else? All right, thank you, Lee. Appreciate that. Appreciate the update. Oh, item number 9, Comm Bach and Bismarck Burley Public Health discussion. Um, 00, probably comment policy. Oh.

00:35:32,070	But it’s laying right here. OK, um, Public comment policy. This is This was just handed to us ahead of the meeting here and I think that um there’s been some changes made based on the conversation at the last meeting.

00:36:10,070	Commissioners, what are your thoughts on this? Do we need to Open up the, cause again, the discussion was if somebody Speaks at public comment. Just so it’s not a free for all later. Um Do we want to limit Somebody being called back up to those who have already spoke at a public comment at the discretion of the chair. That would be the only thing I would consider.

00:36:33,530	An addendum being made to this. Otherwise, for me, it looks good. Cause that was the discussion we had about if somebody speaks up if. If the chair allows then if the Comm wants to call somebody back up who already spoke, then that’s an opportunity to get more information, but Otherwise, we’re in a situation where it’s

00:36:57,530	a continuance of a public comment period in which Anybody can come up, but if, if you want to come and speak on that public comment prior to. Then I think that would be A little clarification of the language. I agree. OK. Other than that, it looks good to me.

00:37:21,070	I’m not prepared to approve the policy then at this point, I want to see that in writing. And um, and I thought we had discussed whether or not we would have time limits and time limits would also be at the discretion of the chair, um, I see it kind of got wrapped up into a sentence that public comment may be available during each

00:37:40,730	agenda item at the discretion of the chair, but I think we were intending that. Discretion of the chair applies a little more broadly than that. Um-hum. Not that I have any particular time limits in mind except that sometimes, you know how it goes. Sometimes you need to cut somebody off. Right. Yeah.

00:38:02,600	Um And it was more for the sake of repetition. Right. Right. You know, along the lines of you’ve probably heard it if you’ve been to the state legislature and they’ve had committee meetings and they’ll say, you know, we’re gonna limit it to.

00:38:18,600	You know, one or two comments on on the same thing, and if you agree, then. You know, you sign the thing that what you, what you think, and then it just eliminates um. Excessive repetition, so there’s no intention in my mind to limit the public at all.

00:38:38,370	As a matter of fact, I, I I want the public to be able to speak as needed and wanted. I know I was given that opportunity long before I was a Comm, and I appreciated the ability to. Say what was on my mind for the neighborhood and the whole thing, so.

00:38:56,530	Well, like I said, too, if, if somebody has something meaningful and adding to the conversation, I don’t care if it takes them 25 or 30 minutes if it’s something new and new information that we need to make a good decision. Absolutely, and that’s where I think the discretion of the chair should come in because likewise, I, I feel the same way and I think.

00:39:10,100	Um, everybody that’s sat his chair has the same sort of notion that if you have good information and we’re. We’re We’re, we’re learning and doing the business, and I see no problem with that whatsoever.

00:39:27,200	That is our job to be here to listen to our constituents, so we’ll we’ll take these comments now, and, and we’ll try to incorporate it a little bit better and we’ll put this item on the agenda for the next regular commission meeting. Mr. Chair. Comm Woodcock.

00:39:42,070	And one time we talked about, I don’t, I don’t think we want to, but we talked about restricting the, the, uh, people that want to speak to Bernie County residents, and I don’t, I don’t think we can do that. Uh, we haven’t got it in here, but I. I’m just concerned that, We get out of county comments and out of state comments, I’ll, I’ll make a note of that, some of the pipeline comments and things. Are they here tonight? Just checking. Nope. OK. I had that.

00:40:05,930	Early County resident time restriction. Um How would you summarize your Concerned there, Mr. Wakan, um, Just as long as there’s new information being added to the conversation, um, just so it’s not repetitive, you know, getting people that come up and And speak on something for whatever that allotted supposed time limit is and if they’re saying the same

00:40:31,170	thing cause I’ve been in meetings before where people will sit and read a mass email. And that’s not productive. Right. You know, when, when, when a mass email goes out and people come up and just read that. That’s, that’s not productive time. No. And there’s nothing being added to a conversation.

00:40:49,800	So that’s my concern about that, but if somebody has something that is adding to the conversation, I don’t care how long it takes. OK. I think I summarize that. Comm Schwab, do we need to put anything in there. About The length of time we, uh, would give summit if they’d ever show up.

00:41:19,570	By the way, you didn’t make your call. Jerry did it for him. Yeah, Jerry did it. Yeah. Yeah. You did. I usually wait until the end, but, Well, they might be here in the left, you know. I don’t get on the agenda. Other business. Well, we’re going to move that forward to the agenda for the next meeting. Um, thank you, Commissioners.

00:41:37,230	Item number 9 now, finally. Comm Bach and Bismarck Bur public health discussion. What’s that? Yes, thank you, Chair. Um, Commissioners, uh, Part of the Bismarck Burley, uh, Joint Committee meeting.

00:42:02,870	Uh, we had a pretty good presentation from Bismarck Burley Public Health Director Renee Mack, and I wanted to have that opportunity to have that presentation put forth at this committee’s level, um, Just there’s a lot of information in there and it was a lot of where the funding goes, how the funding is directed and uh a little bit more than just a, a report.

00:42:22,670	So I wanted an opportunity to bring Renee in to, to speak on that, uh, that presentation we had, uh, last week. Renee? Sure, I have paper copies you OK. This is one of those. That’s one of those things we should have emailed out it was should have been in Uh, actually, uh, auditor Sposkowski sent it to us. Thank you. So, I pulled the e-mail up just to make sure.

00:42:51,400	Yeah, I did too. That’s my email is not part of the agenda packet, so. Welcome, Renee. Thank you, um, Chair Bittner and Commissioners, um, just to share what we discussed or what I presented at the Combined commission’s meeting.

00:43:17,170	I wanted you to be aware of our funding sources, um, we are, um, a variety of different uh aspects when it comes to federal, or excuse me, when it comes to all of our funding sources, we get federal funding in 2024, 33% of our total revenue came from federal funds.

00:43:36,800	Uh, we do bill for some services and we get uh fees collected for that, which comes in at about 20% and then we get state aid funding specific for public health, and that’s 11%, um, our local tax levy is basically what is left when we take our, um, Revenue and expenses away and what is remaining is the cost share between Bismarck and Burleigh County, and in prior years, it had been shared 75, 25 with 75% being paid by the city of Bismarck, 25% by Burlee County,

00:44:03,030	and so, um, just here to present the information. I know there was discussion on, um, potentially seeing what the cost share would be for 2026. I did present, um, or prepare with those numbers and in.

00:44:25,930	In addition to, um, Working with our city finance team, uh, what the numbers would look like for 2026, um, just for your awareness, um, we are in uh planning for, um, the upcoming year and we’re moving forward planning level funding at this point.

00:44:47,870	There is some uncertainties as far as um how things are going to look that relates to, of course, the uh tax cap at the at the local level, but then also some federal funding sources as well, um, but for the most part, Um, it shouldn’t change our general fund, um, very much because some of the federal grants that we receive, a majority of the federal grants that we receive are actually direct expense grants, and so, um, the money that is coming in goes out in direct expense and so if there

00:45:05,630	were to be a reduction moving forward, it could be in the federal fund grants item. Um, just to share for your awareness, uh, if you’re looking at cost share, um, the expense, um, that we’re looking at cost share for is the um Tax levy that um we’re looking at if we did a 50/50 split, the

00:45:27,270	city and county both would equally pay 120,000,620, a 60/40 split would be 1440, 745 at the city and a 40% cash share to the county would be 960496, and then if you um kept it at the 7525, it would be 1,800,0931 on the city side and the county share would be 6003.

00:45:55,270	0, just in comparison from previous years, from 2026 contract. It looks like a 3% increase if you were to stay at the 75, 25 cost share and I have um the 25 and the 24 contracts listed below there for your reference.

00:46:13,630	So, um, basically just would like to know what percentage we should plan for 2026 is what we’re asking tonight. So Renee, when you’re looking at an overall budget, um, How Uncertain are we to what the federal dollar side of that looks like right now.

00:46:37,870	So, um, Comm Bakken for the federal side of things, um, we are currently waiting, um, a lot of our funding from the state comes from the federal level through the state health department and then down to us through contracts, um, for the majority, we’ve been told to plan for level funding. Um, we have heard that there will be some reduction to certain areas.

00:46:54,400	We’re just not sure how much at this point, um, there is a proposed budget that was put forward through the White House, the federal budget. Um, but that is a proposed budget at this point and in September is when that would be finalized.

00:47:12,730	And so we’re not sure on the impacts until that gets passed, and so we’re kind of, kind of, um, giving it our best, uh, best guess as far as what it could look like. OK. Thank you. Mr. Chair. Comm Munsen? No, no. I thought you were asking. Do we provide health services for illegal aliens. Um, Comm Schwab, I think you’ve asked me that before, and actually that is not something that we screen for, if we don’t have the means to screen.

00:47:36,700	We’ve never screened for that. We serve everyone that comes through our office, um, so I, I guess that is not something that we could go through the office and you, You would give them healthcare. If they’re coming in for a a health screening and they fill out the paperwork, um, we’re seeing them for services. Were everybody the same.

00:47:58,930	I’ll ask you that question next time. It’ll be the same answer. You don’t work for Summit, do you? No, I know. So the city’s ask was, uh, what our intentions are, and I don’t think we’re there yet, um. Uh, unless we want to have the discussion of What that funding percentage looks like.

00:48:27,730	Uh, so that’s why I brought this forward. They’re trying to work up their budget now, um. Basically it’s gauging an interest on what the county would like to do on that portion of the share, so. If anybody else has any questions for Renee, otherwise. Mr. Woodcock. Uh, if, let’s, if these three different levels, 50, 50, 60, 40, 75, 25.

00:48:48,100	We’re doing 75, 25, correct? Correct. That’s what we said. If we were to go to 60, 40, that’s a jump of. 360. Um, 360,000. More than the, With the city reduce their tax to the city taxpayers by that amount. Yes. I’m looking to Jason. He’s nodding his head yes.

00:49:13,670	Right here would be what they would tax the city. And that would be our increase or decrease. They would decrease then. Yes. So actually for the citizens of Bismarck, it doesn’t make any difference where it’s coming from. Correct.

00:49:33,400	Same, yeah it makes a lot of difference to Burley County explain there, um, with, you know, we had this conversation about House Bill 1176, and it involves a 3% cap across the board for Burleigh County, and I don’t think, I’m in any position right now knowing what’s coming forward with the budget for this year that I would even consider agreeing to a 3% increase in any specific portion of the budget until we have our budget hearings.

00:49:53,970	I think that would be totally premature and Ill advised Commissioners, because we, we are going to be Um, we’re gonna be up against that 3%. Right away.

00:50:17,400	No So I’m not, I’m not, I’m not making any commitments myself, Comm Munsen, and this is not So Renee, so this is not a question for Renee, it’s a comment. the state increased their budget more than 3%, but they’re holding us to 3. I’m. upset about their, Abilities to do whatever they choose and then force us. To hold.

00:50:43,270	But anyway, on the other side for for public health, um, as the portfolio holder, I’ve done some research on other things we’ve, we’ve talked or you guys have talked prior to me coming to the board of possibly doing this ourselves, and I’m in the process of, of, uh, doing some analysis on what it would cost to hire nurses and hire people to run a public health service and preliminary, I haven’t found anything under a million dollars.

00:51:05,330	So part of my proposal as we talked at the city uh county meeting. Was in our best. Defense would be to be prepared to have additional money into our budget soon. So that if we do end up getting forced to have our own public health.

00:51:27,670	We’re not taking a large jump from, say,, $600,000 to a million dollars in our budget in one shot. So I will encourage at the budget hearings to have an increase. From the 7525, uh, so that we are prepared. At some point if that happens.

00:51:53,870	I’ll, I’ll reiterate, we have got to be very careful with, um, what we’re going to do as far as Any sort of increases for this budget year because um You know, they, it, it’s ironic, you know, and I appreciate your comment about the state, um, raising their budgets more than what they want to allow the local political subdivisions, but, um, You know, the, the simple fact is it’s gonna be real difficult to be within that 3% cap without any changes to the

00:52:16,970	budget, so I just would say moving into the budget discussions and the committee meetings, be very cognizant of that. Yeah, because uh, You know, 3% on. I mean, that’s, it’s more than what we’re looking at for offering our employees a raise. Yeah, right. Comm would.

00:52:39,300	Renee, have you had any indication on any grants for this year for 2025 that have been pulled. You had one big one, wasn’t there. Woodcock, um, we had, uh, back in March, um, we had, uh, some funding that was retracted.

00:53:01,600	Um, one was for a contract for, uh, community triage center, and that was funding from SAMSA, um, that was pulled back and then um also um. Some funding for immunization, uh, health equity immunization funding and um some COVID funding. And that has not changed. You lost that. That is not coming back or anything like that? Correct. OK. That was about 20,000 I think that was. And next year, next year’s budget, you got 2.3 million in grants.

00:53:24,070	You have no idea what’s gonna happen there, right? We’re not sure at this point. Um, a lot of our, the state division directors have told us that they haven’t received their notifications and their grant notice awards. So they’re, um, telling us. Basically, it’s hard to plan. Yes. Thank you.

00:53:49,130	Well, I want to reiterate 11 more time that um The budget here apparently Accounts for an automatic increase in the contract amount to 3% increase from 20 to 25 to 26, um, without any changes whatsoever, and I, and I want you to be extremely careful with that because we’re Um We’re probably not going to be able to do that, gentlemen. Let’s just flat out.

00:54:16,430	So Um, anything further on this, um, Thank you. Thank you, Renee. Actually, just on a side, because he’s here. Jason, did you have anything you wanted to add or not? OK. Thank you. I think it’s going to be a rough. rough time for all local police political subdivisions when it comes to budgeting, you know.

00:54:45,800	Well, my biggest concern is we’re in a little state of flux, too, because as, as Lee iterated, um, State really didn’t give a whole lot of thought process into a sales tax base versus a property tax base budgeting system, so and you know, we at the behest of our. And our County residents went down a different road.

00:55:12,630	Excuse me, a different road that they deemed as a better pathway in conjunction with us, and I, I think it, I am a little remiss that the state didn’t take that into consideration because the voters are the ones that made that decision.

00:55:34,370	Bismarck followed us, um, I, I, I did have some conversations with the legislature that wrote House Bill 1176, along with, you know, his others, but, um, you know, he feels We’re in a pretty good position right now. They felt, um, according to the last conversation I had with him, he says that he knew, they knew that there was gonna be issues, that there would be specific things because obviously I had contacted him before, you know, the session

00:55:49,430	was over and everything, or during the session and, and we had, we had quite a bit of conversations, and I’ve been working really closely with Lee, um, And we’re going to continue to have additional discussions.

00:56:08,530	The goal really is to find out exactly What is the issue because we have, we have to understand the impact first before we can offer up some possible solutions for further legislation in the future. And so that’s, that’s what we’re working towards is, is figuring out exactly how it impacts us, how the sales tax is going to impact us, because realistically, It’s not really going to be much of an issue this year.

00:56:27,200	But in subsequent years based on our thinking at this point is that as the mill levies fall off and you replace it with sales tax pretty soon. You’re, um, you’re not gonna have those mill levies to, to add into that 3%.

00:56:48,170	I mean, and so there’s some confusion about that, but based on my conversation with, um, legislators that um you know, they were talking in terms of dollars. They weren’t talking in terms of mill levy. So that’s where we need to get to where we can understand the legislative intent.

00:57:09,400	If the intent is that you maintain a specific dollar amount plus a maximum of 3%, which I argued against because I think most Most people, and I’m sure most political subdivisions are going to shoot up to the 3% where they need it or not, because otherwise you’d be kind of. You’d be goofy later on. So if we were concerned about the mill levies, we know that after a 3 year period of time, then we’d really have a problem.

00:57:25,930	And so we’re gonna work through that and we’re gonna and we’ll work with the association of counties and legislators moving forward to um try to address those concerns while we’re doing this, what I think is pretty awesome property tax reform for the citizens, so. Um, we’re just working through things that were unintended.

00:57:44,600	Comm Woodcox, would it be possible for us to discuss the, a resolution that or a uh recommendation of where we went to the state to have them hold to their expenses of 3%. Why not? We’ve got that’s that’s an interesting point, Comm.

00:58:07,670	It’s it’s we’re talking about propaganda is what you’re talking about, but, uh, it shows that our, we have a real burr under a saddle and what happened and what’s going to happen to us and others also, so, uh, maybe other counties would get along with us and say the same, say the same thing, because they will never be able to hold their budget to 3%. No, if you don’t, if you don’t have that replacement, uh, reform.

00:58:25,170	Thank goodness. Commissioners that we took that action because our Our citizens are going to be happy with that, but, um, I don’t know, maybe that’s something you want to kind of. Follow up on, Comm. and I’d like to hear more about that. OK. OK, anything else on? That particular subject. Auditor treasurer Slonskowski.

00:58:55,070	Um, MD, North Dakota Association of Counties Committees. Yes, Chair Commissioners. Uh, this was just an email that I received from the association of Counties, just, uh, to throw it out there to all our, all the different commissioners in the state.

00:59:13,730	There are uh some different uh committees that they do have uh as the association that they just invite any commissioners to be a part of if they so wish, so just throwing it out there, see if there’s any interest. Comm, do you have any interest, um? any additional committees or meetings or More meetings More meetings. More meetings. More meetings. Yeah. I got an interest in less meetings myself. I’ll Comm Bakke.

00:59:40,930	So as far as the process, you just submit and they assign a. Uh, so as far as the process, I, I would let them know and what, what, what Comm is interested in what committee and then just these three committees that they’re looking for right now? To my knowledge, yes. I think that at this 0.

01:00:05,100	1 of the ones that would benefit Burleigh County, but it’s no appointments necessary would be that legislative committee due to the conversations about um changes, potential changes based on 1176, but I’m not. Suggesting any of us. Do anything with that. So we have until July 29th if anybody would have an interest in this or yeah.

01:00:26,870	OK, well, think about it, Commissioners, um, maybe put it on the agenda for a future meeting like uh Uh, Next month I put in for the last yeah, I can do that. OK. That way if anybody has a, There’s a burning desire for more meetings. You just speak up.

01:00:53,700	OK Uh, item number 11, other business, um, the first thing is, um, the United States of America, 250th anniversary coming up July 4th, Comm Woodcoxx, please. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Happy birthday, Jerry, by the way. 250 years. You were there, right? I was paid $2 now it’s worth 250 million, about 3% a year.

01:01:19,770	Uh, next year, July 4th celebration will be big as far as uh the national effort, the state effort, county effort, C effort, uh, it’s a 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. And so, Uh, since we’ve been looking at the, doing a whole bunch of things over at the Pro building.

01:01:38,570	I thought, well, why, why wouldn’t we look into something for Bernie County to do, and we did not, the, we had the anniversary of Bernie County a couple years ago, we didn’t do anything, so I was annex on the side completely blank would be a great spot for a mural and, uh, we could involve, uh, the city of Bismarck and, uh, Bertie County and State

01:02:15,370	Historical Society and I don’t know about US. Input or not, but I think those three plus a Native American input and, uh, the murals that they have been doing, uh, this would be the biggest one in the state. It’d be probably the most important and the best one.

01:02:30,730	And so I thought, I contacted Comm Bittner about, uh, putting it on the agenda to discuss it, and he said, well, he came up with the funding source that he happens to be involved with called the Fort Lincoln Foundation, and I, so I called Aaron Barth, who was the head of that, and he was just thrilled. He was excited.

01:02:46,800	And I also talked to Dakota West Arts Council, Jason there, and, uh, he was exactly the same way. Uh, they were just thrilled. They thought it was a great idea and we’d have input from all the, the political subs here in town, but it would be our primary and our project, and, but the, the Fort Lincoln Foundation,

01:03:05,100	they’ve done several around town already, and they have protocol and they have certain artists that they have, have used and so I’ve asked him to come at the next meeting, the July 7th meeting for, 10 minute presentation on what they’ve done in the past and ideas on what we can do in the future.

01:03:22,070	So I just thought I would bring it up now and, and let people think about it. If they’ve got any objections, now is the time to, uh, our comments too because I think it would be great. We can have a, who knows what, what, what we could put up on there.

01:03:36,470	Bernie County history and, uh, uh, great big capital. I, I have, I’m not, that’s, I’m not an artsy person, so I’m not, uh, Great on ideas other than, uh, uh, I think this would be a great project and, and according to uh Port Lincoln Foundation, they do a lot of the fundraising and, uh,

01:03:55,200	uh, so the very little cost, if any, to Burnley County or Bismarck, so I’d like any comment or any inputs, any anybody wants to kick in and. Mr. Bakke, I couldn’t agree more, you know, it’s, I was part of the 150th for Bismarck and uh. Yeah.

01:04:15,930	You know, part of the reason I helped set up the capital City Christmas was for Projects like this and uh uh we have donated for quite a few arts events, uh, actually one of our first ones was the, uh, tunnel by the Heritage Center. Uh, we donated to that, um.

01:04:34,130	So there’s a lot of different funding sources around the community and around the state, and I think, uh, getting state involvement with something like this for 250 is showcasing a a big art project and the capital I think would be very beneficial, so. Right. OK.

01:04:56,000	Comm Bittner right away said, Well, what do we do about Thought maybe might be painting that whole south wall but I did ask that question, and they do have a, some kind of a film they put over there. I would like to. Then they, then they do the painting and, and they talked about like 8 8 ft by 8 ft squares and each square was dedicated to a different era or a different age or different.

01:05:14,130	Concept. So and then they could be changed over a period of time, I, I think up here on this particular building, there’s a replaceable type of banner up there that that says 150th, um, city, um, thing. I was looking at that just on the way in tonight.

01:05:33,900	um, I would only be concerned that it was a a permanent thing because it’s nothing’s permanent and eventually it’ll deteriorate and need. You know, I don’t want to be sandblasting the entire south side of that structure. So if we can come up with some sweetheart ways to mount it that’s not um structurally damaging and whatnot. I think that’d be great.

01:05:51,530	And then they also, a lot of these things are, are, uh, like the mural under the bridge, you know, that’s a pretty big one on the interstate bridge. Uh, that was actually done off-site and and then applied to the thing, so. Well, it’s like the art alley. I mean, that’s, that’s it’s, it’s so it’s, it’s done all time. It’s not, we’re not.

01:06:11,800	Crossing any new bridges here. We do applications like that work wise, all the time. We can get, so there’s public input on ideas, different ideas that we might not. I even think about, so. OK. So, um, we will have Aaron Bars from Fort Abraham Lincoln on the on the uh agenda for.

01:06:32,200	Yeah, and I think, uh, probably after the next agenda when Aaron’s here, it’s usually the process is a next time. But uh usually process is setting up a subcommittee and starting to identify art sources and funding sources, so he was really enthused right away and he just jumped on it, so. Yeah, he, he is. I was very impressed.

01:06:52,400	He’s he’s an outstanding resource. And that that includes, it’s not just the Fort Amham Lincoln Foundation. It’s also the Northern Plains Heritage area, which is, um, established under federal law.

01:07:13,870	And I’ve, I’ve, I’ve been a board member of that since its inception with um, I don’t know if 2025 years ago or whatever, so they fund a lot of these projects, um, a lot of in-kind stuff happens, um, matching grants, all kinds of stuff, so quite a few options. I appreciate you bringing that up, Comm. We look forward to. Comes of that. Yeah. Thank you. Yes, thank you. Um, Charles White. Um Capital ventures, Missouri Valley Complex item. There will be no decision on this.

01:07:40,930	Um Are you here and do you have some input for us? I am here. OK. Um, and it’s O Capital Ventures. Go ahead. Go ahead. No, I, I just mispronounced it. Sorry about that. No, it’s OK. It’s a Latin word for gold is what it means. It’s our Capital Ventures.

01:08:00,200	Um, what I do for them is I’m a land agent, so I find land and opportunities that are close to substations, and that is why I’ve kind of come to talk to you guys today to talk about um the parcel known as 1990-001. 001. It also has a 911 address at 3805 East Bismarck Expressway? That is county owned land.

01:08:28,670	And I am trying to bring to the table that the possibility of a sale of roughly about 300 acres. Did we lose you? You can continue. I’m still here. Are you there? You have something, just go ahead and continue.

01:08:55,670	Um, what would it be for? Yeah, um, explain what, uh, If, if you know, I understand if you’re the land agent, you might not know what, what the interest would be, but is there a particular project in mind? There is not one that is completely dedicated as of yet. I have to figure out how much land I’m gonna get and how much power I’m gonna have.

01:09:15,030	So currently there’s uh several 100 acres to the north of this particular parcel that is also for sale by the state of North Dakota, so that will be coming up for sale sometime this year. Um, my information that they were going to try to market it through a realtor for a while to try to get maximum impact on the pricing.

01:09:30,970	So, um, I’m just kind of in, in between figuring out how much. La we haven’t figuring how much electricity we have. So I can throw out the blanket term which strikes fear in some communities and strikes pleasure in other communities, and it is just a generic term encompassing several different things that are possible but my

01:09:49,170	hopes were to be open some type of data center in the area. OK Um I was wondering if the state’s attorney would be able to brief us briefly on What kind of Processes involved with transferring or or entertaining some of these thoughts. I’ll get back to you.

01:10:21,770	Totally by surprise, right? Again, no decisions made, right? So you’re not prepared. No. OK. Um, you might want to, you know, I’m kind of, kind of one with all these data sets. You’re not on. I’m kind of wondering with all these data centers they want to put in. Everything goes boom and bust. They’ll probably end up with all kinds of empty data centers.

01:10:47,800	So why would we want one sitting around here. You know, No, I Because once again, it’s going to be just like Summit, who gets the power? Data centers or credit card. Centers, etc. And uh You’re sure not going to shut down. And there’s not enough power around here. And then the citizens’ houses. whether rural or in town.

01:11:22,100	Don’t have the power because they’re going to get There is No law that says or no ruling that says the citizens are going to get first power. I really have a problem with these projects.

01:11:45,130	I do too, with, with, you know, the, from what I’ve been hearing as far as the impact to the pocketbook of the existing citizens, if that’s what you’re referring to, is how it, how it ends up costing us for the build out and the extra stuff and, and, um, I, I think that’s something that’s going to continue to have a lot of conversation that’s also how come I can understand why they want to build right by that WAA line.

01:12:01,500	Yeah. You know, I mean, that’s, Certainly a thing, but Well I’m a little curious on what the longevity of something like that would be because the A lot of the thought processes going into these now is.

01:12:21,730	They need to be in a position to supply their own power on site because once it’s on the grid, that’s where the grid gets even more destabilized. Yeah. So, Building in a location because it’s got a substation there and the power there right now, I think. By the time a project would come to fruition is probably moot. Um Just from what I, the indications that I’ve been hearing.

01:12:46,270	So, um, my bigger question is, it’s like if something’s coming though, it’s like, State or County and who’s the front loaded benefactor of that. Sure, there’s a lot of unanswered questions, Comm Woodcock’s this, that property is within the city limits, so they’d have a huge input into whether we sold it for a Whatever, somewhat, some put pumping station in there.

01:13:11,970	Who knows? Yeah, so I, before I would, before I would approve something like that, even consider it before we would, I would ever consider it. I wouldn’t have to know what the project is.

01:13:27,000	I mean, we can’t sell a pig in a poke, and I know there were some restrictions on the land when we got it from the, bought it from the state way back when, uh, because we’re supposed to be used for a fairgrounds and whatever that means we’d have to get a legal question whether we can solve the whole thing off to I. I’ve studied that quite a bit with, uh, With the development that we’ve been working on out there and and.

01:13:42,870	There’s a lot of language in the, the purchase agreement when we bought it from the state that it has to be maintained for. Fairgrounds, um. My question really would be, it’s kind of defaulted into. Couny use for the citizens of the county.

01:14:06,870	I think not to interrupt, but I think the question is, are we in agreement with the terms of the original purchase or not at this point, because I am not aware of a single fare. For Long time? Almost 30 years. 3 new ones. No. We’re working on it. Yeah, I tried. Yeah.

01:14:26,100	Yeah, well, working on it is not the same thing as, as, um, A fair, a fair grounds use, so I think that the state’s attorney is probably going to have to. Provided by a couple of things. Who I guess we’ll chat. Your list is getting. Um, Mr. White, I guess you heard the conversation.

01:14:51,500	If you want to, um, present some additional documentation and information for consideration at the next Burley County Commission meeting, um. I would say that um you would need to work with the county auditor on that. What is that person’s name? Auditor Swanskowski. I think you’ve already been in contact with him. He’s the one that wanted to add you to the, the Guy you’ve been talking to already, so, um, more information.

01:15:17,970	Always this helpful, um. And I guess you could also like a couple of Consider your interpretation of state law. Go ahead and make comments. Go ahead. Just a couple of comments on some of the things that I’ve heard, um. There, there has to be an understanding of what is called curtailable power.

01:15:37,830	And um how that affects your community, and you also have to understand that um we have to pay taxes on electricity, so one of our smallest sites right now. generates about 70,000, 70, between $7000 and $80,000 in taxes for the state and about $32,000 in taxes to the county that we’re operating in.

01:16:02,370	Curtailable power is power that is being used when other people aren’t using it. So if you think about a lot of irrigation in the summertime, and in some of the communities that you have, there’s a lot of power usage during the summertime, but throughout the winter, throughout the spring, throughout the fall, there’s not a whole lot of usage.

01:16:18,370	So what happens is that electricity just kind of sits there and doesn’t generate any income for anybody, including the county, including the state. So when it’s curtailable power, We come in and we actually stabilize the power grid because we’re using the power when it’s nobody else is.

01:16:37,400	So, um, we actually have decreased the rate in one of the communities that we went into because we were using the leftover power, so to speak. So, um, this community. Basic this community rented a substation from a larger generation and transmission company to the tune of about $35,000 a month.

01:17:01,100	Uh, only about 20% of that uh substation was actually being used, but they still paid the full amount of rent on the substation. So if you think of it, it’s uh, you know, 100. Uh 100 apartments in an apartment complex when only 20 of them are being rented out, uh, I come in and rent. The additional 80 apartments and I stabilized rent for everybody. So that’s kind of what this is.

01:17:19,670	There is another side of it as well, but if it, if there is a lot of power, then it could go into something such as an alphabet, uh, better known as Google or Ameta, formerly known as Facebook or Twitter coming in uh formerly or now known as X or Microsoft or something to that effect coming in, which, which may not be a curt

01:17:38,300	curtailable load, so that’s a discussion that we need to have, but Where the power is is where I go in and seek out land, and there’s no utility that’s gonna allow me to come in and overbuild a situation that is going to get brownouts to a community.

01:17:58,070	It’s just not going to happen, um, and the, the, um, gentleman that said, He’s, he had indications where possibly the data centers were on the decline, and um, I 100% disagree with that, these data centers, uh, from when I’ve been working on them are becoming harder and harder to get, um, and it’s kind of like the field of dreams. If we have a data center, people will come.

01:18:19,930	Um, just a follow up question to that. Um, can you explain to me What Burleigh County taxes apply to electricity from That that you would be paying. I have not looked directly into Burle County and as far as what entity I’d be paying, but, um, the, the counties that I’m in now, I have to pay taxes.

01:18:43,970	I’m not aware of any Burleigh County taxes on, uh, electricity, so, but I appreciate that, um. I guess we were interested in hearing more, um, Any information you want to provide and have an agenda item for the next meeting, you’re welcome to do so. OK.

01:19:03,830	Anything else you want to add? I’m gonna be working on the power side of things and the more, the more power I can understand for the area, the more I would understand what we would want to propose to put in there and and the space that we would use good.

01:19:21,500	Before you go, Comm Schwab has additional You know, the state is really, can’t wait to get projects like yours in here, it seems like, you know, Everybody from out of state gets grants and this. So you’re gonna be getting grants and stuff for all of this. No, I, nothing that I’m aware of. We have 7 banks behind us.

01:19:38,400	I have a goal to spend about $25 million a quarter to try to put data centers in, uh, the bank that is behind us, has attacked me with about $1.1 billion in future spending for data center projects just exactly like this. The, the one thing that can come, which I have not looked into North Dakota is very new venture for me.

01:19:57,130	One thing that can come is they will at times give us a state exemption on purchasing items to be able to put in the area. So, um, there is a another tax exemption that is in other states but have not looked into North Dakota at all.

01:20:17,630	Well, it sounds to me like, The state would get more taxes out of this thing than the county. They, they would, well, I’m sorry, I didn’t. That doesn’t sound good. Right. Um, one of the things I’m adding 50 to 300 jobs in your community. I, I don’t think that’s a very valid point. It’s kind of a moot point. Yeah, we have, yeah, um.

01:20:41,470	And they’re high-tech paying jobs. It’s not like I’m adding a, a minimum wage job or 10-hour $10 an hour job they’re almost $30 an hour jobs. I can appreciate that.

01:21:02,270	Um, I think to, to save a little burden on, on all of us, including the state’s attorney might want, might want to do some research if you have legal staff working with you. You may want to do some legal research on, on how you, how you’re able to acquire land from, uh, poli uh local political subdivision. And, and avail yourself of that information that might, um, inform your presentation, Mr. White. OK. Are you aware of something that I need address.

01:21:27,870	Well, yeah, there’s there’s state law about how political subdivisions can um Require and dispose of land. Property. Asific in the North Dakota Centric code. Um I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t have those uh chapters and verses in front of me, but um, I, I think you would, you would do well to avail yourself of that information to inform you

01:21:52,470	moving forward. OK, I appreciate that. We’ve got plenty of them anything else for us? I thank you for taking the time and um we’ll put you on the agenda for, Well, you, you have a conversation with the auditor if you’re prepared to um present information for the next agenda item, and if so,

01:22:11,130	we’ll, we’ll add you to that, OK? Sounds like I’ve got a little bit of homework to do, so I’ll reach out to Mr. Swanskowski and um hop on then. OK. Thanks for your time. We appreciate the input. Thanks for your time, Comm, that’s the end of other business. Anything else for Comm Woodcock.

01:22:28,200	I have a quick announcement that I should have brought up earlier, but, uh, two weeks from today is, um, another Monday and at 4 o’clock we don’t have a meeting that day, but at 4 o’clock we’ll be dedicating the, uh, municipal court, uh, judges, Judge Severn’s, uh, courthouse, courtroom over there at 4 o’clock and, uh, we’ve been

01:22:46,130	doing a lot of work on it and we’ve got a lot of, uh, uh, things going on, and it’s, it’s, it looks like a great presentation for Judge Severance, so. It says 42nd anniversary, I think, of, of being a judge for City of Bismarck, so. Wow.

01:23:02,930	Cities and cities involved and we’re involved and he’s involved and so anyway, it’s 2 weeks from today at 4 o’clock. At the judge. Anything else for the good of Brian? Seeing none, we