00:00:16,670 I’ve got 515. It’s February 10th. We’re in the Tom Baker room of the city County building. This will be the board of City Commissioners regular meeting. Um, which at today. But prior to starting if Chaplain Deacon Nolan would come forward with prayer and pledge of allegiance, please. Sure. Good evening. Let us pray. 00:00:39,300 Dear Heavenly Father, we gather tonight to give you thanks for the many gifts you have bestowed upon us. We thank you for our families, for our friends, and a special way for our community and all those who serve it. Especially these commissioners and all our first responders. 00:00:56,400 Lord, as this commission gathers again tonight, we ask for your guidance and your wisdom. We ask that all of tonight’s discussions, deliberations and decisions would begin with your inspiration and be in accordance with your will and continue with your unfailing help. 00:01:14,630 Lord, we make this prayer with faith and trust in your promises and ask all glory and praise be to you as we pray in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. Please stand, join, join me in saying the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. 00:01:37,000 One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Amen. Thank you sir. Thank you. If we can call, roll to call the meeting to order, please. Commissioner Risch. Here. Commissioner Zenker. Here. Commissioner Conley. Here. Commissioner Cleary here. Mayor Schmitz here. Our first item is public comment. The public comment period is restricted to the consent agenda. 00:02:00,970 The regular agenda. That is not a public hearing. Or the prior city Commission agenda. Anyone who wish to speak, please come forward. Sign in and state your name and tell us which topic you’re speaking to. Just a second. I’ll sign you into. I’m here to speak to item number three. 00:02:30,270 The Brisbane Transit class. I would ask you to support the request. This is a long time coming for community, and I just think it’s time to approve the changes so we can move forward. And I would ask for your approval on the request, because I support the community. It’s a long time coming. So thank you. 00:02:52,630 Thanks. Anyone else wishes to speak? Please come forward. I’m sorry. Dustin. Good evening. For the record, my name is Dustin Gavrilo. I am a resident of Bismarck. I’m speaking to item number five or E, I forget which it is. It’s a street utility fee. Of course. 00:03:21,470 Uh, I just want to encourage, uh, if you, uh, get to the point of making a decision, uh, I am fully in favor of the idea of an advisory vote. Uh, rather than trying to pitch a, uh, more broadly structured, uh, open ended concept to the voters. 00:03:47,670 Uh, I’ve been doing a lot of my own research and holding town halls related to statewide measures, as well as discussing these things, as well as talking to some individuals privately. And, uh, I’m not getting a lot more positivity on the feedback on my end than the city did on the survey. 00:04:11,670 And so, uh, I just want to, uh, let you guys know that, uh, if if it’s not to be, it’s not to be. Uh, there may have been a timing window that we missed on this, uh, but that, uh, overall, uh, I’m not hearing as much cry for a drastic change as we were years ago when we started this process. Uh, with that, I’d stand for any questions. 00:04:34,600 Are there any questions, Commissioner Connolly? Just an advisory vote or a non-binding advisory vote, as it stated in the agenda. Uh, Commissioner Connolly, I believe that advisory votes are non-binding. So if they’re not, then yes, a non-binding advisory vote. Okay. Any other questions? Thank you. Anyone else who wishes who would wish to speak? Please come forward. 00:05:16,770 Hello. My name is Susan Dingell and I am here to speak to urge you on. The Bismarck transit. Ask for money from the city Sales tax initiative to help support added services. My understanding is that what Miss Mann Transit is asking for is money. For four more hours of operation a day from Monday through Saturday. 00:05:52,070 Well, for more Monday through Friday, three more, maybe on Saturday and to expand the Sunday hours to make them open, at least on a pilot project basis to the public under the same usage conditions that anyone else using the paratransit service must use it, which is a 24 hour, at least in advance 00:06:17,130 reservation and $3 a ride each way. All of these service changes are aimed at helping more people be able to use public transportation. For instance, being able not only to get to their job, but to get home from it or vice versa, to be able to do things like combining work and school and 00:06:43,870 maybe additionally things like shopping or socializing and all of these things are to the benefit of Bismarck. And they are supported by, in addition, economic development people who you are working with on joint projects, having a good public transportation system is a factor in relocating businesses 00:07:13,200 and attracting people to work in them. It also is a factor in attracting students and keeping them, and even in some cases, faculty. There is at least one numeric faculty member right now who said he would not have come to work in Bismarck had it not been for Bismarck Transit to get him to and from you, 00:07:36,730 Mary. And I think he was a neighbor of mine, so he would be living in central Bismarck. This is this is a big deal. It is important to support. It helps the city be progressive and looked upon favorably. It’s it’s a win win. So I urge you, please support the ask.. 00:07:59,670 Anyone have questions? Thank you. Susan. Public comment period is still open. Anyone wish to speak? Please come forward. A second call for public comment. A third and final call for public comment. Seeing no one, hearing no one. Public comment. Period is now closed. 00:08:42,300 Commissioners, what are your wishes with regard to the consent agenda? I’ll move. We pass the consent agenda. Second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. We’ll call roll. Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Commissioner. Conley. Yes. Commissioner. Cleary. Yes. Commissioner. Risch. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes. First item in the regular agenda. A public hearing to approve the non-exclusive right of way occupation agreement with Gateway Infrastructure, LLC. 00:09:07,400 Gabe, you’ve got a small presentation for us or a large one, whichever it is. Uh. Mayor, commissioners, I’ll have just a very short moment, but Derek Lefort from Gateway Infrastructure LLC will be providing the presentation for you today. 00:09:26,070 Uh, as you mentioned this, the request before you is a right of way occupancy agreement with an entity that is called Gateway Infrastructure, LLC. They would provide telecommunications service or internet service to various businesses and residents within the community if this passes, uh, I’ll let him. Derek, their representatives speak more to what their plan would look like, and they’re in their buildout and what that is. 00:09:44,400 But my suggestion for you here today would be listen to this presentation and then call for a public hearing. Uh, and I guess I’ll come back for any questions that you would have after all of that is completed. So I guess for now, you’ll be Derek Schroeder to speak on what his company is proposing in our community. Thank you. 00:10:02,330 Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of the commission, Derek Lefort, head of government affairs for Gateway Fiber. Uh, we are a fiber to the home internet service provider based, headquartered out of Missouri, but also have expanded into other states, uh, North Dakota is one of the most recent states that we’ve expanded into. 00:10:21,770 Uh, but let’s see here. Is it? There we go. Uh, really? I don’t need to sell you on our service. Our service pretty well sells itself. Uh, everybody needs, wants, desires, high speed broadband internet. Uh, really? I’m here to talk to you about what the company is and kind of what our processes look like. 00:10:36,600 Uh, as far as our company is concerned, we started we were started to serve a town of 300 people. Our founder served, up, founded the company to serve a town of 300 people in Missouri. 00:10:52,600 Uh, and that that same DNA, that local train of thought is still kind of is in the DNA of who we are. We think locally, uh, and want to make sure that we communicate that to, to any town or community that we go into. We we look for partnerships with communities that are really in need of and support. 00:11:08,930 Um, the businesses in their community and look to do the same. Um, as far as, uh, you know, what what we look to do, we’re in these markets right now, launched in North Dakota and Fargo, uh, as recently as this year. Um, in July, I believe, as we came into in North Dakota. 00:11:26,870 But, uh, have been having conversations with, uh, Gabe and Jason over the past couple of months about expanding here in Bismarck as well. Um, as far as what we offer, we’re we’re, uh, highly reliable service. We’re one of the fastest rated ISPs in the country. Uh, you know, we’re we’ve got a 99.998% uptime, which is a highly, highly reliable service. 00:11:44,930 Uh, much different than what you would see from your copper providers or regular DSL providers. Uh, fiber is a scalable, uh, product. So that means that, uh, you know, there’s no end in sight to, uh, when that might, you know, expire as far as as far as the actual, uh, useful life of the asset, uh, it could 00:12:03,200 be, you know, 50 years. It could be 100 years. Nobody really knows. But, uh, it is scalable. So if we need additional, uh, bandwidth over and above what we have right now, we can certainly scale up to that, uh, by simply switching out some programming and just a little bit of 00:12:17,670 hardware. But for the most part, the fiber that’s in the ground is going to stay there. It’s going to last a really, really long time. Uh, we do. Our primary focus is primarily on residential. We do offer commercial services. We also offer E-Rate. 00:12:35,070 Uh, so if your school systems or, uh, governmental institution buildings need service, we can usually get that at a pretty heavily discounted rate just because of kind of the services that we offer. Uh, but our primary focus to Gabe’s point is on residential and commercial. As far as pricing, we’re kind of a one size fits all pricing. 00:12:51,130 Uh, we have various different packages, and it doesn’t matter if you’re in Massachusetts or if you’re in North Dakota or wherever you’re at. Uh, the pricing is going to be the same. So our our 300 make service is $65 a month. That’s all inclusive. 00:13:04,130 The only, uh, addition that we would have there, uh, we will be charging a 2.5% franchise fee, uh, imposed, you know, because you guys are going to agree to that or hopefully you agree to the 2.5%, uh, franchise fee, and then that’s would be passed on to the consumer. 00:13:19,870 Uh, so that’s the only additional cost above and beyond the 65 a month, depending on whatever package that you choose. You know, if you go to the 600 megabyte, 600 megabyte package, that’s 75 a month, or one gig is 90 a month. And then most people don’t need two gigs, but if they decide they want to do that, then that’s 150 a month. 00:13:31,670 Uh, so the only other fee that we add on top of that is if you need a second router, uh, you know, if you’ve got a home that is kind of spread out quite a bit, then, uh, we would, you know, charge another five, uh, a $5 a month fee for the 00:13:45,830 additional router. But outside of that, what you see is what you get. That’s what comes out of your account. Uh, we are relentlessly focused on our customers. And I think if you check, uh, any of our, our reviews on website, whether it’s Google or anywhere else, I think that you’ll find that we have very, very high ratings. 00:14:03,730 Uh, usually 40 to 50 times higher than the industry average. Uh, and that’s mainly because we’ve placed a huge focus not only on customer service when folks call in, but also the installation process. 00:14:18,230 So whether it’s the installation process where they’re going out and they’re making sure that all the customers know how to use their equipment, making sure they have the speeds that they’re paying for whatever it is, we make sure that the customers are satisfied before we leave. We also make sure that we resolve any issues that come up during the actual construction process. 00:14:31,170 As you guys can imagine, it’s a very disruptive process, but we do our best to minimize that and make sure that folks are are happy with how things are. Uh, once it’s once it’s done and it’s restored, I’ll talk about how that what that looks like here in just a second. 00:14:46,570 But as far as the process to deploy the fiber, uh, we’re kind of in the second stage of this right now. We’ve already gone through the planning stage. Uh, we met with a lot of your engineering staff earlier today. Uh, we’ll finish that engineering out, and then we’ll start construction, uh, when the ground is is conducive to that. 00:15:02,070 Uh, once we get done with that construction, we will start. We’ll start the installation process where we’ll, as we build the neighborhoods, we will actually start lighting the neighborhoods and installing homes. So it’s not something where we have to come in and, uh, basically build the entire city and then go back in and light people. 00:15:20,930 We’ll light it as we go along. As far as the process, you know, there’s the, the, the actual fiber that goes in the ground, the conduit and the fiber that goes in the ground. Uh, that’s the that’s the messy process. That’s the problem. Excuse me? That’s the process. 00:15:36,670 Process where you’re going to see folks out there, uh, with the directional drills, using the directional drills and the trucks. Uh, that’s the that’s the messy process that you’re going to see. 00:15:47,870 But then beyond that, they’ll go back, they’ll pull, they’ll pull the fiber through that conduit, and then they’ll go back and they’ll splice it, uh, and then they’ll go out and they’ll do the land restoration where they’re restore. You know, any our goal is to make it look as good or better than it was before. So they’ll restore, uh, in the, the grass or anything that they, uh, messed up during the installation process. 00:16:03,530 As far as our damage prevention process, uh, we actually pioneered, uh, in across the United States. We pioneered a process where we, we actually have third party auditors that go out in advance of our actual construction crews. 00:16:20,730 Uh, and they audit when we when we submit a one call, the contractors get that to our third party auditors. Those auditors go out, they they confirm everything that’s on that one call to make sure that we’re not disrupting utility services. Uh, if there’s anything that looks odd or something’s not there, uh, then we make sure to call the utilities back and get them back out there. That’s reduced our damages by 90%. 00:16:39,770 Uh, so that’s pretty important that we do that and other other telecommunications companies and other gas companies and other utilities have kind of modeled what they’re doing after that as well. 00:16:53,630 As far as the home install process, essentially what we do is we go out, we look at things the first time, come back out a second time to prepare for locates. The third time we bring the, the, uh, the drop that’s going to come from the curb into the home. And then the fourth time that we come out will be when they come out to actually install and connect the routers. 00:17:07,600 Uh, so that’s what the home installation process looks like. All totaled from, uh, order to installation, you’re looking at probably a five day period on average from the time that you actually ordered. Until we actually come in, we’re not going to be one of these people that give you a window. 00:17:21,670 I know some of these people say, well, if you can be home sometime between 8 p.m. or 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., maybe we’ll get to you. At that point, we usually try to provide like an hour or two window. Uh, and, and unless there’s something that’s really, really bizarre or odd, we’re going to fit in it in that window. 00:17:37,330 If not, we’ll call and make sure that we get it rescheduled. As far as the city is concerned, uh, we talked to the city today about kind of what we do as far as our notices. 00:17:49,700 We want to make sure that the community is aware that we’re coming in, and we also want to make sure that they know what that process looks like. Uh, whether it’s the construction process, the installation process, how they communicate with us, uh, we we want to make sure that we’re having conversations with them. There’s a number of different ways that we do that. 00:18:03,630 We do that through marketing. We also do various different events throughout the community. We want to invest in the community and be a part of it. 00:18:18,530 Uh, so we’ll go out and do various different events and, uh, just interact with, with homeowners businesses and talk to them about what who we are and what that construction process looks like. We’ll also be doing door hangers on every door, uh, where, you know, it’ll have a QR code. They can scan that. It goes to basically a web page that shows them a video about what that construction page looks like. And then kind of what sets us apart. 00:18:35,600 We’re a little bit different. You know, we’re we’re focused primarily on customer service. Not not bottom line returns. Uh, we’re very, very committed to being here in the community and making sure that, uh, we’re involved and invested in the community and want to be a good partner again. 00:18:49,370 Uh, and then our safety and our speeds, you know, the processes that we use to make sure that we’re being safe out there is over and above what’s required. But we feel like that’s the right thing to do. And then our our speed and our reliability is second to none. So I’ll be happy to answer any questions. 00:19:03,730 I know I kind of went through that pretty quickly, but happy to answer any questions anybody might have. Questions. Commissioner Risch, um, thank you. Says that. You provide internet, but not video. I mean, so if I get your high speed internet, I can’t, um, stream a Netflix or something like that. 00:19:21,000 Yeah. No, you can stream those things. We don’t provide, you know, a regular cable company would provide cable services. Uh, and internet will allow you to stream Netflix, Amazon Prime, you know, various different things like that. But we don’t actually offer that video as part of as part of the internet package. 00:19:36,930 I can just go online and purchase that myself. Correct. It’s essentially what you do right now. So if you’re if you’re on cable right now, um, whoever your cable provider is, um, that’s essentially what you’re doing right now is when you Netflix is separate and distinct from, you know, that cable provider. And it’s the same for us. 00:19:53,900 Good. Just one follow up. I read the 18 page contract. It looks completely fair. My question is, the 2.5%, um, fee is that common? Is that what Fargo has or other communities have? Yeah. It just it depends. 00:20:11,070 It depends on, you know, the community some some have, you know, two and a half, some have others. But, uh, two and a half, I think is kind of where we thought was was fair. And, you know, that’s hopefully you’ll see it the same way. Okay. Mr. Connelly. 00:20:29,130 Um, to kind of follow up with, uh, Commissioner Risch and that, um, we have our government access on this, um, because, like, you don’t provide the video, your company doesn’t really impact that portion. But, um, the current service that we have that does provide video, their franchise fee supports that whole system. 00:20:50,230 There’s another company that’s most likely going to be coming to this area that does have the video option, and that’s going to further deplete that funding source. But they’re both called a franchise fee. We have the discussion at the board meeting today through Dakota media access that does that airing. 00:21:06,530 Um, so I thought it kind of pertinent for on your behalf, and that is to define the difference of the term franchise fee because it means different things. So that’s supported. Um, and then the secondary question to that is, um, with fiber and that being a big topic in this state, um, any ties to data centers or, um, the AI centers, or is it strictly commercial and residential? Ours is strictly commercial and residential. 00:21:31,170 Now we’re going to co-locate our, uh, server space and basically our central office with, a middle mile provider, uh, which a lot of times middle mile providers are serving those data centers. But us specifically is not focused on data centers. We’re focused primarily on residential and commercial. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Any other questions? Okay. 00:21:55,070 Not, um, we may have questions after the public hearing, but we’ll we’ll see where we’re at. Sure. Yeah. Just one one more important thing I failed to mention was, um, if you guys have constituent issues or concerns, uh, I’ll. Gabe, as my contact information, have them reach out to me directly. 00:22:12,330 I’ll work with our team and coordinate a resolution to it. We don’t. Our goal is that you don’t have those. Right. But if for whatever reason, you encounter those you run into issues, let us know and we’ll resolve them as quickly as we can. Again, it’s going to be a disruptive process. 00:22:27,130 Everybody knows that if there’s any utility, installation process is going to be disruptive. But, uh, our hope is to minimize those as much as we can. And so we want to make sure that we’re partnered with you guys in that endeavor. Thank you. All right. Thank you. At this point in time, I’ll call the public hearing. 00:22:40,600 Public hearing is open. Anyone wish to speak? Please come forward. The second call for public hearing. Third and final call for public comment. Seeing no one. Hearing no one. Public comment. Period is closed. I do have a question for Gabe. If I can follow up before we and others may have questions as well. 00:23:10,130 Gabe sought to address Commissioner Conley’s question. Actually, the 2.5% franchise fee that’s to go to the pool of dollars, is it not to help support things like Dakota Access? Mayor. Commissioners. 00:23:30,670 Mayor Schmitz, we haven’t identified the where the revenue that will be generated from from this fee would go or from that franchise fee would go at this point in time. Um, it’s obviously a very at this point, it’s a $0 amount. Over time it could grow. And so we’re hesitant to describe where where it will go. We’re not even sure what the number is just yet. 00:23:49,430 We do recognize that the build out of this of a facility like this will have additional, uh uh, complications when it comes to our contractors trying to build our infrastructure and maintain our infrastructure. So, uh, some of it could also be used in that regards to help support and or help subsidize or buy down the cost of a water main replacement. 00:24:03,370 If there’s now ten extra fiber optic lines to cross during that corridor because of the buildout of the network. So there’s lots of different locations where we could justify where that revenue should be going, should be placed. And today we haven’t done that analysis and made those decisions yet. Okay. Other questions. Commissioners, what are your wishes? Move to approve is presented. Second. 00:24:26,200 Is there any discussion? Hearing none will call. Roll. Commissioner. Yes. Commissioner. Cleary. Yes. Commissioner. Risch. Yes. Commissioner. Zenker. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes. Item B highway Construction Project HC 174 Street Improvement District C 593 Gabe. K mayor. Commissioners. 00:25:09,470 The item that we have on the screen here, this is the bid summary for the highway construction project. HHC 174, also known as Street Improvement District 593, which is the reconstruction of Ottawa Street from north of 43rd Avenue to Canada Avenue. This is the project that we had in your agenda. A couple at your last meeting. 00:25:24,400 We asked for it to be continued to today’s meeting so we could talk about both this project as well as the funding update that the Dot has provided. So you’ll see also in the packet, there were two project budgets associated with this project, one showing a $2 million contribution from the North Dakota Department of Transportation as a prairie 00:25:41,000 dog, as grant funding, and the other showing that is is not part of the funding package. We were able to receive from the Dot some information that would have been early parts of the later parts of last week. Uh, regarding the Prairie Dog as grants program. 00:25:58,070 So this project, as you may can recall, was eligible or was submitted through the Dot’s Flexible Transportation Fund program. It was unfortunately not selected for the Flexible Transportation Fund. So we do not win that grant. But they use the same applicant pool to decide which projects would be eligible for Prairie Dog as grants, projects. And and fortunately, we were successful for that one. 00:26:18,870 The tricky part of that is that that is a funding source that will be available if the various buckets that the legislature has has determined are filled in the appropriate time frame during the biennium. So there’s not a guarantee that the bucket will be filled. 00:26:37,700 Uh, it’s obviously very likely in the sense that everyone is planning for those items, but it’s not a guarantee. And so the letter that we received from the Dot, uh, to all the communities that received similar grants as, as we have as the prairie dog is grants, types of projects, uh, we’re given a letter saying you can proceed with your project, and 00:26:51,470 all the costs that you incur will be eligible for reimbursement if we end up reimbursing this project. And if we end up getting to a point that, uh, that those buckets are filled so that that was the second letter, excuse me, the letter that was added to the agenda after the original, um, 00:27:06,400 uh, agenda packet went out and was included in your file. So with all of that, I do recommend awarding the project. Um, I think it would be my opinion that we would move forward with this project even if we didn’t have any additional funding. 00:27:21,930 It is great that we have this additional funding in place, and we’ll know within the next 12 months or so whether or not the funding is in, is, is, will come. But we would have probably I would have recommended moving forward with the project even if we were not awarded the project in the first place. 00:27:35,800 So I guess with that we would recommend awarding this project to, uh, Strata Corporation to a bid of $4,394,957.55 on on stand for any questions that you may have. Commissioner Conley. Um, it’s it’s the road is it has to be done. I mean, it’s deteriorating quite rapidly and that and, um, so I would motion to approve as presented and then. Second. 00:28:10,400 What’s that? Well, I’ve. Got a question. I had a question. Yeah. Well, we can go ahead and ask the question and then. We’ll have a motion on the table. We have a motion. We have a discussion anyway. So go ahead and ask the question. Okay. Uh, Gabe, um, it’s great. 00:28:25,030 They came in about $1 million under budget. The Tyler Parkway last meeting. Kate went from almost 15 million to 9.3 million. Excellent, excellent. Um, pleasant. But I’m a bit concerned with the engineering costs. Um, on this one. Uh, it’s about 25%. $1.27 million engineering costs, which is almost 20, 25%. 00:28:51,000 And on the Tyler Parkway, it’s about 2.4 million, which is again, almost 25% in engineering costs. I love engineers, and they should be paid well. I used to be an engineer. I don’t know if you guys knew that or not, but, um, it just seems like 20, 25% is pretty, pretty big number. 00:29:11,800 And, um, we’ve got excellent engineers like yourself in the city. And what do you think’s driving the increase in these engineering costs? Mayor and commissioners. Commissioner Risch, I wouldn’t necessarily categorize it as an increase in the cost. It definitely is an increase in the percentage. 00:29:28,270 So when we get a really low bid price from the contractor, that makes it appear that the engineering fee is higher as a proportion. But really, when we looked at that project, we thought it would be more expensive than what the bids came in. Same can be said for Tyler Parkway and some of our more recent ones. It works the other way too. 00:29:40,670 If the contractor has a really, really high bid price, it feels real bad. But but the engineering fee is lower as a percentage, so we’d much rather be in a spot that our contracting industry is hungry and we have a good engineering plan set that reduces the risks for those contractors so they can put their best price forward. 00:29:56,130 And if we can do that, then we’re probably getting our money’s worth for whatever that engineering consulting firm contract would be. But, um, fees in the 20 to 25% range is is typical and isn’t alarming from what we would see. 00:30:12,600 And internally we want to have the staff ability to produce a detailed plan set and then pursue the construction observation without pulling back some of the other responsibilities that we’re doing. And then we’d have to hire a consulting firm to do that work, which we typically don’t. 00:30:29,730 So it’s one of those we tried to maintain our staffing levels within the engineering department for the annual maintenance type projects that we’re doing every year, and then reserve some of these, um, consulting engineering sort of services for those random projects that just might show up and get constructed, and then we might not see another one for another couple of years. Thank you. Yeah. 00:30:46,300 Any other questions, Commissioner? Just expand on that too. I mean, we got to remember that both those projects that both engineering firms have done something anywhere between 12 and 14 months before they bid. Right. And that’s just included in that. And that, uh, progress as well. So I just want. To clarify that. 00:31:02,870 So some of the fee is hourly based upon all that prior. Work. Okay. Any other questions? We have a motion a second. We’ll call call the vote.. Commissioner Cleary. Yes, Commissioner. Rice. Yes, Commissioner. Zenker. Yes. Commissioner. Connelly. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes. Item C was pulled. 00:31:26,430 So to item D, consider request to receive presentation from Bismarck Transit regarding the service changes. Deidre. Before you start, congratulations. Making it. Last time you’re in front of us, you had to sprint over to Mandan and it worked. I saw you got to approve, so congratulations on that. Yeah, I. Ran in the door and I didn’t see your name in the paper about. 00:31:48,230 Any tickets or anything, so. Good job. It was close. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Schmitz and city commissioners. I’m here tonight on behalf of the Bismarck Transit Board to request your approval of service. Approval of service increases to our capital area transit fixed route and paratransit services. 00:32:06,570 These changes, if approved, would take effect April 1st, 2026 and represent a meaningful step towards meeting our community’s transportation needs. Our current fixed route services provide essential mobility for commuters, students, seniors and families, but the existing hours leave gaps for many who work non-traditional shifts or need options beyond what is currently provided. 00:32:27,300 Similarly, our paratransit services support the elderly and individuals with disabilities who require demand response options. Yet Sunday hours remain limited. Currently, there are no public transportation options for the general public on Sundays or holidays. To address these needs, Bozeman Transit proposes the following expansions. 00:32:48,070 First, for our fixed route Cap bus service, we recommend extending operating hours by for additional hours each day, Monday through Saturday. This would shift weekday hours from the current 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and our Saturday hours from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. these earlier starts and later endings would better accommodate early morning workers and late shift employees throughout the community. 00:33:07,270 Second, we propose extending Sunday demand response hours from the current 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. this additional time would provide greater flexibility for those who rely on paratransit for church shopping, social activities, or family visits. On Sundays. 00:33:24,870 Third, we are seeking approval to open Sunday and holiday demand response services to the general public for the first time. Currently, these services are limited to eligible paratransit riders only by transitioning to full public access, we can offer a valuable option for anyone needing flexible transportation on days when the fixed route service is not in operation. 00:33:43,070 To evaluate the impact and costs of this new public access component, we plan to operate the bus, operate separate buses for paratransit eligible riders and the general public riders. During the initial phase, general public riders would follow the same scheduling protocols as paratransit users, reserving rides at least one day in advance, and the fare cost will be set at $3 per ride. 00:34:01,900 These proposed changes have been carefully considered by the Bozeman Transit Board following public comment sessions and rider feedback. They align with our mission to provide safe, reliable and efficient public transportation to support the overall quality of life in our communities. 00:34:23,670 For the partial year from April through December of 2026, we anticipate expenses of approximately $664,100 covering our operations, contractor costs, as well as projected fuel expenses. For the full fiscal year of 2027. The estimated cost is $953,470. These figures reflect the additional fixed route and paratransit service hours, as well as the general public’s access on Sundays and holidays. 00:34:42,370 The success of these changes will be measured over the next 12 to 24 months through rider feedback surveys, ridership numbers, and overall system productivity. I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have, and I thank you again for your time and consideration this evening. Questions? Go ahead, Commissioner Risch. Mr. Mayor Deidre. 00:34:58,570 First of all, thank you for your work on this. The public outreach is excellent. Um, I just want to make it clear this is money that we’re raising through the dedicated sales tax that was passed last year by the voters. Correct? I mean, the money we would use for this. Yes. That is what’s making it possible for us to proceed with the expanded service hours. 00:35:16,970 Do you know by chance about how much we’ve raised or how much we’ve gotten a kitty to, um, so we’re able to pay for this? Yeah. Pages here with fiscal. But I also have the information to. Go ahead. Hi, mayor. 00:35:31,500 Commissioners, I’m Paige Kilgallen, I’m a CPA, and I work in the finance department. Um, so as of today, we have a balance of $2,245,000. And that’s for collections between April and November. Okay. Well. Thank you. We’ve got plenty of money. We do. And and just as a follow up. 00:35:52,800 So next week at metropolitan Planning Organizations action be on the there’s on the agenda a study request to look at what additional things outside of these routes. Uh, for an 18 month period that we could be looking at to enhance public transportation. 00:36:11,470 So my request, I actually had kind of had them delay that because they were going to look at the routes and they said, hey, we don’t the routes are going to be in we how do we study 18 months while that’s going on? We don’t even know what the effect is that’s going to be. 00:36:20,570 But there are other things that we need to consider, like, do we have some infrastructure needs that may need to go in some bump outs for better safety for those, or a hub or something like that, and shelters. So that’s what they’re going to be focusing on. 00:36:37,670 In addition, if there is a hub that’s decided how these routes fit into that or what other routes do we need? So, um, you know, we have we committed to shore up the funding about $1 million, a little less than that, actually, but that’s about what it was. And this would be another. Well, our share is this our share or is this the total share? This is the total expense. 00:36:53,100 So our total our share will be something less than these numbers. Um, and we’re still going to have revenue. We’re generating about $4 million a year right now. And sales tax revenue. Yeah. So go ahead, Commissioner Connolly and then Commissioner. Cleary. All right. Well I appreciate that. Mayor. 00:37:12,500 And Deidre, thanks for the presentation. Um, and uh, one clarification when you said transit is proposing, actually, I really believe this is the community’s proposing because you’ve had a lot of community access in both communities. 00:37:29,500 When I was going door to door, I went door to door in both Mandan and Bismarck, and I’d met people that came here for six figure jobs. And they left because they couldn’t get services for their kids on a public transportation basis because they had special needs. 00:37:44,330 And to some degree, that hurts because there’s a lot of, um, businesses spend a lot of money on training and recruitment, and then to have those jobs leave right away. Um, I do know the one that, uh, Mrs. DeAngelo mentioned. Um, that person actually, um, University of Mary called me directly and said, uh, we have a really good recruit, but they’re reliant. And I told them, I said, I couldn’t promise anything. 00:38:05,200 This is in the works. So they took the chance on Bismarck because we had something in the works, and they made a commitment to be here. Um, and I know that other people exist. 00:38:26,000 And I also heard about significant job losses because, um, a person would have KFI or TV had somebody to wear, um, that person had a vehicle and that vehicle broke down. They got the vehicle through a grant. Well, they didn’t have any money to get their vehicle working again. And with no public transportation service, it just didn’t meet the need for that spot. And, um, there’s a lot of a lot more examples than people would assume. 00:38:44,730 And I encourage anybody to go door to door if you want to vet the difference, you’ll you’ll get an enlightening experience. Um, so I think this is good step in the right direction. The other thing is, is that a little bit off and then I’ll be done. 00:39:02,300 Um, from this we’ve seen significant increases in rents and manufactured home parks over time. And there’s been some state, um, bills and things to try to adjust that. But it’s not keeping up with the pace of those increases. 00:39:22,530 So as people are seeing their expenses increase faster than the revenue to fill in those needs, um, this type of thing can be an alternative to some of their transportation expenses. We won’t know the impact of that for a while, but I think it’s worth vetting the difference. Mr. Cleary. Um, I guess I just wanted to add, um, that I do really appreciate the concept of adding time. 00:39:40,770 I know you’ve been up here time and time again where we’ve talked about holidays and timing and what the community needs out of public transit to make sure that it’s showing its value. 00:39:55,770 Um, and I’ve heard from a lot of people who use public transit here and elsewhere that there’s really no purpose if it can get you to your job, but not home from your job. And a lot of people that rely on public transit don’t work 9 to 5, they might work a night shift or a really early morning. 00:40:10,600 So I really do appreciate the thought process that goes into adding those until 10:00 am, I think is going to be a huge help for a lot of those people who are not working that 9 to 5. And I’m really curious to see how it works out with the holidays and the Sundays especially. I appreciate that you’re trialing it with two different buses. 00:40:23,400 To really see is it being utilized in the way that we hope that it will be? Um, so I think that’ll be a really interesting process with that too. So that’s really all I have to add. Okay. Are there any other questions or comments, Commissioner Zenker.? Just one. 00:40:39,700 So I just want to clarify, the only thing we’re approving is the service changes and you’ll come back later for the monetary side of it. Perfect. Make a motion to approve is. Presented exact numbers. Yeah. Second. Uh, well, first and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. We’ll call roll. Commissioner. Rush. Yes, Commissioner. Zenker. Yes. Commissioner. Conley. Yes. Commissioner. Cleary. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes. 00:41:02,330 Item E consider request to receive options related to the proposed street utility fee. Gabe. Thank you, mayor and commissioners. Uh, the item that I have before you is directly related to our strategic plan. 00:41:27,630 As you note in our agenda packet, I’m calling out the strategic focus area for infrastructure and development. And one of our goals is to establish and implement a sustainable funding strategy to support long term infrastructure development and maintenance. 00:41:44,730 So with that, maybe to get everyone caught up to speed at our first meeting in January, we presented some of the information I received from the public on the street utility fee and asked for some direction. That direction that was given was come back at a subsequent meeting. 00:41:58,470 Here we are tonight to talk about what the language would be for either an advisory vote that would be non-binding, but would provide some guidance to the Commission to understand, is this an issue that we want to keep talking about? Is this an issue that the public is asking for us for a resolution or a solution? Alternatively, it could also be the full blown home rule charter amendment, and that could also be put up for or shouldn’t they also instead, that could be put to a public vote on that June 9th, 2026 primary election. 00:42:19,270 Um, maybe I’ll kind of walk through the concepts that we have here. The first would be that non-binding advisory vote. Ultimately, that would just I didn’t phrase the question necessarily within the the agenda memo, but that the intent would be just a query. Them ask what their support would be. 00:42:36,170 Would they be in favor of a, um, replacement of special street maintenance, special assessments with the monthly utility bill or, excuse me, utility fee? Um, that’s probably all the question would ask. And that’s all the information that we would likely provide in that question. And then we’d see what the public would, where they would take us with that. 00:42:53,470 Um, if I talk now on the Home rule charter amendments, there’s probably a couple of different options. Uh, once again, in increasing complexity, it could start with something as simple as we laid out in the agenda memo. Uh, just a change to levy and collect an infrastructure fee for street maintenance purposes. 00:43:11,170 That’s ultimately all you would have to say in the in the Home Rule Charter amendment and let the votes come in where they may. That’s pretty straightforward. It doesn’t get into or really address any of the issues that the public have brought up or that we would, even with our own understanding of the issue, have resolved. 00:43:25,600 So there would be a certain level of of trust of what would happen next after that. So I would definitely would advise if there’s other elements we would want to include. 00:43:39,030 And I tried to list those as some subsections to that initial question, with the first being that street maintenance special assessments would no longer be created for projects funded by the fee. Um, it’s kind of a redundant statement because central code wouldn’t allow us to do that anyway, but that would address what some from the public have noted that if they would support a an infrastructure fee or street 00:43:53,900 utility fee, they don’t want to have a double dipping component take place. And they’re still using special assessments. And we created this fee. Um, legislation would say that we can’t do that, but that would probably be worthwhile to explain that within any home rule, charter amendment. 00:44:08,300 And then the second piece that I have is, is item B in the agenda memo was the prior to implementation, board of City Commissioners shall approve an ordinance defining the scope of the activities funded by the fee. The fee classes, the initial monthly fee and fee adjustment process, and minimum and maximum ending fund balances. 00:44:25,800 Those, in my mind, would be the minimum list of things that we would have to or we should do as an organization before we’d implement a fee. So it’s not so much that we, when we’re asking the public to change something in the Home Rule charter, would have that whole planned out of what the solution looks like when we get 00:44:41,470 to the end. But we would be mapping out the steps that the commission would take. There could also be additional public engagement or mandatory public input placed within that language. 00:44:58,870 Um, in the same um, in the same vein, uh, the public might not understand all the time that you can’t create an ordinance without a public hearing, but identifying that there would be public hearings and opportunity for public comment throughout that process would have some value as well. Um, so I guess maybe with that I’ll pause. The rest of that’s in the memo. There’s obviously some other outstanding issues that would need to be resolved. 00:45:13,330 I would think some of those, in my opinion, wouldn’t rise to the level of a home rule charter. I mean, we look at that home rule charter, we reserve a lot of that language for just the very highest and most directive of of guidance for the organization. 00:45:29,870 We then follow that up with ordinances or policies or procedures that would get into some of those details. So it would be kind of inconsistent for us to explain the entire street utility fee package in a 16 paragraph home rule charter amendment, uh, when really that’s inconsistent with what we would do with the rest of our utilities or any 00:45:46,130 other fee that we might charge as the city. So I guess with that, I’ll pause for discussion and hopefully some direction from the board on how you’d like to proceed. Commissioners. Commissioner. Mr. mayor. Gabe. So let me see if I see this. Right. 00:46:04,070 Either we do the non-binding advisory vote that will be in June, and then if it came back really positive, then we’d come back in November, perhaps with the full change to the Home rule charter. Mayor, commissioners. Commissioner. Rich, that could definitely be a package or a route that the board could take. 00:46:21,670 I still think you would run into a similar situation is that if the public says, yes, we’re interested in the thing, to what degree are we going to package up and figure out every last detail before we ask for the real vote? So I think we’d be in a similar spot that we are right now, but at least give us some indication that we should analyze this issue further, and maybe create a 00:46:36,130 utility. Um, a hypothetical utility, so we can provide every single answer to every single citizen that might have a request of what their their number would be. So I guess I don’t know if that answered the question or not, but um, short answer. Yes. 00:46:49,600 That could be a path that the Commission takes if the vote comes back as a non-binding advisory vote comes back positive to then continue the conversation and follow that up in November. Other comments. So I have one concern that that we are going to have a minimum of two additional measures on the June ballot, both asking for tax revenue. 00:47:15,830 And is this going to cause us further confusion by having three, even though it’s a non-binding vote, schools are going to be out. We have our street infrastructure continuation sales tax. And so that’s a question I have. Like how much how much is too much for to to provide enough information. So make sure our voters are educated properly. 00:47:39,070 And it’s a question I mean I know schools like they’re going to have their meeting next week or the week after, and they’re probably going to vote to have a bond issue. To schools. Schools. Commissioner Connelly. Well, and that’s, um, that can certainly lend into the conversation. 00:48:02,230 Uh, Gabe, thanks for what you said, because it’s also a measurement of trust. We’ve in the last 15 years, there’s been a lot of, um, conversation over the trust when it comes to votes. And we have an opportunity. 00:48:19,700 I mean, arguably, we would have a if it were, whether it’s an advisory vote or put an advisory vote on the general and then look at the next election cycle. I mean, we have some flexibility with this element of it because there are a lot of moving parts. Um, so that might lead into what you were saying. Mayor. 00:48:35,670 It’s a question I have, and I mean, I’m putting it to us because we want to make sure whatever we recommend, we can make sure we can get enough information out so that our voters can make a good, intelligent decision. And if we have a lot of items out there, it’s going to just be harder to get that much more information out. That’s my concern. 00:48:52,200 And knowing schools are plan, at least I’ve been told they’re planning. They have a need. And so if there’s a bond issue and we have sales tax and we have a street fee, do we have a we have a lot of things now. And so I ask the question, Gabe. 00:49:11,370 Go ahead, mayor, if I may, I would say and I try to highlight that in the memo as well, that if if a question was asked of the voters, whether it’s a non-binding advisory vote or a full on home rule charter amendment, I would anticipate a very similar level of effort and communication 00:49:25,800 from from the city organization to explain what those things are and to go through that analysis and to to explain to the voters what even the advisory vote means. 00:49:41,800 We don’t want to have an ill informed voting public, provide an advisory vote, yes or no, without really knowing what it is that they’re even advising on. So I would envision a very similar public outreach campaign, regardless of the type of vote you would put forward. But obviously, if there’s no vote, then, then we would just kind of stall the conversation for the time being until the direction. 00:49:56,270 Of my concern is just there becomes a lot of issues. It’s not that we can’t provide the information, but now we’re there’s a lot to consume in the bond issue from the schools is probably going to be a pretty, I’m told, could have a lot of factors to it. 00:50:14,930 So, um, just that’s what I was told recently by by the school board. So I it’s my obligation to bring that to us and, and share that information. So I, I, I personally believe ultimately some kind of fee to take care of specials and make specials not exist is a is a economically fair methodology of taking care of streets in 00:50:35,800 the in the neighborhoods, which is what this is about. But I don’t know if we even have the sentiment. I don’t know, I’m I just don’t know. And I’ve been down this path for like eight years now. Commissioner Zenker. 00:50:57,670 So I wouldn’t if, if you want to postpone it till November, fine then. I don’t care. Um, but I think if you’re going to postpone it till November, then you’ve got to ask the full question for the parameters that Gabe, that Gabe presented, because they seem practical and that seem they are practical. 00:51:14,970 Um, if you just get an advisory vote in November, then you got to wait a whole nother two years. And I do agree with you. And and this thing’s been delayed not because of the city of Bismarck. 00:51:31,930 Because we were trying to change some statutes within the the state constitution, which which hindered the progress that would have been done six years ago. So, um, again, either way, doesn’t matter to me. But we either, quote unquote, get it done or we don’t. That’s kind of where I’m at with this thing. And I bet if I asked Gabe, he’d say the same thing, but he won’t say it publicly. Yeah. Commissioner Zager, I’d say it publicly. Do we would love. 00:51:51,900 Some direction. Either do the thing or not do the thing in the. And I and I agree with the commissioners. The commissioners think I agree that if we don’t if we don’t do the advisory vote, but we just want to move forward, I would think that we in November would be the Home Rule charter. 00:52:03,300 Right. I enough’s enough. Yeah. Commissioner Conley. If an advisory vote was on in June, um, because it’s less about, say, taxes or anything, I, um, would independently or, um, working with I would do everything I could with the resources I have to help define that difference on education. 00:52:27,800 And I only want to put it out there because I just know there’s going to be. The school board is planning on. So there’s just this other issue out there. So all of a sudden we’ve got three. Yes, Commissioner. Yeah. Mr. 00:52:40,400 mayor, uh, Commissioner Zenker, I agree with you both. We do it. We do it in the fall and make it a real home rule charter, I think what’s so appealing to me for the about this is, we’ll say, Bismarck taxpayers, millions of dollars if we ever get to this in place, millions of dollars in interest costs and construction loans, millions of 00:52:58,430 dollars in interest on special assessments. So that’s the most appealing part that I see in the whole project. But, um, yeah, I think there’s probably too much stuff on the June ballot. I don’t know, I only. Ask. I don’t, you know, it gets to be a lot of things. 00:53:13,930 But then that would give us some time. I go to a men’s breakfast every Wednesday and there’s like 70 guys there. And last two Wednesdays ago, they’re all crowded around me asking about this. And there was a bunch of stuff somebody said that was wrong, you know? So I was helping explain it. 00:53:28,430 So it’s going to take some explanation from all of us to make sure people understand what it is that we eventually propose. We just need to give Gabe direction, I think, and I, I only brought up my concern. Go ahead. Commissioner. 00:53:49,070 Um, I guess I came into this after reading through this, um, liking the idea of the non-binding advisory vote. Uh, but I just worry. To your point, I didn’t know much about the schools. 00:54:06,130 What else? What other ballot measures are going to be other than ours? Um, and to me, the conversations we’ve had on the sales tax and making sure that that gets extended for our road projects is also very, very important. Um, I don’t like when we talk about the surveys that Gabe puts out, we see how highly rated our roads are in this community and how appreciative people are of that. And that wouldn’t be possible without that sales tax. 00:54:24,400 And I just worry that we’re going to be giving people too much information all at once, demanding to know what they want for all these different things. 00:54:43,600 If we can move it to November and have it more fleshed out for people that then they’re only making a couple big decisions with these ballots at a time seems a little bit clearer to me, I guess. Um, but I mean, I agree, if we’re going to be pushing it to November, then it needs to be the whole concept. 00:55:01,670 Um, I didn’t I liked the idea of the non-binding advisory vote coming into this just because I think, again, to your surveys, Gabe, you get very mixed reviews. But I also think that there’s not a full understanding of what it is to. So I think it would be a hard survey for some people to fill out. But then with that being said, we need to make sure that they understand it when they’re voting. 00:55:17,930 So if they’re not understanding it when they’re filling the survey out, how do we get them to that point when they’re voting? And do we have time to do that before June? So I could go either way. But I do think we either need to move forward with it or be done. So. Commissioner Conley. 00:55:38,470 I’m still all in on the advisory vote, just because once you get permission to put black ink on white paper, you choose to put it on there. There’s some intentionality with it. 00:55:57,200 And if we just forego that, even if it’s more time, we do siphon more out of it, it buys us time. At the same time, it lets the foot off the gas a little bit to where there might be some hesitancy. Um, election years are always convoluted, even by the time we get to the general election, we’re still there’s measures at the state level there. Um, there’s several getting signatures. 00:56:16,330 Um, I think that we keep the intentionality in there and keep the foot on the gas that we’re doing everything we can to get it out in front of the citizens and keep it where they can, not only where we’re talking about it at this table, 00:56:31,870 but we’re also they can see it in a document and keep it in the forefront of their information, because people are inundated with information all the time. So that’s all I. Have. Thoughts. I mean, I, I brought up what I brought up because I have heard about it. 00:56:51,470 So if you’re all fine with that, I mean, I can go with I’m, I’m fine. If we do the advisory. Go ahead. Gabe. Yeah. Mayor and commissioners, I might also add, I spoke previously that I would envision a similar public outreach kind of campaign, regardless of the option chosen. 00:57:07,130 I think if you did choose a non-binding advisory vote, depending on how you would phrase that, it could probably be done. That is just simple enough that you don’t need to really do any engagement with the public before they read what is written on the on the ballot, and then they can just make that determination themselves. So I would offer that. 00:57:21,630 That’s probably another solution to that might um, not not spend as much city energy and community energy talking about an issue that we’re just trying to get a test. The waters concept. Um, there’s ways to do that that are probably less impactful or less energy draining, um, on the community to by just wording the question appropriately. Commissioner Clary. 00:57:41,800 And Gabe, you feel comfortable like if we were to do the non-binary simplified like you’re saying for June, um, that we could still move forward in November with the Home Rule charter, because that’s going to have to also happen. Sure. Mayor and commissioners. 00:57:58,930 Commissioner Cleary, I think the home rule charter, obviously, you could do that even at June timeframe. I don’t know if there’d be anything that would come out of an advisory vote that would that would give you more insights as to the policies that you should be adopting as the board, what this rate should look like. 00:58:11,330 It’s just be a high level. Is this even something that the community would like as a philosophy? And then from that, if there’s enough support for it, I think that would give you the direction that the community wants you to continue to develop this program further before a vote is ultimately put 00:58:28,270 before the public. So short answer. Yes. Okay. Thank you. I don’t know if we have consensus or. Not make a. Go ahead. Commissioner Connelly. If we let you work on it. Gabe. 00:58:51,430 Um, for another two weeks and brought it back to the next meeting with the, um, advisory wording, a little bit more worked out. Um, still hit the timeline. Uh, mayor and commissioners, what I would suggest is that we still have some some more meetings. I might look to Jason to understand exactly when, with the final determinations made on language, that would have to be decided, but we still have through March to to make some language changes. 00:59:08,870 I will be back before this board next week to talk about the half cent sales tax extension and the whole World Charter amendment there. If you want both of those items on the same agenda, we definitely can. 00:59:22,270 But if you’d rather have this, have, um, I guess even in March timeframe before decisions made, we could push it out a month and come back at that point, whatever you would want to do. And administrator says April 6th is the date that we have to have our final determination made on both of those issues of what the language is and how we are approaching those questions. Commissioner. 00:59:39,770 So it looks to me like consensus is still an advisory vote with the with the November. , um. Possibly November general election vote on changing the Home Charter. It seems to me that that’s. The well, then that’s the way we’re going to go. I would agree with that. That’s kind of where I’m leaning. 00:59:58,770 Is I don’t think we need a motion. You good with that? You got to bring that. You got to bring the verbiage back to us to approve for the ballot anyways, right? That is correct. I would come back to the board for, for the approval of that language. Okay. Let’s go down. Perfect. All right guys. 01:00:12,870 Is there any other business. Well, I had one of our citizens call us call me today saying he got a solicitation from somebody, said it was a Bismarck police department raising money for poor children. Well, I talked to the chief. It’s not the Bismarck Police Department. 01:00:32,270 So just a warning to folks watching this or people in the audience. Uh, no doubt a scam. So be careful when you get a phone call like that, okay? Any other business hearing?