00:00:16,670	It is March 24th at 515. We’re in the Tom Baker Room of the City County building. This will be the board of City Commissioners meeting. Um, but before we get started, if Chaplain Carr would be available to have invocation and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you. Mayor. Commissioners. I’ll be praying.

00:00:40,670	According to my tradition today. So let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for being able to gather together and freedom in this room and discuss the things of our city. I thank you for these commissioners, God, and the love that they have for Bismarck.

00:00:58,470	I thank you for the city of Bismarck and all that it offers us as citizens. Pray for tonight, God, and we just ask that your presence will be in this place and that if anyone needs wisdom in their decisions, that you will give them wisdom. We also pray for our first responders and our city workers.

00:01:15,930	Protect them, watch over them and bless them in the mighty name of our Savior we pray. Amen. If you can’t stand, please do. And let us do the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands.

00:01:34,070	One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, sir, and it’s an honor to be here and remind everybody to get their tickets for the 2026 Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast. So thank you for the reminder. Thank. All right. If we can call roll to call the meeting order, please. Commissioner rice. Here. Commissioner Zenker. Here. Commissioner Connolly here.

00:02:00,270	Commissioner Cleary here. Mayor Schmitz here. Our first item tonight before public comment is a proclamation for Child Abuse Prevention Month. Whereas families flourish, North Dakota has offices in Bismarck and works across the state.

00:02:26,130	And programs highlighting child abuse prevention, including network building, advocating for change, educating the community and supporting families. Therefore, be it resolved that I am Michael Schmitz, mayor of the City of Bismarck, on behalf of this Commission, do hereby proclaim April as Child Abuse Prevention Month and call upon all citizens, community agencies, faith groups, medical facilities, elected leaders and businesses to increase awareness by wearing blue.

00:02:44,530	On April 10th, 2026 to support the families, thereby helping prevent child abuse and strengthening the community in which we live. Sign this day the 24th of March, 2026. Thank you. Do you want a picture or please? Okay. And then I have carnations. Thank you. I can. Wonderful. There you go. Thank you. You.

00:03:41,130	Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. We are at public comment, which is for anything on the consent agenda. The regular agenda? That’s not a public hearing or the prior committee. Prior commission agenda, excluding public hearing. I have already said that.

00:04:16,530	So anyone who wished to speak to a topic, please come forward, identify yourself, sign in and tell us which topic you’re speaking to. Whoever that you’re going to speak on. The sales tax and the roads. I support the proposed language as is.

00:04:36,070	I would encourage you to keep it how it was last time, as you see the compliance. But I also would let you know that the school board also have little. So I, I don’t know if it’s, you know, with two measures if it’s out, if one will get defeated because they’re both on. So I will just be cautious how we promote this. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions? Okay.

00:05:00,200	Thanks, Trevor. Anyone else who 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.

00:05:25,400	Commissioners, what are your wishes with regard to the consent agenda? Mr. mayor, I’d like to pull up item D two. It’s a letter of support for four Partners LLC. Okay. Other than that, anything else? I’ll make a motion to approve is presented. Second. Any discussion? Minus. Minus d2. Yes. Uh, any discussion? Hearing none. We’ll call roll. Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Commissioner. Connolly. Yes. Commissioner. Cleary. Yes, Commissioner. Risch. Yes.

00:06:03,200	Mayor. Schmitz. Yes, Commissioner. Well, D2 is another letter of support for interest by down low loans through the Dakota Community Fund. Dakota, North Dakota Opportunity Fund loan program.

00:06:26,670	Uh, remember two meetings ago, we supported one for a building that was already built at some dentist, built this one now is for some financial advisors. They want to build an office building, which is great. I’m all in favor of it. I’m all in favor of economic development. But this is an investment for some pretty people that are doing probably pretty well in life.

00:06:42,700	And I know it’s not city money, it’s state money that would buy down their interest on their loan, but it’s still tax money be given to these folks that are going to build this office building. And I don’t think there’s any shortage of office space in our community currently. And I’m all for them doing it. Go ahead, build it, do a good job, make some money.

00:06:58,470	But I don’t think the state or the city should have any involvement with it. And that way I’m opposed to sending a letter of support just because I’m they’ll do it. Even if we don’t, they don’t get the interest bite on them. I’m convinced of that. Okay. Any other comments? I’ve agreed with.

00:07:20,570	That all along. When we talk about even the, um, Vision Fund is, is it a new business? When it initially came out, is it a new business that’s going to impact our community and a different way in a positive way? Or is it like a nonprofit

00:07:38,200	that needs that a little extra help? Um, when it’s just a free for all for people that can afford it? Um, I struggle with it. So so. I want to make it clear that I’m not critical of this business.

00:07:56,330	And these guys applying for this interest by town, I do it if I were them as well. I mean, it’s there for the asking. So I probably great people, successful people, and I wish them all the best. I just don’t think the government should be engaged.

00:08:11,870	Well, I’m going to just make the comment this, this is dollars. These are dollars that are made, have been made available primarily by the state of North Dakota for all communities across the state. And, um, I know that we have not been getting our share of those dollars in North Dakota, and this is one way that we do.

00:08:26,800	And this is not coming from City Vision Fund. This is money that they’re borrowing and have to repay to the North Dakota Opportunity Fund at our higher rate than they would pay to the city through the Vision Fund.

00:08:43,470	Um, so, I mean, I think it is also provides opportunity for people to put up real estate and increase our tax base. So we are, you know, we’re we’re winning from that perspective. So just my general comment, I don’t like losing to other communities if we don’t have to on that. Yeah.

00:09:02,130	I guess I’m just going to add, I think that the The Opportunity Fund is different than the Vision Fund. It’s not funds that we control or that our local funds. Um, and it also is less strict, like commissioner Commissioner Connally was saying, like there’s certain people that apply for the Vision Fund that makes sense. And some of those people aren’t going to fit into that criteria.

00:09:20,130	This is an opportunity for them to make use of at the state level. Um, I, I agree with the mayor. I don’t I want to see people using these programs because it means that they’re investing in our communities. Um, for that purpose, I’m going to move that we approve. Second. Further discussion. Call the roll, please. Commissioner Connolly, no.

00:09:45,200	Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Commissioner. Risch. No. Commissioner. Zenker. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes. Moving to the regular agenda. Item A is a public hearing on ordinance 6658 to amend the 2025 Budget Ordinance, which this is a fairly regular occurrence because we budget 18 months in advance. So, Eric, I’ll let you make your presentation. Thanks, mayor. Commissioners.

00:10:17,270	So budget ordinance 6658. Is to amend the 2025 budget in order to maintain compliance with appropriations. Um, as the city spends money, uh, appropriations are needed by century code for general fund, special revenue funds and debt service funds.

00:10:40,230	The five items that we, um, are considering for tonight for the amendment, um, are related to the public transit system. Um, we need an increase for that. And it’s simply related to timing of grant dollars. Um, as we are working through the budget process, we have an idea of how much grant dollars we’re going to have. Um, so we make those appropriations.

00:10:58,930	But when the timing of those don’t quite work out based on when the federal awards get to the city, um, we sometimes fall a little bit short. And so the increase there, um, of 100,000 to get to just over 4.4 million, we’ll cover the amount of grant dollars that we have passed on to transit.

00:11:20,800	The second item is the Police Asset Forfeiture Fund. Um, this fund typically doesn’t have a lot of activity. Um, the reason we need the increase here is for unforeseen vehicle maintenance and equipment maintenance, as well as some training that we are sending our officers to, um, related to drug enforcement in our community.

00:11:40,000	The motel hotel tax fund. So this is a direct pass through that the city receives, um, 2% on overnight stays at Motel Hotel. It is passed on entirely to the CVB and the Bismarck Event Center, 75% to the CVB and 25% to the Event Center to support operations.

00:12:00,870	We collected more money than we anticipated through the budget process. Um, mid year 2024. So we need to increase that amount in order to maintain compliance for the money that we passed on. Um, the fourth item is for the sales tax fund. This is in recognition of two commission actions that took place in 2025.

00:12:23,400	Um, the use of the money to buy the first installment of the new land of the land for the new police department, um, that we’re going to be building in upcoming years. Um, just over $1 million with the advertisement and the cost of first installment.

00:12:43,030	And the second part of that is the $649,000 or so that we authorize to help fund the deficit for Transit’s operating budget. And the last piece is for the Special Deficiency Fund. Um, we have some timing things in the budget process.

00:13:03,870	Um, this money here is used for extra width and depth to buy down, um, the special assessment process for our citizens. Um, when a road is built bigger, um, by nature than an actual residential street. And so this small adjustment is to account for the money that we contributed to the special assessments. Okay. Any questions of Eric. Good job. Thank you. Commissioner. I do appreciate you don’t have 40 slides like. Your previous person. So thanks.

00:13:33,170	Yep. All right. We’ll open the public hearing. Anyone wish to speak to this? Please come forward. A second call for public comment. A third and final call for public comment. Hearing none. Seeing no one. Public comment period is now closed. Commissioners, what are your wishes? Move to approve as presented. Second. Any discussion? Hearing none will call. Roll.

00:13:59,900	Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Commissioner. Rice. Yes. Commissioner. Zenker. Yes. Commissioner. Connolly. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes. Next item B consider request to award contracts for the furnishing, finishing payment, pavement materials for 2026. Excuse me. Furnishing. Good evening, Mayor and commissioners. I’m presenting this item on behalf of Public Works Service Operations.

00:14:28,270	As the engineering Department held bids on behalf of Public Works Service operations for various, uh, paving materials. Uh, in your memo, we had the or or I should say the bid summary was presented to you, uh, and is here on the board.

00:14:47,330	Our recommendation is, I guess we have a couple of recommendations. We have multiple parts. Each part was reflecting a different material that was being requested through this bidding process. So our recommendation is to award for part A and zoom in here a little bit. Award a contract to Strata Corporation for their bid of $75.96 per ton.

00:15:08,300	And Northern Improvement for $77.84 per ton, subject to the unavailability of Strata Corporation for part B, bituminous TAC oil for Northern Improvement Company at a contract price of $6 per gallon, part C Asphalt Cement awarded to Northern Improvement Company at a price of $1,214 per ton.

00:15:30,400	Part D and E did not have bids. We’ll cover those here at the end, but part F was crushed granite awarded to Strata Corporation, uh, at a price of $90 a ton and Cold mix part G award to Northern Improvement Company at a contract price of either $15.25 per bag or $188 per ton.

00:15:47,730	Um, we’re listing these all as just bid prices. We’re not sure exactly how many, how much quantity is needed, but we’re establishing the unit price that public works would be able to purchase this material from these particular vendors for their pavement maintenance needs here this summer.

00:16:05,000	Um, lastly, we did not receive bids for part D or E, the asphalt cement sealant or part E bituminous seal oil. Through conversations with our procurement officer, our recommendation here is to go out and do a sole source, sole source procurement of that due to our unsuccessful bid. So we would look for a vendor and try to purchase those items, because we’ve unsuccessfully went to the market to try to bid on those items.

00:16:21,930	Um, could be something specific to the volatility and some of that, and not wanting to sign up for a longer term, um, commitment with the city for a fixed price for a period of time. But at any rate, Public works would like to have permission to do a sole source procurement for those two items.

00:16:37,330	So with that, I’d take any questions that you may have on this item. Any questions for Gabe? What are your wishes.? Move to approve is presented.. Second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. We’ll call roll. Commissioner rice. Yes. Commissioner. Zenker. Yes. Commissioner. Connolly. Yes. Commissioner. Cleary. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes.

00:17:04,670	Next item C consider request to hear insufficiency of protest for on the resolution of necessity for street improvement. District 597. Go ahead. Gabe. Mayor. Commissioners. The Street Improvement District 597 is a concrete pavement repair project on Main Avenue from approximately Washington Street Bridge to seventh Street. We had a protest period. There are 42 parcels within this area that would be benefited from this improvement.

00:17:26,700	Protest period ended. Uh, would have been 320, I believe it was. And no parcels protested. So we have insufficient protests and we’d like to move forward with the project. So the request is to accept the insufficiency of protest for all units in 597 commissioners. So moved. Second. Any discussion? Hearing none. We’ll call roll. Commissioner Zenker. Yes, Commissioner. Connolly.

00:17:53,170	Yes. Commissioner. Cleary. Yes, Commissioner. Irish. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes. Item D consider requests for resolutions creating district, approving plans and specifications, and authorize to advertise and receive bids for the annual 2026 concrete. Concrete contracts parts A1, A2 and B. Go ahead. Gabe. Mayor.

00:18:17,930	Commissioner, if I could try to get the share link up for a second so I can type in a password here. Perfect. Maybe. Unable to connect. We’re just going to do this without that. Then, uh, mayor and commissioners, the project that I have in front of you as part of our city contract, it’s three parts.

00:19:15,530	Parts A1, A2 and B, part A1 is for new driveways, new sidewalks, and driveway. Widening is typically reserved for new developing areas where the developer or homeowner petitions for that work to be special assessed or to be constructed on their behalf, and then special assessed against their property.

00:19:32,200	So we would bid a project similar to what we went through on the furnishing pavement materials, where we bid a quantity that’s unknown, but we established bid prices. And so we established the bid price and then give the homeowner or builder what that cost would be prior to them making the selection to use our contractor part A2 is our sidewalk gap project, where every year the commission, if

00:19:49,570	they so choose, selects which areas in our community that do not currently have a sidewalk may, um, may be improved by having a having a sidewalk. So working with Commissioner Zenker as the sidewalk portfolio, we’ve come with a recommendation that was in your your packet for some areas.

00:20:08,400	We did work through some timing changes last year in terms of how much time do we give the landowners to work through and get that sidewalk constructed so we’d follow a similar practice we’ve laid out in the agenda memo.

00:20:24,030	If the Commission chooses to to move forward with this recommendation, that we would inform the landowner that they have to have it completed by the end of the 2027 construction season to give them both this 2026 construction season, as well as next year to have that work completed.

00:20:39,200	If they choose to use the city’s contractor in 2026, we would offer a subsidy of 25% of what that cost is to install the sidewalk to incentivize them to install it earlier rather than later. Um, so if they end up not installing it and giving a petition by 2027, the way the agenda memo reads is that we would look to install that in 2028.

00:20:56,530	So it would really be two years from right now is when we look to install that. But that is also subject to to whatever decision you guys would like to make.

00:21:11,400	Um, we’ve had some internal discussions on if the better timing would be, uh, request that it’s done by the end of next year, and if they don’t have it done by or at least indicate that they’ve submitted a petition to construct it by September kind of timeframe, that then we would move forward on on that particular project or that that owner’s behalf. So I guess that’s something to determined as you make your way through.

00:21:27,000	Uh, would want to note, in the last couple of years, we’ve had a increase in the utilization of our sidewalk suggestion tool that the public uses. So in the, um, the recommended recommended, uh, areas that we have, including in our table that I would have had up on the screen here, uh, it shows a number of pins or number of locations.

00:21:42,300	Those are the number of public people that have noted here. This would be a sidewalk. Would be beneficial to have a sidewalk in this particular area.

00:21:54,770	So we’re trying to show how that information is getting, um, you know, brought in from the public and filtered it’s way up to this board as those decisions are getting made. So the list is on, uh, on the, on the agenda for your consideration. The lastly, the part B is for hazardous sidewalks and miscellaneous concrete repair. Uh, we’ll pick three areas in this season is what we’re proposing to do. An inventory of the sidewalks.

00:22:12,270	If any of them are hazardous in nature due to heaving or settling or anything along those lines, we would mark that in the in the field, write a letter to the landowner indicating that they have a hazard they need to address with either a contractor of their choosing, or they can utilize the city’s contractor and special assessment.

00:22:30,330	So those are the three projects we’re looking for is the A-1 project, which is new construction, A2, which is sidewalk gaps, and part B, which is our sidewalk, hazardous sidewalk and miscellaneous concrete repair. And I take any questions that you may have. Commissioner Risch, Mr.

00:22:47,900	mayor, uh, Gabe, what if you know of a hazardous sidewalk? Do they call the city engineering department and just say, hey, this is a bad sidewalk? I walk there every day. And what’s the process? Sure, mayor, commissioners.

00:23:02,930	Commissioner rich, we have more of our proactive areas where we go out and look at, you know, the areas of neighborhoods and try to just canvas the entire neighborhood. We find some efficiencies from the contractors operation by doing it that way, and canvass that entire area.

00:23:16,200	Uh, we also will take requests from the public or notice from the public when someone calls in and says, there’s a really bad spot at XYZ Street, we would go out and evaluate that location as well as a couple of blocks, or I should say a couple of houses, you know, in each direction. So we aren’t just picking that one. We’re picking all the houses on that frontage and doing kind of ad hoc at least one block at a time.

00:23:29,530	Locations, in case there’s other spots to have the contractor go address those as well. But yes, we receive those comments from the public as more of our miscellaneous areas as well. So if a citizen has something they call the engineering department or reach you by email or whatever the case may be.

00:23:42,000	All of those communication paths would work just fine. Thank you. Any other questions? Commissioners move to approve is presented. Second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Roll. Commissioner Connolly. Yes. Commissioner. Cleary. Yes. Commissioner. Rich. Yes. Commissioner. Zenker. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes.

00:24:10,130	Item E consider request for approval of the project list and the Home Rule Charter amendment language for the half cent sales tax extension on roadways. Okay, Mayor, commissioners, in your agenda packet is the recommended or the proposed language for what? The half cent sales tax for the extension of roadways would look like.

00:24:28,530	So I guess this mirrors what we’ve had in previous conversations in terms of the project list and the language as as drafted by city Attorney Meese uh, I guess we’d take any questions that you may have on the language. There were some other items added to this list, reflecting some of the language that wasn’t added in the city.

00:24:45,330	A citizen initiated measure from from previous that was passed, I guess, two years ago, just about now, regarding remote sales or allowing remote sales to be collected and as well as a component on when that sales tax expires.

00:25:04,770	So those are two elements that we could contemplate, including in here, or those could be removed from this particular issue and just left to their own devices, I can confirm that the remote sales language isn’t an issue. We are allowed to collect sales tax on remote sales, even though our sales, uh, our home rule charter doesn’t specifically indicate as such.

00:25:22,900	So that’s probably more just a cleanup that all the paragraphs match each other. But I would say and I could note also the expiration of of the sales tax, I guess, because both, uh, because of the sales tax for transit and uh, emergency services doesn’t have an expiration or sunset on it.

00:25:43,000	It’s probably assumed to be continual unless otherwise noted. But I guess I’ll stop rambling at this point in time and take any questions or comments or direction that you would have. Mr. Conley. You’re not suggesting putting a sunset on the citizen driven in this language.

00:26:02,300	Mayor, Commissioner, Commissioner Conley, right now there’s a paragraph that’s specifically says that the first penny, the first sales tax that was passed back in the 90s doesn’t expire. There is not a similar sentence currently regarding the expiration or lack thereof for the transit and emergency services related one.

00:26:22,170	So it would be adding in if it’s worthwhile to add in that clarification that that tax also does not expire unless some other action is taken. Okay. Because when the people that went and got signatures, that was never part of the conversation. Understandable. Commissioner Risch. Mr. Mayor, Gabe, I’m looking at two and a half pages here.

00:26:42,800	How much is this? Do you plan on? Would we put on the ballot? Just the end of it or all of this? Two and a half pages. Mayor. Commissioners. Commissioner Risch, feel free. City attorney Combs or city attorney. Excuse me. Sorry if there’s a I can’t see you back there. So I was I was reverting to a previous state board. Oh. So we’re looking for outside attorneys now.

00:27:04,170	Our typical practice would be to include all of that language in in the questions. I know on our previous time that we passed the half or I should say we the citizens past that in 2018, it had the entire project list. It had all those details in it. So I guess that’s bearing under other direction.

00:27:19,870	That’s what we would propose. Commissioner Risch. Mr. Mayor, Gabe, if you want to look at it, um, when we get into section two, it it’s part of the existing ordinance that we’re not modifying. It would make more sense if we didn’t have that in there, because people may get confused.

00:27:38,370	And then at the end it says, yes, as it’s published, home rule charter amendment to the Home Rule charter for the City of Bismarck, as published in the Tribune.

00:27:55,600	I mean, if we already are going to list the roads up above, I don’t think it the put as published in the Tribune might confuse people because somebody might say, well, I didn’t I don’t get the Tribune. I didn’t see it in the Tribune. Something to that effect. But shorter generally is better. Longer is more confusing. And, um, when people are confused, the tendency is to vote no.

00:28:13,830	So I would suggest that we get rid of the stuff in section two, middle of the second page, all the way to the bottom, and all the way to where it says a yes vote. So. And I mean publish it a tribune, the whole works. So I’m, I’m. We’d be we’d still be listening to all the roads and we’d be listing the expiration date in ten years and all that.

00:28:31,870	It might be simpler to just say a continuation of the sales tax. And people will know that we’re not putting something additional on just a continuation. Where I find the confusion and I don’t know if you mean all section two. I actually think in paragraph. Paragraph 17.

00:28:57,370	CE could be removed, which it says to impose the retail sales tax on gross receipts, and it goes into paragraph one and then sub one or sub I sub I to the 3.3%, 3/10 of a cent for public safety, 2/10 for public transportation. Because to me that looks like we’re imposing another sales tax. It’s already there.

00:29:19,430	We’re not just to eliminate that entirely. We can’t do that because we need approval of photo of the citizen to change that word. That’s why I’m saying not just we don’t. We’re not amending that section. So we’re just remove it from this entirely. Okay. Yeah. Because we don’t have to vote on it. It’s right. That’s my point.

00:29:40,000	And I don’t want anybody to think we’re implementing another half cent sales tax. Well we could take out five as well. But. Mayor and commissioners, Commissioner Risch, if I may, the paragraph five does need to be changed because there is language in our current home rule charter that refers to the

00:29:59,970	half cent sales tax used for roadways will expire ten years from the passage of of the of the of the Home Rule Charter amendment, so that sunset we would need to modify. Now it’s a question of is there? We brought in the entire paragraph to give the entire context of where that sits.

00:30:17,300	Really, it’s just a little bit. Of a strike in the sunset in two, and you’re going to say it again in paragraph five. But it would be in conflict if we don’t amend that. Now it’s your turn, Julie. So, yes.

00:30:43,000	So, Commissioner Risch and Mayor and Commissioners five should stay in, because it does say in the Home Rule charter. Now, just it does say ten years after the imposition of the or the first collection, I think is what the language might say. So if we clarify it December 31st of 2038, then we’re clear and we’re not in conflict. And there’s no confusion regarding the termination date. And.

00:31:00,730	I and if I could also, I do agree with the mayor that we could remove 17 see one little I two little I just to be I had originally put it in just so we’re telling the voters what we’re doing.

00:31:16,730	But it is getting along and and I do agree that the confusion may come in if they think if anybody thinks that we would be imposing a new tax. Mr. Mayor. Yes. Yeah. Just as a follow up, if we’re going to leave five with the expiration date, then we could take out two altogether. I mean, with the sunset, because we were already explained it in five..

00:31:34,330	Mayor, commissioners, Commissioner Risch, it’s also located in the current home rule charter in two locations. So we’re trying to get rid of it or amend it in both locations is what we’re trying to accomplish. Other comments. Commissioner Cleary. Maybe this is a silly question, but is all of this going to fit on the ballot.

00:31:57,170	Page? I guess I look to, uh, Julie to help with that one. If that’s a if we have a page limit or a size limit regarding. I mean, I remember all the projects being listed on the last one. I’m just wondering if, like, we’re able to replicate that or if this is too much.

00:32:14,300	I can check with the auditor for this, the county auditor. But we could also take out the spaces. So because it’s double space for ease of reading. But, um, I, we can check with him to make sure. I’m sure it will fit, but I just, I understand the, the concern. Commissioner Zenker.

00:32:36,170	And honestly, it depends which machine you go to. Right. If you get a paper ballot, it’ll be different than the electronic. Right? The iPad kind of looking thing. So. Well, it’s a really big iPad because I don’t need my glasses when I use it.

00:32:54,470	Um, so I think, I mean, I get it if we pare it down a little bit, keep it simple. It’s always a good adage, but we I do. I do agree that all of the projects were on the, the last one. Um, and to make sure we’re explaining somehow in there that it’s an extension, not a new one. Right.

00:33:09,300	So just to clarify, two, I don’t think we need as much as I love the Bismarck Tribune, my trusty Tribune, I’m afraid that if you put at the end, as published in the Bismarck Tribune, and the guy says, well, I don’t get the Tribune, I didn’t see it, he’s going to think, oh, there’s additional

00:33:25,330	stuff when we, in fact, already list all the stuff right above. Yeah, I guess would the only point of saying it that way is if we didn’t list the projects. Um, don’t we have a go ahead? Commissioner Connelly? I’m sorry I missed your finger.

00:33:45,230	Yeah, I can provide some a little bit of context on some of that. When the county extended the half cent for the combined jail and then added the additional half cent, and then also in the. 22 home rule charter amendments, they didn’t print all of the wording that was passed. They just had that statement as published in the Bismarck Tribune.

00:34:09,930	And that’s where some of the confusion say with the auditor’s position and the whole controversy with their side of the table this year, is that a lot of people didn’t understand what they were voting on because it wasn’t printed on the ballots.

00:34:29,930	I’m just afraid people will think there’s more stuff that they’re voting on than what’s listed in the on the ballot itself, and they won’t, you know, maybe be confused and say, I don’t know what it’s about, so I’m going to vote no. Quick. Commissioner Cleary.

00:34:49,170	Yeah, I guess my thought would be like, could we just take the as published in the Bismarck Tribune off of those sentences, unless for some reason we’re not able to list all of the projects and we have to go that route if we’re able to list all the projects. I think the sentence is fine without those that last like six words. Um, so my question really is more legal.

00:35:08,000	I suspect we are obligated to print in the Tribune, and this is probably just saying that we have printed this. It’s not the it’s not the list, it’s the home Rule charter amendment. And so I think we’re getting a little bit into the weeds on what the as published in the Tribune. We’re supposed to publish the whole thing in the Tribune.

00:35:28,670	Okay. And that. Yep. So I, I would suspect we have to say that we published it in Tribune, but I don’t know that if there’s a legal question. There is a there is in the Sentry Code, a requirement to publish the ballot and I can and the county auditor has published a sample. Well, it says primary ballot.

00:35:47,300	Well that’s it. That’s the it’s the whole ballot. Well, Mr. Mayor, maybe we should clarify as outlined above and as published in the Tribune or something to that effect. So somebody will look at it and say, okay, I see it here. That’s fine. I want to.

00:36:05,130	Make it clear they want it was published in the Tribune as well. I’m okay adding that. And I love publishing it in Tribune. I’m going to keep Zack employed over there. Drama. Keep Zach employed. Okay, so we need to make we need to have a motion if we’re to do something here, to get it, to get it moved forward. Well, I’ll take a swing at it.

00:36:32,130	I’ll move that we go as presented with the following exceptions. Eliminate. See? One, one. I one double. I don’t know, um, and then clarify at the end of the ballot language. A no vote means that you reject this proposal. On both sides. No one. Yes.

00:36:59,070	Proposed amendment to the Home Rule Charter of the City of Bismarck as outlined above and as published in the Bismarck Tribune. Something to that effect, do you think I got it about right? Second. Further discussion. Hearing none. We’ll call the roll. Commissioner Cleary. Yes, Commissioner. Rice. Yes, Commissioner. Zenker. Yes. Commissioner. Connolly. Yes, mayor. Schmidt. Yes.

00:37:28,000	Moving to item F, consider a request for approval of the Bismarck Event Center. Operations and food and beverage service contract between the city of Bismarck and Global Spectrum doing businesses. Oak view Group and Chad Walker is going to present based upon the fine work of the Bismarck Event Center Authority Board, of which we have a few members here in the crowd, and I thank them for their service.

00:37:49,070	It has been a significant amount of work they’ve put in over the last three months. Go ahead. Chad. Thank you. Good evening, mayor. Commissioners, my name is Chad Walker and I’m with the I serve on the Bismarck Event Center authority board. The authority board is a seven member group appointed by this commission.

00:38:16,900	It is made up of community volunteers and city leadership. Our role is to provide oversight, accountability and strong community voice for the Bismarck Event Center and the Bell House auditorium.

00:38:44,770	We oversee and provide guidance on operations, policy support, long term planning, and ensure these facilities are run responsibly and aligned with the expectations of the community and this Board of City Commission. Over the past several months, we have worked with our consultant, JLL, and we’ve worked with them to evaluate, to evaluate options for a professional third party operator.

00:39:12,330	This has been a structured and disciplined process focused on long term success, strong management and improved performance. As part of that work, the Authority Board was tasked with identifying the right third party manager for these facilities. Based on that process, the Authority Board has selected Oakview Group as the best qualified manager for the Event Center and the Bell.

00:39:38,470	Therefore, we will be making a recommendation to approve a master management agreement between the city and Oakview Group. But before we formally make that recommendation, we would like you to hear directly from JLL, who’s our consultant on the process that was followed. And then after that, I’d like to have Oakview Group also. Um.

00:40:00,970	Speak so you can get a good understanding of who they are and what they bring to the table. So at this time, I’m going to go ahead and, uh, turn it over to Dan and Mitch at JLL. Thanks, Chad. And also just want to also echo Chad’s comments about the involvement, you know, of the authority board in this process, too.

00:40:28,100	And we’ll certainly talk about that if you look at what you see in front of you. And I think you also have a copy of this, uh, we just really want to talk about quickly, the four key phases in terms of this project and sort of where we are. And let’s start with the beginning.

00:40:40,930	And if you remember, we were brought in to really conduct a, uh, objective, uh, if you will, approach to really evaluating, analyzing and sort of supporting, if you will, the current operations at the event center.

00:41:04,070	And, uh, Mitch and I both had a very thorough three day plus many phone calls in terms of our engagement with the current team, really trying to understand where, uh, everything was. Uh, and I think everybody remembers that the goal of that process was to really objectively determine what was the what was going to be the most impactful sort of next steps here, as it related

00:41:22,600	to the event center. And after we did that, and after we spent time thinking about what the possibilities were, we made the recommendation to, uh, to use or go out for use a third party in terms of the management of the event center.

00:41:42,870	And again, the spirit of that was certainly to continue to support the internal team in terms of their success. If you remember a lot of discussions about that. So it was the ability to bring in a new third party manager, go out and have a competitive process to make sure that we had a chance to really understand who was out there in terms of options.

00:42:02,670	And so we developed an RFP. We put that RFP out into the market. We talked to probably half a dozen different management companies, ended up shortlisting two in particular that we thought were worthy of the board, who also the authority board, by the way, also functioned as the selection committee in this process.

00:42:25,600	And so we were able to go through an extensive RFP process. I also want to say that in the development of the RFP, which the Commission saw, that was also designed to really talk about what was important to Bismarck. And so when when we put the RFP out, that was our goal.

00:42:42,870	And when both of the management companies responded, the authority board was very interested in not only experience, but also how were they going to assimilate and really be a part of success in Bismarck with the two, you know, the two venues that we have that we’re going to be operated and, uh, felt very good, frankly, about, uh, you know, the responses that we

00:43:03,470	got, the authority board was very clear with those responses in determining that OPG was the right direction to go. Uh, and so that that was a very, uh, it was a thorough process, but also a unanimous process in terms of that decision.

00:43:22,870	Uh, we also came back to the commission at that point to do an update. And then at that point in that process, and we call this phase two. But, you know, we it’s really all part of the same phase. The authority board was being formed.

00:43:39,730	And one of the things we also want to say about this authority board formation is we are really excited about the commission sort of approving the approach that’s being taken to how the board members are selected. Uh, we, Mitch and I have been involved with a lot of different governing approaches, and the group that has been put together as members of the authority board, not just because of the great individuals they are, but because of the backgrounds that

00:43:59,270	they bring, are really going to create a very dynamic governance model that I will tell you when Mitch would tell you don’t always exist, uh, with other oversight boards of public assembly buildings like the Event Center. So I really felt like that was an important thing.

00:44:16,830	And then also in this process, if you remember, in the original RFP, we were very clear about the employee protection plan right up front. And we wanted to make sure that as part of a new management company coming with us, they understood how important that was in this.

00:44:37,470	And so if you kind of move to phase three, which really speaks to the fact that, okay, now we have, you know, made this election, the authority board has made the recommendation, and we’re now in the sort of transition period that we have been in.

00:44:53,300	Uh, I will say this and I really say this very sincerely, because, again, we we have experience all over the country. The specific regional group, two of which are on the call today, that make up a key part of the leadership from OPG, from minute one, once the announcement was made and once we began to discuss both contract and transitional type conversations have really been superb just in their thinking

00:45:15,930	around how to make sure that all the priorities that the Commission has approved, all the priorities of the Authority Board feels are important through both KPIs, the Employee Protection Plan and really just a bigger picture of how we make sure that the event center really becomes a thriving or

00:45:34,230	continues to evolve as a thriving part of our community. I just want to say this as a personal observation that, you know, we are thrilled with the key leaders that are part of this room and what we’ve already been able to spend time with them on.

00:45:50,800	So if you go to the next piece, page three, which is really about the management transition, and that’s the fact that part of what we really finalized with them was, if you think about a process like this, there’s a lot to finalize.

00:46:06,970	And so things like the employee protection plan really coming up with a management agreement, which I think we will also speak to as part of this presentation. Um, and also making sure we talked about, you know, what what we had a great conversation with them about, you know, how do we think about success.

00:46:22,170	You know, what is how do we define success? And I think together we have a really broad, comprehensive, uh, sense of what, what success really means. And I think that some of the leadership will speak to this today to, uh, in terms of that. And, you know, we’re excited about that.

00:46:37,730	And then the last piece and I know that Julie’s here, and she’s been a big part of this process, as has others, is we did have a very extensive contract negotiation process, which I think Chad will talk about more.

00:46:54,270	But again, I think we have in we have ended up with an agreement that we all feel comfortable with in terms of what the goals are, and I’m going to leave it up to Jan to talk about some of those key pieces when it comes to the agreement that has been negotiated. So we’ll stop here. And as we turn it over to Anne and Brad from OB, I just want to restate this.

00:47:11,470	Uh, I just I kind of want to restate this to the commission because we’ve had a chance to spend really some quality time with the two of them. And Rick, who’s another member of their team and, and, uh, just really, really, uh, you know, this is post agreement.

00:47:26,930	This is after selection, right? Um, continue to be really excited about, uh, you know, their thought process and sort of their overall approach. So, uh, Anna and, uh, Brad, I’ll turn it over to you. And again, I’m just going to say this publicly. Excited to have you part of us. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Dan.

00:47:41,870	And Mayor Schmidt, um, and Schmitz, members of the commission, we’re super excited to work with you. Uh, my name is Anna Rosberg. I am the district general manager for Oakview Group. I’m based out of Grand Forks, North Dakota. So just a little drive that I’ve gotten very familiar with. Now, uh, away from you, I oversee the basically the cold state.

00:47:55,530	So Nebraska, parts of Iowa and the Dakotas, um, and then upper Minnesota as well. Um, I would say I would echo Dan’s comments from our standpoint. You know, we managed facilities all over, um, the US and Canada all over the world.

00:48:13,730	We also, our owners were the only, uh, management firm in the world that is actually an owner as well. So we really understand the day to day operational challenges that you face. Um, with capital investment and what that looks like to make sure that your venues are successful. So, um, we’re really excited.

00:48:31,270	And again, I think the advisory board is made up of really talented, dynamic people that understand the bigger picture and why it’s so important for us to to come in and be all aligned with the commission, the advisory board, um, and you all from from our standpoint, from Oberg, um, so that we can come in and really just raise the bar on driving revenue and guest experience. I think there’s a ton of potential.

00:48:46,800	Um, we’re really looking forward to bringing in more regional and national conferences, working with the CVB very closely. Um, and then, of course, trying to drive more touring acts as well. So, um, from our standpoint, I don’t think we could be more aligned.

00:49:00,430	And what we think those KPIs and those goals are, um, and we’re just really looking forward to kind of applying all of the resources that our company has to all of the employees there.

00:49:13,170	Um, and to again, echo Dan, um, we’ve already been able to start working in good faith with all of the employees we’ve met one on one with every full time employee. Obviously, those folks have been through a lot the last couple of years.

00:49:27,470	And I think, um, coming in with an empathetic ear and really trying to approach them and wrap our arms around around them with the resources, um, has been beneficial and we should have offer letters pending your, uh, approval tonight. Um, we should have offer letters to all those full time employees.

00:49:43,500	Um, following that employee protection plan, making sure that their whole, um, and that they have comparable, you know, compensation packages from what they had at the city, um, and really just trying to get them all of the tools that they need to be successful and to to get on board with the new chapter. Um, but we’re, we’re really looking forward to it. And as you know, I’m sure Chad will go over as well. Part of the OB contract is an investment as well into capital.

00:49:58,100	And so I think there’s just so much potential on what we can do together. And we’re really looking forward to it. Um, I would like to turn it over to Brad. He is, um, a very seasoned, uh, general manager. He served in our company for almost a decade now, but he’s got decades of experience.

00:50:14,870	You guys are really getting the best of the best, knows the drill in and out. When it comes to transitions, what the employees are going to need. Um. And he’ll be your day to day leader. And I’ll be here to support and work with you as much as needed to.

00:50:28,900	But I think you’ve got a really a good local leader that has been through this, um, enough time to know exactly what the recipe is for success. So we’re looking forward to it. And thank you guys for all of your efforts so far. Hey, thank you Anna. Appreciate that introduction. Uh, Mr.

00:50:47,500	Mayor, city commissioners, uh, again, as uh, Anna mentioned, my name is Brad Murphy. I’m a native of Montana. I grew up on a large cattle ranch in central Montana. So our home place is only five hours away from Bismarck, so that’s pretty exciting for us as well. Um, I will be, like I said, the general manager of the, uh, Bismarck Event Center.

00:51:06,670	Uh, upon approval of this contract, very excited. Uh, there is a plethora and a wide variety of opportunity in these buildings. Uh, you know, a lot of diversity, a lot of ability to to go in a lot of different directions, but also a great chance to form collaborative partnerships with the city of,

00:51:28,530	of Bismarck, the local region and the state of North Dakota. And throughout the the Midwest and and West. So, um, I’ve been in this industry, like Anna mentioned, for, for a very long time, uh, stops in in Bozeman, uh, working at the Fieldhouse and football stadium, uh, made that cardinal sin and went to

00:51:51,130	Missoula and took over the Adams Center as executive director there. So I went from a being a bobcat to a Griz, which is like being, you know, going from being a red hot or a hawk to a to a bison. So you understand the drill there.

00:52:06,470	Um, and then I joined over ten years ago, uh, as the general manager of the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. I was there for six years, and then I have spent the last three and a half years on the road, being the transition manager for the company, onboarding new accounts all across all across

00:52:22,470	the US. So, uh, a very wide variety of understanding and getting to know what’s going on in our company and knowing all the players, which really helps when you go back to this level of running buildings because you know, all the contacts, you know, all the individuals that you can reach out to help.

00:52:39,700	And, uh, that’s one thing that you will bring to this account is that we have 300 buildings that we manage, and all of those buildings have something to contribute and help us run Bismarck. So really excited about the support.

00:52:58,270	And that’s really why I got into working for a private management company, as opposed to being in the public sector. I was in the public sector for over 20 years, and I just wanted to have that business entrepreneurial spirit and, and really be able to drive revenue and increase that bottom or decrease that bottom line. However it pans out.

00:53:16,470	So that’s the thing that OPG will bring to it. I mean, we’ll we’ll improve the efficiencies, we’ll drive revenue through, uh, increased bookings through food and beverage sales, through corporate partnership sales, and really make this a business opportunity for the city of Bismarck. Uh, so really super excited to work with the advisory board to work with the city.

00:53:40,570	I will say that the your entire staff has been just greatly accommodating, has worked with us through this whole process. And so I feel very good. And I know that North Dakota has really good people. So I’m excited to be working in this juncture. So with that, I’m very happy to be involved with this process, and I’ll turn it back over.

00:54:02,300	I think we’ll turn it back to you. I just have to say one thing, Brad. I just want to say make a little anecdotal comment is remember that Brad’s excited about being part of the community.

00:54:15,830	And so, uh, even, you know, assuming a positive vote today, he’s gotten all sorts of advice already about where everybody wants him to live and what they want him to do. So, you know, exciting. Brad had you, uh, I think everybody’s excited to have you part of the community, too. So, Chad, uh, back to you. All right. Thank you very much.

00:54:32,870	So, as you can see, the Authority Board has spent a significant amount of time vetting options and completing due diligence. We bring forward to you in agreement for what we believe is the best choice for a third party company, for the event center and the bell. This agreement provides professional venue management, includes a $5 million private investment in our facilities.

00:55:02,670	And it creates a structure where Oakview earns their largest fees only when performance improves. Just as important, we built in strong protections and oversight for the city in our agreement, the city owns all of the assets they own the buildings, the equipment, the data, the brand, all of the revenue flows through the city controlled accounts. The authority board approves major decisions.

00:55:33,230	The commission retains final authority over budgets. The manager must follow city procurement policies. Existing employees get strong protection. The city’s IT director has final authority over hardware, software and internet.

00:55:58,900	The city has the right to audit the operations and, if necessary, the city can terminate this agreement with cause. So if it’s not working out, we have options. There. So some of the key questions that I thought that you would, you would have tonight would be who funds any operating deficit while the city does, just like we do today.

00:56:25,570	The difference is that Avg is incentivized to reduce and eliminate that deficit. What does this cost annually? The base management fee starts at approximately $200,000 per year. Beyond that, additional fees are tied directly to performance, including food and beverage sponsorships and other revenue growth. If those fees being earned. If those fees are being earned, it means revenues have increased well beyond the cost. And we’re all making money.

00:56:58,530	What is the worst case scenario? If Avg underperforms, we terminate the agreement. At that point, we would owe remaining on amortized investment that they would have made. If you remember, they’re going to make a $5 million investment in the facility. Um, but however, this situation would only occur if we chose to exit due to significant issues.

00:57:30,070	And the authority board is in place to identify and address problems early to prevent these things from happening. Mayor and commissioners. Oakview Group runs venues like ours across the country every day. This allows us to tap into their network, their bookings, their relationships and their operational expertise.

00:58:03,130	Therefore, on behalf of the Bismarck Event Center Authority Board, we would respectfully recommend approval of the of the Master Management Agreement between the City of Bismarck and Oak View Group, subject to final review by the City Attorney. Thank you. Thank you. Chad. Commissioners. I’ll move that. We approve, subject to approval by the city attorney. Second. Discussion.

00:58:35,630	This came to us in an email at 513 last night. And. I. Haven’t had time to read the entire thing. When I think about it, I appreciate the fact, and everything that Chad shared was good.

00:59:02,330	I mean, when it was stated to align with the board of City Commission, I mean, when we run for office, we basically tell the citizen we’re going to review everything. I haven’t had time to review it and that so can we postpone the vote a day or Thursday or Friday? Um, if it’s tomorrow or Thursday, it’d have to be a specific time just to give me a little more time to read.

00:59:24,670	I had too much on my plate. I just couldn’t do it by five today. So the comment I have to that and and we can be respectful of both parties, but the authority board was created by this commission. And this commission gave the authority board certain responsibilities, including vetting this contract and negotiating the contract.

00:59:44,470	In fact, in our December meeting, I believe we actually asked the authority board to negotiate the contract. And I believe we approved that. I don’t have the specifics on the motion, but that was the what we did in December when we approved the selection of the of Oak View Group and then to move forward for negotiation.

01:00:08,000	Um, much of what’s in the contract, there’s a lot of a lot of things from a legal standpoint to make sure those things are there. I think the critical things that we need to be aware of are what the fee is, that we have employee protection, uh, employing every employee who’s at the event

01:00:26,670	center today that their compensation all package, total package is equal to or better. And then, um, just as an FYI, my own numbers, um, the they’re putting $5 million into our facility. 2.5 million basically in year one, 5 million in year four, and another 2 million in year ten. Their base contract fee, if that’s all they. Earn.

01:00:54,900	Two and a half, five. And then 2 million. 5 million. Two and a half, 500,000. Three. You said 5 million. Total of 5 million. Right. But you said. Two and a half. You said 2.5 million. 5,000,002 million. I’m sorry. I meant 500,000. 5 million total.

01:01:13,270	If they don’t perform, if if they don’t perform and all they’re paid is their management fee in the first ten years will have received $3 million for our kitchen facility, and they will earn back about 2.3 million. And so we’re getting more than the base fee is. They’ll only get the rest if they perform in advance.

01:01:38,200	The authority board has spent hours. We have other contracts that have gone through the same way, through the same process that would have fit our consent agenda, but because this was coming so late in the day, that’s why it’s we. And we wanted them to make a presentation because it’s that important.

01:01:57,970	And and I’ve run the numbers, by the way, if they hit their numbers that they should make, uh, by year 3 or 4, we get to probably break even at the event center. Plus, we’ve improved the economics in the community with having more hotel stays, more restaurants and people coming here and spending time. Commissioner.

01:02:18,770	With that being said, I don’t want to vote for anything that I haven’t read through. I wouldn’t give that advice to my daughter or any of my kids. I wouldn’t give that advice to other people. Yeah.

01:02:37,930	And I just based on the people involved, I can trust the on some levels that everything you’re talking about 100% in there. I still haven’t read it. That’s fine. I’m just explaining to the process. I’m on. I’ve gotten 15 pages in. Commissioners other comments. I somewhat sympathize with Commissioner Connelly.

01:02:58,670	I did get it yesterday, as he did, and I spent quite a bit of time today going over it. It’s a hundred pages long. I want to thank Mr. Walker and the whole team there for the diligence they did on it. It looks like no stone was left unturned.

01:03:16,600	I mean, I’m going to I’m supporting it tonight just because I have, you know, I got a I had a chance to review it first of all. And I have confidence in the authority board and the administration that there’s been some good work on this. So. Commissioner Zenker. All right. So everybody knows my stance on this. So I’ll just say this. First of all, I appreciate the authority board because I think that’s a that’s a huge positive moving forward.

01:03:36,730	Um, the dynamics of that group is fantastic. There are things in this contract that I would have I would have included one of them would have been a cap as to the risk that the city would have from an operational standpoint.

01:03:53,330	Um, I think anytime you go into contract scenarios, you want to you want to make sure you’re taking care of risk, risk mitigation, expose yourself to the least amount as possible. On this side of things, just as you stated. Mayor. Um, hey, if the if Oakview Group does nothing, right, if they’re net neutral, they’re going to get paid their fee and nothing above that.

01:04:09,400	But the city, the city of Bismarck is still going to have to cover operational losses, right? Just like we do. Just like Mr. Walker said, just like we do today. So from my perspective, that one item changes nothing for what the what we currently have to what the what the new, um, contract has.

01:04:27,100	The other thing that the other two items that I think should have been addressed in here is some of the events and things that are already booked through our staff. What we’ve done and traditional items that that come across. I didn’t see anything in the contract that that acknowledges that.

01:04:43,600	Um, and if there is, I could have missed it. Like, I mean, it’s 100 pages and we all had a few hours to do. That, and I mean. So and I do got one more. So just let me finish, sir.

01:04:55,730	So the other thing would be, is, um, along those contract lines is other contracts we have with with current vendors. Um, those are the two that I would highlight. Um, there’s a third. So let me expand on that one thing I think you got to we got to look at is page 55 of 79.

01:05:14,130	Um, um, where it says premium seating, including 16 luxury suites and 400 club seats, I can 100% tell you as many times as I’ve been in the event center through all my coaching, um, things that I’ve done. I’ve never seen a suite or club suite, club club seats in that venue.

01:05:33,670	So I think we need to, uh, for sure before you guys approve this as is, remove that, because that’s 100% wrong. So that’s all I got. So to the to the contracts. That’s a fair question, Commissioner. Um, those are all being addressed through an attachment that we have to list them all. They’re assuming them on both sides. So no. But it’s not in here.

01:05:50,700	You’re right. It’s not in this agreement because we have to. We still have to accumulate all the list. Sure. Okay. And there might there’s moving parts to some of those. So. Right. But I don’t see an acknowledgement of, of moving parts or anything.

01:06:06,800	Again, within this 100 pages that’ll be I saw the KPIs will be detailed later to to be determined. Um, there will be an existing exhibit for all the contracts on both sides as well. Okay. And that’s part of Julie’s. To do list. To do list. Fantastic.

01:06:24,600	Um, and as far as the premium seating, that only happens if they find a way to make it, the premium seating happen, but I don’t know if. They interpret it that way, that the, the, um, that’s what the event center currently has. No, it would be they would look for opportunities to.

01:06:41,630	Because it says description on page 55 it says Bismarck Event Center description gives the address to the main arena. And then it lists it’s one of the items listed on there. So I think um, I don’t know, it was it listed in the RFP and stuff that way too? I guess. Just like the loading docks.

01:07:00,830	There’s I mean, there’s doors to unload things, but it doesn’t have a true what I consider a loading dock where you back the semi up to it and you can drive. The photo. It’s as the it’s out there facility exists. Sure. If they can create a premium seating then they then they will. Okay. Commissioner Conley.

01:07:16,970	When I just wanted to make the point when you mentioned the consent agenda, it was I had a talk with, uh, city administrator, and I do read through every. page on the consent agenda, and it’s not a comfortable thing. Some weeks.

01:07:39,130	Um, Commissioner Rice and I said on the planning and zoning for Burleigh County and we had a bucket dump on us of like 947 pages. And, um, it’s a it’s an interesting thing to overcome. Some weeks I read them all to okay, I understand any further discussion. Hearing none, we’ll call roll. Commissioner rice. Yes, Commissioner. Zenker. No. Commissioner. Connolly. No. Commissioner. Cleary. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes.

01:08:11,230	Moving to item G, consider the request to partner with Bismarck Parks and Recreation District to solicit proposals for a community recreation facility. Feasibility study. Jason. Somebody was tall. Good evening, mayor and commissioners.

01:08:37,500	Uh, looking back to the February 24th city commission meeting, I was standing here at this podium, uh, requesting permission to, uh, approach the Bismarck Parks and Recreation District board and, uh, hopefully partner with them on a community recreation feasibility study. I’m here today to tell you I was in front of that board, uh, last week. Thursday, March 19th, uh, with a request to partner with the Park district. Uh, some questions from the park board. Uh, good questions, good engagement.

01:08:56,530	Uh, short version of the results of that. The park board voted unanimously to partner with the city of Bismarck with a price range of 50 to $75,000 for each entity, for a total project study of 150,000. Uh, looking back to the meeting that we had here on February 24th, the initial cost estimates were based on conversations at parks.

01:09:18,600	Director Kevin Clifford had had with a consultant that had done the work back in 2019. Based on the feedback from this group, Kevin and I worked on narrowing the scope of the project to really get focused on the key components of the actual study.

01:09:36,000	And so what would those be? Primarily for the Park district? It’s a the the ask is, what are we lacking? What do we have in the community today that we didn’t have 5 or 6 years ago? What do we need to add to the community to to bolster the offerings from the park district? Is it a community center? Is a sports

01:09:52,070	complex suitable for hosting competitions, tournaments, things like that. Um, I guess if we knew those answers, we wouldn’t be asking for the study. The city’s interest in this study isn’t just what is lacking in the community for parks and recreation, but more importantly, the location of the facility.

01:10:12,000	And when we talk about the location, why that’s important to us is because we will be the ones. If it’s out on the edge of the community somewhere, we will be the ones tasked with extending all the infrastructure to get to that site and supporting the growth and development in and around it.

01:10:26,370	It is typical that if this were a greenfield edge development, there would be ancillary uses that would come in with it as well to support the activities in and around a sports complex, particularly if it is the type that would be able to host tournaments and sporting events from people outside the community.

01:10:44,900	Um, so with that information, I just wanted to come back to you and let you know that the scope had been narrowed. Parks is a willing partner at a 5050 cost share, up to $75,000 for the Park district, up to $75,000 for the city of Bismarck. Excuse me. Executive director Cliff Feld did provide a bit of a timeline. Uh, Kevin here.

01:11:05,200	Yes. Oh, great. Hi, Kevin. Um, the the timeline that was shared with the Park district would be to push the proposals out with the request of April 23rd, 2026. Uh, proposal selection would be the end of that month. And likely interviews the first part of May and develop a contract.

01:11:25,930	Come back with a consultant approval by the Park district. And obviously this group as well, with a projected start date of middle of June, we’re looking at probably an 8 to 9 month study. So wrapping up in hopefully February of 2027.

01:11:44,670	I did mention this, uh, back in February when we talked about this part of the interest also for the city. And this is to help with the continuity of the project. As many of you know, executive director is scheduled to retire in June of this year.

01:12:00,370	And being in the middle of a study and having a transition in leadership and and the learning curve that goes along with that, I think as city staff, we could help support that transition. Uh, not to do Kevin’s work or the next person’s work, but to help continue those conversations with the consultants, the stakeholders and all the people that are engaged in the project to that point.

01:12:15,130	Um, I think that adds value and really shortens the time that would necessarily be necessary to complete a study of this nature in an appropriate 8 to 9 month timeline. So if you have any questions, I’m happy to try and answer those. If you want to bring Kevin up here, it sounds like he’s available to. Well.

01:12:31,630	You didn’t. You had your back to I just being a friendly commissioner. I’m not always mean. No. I didn’t say you were. Kevin and I actually spoke before the meeting. I wasn’t expecting him to be here, so. I do.

01:12:44,630	I do appreciate the fact that we’ve narrowed that down to, instead of 250,000 to 100 and 125 or whatever, or 150. So I do I will make a motion to approve as presented. And I do appreciate the Park District’s partnership on this. Second. Do we have further discussion? Commissioner Risch, I just want to thank you, Jason.

01:13:05,330	Thank you, Commissioner Zenker, for bringing it up, that the 240, 250,000 was a lot of money. So save $90,000 in a heartbeat. Has there been some discussion of where this might be? I’ve been looking around the city. We’ve got, um, land down by Cottonwood, by the airport, by Gateway Mall.

01:13:26,300	There’s some vacant land northeast Bismarck, north central Bismarck, northwest Bismarck, all over the place. There. The the what will happen is this thing dropped someplace, the surrounding property will dramatically increase in value. So that’ll be a big benefit to wherever it goes to whoever owns the land around it.

01:13:43,170	Have you thought about where it might go? I suspect so, or maybe this study is going to come up with some plans. Commissioner Risch, mayor and commissioners, thank you for the question. As staff, certainly we have some ideas. We’re well aware of the large tracts of land that are in and around the community, particularly those today inside city limits.

01:14:02,470	Um, the future land use is guided by the 2045 together 2045 plan that community development at the time adopted today’s planning department. We also have a map on our GIS map gallery that shows vacant parcels. And so a quick review of that. If we’re looking for something that’s 15 to 20 acres. Yes, you’re right, Commissioner Rich.

01:14:18,670	There’s a variety of parcels throughout the community. Some might be on the edge, some might be an infill or a redevelopment opportunity. But until we know what components may be part of the complex, it may be too early to say this is exactly where it should go.

01:14:37,830	So having those two, uh, two tracks kind of working in concert with one another, I would anticipate we would have a recommendation or recommendations on potential good site locations near the end of the project, not necessarily on the front end. Any other comments? We’ll call roll. Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Commissioner. Connolly. Yes, Commissioner. Cleary. Yes, Commissioner. Risch. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz.

01:15:05,400	Yes. We’re on a point of other business, and then we have an executive session. So before executive session, do we have any other business? Uh, something remarkable happened yesterday. Somebody came and picked up my garbage. And I just want to point out how significant that really is. I put it out on Sunday night.

01:15:21,530	Somebody comes on Monday and it’s gone, and I never want to see it again. I just want to commend all the things our city does sewer, water, garbage. And you can go around the world. It’s not the case all over the place.

01:15:33,200	And we’ve got a good folks taking care of us. So I just want to shout out to my garbage man who’s there before I ever get up. He’s there like at 6:00. So anyway. All right, any other business? Not I would entertain a motion to enter into executive session.