00:00:11,470	Welcome Turdue. Let’s stand and uh we’re gonna pray and then afterwards we’ll say the pledge. Heavenly Father, we just come before you today and uh knowing that we need your guidance and everything.

00:00:30,970	We think about all the things that are going on in the culture around us and, uh, many times, uh, we don’t want to be affected by that too much, and I pray that we can, uh, stay true to uh what uh is set before us and remind us of those things.

00:00:50,730	We think about these commissioners tonight and these people that are here to uh support or be against something that’s that’s happening, and I pray it’s all civil and uh, we pray for our first responders out there, uh, protecting us in the county and we’re grateful for all of them and how, uh, they’re just called to do that. And uh we do this all in your son’s name, Jesus. Amen.

00:01:06,470	I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you I appreciate that Pa, the February 2, 2026, meeting of the Burley County Commission to order. First item is roll call of members.

00:01:33,270	Comm Schwab Good. Mr. Woodcock? Yeah. Comm Munsen. He. Comm Bakken, here, Chair Bitner here. Next to the approval of the agenda, Commissioners, I’ve had a request to add two items to the agenda, um, the first one would be under Comm Schwabab for a motion to move forward with filling a position, the agriculture and natural resources extension agent

00:02:02,070	through NDSU. and then the other one is a, a late, um, application for a a permit for, uh, a raffle permit for United Tribes. I have that information in front of me and you, and I think you do as well. Um-hum. Where are you putting them? I’m going to put the, uh, permit application under the consent agenda.

00:02:27,100	and the uh NDSU extension under item 12 under Comm Schwab. We moved to approve the amended agenda. Second, motion is second. Any further discussion? Call the rule. Comm Woodcock. Yes. Comm Munsen? Yes. Comm Bakken. Yes, Comm Schwab, Chain Bitner. Yes, motion carries.

00:02:54,370	Next is consideration of the January 7th special meeting minutes in the January 20th, 2026 meeting minutes and bills. Comm, I had the chance to review the bills prior to the meeting and so I would move to approve both of the minutes and the bills. Second, I have a motion a second to prove both of the minutes and the bills.

00:03:13,100	Any further discussion, call the roll. Comm Munsen, Comm Bakken. Yes, Comm Schwab. Yes. Comm Muns Woodcoxck, Chair Bitner, yes, motion carriers. Next, um, number 5 is public comment. This is restricted to Burleigh County residents and landowners. There’s some time limits that apply, and we’re going to restrict it to items that are not on the agenda for other discussion.

00:03:34,600	Anybody wants to come forward for public comment. Please approach the podium Once again, this is public comment period. Anybody wish to speak third and final call. Anybody wish to speak on public comment, seeing nonenolo the public comment period. Next item number 6 is consent agenda. There’s abatement, special event permits, second approach permit, and the Ralfel permit Commissioners.

00:04:00,000	to approve. Second, Motion the second to approve the consent agenda. Any further discussion? Call the rule Comm Bakken. Yes. Comm Schwab? Yes. Comm Woodcock. Comm Munsen, Chair Bitner. Yes, motion carries. Next, number 7, Brenda Nagel, Chamber of Commerce update. Welcome. Good evening. Thank you for having me.

00:04:32,100	Great. Well, I will, um, walk us through uh an update on what we’ve been up to at the Chamber EDC and as always, if you have questions of anything that I bring up or you think that I forgot to share some news that you were looking forward to an

00:04:48,100	update on, uh, I’d be happy to answer the questions to the best of my ability. Chair, Commissioners, um, again, thank you for allowing me to, uh, to come and and visit with you a little bit this evening and share some information.

00:05:07,500	So I wanted to, uh, talk a little bit first of all, um, and when I say a little bit, gosh, I could talk for hours, but I’m promise I’m not gonna do that. Thank you, Comm. I, I wouldn’t do that to, to any of you.

00:05:21,870	Uh, but I do want to give some highlights because, because I think they’re very important and I want to make sure that you are aware of a high level of what it is that we are doing to support, uh, Bismarck and Mandan, Burleigh and M Martin County, but, um, specifically what we’re doing in Burig ley ig County, uh, because everything that we do at the

00:05:37,330	Chamber EDC definitely impacts you. We did a new strategic plan, uh, that was approved by our board in September of 2025. And so some of this may be relatively new to you, other parts of it may not be as as new, but it’s really focused on 4 quadrants and those 4 quadrants are all centered

00:06:00,730	around the people that we feel that we serve, much like you serve the uh residents of B ur le County. We serve the, the business community, uh, of Bismarck and Mandan, so the Bismarckandan community. But let’s talk a little bit about economic development because I think that one is kind of high on everybody’s priority list.

00:06:18,800	If we bring business to town or we keep business in town, um, then we know that our tax base is certainly served much better and because those businesses are paying taxes. Uh, some of the things that we are doing, I’ve got up there project development that’s incredibly vague. Project development could mean a lot of things.

00:06:41,330	There are projects who are reaching out to the Chamber EDC and we’re in the stage with them of we’re just trying to figure out, are they really interested in coming to Burleigh County? Uh, what do they need? Do they need rail service? Where do they want to be? Uh, what exactly are they trying to do? Uh, some

00:07:00,630	are value-added egg, which would be a very interesting, I think, project. Um, nonetheless, I can’t really tell you what they are at this point because I have a nondisclosure agreements signed with them and until they’re ready to actually move forward. Uh, I really can’t share a whole lot of details.

00:07:19,270	What I will tell you or will share with you is that we’re not looking to do anything crazy, um, we’re not looking to do something that is going to disrupt the current flow of things that we have for Burlee County.

00:07:34,870	Um, we want to look for something that is going to be a good fit for the Burleigh County area. And so as soon as we are able to have a conversation, I would reach out to, uh, Chair Bittner to you.

00:07:53,870	Um, of course, to Comm Munsen as he has the Chamber EDC portfolio or whoever it is that that would need to be contacted, but we do have some projects that have some potential. Um, on the other side of things is job shadow Week. Now that takes a really different turn, uh, from, from projects, but we do a lot of things under economic development that impact our workforce because if we don’t have workforce, we really, we don’t, we can’t really attract business to come

00:08:15,800	to Bismarck, Mandan, Burleigh or Morin County, um, because we don’t have the people to do the jobs. One of the things that we are doing at the Chamber EDC is the job shadow week.

00:08:38,170	At the end of February, we will send students out into the community into nearly, uh, 200 spots, um, within the community that businesses have opened up their door and said, send the students from the high school, juniors and seniors. Let them come into our place of business and allow them to check things out. Uh, I think there’s a particular comment that one of the students made last year after Jobs shadow Week.

00:08:55,000	That is just really stuck with me. And she said, well, I, I begrudgingly went to a job shadow at a bank. I don’t really want to be a banker. That’s not what I want to be, but I don’t know what I want to do.

00:09:07,000	So I went on this job shadow to a bank, and what I realized is there’s other, there’s other opportunities at a bank because they have HR people and they have marketing and they have other things that that are happening at the bank.

00:09:25,100	And so that’s what we’re trying to do is help these students in our community before they go off to go to college somewhere. We want them to see what is available, what great jobs are open and available here in our community so that they can go figure out what that education looks like, not just a four-year degree, um, but what is a skilled trades

00:09:42,900	look like? How do we connect them to the business community so that they can see and learn what those opportunities are and make those yes. So Brenda, when the the educational piece is really intriguing to me, so, um, you know, I always look at the chamber EDC as a, a facilitator bringing different political subdivisions together.

00:10:04,100	How much inputs going back the other direction when you have those job shadowing opportunities for career academy and the educational piece that uh I look at it as a really good opportunity for the school system to critique what the students need to get ahead within the community and what

00:10:23,870	some of the needs of the community. How much of that discussion goes back and forth? I’m guessing it’s, it’s pretty robust. It’s very robust. Thank you, Comm, for that question. It’s a, it’s a really great one.

00:10:36,970	We have a, um, an incredible relationship and we are the connector and so we have a lot of conversations at the Career Academy level. We also have a lot of conversations at the BSC UTTC and and you Mary Lovell, because when the business community comes to us and says, this is what we need.

00:10:57,000	You sent these students to us to kind of check things out, and I don’t know if they’re prepared, um, could you check and see if we could potentially offer this. We know that the skilled trade s really have been coming to us an awful lot.

00:11:18,470	We have HVAC folks, um, that are members who are saying, please, uh, help students, uh, understand and help, uh, places like BSC and UTTC understand we really need to prepare kids to do some of these skilled trades, um, types of positions and so we trade information back and forth on a very regular basis and help them stay informed, but thank you for that question. Mhm. So if you can put the slides back up, thank you.

00:11:35,470	So Joshadow a week again is just one of the things, but we’re constantly connecting the workforce to the, the people that we have available in the community. The Bismarckandan business pitch challenge is an opportunity for us to connect with that entrepreneurial ecosystem and so you all were entrepreneurs at one point in time, and you decided, um, many of you

00:11:59,470	decided to go start a business, and what did that take other than um a lot of gumption, um, and, and a whole lot of work, but how do we help those entrepreneurs in our community understand how can we help them get kind of a, a move forward.

00:12:18,630	And so the business pitch is something that we’ve borrowed from the city of Mandan, and now we will be doing it in the city of Bismarck, uh, through Vision Fund dollars, um, but it will ultimately, it, it could be a business that wants to be in Burleigh County. And so, um, certainly we want to make sure that we’re helping them.

00:12:36,870	We’ll align them with, with a business coach, um, somebody who can help them understand that what they’ve written out as their business plan, where does it need help? What do we need to do to improve it, um, and there’ll be a competition and we’ll invite you to that competition so that you can see, uh, what those people are

00:12:52,870	looking to do, uh, in order to earn, um, the top prize and that top prize would be in the form of a forgivable loan. And so we want to make sure that we continue to, uh, encourage those people to do that because again, more business and business that’s coming from

00:13:10,000	people who are already here, um, makes things, uh, work a little smoother. In the leadership development category we’ve got student leadership. I’ve talked a lot about students, but we try to interact with students on all levels.

00:13:31,870	Leadership Bismarck Mandan, um, I know Chair Bittner, you’ve been in attendance at that one for several years, and thank you very much on that. Um, by sitting in, um, on a panel, uh, to talk to the cohort from leadership Bismarck Mandan to say this is what it would take to run for public office and or here ’ s how you connect with the people who are sitting around the table.

00:13:50,100	There are a fair amount of people in our community who don’t realize that they can attend a meeting. They don’t realize that they can come and provide public comment in a very respectful manner, of course, but they don’t know how to do that.

00:14:08,230	And so we take people through leadership Bismarck Mandan to prepare prepare hopefully uh citizens for potentially running for public office, sitting on your boards, your uh, your commissions that you’ve got and to just over overall be a, a more well-rounded citizen in the community and just one point of engagement, and I bring this up for the public and for you guys

00:14:24,630	as well. That’s a great way for somebody to get their foot in the door because we are always, whether it’s the city or the county, looking for people to serve on a lot of those auxiliary boards, so, um, if you can help promote that as well, that’d be greatly appreciated. Comm, thank you.

00:14:41,270	We always will, we are happy to promote those. In fact, we’ll do a special social media post if we, if we get the information from you, if we know what positions you need help filling on your boards, we’re happy to get that out because we want them to be engaged.

00:14:56,170	Mark, add that to the list when we’re advertising for those positions? Yeah, absolutely. Certainly. Thank you. And then, of course, the next one is preparing our community’s, uh, leaders of tomorrow and, uh, which is what we’ve been talking about.

00:15:17,000	Um, we’ve been working on the public policy side on um helping, uh, giving input on finalizing land development code that’s more along the lines of uh city things, but I think, um, any, anytime we can pull our our membership together to give you input if you need it, uh, on the things that you’re preparing for in the frame of ordinances.

00:15:34,100	We’re here to help and we want to bring the business community to you, um, if you’re looking for insight and input and then Comm, did you have a question? I kind of have a problem with that land development code. It seems like we’ve got enough codes, and enough people working on that.

00:15:54,330	What, what specifically are you gonna add that we’re not doing now? Sure, and that’s a great question. Thank you, Comm Schwab. We’re not necessarily creating the code, but there are times when, um, city and county will come to us and say, do you know somebody within this particular line of business that could give us

00:16:13,600	some insight because maybe they’ve run into problems with something or they’ve asked something to be increased. I’m not I’m not the expert in land development code, but again, we do more of the connecting of the particular businesses to that.

00:16:39,800	Did that answer your question, sir? How can I make it clear developing codes that means you’re doing land development codes and putting your input in is what I’m getting at Uh actually people are getting tired of all these codes. Um.

00:17:02,170	And now you’re going to get involved in that or are involved in that, and I’m just wondering how is that gonna move things ahead or the codes for businesses or are they for? When was the last time the county asked you for help in that. The county hasn’t come forward and asked now when Comm Munsen was working on some things with, uh, planning and ordinances regarding, uh, data centers and things. We pulled some people together that had insights and and information.

00:17:22,500	These land development code committees are, are more on the city side, see, and that gets to the point you, you hit the spot there. uh, if they’re talking about data centers where, where I have a problem is, is the, do you guys want that data centers.

00:17:44,370	We only want them, Comm, if they’re good for us, for us as a community. Well, they’re all good according to the data guys. Well, I, yeah, so you would be through this. code deal would be could be promoting somebody coming in or putting a data center.

00:18:09,470	just east of town which is being proposed by the way, and that one is not working through us, so I don’t know what to tell you about that particular data center. I’m aware of it, but they aren’t working through us. My thing is you, you can pick and choose and promote what you want, you can’t. I not comfortable with it, but.

00:18:26,170	Sure. We can move on. Point taken. Thank you, Comm. Um, and then candidate preparation, we’ve, we’ve certainly done a lot of work in that area where if someone comes to us and says, I’m looking to run for some sort of office if I, if they are looking to run for county

00:18:44,630	commission, there again, we would want to connect them to you around the table to say, here’s the commissioners, we have a relationship with the commissioners, uh, through our partnership, um, would you like us to help you set up some time with one of the commissioners or two of them, or 5

00:19:01,170	of them, um, to be able to say what is it like to run? Uh, what should I be prepared for? What do I need to know about, uh, being a, a county Comm. And so that’s how we help to prepare them.

00:19:18,000	And then we are activating our military affairs committee in that policy, public policy area, uh, we are, we’ve take, we took a break for a little while from the military affairs Committee. That is not to be construed as we did not think it was important.

00:19:35,370	It’s always been important, uh, but we want to make sure that when we do reimplement the military affairs Committee that we’re doing something worthwhile, and we do have an opportunity to make connections at the state level that can impact us at the local level.

00:19:52,530	When someone is retiring from National Guard, from Army, from no matter what level of service they are, and they retire in Bismarck and Mandan. We want them, they actually, most times are, they’ve got several years left of work in them. They’re just retiring from military service. And so what we want to do is try to um through a military affairs committee, help make connections to those job opportunities that are available because they’ve got amazing skills, uh, and can be utilized.

00:20:14,870	And then of course our community engagement, um, things that we do, we have 25+ events, uh, that our membership can attend. It’s where a lot of businesses come together and they try to understand what each other is doing.

00:20:34,100	That’s how, that’s how people decide to maybe purchase their, uh, their goods and services because they’ve met somebody out of Chamber EDC uh event. Um, we do have state of the cities tomorrow. It is a full event. We have nearly 600 people attending.

00:20:49,100	Um, tomorrow we where we will hear from a national economist, uh, that’ll talk to us about the economy. I think a lot of us know what the economy is doing, but it’ll be interesting to hear what he has to say, and he’ll help us break it down into state level and then a local level.

00:21:00,270	And then, of course, we’ll hear, hear from both the mayors, uh, from Mandan and Bismarck. And then our work workforce recruitment, um, tool kit. We’ve spent a significant amount of time in this past year working through some things um on workforce.

00:21:20,100	We received an RWIP grant, um, which means we, we got some money from the state that we applied for, uh, and then we use that money to create some recruitment videos. I’m going to show you one of those videos.

00:21:40,870	We then took some additional funds that we had and invested significantly in sharing those videos outside of the state of North Dakota in like communities in which, um, we live, um, because we don’t want to send these videos to some place in California.

00:21:59,630	We they, we want to send it to some place where they would probably be good, a good fit as a business or as uh people that wanna move uh to, to our community to fill workforce gaps, to bring new business, uh, to, uh, Bismarck Mandan. Uh, economy at a glance, there’s an awful lot of stuff here. I think these are all, um, snippets of things that I think you’re very well aware of.

00:22:18,270	I would just call out um on the airport side, I think you’re very well aware of that there will be uh like an airport expansion project that’ll be coming, uh, likely in 2027, um, but boardings are up.

00:22:37,470	The airport is incredibly busy, and what is that a good sign of? That’s a good sign that there’s a lot of business going on Yes, there are people who are leaving to go on warm vacations at this time of the year, but there is a fair amount, a large amount of business traffic that is coming in and out of that Bismarck airport, and we’ve got to make sure that we’ve got an airport that can handle it.

00:22:51,270	And so if we can go ahead and move forward with airport expansion, that certainly is, is best for all of us. Um, I think something that is important, I think for all of you in Burleigh County, uh, because we do have agricul ture in, in Burleigh County.

00:23:10,000	Um, it’s not a surprise, um, but we are the number one, in production in 10 egg commodities, um, in the state. And again, the Burleigh County plays a huge, uh, part of that. And so I, I like to call that one out. I just have a, I have a personal preference for agriculture, um, in our, in our community.

00:23:28,630	They have a huge impact on the, on the economy in, in our where we live. And so I wanted to play this video for you. And before I do that, I just wanna let you know that as business owners, um, as people who work in the business community, uh, Burleigh County, uh, has a, has an HR office.

00:23:50,630	If you are looking to utilize some of these videos, they’re yours to use. Um, they do us absolutely no good to sit on a shelf at the Chamber EDC and, and not get used.

00:24:08,370	And so if you would like to utilize them in your recruitment efforts if there’s somebody listening on Dakota Media Access that says, I have a business and I would like to utilize some of these videos in my recruitment, um, just reach out to us at the Chamber EDC, and we are more than happy to share them with you because again it does does us no good to keep them to ourselves. So I’m going to play this quick video.

00:24:24,370	It’s, you don’t need popcorn or anything for it cause it’s not that long. No Sorry Well, maybe we’re not gonna play the video because it’s not working. I’m not gonna, I’m not gonna take any more of your time and try to play around with this and play a technology genius.

00:25:04,900	Um I promise you there is a video there, I can send it to you, um, more importantly, I can send you the library to your HR staff, and, um, you can certainly utilize those videos, but I’d entertain any questions. Comm, any questions for Brendan Mr.

00:25:25,000	Chair, Comm Munsen, Brenda, more of a comment than a than a question, um, I appreciate, I have always appreciated working with the chamber and, uh, especially the last couple of years with you being at the, at the helm, uh, I believe you guys are doing the right work and to make sure our community is growing and growing at the right way, so I appreciate your help. Thank you, Comm.

00:25:41,600	a great opportunity for community outreach with the Veterans Affairs. Yes. With the committee that’s getting started. Yep. OK. Yep. Yeah, good point. Very good. OK. Thank you.

00:25:58,230	And I, and I can tell you another thing, Comm, is if you ever get the opportunity to attend any of those leadership BismarckMandan kind of meetings and sit in with these young leaders and whatnot. It’s it’s phenomenal. They, they’re, they’re happy to be there. They want to learn, they wanna, that’s been a really good experience. Yeah. Yeah. So I thank you for that.

00:26:12,730	Comm, we really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to come up and visit with them. It’s important for them to be able to have those interactions with you. All right. Any other questions for Brenda? Well, thank you very much. Thank you. Appreciate you coming by. China That made in China this video? Yeah, probably.

00:26:36,600	just wondering. OK, we’re going to move and move forward into the off-highway vehicle discussion agenda item that’s on page 27 through 68 in your and out, um, information was provided to me.

00:26:57,970	I think Doug, you’re probably gonna want to get up and there may be other people that want to speak on this and probably just kind of take us through where you’re at Welcome and give your name for the record, please. Absolutely this overhead work? Yes, it did. I think the control room will turn it on when you. Yeah, I might need some help there. OK. I’ll sign in here. You got a pen anywhere. That’s one.

00:27:50,370	Good Chair Bitner, Burleigh County Comm. My name is Doug Pierson, and I live in Hay Creek Township, northeast of Bismarck within the ETA. I’m here to share with you the ongoing problems we’re having with the OHVs within the ETA areas. around Bismarck, which include Hay Creek, Gibbs, and Apple Creek Townships. This does not concern the rural areas of Burleigh.

00:28:14,270	So what I would like to do is share with you what has been done in the past and where we are today presently. September 15, 2021, a group of concerned residents addressed the countycom Commission on multiple occasions asking for help. The commission determined the county needed a Ho Ru charter ordinance. Authority to address the problem.

00:28:39,870	November 9, 2022. Home Rule Charter Ordinance provision placed on the ballot and passed. So I’d like to just take some time, um, to talk a little bit about the home rule charter.

00:29:02,270	We got section 3 exhibition Drive in which means driving a vehicle in a manner which disturbs the peace by creating or causing unnecessary engine noise, tire squeal, skid or slide upon acceleration or braking or driving or executing or attempting one or a series of unnecessary abrupt turns or jumping ditches. Section 4, no person may engage in exhibition driving of any vehicle in the roadway.

00:29:30,600	and uh you know, we have talked to the sheriffs numerous times, the deputy service these calls, and what we’re told by the sheriff’s department that we have to catch them jump in ditches or approaches. We can’t take anybody’s word for it. We got evidence.

00:29:48,800	We give a description of vehicles, but we have to catch them in person doing it. Well, that’s never gonna happen because these kids are smart. They see that sheriff’s car, they’re going to be on their best behavior. and I’ve had some opportunities to look at some uh OHV meetings in the past. One in particular, August 2023.

00:30:15,470	I watched one and I was a little disappointed in the OHV language. It covers some good things, but some of the things that were left out of there is the nuisance nuisance language and public nuisance language, which is found in uh North Dakota century code 42.

00:30:41,870	also we got a unique situation kind of where we’re at out in Golden Hills and Crescent Ridge subdivisions, of course we have major OHV damage on 8Fourth Avenue and 41st Street, but right within our subdivision. we still have gravel roads, OK? We’re one of very few up in that area, all around us we have subdivisions that have blacktop. so we have no right away damage within our subdivisions. What we have is gravel road damage.

00:31:09,970	We got kids coming from everywhere, north, east, southwest, they’re coming into those areas and our areas being treated as a racetrack. We’ve had kids come by my place at 40, 50 miles an hour, fish tailing back and forth, and all you can see is the dust. You can’t even see the OHV.

00:31:30,230	Kids popping wheeliess. Kids, uh, cutting cookies, skidding, accelerating, burnouts. We have all that stuff going on and nothing’s being done about it. We have description of these kids, but once again, the sheriff’s department policy is we got to catch him in act, jump in ditches or approaches It’s not going to happen

00:31:57,370	North Dakota’s century code concerning OHV’s jumping ditches. What I can see is found nowhere in the language. Excuse me, um, I should have my glasses on here. What is found is North Dakota Century code 3929-92B and OHV is brought to a complete stop before crossing the shoulder or main travelway of a highway.

00:32:30,600	Also in Part 5, A and B, an individual may not operate an OHV in the following ways, which are declared to be unsafe and a public nuisance. When I was talking about a little while ago. We’re going to come back to public nuisance.

00:32:50,900	At a rate of speed greater than reasonable or proper under all surrounding circumstances in a careless, reckless, or negligent manner so as to endanger a person or property of another or to cause injury or damage to another person or that property of another person. Excuse me, I need a drink of water.

00:33:31,470	I got a really bad cold Give me one second And these pictures here are right around 41st Street. We’re up to the north and the kind of the northeast, that’s where we live at. I know where I’m at here.

00:33:58,800	If we go to, uh, if we go to North Dakota Century code 42-01-01, the definition of a nuisance is one that annoys, injures, or endangers the comfort, repulse, the definition of that is sleep or rest. health or the safety of others, and I want to stop right there. I got some more, uh, information here. I just want to share with you Uh, you might look at this and say, well, he’s against uh engine brakes.

00:34:16,530	I’m not against engine brakes. I’m going to use this as an example. And this is right up in our ETA area, Burleigh County ordinance 2024-01. I talked to a gentleman at the office and I asked, is El official noise ordinance in Burleigh County. He said, No, we do not have an official noise ordinance.

00:34:42,000	What we do have, we have an ordinance against Jakerikes, which is fine and dandy, or engine brakes. So I did a little more research on this. And about a year before these were put up these were the signs that were up before. the current science we have right there.

00:35:12,000	for the simple reason is they were enforced under the nuisance laws, which is Section 42 of the North Dakota Century Code. At that time you didn’t have an ordinance. We needed protection alter against the Jake bricks. So there is protection under North Dakota’s century code right there.

00:35:31,100	So I had an opportunity to talk to a gentleman at the highway department, and I, I was curious. I want to know how do you gauge this right here? I know it’s noise, but he says they use a decibel meter apparently. So I did some more research for myself, and I found out that anything over an 85 decibel is harmful to a human. and the OHV decibel ranges are from 85 to 110.

00:36:05,170	OK, from a nuisance standpoint, OHVs generate more complaints overall. Complaints often cite loss of peace and quiet inability to enjoy outdoor spaces and sleep disruption. If we go down to the verdict right there, Engine brakes, peak, uh, decibels very high duration short. repetition low time of use predictable, noise nuisance is moderate to high.

00:36:35,170	Now you’d go over to OHV’s. Peak decibels very high. Duration long Repetition high time of use uh, time of use is recreational off hours, noise nuisance is high to very high. Conclusion OHVs are generally a greater noise nuisance than engine brakes, even when the decibel levels are similar or lower.

00:37:05,000	And I’m just bringing out that point right there. So you guys have that for your information. or some more information if you want to look at it. I also want to go back to North Dakota Century code 42-01-6. The definition of a public nuisance is one at the same time affects an entire community.

00:37:45,530	or neighborhood or any considerable number of persons, although the extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted upon the individuals may be unequal So like I said, that’s just information we can take a look at right there. I’ll move on into the timeline. April 22nd 2023, Gibbs Township posted on their website, offroade riders in the right of way.

00:38:16,470	December 18, 2023, Burleigh County implements OHV ordinance based on existing century code at that time. The county could only adopt rules to regulate use. The county could not restrict or prohibit use. Excuse me, Commissioners OK, moving on in timeline.

00:39:06,070	January 7th, 2025 representatives highoman and Cleme both from the North Bismarck districts introduced House Bill 1346 to amend North Dakota Century code 39298 to grant the counties equal authority as cities to restrict and prohibit the use of OHVs. March 26, 2025. House Bill 1346, overwhelmingly passes 83 to 6 in the house, 93% and also 44 to 0 in the Senate.

00:39:36,730	100% support and afterwards we gave our testimony. We had legislators that came up and thanked us for testifying on this bill, saying this bill was long overdue. In fact, there’s other cities, or excuse me, there’s other counties in the state that are also have an OHB problems in their ETA.

00:40:00,600	August 1st, 2025, House Bill 1346 goes into effect, granting counties authority to restrict and prohibit the use of OHVs within the county December 29, 2025, Hay Creek Township, Hoed on their website Reckless OHVU causing serious problems. And then on January 8th, 2026, I received a report from Central Dakota Communications, and I, I asked for this report.

00:40:29,330	and they had in their records 107 OHV calls in Hay Creek Township alone. I also worked with gentleman from Gibbs Township and also Apple Creek. And their records came 2024. There were six calls. Gibbs Township in 2025, there were 15 calls. Apple Creek Township, 6 calls in 2024. and 12 calls in 2025.

00:41:00,900	And then Hay Creek Township, 58 calls in 2024 and 107 calls in 2025. You might ask, well, what’s the reason right that, you know, why is Hay Creek Township so much higher than Gibbs and Apple Creek cause they’re very similar. I got an opinion on that.

00:41:22,800	In the northeast side of town, the Sattler subdivision, Silver Ranch subdivisions, they’re within city limits. Those kids cannot ride within the city limits. So it comes straight out north into Hay Creek Township, and we have to put up with that stuff. If you take a look, uh, on Centennial when you go north, you got that Exxon gas station right there on the east side.

00:41:44,730	Take a look in that east ditch and look at those ruts. That is within city limits right there. That’s 1/8 of a mile from Saratoga Avenue all the way up to 43rd Avenue, and they’re allowed to ride in there.

00:42:07,630	My question would be Bismarck has an OHV ordinance, whereas the city police, how come they’re not enforcing that? What I see, and this is my opinion, there’s rules on the books. We got everything put in place, but we need enforcement to take care of this problem. So with that uh, I’ll finish up your commissioners. January 12, 2026.

00:42:34,370	Concerned residents requested a meeting with Burleig County Commission to determine a permanent solution utilizing a new authority granted to the county commission from House Bill 1346. And with that, I will stand for any questions you might have.

00:42:59,630	Comm, any questions for Doug? Any questions Comm Woodcoox When say you get calls of like 107 calls, what does that, is there, that 107 times that the Burnley County sheriff has been called to look into something. Yeah, those are dispatch calls that come from Cencomm. OK. So, when they received that Burleigh County Sheriff has got to go out and service those calls. And how many uh arrests have we had. That’s a good question right there.

00:43:19,170	That’s a very good question, and I, I think that’s a a question I put out, you know, I’ve asked for some information from the sheriff’s department. I’ve also asked information from the state’s attorney. If I were a betty man Comm, Woocox, I would say 0. I know we, when we did this ordinance a year ago, whatever it was, you had the right date.

00:43:37,900	Uh, we thought we had the problem solved, but the problem is enforcement, just like you concluded with. The problem is enforcement, so how do we enforce it? That’s, we’d like to get this done too, but we can’t prohibit them from riding in the ditches, not as far as I know.

00:43:53,370	What, what do you suggest The parents gotta to step up to the plate and be responsible. This is not just only a kids’ issue. This is a parent’s issue. Parents nowadays want to be the kid’s best friend rather than be a parent to Lee guide and direct him.

00:44:12,600	And they they tempt you, I mean, they give you the, you know, what finger and all kinds of stuff that we run into, but you have to, and uh, our sheriff would be say exactly the same thing. We gotta get them caught in the act.

00:44:29,070	Whether that’s a video or, or what, I don’t know, but it’s not an easy question. That’s, that’s for darn sure. Well, there’s a, there’s a lot of good, you know, laws on the books, jumping ditches, falls underneath, careless, reckless, or negligent. Also, what I read in, uh, in the Home Rule charter in Section 3, All those Saints was expedition driving.

00:44:47,600	They’re all in the century cold already, careless, reckless, or negligent. But there, there you go right there, it leads on to how do we take care of this problem? Enforcement, that’s the only thing I don’t know. That’s a good question, but I just want to make it known that the county has the same authority as the city does now.

00:45:04,370	and I wouldn’t want to see a total ban in Burleigh County because it’s not fair to the farmers in these rural areas. There’s nothing going on up there. What’s happening it’s in the ETA area. It’s a five-mile radius around the Bismarck area.

00:45:21,900	and I would like to see some kind of band within that area, Comm Munsen. Well, I can, I can tell you that I’ve received not 100 calls, but I know I’ve received 2030 at least in the last year. And my encouragement to all the residents is to keep calling the sheriff’s department eventually we will catch these kids.

00:45:41,870	but if they don’t call, if the residents do not call, we don’t have a chance. And so I encourage all of you to keep calling in to give us that opportunity to catch these kids, and I would bet, I know one of the laws is you have to be 16. I would bet one of the laws most of them are breaking are under 16.

00:45:58,330	Yeah, it’s, uh, it’s that certificate they’re getting from North Dakota Parks and Recs Division. 12 to 15 year old kids able to drive up and down our roads at 55 miles an hour. Who thought that was a good idea? But please keep calling.

00:46:17,530	But once again, uh, Comm Munsen, we’ve been told by the sheriff they got to catch him in the act of doing this right here. Time to get out there to service those calls. It’s 1015 minutes. Those kids are long gone. They’re smart. They’re on their cellphones. They’re, they’re talking. Two minutes, they’re gone. They’re gone. Yeah. So OK.

00:46:36,730	I think, I think, um, somebody else wants to speak on the same subject. OK, very good. And thank you, Commissioners, for your time and your patience. Appreciate you. Thank you. I appreciate the input of your name for the record, please. You bet. Brian Fettig. Did you say fetig or headache? Yeah, fetig. Sythetic. That’s what I thought. So, yeah.

00:46:58,270	Good evening, uh, Chair Bittner, Commissioners, uh, it wasn’t in my talking point, but after Brenda’s presentation, I thought I’d add, uh, 2010 graduate of the leadership Bismarck Mandan program, and it is a very good program, so um, I’m not going to try and repeat anything Doug said.

00:47:22,070	I just wanted to present maybe some uh different angles to think about. Um, first off, I was part of the group back in 2021 that worked with the commission to get the home rule charter ballot. on or get the Hor charter on the ballot to address this issue. I served on the Home Ruel Charter Committee at that time.

00:47:38,100	And your first question might be for me is how have things been at our place since the last time I spoke to this commission. Let me say it’s been downright miserable. You almost can’t take it. It has turned into an all year long problem.

00:47:56,370	If you look at the Google Earth Pictures of 2021, and then you go on tonight and look at our property. You won’t even recognize our ditch. It’s no longer a ditch. It’s a rutted up OHB trail. The noise back and forth when you’re laying in your bed at night will drive you crazy. I brought my wife and daughter with you, with me tonight.

00:48:11,730	Um, and they can uh vouch for this, but you can’t tune them out. You know how bad it is when you can recognize what type of OHB is headed in your direction based on their distinct sound. I can tell if it’s a side by side. I can tell if it’s a four-wheeler.

00:48:27,800	I can tell if it’s a motorcycle. I, I have a memorized. Rain storms are the worst. We had 3.5 inches in October, and it was really cold and everything was flooding and the sun is going down and it’s still sprinkling and w we’re laying in bed and you can just hear it’s a four wheeler, it’s coming, it’s

00:48:46,530	about a half mile south. It’s racing up Fifty-second Street. It turns around, comes back this way, and the revving of the engine is just to purposely fish tail when it rains 3.5 inches. These kids love to fishtail.

00:49:05,100	When you leave the property in the morning, we literally drove over a 5 gallon bucket’s worth of mud on our approach It makes you sick. The destruction is very real. What’s eye opening about these 100+ calls that have come in and calls that the commissioners have received. None of the calls were for me. I quit calling.

00:49:28,100	What happens is we had given up on calling much like everyone else in the county. My neighbor, who is here tonight, remembers calling over 19 years ago. And let me explain exactly how this goes. For those who call enforcement the response is always the same. They’ll show up. They’ll hand you a pamphlet outlining what the OHV riders are allowed to do.

00:49:47,870	Furthermore, they’ll tell you the must see him in the act to do anything about it. It is a waste of time and taxpayer dollars. Nothing happens. I mean, think about 19 years of phone calls and responding to these calls and all the efforts being done with Home Rule charter and ballot and ordinance.

00:50:08,100	And now think about our county. uh, reps having to go to the state level to get support for the citizens That is why they got involved because nothing is happening and they sympathize with us. I wasn’t part of the legislature. I did not know Doug.

00:50:25,730	I did not know, um, I think Jerry’s gonna, uh, speak to on some of her testimony. I gave up. I tried the 2021 deal and there’s a whole set of groups. There’s new people that moved to the county. This is only going to get worse, and I don’t understand the reason to keep kicking the can.

00:50:39,100	I would encourage all of you to go back and watch that 8:21 of 23 meeting, so that August meeting of 2023 there was a public hearing and everyone spoke and at one point, the Commission had stated, uh, the simplest and cheapest solution would be to prohibit them.

00:51:03,600	At that time, our planning director Mitch Flanagan specifically said you cannot prohibit them because a sentry code That isn’t the case today. Sentry code is changed with the past legislative session because you guys couldn’t do anything in 23. The county now has the full authority to ban them. That is the only solution, and there’s no downside to doing so. Let me explain.

00:51:27,100	What you would be doing is taking away play time for give or take 20 kids and giving back quality of life to an estimated 13,000 ETA residents. The ETA is essentially the size of a small city and it’s growing. There’s 190 residents per square mile in the ETA. There’s only 26 outside of the ETA area.

00:51:53,270	Imagine tonight if we had 12 year olds running on four wheelers and side by sides and dirt bikes outside this county building. Somehow that is being allowed right now in the ETA area around Bismarck. It doesn’t make sense. This small group of kids seemed to be the most protected class in society.

00:52:13,530	Now I would like to address the elephant in the room. What about the OHV dealerships and their business. They won’t lose a dollar I just purchased a brand new Polaris Ranger side by side from Action motor sports in Mandan. Everybody I know has an OHB. We use them for ice fishing.

00:52:36,730	We use them for hunting. We use them for farming. We use them for ranching. We use them for utilities, plowing snow, work, you name it. We use them for everything but ditch running. Put it this way, those writing checks to the dealerships aren’t the ones running the ditches. It’s simple. The solution, the language tonight.

00:52:59,730	This is what it would look like. I would direct your attention to the city ordinance. They are already identify many of the exemptions in their language. For instance, 4 wheelers are allowed during emergency conditions or for the performance or construction or maintenance in the public right away. Utilities are exempt from any ban, period.

00:53:21,870	Farmers and ranchers, those who spray the ditches with OHBs, they’re exempt The language is straightforward In addition, Bismarck specifically allows side by sides in the city streets if they’re 50 inches wide and street legal and operated by a licensed driver 16 years or older, and they have to be insured.

00:53:45,970	That makes perfect sense. You can just look at the city ordinance copy and paste it, protect the farmers, protect the utilities. That’s not the goal. There isn’t any utility. There’s no farmer that’s getting a call or a complaint.

00:54:03,070	There’s no one using their four wheeler who’s spraying the lawn that is getting a complaint. That’s not the case. I mean, quite frankly, I’ve had 5 years to think about that. It’s just an excuse. You can cover that with language. Just one last thing to think about. Many of these rutted up trails are on property that is privately owned.

00:54:19,230	The county does not own that property, but yet allows OHV use in the ditch, even though the easement was specifically for a public road. There is a strong legal argument that the county is responsible for this damage on private property and in some cases, I would argue the easements could be considered void.

00:54:43,630	My fear personally, I think if this doesn’t get addressed and soon, there is the potential for legal people banding together and, and making a legal case for this because everyone has rights. These 2 kids have more rights than any of the private property owners tonight. and there’s something wrong with this whole situation.

00:55:07,630	This is a, I would encourage all residents to read the language in your easement and consider these issues when asked to sign a new easement, for instance 20% of our property is useless since our horses won’t get anywhere near this illegal OHB trail. My daughter has her horses, she rides them. First thing, stay away, away, the horses spook.

00:55:27,370	They run The, the 20 bad actors in the ditch that are protected. We have no protections. With spring right around the corner, please act quickly on this. With the warm weather, they’re outrunning hard already.

00:55:49,870	You can drive by our place tonight, and you will see brand new tracks where a four-wheeler plowed over a driver driveway deflectors just last night A again. they just won’t quit 365 days a year. It will drive you crazy. There is a solution, and I’m willing and everyone else in the room here tonight is been more than willing to do it. I don’t know what else the citizens of Burleigh County can do. Great presentation, Bryant.

00:56:11,730	Comm, any, uh, questions for Brian Fetty. Mr. Chair Commission. Woodcock, could we request our state’s attorney to look into this and see if we can enact the same ordinance that the city does, because I think we had the word years ago, and I’m probably it’s changed, but that we could

00:56:28,370	not do that. And that was the that was our hand. Well, you’re, you’re right, Comm, but that, that’s what a recent, can we get a recent opinion as to whether we could do that. Yeah, we sure can, but I think it’s pretty clear.

00:56:46,470	Um, we’re, you know, I’m, I’m certainly aware of the change in the law that um because that was the big hangup that the cities could. Right. Um, A on it, and the counties couldn’t, but the state’s attorney lawyer? Um, yes, you can now enact an ordinance that restricts the use of them in the past, the statute just said um or that we, we could regulate

00:57:02,000	the use of them, but now that they’ve added city and county, we can restrict the use of them now, like we couldn’t can you ban them? That can be one of the restrictions. You know, I think um, with with respect to the information that Brian just just provided. The language in the city ordinance is workable.

00:57:22,170	It is, it’s certainly addresses my concerns because, like him and like just about everybody in the ETA. I, I actually own 3 of those machines. I own 1. uh, UTV and two ATVs, but we use them. We literally work with them.

00:57:40,530	We, you know, spray weeds like you said, we mow, we plow, we you know, do all kinds of stuff with those things, and I think the norm that would be my concern. but I think that city ordinance that he’s described, and I am aware of that, um, pretty well covers that for the citizens.

00:57:59,530	I think that we’ve tried and we’ve tried and we’ve tried for years now and really commissioners this is a, you know, we got a, we got a small group of kids that just laughs at law enforcement, and I know Kelly’s back there thinking, what more can I do? And he’s there, right, sheriff’s Department is correct. They need to see it.

00:58:21,430	They can’t take my word for it Well, maybe they could, but I don’t think they will, but you know that that is due, due to the, the law and the prosecution, and I think that’s valid. However, I’m, I’m at the point where I’ve heard about enough of this over the years. Well, I’m not, not about hurt enough. I’ve, I’ve had it with that.

00:58:45,430	Um, my kids grew up out in the country. They grew up with snowmobiles and ATVs, and you know, they never left my property. um you know, I, I bought the toys and, and let them play.

00:59:03,170	but they never left home with them either, and I think that too often now what I hear is it’s, it’s just a, an unsupervised entertainment thing. And then the parents don’t know that the kids are out there destroying the neighborhoods and doing whatever because they d Dan sure don’t do it in their own neighborhood. because their parents would get a call from the neighbor going, hey.

00:59:21,730	and, and really I’ve heard enough. Um, is I would just want to asking ongcom Commissioners. you know, the folks in the audience you’ve heard what was said, does anybody else want to add anything to that? and I, I’ve lived at my place for 30 years. Yeah. And he is a Dr. Horrible.

00:59:45,800	Yeah, I, we’re, we’re, well, yeah, I, I appreciate that. Come on up here I’m gonna give your name for the record, please. Good evening. I’m Jerry Hoff. I did testify, um, at the legislative hearings as well this year.

01:00:12,000	or last year I’m the one who is privileged enough to have a racetrack that was put in right across the street from my home. It’s, everybody’s got 2 to 3 acre lots out in Grand Prairie.

01:00:31,970	and um unfortunately, there’s a private landowner who has never built on his property, but he gave somebody permission to put a racetrack in, and they have jumps and they have, it, it gets crazy. Um, I don’t even know if it’s kids from the neighborhood anymore at this point that are using it. But I will say that I, I’ve almost been run over, walking my granddaughter with a baby stroller. Um I’ve seen, um, the sheriff’s department has been out there.

01:00:48,870	There have been accidents where kids have been taken away in ambulances Um, they’re completely unsupervised, and it’s day and night, especially in the summertime, and I do have to agree, I, I was kind of surprised I’m hearing the bikes already, even in this cold weather.

01:01:09,530	And it’s dirt bikes mostly, but there are um a lot of the Polaris, like the side by sides, we have one too, but it never leaves our yard. It’s used to plow snow and my husband will give my granddaughter rides on our property.

01:01:24,000	He doesn’t take it out on the road at all, but it’s, it’s odd that I see little like, I’m, I’m not joking. I say 8 years old. um driving with their younger siblings in some of these side by sides, and they’re completely no adults anywhere in sight. And they are, they’re not really doing anything wrong, but I’m just thinking, oh my gosh.

01:01:44,900	Like who would let your child drive on the road because they don’t know you know, traffic rules and things like that. So you have to be careful. I have had a, um, dirt bike come at me down the middle of the road, and I had to pull over into the ditch because he was, he thought the road was his and then he gave me the bird, and I

01:02:00,470	actually pulled out of his waist so he wouldn’t hit me. But it’s I don’t recognize some of the kids, so I don’t know that it’s neighborhood people anymore. I think it’s people that know they can get away with it out there, so they.

01:02:16,530	bring their bikes into the Grand Prairie area, but it’s not, it’s not a business area. It’s completely residential. Everybody has larger lots. There are no sidewalks, so when people want to walk, run, or take their dogs out, they have to walk on the sides of the road.

01:02:31,800	and, um, it’s, it’s become dangerous, but yes, I’ve seen like I said, I, and I’ve called and I kind of feel the same way everybody else does. I’ve given up because nothing really ever seems to happen, but having the track right across from my house is more than just a little annoying. I can’t even enjoy my yard in the summertime.

01:02:48,900	I’ve, I’ve heard of somebody doing that in a different area, and that got shut down by law enforcement, so I, I don’t think that’s something we have to tolerate. This one’s probably, I would say it’s a two-acre lot that they built up and I know um they have been out there a few times.

01:03:05,430	but, um, a lot of the kids take off and leave when they know somebody’s coming. Um, or they’ll see people outside kind of watching them and then they know something’s coming, so they leave. Well, we, we’re, we’re aware of that, um, Comm, you wanted to add some.

01:03:21,470	What I want to add is what is it going to take to stop this, somebody getting killed. The parents will wake up and then they’ll forget it about, forget about it again till the next kid on one of these, I’ve seen them going up and down the road.

01:03:45,700	and jumping the ditches and you know, they, they really don’t have control a lot of times when they’re doing this I. we need to do something before somebody gets killed. OK. Mr. Chair. Comm Woodcoxox. Um, I, Mitch is right behind the, I can’t quite see him behind the pillar. I’d like to ask him to come up and Review the policy of how do we create it.

01:04:08,600	OK, hang on. Any further questions for her or anything else you wanna add? Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. OK, Mitch. Sorry, I, I, I thought she was done speaking, so my apologies. How do we start an ordinance and, uh, do you work with the sheriff to, to, uh.

01:04:28,100	No, I, Comm, I, I think we’ve already covered that ground. I think the city’s ordinance is well tested and well tried, and there’s nothing new there. No, it, it would just take a resolution from this board.

01:04:44,900	Comm Bakke, sorry, um, so when we went through the exercise of putting this in place for the city on the city side. And I was mayor at the time and the biggest concern I have was you’ve got a vehicle that doesn’t weigh a whole lot. on roads with vehicles that do weigh a lot.

01:05:05,100	Who’s going to lose in that battle? And that was my biggest concern, so we were working on trying to restrict some of the right of ways, some of the speeds. Now, the problem in the county is most of these roadways are higher speed roads because so I’m kind of wondering how we navigate around that because my biggest concern in the county is one, it’s a nuisance to the residents, and 2, when you take a look at these ditches and

01:05:24,270	what they look like, and I’d love to have, uh, Casey or Dan speak on this as well. Those ditches are set up for for water conveyance.

01:05:44,630	And when you’ve got a rutted up ditch, are we backing water up into somebody’s property, into somebody’s pastures, this is a big issue because a lot of things that, well, when we were having conversations with the city over the ETA, a lot of that comes out of water conveyance, and water issues that the county’s had to pay for.

01:06:00,600	So I have a big concern about what the damage it’s doing in terms of water conveyance and how those ditches are supposed to function and the nuisance side of it. And the easy solution is it’s like, it’s a vehicle it’s had to have the rights to the, uh, rules of the road and travel on the roadway.

01:06:17,630	But when you get a 12 or 15 year old kid who can’t travel on the roadway. Right. Well, that’s where the city ordinance comes in because they require a licensed driver. Exactly. So you know, I don’t, I don’t want to encourage kids on the road. I don’t mean to interrupt you. Um, but that’s, that’s where the city ordinance actually does cover that.

01:06:34,970	Yes, and, and we, we went through that very meticulously. So I, I think there is an opportunity to take what the city has in place. Apply that to what the county can do with the, the exceptions for the agricultural stuff. I think we can come up with something that’s worked, that, that’ll work.

01:06:53,470	Um, the only other question I’ve got on that too is you know, in the ETA was referenced. Yeah. What that new ETA looks like really it’s, it’s different now. So now we’re coming back to who’s enforcement is because, um, I’m guessing some of those roadways that people brought up about why isn’t Bismarck Police Department out here.

01:07:16,330	It’s like do they have jurisdiction out there anymore? No. Well, that’s pretty well laid out by, um, by the annexation. I think people really know where the city limit lines are these days. That’s not really that confusing, but the, the city’s ordinance is, is pretty well crafted. Right? I, I would agree with that.

01:07:37,370	The only question that I have moving forward is, does that fall into something we can just adopt or do we need to go through a process, and this is the state’s attorney in Mitch, but do we need to go through a public hearings and different things or just to say, say, well, we’re gonna adopt the city ordinance.

01:07:52,170	No, I think I provided you with, uh like a cheat sheet of how to adopt an ordinance, and so, um, I’ll find that again and send it out. but you would have to adopt that yourself. You can’t just say we’re adopting the city one, you’d have to write your own and yep, and go through the process.

01:08:09,730	but it’s a pretty simple process, so might as well just figure I’m moving ahead with that. OK. So I think the public is, does obviously made the case we’ve been after this for years. This is nothing new And it, and it’s to let Mitch off the hook.

01:08:28,000	Well Mitch, I’m sure you’re going to be wanting to, uh, work closely on this one. So anyway, we’ll, we’ll go ahead and, and look at moving through that part of the process. Comm Bakke.

01:08:45,630	Um, Dan or Casey, whichever one of you, uh, what are we seeing out there as far as damage on the, the ditches. I, I can weigh in on that. Well, I know you guys may not know it by your place, but I actually build recreational trails a lot of recreational trails in the state of North Dakota. a lot. I don’t know how many miles, miles and miles from all kinds of rough terrain and bad areas and all that.

01:09:04,700	It is expensive. to go and try to do these repairs, and it’s especially expensive if you’re gonna keep tearing it up as you’re repairing it. You’ll never get ahead of it. We don’t get gas tax to put towards, um, repairing that damage. We don’t get license fees.

01:09:23,070	There’s, there’s essentially nothing that I’m aware of that Burleigh County gets that we could fund these kind of repairs, and I mean, we’re, I’m talking down, you could be in between $5 to $10 a foot. to fix this stuff, and you consider the miles of stuff that that we’re talking about.

01:09:41,100	I’m telling you, a couple 100 grand doesn’t go very far at all. Dan, what are, what are you seeing out there as far as some of the damage and, and what’s that doing to the water conveyance and what’s the cost of repairing some of that? Are we keeping track of, of that as well.

01:09:58,100	Um, Mr. Chair, uh, Comm, Comm Bakken, uh, we are seeing substantial ditch damage, of course, that does obstruct some of the flows, things like that, um, Mr. Pierson’s pictures kind of put it right in front of your face.

01:10:17,330	You, you see the, the ditch damages and, um, we don’t spend a lot of time repairing them because as soon as we’ve, we’ve repaired some of these ruts or some of these damaged areas, the, the vehicles are just back in them within a week or they look the exact same so that’s, that’s my point.

01:10:33,530	Comm, so we did a project up on Seventyfirst Avenue, I think it’s 2 years ago now, um, you know, we seeded that whole area um within very short period of time, the, the straw rolls were ran over and things like that. With days yeah, sure, yes, very, very short period of time.

01:10:50,100	So, uh, yes, uh, the short answer to your question is yes, we are seeing damages in the ditches, pretty much wouldn’t call it countywide, but definitely within that, that small area right outside city limits. Um, we’ll reserve a spot on the next agenda. Done. If, if we have anything ready to move forward as far as hearings or anything else because time is Comm Bakken.

01:11:15,500	one other piece of input I’d like just for this meeting, um, thank you, Dan. Um Sheriff Leben, could you, uh, come up and speak a little bit on some of the enforcement side of this and cause if we’re able to adapt the city’s current ordinance, I would like

01:11:33,730	some of your input on that because you can pass all the laws of your world, in the world if they’re not enforceable or you’re not able to, then what good are they? So, you know, from an enforcement perspective, I would love your your perspective. Uh, Mr.

01:11:49,730	Chair, Comm, excuse me, I’m getting over a cold here. Um, so, basically, a lot of information shared tonight. Um, a lot of good information and ultimately, you know, from the enforcement side, and you’re correct, Comm Bakken basically it all comes down to what can we do with that law. So basically when we say we have to catch somebody doing it.

01:12:12,100	The only other way we could do any enforcement um would be as if there was a we take a report, uh, write a citation based on a citizen’s observation, but then that still has to go through the court process.

01:12:34,070	Um, the likelihood of that getting through the system and Julie can weigh in on this, would be very, very tough to do. Um, based on the observation. The problem we run into and you know, like I said, I can talk for probably hours on this cause after 35 years of dealing with this in the county, so 19 years, I’ll go back farther than that.

01:12:54,900	Um-hum. Um, so, some of the problems we run into, uh, the first problem is identifying because basically, under the US Constitution, we cannot seize somebody um just to ID them. So if you have a, a young person riding the ATV with a helmet on.

01:13:22,600	We have to be able to say under oath that we believe they are unlicensed and driving. So, um, like in a car, if you see somebody that looks to be 5 years old, driving a car, that would give you a reason to stop that car. Um, but now you put somebody on an ATV with a helmet and it a shield, we can’t identify them. So then we have to catch them.

01:13:43,970	violating the law. Some of the other things that were brought up tonight like jump in approaches. So when you talk about the entry code, not every road carries equal weight or not every approach carries equal weight. So jumping a roadway such as 41st or something like that would fall under the law and that definition.

01:14:11,730	Jumping an approach that goes into a farmer’s field doesn ’ t have that same protection or same classification. So, I think, you know, and, and I’ll answer any questions that you have. Um, ultimately, I think an ordinance that, um bans any usage except for uh certain limited uses.

01:14:42,370	obviously would give us the enforcement authority, you know, but ultimately that’s something you’re gonna have to weigh in on, on a public hearing, you know, as others come to testify on this. And we will. We will.

01:14:56,630	We’ll, we’ll have it open to the public, and I would encourage you folks that are here to certainly watch for that. We, you’re welcome and I would like to make sure that we put the restrictive so that like the private approaches are covered that they’re not covered under the Well, we’ll have, we’ll have the opportunity to add languages needed and that’s all part of the process. One of Mr.

01:15:11,730	Chair, Comm, and, and maybe to answer that for you, Comm Bakken, ultimately, I think if you look at the city ordinance, um, what the city ordinance says is basically they cannot be driven. Now, there was a reference to street legal and licensed, but those are classified as a vehicle and they’re operated on the roadway.

01:15:33,630	So, if you remember, uh, our former, um, head of maintenance for Burleigh County. He would drive his to work every day. It was street legal. It was licensed, completely different than what we’re seeing out in the county right now. Right. And that, that’s what mine are.

01:15:54,370	Mine are licensed and street legal and and whatnot, and we use them for work, and we use them for spraying and all that sort of stuff, but I think that’s all covered with the ordinances I understand it from the city. Well, and I think it’s workable.

01:16:08,070	You kind of answered my question because I was going to ask how familiar you are with, I’m assuming Barry with the way the city crafted that, so if there was anything that was left out, um please work with State’s Attorney, lawyer and Mitch to make sure that it’s added in there. Correct.

01:16:28,500	And I, and I think another thing to point out and just reiterate the point that, that you heard from citizens and and you’ll hear it again from me. We own these kind of machines. This is, this is clearly. we’re talking about something that is not under the normal ownership of these machines. I know my kids never did anything like that.

01:16:47,630	Um, most people’s kids never would if their parents could see them. It’s, it’s gotten so bad out in the county that I just think that, um, those excuses aren’t going to work anymore. All right, Commissionerer Schwab, uh, with this ordinance cover the county the whole county or would there be exemption for what’s in the twilight zone.

01:17:14,370	Is it going to that too? I guess we’ll have to look at that moving forward, but I think the safe bet is it’ll apply countywide because it still allows landowners farmers, ranchers, businessmen like myself to do what we’re doing with those machines, cause we’re not the ones out there tearing up the ditches and jumping the approaches and stuff.

01:17:33,170	Not that I wouldn’t love to play like a kid, but I’d probably end up in the hospital, but that’s, you know, but that the, the exemptions that exist, even under the city ordinances for bona fide use, no problem.

01:17:53,500	because we all, you know, you heard, there’s so many of us out there that own these machines, and that’s part of why we’ve talked about enlarging, um, um uh, you know, the, the building size in the coats because people have more toys and more things, you know, more boats, more UTVs, ATVs, trucks, tractors, you know, you name it.

01:18:18,900	So, um, anything else you want to add? So we’re gonna, we’re going to continue this discussion, and I, and I appreciate everybody that is, that was here, uh, bringing this forward. Thank you all. I’m gonna move on Um Coy planning Director Flanagan amend Article 21 floodplain regulations. Welcome back, Mitch. Comm, Mr.

01:18:51,070	Chair Uh, this is a very small, um, ordinance change, um, but it became necessary to amend and reenact that Article 21 to include that minor section at the beginning is directed by the Department of Water Resources. They want all flood plain regulations to be homogeneous, so they want our ordinance to be the similar to what the state has. So that’s all that is that preamble at the very beginning.

01:19:11,730	It went through two public hearings, um, and it was, uh, recommended for approval, uh, 80 to Planning Commission meeting. Move to approve Second, motion is 2 to approve. Article 21, the amendments. Any further discussion? Call the rule. Comm Schwab. Yes, Comm Woodcock. Yes. Comm Munsen? Yes. Comm Bakken. Yes. Chair Bittner. Yes, motion carries. Thank you, Mitch. Next is Connie, Auditor Sloskowski, on a joint powers agreement. Welcome.

01:19:36,870	Good evening, Chair and Commissioners. Uh, so since the agenda went out, uh, I was actually reached out to by the McLean County Auditor, and she said that the in the schools that she was signing these four, didn’t realize that they were signing, and they decided that they didn’t want to do it.

01:19:52,900	However, I left it on the agenda just so that I could kind of tell you what this is, how it works, and, uh, feels, uh, small legislative changes that have happened regarding elections. So in the last, uh, the election uh legislative s es sion the laws were changed as far as bonding issues go.

01:20:12,530	Uh, any school bonding issues need to be on the, uh, local ballot that everybody sees they can no longer have their own uh elections. The schools can no longer run their own elections for bond issues.

01:20:29,630	However, they can still run their own elections for the school boards and so this is what this is kind of uh covering any schools that want to have a JPA with the county to run their school board elections. We currently have one with the Bismarck School uh, system that we had it for many years. It works great. However, it is still an optional thing.

01:20:44,170	Uh, this one was for the schools around McLean County and some of those, uh, school districts do cross into Burleigh County. Uh, however, this one is no longer the school’s didn’t realize what they were doing, then they realized it and they chose not to go forward with that.

01:21:00,270	So, uh, that’s all that one is, no action required by the commission, just wanted to give you that update. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you. That was easy. Good thing I had that easy button over here. Uh, Comm Munsen, Community Gardens Agreement.

01:21:23,070	Uh, fellow Commissioners, as we’re already passed that date of people wanting to secure their gardens, uh, for the upcoming summer, uh, in front of you is a an agreement that I have worked out with the Burleigh County, or excuse me, with the, uh, Bismarck Park District, uh, for the year of 26 to continue to operate the gardens as they did last year.

01:21:38,270	What this does is it gives me time to work with 4H. My goal is for H to take it over. Um, but we’re already a little bit behind since this all happened at the end of the year.

01:21:55,630	Uh, so this agreement again is to move forward with the Burleigh, but the Bismarck Park District for the year of 26, uh, which again, gives me time to work with 4H to try to do this for 27 and on. Um I, I didn’t quite, you know, I was kind of reading here. Yep. Your proposing to make an agreement between Bismarck Parksson wither County and Bismarck Parks and Rec, yep, for the 26th season of Just the Gardens.

01:22:19,100	to let them handle it. Uh, there’s 1 40 gardens out there. Uh, last year they had 80% of them rented. Um, and so to again to allow us more time to be prepared to run this correctly.

01:22:40,530	I’d let, I would wish that because my Pars runs it this year and then that gives us time to make sure we’re ready for next year. OK, so the, where it talks about fees, because I, I haven’t had a chance to read this, but where it talks about fees, the only thing that Burleigh County gets out of doing this being the landowner, you get 5%

01:22:58,600	of the fees, 5% of the fees, basically just to cover our water. our water expense Uh, the gardens are tilled, everything’s ready They’re already plodded out Park District will come in and tell it the beginning of the year, uh, and we have hands off for the 26th season.

01:23:25,800	OK, Comm, Comm Munsen is uh is 5% cover the, the water bill. Nobody could split out the whole Missouri Valley complex as far as water usage, uh, so it’s a guesstimate. OK. And then my other question is, given potential development out there, uh those gardens in any locations that would interfere with any potential projects. They’re under the WAA lines. OK.

01:23:54,730	So, it, it, you know, for future 27, 28, 29, I think that’ll still fit within the Missouri Valley complex’s thought process. OK. Comm Schwan Uh, I see what you know actually my favorite option is the 3rd. But I can tell you, Comm Munsen, there is no way extension is going to be able to handle these gardens.

01:24:23,100	With non-extension, the 4H, the volunteer 4H group. the volunteers, yes, OK That’s, that’s my goal to to approach them. in the next month. They re sure to help already. Oh. Plus, they don’t have the room. You’d have to hire somebody to go out there. OK. That’s why I’m thinking 4H, not extension.

01:24:47,000	because it could be a fundraiser for them. but again, 27 and beyond. Who are these volunteers? Whoever makes up the 4H groups. Mary Horning is part of the 4H group, right? And so that group of 4H kids. This will be a great project for the kids. Well, Marie Horning’s my niece. I know.

01:25:14,270	Have you talked to her? I, no, yeah. So don’t be, you say don’t be quick to volunteer. I’m not volunteering her. Watch out. I think we need something more detailed on, on this Oh, yeah. Well, this is only, this is. This is, you know, I this is the one year stop. Yeah, I would move to approve the agreement as as Second.

01:25:37,800	Motion is second to approve the agreement. Any further discussion? Call the rule. Comm Wood Docks. Yes. Comm Munsen. Yes. Comm Bakken. Yes. Comm Schwab. No. Chair Bittner? No, I’ll just try him with you for that.

01:26:00,270	Uh, motion carries Um I probably should have read that one and had some discussion. I hit of time, but, um, item number 12, Comm Schwab, is, uh, um, continued discussion of garrison diversion, and you have NDSU extension ANR person, uh, you can take whichever one you want first. Uh first off, is anybody for garrison diversion in the audience. They didn’t promise to be here. Well I doubt it I didn’t ask.

01:26:30,070	I did AI research on, and I’m continuing to do it and I want to explain to the people that are listening, watching This isn’t just a North Dakota project It’s gonna water Minnesota from Fargo up to the Canadian line. and they do not belong to the district. but they get the benefits.

01:27:03,170	and of course, if you go through this thing uh, nobody really has committed. Well, my wife’s from Minnesota. Smart Norwegian Let’s North Dakota pay for all of this. and then we’ll hook up. Moorhead is a city of 46,000. And it, well, we’ll just use it when there’s drought.

01:27:31,530	Don’t believe it. There is a Red River Valley Authority, the lake. Agassi authority that uh Garrison diversion supports, it is just layer and stacked. with different organizations and basically garrison diversion doesn’t do anything. When you, when you cut to the chase.

01:28:04,000	So I also want, I believe, Mark they pulled that tape You can’t find that tape, I was told that video. They scheduled. They may have, I’ve, I’ve seen it, but maybe it’s, maybe they’ve taken down. I don’t know. Don’t ask. OK. We have the, uh, on our website we have a link to the 2026 January 9th meeting.

01:28:33,370	and a lot of people don’t understand what we’re talking about, but I would recommend that they go to that link and watch it and there’s a disclaimer that goes with it. When you hear it, you’re probably going to have hearing problems afterwards. And if you watch it, you’re probably gonna develop cataracts. It’s that bad. So, really you need to uh get caught up on this thing.

01:28:54,730	It appears that our money is subsidizing Western Minnesota. That’s pretty much the gist of all of this and then the agenda, you can look it up and read it. Yeah. That is part of the agenda packet.

01:29:13,900	So anybody who wishes to read that material, you’re welcome to go online and look at that on the Burleigh County website. Um, NDSU. NDSU um I think you have my one deal there. No, I got it Has a position that just opened today and they want to fill it right away And the reason for that is they have to have our permission.

01:29:41,100	uh we pay half the wages and NDSU pays half the wages. So we got to OK it. So the gal that would have been here had to go to Fargo and asked me to do this. What they want We need a motion. This isn’t her. to move forward with filling the position ANR extension agent.

01:30:05,170	moved to approof 2, I have a motion in a second to um approve the moving forward with filling the position. Any further discussion? Call the rule. Comm Munsen. Yes, Comm Bakken. Yes, Comm Schwab. Yes. Comm Woodcock. Yes. Chair Bitner. Yes, motion carries.

01:30:27,170	Any other, um, anything else for the good of Burleigh County, Comm Woodcock. Just an update on our project with the mural on the south side. We’ve run into some, um financial problems trying to get this thing done and done properly. So, uh, I’m still looking for input. whether we want to discuss it now or not.

01:30:43,700	We’re up to about, probably the thing’s going to be 22, 200 to $250,000 to do the whole thing. Whether that’s, whether that’s a, uh, sticking point, we say no, I think we, the sooner we do that, the better. Uh, I just think it’s a great project.

01:31:04,000	It just got to be a lot of money and, uh, we’ve had some estimates from the general contractor, a couple others that have come in, and they’re all in the same relative ball ballpark, but um, we have raised 70 $80,000 but that’s not gonna cover this. So I don’t know where we would get the additional 130 or 100, whatever it might be.

01:31:23,600	I, I I, I think it’s a really tough sell for the citizens, for us to to commit any much more than we’ve already talked about for that. Um, go ahead, Comm Baker. Especially something that depending on what the city winds up doing with, with their adjacent parking lot, whether there’s a build project there or not, um, that’s something

01:31:44,700	that might wind up being just very short lived as well. If it was a long term, um project that was gonna be around for a decade or two. I, I would have a little bit better appetite for it.

01:32:01,730	I know there’s some other options and Comm Woodcock’s, uh, um, I’ve shared those with you because the city and the, the county are, are the, the state are looking with an organization that’s gonna help kind of manage what that looks like. So I, I would like to explore some of those options as well that would be a great, great thing to do.

01:32:17,600	I think we could do more working together with the city and the state. Um, you know, I think it’d have a lot better, a lot better reception by the public Comm Woodcox. We have not spent any money, we, we did, the county dedicated $5000 from last year’s Community Development Fund and 5000 from this year’s.

01:32:37,370	And we also had a $35,000 match that we’ve uh, the county committed to to match this other 35,000. We have not spent anything. Might be a little bit of bills from, from the, uh, Heritage Foundation, but I don’t think it’d be significant, but if we, we drop out now, uh, we have very little investment and it was a good try, but I just

01:32:55,000	don’t think it’s feasible. Well, I’d like to see us work out something with the city and the state, and if that requires some funding to make sure talk about it, but that, that amount of money that you had talked about is just I’d rather make this a motion cause we’ve already committed

01:33:09,870	money to it, so I would like to have a commitment from the county. Also, uh, I’m not, I’m not a representative to the city.

01:33:23,800	So, uh, if I kind of hooked this thing in because I would like the project and wanted to run with it, but, uh, as far as working with the city, we don’t have a city representative, so I, I, I think it would, yeah, um, I think it was a, a good project in, in theory it’s just the cost kind of got out of hand with the constraints of going on that building and what that might

01:33:36,970	look like down the road, but, um, I would make a motion to um drop the mural, um, discussion and, uh, look at exploring other options and working with the city and the, the state for, uh, celebration and request I I’d like to put in there that we’ve asked for a return of the

01:34:00,970	money that we, I think we sent them a check for $5000 from last year, which he’s still holding and hasn’t done anything with, so. I’d like to get that. Yeah, I’ll, I’ll add that to my motion.

01:34:18,270	Yeah, and if, if we have a motion in a second further discussion, I’d like to just add, if they have incurred costs. But then. Then they would, they would be able to retain that amount, right? Cause I have no doubt that they’re accurate in their accounting and whatnot. I’ve worked with those guys for a long time and I’m on the heritage uh Northern Plains Heritage Foundation board, so I, I don’t see any problem with that.

01:34:36,470	Any further discussion Mr. Schwab? I have two things. On, on this, we’re going to motion this. Oh. Any further discussion on the motion. K. Comm Bakken. Yes. Comm Schwab? Yes. Commission. Woodcock. Yes. Comm Munsen. Yes. Chaman Bitner. Yes, motion carries, Comm. I have two short things here for Mark.

01:35:03,600	Mark? Um-hum Are you here? I’m here When does the time run out on that boat? for Garrison diversion. So they have a 60 days from the time that they received the letter and uh they received the letter on December 8th of 2025. So they would have until February 8th. Till when? Till February 8th. To do what To Make a decision.

01:35:28,800	I’m sorry to make their decision. They got to vote. OK. Um. The other, the other thing is I think we need to remind people that they can get a $1600 tax break if they threw all that stuff away. Thank you. And when does that end Uh, I, I, yeah, end of March.

01:35:48,530	Yep, that’s when the end of, that’s, we want to encourage any and all. I’ll repeat that just to make sure everybody hears it. We want to encourage all people with uh um North Dakota primary residences, including everybody in Burleigh County to apply for the North Dakota Primary residence Credit, which is $1600 a year.

01:36:08,800	OK. Do we have that on our website? I believe that we do, but I’ll make sure there’s something there. Comm Buckley. Um, one other piece of discussion, I know, uh, um, Missouri Valley Complex, the egg and equestrian, uh, center has been moving forward with as we’ve directed them um from an informational

01:36:30,530	perspective, uh, they’re getting up to the point where they’re going to need um some information from staff, not necessarily staff time, but they’re going to need some assistance from staff gathering some information and moving forward, what kind of put them in a little bit of a um a kerfuffle is our discussions

01:36:53,100	with the ETA because previously they had been working through the process for the city because it was under the city’s jurisdiction, and now that’s changes. No, it doesn’t, Comm, it doesn’t change one little bit. Well, Missouri Valley Complex Committee is within Bismarck’s city limits.

01:37:08,800	It’s not a, it’s not an ETAC. Well, but the way it’s going to be with planning and zoning moving forward, that’s coming back to us because they’re not going to have anything to do with that property. I don’t think that’s part of of our. Just like, just like the state capitol.

01:37:23,000	Is that meeting on it already and so I should be getting some more information. This week on next steps with that. So OK, so, but I they’re going to need a little help from, from some staff. So if, if you want to put that on the agenda after your follow-up meeting, I will talk about county or city staff, County.

01:37:40,370	No, County as far, there’s some information and stuff that they’re going to wind up having to go to staff to get so that they can move, keep moving forward because we kind of changed their timeline on them a little bit because everything’s on hold, as that’s no longer going to be under the

01:37:54,600	purvey of city planning and zoning. because it’s our property, just like the state capitol. The city’s not gonna have anything to do with that. I’d have to review the agreement because I, last I heard they were just going to have conversations about that, so I’m not, I’m not sure how. Yeah, that’s good.

01:38:11,270	Like I said, we’ve already had our first meeting on it. Yeah. Uh, Mitch, Mitch and I attended that meeting, so OK, so if you can get that on the agenda moving forward Uh, good, good evening, uh, Mr.

01:38:30,270	Chair, Commissioners, um, I just wanted to give you an update of what we have heard from the highway department sitting through the development review meetings that we have with the city once a month, uh, currently they’re working on a document to essentially relinquish some of that uh back to us so. it’s just kind of in process.

01:38:48,370	We don’t have, we haven’t seen this document, we haven’t seen a revision of the document, but that’s changed their timeline with the committee. So so, yeah. Thank you, I just one quick look. Thanks, Dan. Dan, any idea of have you had any conversations with the city on when we’re going to be getting that, uh, or when we’re gonna be finalizing the Mr. Chair, Comm Bakken, um, real soon. No, I actually.

01:39:09,700	Good answer, Dan. Uh, we, we can, we can follow up with city staff, uh, and see where they’re at with it. Um, today we had a meeting, development review meeting and they didn’t have it, so I just don’t have a I know they’re working on it, but I know it was within the first couple weeks of February.

01:39:25,230	We were supposed to have a follow-up meeting. Yeah. So, we’ve got, we’re close. Well, and Mitch is going to have to review that when he gets it and that, that’s a definite maybe. Yeah. Yeah, with, with, with that March 1st deadline quickly approaching, I think they wanted to have at least something in our hands by then.

01:39:41,530	OK, thank you. Sounds good. Thanks, Dan. Anybody else have anything for the good of Burleigh County. Seeing none, we are Adjourned. Thank you,