00:00:05,270	Good evening and welcome to the December board meeting of the Bismarck Board of Park Commissioners. I’ll call the meeting to order and ask Julie to call the roll, please. Comm Gilbertson. Herzog here, Redman here. Jesske here President Zimmerman here I would ask you to please rise and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

00:00:29,370	ge 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 for that, and I would, uh, ask for a motion on the approval of the agenda, so move.

00:00:55,530	Second, moved by Comm Gilbertson, seconded by Comm Redmond. Julie, if you would call the roll, please, Comm Gilbertson. Herzog, yes, Redman, Ie Jesske, I, President Zimmerman, I Next item on the agenda is our featured partners and programs for this month. is an issue B Boman, and I have Brad Rees with Nishhu Bowman will appear before the board.

00:01:16,870	Brand, and I’m sure he’s going to give us a report on all the indoor activities at Nishhu B Boman outdoor Thank you, Brad, for coming out this evening. Thank you for having me and welcome. Thank you. Uh, so I’m Brad Vieth, president of Nishub B Boman, um, located down in 1409 Riverwood Drive.

00:01:41,500	Uh, we currently have 453 memberships, which with the family memberships and the youth comes out to 687 members currently as of our last board meeting, uh, we are the charter Club for the North Dakota Bow Hunters Association, the National Field Archery Association and the Association of Competitive Archers. Um we just brought on another youth program for Burleigh County 4H.

00:02:05,630	This is their first year. They have 54 youth archers that shoot at uh Sunday on Sunday afternoon. Morton County 4H still utilizes the facility. They have 72 youth archers. This would be their 9th year there.

00:02:27,430	Um, and thanks to my daughter over here, we now have the first high school archery team in the state, uh, Bismarck High, which I have been voluntold I am the coach of now, so we, uh, we’re, we’re looking forward to getting that going. We have a few members who are going to be at, um uh starting uh uh excuse me, going to be attending one of the national shoots held in Fargo at the beginning of the year.

00:02:45,630	Um, so we’re looking forward to watching that grill, um, for me, this is my 10th year with Nishhu B Boman, uh, Fifth year on the board.

00:03:03,170	3rd year as president, no, 2nd year as president, um, and for me it’s always been a big push for the youth, um, and just providing as many opportunities as possible to shoot, so, um, with meetings with Kevin and, and Dave, we’ve really pushed opportunities on the outdoor range, which is open to the public, um, which aside from our numbers and membership, which to me look good, I can assure you that the outdoor

00:03:19,270	range gets a pile of use, it would, I would have to say every bit of threefold if you come down on a a, a night in late July, August before bow season, even September, there’s, there’s not a spot on that outdoor range both walking courses are full, um, we updated last year, uh,

00:03:37,530	what we call a shooting gallery so that when we do set um targets for practice for national events, um, some of the bow hunters still have a place to practice from an elevated platform. That is always full. I mean, and there’s.

00:03:53,900	there’s no doubt in my mind you come down on a Friday night in, and, and you’ll bump into 100, 120 archers out using the facility in one night. So. aside from that, another youth program we have is what’s called the Junior Olympic Archery Development Program that has about 30 archers, um.

00:04:12,530	give or take, but that is a fairly prestigious program which is produced at this point, the #1 archer in the world, uh, used to fly from Denmark to coach at our facility. Um, he has won the top 3 largest shoots in the nation right now, so probably on his way to the Olympics now that they’ve introduced the compound archery into the Olympics, so.

00:04:31,270	there’s a lot to look forward to. We’re excited, um, with the direction it’s going, especially with the youth programs. Uh, we have 5 or 6 large tournaments every year.

00:04:54,170	Uh, the Western Classic, which we hold in January we’ve repartnered with Shields now that’s going to be called the Shields 3D Classic, um, in past years that shoot will have anywhere from 350 to 500 rounds shot in a weekend in 3 days. Uh, so we’re hoping we have every bit of that number, especially another, our first year outing with Shields again. That will be a shoot where we bring out all the large dioramas, uh, a new thing we’re doing this year.

00:05:13,530	Our vice president reached out to some of the taxidermists in town, and we’re going to have professional scenes set up, um, to put our targets in, and then they can uh advertise their business that way and we’ll be able to keep those for our 3D shoots.

00:05:28,630	Uh, February brings the midwinter shoot, which is normally a pretty good one. And then March, so the March and April shoots got flipped around. We used to have a buckle shoot in March, and then the last chance shoot, cause that’s kind of the last opportunity to shoot 3Ds.

00:05:42,800	So we now have the 2nd to last chance, which is going to be in March, um, and then we have the buckleho, which I couldn’t even begin to imagine how many people that brings in, but I’ve never seen that place as busy as it is the weekend of the buckle shoot. The parking lot is full.

00:05:58,330	You can’t walk in the lobby, um, I’d be willing to bet we had 600 to 800 rounds shot last year, and the president of the North Dakota Archers Association out of Fargo coined it the most prestigious chute in North Dakota, so it, it brings the most people, it brings the most competition. I believe last year we had people from 17 different states in Canada.

00:06:18,000	two different countries, yeah, and and two true pros came to shoot, so that’s a big draw and we’re excited to see that and hoping some of the big names and, and the.

00:06:35,170	and the prestige of it draw more people and we can continue to grow that, um, and then our last big shoot of the year is the, the safari shoot in August, which is put on by some of the old guys kind of aimed more towards the bow hunters, uh, and stuff like that, kind of our last chance out in the in the summer. Um.

00:06:55,900	so that kind of covers our youth programs, um, we do host a lot of shoots that aren’t affiliated with Nishhu. Uh, last year we did host State 4H Indoor, um, and state 4H Outdoor. We got lucky enough to have both of them in one year, um, as a 4H coach, I’ve been coaching for Morton County for 8 years as my first year coaching for Burleigh County.

00:07:14,100	Um I think that brings in close to 500 to 600 archers in one day. So to move that many kids through the facility, um, they really have, uh, their ducks in a row and they do a good job keeping that moving. We do about a 10 hour day and get the entire state, all the kids from the state that qualify through to shoot.

00:07:31,170	Um, and last year we did hold the ACA field final, um, so the Alliance of Competitive Archers is a fairly new association in the state of North Dakota. and they hold a six-league tournament throughout the state.

00:07:48,800	Um, and last year we got to host the final of that leg and award the shooter of the Year and the Grand Champions and, and things like that. And if you place at every event, you can earn what they call a grand slam, and that’s, that’s kind of cool to see, so.

00:08:03,270	uh, we’re excited that um Caitlyn with Parks and Rick and uh Jeremy Dexter, we were able to open up some dates, so now instead of just a summer and a fall league, we have some new spring dates. So as you guys, I’m sure aware, everything, uh, on your guys’ website fills up almost the first day registration opens, so to provide another opportunity is something I’m super excited for.

00:08:19,330	Like I say, I’d, I’d like to see our place busy on Saturdays too. I mean, we’re, we’re pretty full Sunday through Friday with leagues come summertime. um, which leads me to leagues, which will start at the beginning of the year. We host a Cub league on Sunday.

00:08:33,070	Spots, which is normally about 12 to 15 kids. Monday night we have a spots league where we just shoot at paper targets for the people that are looking to compete nationally or or statewide, and that’s normally about 40 to 50. Our main arena will be pretty full with that.

00:08:50,100	Tuesday nights we have a team 3D, um I took a, a large dip after COVID, but we’re, we’re rebuilding. That’s back up to about 16 4-man teams, so that fills the arena. Uh, Wednesday night is a 3D short course and Thursday night is a 3D long course and they’ve kind of flip flopped nights. There used to be our busy night.

00:09:05,800	Wednesday was a little less busy, but one night would normally have about 80 shooters and the other night would have 40 to 50 shooters, so we, we keep the police pretty full and pretty busy. Um and then open shooting hours when the facility, not just the outside, is open to the public.

00:09:20,800	We changed the hours on Sunday a little bit just to provide more time for the youth on Sunday, but we still have them on Sunday, Monday and Friday. Sundays 110 to 2, Monday 6 to 9, and Friday 6 to 9.

00:09:36,100	So, um, we look forward to seeing people come in, check the facility out, um, we gained some memberships that way, that’s kind of nice, so. um. that’s kind of the rundown of what we have going on now. So this is kind of new to me, so, um, don’t know if you guys have any questions or um, I’ll, thank you, Brand.

00:09:50,000	I’ll, I know I see a couple of commissioners that have their lights on, so I’ll start with the Comm Gilbertson. Yeah, I just want to commend you on your commitment to the youth. Well, thank you. And because that’s, like with everything that, that’s your future for sure, for sure. That’s your future. That’s, that’s amazing.

00:10:09,800	My dad and uncles were members of an issue back in the 80s. OK. I remember seeing that logo on the back of my dad’s car. Yeah for, for a long time and, and I remember when we dedicated the, the building then President Paul Quist had to take the honorary shot and I’m, I’m glad it wasn’t me

00:10:28,970	because he didn’t hit the target. But, but, you know, I just, I just want to commend you and the, the other members of NishU, um, for the continued growth and interest, but primarily for the dedication to the youth because that’s, that’s amazing and I thank you for that very much. Comm Jesske Thank you, President Zimmerman.

00:10:54,070	So yes, I, um, I’ve been there in your facility a couple times. It’s wonderful. So you talk about the age of the um the Cubbs and everything else. What’s the youngest members that you see and what are some of the oldest members that you see participating.

00:11:08,900	Uh, so one of, uh, one of the gentleman that is very dear to my daughters. They, he’s an honorary grandpa of theirs, Bill is 80 I couldn’t guess.

00:11:26,170	He’s in his 80s, I, I wouldn’t know I want to, to, but, um, so I used to personally run the Cub League on Sunday nights, and I get that question a lot, how young is too young and I’ve always been one that tries to accommodate any skill level, any age, um, and it got to a point where I think Brody was 4 when he shot with us and I would just pull a bale falling far enough forward.

00:11:40,500	to, to accommodate him and uh I don’t think any age is too early. If we can get them in there and get them shooting, it’s a lifelong sport. It’s, it’s, it’s not hard. I mean, aside from my shoulder, sometimes, it’s not hard on the body.

00:11:53,730	It’s not a contact sport, you know, and and like I said, we have I’d be willing to bet we have 40 members over 70, you know, so, and they’re down there shooting every day, and it’s great for them being retired. They come on in during the day when it’s not so busy, they get the place, so it, it’s great for them. Thank you.

00:12:08,730	Comm Redman. Thank you, President Zimmerman. First of all, congratulations on your success. Thank you. Thank you for bringing your daughter with you. That’s just wonderful to have other additional guests and uh you said, um, two of my favorite words, and that’s providing opportunities so thank you for doing that and for all, all your outreach and

00:12:23,900	all the collaboration that you do and thanks for coming tonight. Comm Herzog, I think President Zimmerman, Comm Brad, thanks for coming. I got to go to your board meeting a couple, like your annual meeting in a couple years ago, and, yeah, the, the youth, the amount of kids that you have in there is just

00:12:39,730	amazing, and then you’ve got kids that um, are going getting college scholarships for, for that from our area, which is fantastic. I don’t, I don’t know if your daughter wants to come up and say anything, she sure can.

00:12:54,230	Uh, if she’s, I could, I could see you looking back over there for answers to questions, you know, she, yep, she remembers a lot more than I do, you know, so and, and she’s good at this. So, actually, 5 years ago, she took 5th in the nation. Um, my other daughter took 3rd in the nation last year in Chicago.

00:13:09,100	So that’s why we’re on our way to go practice. That’s why she’s with me. We, it, it takes a lot of dedication and shooting time, so you want to talk about the club.

00:13:24,530	Why do you think your friends and, I mean, why do you think it’s grown so much, you know, uh, for young folks like you, I think it’s definitely like the sport is so I don’t know, lack of a better term like addicting. You want like you find something that you that you’re that you work on and you find like a face that you really like and it’s like.

00:13:42,170	fun to see yourself like have succession at it and it’s just really like fulfilling when you get to that point in archery? Awesome. And can you, I mean, you take your dad on and beat him or like, how’s that going? Oh That’s a yes, Brad. So, so last week she tied me, and that’s why I’m going to practice. That’s my time. So.

00:14:01,900	Well, thank, thanks so much, and Brad, I just wanted to ask either of you, um, you know, you’ve had a lot of growth. Is there something you see in the future for the facility or something you need, um, you know, coming up in the next 5 years, that would be helpful as you guys continue to expand.

00:14:16,470	So we had a 5 year plan, um, and, and included in that was literally almost to double the size of the building. Um, at that point we would be capable of hosting national tournaments, which, uh, the, the tourism board has already given us extra money, um, like for prize money when

00:14:37,370	we have tournaments for the draw we bring from other states and stuff like that, um, and I think that would be an even bigger drop if we could host or have the potential to host a national tournament.

00:14:54,870	um and that’s kind of taken a backseat just cause we’ve, uh, revamped and, and, and fixed all of the targets on the inside. We’re working on expanding some of the targets on the outside, updating some of the targets on our static range on the outside, um I personally, um, that’s a push of mine I would like to see larger and, and the reason for that for me is because archery

00:15:11,430	is such a growing sport. I’d like to be proactive than reactive and, and hoping that we have a bigger facility when it’s too late, I’d like to have it and.

00:15:28,500	the whole building, and they will come thing that they’re already coming, so it would be, it would be nice, but so fundraising is, is slow, um, we’re not quite in the works for all of that yet, but uh it’s. on the horizon. We’re hoping to, you know, Fargo’s already in the works of one, so.

00:15:47,270	being as we are in North Dakota in a low population state, so many large facilities don’t really hold value if you have one as close as Fargo and we’re kind of looking to see what they do and what we can do and really just the Bismarck-Mandan area alone, like I say, if you go on the outdoor course during the summer, the amount of people we have we’re already kind of at capacity.

00:16:02,170	So we’re, we’re hoping at some point to, to expand, but and she looks like she wants maybe out of fizzily or something into the building too. Yeah. I don’t know what you’re, what you were going to mention.

00:16:20,330	Um, the Nish youth board right now and um works with Wendy Bam and some other board members we’re currently getting our banners or advertising banners, and our new floor like spots open too and that kinda helps with funding with things too. Yeah, so we provide sponsorships and advertising kind of. like every sporting facility anymore, they people can advertise their brand and and things like that, but um.

00:16:41,170	yeah, and that’s just one other what she had mentioned, I guess I didn’t touch on earlier, that trying to allow the youth to have a voice in the club.

00:16:54,430	We have a 4-member youth board that sits in in our board meetings, so they have some input and a little, a little insight as to how the place is run and and what they do and, and a little knowledge of what it takes to run a place like that, so. Yeah. Awesome. Well, thanks a couple more questions. Oh, I’m sorry, Comm, Herzos. All right.

00:17:12,600	Thank you, Comm Jesske, uh, President Zimmerman, so I just wanted to get a little bit more information on the high school team that you guys have started. So is it coed? Is it? male, female? How many people do you have participating in it and how hard was the process to get that approved through the, um, athletic association.

00:17:29,230	So I, I would, I’m a freshman at VHS this year and last year I kind of wanted to see what we could do for Wachter, but by the time that he had partially given me the idea, and I figured what it would probably take to bring it up to like our activities director.

00:17:42,070	It was too late and I was about to move on to VHS, so I think about 5 days before I even started school, I had, um, had to email Mister Crane, which is our activities director for BHS and I’d asked him about meeting with him about starting a possible archery team.

00:17:57,430	and, um, I’d met with him and he was talking about how it would have been, it would be like I wasn’t the first person to bring it up, but I had brought it up in a different way, and everybody had wanted to try to start like a Genesis team which NASP, which is National Archery in the schools

00:18:14,500	program and I had brought up doing like not at the school being able to do like use your own equipment so that we can practice for like.

00:18:31,000	other national tournaments such as like the Fresen 600 and Indoor Nationals and the Vegas shoot and stuff, so I had to get a petition and I had to have 20 signatures on it so that he could bring it to Dr Fossnott, so to have it like show that it sparks interest within like BPS and so I had gotten, I think 338 signatures on it that showed interest, so I’d turned that into him, and he’d gotten

00:18:53,970	it approved, so we are a we basically get to use BHS’s name, but we do practice at um Nishhu and we have about 12 members right now. We have more, but 12 reoccurring members because we’re super flexible.

00:19:17,430	Everybody has a different schedule, and especially we have it on Wednesday nights at 7 and everybody usually has church, so kids make it when they can, but, um, we have about 12 members. It’s male and female, and we have fixed pins and freestyle and all kinds of ages and recurve, we do have a recurve and we have from freshman to senior. I think we have a freshman, a sophomore, junior, and senior.

00:19:37,800	We have all, all the grades um in our club and all different shooting styles so very cool congratulations for, you know, taking the initiative to get that going, that, uh, that’s not a small task for a, for an incoming freshman. So congratulations. Look at the future president of the United States, so.

00:19:56,370	Comm Gilbertson, yeah, and I just got to say, hearing your daughter speak, hearing you speak, and just seeing the passion and more importantly, hearing you say words that are important to me as a lifelong citizen of Bismarck, proactive, not reactive.

00:20:20,970	I, I think there are big things on the horizon for, for the archery community in in Bismarck, but, but keep pushing that proactive approach because we need more of that. Will do. Congratulations Bread, I have a couple questions for you briefly. Absolutely. Um, excuse me.

00:20:45,000	Do you have an adaptive archery program at all for, um, I say wheelchair individuals or other disabilities. Do you have any type of program for adaptive shooting, so we, we don’t necessarily have a program. We are inclusive to the point where there is handicap accessibility to the main arena and to the youth range and, and the main floor, um we’ve had so the ACA did bring a Paralympic division.

00:21:05,900	Two Paralympic archers. Yeah, we had 2 Paralympic archers compete at our facility, um but because of the, the variability of the equipment that some of them need to use, we don’t really have a program, but we don’t discourage them from coming and using their equipment, you know, so and our experience with them. is still learning, so we require.

00:21:30,430	more uh adaptive people to come and teach us how to help them, you know, we haven’t really encountered a whole lot inquiring, so. Next question, do you have any staff, uh, Brad, for Nishhu? Do you have someone down there at the range.

00:21:49,730	um, you know, on a schedule to be able to assist or No. Don’t volunteer? We’re just a working, a working board of volunteers, um, so like. we have and what happens to be the same problem with every group of volunteers as we have the same 8 people doing the work all the time, it seems.

00:22:06,170	So, um, we’ve really been pushing to try to find some incentives to get some more help, um. we do offer free memberships to the people that run the open shoot, but we don’t really have business hours where, you know, Monday through Friday, so our phone at the facility gets forwarded to a voicemail, which goes to my email and that’s how

00:22:24,470	we kind of man that and then I just. either will meet people down there to give them tours or to answer questions or just kind of try to deal with the business over the phone, something that we take on as the board.

00:22:40,370	We don’t have, uh, any paid positions or or business hours just during our, our our 3 or 4 months of open shooting is when we have open doors. One final question, do you have any rental equipment if there’s someone listening tonight and say, well, I’d like to try archery. But. I don’t don’t quit.

00:22:59,500	We don’t really, um and it, it’s become more a situation of again, the time to find somebody to upkeep all of the equipment and at this point we have, it takes 2 people to keep track of our target room where we keep all of our 3Ds and keep all the, the targets in the building up to date and, and, and refreshed and things like that so we have.

00:23:19,800	some equipment of our own, but we don’t really rent it out. It does get used a lot when like University of Mary will come and do a day, uh, I did one for Martin Luther Elementary.

00:23:35,370	I brought a couple of students in and, and did a day for them and we used the equipment just for mostly events, not people that can come in and look to rent it, um, game and fish comes in and they’ll use it sometimes to um certify NASP instructors and and things like that. So we hold um um.

00:23:56,100	what’s the word I’m looking for seminars and things like that, but we, we have a little bit of equipment, but nothing that we rent out. Well, thank you and thank you both, uh, for, for, uh, presenting this evening. I appreciate that lady. You did a great job. Thank you. Thank you and best wishes. Next item on the agenda is a disposition of bids.

00:24:17,500	We have several to consider. Our first is the administrative office lobby, uh renovation project. Brett with EAPC. We’ll, uh, review the bids. Good evening, Brand. Good evening B. Yeah. Good evening, President Zimmerman and Commissioners. Uh, my name’s Brett Donnet. I’m an architect here with EABC Architects, um, grew up in the BismarckMan area, so been here a long time.

00:24:38,900	I’ll give you a quick update on how the project came out for the lobby renovation. Uh, quick reminder, the project consisted of, uh, Waing off the front uh staff area with 3 separate counters, one of which was ADA to improve customer service and add some security.

00:24:55,970	Uh, we’ve received multiple bids on the project, so that was a, a good thing. We bid it out different ways where we could have general contractor only, electrical contractor only, or a combined both general and electrical, uh, in that combined bid, we received 3 bidders, 2 of which were within 750 bucks of each

00:25:11,530	other. Um, the low bidder is Dakota West, and so we have, uh, met with them. Their bid was only 3%, um, over our estimate, our opinion of probable cause, and they’ve confirmed that their bid number is good and so we’re recommending you, uh, move forward with Dakota West for the project

00:25:31,170	Any questions for uh Brett on this project? Comm, I guess my question would be for Director Klipfeld, who is this Google? Are we good? President Zimmerman, Comm, Comm Gilbertson, yes, this is within the, uh, um, budget that we had set, and then we also have to order some, some furniture and and replace

00:25:53,000	some furniture at the front counter, so we’ve got that too, so. OK. Thank you Comm Jesske. Thank you, President Zimmerman. Uh, Brett, when is the expected start and completion date of this project? Yeah, President Zimmerman, Comm, Comm Jessi, the, the projected start is in February.

00:26:14,970	Um, there are some long lead item times with the furniture that’s coming and with the carpet. And so, um, to get the building permit and process, the contractor wants to have everything on, you know, on hand before they start demoing, um, and then they’re working with staff to make sure there’s a pathway for people to still

00:26:27,530	be able to come in and register uh while work is going on. So it might be a little painful, uh, a couple hours here or there, but it should be pretty quick and painless. OK. So we’ll start in February and They’re thinking about 6 to 9 weeks, depending on how things go. OK. Thank you, Brent. Yep.

00:26:42,170	Well, Brett, I know the, uh, staff up front will appreciate a remodel job there. Uh, I’ve been in there on some days when registration is going on, even though we do a lot online, there’s still a lot of folks in and out of that office on, um, on days to register for programs.

00:27:00,530	So thank you for work with that. Do we, uh, have an action from the commissioners, Comm Redman. President Zimmerman, thank you. I, uh, I moved the award the bridge to Dakota West Contracting, uh, for the combined contractor bid of $45,050. I’ll second. Oops, sorry. Motion by Comm Redmand, seconded by Comm Jesske.

00:27:21,630	Any further discussion? If not, Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Comm Gilbertson. I. Herzog, yes. Redman, aye, Jessy, I, President Zimmerman. Aye, thank you, Brett. Thank you. Thank you. Our next one on disposition of bids is, uh, 2026 equipment bids and our facilities and programs Director Mike Wald will review those bids. Good evening, Mike. Good evening.

00:27:47,970	Uh, President Zimmerman and Commissioners on December 9th, staff opened uh bids for the 2026 equipment, um, from 6 vendors, Bids have been reviewed by Golf in operations staff, and I’ll recommend and all recommendations are based on the lowest bid submitted that meant all advertised specifications, but before I review those, uh, recommendations, there is one additional, um, piece of

00:28:13,530	equipment for consideration. Staff also recommends purchasing an additional zero turn radius more, which is item D, um, from Van Waal equipment. Staff has a need for additional more and the prices within the 2026 budgeted line item. Any questions about that additional recommendation? OK.

00:28:46,530	Oh Comm Jeske Mike, I just that’s the bid for 23 75 $5. President Zimmerman and Commissioners, Comm Jesske, yes. OK. Thank you. You bet Any further Representative Gilbra. Comm Gilbertson. um, President Zimmerman, I move that we, uh, award the following bids for items A, B, C, D, and F to Vanwa equipment for a total of $411,000 411,00027 dollars.

00:29:25,000	Um item H to Ame Tools for $95,557.95. Item G to Bobcat Amand down and the amount of $82,772.16 in items EI, and J to MTI for a total cost of 124,946. 42 I second that. That was lovely. It’s been a long week.

00:29:52,370	Any further discussion Before I call for the role, Mike, uh, do we we have a total cost of all of this equipment? Is that that 396 figure? No. I, I asked for that because I, when I review this, I think for folks to realize, we buy a lot of equipment.

00:30:16,870	Yes, and if, if my President Zimmerman, Comm, if my math is correct, the total equipment cost is $714,000303.55. Thank you, I, I think, again, I think it’s important to realize we you know, we, we, we put out a good amount of money here for equipment, but we need it, so I appreciate the work of, of the staff to get the bids out, work with the bidders and come up with that.

00:30:41,900	So again, we have a motion and a second, any further discussion? If not, Julie, if you’d call the roll, please, Comm Gilbertson. Herzog, yes, Redman. I Dusky, I President Zimmerman. I, thank you, Mike. Y for Moors.

00:31:08,000	The next, uh, one for disposition of bids is the 2026 fertilizer bid, and we have operations Director David Mayor will present the bids on that. Good evening, David. Good evening, President Zimmerman and Commissioners, uh, another bid for your consideration. Um we did some, um, solicit for, uh, bids for fertilizer for 2026. Uh, we did receive 6 bids, uh, 5 which are represented in the documents that you have in front of you. One was received.

00:31:32,070	a couple days late, um, so it was, uh. returned unopened, um, as per our specifications. Um, so I will, uh, go over what we did review and open and verify that meat specifications, um, gonna summarize, uh, so our recommendations is to award item number 1 to Tessman Company in the amount of $18,339.20.

00:32:02,470	Items 2 and 3 to reindeers. In. of $20,280 and item 4 to V D uh supply company in the amount of $4,162.50. In the total amount of 4,278,170. Uh, this does meet uh our budget and uh as reviewed by staff, meets the requirements and the specifications, uh, that we had requested. Questions for David on the, on this bid.

00:32:35,100	President Zimmerman, I move that we award the presented bids in the amount of $42,781.70. I second that motion. Motion by Comm Gilbertson, seconded by Comm Jeske. Any further discussion? If not, Julie, if you’d call the roll, please. Comm Gilbertson. Hi. Herzogg? Yes. Redman, Jesske, hi. President Zimmerman. Hi, thank you, David. David.

00:33:02,270	I do like that reindeer. That’s it. appropriate. this time of year. Santa Claus Inc. Our next item on the agenda is consideration of your transfers, and we have finance Director Cathy F Weiss will review the transfer requests as included in your packet. Good evening, Kathy. Good evening, President Zimmerman and Commissioners.

00:33:23,800	There are 3, year-end transfers that we have in your agenda packet for your consideration and approval. The first two are for 2025 budget items that we had, um, a pickup truck for park operations that was, will not be delivered in 2025, so we need to transfer the money to 2026 to

00:33:42,970	construction fund to have that available for funding when that is received in 2026 and then the RV Electrial upgrade phase 2 project at General Sibley Park is, uh, was awarded but, um, could not be completed this fall before the weather, um, turned, and so, um, that will be completed next year and so

00:34:00,600	that funding will need to be available in 2026 when the contractor completes that work. And then the third item is from 2026, so approved in the 2026 budget was the replacement of the mechanical mechanism that Wactor aquatic complex, and that is scheduled to be done during 2026, funded by General Fund reserves, so

00:34:20,270	we’re requesting to transfer that $1.3 million by the end of 2025 to make that available in 2026 when that project, um, gets underway. So the total, um, transfers from the general fund to the Park and improvement fund. Total $1,490,400.

00:34:45,270	Any questions? Any questions for Cathy? Before I call for a motion, just to thank you, Kathy, for keeping us up to date on this. I know that a lot of work with budgets, but uh appreciate you keeping us and keeping our budget straight. Again, I look at, you know, 3, just at a walker pool. That’s a, that’s a sizable amount of money.

00:35:00,470	So thank you for keeping us up to track on that, uh, I ask for a motion, please. Yeah Go ahead, go, no, you go ahead. Oh, I move approval of the transfers as outlined by Finance Director of FISA as presented. Set. motion by Comm Redmand, seconded by Comm Jesske.

00:35:21,630	Any further questions? If not, Julie, if you’d call the roll, please. Comm Gilbertson. Herzog, yes, Redman, Ie Jessy, I, President Zimmerman, I, thank you, Kathy. The next item is the consent agenda and if uh if you’ve looked at the agenda that consent agen is quite lengthy, but uh we will read through it, so, uh, please bear with us.

00:35:44,530	The consent agenda includes a variety of items placed on the agenda. The consent agenda can be approved with one motion or an item or items can be removed for additional discussion and separate action.

00:36:08,330	The staff recommends approval of the following items consideration of the November 20th, 2025 board meeting minutes, consideration of memorandum acknowledging termination of the agreement for the joint exercise of government powers. This agreement references the joint riverfront mill levy agreement. that Burleigh County terminated earlier this fall. The agreement states that Burleigh at Burleigh County will no longer be able to levy the one mill as outlined in the agreement.

00:36:28,900	Another item is the request board authorization to call for bids on 2026 projects and operations director David Mayor has provided a memo with that information. A request board approval to donate Park board Minute Books to the state historical Society, and again, please see the memo provided by recreation Manager Renee Yoakam.

00:36:58,270	Consideration request for Burleigh County regarding Missouri Valley complex Garden plots. The information is provided in the board packet. Consideration of consultant agreements for 2026 projects and approval to call for bids on the projects. for the Park shop concrete AE2S Municipal Ballpark Safety netting, EAPC, the BSC Aquatic and Wellness Center timing System, Apex Engineering, Schomburg Arena Refrigeration System Replacement.

00:37:31,970	Oo Design Group, Schomburg Arena Bleachers, Ole Design Group, VFW Sports Center boilers, prairie Engineering, and the Tommoleri Golf Course cart paths, Phase 2 for a number of the cart paths there is for Apex Engineering Group.

00:37:56,500	The last item is consideration of consultant agreement with KLJ and approval to call for bids for various parking lot projects pending an approval of a Bank of North Dakota loan. What is the wish of the commissioners on the items on the consent agenda.

00:38:16,900	Zimmerman Comm Jesske, um, just for review, I would just like to pull the um, the request from Burleigh County regarding the Missouri Valley Complex Garden plots just to have a little additional discussion on that. OK, we’ll, so we’ll take that item off on the discussion on the garden plots, any other items that commissioners wish to remove from the consent agenda.

00:38:41,970	If not, I would ask for a motion for consent agenda, uh, and with the exclusion of the uh matter of the garden plots at the Burleigh County, at the Missouri Valley complex. So Second 2 motion by Comm Redman, second by Comm Gilbertson to approve the items on the consent agenda with the uh elimination of the exclusion of the uh garden plots at the Missouri Valley complex. Uh, Julie, if you’ll call the roll please, Comm Gilbertson. Herzog, yes, Redman, I.

00:39:09,530	Jessy, I, President Zimmerman, I. then let’s have a, uh, we will now consider the request from Burleigh County regarding the Missouri Valley Com complex garden plots. And that information was in your packet. What, uh, discussion from commissioners. President Zimmerman, President Zimmerman Comm President Zimmerman, Jesske, thank you.

00:39:37,530	Um, Kevin, I know you provided us with some information regarding the plots, and it does look like we are able to take on that additional responsibility, um, and it would be a source of revenue for the Park District. Um, are there any other concerns that you may have regarding adding those garden plots? President Zimmerman and Comm, Comm Jesske No we, uh Dave.

00:39:56,000	Dave Mayer and I have, have discussed this. It, it’s something that we did last year. Uh, it will not be anything, you know, I think in the last couple of years, our staff, Da Dave, Dana Bonny, and all the operations staff that operate down there have gotten better at this since we’ve taken the community gardens over from,

00:40:12,600	from the group that was running them previously and so, uh, the, the added staff time is, is minimal, uh, and we think it’s, it’s, it’s good for our community to keep these garden plots open and available. And I would agree.

00:40:29,900	I think so many people, um, really enjoy having the garden plots available because you know houses are getting bigger and lots are getting a little smaller, and it’s just a nice convenience to have, so I just want to make sure that it was something that as a park district, we felt that we could, um, continue to do. Yeah Any other comments on the item of consideration.

00:40:50,430	would you like a motion I’m sorry, would you like a motion? I would like a motion then for OK. For this item that we uh, how do we state it here? request that was, that the, uh, Bismarck Park District continue with the operation of the Missouri Valley Complex Garden Plots, is that, uh, executive Director Klipfel? Correct.

00:41:14,470	President Zimmerman and also I think if weed that part of the motion that we would develop an agreement with the county to to manage these also. OK, thank you for that clarification. Good. Good with that, Comm? I don’t make that motion then. OK. 2nd. 2nd. Most of my com Comm Jesske second by Comm Redmand.

00:41:33,700	Any further discussion? If not, Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Comm Gilbertson, Herzog, yes, Redman. I Jessy, I, President Zimmerman, I, the next item on the agenda is the executive Director Annual Review, and it’s my pleasure to, uh, go through that review, uh, for all those, uh, for your information, uh, every year we review our

00:41:57,900	executive director’s performance. Each Comm has the opportunity to uh review his, uh, a certain set of criteria and meet independently or separately with our executive director Clip Fell. We compile those comments and I would like to review those this evening.

00:42:21,900	We have several areas of uh responsibility concern come from the job description of the executive director and our first one is board relations, and I, I picked a comments from each of the commissioners, uh, various areas to reflect. from Comm Jesske. Kevin understands the relationship between an executive director and the board is a delicate partnership, one that is forged in trust and mutual respect.

00:42:47,970	Kevin responds quickly to questions and provides thoughtful answers and listens to recommendations. The next item is community relations and of course we all realized the importance of that, the park board is one of the governing entities in the Bismarck community, and I would read the comments from Comm Herzog.

00:43:11,000	It’s clear executive Director Klipfell and the upper management and staff speak with district partners quite regularly. The group specifically that use our programs and facilities, the school district, and some broader groups such as the CVB. Kevin has good knowledge of their operations and needs.

00:43:35,500	Many groups I speak with in the community that use parks and wreck facilities, comment on the great working relationship with the staff. Comm Herzog continues, as I, as we move forward, I would like Kevin to lead the district in more formal engagement with more stakeholders and community sponsors by creating board appointed committees with mix of park staff and community experts and supporters.

00:43:59,630	The example of a Park centennial committee appointed by the board with various backgrounds and connections to the district. Another area of concern or responsibility is human resources. and that comment I chose what I had put in my recommendation. Over the past several years, I have observed Kevin’s commitment to staff recruitment, retention, and training. He consistently keeps me updated on staff statuses. He keeps staff a top priority.

00:44:27,270	The next item is finance. and I a comment from Comm Redmand. The Bismarck Parks and Recreation District operates efficiently and within budget. Budgeting analysis, fiscal management are all strengths of Bismarck Parks and Recreation District under Kevin and Kathy’s leadership. Another category is planning and a comment from Comm Gilbertson.

00:44:59,800	Bismarck Parks and Recreation District continues to be the trendsetter in the world of parks and recreation. When it comes to planning, the way the district goes about the process of strategic planning is truly impressive. Now, every Comm had comments in every one of those areas. So please note that just selected uh representative, uh, effort of, of each one.

00:45:26,470	And then overall comments and commissioners I selected my comment. The past year I have witnessed Kevin’s professionalism in his preparation, presentations, discussions, and follow up on several district matters. specifically working with the River Comms Project, the UNFI building proposal discussions with developers on facility proposals and others. Kevin has always been well prepared for discussions and follow up.

00:45:55,370	Kevin continues to represent the Bismarck Parks and recreation District with professionalism, keeping the district involved and a leader in the city. So I knowcom Commissioners would, uh, perhaps wish to make a statement as well, but Kevin, uh, great recommendation from all the commissioners. We certainly appreciate your dedication and hard work.

00:46:18,800	Um, I would ask commissioners if you have a comment to to that, uh, to add to that, please do. I’ll start, we’ll just go around the table. I’ll give you all fair warning to be prepared. Comm Gilbertson. Yeah, I just want to say thank you to Director Clipffo.

00:46:40,700	You, uh, come in a long line of um very impressive individuals who have served in that position and have um brought Bismarck Parkson Reck to the position that it is, um, I think sometimes locally, uh we uh take for granted what we have here, but when we have the opportunity to travel to national, uh, conferences or to have like we did last year with

00:47:08,100	the, the gold medal committee with with former director Be here at like, um, it’s very impressive to see, um, the reputation that Bismarck Parks and Rec has on the national level, and I just want to commend you for your work and you’re the, the job that you did in the position as well,

00:47:29,330	and, and thank you for, for your effort. Comm Redman. You know, when we look, um the past year when we look at 2025, the beginning of the year, we have a projects for consideration, much as we’re looking forward, but we look in this past year, we look at this

00:47:47,630	list and it, there’s so many that say completed, so many things got done in 2025. When we look at the summary of grants, so many grants that we received in 2025. When I see, look at our report card, and what we did, um, progress towards all of our goals, all these check marks.

00:48:06,170	When I look at, um, all the things that we did in our ADA transition plan and all the check marks that were done, all the things that have been happening and all the things that are yet to come.

00:48:17,900	In addition to all the comments that all of the commissioners made, but when I look at all the list of accomplishments, but I look beyond that, um, executive Director Clipfel, and what is beyond that and what I’ve learned from you is the people that have been impacted as a result of these projects and completions and the results of your efforts, um, the people impact.

00:48:36,630	And so I thank you for that because it’s beyond the check marks beyond the file is closed and it’s in, and it’s completed is the people that have been impacted, um, by your work and your team’s work in 2025. So thank you for that. Um, much impressed and much appreciated. Comm Jesske Thank you, President Zimmerman, um, executive Director Clip.

00:48:57,800	You make this job look easy although I know it’s not, um, you have uh almost 100 000 bosses that love to give you advice on what we could do better, uh, what we aren’t, um, accomplishing, but I will tell you, you can stand proud and you can stand tall and what you

00:49:21,070	have accomplished within our community is nothing short of amazing, and you know, you come from a long line of, um, incredibly successful executive directors, and you’re right there toe to toe with them, but, um, working with you for the past.

00:49:40,330	I’m trying to think of how long you’ve been the executive director. I was the president at the time when, when you were appointed, but I will say that it’s just been um amazing to watch you grow in your profession and, um, like I said, Paula, um, summarized it very well, but what you have accomplished within this community in a very short time

00:49:56,900	is, is nothing short of amazing. So congratulations on your great evaluation. Comm Herzog, thanks, President Zimmerman. Comm, um, I’m gonna put some Kleenex here, Kevin.

00:50:16,900	I’m actually going to look at you in the eye actually, because that would be we will start, but um, I think the thing that has really hit me kind of being again the newer person that’s here is. and uh is your diligence essentially.

00:50:35,800	I will be driving back, getting my whatever, Target pickup, and your car’s in the parking lot on Sundays, always in the parking lot, Kevin, and I almost text you or like, uh, I need to steal your keys or something because you’re there all the time, you’re working all the time, and I know that’s a lot. That’s, I mean that the amount of hours that you put in is, I’m sure staggering, um, and just from what I can see when I’m cruising by and it’s not 8 to 5.

00:50:47,370	You were doing it all the time or when they’re going to close schools and you’re or maybe closed schools and you’re on the phone with the BPS, you know, uh, folks at 3:30 in the morning and things like that.

00:51:03,500	I think things like that that people maybe don’t, don’t see, um, generally in the public, but that is, you know, a big part of, of what you’ve brought to the job, I think is that diligence, that work ethic, very, um, and you’ve squeezed a lot of juice out of out of the lemon.

00:51:19,270	I think you, you make great use of the, of what we have, um, and, and keeping it running so um yeah, I would like you to not work on Sundays, and I have learned to, um, schedule send my emails on the weekends so that you don’t answer them. Um, when you’re not supposed to be working, so, uh, but I, I just appreciate it and yes, kudos, um, on a great review.

00:51:37,530	Thank you all Commissioners. Again, I would just highlight what I wrote in my overall comments that specifically for 2025, when I meet with Kevin every Thursday morning at 7 a.m.

00:51:59,530	and I, you know, get a review of what’s going on in the district, on the whole range from budgets and staffing and programs and items that are busted or broken over the weekend. You know, who knows, but again, I think, uh, I believe Kevin and working with a couple of the projects we had this past year, his true professionalism and dedication to be prepared to every meeting I went to.

00:52:17,630	Kevin had the information that we needed to discuss as we met with the mayor, with the school district and other groups. Kevin was very well prepared and knowledgeable and represented the Bismarck Parks and Recreation District very well. So for the year 2025, Kevin, thank you. All right Our last, our next item on the agenda. is a personnel action, and we’ll make it formal here.

00:52:41,730	I have a letter that was addressed to the Bismarck Board of Park Commissioners dated December 11th. President Zimmerman and Commissioners, I am writing to officially announce my retirement as executive director of Bismarck Parks and Recreation District. My final day of employment will be June 1, 2026.

00:53:06,730	I want to thank Bismarck Parks and Recreation District for the opportunity to start and finish my career in Bismarck, spending nearly 24 years of my professional life in this great community. I have enjoyed my time in the profession, working with a passionate staff that provides quality recreational opportunities in our community.

00:53:28,630	We have worked with a variety of groups and organizations that are dedicated to making our community a better place to live, work and play. For this, I will always be grateful and appreciative of their passion and support for our community. Thanks again for the opportunity to be a part of this great organization. Sincerely Kevin Klipfel, executive Director of Bismarck Parks and Recreation District.

00:53:52,070	That makes it official. We know that, uh, we still have Kevin for a few months until June. Uh, I visited with him today and, um, he has agreed that we’re just going to have this fabulous going away party somewhere.

00:54:12,500	So we will, we will hold off on those final, uh, congratulations and hugs and whatever until uh till June, um, officially arrives here if that’s all right with you, Kevin. But in this vein or in this effort, uh, we, as a commission need now to go the next steps. to look at uh secu hiring or uh hiring our next executive director.

00:54:34,270	And I’m just going to comment, if I may, by just a couple of sentences. I think this is going to be one of our most important tasks for 2026 and beyond.

00:54:52,900	We as a commission will make that decision, who will be the next executive director of Bismarck Parks and Recreation, as you have all said, someone to, uh, step in the shoes of a great list of commissioners, uh, of executive directors. There’s not been many executive directors in a hundred-year history of the Bismarck Parks and Recreation District.

00:55:16,900	So in that excuse me, in that effort, excuse me, in that effort, we have set the date of December 22nd, 2025 for a special board meeting to choose the method to fill the position. uh, whether we look to retain an executive placement service or to proceed otherwise. So we have set that date. I want the public to know that the commission will meet in a special board meeting.

00:55:40,500	At this time, I would ask commissioners if for a time do we have um someone who just, you know, a time that’s not gonna work, that’s a Monday, that’s coming up next Monday. Is there a time that is not going to work for commissioners. I know it’s public here, but I wanted to get that out.

00:55:57,000	Comm Jeske, um, thank you, President Zimmerman. I do believe that there was a notice that was sent out, it was or not? OK, um, for some reason I have 4 to 6 on my calendar, so, um, maybe I was just speculating that’s when we would be meeting.

00:56:13,100	Executive Director Klipfel, President Zimmerman Commissioners, Comm Jesske, we just blocked off some time potentially for a meeting, but, uh, we’ll leave it up to the boards perview to set the exact time. With that uh time of 4 to 6 p.m. on Monday, the 22nd of December. Would that work for commissioners? All right, uh, just, uh, it’s a special board meeting.

00:56:35,500	It’ll be held at the Park District office, not here, so we’ll not be, uh, don’t be logging on to see the meeting here. It’ll be held at Park District office. Uh, we have, uh, asked John Ward, will be present to uh provide us uh some of the information that we need to consider as we move forward in this process.

00:56:55,730	John, is that time gonna work for you? Uh. actually, if we could start at 5 or shortly after 5, it would work for me, actually have a hearing in district court that day starting at 2:30. That will probably go up till 5, I’m guessing. Uh the district court, come on, I apologize for that President Zimmerman.

00:57:13,370	Will that work? 5, OK. That’s 5:15. Give John a chance to get down there if he’s still in court. All right, let’s set it then for 5:15, uh, Director Klipfel, make that arrangement.

00:57:37,430	And you’ll see on that schedule, there’s uh a list of dates to go if we would go with an executive placement service or if we would do the uh work, what I would call internally. So we will review those on our Monday meeting. Any further discussion on that matter at this time? Move to deny Kevin’s retirement. Well, do we have to accept it? No? OK, never mind. OK.

00:58:02,630	OK, I think we’re, again, uh Kevin, uh, a great uh review of the performance this past year. Very appreciative of your efforts. and, uh, we’ll look forward to still some months. to keep moving along. The last item is the approval of the bills. Move a motion by Comm Jeske, seconded by Comm Redmand. Any further discussion If not, Julie, if you would call the roll, please, Comm Gilbertson.

00:58:28,530	Herzog, yes, Redman, Jesske, I, President Zimmerman, I, before I Adjourn the meeting, I want to extend a greetings for a great Christmas holiday season, especially to all the staff of the Bismarck Parks and Recreation District and to the citizens of Bismarck. It’s been a great year thanks to, uh, Director Klipfell.

00:58:52,630	His, uh, executive committee and all of our employees. We wish you a very prosperous, uh, or merry Christmas. Happy New Year, and we’ll see you in 2026. The next regular board meeting for the Bismarck Board of Park Commissioners is January 15 2026 at 5:15 in the fabulous and warm. Tom Baker meeting room meeting