November 13th, 2025, and we are at the Tom Baker Room for the appointed time and place of the Bismarck Renaissance Zone Authority. and that would be your chair Jim Christiansen, and we’ll ask Sandra to call the roll. Greg Zenker. Here Steve Bakken. Here, Joe Fink here, Milly Dow here, Kirsten Dvora here, Nancy Guy here Kate Herzog here, John Lee here, Chair Christiansen. Here, uh, first item of business on the agenda would be the approval of the minutes from our prior meeting of October 9th. Any changes or corrections or comments? Is there a second? Second. Moved and seconded, all in favor signify by saying aye, aye, same sign if you oppose. OK, that motion carries. We, we will open it up to public comment. If there’s anyone here that would like to appear, uh, with any comments relative to the agenda items. any public folks that would like to appear besides Isaac. Nope, he says no. Hearing and seeing none, we will move on to the regular agenda and item 3A is Downtown Design Review. and a remodel project that Isaac’s going to talk to us about. Yes, thank you, Chair Christiansen and authority members. Our first regular agenda item here once, there we go. So this project comes to us from the Heartview Foundation, who’s requesting Downtown design review of some approval of exterior alterations to one of their office buildings at 123 East Broadway Avenue. as seen here within the downtown zoning districts. This is what the, uh, project area looks like right now, and the exterior uh renovations would include some realigning of the exterior doors and windows there. So as you can see with the Hartview Foundation sign up above. There’s some doors underneath there, and then there’s windows off to the right. I want you to pay attention to those and that small uh door as just a frame of reference. So this image was included in your packet as well, and with a highlighted area of where the exterior changes are going to be. and just zoomed in a little bit for better ease of seeing things on the screens here. So these exterior alterations will be essentially moving what was uh the doorway under that main sign, kind of in the, on the left of the screen there, moving it further to the right and replacing it with some windows, and then that small door on the left is staying the same. It’s just there for a frame of reference. Um, there is some work being done on the inside of the building as well, but that is generally outside the scope of downtown designer reviews. We’re just focusing on kind of that changing of door position and window positions. According to information provided by the applicants, all of the materials being used will match the existing materials to the best of their ability, colors, materials and all, and staff provided the, uh, renderings and information that you see on the screens here to the uh design advisors as well for their inputs. But generally speaking, staff find that the proposed design would not adversely impact the public’s health, safety, and general well-being, that it is generally consistent with the downtown design guidelines, the Coferensive plan Bismarck Code of Ordinances and other relevant state law. Therefore, staff recommends approval of the proposed design at 123 East Broadway Avenue with the standard condition that if there are any significant revisions to the approved design, if it is approved here, it must be reconsidered by the Downtown Design Review Committee prior to implementation. Does the board have any questions for me at this time? Any questions at all Steve? No Mud prove It’s Emotional. Is there any, any, any discussion? OK Yes, Nancy seconded. OK, moved and seconded. No further discussion. Call the roll, please, Sandra. Comm Bakken. Yes. Fink. Yes. Dall? Yes, Dvora. Yes, Guy? Yes. Herzog? Yes. Lee? Yes. Sekker, yes, Chair Christiansen, yes, a motion carries. Thanks for coming. You didn’t have to All right. Um, item 4 on the agenda is other business, Downtown streets. street lights update. Long time no see. Welcome. Thank you, Linda. Chair Christiansen and Commissioners, um, I’m here to give you an update today on our progress on researching downtown street lighting options. um if you recall back in, uh, I believe it was April, I came and talked to you. We’re, we’re having some challenges as we’re trying to upgrade the downtown lighting, uh, changing it from, uh, metal halide to, uh, LED, and the reason being is um. let me see here I. um, I’m not gonna read through these, the challenges, but this is what I presented before the um fixtures that we have, um uh, we only have one supplier at this point. A lot of our fixtures, we have a difficulty with, uh, they break very easy. In fact, I brought an example over here just to show you what our people are dealing with when they break, they have to piece this together, tape it and glue it, and try to make it look like a globe again. So this one, this one will go in the garbage when we’re done. But, um, we’re having difficulty finding replacement parts. The, the system is nearly 30 years old. um and so really when, when we came to you, we were telling you we’ve got 200 fixtures to replace. We have difficulty with um the the arm and how the fixtures attached, so it looks like we need to replace all of them. So now is the time if we want to make a change. Now would be the time to do it because we have a new project coming up with 30+ lights, and we have these 200 we need to replace. Uh, it’s pretty much the downtown area would could have new lights if that’s the route we want to go. so um, one of the directions that we received from, I believe this board and also the historic preservation Board, um, or commission was um what type of lights, um, were here previously, and I think you’ll see there are quite a few of the globe fixtures and I think that’s where our current design comes from. Um, you’ll notice that some of these were, uh, right around the turn of the century or even before then and we went from a 5 globe fixture, um to, if you look at the, the, the first one on the left, it, they transitioned to a two globe fixture and um then they went to this goofy little one. I’m thinking in the 1940s where it, it had two arms and a, and a little hood on it, um, and then, um, I believe in the 1960s, the last one on the right is what you would have seen in the downtown So that’s what the information I received from um uh HPC and um, you know, so trying to keep that in mind. When I was here before, I, I had 5 different examples. Three of them were of real interest to us and so I, I just have them on here real briefly. It was the plaza by Sternberg, which is here. I think that’s the one laying on the ground. um, we will bring it up to the table. It’s just a little wobbly, so I didn’t wanna leave it there. um, the uro fixture is the one way on the end of the table, and we can go over and we can look at them and I, I can tell you why we like which ones and, and costs and that sort of thing. um, the Valerian acorn by A V. and uh the other two that we received and are here were fixtures at the lighting suppliers felt that we would be interested in as well. So they sent those samples along with and you know there’s some possibilities there, and I think it’s, it’s worth looking at. but this, this is the fixture, the one, manufacturer that still makes the fixture that we use today. um this is also their, their globe. just to, just to tell you, um, it’s not it’s not a fixture of the highest quality. It’s not a fixture of the quality of the first project we put in 28 years ago. So, and that’s something when we when we brought these fixtures in, we asked Public Works and, and the people that work with lighting fixtures to come in, what do you like about these fixtures? Is this gonna be easy to work on? How are you gonna maintain this? And as we walk through those, I’d be more than happy to, to go through some of that, and I brought Aaron, uh, Schmidt with me. He’s an engineer with me in the engineering department and he’s kind of cataloging some of those things. So, um, you know, I, we can walk through them or if you wanna go up to the table, we can do that too. Um, I, I know it’s a little different for for the dynamic of this group, but at the same time, I, I would like you to have some experience with them so when we come in the future and we don’t have fixtures, you know. what we’re talking about. Uh, yes, we start with questions. Did, um, did Public Works have a, a favorite or a couple that they like. The two black ones, the one on the ground and this one here, the ease on the far right. The, the ease of working on them, they’re, they’re able to access them virtually toolless and um they’re very it up there, hoisted up. It would take two people to lift that one? Cause I, you know, I think that should really be our guide. Um and they’re not, they’re those two on the end are the most expensive. but. Of course they are. But the quality is the greatest on those. Those are good fixtures. The, the one on the end of the table, that’s a very popular fixture. That means the longevity of that fixture is gonna be the greatest because a lot of communities like it and so they’ll continue specing it. It’s unlikely it will be discontinued. I’m, I’m hoping we wouldn’t run into the problems we are today with trying to search for a manufacturer what is the expected life of one of these fixtures, one of either of those two, do you know? It, you know, typically we’re, when we’re looking at life expectancy, we’re thinking 25 years, um. I would say it’s probably not uncommon. Erin, wouldn’t you say that we 30, 35 isn’t uncommon as well. I would expect to get 35 out of one of these. Do you know how long these fixtures, like the two on the end, have been in production? Da those Serberg ones, I, I don’t have an exact number, so just roughly. It’s been a while. Uh, quite a few years is um, Steve, you have a question So the three questions I had were cost, which you sort of answered, um. the ease of by which public works can work on them. The other one is, as far as light pollution, uh, as far as residents living down there, is there one model that’s better as far as casting more downlight rather than. allowing for more light pollution. So, excellent question Um, all of them have very good bug ratings, the bug rating, uh, is the back light, the up light, and the glare. The uplight is has nothing to do with flies or mosquitoes. It does not. Which brings up another question I do have though. Um, it will be a minimal upli, if any. I mean, I think all of them had zeros. Yeah. Yeah. They all had zero, which is what we want. OK. Um, I you’re not going to get that with the globe. Right. And I do like the one on the end The only concern I also have, though, is being that that doesn’t have something on the top as opposed to the globe light. I can see a nice place for pigeons to land and make a mess, so what, what is, how do you mitigate that? Um, that would be something I need to talk to the manufacturer. Um, I don’t think you would see um. a nest there mainly because of the intensity of the light. It, it wouldn’t, it wouldn’t be a place for them to sit long term, but they could during the day. They will sit there and. Yeah, I’m not worried about the nas before. It’s a mess. Yeah, the mess. Um that’s a good point. Le, what, what, what globe choices are there for the one on the end? Is it rusted or is it clear or we can get clear. We can get frosted, uh, or we can have it open like this. Yeah, because the light itself is up on top. and all the components are in the base, and it’s a, a simple turn and remove, and they can fix it without a a tool, so it’s, it’s really nice. We’d have pigeons for sure if they were open. Yeah, yeah. But having, I mean we can get clear or a frosted lens, certainly. Other questions, Linda Um, if I, I have another one, other than being taxpayers, what is our this body’s concern about the cost factor. Um, at this point, um, it is still. Yes, that’s right there. It, it’s still, uh, a public works cost, um. you know, I, we haven’t put total numbers together. That’s what we would want to do, um. but I wanna do that with one fixture, not 5, or so that that’s this was an opportunity for you to see the fixtures. We will come back when we have more the cost estimates and what it’s gonna cost and, and when we’re, we’re able to move forward with the project to give you uh uh a chance to review and say yes or no. but if the the response is back to me that we wanna keep the existing globes. No. Then we go on a different route. What’s the name of the second, the one that you just got off the floor, what’s that one called? That one is, Oh, the nice one. That’s all. Plasma Plaza, yeah. No. Yeah, it’s plasa by Sternberg. Plaza was the one that was similar to what we don’t know. OK. That one actually surprised me. I did not like it on the cut sheets, but I see it in person and I really like it. What does our design consultant think? David Go for it That’s Yeah, I, I think I encouraged you to include the Plaza one, so, yeah, I, I mean, I think. the one on the right is a, I think, a very practical option. Um, the the, the, the plaza one definitely has more, more character. I, I think it was recommended because it might be the least divergent from the Art Deco type of a vibe that maybe we’re trying to maintain, um yeah, I think yeah, so I, I, I guess how I I don’t know what the cost is between the two and but uh if there’s an upcharge for the more decorative one, but what you’re getting is a little bit more distinct character and so I guess that’s the rationale for that, um. yeah, so Yeah. With the color be black or would it be the like brown we would go for the brown or the or the dark browns right and those problems. Yeah, that will match um some of the hardware on the poles themselves and also the other fixtures, the overhead fixtures, and I think you want that continuity. No, go ahead. Either one. So, as far as, uh, conversation with staff is ease on working with these, you know there’s a lot to be said for that and saving labor hours. um and the higher quality, I mean, can we break out what that cost savings long run might look like as opposed to buying a cheaper fixture because I would tend to lean towards the better quality and ease of working on. So, and, and that would, that would be a good question for staff that’s got to work on these things, and Comm, as we talked with staff, they, that, that’s exactly what they said. They said they could work on the other ones, but it takes a little more time, the holes don’t line up nicely and it, it becomes a little more to screw things out and screw them back in and the, the two on the end were their preferred ones. Am I not OK, I’m right and I’m thinking more in terms of in January when they have to go repair something in a bucket, then what’s, what’s a better fix, so. And we had those discussions. Yeah. I mean, I, I would be inclined to, unless there’s a huge cost gap, I’d be inclined to move forward the two on the right and. get rid of the other ones. John, you had a question? Um, yeah, is this just trying to understand all words is, was this, uh, is there a, a replacement um schedule on, on lights like this is a part of just uh deferred maintenance? Is it uh controllable budget issue? How does that determine take place? It typically replacement on this is, uh, I mean, you’d be looking at 25 to 30 years, so we’re there is what is is the thing. um, you know, they’ve changed out lamps as as they failed. They’ve replaced fixtures that they’ve been hit or or whatever, um, but typically that’s about what you would expect, uh, uh, a lamp or a ballast or or something is what would need to be replaced, and they’ve done that. It, it’s just now we’re moving into a time where we don’t have replacements because a lot of the companies we ordered from aren’t making them anymore, so we’re trying to piece it together, um, it, it’s kind of like that old fridge you have in your house and you need uh a new light bulb in, in maybe they don’t make it anymore or whatever the case may be. Yeah. I know. But. No, but it’s not a, there’s not a, there’s not a fund, uh, uh, a maintenance fund or where this is coming out of, it’s something we do. It is along the way. OK, this is coming out this out of the streetlight utility fund when we, when the city Comm made the decision to upgrade all the city of Bismarck street lights from high pressure sodium or metal halide to LED that’s where it’s coming from. OK. It’s coming from public works, street light utility fund, and that’s where this would come from. The work would be next, next next summer. OK. And the cost differential, uh, you, you don’t have any information on that? Um several $100 difference between them? Yeah, between the ones on the table, there’s there’s a pretty good range. Right But the two on the end is several 100. I, they were the most expensive but they’re the higher quality and we would expect them to be around a while, and there’s the two preferred by public works, and Comm Bakke’s point, it, it doesn’t take many man hours to make that up if it’s, if it’s a lot quicker to to work on. So I, I think that’s a valid point. Yeah. That’s all I have. And, and I would say that public works staff felt the same way that um the ease of working on him was worth the added cost. So could you refresh my memory as, uh, what’s the schedule for replacement on this? Is it over 3 years, 5 years? 6 years? We, we had actually hoped to get all the LED lights in the city of Bismarck replaced this year. So hopefully we can do it next year. um next summer. Um, I, I think it’s a commitment of the commission to um be as efficient with our lighting as possible as soon as we can, but if there’s a if we run into a cost issue or the city runs into a cost issue, um, it would be possible to extrapolate that over a little bit different time just for the cost of a better product. Certainly. OK. I, I, I think that’s a discussion to have when we talk budgets. You’ll have that at a higher level than this. Other questions or comments? I was just going to think, uh, chair, I was just going to mention the same thing. It’s not special, special assessed necessarily, unless it’s part of a larger project. It’s it’s collecting as we speak right now and so that was a because we already have a pretty big special assessment we’re all paying off downtown or uh Jim is paying off downtown from the, the street project, so. Thank you. Yes. I don’t want to go that route right away, right now. You could, uh. Just for a little while. I, I will tell you that the project on Front Avenue, um, that the street a portion of that that isn’t covered by DOT will be special assessed and that will include new streetlights. So these could be part of that, but the replacement of the ones that are here are covered by um the street light utility. OK, would the members be comfortable having a show of hands of like preference? starting from right to left with the uh my favorite Martian looking one on the end, um. or no. Are you OK with that, Linda, Erin, why don’t you go over and raise your hand over each one and. Yeah. You wait for us. Um-hum. Yeah, Van. Vanoate. I think just, just stick with the We’re just doing our topic. I think we’re just going to do the. Yeah, I just say, between the two, yeah. 2 on the right, and if you want to do a cost comparison on those two. I would say let’s forget about the in ri or the lesser quality um items and if you want to just I’m fine with it if everybody else is. Yeah. You know, on those two and work out those numbers. I would say that would be a better investment. Everybody’s concurring on that. Do we need a motion for that? No, just consensus. OK. Sure. I, I fail to see what we’re gonna have to impact the city’s like, you know, it looks good. Yeah but we’re giving advice. We’re giving advice. Thumbs up. Either two. I, we’re good. I, yeah. It’s more of the downtown design. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Right? They’re not gay. They’re not bad. I mean. And because he choices These are part of the, the downtown um, streetsatepe guidelines. is, is really why I’m coming to you. And, and once your input because I know our city commission will ask for that. Understood? And I think Marvin the Martian on the right there looks different with the left side. Probably, yeah But I think it’s also safe to say that our preference is leaning towards the uh a little bit more elaborate one or not. Is there a cost difference with the lenses if they’re, are they all the same? Is it clear, frosted, any cost difference? There may be a little, but it, it’s not it’s not worth OK. I, I mean, if it’s 2030 bucks extra. OK. It’s not with us Pick what you want is, is what I would tell you. OK. Isaac, Isaac is waving back there. He’s got a comment. I just wanted to add one note authority members and Chair Christiansen since the, the name of the Downtown streetscape Stans was invoked. I just wanted to, to quickly note that whichever uh fixture is the final, uh, product that is chosen, you know, staff can work to update the streetscape standards to make sure the exact specifications of those are included. So we can, we can work with whatever the, the final uh pick is perfect. All right, thanks, Linda. Thank you for your time. Yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you for doing this. We appreciate it. Move on to item B under other Business, which is Renaissance zone Program Boundary discussion, Isaac. and uh thank you, Chair Christiansen and Authority members. This is more so just a, a high level question at this point of, uh, would you, as, as the authority wants to see some formal analysis or review of the current product boundary to discuss whether or not changes to that boundary would, you know, like to be made or or be thought of perhaps on a a yearly basis or or something like that. Um, if yes, you know, staff can prepare something for your review and consideration, um, in, you know early 2026. If you don’t believe that’s a a necessary thing to do at this time. We certainly, you know, don’t need to do that. It’s just a thought on the last time you recall? The last time boundary changes have been made would be, I believe, 2022. Um, and as far as the, the number of blocks the about the program could have, we have a 5.5 blocks that could be added in, assuming no other blocks are, are closed and staff you know, presented some information earlier this year on an initial analysis, you know, staff could work further through that to um look at things in more detail. Again, if that is the the desire of the the board, but if no changes are thought to be necessary, that is, you know, perfectly acceptable to staff as well on an occasional basis, Joe, yeah, I. I’ve thought with the last time that we made changes to the plan and how the board operates it, that is something we’re supposed to do annually. I I thought it was in the document that we, it was something that we would review on an annual basis and whether blocks need to exit or if there were any changes that need to come to the, to the boundaries. Authority member Finkin and authority members, I would have to double check that exact language, but we can certainly, uh, well, I, I can certainly check to make sure if that is in there and whether or not it’s in there or not, we could do that on a yearly basis if, if you believe that would be beneficial. And even if no changes are recommended, it could be uh good to review things opposed to having staff kind of update and dust off and look at the uh go through that exercise. So so, Yeah, I think, I’m pretty sure Joe’s correct. Um, and it came about the same time as when we had the one-year hiatus, so we didn’t have the program, so I think I think that is probably what stopped it from happening. So yeah. My only comment is if we haven’t done one in a year, let’s, let’s go ahead and follow our program guidelines and get that done. Yeah. No one’s opposed to it. I would say move ahead. Sure. I will, uh, work with other planning staff members to bring a more formal analysis to you likely in January, uh, or, or around that time. So more to come. Thank you. Anybody have suggestions or comments or anything particularly they want to see? Kate? Christiansenate, just if we do change the boundary, that’s an entire, do we have to go through the entire program change so. I wouldn’t be like willy nilly throwing things in and out unless it’s something that makes sense because it’s a long process for staff and then to go to all the boards and all that again, so. I, I guess I, I will add to chair uh authority member Herzog’s point as well, uh, well, a couple of notes, I should say. The first one is that yes, any change would need to go through the new process in the development plan involving a public hearing before this board, but then also approvals through all the other boards that have representation here as well. And then the second thing is that if any block was you were recommended to be removed from the program. It would not be allowed to be brought back in at some point under state law as it is right now. So just a couple notes on that, but of course further discussion or analysis could be brought at a later date. Sounds good. Thank you. OK, thank you. Um, other business for the good of the order. Comm Guy had to get out of here early for some reason, so I’m trying to see if I can drag this out a little bit. Does anyone else have anything, anything for the, for the good of the order. If not, and if there’s no objection, we stand Adjourned until December 11th. Thanks