00:00:09,100	Good evening. Welcome to the April 16th, 2026 Park board meeting. Uh, our first item is to call the meeting to order and ask Julie to take the roll, please. Commissioner Gilbertson here. Hertzog here. Redmond, here. Jessie. Here. President Zimmerman here. Second item on the agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance.

00:00:32,100	If you wish, please stand and join us in the pledge. 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 for joining us in the pledge.

00:00:58,900	Our third item on the agenda is approval of tonight’s meeting. Agenda. So moved. Second. Motion by Commissioner. Second. By Commissioner Gilbertson. Any further discussion? If not. Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Commissioner Gilbertson I. Herzog. Yes, Redmond. Hi, Jesse. I. President Zimmerman I. Next item on the agenda.

00:01:22,700	We are honored to have with us this evening. Doctor Foss, not to superintendent of the Bismarck public schools. It’s going to give a presentation on the upcoming referendum and its impact on the Bismarck Parks and Recreation. Good evening, Doctor Foss. Night. Good evening, Park board members. Thank you again for allowing me to come speak to you tonight.

00:01:42,600	Yes, I’m Doctor Jeff Foss, and it’s my privilege to represent almost 14,000 outstanding kids and 28,000 wonderful parents that I get to help ensure they have great schools send their kids to. So I have the best job in the world.

00:01:59,600	So, yeah, I’d like to share with you some of the work that my board has been doing recently and help inform you, because I think you’re you’re important stakeholders in the community, and having you informed is a good thing, because I think some of the work we’re going to do actually does benefit parks and as well. So we’d like to showcase that.

00:02:20,470	So, um, for those that hopefully are aware and maybe the, the general audience, we’ve been working on long range facility plan for some time, it is not a new thing for Bismarck schools. I just like you. I’m sure you have rotations of equipment there on cycles. You try to keep a good handle on those.

00:02:37,030	Um, could be anything from AC and heating units to compressors to roofs, as we say, Bismarck Public Schools takes care of 3,000,000ft of floor every year and 2,000,000ft of roofs. Um, so we we have a lot of in our charge. Um, we went through a process this last fall to update that went to my board in July or January. Sorry, of 26.

00:02:56,230	And they accepted it. And we spent a couple of months digesting. How do we accomplish the many tasks that were outlined in that plan? Because it was a big number. We have a lot looking looking at us. You might say that we want to accomplish.

00:03:14,000	And so, um, in late March, they decided, okay, this is going to take some community support. To do that, we’re going to pass the motion to go towards a referendum. And everything I’ve done since, I think that moment has been in helping to inform people. So I do have the website on there for people that might be watching or you to go to.

00:03:28,370	That’s a really big link right on top of the page. If you go to Bismarck School’s website, I think you you hardly miss it. So, um, just to know where we where we came from. So everything in our present plan, I’m going to give you a narrowed down version.

00:03:43,430	I can eloquently, maybe not so eloquently go on this for about 40 minutes or so. I’m going to give you the narrow version. We’re putting all this work in, really four distinct buckets. The first one is modernizing and improving efficiency. Really, everything in there is what we call as deferred maintenance.

00:03:59,370	It’s the little colored rubric we’ve used to determine the severity of that and the need for that. And that’s on that website. You can find a document for every single school, every single facility that outlines that by that color coding. Okay. Um, we also have what we call programmatic work.

00:04:15,400	We will see projects within the plan that are there to ensure safety and support of our students. You’re going to find some projects in there that deal with some tweaking growth in Bismarck.

00:04:30,800	We’re really right now probably a flat enrollment for a while, which is honestly giving us a little breathing room to to now go back and reinvest in some of our older schools. Um, so elementary enrollments, a little flat, but in the south side of town, if you ever drive down South Washington. Yeah, that’s a pressure point for us. And so we have some work in the plan to address that.

00:04:45,330	And then what I’m really going to focus on and why I put your wonderful logo on there is I think the work we’re going to do is really beneficial to our community and our parks, and the people that use our facilities outside the school day. So just a quick slide on deferred maintenance.

00:05:01,300	Um, our project is quite big. It is 37 to $40 million of work just in the deferred maintenance area. It’s spanning 22 sites. Um, we have 32, I think, 32 different physical buildings that we are responsible for. Um, so you can see it’s quite extensive.

00:05:19,270	It’s really hitting almost every part of the district aside from those really new schools that we’ve built in the last 5 to 6 years that are that really don’t need too much attention. But I would tell you, deferred maintenance, just like you, I’m sure you have equipment that needs updating. As I tell people, it’s like your house.

00:05:35,900	No genie just comes in your house and magically replaces your furnace. It takes work, it takes effort, it takes planning. Um, these things are true here. And I would also say, you know this as well as I. None of these things are going to be cheaper next year or the year after.

00:05:51,370	So that’s kind of why we’re a little momentum to get this done. Now while we can. If we go to the programmatic part, one of the big things that we that is taking up a lot of the effort in that area is accessibility. And we truly believe that all of our schools should meet modern accessibility standards.

00:06:09,000	Um, I would say that’s easy for modern schools that are new. Okay. But when you have buildings that are near average is 47 years old, when you have some schools that are even over that we have particularly some elementary schools.

00:06:24,370	And if you know your school logos and have a little school pride, you can see those on the screen, but that just do not have accommodating restrooms for students or students or adults that have accessibility concerns, we just we truly believe that this district has made choices where kids don’t go to their neighborhood school and go to a school that can

00:06:40,500	accommodate their needs. In the past, I kind of think that’s a little hard to digest in 2026. And I would also say that’s and maybe what you’re more concerned with is I think we need accessible bathrooms for the adults that visit our buildings, the grandmas and

00:06:56,100	grandpas that come, or mom and dad that wants to come visit a classroom should have a bathroom if they have accessibility challenges. Um, so that’s become a prime focus. The three schools listed also on the slide are multi-story buildings. Yet in Bismarck that don’t have an elevator.

00:07:12,100	Um, we are stories at pioneer of kids being pushed out a door around the building, down through the playground, into the lunchroom, um, when they may have an injury. That makes them ink. Not able to walk. They’re in a scooter for, you know, maybe even a short period of time.

00:07:29,630	Again, I think in 2026, that’s something we should be attacking very aggressively. So I think I guess my point to you is when you use our facilities or you have events that bring people into our facilities, I would bet you have the same expectation as there’s an accessible bathroom and ability to navigate the building.

00:07:48,170	Another thing that we’re talking about is really more in the supported side. Um, we we are trying to keep all of our schools kind of similar in their, um, the offerings they have. So we went into century this year knowing that they were dramatically behind VHS and less when it comes to physical education spaces.

00:08:07,500	That’s the third gym that might be tied to their competition gym. It’s a walking track. It’s a wrestling room. It’s a a weight and fitness room that’s actually in a portable. It’s just some areas where they’re not the same as VHS and less so, um, we put some effort into in the plan to make sure that we have additional health and PE local classrooms available

00:08:26,730	to us during the day. But I also think when those are available, they’re also available after hours. They become the place where we do youth activities. Adult rec, those league sports, or maybe even just a meeting. Um, those become highly prized community spaces.

00:08:43,430	And when we were there, visiting in the fall, um, the parents of century brought up a kind of a gap in our fine arts. And I, I know we don’t rent a lot of fine art space for you, but I think it’s available to the community to use.

00:08:58,330	And if you’ve ever been in the century auditorium, it’s quite small because compared to VHS and less, um, in two years it won’t hold the class. And if you just look at the physical space when we talk about our, our, our artists, our kids that are in the fine arts and I will brag, Century High School just won

00:09:12,170	the state one act here just two days ago. So go patriots. Um, but, uh, I think they should have equal opportunity for a an environment where they can go stage right, stage left, have a have their orchestra performing, have a place where they can do scene work.

00:09:31,370	So we’re trying to we’ve added to the plan something to get them more commensurate with what HHS and DHS has. And we dug up some data because we think our spaces if it’s a lunchroom, if it’s a little, little gymnasium in a school, if it’s the big competition gymnasiums, I we think our place, our, our sites are busy.

00:09:52,030	And so we went out and and I know you serve after school, care for kids right now we we project that there’s 350 kids waiting on waiting lists to get into after school care. Well, in our school, we don’t do that in classrooms. We use those big communal spaces to offer that.

00:10:09,330	And, uh, in some schools we just run out of space. We don’t have any more room for sections, so we couldn’t add them if we wanted to. Well, in several schools, Centennial, Solheim, Moses, we’re planning to add on some multi-purpose room space, which helps us during the day.

00:10:24,770	Um, but it also gives an opportunity to expand after school care. And we think that’s a win for the community as well, not just for us during the day.

00:10:42,300	And the bottom stat, we dug up, someone asked like, how much time are we renting to, um, to agencies or entities? That’s 130 rental hours a day, Monday through Saturday through that time period, July 1st to December 31st? Uh, I think our spaces are used, use a lot. And so, again, additional space for a community to rent seems like a win for the community. So they can use that even more than they are now. Um, get to the money.

00:11:01,500	Because superintendents that’s all we deal with is money. Um, that’s not true. Um, I would say the district is committed to keeping on top of the greens that are reflected here.

00:11:16,430	We know that we can do that within the budgets that are given, are provided to us from the state, and also what we collect for our building fund. So that’s our promise for the future. We’re going to get on top of this.

00:11:28,900	We’re going to stay on top of it for the near future and hopefully not and be in this predicament in the in the probably past, my tenure in the district, the rest of that equates to 127 million. And for taxpayers, because we’re all taxpayers, probably in our community, that boils down to if you look at your true and full value on your home, and that for clarity, is that’s the number at the top of the pink sheet that says what we all know are house worth.

00:11:44,200	So what we hope the what we can sell it for maybe, um, for every 100,000 a true and full value, um, that tax impact is $4.07 a month. So if you have a $300,000 home, multiply by three. We’ve given you some simple ones to look at as far as the tax impact. So you can see that.

00:12:03,970	And we’re comparing ourselves to others. I do think Bismarck is in a fortunate position because of the nature of a growing community, a thriving community. I think, um, Commissioner Gilbertson and I were talking ahead just, you know, there’s a thousand new people coming to town every year. There’s we’re a growing and thriving community.

00:12:20,670	Um, we’re actually benefiting from a little breather in that. So that’s okay. But, um, we want that. Right. So with that comes a very robust tax base as we continue to grow our community.

00:12:33,900	If you look at the rest of these six schools, all class eight schools that have done something similar in the recent history, you can see what the tax impact is for what they could do in their community. I will tell you, Bismarck can do more, spread it across more schools, benefit more, neighborhoods, less impact on taxpayers than any of these six schools. Elections June 9th I would encourage you to go vote.

00:12:54,700	I can’t tell you to vote yes or no. That’s not my job. It’s just to give you the facts. But I would say you have two important things on the ballot, at least for Bismarck Public Schools. You’ll have this question. And just for clarity, a yes is a yes and no is a no.

00:13:06,970	It’s really simple. No backwards, no backwards language on there. Um, but you’ll also be, for me, five board members. I have three run three open spots this year. So please cast your vote for who you want leading your district next year. That’s important. At least it’s important to me.

00:13:22,970	So I would stand for any questions you may have. Well, thank you, Doctor Foss. Not. We’ll start with the commissioner. Redmond. Thank you, President Zimmerman. Doctor fossa, thanks so much for coming. Um, my husband and I attended your presentation the other night at Century High School. I attended the whole thing.

00:13:37,600	Commissioner Gilbertson left early. I like that noted, but, um, it was a great presentation, and I appreciate you so much where you said that your first areas of concern were the deferred maintenance. You talked about the accessibility. That’s also something that the Park district is working very, very, very hard on.

00:13:53,630	Um, tell me, which schools again are you talking about? The, um, multi-purpose spaces that you’re talking about with, with, of course, our blast program that we’d love to be able to. You’re going to challenge my memory. , commissioner. I thought, I thought I thought Grimson was one, and you said Centennial. Um, Centennial has an addition. We’re really trying.

00:14:10,070	If you think of the modern elementary schools. So I’m going to I’m going to narrow my scope here by this. A lot of modern elementary schools have a lunchroom and kind of a multi-purpose, really small gym. Right.

00:14:24,100	So operationally for an elementary school, you can have PE running for six grades and then you can do lunch and all that stuff. If you go to Solheim right now, they’re in the same box. So sometimes a large school. So during the day they actually have two peas going on the same small little space. And then at lunch they raise up the curtain. They put the balls away. They prop up the tables.

00:14:39,370	They all eat like mad men, you know. Crazy. Get in here, get out, and then put the tables up and then drop the curtain. In a way they go, that’s really tough. In a growing school and a schedule.

00:14:54,300	So what we’re trying to achieve and I would say Centennial as an additional, um, lunchroom coming on. So they have two Mary has an additional lunchroom coming on. So they have two soul chimes getting additional space. So they have to, um, there’s additional multi-purpose room space at Moses. Um, you’re now you’re going to stretch me.. Grimson had something. Or maybe. Grimson hasn’t. Grimson has an additional.

00:15:12,070	If you’ve ever been in the Grimson school, that’s the one that looks like it’s about to take off. It looks like a, you know, all built on circles. And if you’ve been in, there’s that gym. Lunchroom space is really unique position. Um, so yes, there’s another gym space, multi-purpose room space on Grimson as well. Yeah. Thank you very much. Appreciate that.

00:15:30,670	Other, uh, Commissioner Gilbertson. Um, thank you, President Zimmerman. And as I mentioned before, I, I do appreciate the, um, the. The emphasis on the safety and and the accessibility because, um, I mean, it’s important to this board for our facilities, but there are times when, when there are park or hour events

00:15:57,870	run by and sponsored by the park district that are in, in your buildings. Um, you know, a lot of the amateur basketball, um, and such. I mean, I remember a story of when the AEDs were coming out.

00:16:22,630	There was, um, an event at Wachter Middle School where some of the the people there for men’s basketball actually saved a man’s life for it. So the safety and accessibility is very important. So I do appreciate that. And then keeping more than just I mean, it’s important for those the kids at school. But there’s a lot of times there’s community members in there as well. And having two parents that have limited mobility access. Absolutely.

00:16:45,870	And you you can find if you go to one of the older schools vintage, they’re great schools. They’re wonderful. I’m, I’m in that age group. So I’m, I’m vintage myself. So um, but they just were not designed the same way as a modern bathroom. And some of those entryways. I was in Willmar the other day.

00:17:01,970	That’s about the size of this desk. That’s what they that’s what the entry point width is. And the between the wall and the and the sink. And you’re supposed I mean, there’s just no way you’re not going to navigate that if you were a visitor. Um, so that’s the kind of things that just are stark.

00:17:15,230	And we need to address them. So. And I am a Grimsby grizzly, so I’m very, very familiar with, with the, the spaceship design. And very. Exactly. So thank you, Commissioner. President Zimmerman, thank you.

00:17:35,230	So Doctor Wozniak, not to get too deep in the weeds, but I’d like to hear a little bit more about the safety things that you’re looking to expand upon. Because I do think that is so important. We continually to hear about, you know, school shootings and all that other stuff that’s taking place. I’d love to hear a little bit more about what what, what enhancements you’re looking at. Let me Commissioner Jessica, thank you for the question.

00:17:52,100	Let me put that in a couple buckets. You’re going to see things in the plan as simple as let’s like it’s Solheim. If we get the portables and move those inside the brick and mortar. The school not having kids in portables.

00:18:06,600	There’s a safety element to that because anybody can walk up to that yard and knock on the door. So let’s put them inside the brick and mortar where they have to get through a few people before they get into your school. I think that’s a safety element in itself.

00:18:20,900	At Solheim, when we move those portables out now, we can also get two separate pull in loops, one for parents and cars, one for buses. You’ll see again, modern architecture has those separate. There’s a safety reason for that. You’re going to see simple things like it might be some additional fencing, some additional lighting. Um, we understand the traffic amount, Mary, and the walking traffic. And so there was a concern from staff about doing that. We’ve done that.

00:18:41,170	Um, one of the big ones, you’ll see is what we call as line of sight offices. You’re going to push a button to get accepted into any school during school hours. And wonderful secretary like, who are you? Are you here? Do we buzz you in? That’s kind of just accepted anymore.

00:18:54,130	I think that’s really good security. I feel good about that. The next layer, if you want to call it security 3.0, is to say when you get buzzed in, you should go into a vestibule and go into an office. Some of our schools, if you walk into my Re, you buzz in. Hello. Come on in, Jeff.

00:19:09,430	Door opens. You’re now in a hallway. You walk through a hallway about ten steps forward, four steps to the left before you find the the office. I walked in today. Now I’m mingling with kids. I’m right there with them. Same things. True and Wilmore, the same thing is true in pioneer.

00:19:26,500	Um, it’s just that next level. So if we can get the offices close to front doors, that’s a large part of our safety work. It’s just it’s not a huge thing, but it matters, right, that they get received by an adult before they get to be in the in the areas with kids. So good question. Thank you.

00:19:44,130	Commissioner Herzog. Thank you, President Zimmerman. Commissioners. Doctor foster, thanks for being here. I’m curious. Well, a I hope if if it passes, you get a good your bond rates. Great. I know the city’s bond.

00:19:59,730	Uh, you know the ratings that have the the the interest rates have been really good. So fingers cross. Knock on wood for you. Um, I went to the VHS feeder. Um, discussion back in, I think it was like late September. Yeah.

00:20:13,830	Um, and it was really interesting to look at, like you said, some of the older schools, but you’ve you’ve got a lot of folks that are, um, that feed into the VHS from a huge amount of neighborhoods, which is, is fantastic. Um, I’m curious what people have been saying to you.

00:20:32,700	I noticed that you’ve had your, um, have coffee with me and have people showed up and are people interested? I mean, I appreciate that you’re doing that. So this is people’s chance to ask you questions and get, you know, um, informed before June 9th. So have you had any takers? Is it been a good process? I’ve had a few cups of coffee. Yes, I would say.

00:20:49,300	Has it been as robust as I would hope? No, I would have loved to have it. I think I’ve done that, what, three times now. And I think I probably have less than five people total. I’m going to have to start offering free coffee. I don’t know, I’m gonna have to start buying coffee. Um, but I just think it’s one of many things.

00:21:02,630	Right? It’s the after school forums, which we have one next week, Tuesday, and VHS. We have one Thursday night next week. It’s similarly, again, a community forum that you can come here. This plan, um, but it’s also about going to clubs and rotaries.

00:21:16,670	I mean, honestly, anybody viewing if you have a if you have a civic organization, if you have a coffee clutch, if you have a Saturday morning men’s group that gets and talks about baseball or whatever, call me, I’ll show up. I’ll I’ll answer your questions.

00:21:32,030	So, um, I kind of jokingly said, you know, my pastor tells me whenever two people get together and pray, God is there, if you talk about school, Jeff will be there. So, um, so I just, you know, keep asking. I’ll do that. I would I wish more people would be engaged. Absolutely. But, um, my job is to keep answering the questions and hopefully inform as many people as we can before June 9th.

00:21:48,030	Yeah. And all you can do is be available. So I hope people do take advantage of your availability. Doctor Foss, not one question, maybe not relevant, but, you know, if, uh, if the state passes the bill to provide free breakfast and lunch. Yeah.

00:22:06,500	Are you looking what I mean, with that impact, some of the schools, dining or kitchen facilities, um, you know, because now I hear from people. Oh, every high school kid runs to Pizza Ranch or McDonald’s mill.

00:22:23,700	Now, if they have free lunch, I just just out of curiosity, if that ever came up that, you know, you’d have to add on to a dining room or a kitchen. Well, um, President Zimmerman, um, I would say if you’re high school kids going to get pizza, that’s a parental problem. I’m just saying, I’ve had that same problem with my children, and then I just reduced the allowance that they could use.

00:22:37,630	So it forced them to go to lunch, which I paid for. Um, so I don’t want to take that on. But we do have a thought that. Yes. With that, if that that’s going to go to the vote, it’s going to come.

00:22:50,700	Um, I don’t know what the outcome will be, but we’re thinking about it. One of the things that’s about $6 million, a little over 6 million in our plan, is the concept of a centralized kitchen. I didn’t add that slide. If you come on Tuesday, it’ll be on there.

00:23:03,870	But we really think we are going to have more kids at eat on Campus. And if you’ve ever heard of our Farm to school program, which I think you guys have talked about, right.

00:23:20,000	That’s a great thing for our community to get fresh fruits and vegetables, locally sourced food, um, just provide more entree opportunities for our kids that are not filled with preservatives and additives and all the things we worry about in our food supply. Um, we just approved A100 £0 contract for ground beef. Um, last night at our board meeting.

00:23:35,970	Um, we’re now doing locally sourced ground ground beef for most of our taco products at the high school, but we just run out of capacity to produce our kitchens. That that works in a large high school kitchen doesn’t work in an elementary kitchen. So the concept of a a centralized kitchen, as we can now do that K-12, Mrs.

00:23:52,070	Wagner would tell me, she’s told me that we can go back to baking her own bread and delivering fresh bread to our schools. And if you were my age, that was a great thing to have a fresh bun every day. Okay, so, um, we think that’s a benefit nutritionally for our kids and benefit wise, we can do that.

00:24:06,970	Um, I’m not I don’t I don’t have enough cooks already, but I can do it with less operational costs so I can save something on that and do it with less manpower than I have to do now, which is really our reality. We don’t we’re never fully staffed, so it helps us operationally. Well, Doctor Fontana, thank you for coming in.

00:24:22,470	And I hope again, folks that watch the meeting would come to your forms or ask questions. But I know the Park district and, uh, partners with the school district. So thank you for coming out this evening and giving us a heads up. You’re welcome. Thank you all.

00:24:40,970	We can kind of continue with the Bismarck school system, public schools. We have. The next item on the agenda is our 100th anniversary logo. And Renee Yocum, our recreation manager, is going to walk us through the creative process and unveil our final logo design. That was, uh, with the graphic design class. So good evening Renee. It’s all yours. President Zimmerman.

00:25:04,770	Commissioners, I’m really excited to be here tonight. Um, I am not creative, so this had nothing to do with me. Let me just be clear on that. I was just kind of working behind the scenes.

00:25:21,300	Um, as you know, we have our 100th anniversary in 2027, so we’ve started the process of some background information and kind of planning and preparing what we want to do during that time. And we definitely wanted to have a logo. And so when we were talking about like how who should design the logo, what should we do? We thought, well, we have this great community we have access to really creative kids, students.

00:25:39,900	And we thought, why not Bismarck Public Schools, one of our best partners. So I reached out to Tim Meyer, who is the graphic design, um, teacher at the Career Academy last summer, and asked him about, what do you think, a logo contest, would that work for your classes? And he immediately agreed.

00:25:59,070	And I want to just say that Tim Meyer was my daughter’s hockey coach for like four years, best coach in the state of North Dakota for girls hockey. And she does not suffer fools, my daughter.

00:26:12,430	So that just tells you about like what kind of person Tim Meyer is in order to work with high school kids and do such a good job, his patience is unmatched. So, um, I’ll mention that in a little bit later. But, um, so earlier this year, I talked to Tim last summer. Earlier this year, we, um, set some parameters.

00:26:31,430	We got the information to him like we want these colors incorporate our logo. Here’s kind of what we’re looking for, but that’s all we didn’t give them. We didn’t say we want it to look like this or like this. And they worked on it in the fall.

00:26:43,830	Um, there was a 19 students total that worked on the logos. And then we got a packet of logos in January of probably I think they’re all 19. They each had 2 or 3 logos per page. They were excellent.

00:27:00,370	Like it was so hard to choose and figure out how do we narrow it down. So three of us, Mike Wahl, Wendy Berg and I, we kind of looked at it. We kind of picked our top five. We brought it to the group. Um, we then we had ideas, we tweaked it. I mean, this was a process.

00:27:13,870	This went on for months where like, can you change this? Can you move that? Can you do this? Can you do that? And then when we finally got it down, um, we took it to a vote of the staff, and that’s where we landed on our we have two final, um, anniversary logos, which we plan to use for lots of things.

00:27:30,300	We’re banners, um, our t shirts, our staff shirts will have them. We’re hoping to put, like, those magnetic things on the trucks. Kevin and I were just talking about a bunch of stickers like, we’re going to we’re going to really use these logos and, um, promote our hundredth anniversary.

00:27:47,670	We were super proud and super excited about this. But the these talented students who designed the logos are here tonight. We are missing one. And we’re really excited to introduce them to you. Now, the Career Academy, uh, if you’re familiar with that, that’s all three high schools. So Tim’s class has legacy century and Bismarck High.

00:28:10,300	Um, the students that design the logos, we have four of them. Um, they’re they’re a mix. And I’m going to introduce them. We do have a little thank you for them and introduce them. And then we’ll pull up the logos. Okay. So first I’d like to introduce Carly Olson from century. She’s a sophomore. Come up.

00:28:29,500	Just stand up. I know it’s awkward, but we won’t make you say anything. I want to give you that. Um, Elias, a Brazeau from century, is a junior. And then Maya deWilde is from century. She’s a senior. And then we also have Chloe Berger from legacy as a senior. She’s not here tonight.

00:28:54,570	So now I will pull up the logos. I think. Is there. A password? Is there a password? I don’t know what I’m doing. Is. I’m sorry. Okay, so this. Is the first one. Isn’t that great? Um, we were really excited to see this.

00:29:35,730	Um, this this went through a couple iterations. I don’t know who the original was. So what happened was we had a couple of original ones, and then when we came back to, like, our final ones, all the class worked on them.

00:29:51,700	So then we got, I mean, we looked at hundreds of different logos and variations and challenges, but we really like this, like at the capital city, our starburst being so big, the hundred being so big. So we were really excited to see this. And I think this one is one we’ll see, like on a lot of the banners.

00:30:06,770	And we’re going to see which one looks best for as far as the the clothing and things. But then we have this one. Maybe. I think trouble okay, where is this. It’s not letting me use these little arrows. Why are you such an idiot like this? This one.

00:30:40,230	So this is another one that kind of came through a couple of iterations, but, um, you know, between the two of them, we’re just really, really excited and really impressed. So, um, I want to give a round of applause to all of our students.

00:31:01,870	And also, Tim, Tim is the one that, like, dealt with me, like, and me like sending him screenshots of things with handwriting on it, saying, hey, can you have them do this and fix this and work on that? So it was so great to work with somebody like him as well. Um, obviously a coach of girls hockey who knows how to deal with all kinds of people and do lots of different things. So, um, we just had a great team and a great partnership with them. So we’re very impressed.

00:31:17,630	And, um, when we look to order some of the stuff, we’re going to make sure they all get like some garments or something with the logos that they designed on them. Are there any questions, commissioners? Any questions? Uh, Commissioner Gilbertson. I guess not so much a question, but just a statement.

00:31:38,130	First of all, I know Tim, too, and he’s not that great. I’m just kidding. Tim’s an amazing guy. And, um, and I also, as somebody who’s in education for my real job, I love it.

00:31:59,370	Absolutely love it when, um, young people who are talented, passionate and just amazing at what they do are given the opportunity to, um, work on a real life problem or a real life situation and to see their work come to fruition. It’s it’s absolutely, um, amazing. So thank you for for going to to the students.

00:32:24,370	Um, and I’m sure there’s lots of talented people in your classes, but it’s so awesome that you guys are here to get the recognition you deserve. Commissioner Jesse. Thank you, president Zimmerman. Um, I just want to commend you guys. It’s always hard when someone has a vision and then you have to try and put that vision to paper.

00:32:42,500	And you guys just did a really good job representing the Park district. I think both designs are very unique and different, and yet they really project what we want to say with our 100th anniversary. So kudos to you guys. Creative process is not always easy.

00:33:02,770	You have to be broad shouldered, thick skinned and short toed because people keep coming back at you with changes. So you got to make sure that you’re able to accept those changes. But yeah, you did. Beautiful job. Congratulations to you guys. I’m excited to see how these, you know, show up on printed materials and everything else around town. So thank you for your hard work. Commissioner Herzog.

00:33:20,430	President Zimmerman, commissioners, I do have a question. Can we. Can we take a picture with you and your teacher and everybody? We won’t make you speak, but it would be nice to have a group picture. Sweet. Okay. Thanks. Commissioner Redmond. I just want to reiterate, but I’m just so proud of all of you. Um, designed by committee is really hard.

00:33:39,700	It’s really hard because everybody has an idea. And sometimes you just really want to hold on to something, and you kind of have to let it go. But in the end, it’s always a really good product. And I’m just so proud of you.

00:33:49,570	And yes, we want a picture of all of you because you’re so proud of you. So can we do that? Yes. It go. All right. Let’s do it. We’ll invite Tim, of course, to be part of it as well. By the way, we did bring donuts to the whole class because they were all initially involved in it. So they did get donuts.

00:34:06,370	Some good litigation. Okay. For the first. What are you so excited to see? I always have to be in front of I’m all right. I’m not coming in. There, girl. I’m sorry. Okay. Hey. Are we all in? Out there. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Us. Congratulations. Congratulations. It’s so great.

00:34:54,570	Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thanks. Can I give you this? Yes I will. Okay. It’s glad your parents are here. Okay. Kate. Great idea. Oh, I know. Yes. That’s a that’s a good thing to recognize the students and the work. And we. Great way to kick off our 100th.

00:35:24,430	And thanks to Renee as well for for shepherding that project through our next item on the agenda is our featured partners and programs. We have two this evening for the Keep Bismarck Beautiful program. We have Carl Jackson from the Bismarck Rotary Club. Uh, good evening, Carl.

00:35:50,370	Good evening, commissioners, for those of you who I haven’t met. My name is Carl Jackson. I’m with the Rotary Club here in Bismarck. We’re about 100 members of leaders throughout the community in Bismarck and Mandan. And our motto is service above self. So I’m here to talk to you about Keep Bismarck beautiful. And Dana, thank you for the invitation to be here.

00:36:07,370	So I’ll just read through a few statements and I’d be happy to answer any questions you have. So first of all, the 2026 event snapshot, it’s being scheduled for, it is scheduled for Saturday, May 2nd, and we meet at Peace Park. So right by your offices and the start time is 9 a.m.

00:36:24,100	and it typically goes until about noon. So that’s kind of the snapshot for this year. I want to take a minute and just walk through a few facts that you might be interested in knowing about. Keep Bismarck beautiful. If you’re not already aware.

00:36:39,100	So it began as a grassroots effort in 2014, and since then it has grown to from about 100 volunteers the first year to about 250 each year. The first year the community picked up about a ton of trash in the first year, and so it was a really successful event.

00:36:59,370	It built on a simple idea stop talking about the litter problem in the community and just start doing it. About doing doing something about it. Rotary did not get involved until 2019. It because it was a grassroots effort. It just ended up getting to be a little bit too much.

00:37:15,900	And so they approached us and asked our organization if we’d be willing to step in and help spearhead those efforts. And so rotary has been leading it with several partners since 2019. So, um, let’s see. Oh, I want to make sure to emphasize that rotaries motto is service above self. But we have a commitment to environmental stewardship, stewardship and community impact.

00:37:38,370	And so a lot of what we do with programs through rotary revolve around those three elements. Service above self, community impact, and environmental stewardship. But I need to emphasize this is not just a rotary event. It’s a wonderful community event. It’s an expression of our club’s commitment. And that’s why we lean into it and we try to commit to spearheading this every year.

00:37:58,830	But it would not be a success if we didn’t have all of the volunteers. So that’s the very best part. As you see people showing up from every corner of the community, individuals, families, households, but businesses, there are a lot of businesses and organizations that organize teams to come and volunteer for this effort. It’s a really great experience for everybody.

00:38:16,770	So a little bit about the day of the event, for those of you that haven’t been there, and I encourage you to check it out this year, if you haven’t, um, everybody checks in at Peace Park. We provide trash bags, t shirts. We have partners in the community that donate coffee and donuts.

00:38:32,170	And so you get some snacks when you show up. And then we also get, um, family friendly door prizes donated. And so when you show up, you’re automatically entered into door prizes. And people kind of enjoy the fun that comes with with something like that. So how it works? Um, this cleanup occurs throughout the entire community.

00:38:52,500	It’s parks, it’s trails, it’s roadside ditches. It’s right of ways. It’s even just vacant lots. If someone’s aware of a vacant lot and they feel them, um, compelled to go clean up a large, vacant lot, there are people cleaning up vacant lots, green spaces, public areas. The key point here is that it’s a coordinated citywide effort.

00:39:12,500	We’ve got maps. We assign you a spot on the map, and then we check it off. And we know that that spot on the map is cleaned up. And it’s a really efficient process. As I mentioned, the first year was one ton. It’s much more trash that gets cleared from the community every year.

00:39:27,770	Um, it removes significant volumes of litter annually and engages hundreds of volunteers. It strengthens civic pride, community ownership, and it’s collaboration across a lot of different sectors. And, and, and, um, individual personalities in the community. And it’s really fun to see everybody interacting the morning of the event.

00:39:49,670	It’s one of the most accessible ways for anyone in the community to directly improve the Bismarck community. And it’s a really great event. Finally, I want to touch on some of the partnerships. Like I said, this is not just a rotary event. Again, many individuals do it every year, but organizations that partner with rotary. It’s your organization.

00:40:07,930	It’s Bismarck Parks and Recreation, it’s the city of Bismarck, it’s keep North Dakota clean. And then a wide variety of local businesses and volunteer groups. And every year we’re getting more and more people interested in involved.

00:40:27,730	There are people interested in extending this effort so they might start something on that day, on that Saturday, and then they might continue that project for another week until it’s done right. And we’re hearing more and more stories about that. So there’s lasting impact. So it continues to grow because people continue to show up. And so I can’t come here without an ask.

00:40:43,830	And my ask is to just encourage you to get the word out. There are on our website, you’ll find, I think you’ll find it pretty easy to access. There are QR codes you can scan. There are ways to sign up, and we need individuals. We need nonprofits. We need businesses to sign up. And so our ask is to just help get the word out.

00:40:59,600	We can always use more volunteers. We will never turn away more volunteers. So with that, I really appreciate your time and I welcome any questions. I see several lights around Carl, so hold tight. All right. Uh, Commissioner Jesse. Uh, President Zimmerman. Carl, thank you for coming today. I thought you’d be at the annual banquet.

00:41:18,730	I’m on my way there. I’ll follow you. Um, so a couple questions for you. It starts at nine. So what time do you. What time does it normally wrap up? You know, people, honestly, they can it should they should come at nine because that half hour timeframe is when you get

00:41:36,330	assigned to your spot. But if people only have an hour to give, we’ll take an hour. That’s great. We’ll give you the bags, we’ll give you the pickers, and you can give us what you what you like.

00:41:47,230	Because what we ask you to do then is just leave the bags by the curb, and then the city comes by and picks them up. So we don’t need our volunteers to go haul their trash somewhere or anything. So we’ll take an hour or we’ll take three. Or like I mentioned, some of those groups, they carry it on for a few days till they get something completed.

00:42:01,500	Are there any age restrictions? I mean, do you like because I have a three year old granddaughter and she’d probably have a blast picking up trash. So I’m just wondering, would that be allowed? I know we’d have to be careful to make sure she was in a spot that was safe so that she didn’t, like, get hit by

00:42:14,070	traffic, but any age restrictions? No, not one bit. And if you can bring her to the registration, bear scat. Donuts. Donuts. So we’ll get her donut. But then also let us know when you register and we’ll give you a spot that’s maybe a little bit less traffic area.

00:42:30,700	And let’s see if we’re spot in town, because there all there are all sorts of different places that people can pick up. Okay. And then I know you talked about inviting nonprofits, um, other things. So I’m the past president of the Optimist Club.

00:42:46,930	So I think this is something that, to me, I always think, you know, we’re all in service to the community, whether it’s optimists, whether it’s Kiwanis, whether it’s Lions or whatever. It’s rotary. Um, if you send me some information, we’ve got a board meeting coming up. And then also we have our meetings every Tuesday.

00:43:03,730	I would love to share this with our Optimist Club to see if Optimist Club would be willing to put a team together. You know, some of our members are in their 70s. Might not make it, but I do think this is a great opportunity for them. Thank you Commissioner, I will absolutely follow up with you. Okay. You know how to get Ahold of me. I do. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Herzog.

00:43:19,400	President Zimmerman and commissioners, thanks for being here. Carl. I want to, um, I really do want that Pebble Creek golf course. And it is a fight between. I do get to pick up some extra golf balls, but there are ticks that I really don’t like, but lots of garbage construction things blowing.

00:43:32,830	And, um, looks really nice. And I spend a lot of time in the water, you know, in the hazard area. So I like it’s nice and clean for me next time.

00:43:45,630	But you guys with busy, um, keep Bismarck beautiful are going to be recognized at, um, Arbor Day. Um, and so as a part of we’re part of the Forestry Advisory Board, and I just want to encourage everybody to come to Arbor Day and see you get an award for this great event. So I think it’s May 1st. The day before. Yeah. Yeah. So thank you. Those to you and your group. I appreciate it.

00:44:03,200	Commissioner Redmond. Thank you. President Zimmerman. Carl, you need to know true confession. I’m obsessed with this event and have been for 13 years. I’m just letting you know, um, when Deb Seminary came to the park district and wanted to start this and asked for our help, we jumped in.

00:44:18,430	And I’ve been jumping in ever since. My family just says, yes, I know we’re going, where are we going? And so it’s always a contest to see who can find a dead critter and who can get ticks and things like that. And so and they’re disappointed when we’re done.

00:44:30,270	So we just kind of go through a park and then we just start down the street. And so the stories that come with it of people saying, I can’t go on Saturday because they’re soccer and all these things. So people start, you know, days in advance and just go in their neighborhood and just get trash.

00:44:42,070	And so it’s I’m just love this event and that that the Bismarck rotary picked it up and even Far West Rotary before that started cleaning up River road. And so it’s just it’s just grown. The Lions Club would take Lions Park. And so I just love how it’s just taken off in the community.

00:44:56,770	It’s become an annual event and so, so grateful. And that the arboretum gets picked up. I talked to a woman today who said that she and her granddaughters are excited because they bought pokey sticks, is what her granddaughters come in, and they’ve already started cleaning up the arboretum.

00:45:11,730	So I just I’m so grateful that you’ve taken the lead and that the the Rotary Club has taken the lead on this. And so I don’t think you’re ever going to let it go, I hope, and I’m so grateful for the community and all the partners that you’ve mentioned that are continuing to do this. And so, so Arbor Day and then it’s keep Bismarck beautiful.

00:45:25,600	And then the next day is also cleanup day in the community orchard. So all kinds of great things happening in May. So again our gratitude. Thank you so much. Thank you Commissioner I remember meeting you. That’s the first time we met. Was going to keep Bismarck beautiful a couple of years ago. Yep. Thank you so much. Commissioner Gilbertson.

00:45:40,400	I just needed a clarification of the times, but it was answered. And Commissioner Jesse’s questions. So I’m good. Carl, I thank you for it. I’ve been, uh, I was a member of the Far West Rotary Club for several years, and we did River road. So it’s a it’s a great project.

00:45:58,030	And our scout troop does a couple miles just on the outskirts of town. So it’s a great thing. And again, for people watching this evening, I would encourage you to contact the Rotary Club and help out. Let’s let’s go get our city clean here. Thank you Carl.

00:46:17,930	And if I may, for those people looking to looking for a way to get involved, just find us on Facebook. That’s the best way you can find us there and sign up there. And it’s just Bismarck Rotary Club. That’ll do it. Yep. Thank you. Okay. Our next one for, uh, partners is the Bismarck Youth Baseball. Erich Bartsch is the president of Bismarck Youth Baseball.

00:46:35,470	And he’s going to appear before the board and give us an update on baseball. Season is underway. It is not the warmest season, but it’s underway, that’s for sure. Um. Thank you, President Zimmermann. Commissioners, um, thank you for inviting me to come up and speak about Bismarck youth baseball.

00:46:55,470	You know, first of all, we just have we have a bunch of thank yous. We would like to thank the park board for working with us over the years. I know we went through the transition with the Legion program a few years ago and and really the work that we do day to day with Parks and Rec is, is is great.

00:47:07,970	Um, we wouldn’t be able to do this without this, this board. Um, we’d love to thank Kevin, Kevin and his staff. You know, Mike, Ethan Riley, our staff are working with him on a daily basis. We have to schedule over.

00:47:25,030	You know, we have 100 and some baseball teams with all the fields, and there’s a lot of working that we need to do day to day with the with the group and then the group that I always say goes unnoticed is, you know, we’re we have a tournament at Paws all Night.

00:47:41,900	Who’s out there at 630 in the morning? You know, you have Adam at Holland and Tally and Brad at Shields complex that are pumping the fields off, getting it ready so those kids can play baseball in the morning. Those kids don’t see that, but it doesn’t go unnoticed by by us. And what they do to get those fields ready. So we do appreciate that. And we want to make those those call outs.

00:47:56,100	And then the other is, you know, Kevin’s been around baseball in Bismarck for a very long time. And all the work that he’s done, you know, with the park board, he was actually a nominated and and now selected for the North Dakota Babe Ruth and Cal Ripken Hall of Fame. So we’d like to congratulate. Him.

00:48:12,530	So Bismarck is hosting the 12 year old state tournament this summer, um, in July. And Kevin will be be honored at the state tournament. So it’s great to have him honored there. And we’ll be sending invites out to the board members and everybody to to come for that, for that ceremony. So congratulations.

00:48:29,130	Um, you know, with me today, I have Andrew Feist. Andrew took over as executive director of of, uh, Bismarck youth baseball here two years ago. Um, he’s been a great addition to to, uh, to our organization. And then we’ve also added some additional staff with Skyler Strand.

00:48:45,630	So bringing some Bismarck kids back to Bismarck, working for for baseball and growing baseball here in Bismarck. And as you know, our board, um, is is a volunteer board. We have 11 board members that are working almost daily, uh, with, with baseball, helping the staff, helping with the tournaments and all that.

00:49:03,830	So we’re proud of what we’ve done as an organization. You know, this is our 35th year, um, as Bismarck youth baseball. Um, and it’s great to see the progress that we’ve made as a, as an organization. So when I look at this past year, just to give you some numbers, we had 1192 kids playing the summer.

00:49:22,430	We had 260 kids playing the fall. We’ve expanded our baseball programming to allow kids to play, um, fall baseball. So a total of 14, 1476 kids, 1094 games were played in Bismarck this summer, 6900 innings, 98 teams. So our growth continues year over year over year.

00:49:44,400	Um, but I think it it the fact of how we’re, we’re running the program and providing those kids opportunities, it continues to grow. And we’re we’re proud of that. This last year we hosted 74 teams with our tournaments from out of town. Uh, our the city of Bismarck.

00:50:01,030	And it’s not like I said, it’s not always about the, um, you know, winning. But we do have a segment with an organization. It is, you know, competitive baseball. And we won four state championships in our ten, 11 and 12 year olds this year. That’s never been done in the history of Bismarck. To have four state champions in one year.

00:50:19,830	So we actually won the King of the diamond award for the state of North Dakota as the most successful program, um, in the state. So we’re very proud of that because I think it’s it’s getting those kids we want baseball first kids.

00:50:34,030	You know, all our kids play multiple sports and we love that, but we want them to love baseball. And that’s that’s what we’re starting to see. And it’s showing on the field not only in our league, but also in our competitive baseball. Um, we had eight players move on to play college baseball this year.

00:50:47,370	So that’s one thing that we’re working on with the governor’s program is working with the kids there within that program or Awana or within our Legion program, not necessarily just governors that have an aspiration to play college. Um, so we’ve we’ve had eight kids graduate to play college baseball. We have 18 total. They’re playing college baseball right now, um, that are alumni of our organization. So I think that’s that’s great.

00:51:05,000	Um, looking into this year, we’re projecting 102 teams, you know, up from the, the 98. Uh, we’ve we’ve had the most travel teams that we’ve ever had. Um, we’ll have 21 travel teams within our organization, um, 81 league teams.

00:51:24,170	Um, and then we’re planning to host over 80 teams this year within our tournaments. So again, we’ve had we’ve had lots of lots of, uh, growth. Um, the, some things that we’ve, that we’ve been really focusing on improving within our organization is we’ve done a lot of strategic planning as a board over the last year, working with coaches in town, working with city leaders, working with, uh, you know, our

00:51:46,630	board to strategically plan where do we want to be five, six, seven years? Where do we see our growth? What are some constraints that we’re going to have to see continued growth? Um, and it really brought a visionary plan as a board that we’re all moving in the right direction, the same direction.

00:52:01,570	Um, and really focused on, on growing baseball. Like I said, we added staff. I can tell you, I don’t know if I would be president with 98 teams and trying to schedule those and doing it as a volunteer.

00:52:17,730	Um, so we worked hard to get the resources in place because it’s key to have critical staff like Andrew and his team have been absolutely phenomenal on on organizing everything. That’s we have a lot of moving parts. Um, so it’s it’s great to have them. We developed a summer intern program. So we’re having we had a student last year from Bismarck Century that was at Ndsu.

00:52:34,830	He came back and was an intern for us because he was going into sports management. So we’re actually going to have 2 or 3 more interns this summer. So get people into sports management. Um, we’re establishing a Hall of Fame, uh, for the rich history that we’ve had in this town for baseball.

00:52:50,770	We don’t have a Hall of Fame, so we felt it’s critical to bring some of the past back to to Bismarck, honor them for the contributions they made to the baseball, either on the field or off the field.

00:53:06,230	So we’ll actually have our first class and announce here, and we’ll be honoring them at our first, uh, governor’s game in early June. And we’ll again, we’ll send out an invite to the group. So that’s exciting, uh, to bring them back. And as part of that, we started the Diamond Club.

00:53:18,630	And the Diamond Club is, um, made up of people that are from from the past that choose the Hall of Fame class. Plus, uh, we also have Diamond Club memberships to our people. Can help support individuals, can help support youth baseball. So if you interested, look at our website. There’s the Diamond Club page. And look at the, the, uh, how you can become involved.

00:53:33,430	Uh, we’ve expanded our indoor space, giving kids an opportunity to play within the winter. Um, we spent a lot of time under, uh, where we can play outside. Um, so we’ve really expanded that, that portfolio for our, um, for our kids.

00:53:48,400	Um, I tell the story out of a nine year old come up to me and he goes, I just love playing baseball, and I love being here. I mean, those are the the things that we really take to heart and that kids want to play baseball and we’re giving them that opportunity.

00:54:02,800	Um, we’ve expanded our committees to represent more people from the town. You know, we started a league committee, a diamond club, uh, you know, a tournament committee, events committee, you know, used to be just board members, but now we’re spreading it out to have more people within the community.

00:54:19,970	Um, providing that, um, and then expanding our fundraising, our fundraising has been is great from the community. We’ve gotten lots of, uh, lots of support. Um, but before I go on, the last thing I think I forgot to mention, Kevin and I mentioned Kevin and the staff, but I don’t think I mentioned the Mike. Ethan, Riley, Dave, the people that we work on a daily basis.

00:54:34,770	Again, I want to I there might be names we left out, but I want to make sure people are recognized for for what they do. The last part I have, and I would like to congratulate, um, President Zimmerman on his foresight, because when Mister Zags, you know, stand up here.

00:54:52,930	A few years ago, when we took over the Legion program, President Zimmerman said, I suppose you’re going to be back in a few few years asking for fields. So I if the fact that he could predict that was a great. So I commend him for that. Um, yeah. It’s like and it is becoming a major, major problem for us. Uh, is, is field space.

00:55:10,870	We have uh, we have something like we have 18 teams sharing two fields. We, you know, we’re we’re in a bit we’re in a bind. And today we’re we’re short, but we’re forecasting in five years we’re going to be 12, 13, 14 field short, uh, to continue to grow.

00:55:28,400	And we don’t want to limit kids or have a waiting list or anything like that. We try everything we can. The other problem is then we may end up making teams too big, and then kids don’t get an opportunity to play as much. So we’re in a little bit of bind.

00:55:40,200	And you know, we’ve been working with, um, Kevin and the team on looking at some options, looking at what can we do. And we’re prepared as an organization to really take a big step and look big picture on what can we do in, in the city to to expand the baseball fields, uh, for, for our organization and for all the kids that we, we have.

00:55:56,430	So that’s become actually from a capital expansion. That’s been our number one priority is we we need to figure out the find a solution to our, to our field situation. So we’ve been a lot of thinking, a lot of, uh, discussions.

00:56:12,070	And I you know, I hope they continue on and, and that we get the support from this committee at some point on, you know, what can we do together to, uh, to to grow the capacity of the fields and town? Commissioners. Questions, questions for Eric here. Uh, Commissioner Jesse. Well, I don’t always have to be first, but thank you, President Zimmerman.

00:56:33,470	Um, Eric, I just want to thank you for being a good partner with the Bismarck Park District, too. So I know you guys have supported us financially in the past with some major projects, and we really appreciate that.

00:56:47,700	But just, um, you know, partnerships go both ways, right? So I just want to thank you for all that you’ve done for the Bismarck Park district to and for youth baseball. Um, listening to these numbers, incredibly impressive. Yeah. Incredibly impressive. So, um, thank you for making a difference in the life of youth and also for making a difference in the park district. It’s more of a comment than a question. Well, thank you very much. Commissioner Redmond.

00:57:06,400	Thank you, President Zimmerman, and thanks so much for being here, Eric. I appreciate all that you do. And wow, impressive numbers is right that 98 teams last year in how many this year. We’re expecting around 101 hundred and to hundred and two teams.

00:57:19,770	Well that’s a lot of people playing baseball a lot of people um, I was looking at your website just a little bit, and I saw that your registration is closed. And so you’re probably putting all those teams together.

00:57:31,530	Do you offer scholarships for any of those families that might not be able to pay any of your registration fees? Can you tell a little bit about that? We do. We do get several, several. I mean, we get a handful of scholarship requests every year that we we grant a waiver on the on the fees. So yes, we do do that. You know, they fill out a simple application. Nothing nothing stressful. And and then we review it as a committee and then approve them.

00:57:46,070	Great. Thank you so much. Thank you. Commissioner Gilbertson. Eric thank you again. This other commissioners have said for being here. Um, where my family is a former bibb. But about, I don’t know, sixth grade. My son decided he liked football better.

00:58:11,030	But, um, I want to just say thank you for mentioning the the unsung heroes of the park district, because that’s they truly are the magic of what happens in this district.

00:58:36,100	You know, I mean, we, the five of us, sit here and are on TV and this and that, but, um, whether it be, you know, the guys you mentioned or Danny at the ice rinks or with the pools, you know, I mean, those opportunities for the kids to to participate and do those things don’t exist without those amazing staff members that we have.

00:58:56,900	And they they don’t get enough credit, um, for what they do and, and what they provide and how important they are, um, to, to what happens for youth sports in this town. So thank you very much I appreciate that. Yeah. I mean, I couldn’t agree more. It’s it wouldn’t be like you said. You wouldn’t be able to do it for sure. Eric, I have one question.

00:59:15,530	Uh, what’s the ratio of boys? Girls? So we, we get about, on average, probably 10 to 15 girls a year that in a playing baseball, compared to. Of a thousand. Yeah. Oh, interesting. I thought there’d be more. Yeah. And they’re usually all typically the girls will come in to the T-ball program, and then we’ll eventually transition to like, fastpitch softball type programs.

00:59:36,030	And that’s typically what we see. And I would ask, you don’t have to tell me numbers or anything, but the Bismarck youth baseball does have charitable gaming. Yes, we just did just in the last, uh, just in the last year. Okay.

00:59:53,230	Just I’m not saying, you know, good or bad, just I know people ask me, well, who’s all involved in charitable gaming that’s involved with the park district? Yep. And I’ve heard that youth baseball has been involved with it. So. Yeah, just in the last year we’ve gotten active into that space.

01:00:12,700	And I mean, our goal is we need money for for fields, and we’re preparing ourselves for infrastructure improvements and all those things. And those are what we’re really focused on as a as an organization. And I didn’t mean to put you on the spot, but I just wanted to make sure we hear that from the proverbial horse’s mouth that, yes, we are in the charitable gaming. All right.

01:00:29,830	Any other questions from commissioners? If not, Eric, thank you for your time this evening. Thank you. I’m going to go freeze at a baseball game now. So. All right. Thank you. Next item on the agenda is disposition of bids.

01:00:50,130	We have Jeff Hubbell with us here from Hubbell Design Group is going to review the information on the Capital Ice Complex refrigeration report. Good evening, Jeff, and thanks for waiting. We’re an hour into the meeting here, so thanks for holding tight for us. Well. I was just thinking that Brad and I get to sit through all this great stuff, and then we get to present the boring stuff. I’m so happy to be here. Thank you. President Zimmerman.

01:01:09,870	I am here to present the bids for the, uh, Schomberg Arena refrigeration replacement project. I just wanted to be clear that this bid is just for the equipment and the installation. We will be bidding the addition where this equipment is going later on in the year.

01:01:29,630	And I’ll explain that the rationale behind that in a minute. Uh, so on Tuesday, April 7th to at 11 a.m., uh, the Bismarck Parks and Recreation District called for bids for the project at that time and place. Uh, myself, along with staff, uh, received the bids, reviewed the bids? Um, at that time, we received a single bid from Simcoe.

01:01:53,630	Simcoe refrigeration, uh, for the amount of $2,449,000. Um, I think the other thing to add to this is, uh, this is a highly unique piece of equipment. And so, uh, there are very few companies in the country that actually build this equipment.

01:02:16,730	And so for as disappointed as it is to see one bid, it’s actually not very unusual. Um, we’ve assisted the park district on refrigeration replacement at the VFW Sports Center. Um, several years back in 2015, and then also we did the refrigeration project that serves First International Bank of Trust Arena, along with H.A. Thompson and Son Arena.

01:02:42,170	Uh, a few years back with that expansion project, and in the case of those projects, um, the VFW Sports Center, we had two bids. Um, and then when we did the, uh, the additions for First International Bank and trust and Ha Thompson and Sun Arena, we had one bid to. So this is fairly typical.

01:03:04,170	Um, uh, so if you have any other questions, I’d be happy to answer those. Questions for Jeff. Commissioner Gilbertson. President Zimmerman. Jeff, um, falls within the budget. I think. It’s very close to the budget. Okay.

01:03:31,870	Um, and then the, um, I don’t mean to bring up things from the past, but at Walker Arena, I mean, is this the same company? It’s the same company, different equipment. Okay. So we anticipate X amount of years newer and all that good stuff. So this is the same equipment that went into, uh, First International Bank and Trust Arena and h E Thompson and Sons Arena. Great. Awesome. So our staff is well versed in how it works.

01:03:54,270	They provided a tremendous amount of input into this process. Yes, they did. Yep. Commissioner. Jesse. President Zimmerman, uh, Jeff, just a few questions. So when would this project begin and when will it be done? And then based on, uh, Commissioner Gilbert’s comments, what type of service does this company offer? Are they pretty good at

01:04:16,870	taking care of maintenance calls? Uh, so to answer that question first, uh, yes, they are. They’ve been a partner, uh, of the park district going back to the replacement that we did at the VFW Sports Center in 2015.

01:04:35,970	And so, uh, all of the equipment that that Bismarck Parks and Rec now has for their ice arenas is by the same company. And so from my, uh, conversations with Dan said, you’re getting good service from them. Um, in regards to timeline. So there’s really two projects here.

01:04:55,300	This is the equipment that will then operate the Schaumburg Ice Arena. And so we did the bid for the equipment first because it takes about 12 to 14 months for this equipment to be manufactured and delivered. Um, there is an addition that’s going to go on to the Schaumburg Ice Arena, where this equipment will be placed.

01:05:14,030	That’s the project that we’re going to bid a little bit later on in the year. And that really has to do with the ability to keep the Schomberg Ice Arena operating for the next ice season. There’s a there’s a old piece of equipment that’s in the way that everybody’s really nervous about touching. And so we’re just going to wait and build the building.

01:05:35,230	Uh, the following spring, after the next ice season. And so this project, like I mentioned, will take about 12 to 14 months for the equipment to be built.

01:05:53,370	If the equipment is built prior to the addition being completed, then Simcoe will store the equipment up in Winnipeg and they’ll drive it back down when it’s ready to be placed. The additions will start then in the spring, uh, March of 2027, and then we have that scheduled to be completed by November of 2027. And I know that Mike is working with the hockey boosters and the figure skating Club to align schedules accordingly. Thank you. That makes sense.

01:06:24,300	Any other questions? Commissioners? My only comment would be, uh, not a question to you, Jeff, but just general comment I hear. And I’m sure other commissioners and staff here, you know what? What’s all the projects that the Park district is doing? Why aren’t we doing more? But to me, I look at this for $2.

01:06:42,530	5 million for one ice arena. I think for folks to realize that. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I shouldn’t talk like that, but that plus, you know, then the building for it.

01:07:00,630	So Doctor Foss not made it clear what the school district does as well to, you know, be a good steward of the taxpayers dollars. Well, here we are as well, keeping up our equipment, but to the tune of $2.5 million. So what are the wishes of the commissioners? Commissioner Jessie? President Zimmerman, I will make a motion that we approve the bid for a Simcoe to Simcoe Refrigeration in the amount of 2,000,400.

01:07:27,000	Are my glasses on here? Sorry, $2,449,000 for the Schomberg Arena refrigeration replacement equipment and installation. Is there a second? Second motion by Commissioner, second by Commissioner Redmond? Any further questions? If not Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Commissioner Gilbertson. I. Herzog. Yes. Redmond high. Just I president Zimmerman. I thank you, Jeff.

01:07:56,830	Our next, uh on the disposition of bids for the VFW sports center and Tom O’Leary golf course, concession. And we have with us our facilities and program director, Mr. Mike Wald. Good evening. Mike. Good evening, President Zimmerman and commissioners, on April 1st, uh, we received an open one bid for the VFW Sports center. Tom O’Leary golf course concessions.

01:08:21,230	Uh, the term of the the bid was from is from September 1st of 2026 through to August 31st of 2030, with the options for renewal. The minimum bid is a bid amount with a flat rate flat rent.

01:08:48,730	Um, rate of $67,940 over that period of time, with the minimum bid of 15% for food and beverage sales after state and local taxes. BSG Food Service submitted a bid of $125,000 in rent, with an 18% food and beverage sales after state and local taxes. Staff recommends the board to accept the bid provided by BSG Food Service, along with the proposed agreement in your packet, and stand for any questions.

01:09:19,030	Questions for Mike, Mike and just for my confirmation, this is the group that currently has the concessions that at the facility, correct? President Zimmerman and commissioners, that is correct. Um, dating back many years, they’ve they’ve done a very nice job at serving the facility. You take mind of all the activity and games that are there in the long weekends.

01:09:37,270	They do a nice job, as well as the Tom Leary golf. Course they do. And I would publicly say that the times that I’m there, yeah, they they do a great job there. The facility. Any other questions from commissioners? President Zimmerman I move that we accept the bid provided by BSG Food Services, along with the proposed amendment.

01:09:57,800	Second motion by Commissioner Gilbertson, second by Commissioner Herzog. Any further questions? If not Julie, if you would call the roll, please. Commissioner Gilbertson. Hi, Herzog. Yes, Redmond. Hi. Jet ski. Hi, president Zimmerman. Hi. Thank you. Mike.

01:10:23,970	The next item on our agenda is to appoint a board member to the recreation center feasibility study selection committee. Just briefly, the city of Bismarck and the park district have agreed to work cooperatively to facilitate a request for proposals with the intention of identifying the needs, feasibility and support structure to pursue a community recreation facility.

01:10:45,900	We’re going to create a committee to review the proposals with representatives from the city, as well as the Park district. We would tonight. We would like to have, uh, appoint a commissioner and two staff members will be appointed from the park district, the same city commissioner and two staff members from the city staff that would review and score the proposals and, if necessary, conduct interviews to pick the

01:11:09,530	best proposal. I would open it up for discussion from commissioners. But our intent is to appoint one of the commissioners here this evening to that review committee. Commissioners.

01:11:45,830	President Zimmerman, I guess I don’t know how much conversation, but I would just say from the way I see it as the only board member who didn’t express interest in wanting to serve on the committee, because I just don’t have time right now to add that, um, I think it’s although every single one of them would be amazing, the fact that this is for a facility, I think that it should be somebody that is on the that has the facilities portfolio.

01:12:08,100	Um, just to keep it streamlined. Um, being that commissioner is up for re-election, I don’t think that that’s her. Um, so like I said, everybody would do great, but I would make a motion to appoint Commissioner Redmond since she has the facilities portfolio and is not up for re-election.

01:12:33,200	Is there a second? Um, I will second that, and I’m just going to make a small comment. I think Paula brings not only the facilities, portfolio expertise, but then she’s also was part of the, um, facilities. Um, when we looked at doing the 1 in 2020.

01:12:52,400	So she’s very familiar with what we tried to do with that process. So I think she’s highly qualified for this position. And I would second the motion.. Any further discussion? I’m just I’m going to say, you know, I’ll be off the board. So I don’t have any, I guess skin in the game beyond that.

01:13:11,800	But I do think, uh, certainly all of us as commissioners as this process, as a process moves forward, we can certainly have our input if whoever represents the board, along with the city, you can certainly, you know, give your input as well. What what we what you would want to see in the proposal. So if there is no other discussion.

01:13:34,070	I guess my only other discussion point, President Zimmerman, would be that that’s just a representative on this committee. It’s not acting solely I mean, there will be input from all of us. So thank you, Commissioner. That’s what I was trying. I think you explained very well, Commissioner Gilbertson. It’s just to represent the board.

01:13:53,970	We need one on there. But we certainly would have the input from all the commissioners because I’m sure once this becomes more public, we’re all going to hear comments that we can funnel through. Okay. So we have a motion by Commissioner Gilbertson, a second by Commissioner Jesse and Julie, if you would call the roll, please.

01:14:12,970	Commissioner. Gilbertson. a Herzog. Yes. Redmond. Jesse. Hi, president Zimmerman. I yes, Commissioner Redmond. Thank you everyone. For your vote of confidence. I’m delighted to again represent, uh, this body on that committee, and I’d be looking for your input. And again, I will. That communication goes both ways.

01:14:34,600	I’m happy to report back to you in, um, details of what happens and what other steps going forward. So thank you for your support. For folks that are watching both here and on on the TV.

01:14:49,530	I would ask Executive Director Cliff Phelan if he has in front of me any kind of a timeline, how we’re moving forward on this. President Zimmerman and commissioners, thanks. Um, the proposals for the RFP are due not Tuesday the 21st, and then the committee will score all those and get together and review those.

01:15:08,300	And we have, uh, if we need to do interviews with the with with some of the top proposals, we would do those, uh, April 30th of May 1st. And so then we would, um, after we go through that process, we would work to develop a contract, and then we plan to bring those contracts or that agreement back to both boards.

01:15:26,230	The park board and the city commission. Um, in May or May, between May 21st and May 26th. Thank you. Kevin. Commissioner Gilbertson, excuse. Me, President Zimmerman, I’m just curious who will the staff members be? I’m guessing Director Wald. Uh, commissioners, Commissioner, president. Zimmerman, commissioners, Commissioner Gilbertson, Dana and I have been working on the proposal.

01:15:50,770	And so we will sit on the committee to do that. But we will keep the other staff involved as we move this process forward and get into the actually working with the plan.. And excuse me, President Zimmerman, director, I’m guessing that once this step is done, then the scope changes again. President Zimmerman and commissioners.

01:16:14,230	Commissioner Gilbertson yes, once we get the the proposal and start working with that company, then this will be a bigger staff effort. And also commissioners, as you know that the last time we went through this process, there was stakeholder meetings, community meetings.

01:16:32,030	So there will be a lot of opportunities for many, many different people, organizations, groups and citizens to get involved, provide feedback on the the proposed. Facility. Appreciate it. Comment. Any further comments? Thank you. Uh, Director Phil. If not, we’ll move on on the agenda. Our next item, item number nine, is the consideration of the 2027 2029 strategic plan.

01:16:58,570	And we have with us this evening our Community relations manager, Dana Shah. Good evening Dana. Good evening, President Zimmerman and commissioners, um, the 27, 2027 2029 strategic plan is before you. It was developed as part of our regular strategic planning process earlier this year. Um, and through our planning session and also some review and feedback as well.

01:17:19,600	Um, I just wanted to highlight a couple of, of, um, changes from the, the previous year’s plan. Um, under the first goal, uh, secure protection, use parkland wisely. We added a third objective to continue land planning for park areas that are undeveloped or could be redeveloped.

01:17:40,500	And then we also added the completion of the feasibility study for Community Recreation Center, which was just discussed under the second goal of providing high quality recreation to meet diverse community needs. There were some other changes as well. Kind of a little bit minor changes. We did recognize and are using resources efficiently and effectively.

01:18:02,770	The importance of both, um, using technology, emerging technology as efficiently as we can and then also focusing on leadership development, planning for our workforce going forward. So with that, we would recommend this plan be approved going forward. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them. Commissioners questions for Dana. Commissioner Gilbertson. Not a question, I guess, but just another statement.

01:18:27,730	Um, thank you for your work. Um, I know this is an important thing for the park district to keep this, uh, plan, um, strategic plan rolling and make sure that it doesn’t gather dust. So I appreciate. And it’s been awesome over the years being part of it to as a commissioner.

01:18:51,330	Um, although kind of feels like when I sit in IEP meetings, I’m there because the law says I have. To be. But the the people that the boots on the ground, um, every day it’s the amount of input that they have in this to is awesome. So thank you. Other questions.

01:19:14,770	Other questions or comments? Dana, thank you for putting it together. I appreciate the, uh, the addition of that one objective under secure, protect and use parkland wisely, as well as the feasibility study, but good to good to be planning ahead. So thank you for that. Well wishes of the commissioners.

01:19:36,030	President Zimmerman, I move that we accept the, um, our Parks and Recreation District strategic plan for 2027 to 29. I’ll second that motion. Motion by Commissioner Redmond, second by Commissioner. Any further discussion? If not Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Commissioner Gilbertson. Herzog. Yes. Redmond. Jessie. Hi. President Zimmerman.

01:20:03,900	I next item on the agenda is the initial resolution for general obligation park facilities, bonds. We have with us this evening, our finance director, Cathy Feist. And Kathy is going to give us a review of that. And the necessary resolutions that the Commission would make in this effort. Good evening Kathy. Good evening, President Zimmerman.

01:20:28,430	And commissioners, in your agenda packet is a memo that outlines a request to authorize funding for improvement projects. We are looking to issue general obligation park facility bonds to support the completion of improvement projects. For a list of. We have ten parking lot projects that we would like to pursue. Those would be include, um, those would be for maintenance projects.

01:20:50,600	We might do an overlay, and there are some that are going to be on the schedule to be reconstructed as well as there is one that, um, at Dakota Zoo or Takoma Park Shelter eight that would be expanded. So those are the projects that are being considered for funding under this bond issue that we are requesting.

01:21:06,130	As you know, we did request authorization to apply for the Bank of North Dakota infrastructure loan. Unfortunately, the Park district did not receive that loan.

01:21:24,900	So we are looking at other funding options to be able to move these projects forward as we have a continuous need to improve the property that we maintain in the park district. We did analyze different funding options and based on estimated project costs, borrowing rates that we anticipate, and then also what our outstanding debt level is. At this point, we would look at issuing general obligation bonds up to a maximum of $6 million.

01:21:48,130	And that would the terms of that would be determined when once we know what the actual interest rates would be on that. So in order to move that forward, we would need the we’re requesting that the board park board authorize the initial resolution.

01:22:05,170	What that does is that would be published then in the Bismarck Tribune, and that would be start the 60 day protest period. So if any citizens wanted to protest that, they could, um, could make that known. And then after that 60 day protest period expires, the park board would reconvene and determine if there were sufficient of protests or not.

01:22:21,670	And if there were insufficient protests, then we would move forward with, um, selling bonds at the point that we needed the the dollars to pay for the construction projects, the timing of the projects, um, isn’t set in stone as of yet.

01:22:39,000	Um, the other resolutions are the other authorizations that we’re asking for tonight are to consider or to approve the consultant agreement with. They were selected as from um, from the original project when we moved that or asked for that request in December, they were selected as a consultant. Um, so, um, executive director worked with Clay to revise the agreement.

01:22:59,970	We did add a couple parking lot projects to that original list in the hopes of having if we have favorable bids, we’ll be able to accomplish more work to get that completed. Under this type of project.

01:23:17,570	And then the third option would, um, the third thing would be, is, um, to call for bids for the projects that are listed above in the included in the memo. Are there any questions for me. Commissioner. President Zimmerman I just have one question. Do you want three motions on that? Um, on this. So we want to approve the resolution for general obligation bonds and then also to approve the consultant agreement and then call for bids. Or you’re just looking for one motion.

01:23:38,400	President Zimmerman, commissioners. Commissioner. Jesse, I believe it would be best to have three separate motions. Okay. Other questions. Any other questions for Cathy? Commissioner Herzog. Thanks. President Zimmerman. Commissioners. Thanks, Cathy. I, um, I made it to some of the parking lots just to check them out. I feel like I should one that’s a $6 million bond issue.

01:24:01,570	And I had a few folks reach out to me and say, and this is very I think you know what? Um, Doctor Foster was talking about as well. We have a lot of facilities that need a lot of work.

01:24:15,400	I think the comment to me was just seems like everything’s so expensive. And when I watched the park board meetings, we’re spending a lot of money and it’s we have a lot of stuff and a lot of stuff to fix. Um, a $2.5 million chiller unit, $6 million on, on, you know, parking lots. It does.

01:24:30,270	Uh, I wish it was cheaper. Um, but that’s kind of where we’re at. So it does give me some heartburn, but I don’t know that there’s any other options really out there. Um, and I appreciate you doing this.

01:24:50,500	I hope again, like with Doctor Foster, we’re getting some some sweet low bond bond interest, um, like the city had got. And hopefully that gets us close ish to what the loan would have been with, with Bank of North Dakota infrastructure was that 2%? Is that there? So for under 3%, that would be, you know, fantastic I think so. Appreciate it. Commissioner Gilbertson.

01:25:10,770	President Zimmerman, and yes, to Commissioner Herzog’s point, just like with the school stuff, like we could say no, but that isn’t going to stop the deterioration of the parking lots.

01:25:42,630	Um, and in two years, it’s $8 million to I mean, there never is a good time to to bite this off, but, um, you know, I, I see, uh, some of the, um, you know, like, the improvements that parking lot, some of the things that the parking lot improvements and projects have done for some of our, our facilities, namely Sleepy Hollow Arts Park and the Scheels Baseball Complex.

01:26:07,900	I mean, can you imagine those places without those parking lots now? I mean, when I was a youth baseball parent, that was in the days of the gravel parking lot, and when you had a 45 mile an hour north wind, which seemed to happen every Tuesday, it was it was painful to sit there and watch. And so, yes, this is it is a lot of money.

01:26:26,030	But the these projects, the life that they bring back to these facilities and these areas, um, I think as a citizen of Bismarck, it’s well worth, it’s well worth it. So just my $0.02. Commissioner Jesse. President Zimmerman. Um, yeah, I agree, you know, $6 million.

01:26:47,030	It’s a little bit of a bitter pill to swallow, but, um, I don’t know how many times I go through the Gateway Mall parking lot and, uh, can hear my bottom of my car scraping because I’ve hit a huge pothole. You know, if anything, I would. And I know Dave does a great job of assessing everything that needs to be done here. He’s got a timeline.

01:27:03,970	He’s got a schedule. You know, gosh, I wish this even included Riverwood Golf Course because I know there’s so many deep ruts that happen there in the lot. Seems like it always. I inevitably park right when, I right next to a big puddle.

01:27:22,630	But yeah, it’s um, it’s hard, but, you know, part of our strategic plan is also the maintenance of our existing facilities. So, um. Yeah, I don’t like to spend $6 million either, but it’s necessary. It’s really necessary. I would ask, uh, Kathy or executive Director Clifford. Question often to me is.

01:27:42,630	Well, the park district keeps taking on more debt and more debt to do these projects. But I think it’s also important to have the statement of what we’ve paid off.

01:28:01,100	Um, I know Kevin has mentioned that to me at our meetings, but for the public, uh, Kathy or Director Cliff fell, what have we paid off this year? In in bond debt? It’s not like we just keep taking on more debt and more debt. We’re also being again, as Doctor Foss, not I’m going to reiterate, we’re careful stewards of the money. And I think it’s important to know that, yeah, we pay off debt as well as incur debt. President Zimmerman and commissioners.

01:28:19,230	President Zimmerman, to answer your question, at the end of as of 1231, 2025, our outstanding debt balance was $24.8 million. And on an annual basis, we pay off a little over 3.5 million. So at the end of 2026, without this issue, we would be at about $21.3 million.

01:28:39,170	And then adding the 6 million to it would be 27.3 million at the end of the year. The timing of the bond issue, we’re not sure if we’ll sell bonds in 26 or 27. We’re working with Bond Council to monitor the rates in the market, to make sure that, um, we’re going to sell at the best time, that we’d get the best rates for.

01:28:56,530	Redcliffe. Director Kleinfeld, anything to add to that? Uh, okay. Thank you. Kathy, I think that’s important to say. We’re we’re paying it off as well. We’re just not just adding more and more debt. We’re paying it off. All right? We have been before us three resolutions.

01:29:17,000	And your packet, you had the one page for the final resolution for general obligation park facilities bonds. I don’t if we need to read that entire resolution, we have it in front of us. Already did. You already did. Thank you, Commissioner Gilbertson. I would ask the board what their wishes are on the resolution for the general obligation park facility bonds. So moved.

01:29:39,800	Second motion by Commissioner Gilbertson. Second by Commissioner Redmond. Any further discussion? If not Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Commissioner Gilbertson, hi, Herzog. Yes, Redmond. I. Jesse, I president. Zimmerman.

01:30:08,270	I the second motion then would be to approve clay as the um engineering for Engineering and Professional services on this project. Any questions or comments? Director cliff Feld anything to add there for the clay? Uh uh, motion. So I make the motion to approve Clay as the endorsed consultant or, um, yeah, approve the endorsed consultant agreement with Clay. Second motion by Commissioner Georgescu, second by Commissioner Redmond. We have Brad in the audience.

01:30:35,700	I hate to have him sit here for an hour plus, and not even. It’s okay. He’s okay to come up here. And for $6 million, he’ll. Sit there. All right. Any further discussion? If not Julie, if you’d call the roll. Now, just again, this is for the agreement between the Park district and Clay for engineering and professional services. Commissioner.

01:31:00,470	Gilbertson I. Herzog. Yes. Redmond. Jesse, a president. Zimmerman I we have one more motion to make, and I’ll be honest, I forgot. To call for bids. I move that we call for bids for the projects listed above on the parking lots. Second. And second motion by Commissioner Redmond, second by Commissioner.

01:31:29,770	Any further discussion, if not Julie, if you could call the roll, please. Commissioner Gilbertson. Hi, Herzog. Yes, Redmond. Jesse I president. Zimmerman. I thank you. Uh, uh, Kathy, for presenting that information. I look forward to that. That’s a big project. Thank you. Uh, next item on the agenda is the consent agenda.

01:31:53,970	A variety of items that have been placed on the consent agenda. A consent agenda can be approved with one motion or an item, or items can be removed for additional discussion and separate action. Staff recommends the approval of the following items. Consideration of the March 19th, 2026 board meeting minutes.

01:32:12,800	The minutes have been provided for your consideration. Request for disposal of surplus equipment, and we’ve seen that memo provided by Operations Director David Mayer. What are the wishes of the Commission. President Zimmerman? I move, we, uh, approve the consent agenda as presented. Okay. Motion by Commissioner Gilbertson, second by Commissioner Redmond. Any further discussion? If not Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please.

01:32:37,600	Commissioner Gilbertson, hi. Herzog. Yes, Redmond. High. Just a president. Zimmerman. I item 12 on the agenda is approval of bills moved. Second motion by commissioner, jetski. Second by Commissioner Redmond. Any further discussion, if not Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Commissioner Gilbertson.. Hi. Herzog. Yes, Redmond. I Jesse I president Zimmerman.

01:33:05,870	I the next item on the agenda is the consideration of executive director finalists again for general public. The commission did interview four candidates for the position of executive director of Bismarck Parks and Recreation. Those interviews have been concluded.

01:33:36,400	And tonight, our intent is that we would have a discussion and select from those for, uh, perhaps final candidate or candidates, at which time we would move forward with, uh, checking references. Uh, and letters of recommendation.

01:34:08,400	And then on the 23rd of April, as a matter of transparency or public information, the board will meet in special session to make a final decision on offering, uh, that position to one of the candidates. So I will open it up to commissioners for discussion on how we wish to proceed on this matter.

01:34:28,370	President Zimmer, move, probably before we get into that meeting, the discussion, I just wanted to say I wanted to thank, um, Julie and Kevin and our legal counsel for the extensive for the extensive work that they did in the whole process of the advertising that was done nationally. Um, we extended it the deadline then and again, advertising nationally and regionally, uh, for this position, this is a heavy lift. Um, but the work that was done to secure candidates was certainly appreciated.

01:34:50,130	And so I just wanted to let them know the work that they did was, um, was, um, appreciated, um, for us to do the interviews. And so, um, just wanted that that noted that it was good work that was done to bring us those candidates forward. So thank you, Commissioner Redmond. I’m back up.

01:35:07,630	I’m going to ask our legal counsel, John Ward, what any comments to the commission, what we can say this evening, John or not. Make sure we do this correct or executive Director Clifford can join in before we start any discussion. Thank you. John. Yeah. President Zimmerman. Uh, commissioners. Yeah, I think so. Today, um, we’ll. Just be. Addressing who you.

01:35:32,870	Are. Selecting as your finalists. Um, you know, we’ve obviously got the four finalists that are before you. And then kind of it would be the people that would be, um, checked as far as their references are concerned.

01:35:49,700	And then, um, as far as offers and things like that, that’ll be done at the special meeting. So today it’s just sort of your final discussion as to who you want to extend that to. And then when you come back again, you’ll have your, uh, um, last piece of information. I guess you’ll have the information related to the to the reference checks.

01:36:07,430	Thank you. John and I would echo just briefly, Commissioner Redmond’s comments. I’ve appreciated John’s, uh, insight. And coming to a couple extra meetings, taking time as well, besides the work of our staff. So thank you, John. All right. Commissioners, uh, certainly we can take the time here to discuss and how we wish to move forward. Well.

01:36:30,930	Commissioner Gilbertson, if. You would, I guess, uh, President Zimmerman, I just want to say that, um, it it it is it is that, um, it it was it was a good experience getting to, um, visit with, um, the four candidates and go through the interview process.

01:37:01,000	Um, you know, we had two internal candidates, and they, um, presented themselves very well and did a very nice job. Um, and then the two external candidates, um, I guess, I mean, I just like interviewing, you know, when I’ve interviewed for principal jobs, um, those that have held an equivalent position of answer differently and, um, you know, not that

01:37:32,000	it’s right or wrong, but when you can rely on years of experience, it’s just you get you get different answers. Um, the, um, but I just wanted to say that, you know, they, they all they all did very well.

01:37:52,200	They all all did very well and presented themselves, um, you know, well and worthy of the position. So I guess that’s where I’ll start. And. I’m just going to continue around the table. Commissioner Redmond. Thank you. President Zimmerman. Um, echoing what, um, Commissioner Gilbertson has said, um, I feel that this is a big district with a $28 million, um, budget.

01:38:21,100	I don’t think it’s a a training ground for someone who hasn’t had that executive level experience. Um, it’s complex. There’s a lot of demands, both from staff, from budgeting, from, um, executive level decisions, from strategic planning, from working with other political subdivisions, from strategic planning and fundraising. And so I think it’s a position that needs experience in those areas.

01:38:48,630	So those are some of my initial thoughts of the next executive director. It’s also interesting, heading into our 100th anniversary, that we’ve had five executive directors in that time frame, and all of us at this table have known or worked with three of those people.

01:39:06,530	And so that’s a pretty special gift. And so we have those comparisons to make and those experiences to draw from. We also have each other to draw from in making this very large decision, and I’m grateful for that. Commissioner. Thank you, President Zimmerman. This was an interesting process.

01:39:23,870	You know, when, um, when I got on the boards, Steve, new left and then Randy Baena was named executive director. And when Randy retired, Kevin was named executive director. But the opportunity to sit down and interview for candidates with such diversity within their answers and just to get to know everyone a little bit more, it was, um, really interesting.

01:39:47,930	This is a tough decision. This this is one that I’m losing sleep over. To be honest with you. I want to make sure I make the right decision. Um, I feel very proud and protective of this district.

01:40:04,570	Um, and so I want to make sure that when everything is said and done, I can safely say that in my judgment. And given the research that I’ve done that, that I’ve made the right decision. So this is not something any of us are taking lightly.

01:40:26,330	It’s it’s not something we’re just rolling the dice and saying, okay, here’s what we’re going to move forward with. We’ve put a lot of thought and consideration to this. It’s it’s a little nerve wracking, but it’s an enjoyable process. Commissioner Herzog. Thank you. President Zimmerman. Commissioners. Um, yeah, I echo everything everybody said for me.

01:40:49,930	Um, getting to know our two internal candidates better was, was was great for me to have two hours to chat with them, hear their ideas, hear their experiences. Um, because that’s just not an experience that I, um, can have directly with them at this point. So to me, I think that was the biggest takeaway.

01:41:06,400	And also to see, I think from the external candidates, how respected, um, Bismarck Parks and Recreation is that people know who we are outside of this community. Um, I don’t think any of the, the external candidates, they’re like, well, you know, yeah, you could do this or that, but you guys are are cruising pretty good.

01:41:24,430	Um, and I think they gave that goes out to all our staff. Um, they just they were very impressed with, with the district. So, um, my top two are a little different from, from the other four.

01:41:44,830	So, um, and knowing that I’m just one, I’m, I’m waiting for a motion that’s probably coming from the other four, but, um, I really appreciated the general management in basket test as well. I know the city uses that. And I want to thank Kevin. He was able to grab up the last like five directors at the city and what they scored. And that helped me with some, um, just knowing who those folks are.

01:42:01,370	That helped me kind of understand what that score means. Um, for a department head or an administrator. So, um, I’ll, I’ll stop there. Well. Oh, sorry. No, go ahead. And, Commissioner.

01:42:28,070	I just president Zimmerman, I just want to echo what Commissioner Herzog said with the getting to know the staff better and, um, and that is something that I, I mean, hopefully I have the opportunity moving forward that would, um, definitely take that as, uh, an important thing because, um, we hear the amazing things that they do, but it getting to getting to know them, I think everybody, all the employees should have that that opportunity to, um,

01:42:52,800	for us to get to know them. So sorry if that was a tangent train, but it kind of fit in with what Commissioner Herzog said. I would agree, I know I agree with all of you.

01:43:11,070	I have had some long nights when I looked at all the information and when we got the in basket results, um, I visited with Kevin and Julie was kind enough to come in and sit in on a meeting and give me some more insight on that whole process, and it’s one part of the puzzle. We have the interviews, we have their resumes, we have the in basket.

01:43:31,100	And I guess our own gut feeling with all the perspectives we bring to it. As commissioners, I would say to our two internal candidates, and I don’t know if it’s proper to say their names, we haven’t set them, you know, for Ryan and Mike, it was great

01:43:48,330	to visit with them for an hour, hour and a half for each one. I sense their pride and passion that they work for the Bismarck Park district and their jobs. I you know, I hope that, uh, it was a good experience for them.

01:44:08,970	I know we’ve received a thank you notes from them for allowing that, and I appreciate that. Uh, our external candidates, as we continue our discussion, I found it, uh, heartening that they had both done research on our district and were complimentary of the high regard that the Bismarck Park district has nationally. Um, you know, they did their research.

01:44:34,730	Uh, the one gentleman certainly did the research. He knew more about some of the parts of the district than I think I did at one time. So we were fortunate.

01:44:50,870	But yes, I, I have said all along in this process, I see this as perhaps my most important job now as a commissioner is to do our very best, to do diligence, to hire the best candidate or director we can. And I, I truly believe we’ve given it a good review. We’ve you know, we didn’t take it lightly. We kept it open and we hoped we’d get, you know, to search out for more candidates.

01:45:14,630	So I think we’ve done we’ve done well, I think sometimes as I watched the Board of Higher Education, you know, go through the whole, uh, mechanism to hire a president at Ndsu and hire a president at BSG. And I think now they’re hiring a president at Mayville.

01:45:33,570	You know, they’re going through this process as well. So I don’t think any of us take it lightly when we’re on boards. So a, um, still, our intent tonight is to select a candidate or candidates to move forward with, with reference checks. And, you know, calling. I will call those references listed.

01:45:57,900	I also plan on calling those who provided letters of recommendation. So again I will ask the commissioners, how do you wish to proceed? John, is that fair. President Zimmerman yes, that’s. Fair. Thank you. I just I want to keep it keep it straight here.

01:46:23,500	Uh, President Zimmerman, I guess I would make a motion that and it can be amended by any of the other commissioners, but I would like to make a motion to name, uh, Dave Laker and Joshua Clevenger as the finalists for the position.

01:46:55,000	And have you, um, reach out to the references and do those reference checks and then, um, provide that information to us? Is there a second? I’ll second that. Motion by Commissioner Gilbertson, second by Commissioner Redmond, that this board have their make their final selections of Josh Clevenger and David Laker as, uh, our final candidates for the position of executive director of the Bismarck Park district? Any further discussion? President Zimmerman. Commissioner Herzog Oh, I’m sorry, Commissioner. Jesse.

01:47:23,270	Okay. Um, thank you, president Zimmerman I just want to reiterate, like I said, this was a really tough decision. And I just want to remind everybody that, um, as we move forward, it doesn’t matter. Um, I know I voted on things before that has not passed. Everyone else has voted a different way.

01:47:46,400	But I think it’s really important that we remember as a board that we speak with one voice after we make a motion and after we make that vote. Um, so I just, you know, like I said, there’s been things that I have voted yes for and everyone else has voted no.

01:48:02,300	Um, but at the end of the day, I have to respect the majority vote of the board. So I just wanted to reiterate that because I think it can get lost in translation. Thank you, Commissioner Jessica. I would I would echo that perhaps we’ve all been on boards for that vote.

01:48:20,000	Doesn’t always go the way you want. But again, when we leave here tonight, that’s the decision of the Board of Park commissioners. And we support that before we take the vote, I, I’m going to single them out whether he likes it or not. Uh, Ryan, I thank you for coming tonight.

01:48:39,670	And again, I would thank you for your interview. Time to interview. You certainly impressed me. I don’t know all the full time employees that well, but I want you to know that, uh, you show the pride and passion to be a member of the staff, I hope is, uh, other positions open up within the district that you will consider, uh, moving

01:49:00,970	forward. I would appreciate that. So, Commissioner Redmond. Ryan. It’s nice to see you sitting here. I’m sure it’s difficult to sit here, but I’m really happy to see you. Yeah. We have a motion before us. Any further discussion? Julie, if you’ll call the roll, please. Commissioner. Gilbertson. I., Hertzog. Know Redmond. I jet ski. I president Zimmerman. I.

01:49:29,800	That is the last item on the agenda. Let me restate a couple matters here. There will be a special park board meeting on April 23rd at 4:30 p.m. at the Park District Administrative Office. And the purpose of that will be to make final determination on the position of executive director and compensation and other considerations for that.

01:49:57,570	Also wish to mention there will be a tour of Park District facilities and parks will be held on April 29th, beginning at 4 p.m. from the Park District Administrative Office and lastly the next regular Park Board meeting of the Bismarck Board of Park Commissioners is May 21st, 2026 at 515, in the fabulous Tom Baker Meeting room. Meeting