00:00:02,700	You know. Good evening everyone. It is September 17th and this is the Bismarck Park and Rec board of directors. Um, Julie, I’ll ask you to please call roll. Commissioner Herzog here. Redmann here. Hansen. Here. Gilbertson here. President Jeske here. Please stand if you are able. And remove your hats as we do the Pledge of Allegiance.

00:00:34,230	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 everyone. We’ll move into our third, um, agenda item. And that is the approval of the agenda. I’ll need a motion, please.

00:00:59,770	President Jeske I move, we approve the agenda. Second. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Gilbertson. We have a second by Commissioner Redmann. If there is no discussion at this time, I’ll ask Julie to please call roll. Commissioner Herzog. Yes. Redmann I Hanson. I Gilbertson. I president Jeske.

00:01:20,070	I. Before we move into item number four, which is our public hearing, I just want to give a little shout out to our former executive director Kevin Klipfel. So last evening at the North Dakota Rec and Park Association, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. So congratulations to our former executive Director, Kevin Klipfel. Kevin.

00:01:44,700	Just in case he’s watching. Okay. One move on to our public hearing is consideration and approval of our 2027 operating budget. And in closing our packets, we have the proposed 2027 budget information as introduced. Um, we will ask our finance director, hello, Kathy, to review the information for us, please.

00:02:19,330	Good evening, President and Commissioners. As you know, the 2027 budget was introduced in July. We did not receive any comment since it was introduced in July and published or posted to our website. So there were no comments either for or against it. Um, as it was presented.

00:02:40,230	Before we start the public hearing, I’m going to provide a brief overview of what’s included in the proposed budget for 2027, and we will start by looking at the budget as a whole for 2027. We’re proposing that the budget would be $29.1 million, which would be a 3.3% increase over the prior year.

00:03:01,270	The general fund accounts for just over 23 million of that total dollar amount, and that is also increasing the 3.3%. Looking at the general fund expenses in total, we have salaries and wages are our largest expenditure at 41% of the overall operating budget, followed by capital expenses at 16%, and then supplies and operations and insurance are

00:03:25,070	about 12% of the overall budget. And then we have utilities and contract services, both at 9%, followed by 1% of other. On the revenue side, on the general fund, we are funded by 41% of taxes. State replacement is 20%, and the generated revenue is at 39%.

00:03:49,100	All funds, when we combine them, the funding for is taxes of 47%, state replacement at 19%, and then generated revenue at 34%. When we look at the mill levy valuation, um, I will point out that this has been adjusted since we introduced it in July.

00:04:13,100	We were notified by the county that there was an error in the levy that was in the valuation that was set in the prior year for the current year, taxing. And so what that amounted to was the park district was basically under levied by $110,000. So that would be the impact to the 26 current year operating budget. And so we’ll see that reflected. We’re making an adjustment in 2027 to recoup that.

00:04:34,500	And so you’ll see an adjustment to the proposed mills that we have established for the next taxing year. When we look at the overall mill levy comparison for the current year, the park district levied 32.09 of the 237 overall mills that were levied, which is 13.5% so of each dollar that is levied in local property taxes.

00:05:01,230	The park district is 13.5 cents of that dollar. So estimated for 27 budget based on the 26 valuations, the park district would be at 32.232.36 mills. And again, that will change based on when the actual valuation is set again in November. But that would be an increase. We’re estimated about 0.

00:05:26,930	27 mills increase over the prior year to account for the adjustment of the area that was made in the in the current year. Looking at what the impact is to a property owner. So if somebody who owns a home that is valued at $370,000, that would amount to about $4.

00:05:44,730	50 additional in park district taxes for the year. This could change depending upon if somebody had a valuation increase. So if their property value increased over prior year, they would see an additional increase in park district taxes. But the overall impact of what we’re proposing to levy would be just a four and a half dollar increase.

00:06:04,170	Additional information included in the budget. We have a 4.5% salary increase for our full time employees. We are not adding any new full time employees, so we will stay stay at 70 for 2027.

00:06:23,570	We have made proposed changes to the seasonal and part time pay plan that includes changes to the fitness class and safety village instructors, our Blast Activity Center coordinators and our youth basketball officials. So those are the summary of the changes to the part time pay plan on the fees and charges area. We have included the detailed proposed changes in the agenda packet.

00:06:40,000	The two that or one that I would like to point out is our youth basketball and fencing fees that we are proposing to increase. Those actually become effective this fall to offset the increase in the official pay that we are including.

00:07:01,370	And then we did receive a request from a citizen to extend the senior discount rate to veterans. We are taking a look at that as staff. And when we’re ready to come back with our proposal, we will present that to the Park Board for consideration and approval. Other, um, a couple other things before we go into questions.

00:07:22,770	Um, capital projects, we included a list of capital projects that we’re funding in 2027. There is also a list of projects that are not funded in 2027. So there are still an extensive list of needs that the Park district has for future funding.

00:07:42,970	And then on the long term debt side of the liabilities, we are paying off just over $3 million in principal in 2027. And then we do have the pending $6 million Geo Bond issue that we will be considering later on the agenda. So we would be adding to our debt. So at this point, that concludes my overview.

00:08:08,000	Do you have any questions for me before the public hearing commissioners? Any questions for Kathy? Present. Yes. I would just like to make mention that it may not appear we have questions now, but this is the third time that the commissioners have heard this information. We had meetings and this summer we heard it again in September.

00:08:26,700	So even though it appears we may not have questions now, we’ve, we’ve we’ve had questions answered and we’ve worked through this as a board and a staff. So yeah, and I’ll reiterate that to um, this is a process and it’s a very refined process.

00:08:44,830	But yeah, we we may not be asking anything now, but when we sit down initially with our proposed work plan and budget, we have a chance to really vet through all of the things that are being proposed for the next fiscal year. And we just appreciate all the hard work that goes into putting this budget together, because there’s a lot of moving pieces on it.

00:09:00,130	So thank you so much for your hard work. Okay. If there’s nothing else. So we will open up the public hearing and the comments can be received from the public in two parts. First of all, we’re going to ask for those in opposition with concerns with the proposed budget. I will ask for.

00:09:16,870	I’ll put out three calls for that, and then I’ll do three calls for those in support of the proposed budget. And it’s important that if you do want to present, um, either in opposition or support, we do ask that you identify yourself.

00:09:33,430	For the record, there is a slip of paper up there that you would need to sign and verbally announce your name. So at this point, I’m going to make a call for any citizen who has concerns with the proposed budget to please present to the podium.

00:09:54,900	I’m going to make a second call for any citizen who is opposed to our proposed 2027 budget to please present to the podium. And here’s my third and final call for any citizen who is opposed to our 2027 budget and would like to make a comment to please come to the podium. Okay, there being no, um, people who present in opposition, I’m going to present three calls. This is for those in support.

00:10:16,770	So if we have any citizen who is in support of our 2027 proposed budget, we please ask that you come to the podium and present. Here is my second call for a citizens who are in support of the budget. And this is my third and final call for anyone who would like to comment in support of our budget.

00:10:41,270	There being no people who have presented, um, we are going to call the hearing closed and the board is going to act upon the 2027 budget. So the steps needed for the approval of the budget are as follows. So address any adjustments to the proposed budget.

00:11:00,530	If there are any changes, those need to be addressed through the board approval process of a motion. A second discussion and a vote. Otherwise, no board action is required. So board members, if you have any changes you’d like to propose, this would be your time to make that motion.

00:11:19,630	Okay, there is no motion, so it’ll die for lack of a motion. Next is the approval of the second reading of the budget resolution and the mill levy. So a simple motion would be I moved to approve the second reading of the budget resolution and the mill levy not to exceed 3%. Cap. Looking for a motion.

00:11:35,130	President Jeske I move to approve the second reading of the budget resolution and the mill levy not to exceed the 3% cap. Second. Okay, we have a motion by Commissioner Redmann. We have a second by Commissioner Herzog. Any discussion at this time, there being none, I’ll ask Julie to please call the roll. Commissioner Herzog. Yes.

00:11:57,070	Redmann a Hansen a Gilbertson. I president Jeske. I move on to the third part and that’s to adopt the 2027 operating budget. So a sample motion would be I moved to approve the 2027 operating budget as presented. Looking for a motion. President Jeske I move to adopt the 2027 operating budget as presented. A second.

00:12:21,000	Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Gilbertson, a second by Commissioner Redmann. If there’s any discussion there being none, I’ll ask Julia to please call the roll. Commissioner Herzog. Yes. Redmann I Hanson I Gilbertson. I president Jeske. I we just approve the 2027 operating budget. Congratulations, everybody.

00:12:46,630	We’re now going to move on to the public comment portion of our board meeting. So at this time, the board will receive comments from the public. We ask speakers who are signed up to address the board to come to the podium, state their name.

00:13:02,170	For the record, the comments must be made about an item on a current regular meeting agenda or an item from a previous meeting agenda. Um comments must relate to the Park district. Comments may not be defamatory, abusive, harassing or unlawful. Include information that is confidential or not open to the public and may not disrupt the meeting or interfere with the orderly conduct of business.

00:13:26,170	The board is interested in your comments and will listen carefully, but we are not obligated to respond or to debate issues, and each speaker will be allowed. Allowed a maximum of four minutes. So if there’s anybody who would like to, um, make a public comment at this time, we’d ask you to please come to the podium.

00:13:47,030	There being none, we’ll move on to item number six, which is our featured partner and programs, and we are very excited today to have the new Dakota Zoo executive Director Jackie Peeler, with us today. Um, Jackie. Welcome to Bismarck. I’m sure you find that this climate is very similar to Hawaii. Um. So similar.

00:14:12,070	That’s good to hear. We’re excited to hear from you. So welcome. Thank you. I didn’t bring a PowerPoint. I decided just to jump in and answer questions you guys might have seen. So I am new. I just came here in June as well.

00:14:26,730	Um, and I just want to say for the record that the park system has been just wonderful. Bismarck has an amazing situation. I’m very blessed to live in the middle of Sonoma Park and be able to walk the trails.

00:14:42,870	But you know, all the time I hear a lot of people commenting and how much they enjoy being able to be outside and how busy the parks are. It’s just really impressive to see. So I’ve worked for Park District before and this is very outstanding. So I just wanted to say that when I came today, I am very excited about starting. Um. It’s been a challenging year to start.

00:14:59,730	The weather has been a little bit of hot. People are like, oh, you must be used to it. I’m like, no, it doesn’t get into the 90s in Hawaii.

00:15:12,730	Um, just to make sure everybody knows it stays pretty much in the in the 80s in Hawaii with lots of humidity all the time and a lot of rain. Um, so I did, you know, chat a little bit about bringing some figures, but our attendance for July was substantially lower than it had been the year before.

00:15:28,970	Um, our number to year to date aren’t really bad because we did really well in June, so we’re about 12,000 people down from what we typically are seeing. Um, but one of the significant things I think about this, um, zoo and I’ve worked in a number of other ones, is that, um, out of our number year to date, 64% are members that come to the facility, and that’s higher than you typically see in most

00:15:48,770	places. So 74% of our visitors to date are people who are members and part of the community and part of the surrounding communities as well. Um, that’s one of the reasons I took the job is that, um, everywhere I went when I came for the interview, people didn’t know who I was.

00:16:03,300	But, you know, I said, I came to you to see the zoo. And they just had such positive things to say about not just the zoo, about living in the community as well.

00:16:14,970	Some people thought I was a little crazy when they find out where I moved from, but in retrospect, I’d only been in Hawaii for a little over a year, and I had moved there from Boston. And Boston gets some pretty aggressive, cold, windy, wet weather. So, um, and I and I have lived all over the world, so I’m, I’m well versed with the cold.

00:16:30,570	Um, so I think I’ll be able to handle it, but we’re looking at different ways at the zoo this season. We did open our crane exhibit, which was really exciting. Um, the whooping cranes have been a huge hit with the public. We renovate an exhibit, so it was a good use of a space that we didn’t have another animal to move into that space.

00:16:46,570	So thinking about it really brought in a new, um, a new species for us, an endangered species that’s really great for the public to see. Um, it’s been overwhelming. Everyone’s been super excited. We opened at the end of July, so we did see a good number of people showing up for that.

00:17:02,170	And we had a number of people who gave to that project as well in the community, and we had a number of grants we used as well. Um, so getting that open was Terry’s dream to get it done and completed. Before he left. He took August off.

00:17:17,000	As for his sabbatical, he is back this month, but unfortunately he could not make this meeting this evening. Um, he’ll be for another two weeks and then he’ll still be able to be consulting. And fortunately, he gave me his number. So I’ll be able. To call. Him all the time. Um, but yeah.

00:17:32,900	So we’re looking at different ways to, you know, work on ways to expand, extend our season, different revenue, ways to bring money into the community and to the zoo as well. So I’m pretty excited about moving forward in the next several months in the year, and I’m happy to answer any questions you guys might have as well. Um, if there’s anything you’re dying to know.

00:17:51,530	Jack, I’m just going to ask you some personal questions. I know you’ve had ties to North Dakota before this. Correct. And then tell us about do you have family? So I do. My nephew lives here. Totally random, but I actually drove him up here. He went he’s over in Grand Forks.

00:18:10,770	Um, he’s graduated from school over there, and he’s teaching. He’s a pilot. So he’s doing student teaching while he works on getting all of his hours that he needs to become a pilot himself, full fledged. So he graduated from the program there, and he loved it. He’s been here for six years now, and it was totally random.

00:18:26,270	I did really want to move back to mainland, and I was like, oh, this is a perfect opportunity. So I am very excited. I’ve been here a couple times. I’ve traveled through the state, but it is. It’s been really wonderful to move to the community. Everyone’s been very supportive.

00:18:43,330	And, you know, the Midwest, northern, Midwest has had a wonderful connection to me. I was in Illinois for about 20 years. So yeah, down in Springfield. So I am friends with Brad Meyer. And yeah, he speaks incredibly highly of you. And he was very excited that you applied and then ultimately got offered the position. But I’ll open this up to the fellow commissioners.

00:19:02,200	Uh, Vice President Gilbertson.. Jackie, it may be a little too early to ask, but you may have been asked this in your interview, in taking this job and seeing the Dakota Zoo, is there anything you can share with your vision? Do you see? Like what? What do you mean? I know Terry did an amazing job

00:19:22,230	for a lot of years, but you know, we went through the same thing here with the new directors. Like, what’s your vision? You know what? What do you want? So I think coming here with the big part was the, the community and the amazing community support.

00:19:37,400	I mean, that’s just it’s been incredible. And I even saw that just coming for the interview. I think the next step would be to look at, you know, we have a master plan and a strategic plan, but it’s revisiting that and seeing like, are we on track? You know, it’s an older one that’s been updated.

00:19:52,700	But we really need to look at that. And it’s also, to be honest, getting the community’s impact and influence on where do they want to see us go. What what’s the missing piece? How do we get a diverse group of people out to the zoo? You know what? What does that look like moving forward? I’m somebody who

00:20:08,900	really wants input from the community about, you know, like, oh, why don’t we have giraffes? And I would point out, well, why not has giraffes? And we need to all be distinctly different to help support each other and to bring people into the state as well, and to also offer different

00:20:23,330	things for each community to highlight and work on. So I think it’s looking at that picture. I’m very excited about seeing what we’re doing now, what can we do and where are our gaps? I’m a big person for trying to find where those gaps are and what demographic are we not seeing at the zoo that we

00:20:40,530	should be seeing, you know? And how is, you know, how do we work on tourism, that tourism piece. So I have 64% coming to the zoo that are members.

00:20:57,830	How do we increase the people who are coming into the area and visiting? So I think it’s looking at those different pieces on how we grow and renovate and reduce some of the exhibits that we have currently. Nice. That’s awesome to hear because I’ve lived in Bismarck my whole life, and I tell people all the time, this is not the same Bismarck that I grew up in, and that is not the same Dakota zoo that I remember going to that my parents took

00:21:16,000	me to, and even from when I took my kids there, it’s it’s changed and it’s it’s awesome to see that that it is there’s there’s not a willingness to be stagnant. It’s always a willingness to keep pushing forward. To keep growing. And we have an amazing staff like it.

00:21:36,300	That was another huge piece of it. This staff is amazing. They’re hardworking. They’re so dedicated, so coming in and having that support has been really, really powerful. And I just see that everywhere I turn in the in the area. And you’re right.

00:21:54,370	You know once we know more we need to continue to learn. And as we learn more we do better. And that is a continual process. That’s great. I look forward to it. Great. Thank you. Okay. Um, Commissioner Hanson, I can’t see if you’re raising your hand. No, I’m not.

00:22:12,130	I’m glad you’re keeping an eye on me, but I just, um. Since you mentioned my name, I just. Growing up and graduating high school in the early 80s at a time when everybody wanted to leave our state to hear people like Miss Peeler be so excited to be here is so exciting. So welcome to to Bismarck, Mandan and and, uh, best of luck in your new position.

00:22:31,800	Thank you very much I appreciate that. Thank you. Jackie, you really appreciate your time and, and, um, educating the board on the great things that are going to be happening at Dakota Zoo. Thank you so much. Appreciate you. Thank you. All right.

00:22:46,000	We will move on to item number seven, which is the City Hall renovation project. So we have Cole Johnson with endeavor North Dakota or North Design. Sorry. And City Administrator Jason Tomanek to provide a presentation. Welcome. Good evening, president Jeske. Commissioners.

00:23:09,330	Thank you for the opportunity to talk about a pretty exciting project here in, uh, currently, the city county building, uh, probably future known as City Hall. Um, maybe just a little context and then, uh, Mr. Johnson will walk you through a couple of images and talk about the design process, and, uh, share some more information. But just a little background.

00:23:26,770	How did we get here? Uh, I believe it was the budget preparation for 2026. Burleigh County had let us know that after nearly 40 years of being a tenant in this building, they would be vacating the entire first floor. Since the mid 80s, we have shared this building with Burleigh County.

00:23:43,370	And so as the city, we have basically inherited 25% of our building that we’ve never used as our own. So we put money in the budget for this year in in early January, started in a design process with the professionals from Endeavor North Design. And one of the things that we were really looking at in this building is the room that we are in today.

00:24:03,100	Uh, this building, this room has served as the commission chambers since the onset of the city’s ownership. And I think many of us that have spent time in this room could probably list some of the shortcomings that are here.

00:24:22,830	And thinking about accessibility, safety, security, modern technology, conveniences that we find in other locations and our own offices and other places. Those are some of the key components that we were looking at as we reimagine what this building could look like. And with that, I also want to open this as an invitation to when we get to the part of the design where we’re looking at the new commission chambers.

00:24:41,070	Uh, I would like to pledge to the, to the park board and also the school board later this month that we would welcome your voices in those design decisions as we move forward. You. It’s my understanding you have an interest in staying in this building. And we certainly welcome you.

00:24:56,100	I think there’s a tremendous value in having all of our public meetings in one location with our partners at Dakota Media Access. It provides them the single spot, but then for our residents and our business owners and our community people, they know that this is the facility where most of the meetings will be

00:25:10,500	held. And we welcome the the park board and the school board to continue using these spaces in the future. But what I really would like to extend is the opportunity to be a part of the design.

00:25:26,370	When we get to the commission chambers, I think we all have ideas of what this room could offer in the future, and with that, uh, whenever that time will be, Mr. Johnson will probably have a little bit of a timeline for us to consider, whether it be US commissioners or as staff, or if there’s conversations that generate these these decisions. We would certainly welcome those ideas as we go forward.

00:25:43,430	So with that, I’m going to move away from the podium. Let Mr. Johnson show you some of the super cool pictures that we are at. Um, maybe while he’s getting teed up just a little bit more background. Initially, uh, there were five concepts that were brought forward by Endeavor North Design.

00:25:59,430	Um, something as simple as just fixing the heating, ventilation and air conditioning in the building. The roof, and, uh, is a distinction we probably don’t want to wear too loudly or too proudly. But we have the oldest elevator in North Dakota. Uh, that is the only elevator that services this room.

00:26:16,700	Um, for those of you that have been in the elevator, you’ll know it’s gurney depth, because this was a clinic prior to it being a City-County building. Um, so looking at that is one of the accessibility features.

00:26:32,770	We are certainly looking to to remedy that all the way to the other end of the spectrum, there was a design concept that did involve new construction on a parking lot that the city owns just north and west of this property. Uh, in the end, the commissioners, uh, eliminated three of the design decisions right away.

00:26:49,170	And the team with Endeavor North came back with two concepts that were preferred. Uh, I’ll refer to it as option D, because that’s where it’s at in the in the original concept. That’s what Cole will be sharing with you tonight.

00:27:04,770	Option D is a pretty significant reimagination of this building, but it also cements the city in this location for decades into the future, because the significant investment that would be made solidifies our location downtown, which is what I believe where we belong. And right in the middle of all the action. So with that, it looks like gold is ready. So I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have after he’s done. Thank you. All right.

00:27:26,470	Good evening commissioners. Um. One moment. Two more things here. Okay. Yeah. So I mainly just want to give you kind of an orientation to what we’re planning, what we’ve discussed so far, and where we’re going. Uh, a rough timeline as well.

00:27:53,870	Uh, so to orient everyone, uh, so we would be, from this perspective, standing at the corner of fifth and Broadway looking towards the existing city county building, uh, for the most part, that’s that’s going to remain as is. And we’re going to we’re going to work to, uh, utilize that exist this existing building the best that we can for this renovation.

00:28:14,570	But there’s certain things that this existing building really doesn’t accommodate well. And one of those being the biggest is this commission’s chamber. Um, so we’re actually going to be moving that off to the south side, reoriented reorienting the building to the south and creating a new public entrance.

00:28:33,770	Um, lobby, stair elevator, all that’s moving to the south side. So the accessible entrance, everything that the public will need to engage with will be on that south side. And it will be very intuitive and accessible and also very secure for, for, um, the rest of the building. Uh, this is, uh, one image here. I’ll jump ahead to, uh, a plan.

00:28:55,630	So this is mainly what, what we’ll look at here. The first floor, uh, fifth or Broadway here. Fifth here. Uh, that new plaza and entrance on the south side leading up to the Commissioners chamber, a lobby, um, some a public kind of a gallery space. We’re calling it the Heritage Hall.

00:29:12,100	That could be a real showcase for some of the things that are either happening in Bismarck or local artists. Uh, and then going up from there, we won’t go through all the floor plans, but it’s, uh, working to make the rest of the floor floors really work together and be efficient, uh, create

00:29:29,400	opportunities for staff to work together and also create a very secure building, uh, as well. So, um, we are going to. Uh, really jump into the design here in the upcoming months.

00:29:49,870	So over the next 6 to 8 months, it’s going to be getting, uh, we’ll be going through this iterative process that’s going to be getting more and more detailed. So high level right away. It’s going to be talking about what works for this space for different groups, including this group here.

00:30:04,970	Uh, what are the challenges? What are the opportunities? What are the hopes for the new spaces? We we put this pull this design together. Um, so, uh, that’s I would say starting in October would be that first opportunity to engage.

00:30:25,000	And then, uh, we’ll be having meetings roughly every three weeks after that, uh, refining the design more and more, I would say that might be overkill for this group, but I think the opportunity would be there every few weeks to get together. We’ll, be discussing general goals right away. And then as we get further into that process, we’ll be talking about all the details, all the technology, everything in, uh, much more.

00:30:50,230	Um, getting into the specific specifics of everything, uh, so I will be happy to take any questions, but I think, uh, some things to be thinking about for this group are who would be the right representative for, um, Bismarck Parks, uh, to engage with us again every three weeks? And not that it has to be one person, but we just find that having that one person

00:31:06,970	engages, usually the the best. But we can bring in a larger group as needed. But also think about how can this new space, this new building, serve the community better? Uh, its new location will provide an opportunity to be more accessible for our public. And I think it could play a bigger role in our community.

00:31:30,500	So whether that’s, um, different open houses or different community events or training, whatever it might be, it really can be much more wide open and highly utilized and become much more of a community asset for Bismarck. Um, so a couple things to be thinking about.

00:31:53,570	We’re not asking for anything really specific today, just to kind of give you a heads up of where we’re at, where we’re going. And, uh, how you can how you all can engage. And by the end, you know, hopefully when this is open, it’ll be it’ll feel like it’s serving the community better, this commission better. Um, and we’re excited to see it move forward.

00:32:13,670	Commissioners. Questions for Cole. Commissioner Redmann. Thank you, president Jesse Cole, thank you so much. And, Jason, for being here. Um, certainly excited for city employees to be able to expand and breathe a little bit. I know that it’s been cramped sometimes, but also just really excited about the the outdoor plaza space as well.

00:32:29,470	Certainly in parks, we love gathering spaces and love bringing people together. But you’re also talking about bringing people together from the public inside. And I think that’s a missing piece in a lot of our facilities.

00:32:42,570	So anyway, just I want to say thank you and wish you luck, as it certainly looks exciting and you’ve vetted all the the other possibilities. And so I just say congratulations. And I think there’s exciting possibilities for the public. Um, and I wish you well. Thank you, Commissioner Herzog. Thanks, president Jeske, commissioners Cole and. Jason, thanks again for being here.

00:32:57,530	Maybe like the 10th time, I feel like I’ve seen it, but it’s still awesome to look at when you guys, um, presented a couple of things that I think are really important that you’ve addressed is the entryway to this building right now, when I come in for meetings, you basically walk in and you see an elevator.

00:33:11,500	You don’t know where you’re going or what floor you’re on. Um, and same with the commission chambers. Hopefully, you know, you’re walking downstairs, you’re really wayfinding in this building and off of history is kind of sketchy.

00:33:31,170	And I think from a security standpoint to, um, having sat there for in those chairs for 16 years, you know, we are usually the police chief is sitting back there for the city commission meetings. But what can we do to make it more, um, safe and secure for everybody that’s here as well? So I think those two big things are, are are great.

00:33:46,670	And then, you know, I’ve read some of the comments on social media, which I shouldn’t do, but, um, you know, this building has put together like in three sections. It was an old clinic and things like that. I think people forget, you know, this is this is a retrofit already for this building. And it’s an older building.

00:34:01,570	So it’s it’s going to take some major love to, to make it what we want it to be. But I appreciate you guys sticking with it and it looks really great. I’m very excited. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Gilbertson. No, I just I, I agree with what my fellow commissioners have said.

00:34:19,170	It’s it’s exciting to see that and be part of, uh, what I mentioned to Jackie that this is not the Bismarck I grew up in, and it would be awesome to see that. So thank you. Cole, I have a couple of questions, if you don’t mind, or a couple of comments.

00:34:34,170	So, you know, one thing we’ve been doing at the Park District is we’ve been doing our accessibility audit and the Plaza. While it’s beautiful, I wonder about accessibility for people who have mobility challenges. So, you know, handicapped parking. Where’s that? It’s a long ways. And I’m getting a little deep into the weeds.

00:34:52,430	But just thinking about where are people who are going who need to park in a handicapped spot, how is that going to work for them? It seems like it’s kind of a long distance for them to try and get to. Maybe the front door. Um, that’s just my, um, my take on that.

00:35:10,500	How long do you think this project is going to take once it’s approved? Uh, the commissioners, uh, it’s it will we we roughly are giving ourselves a year generally for design. Um, and then we’ll be starting construction once the county moves out end of 27 or early 28 would be when we start. And we’re looking at two major phases.

00:35:29,300	So the first floor, which the county occupies today, and the plaza and addition being the first phase, and then once that’s open and ready to use, uh, we would move into that, move the commissioners chamber up and then renovate floors two, three and four. Uh, so that that phasing adds quite a bit onto the timeline.

00:35:47,370	It’s it’s roughly going to be, um, close to a two year construction process. So we’re we’re into 2030 by that, that time that this building will open, uh, the, the first phase would open much sooner than that, though. Uh, and to address your comments on accessible parking, it’s it’s a challenging site.

00:36:06,500	I most people probably think Bismarcks very flat, but it’s not. Uh, so this this will actually give us more opportunities to provide, um, parking that it will be, um, how close we can get it to the building.

00:36:27,830	Haven’t determined that completely yet, but having the entry on the south side will give us more opportunity to navigate any grades and any change in elevation. Uh, so it’s it may not be the shortest route, but it will be a very accessible route and convenient route. Okay.

00:36:48,670	And I’ve heard through the grapevine and Jason can probably comment on this, but that Burleigh County is going to build either build their own conference room over in their new building, correct? Or much taller than I. am. President Jeske Park board members. Yes. Uh, in my review of the building plans for the Provident Building, Burleigh County does indicate a similar room to this facility here, I believe.

00:37:08,970	If I recall, it was on the second floor of the Provident Building, and it would accommodate about 150 people. And we we did ask Burleigh County if they were interested in, uh, remaining in this location. And the answer was no, that they would be completely self-contained within the Provident building. Okay. And then I just have a couple other little questions here, too.

00:37:26,030	I know you asked for a representative and maybe as a park board, we need to discuss that. I mean, I, I think I have my recommendation on that, but when would you want an answer on that? We’ll we’ll be wrapping up the design process in the upcoming weeks.

00:37:43,770	So I would say by mid October it would be a good target. And those first meetings are really going to be introductory. No hard decisions being really being made. But just talking about this space, high level, the building, high level. So um, you know, sooner the better I think the sooner, uh, you’ll have that reason.

00:38:02,900	Representative in place, the sooner we can start hearing about how you would all want to see this space in this facility come together. Okay. And then this probably goes back to Jason again, too. Is there going to be a dollar ask from the park district? Because I’ve heard rumblings. Jason.

00:38:17,730	President Jeske Park board members, thank you for the question. That is one I actually did anticipate, um, being asked. And at this point, our commission has not discussed any request for additional funds. Uh, we as city staff were able to put together a funding plan using existing city resources.

00:38:37,630	And we had allocated some funds through our building construction reserves in the past. And then also, um, if if the commissioners are favorable to changing our current reserve policy, we will have the cash on hand to pay for the construction from start to finish, based on the estimates that we’ve been provided up to this point. Okay. Thank you.

00:38:56,870	And as you designed the table, can I recommend that you don’t put a yeah. No. A bar in the middle. It’s not bad for the gentleman, but it’s a little uncomfortable for those of us who choose to wear a skirt once in a while. So completely understood.

00:39:14,170	And if if I can recall my history correctly, this table was actually provided by the school board. When this room became the meeting location. So yeah, we’ve gotten good use out of all the resources in this facility.

00:39:31,030	And one of the things that we we’ve looked at other commission chambers and some of the things that are done in more contemporary designs and elevated table, is definitely something that would be on the on the discussion points. Um, for a room of this size, it just helps elevate the table. It gives the people in the back of the room a little bit more of a vantage point. It also just provides that distinction between the board members and others.

00:39:48,070	And so in a room like this with short ceiling heights, it’s just not accommodating. But we certainly understand this. This table isn’t as modern as we would expect to see in a lot of other cases. Yeah, it’s just not designed for this number of people. So, Commissioner Herzog.

00:40:04,000	Uh, President Jesse Commissioner, I just want to, um, and I don’t know if Jason’s gotten the dubious honor of being on the, um, curb curb management study, but I am on the curb management study.

00:40:20,600	And so for handicap parking and all the parking downtown and the wider downtown zoning districts is going to be looked at wholesale here, starting I think we’re starting in like October. But Bolton Bank is handling that. So they’ll be I think there are a lot of discussions about where the handicapped parking locations downtown and how many more do we need, which we do need more for sure. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you for presenting. We really appreciate the information.

00:40:38,200	We appreciate the opportunity. Thank you. Thank you. All right. We will move on to the disposition of bids. So the first thing we have is the BSc Aquatic and Wellness Center timing system. And John Kline with apex. Welcome, John. I know you’re hiding back there. Um, we’ll present the bids received.

00:40:58,770	So, um, I’ll let you present, and then I’ll finish off with the rest of my stuff. So go ahead, John. Thank you. Thank you, president Jesse. Commissioners. Um, a little history on this project.

00:41:15,830	Apex was approached by the park district in late 25, early 26 to go ahead and put plans and specifications together for the replacement of the existing Daktronics, uh, pool timing and the diving scoring system that’s installed up at the aquatic center. That system has met at the end of its life and is basically not being supported anymore by Daktronics. There are spare parts available, but they’re getting harder and harder to come by.

00:41:38,030	And to my understanding, Daktronics has actually pulled out completely of the of the pool industry itself. They have limited resources available to them, and they’ve just allowed the other vendors to go come in and take over that spot.

00:41:56,700	So working with, um, the park district and a couple of the vendors, apex was able to put together a set of bid documents. We put that out for the contractors to bid early part of September. Uh, bids were received. We we opened two bids. Um, both were found to be, uh, legitimate. And the low bid was found to be a middling electric.

00:42:17,500	We had a base bid, which was a of $168,080. An alternate bid, one which was for on site training during the first live swim meet. Uh, that bid amount was $3,700. And then we also had an alternate bid, two for a spare council.

00:42:46,370	Just to give a little bit more comfort level during some events, if something were to happen. That’s the the heart of the system. And that was a bid of $6,800. Uh, upon review with uh, executive director leaker, the Park District staff and our office, we made the recommendation that an electric be awarded the base bid and alternate bid one.

00:43:12,500	And that ended up being a total of $171,780. I guess at this time, if there are any questions. Commissioners, any questions? Commissioner Gilbertson. If the engineers was 150, where do we come up with that extra one? How do we how do we address that? My understanding was the original, um, budget for this project was put together with the help of a vendor a number

00:43:37,300	of years ago. Um, the budget set aside in the 2026 fund was $95,000. Um, talking with staff, there is an availability of $76,780 that is available in the field of lanes campaign fund that would be utilized to make up the difference. Thank you. John. Um, that system 1718 years old.

00:44:04,370	My understanding is is original to the facility. Yes. And the staff has been doing their best to keep it up and running. They’ve had challenges with the deck plates, which get wet. Uh, they’ve through their diligence, they’ve found ways to extend the life of the project of the system.

00:44:20,330	But there are there are some challenges with it. Yeah. And I like the fact that we’re, you know, potentially looking at that alternate bid because I remember when the system was installed. Okay. Um, it can be bumpy, you know, just learning a new timing system, things like that.

00:44:38,500	So I, I’m excited that we’re looking to do that alternate. And then also having that, um, alternate one of them. But the alternate to, to to have that extra plate makes a big difference. Well, we did not we did not recommend the, the, oh you don’t know. Okay.

00:44:53,700	There are two there are two councils included in the original bid in the base bid. So there is a spare already in there. There was just concerns that they would, if there’s something were to happen with the original two that are in part of the bid, that they would have the third as a backup. Thank you for correcting me on that one, John. Thank you.

00:45:07,300	Okay. Um, commissioners, if there’s no further questions, I would look for a sample motion and that would be I moved to approve the base bid and alternate one submitted by Ed Lane Electric for 1717 80, please.. Present president Jeske. This is. This is this is Commissioner Hanson.

00:45:29,770	I, uh, I’m I’m comfortable with this. There were more than one bidder, and, uh, you know, the engineer’s estimate is is an estimate that, you know, sometimes they’re under, sometimes they’re a little over. So I’m comfortable with this. So I would move to approve the base bid, an alternate one submitted by idling electric for $171,780. I’ll second that.

00:45:51,930	Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Hanson. We have a second by Commissioner Redmann. Is there any further discussion at this time? There being none. Julie, please call roll. Commissioner Herzog. Yes. Redmann. Hi, Hanson. I Gilbertson. I president Jeske. I motion carries. All right, we’ll move on. Thank you. John.

00:46:10,300	Appreciate your time at the podium. We’ll move on. From Jessica. If I can excuse myself for street fair setup. Um, the vendors are coming in right now, so I’ll see you guys. Thanks. Come have. Come have a corndog. Tuba death.

00:46:33,830	All right, well, we move on to the item number nine, which is the general obligation park facilities bonds. This is a series 2026 bond sale. Welcome back to the podium, Kathy. I know you missed us. Oh. Good evening again, president Jessica. And commissioners, in your agenda packet is a resolution to authorize the sale of the general obligation bonds.

00:46:53,730	As you recall, this is for several parking lot projects that we awarded bids for in August. And so what this resolution does is it allows us to put the notice in the Bismarck Tribune to say that we are going to sell bonds to finance the projects, and then we will, um, the bonds will actually be sold on October 15th, the morning of our next board meeting.

00:47:12,300	And then the results would be, um, presented to the park board for approval. And so that is what is included in the resolution. Are there any questions? Kathy, I have one question, if you don’t mind. I know the Fed’s just increased interest rates. How that how is that going to affect our bond.

00:47:32,570	Um, president Jeske and commissioners, with the notice yesterday that, um, that the feds did increase a quarter of a percent, there is an impact to our bonds. And so our, um, we’ve been working with our financial consultant, and they ran additional, um, solutions for us to determine what that impact was.

00:47:51,230	We’re looking at, um, an increase in the interest rate or the anticipated interest rate. So the bottom line is it would cost us about $20,000 annually in interest. And it is a ten year bond. So we’re looking at an increase of about $200,000 from what we originally had planned for.

00:48:09,500	However, we do have a planning, um, planning, um, program or we had projected out, um, higher than that. So we do have funds available to make to cover the principal and interest payments. So we’re still within our funding policy.

00:48:28,070	Um, it’s just unfortunate that we would, um, experience the additional cost of interest because of the increase in, in rates that occurred this week. There’s, if I may add, um, there is also, um, speculation that the feds will they are meeting twice, two more times this year. And there is speculation that they will make another increase in December. Um, at their meeting. That is all speculative at this point.

00:48:46,900	But, um, we would think that we would be in a more favorable position to sell the bonds in October and lock in our interest rates. Um, we don’t actually need the funding until, as the projects pursue until the spring of next year or when the construction season starts. But we’re not sure what will happen.

00:49:05,500	Um, what the outlook is in the market for the economy for next year. So we’re comfortable locking these in. Once the bonds are sold. The board has the ability to reject them if they if something, um, unfavorable is is presented. Um, that evening the board could reject them and then we could sell them at a later time if we desired.

00:49:24,530	Thank you. County Commissioner Redmann. I was ready to make a motion to approve the resolution providing for the sale of general obligation park facilities. Bond series series 2026. I’ll second. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Redmann. We have a commission. A second by Commissioner Gilbertson.

00:49:45,930	Do we have any discussion at this time? I have one question. President Jeske Kathy, and we would be your anticipation that the rate would go up again in December. President. Just what the indication is. President Jeske commissioners. Commissioner Gilbertson. Yes, that is correct. That’s um, that’s where the speculation is right now. So that’s what we anticipate.

00:50:08,900	And then there could be additional increases when they meet again in 27. But that isn’t projected as of yet. So so it’s beneficial to get it done sooner rather than later. I mean, in October. Correct. Okay. Yeah. And the feds increase the interest rates because they’re very concerned about inflation at this time. Correct.

00:50:29,770	President Jeske and commissioners, yes, inflation is is higher than they were anticipating. And part of that is because of the energy costs that are increasing as we’re experiencing the high gas prices and the diesel fuel prices at the pump, we’re seeing that. So that’s contributing to the increase in inflation.

00:50:45,230	And so, um, which is precipitated by the Iran war that is occurring right now. So, um, unless there’s any indication that that will end soon, then we would expect that inflation, inflation would still stay high, and then they would anticipate increasing the interest rates to try to curb inflation. Okay. Any further discussion, Russ. Any or Commissioner Hanson anything.

00:51:09,200	Well, president Jeske, thank you for recognizing me. I don’t I, I would, um fully support, uh, the motion and the second that is on there because I inflation is not cooling off and I would I would also expect that the the rates will go up.

00:51:28,100	So I think us acting uh, in the way we’re, we’re, we have it in the motion of the second is prudent and I support that. Okay. If there’s no further discussion we have a motion and we have a second. And then Juliet ask you to please call roll. Commissioner Redmann a Hanson. I Gilbertson. I president Jeske.

00:51:48,200	I motion carries. We’ll move on to the consent agenda. So there’s a variety of items that have been placed on the consent agenda. So the consent agenda can be approved with one motion or an item, or items can be removed for additional discussion and separate action.

00:52:09,630	So there’s consideration of the August 20th, 2026 board meeting minutes. Um, item number two is consideration of the real estate purchase agreement and the consideration of the real estate purchase agreement. We’ve received information and we have an offer on one of the park districts, Hay Creek lots that is for sale.

00:52:29,370	And the purchase agreement has been provided in our packet for our consideration. Another item is the consideration of the Professional Consultant list for 2027, 2028 and a list of professional consultants received is included in our packet for consideration. And then there is consideration to approve agreement addendum. And the first one is from the Bismarck Baseball Boosters to extend the Shield Complex concession agreement. Um, and that’s a proposed amendment.

00:52:56,530	And Mike wall did provide a memo, um, regarding that proposed addendum for consideration. And the others is a Bismarck Gymnastics Agreement addendum. And again, Mike Wald provided a memo and a proposed addendum for consideration. So I’m looking for a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented or otherwise. President Jeske.. Yes. Sorry. Commissioner. President.

00:53:18,970	Jessie. Commissioners, I’d just like to make a change on that one. You talked about a request from Bismarck baseball boosters. That should be Bismarck baseball concessions. Okay. On the, uh, letter I. So I just want to make that clarification. Thank you. Executive director, liquor. Okay, president, I moved to approve the consent agenda as presented. Second. Okay.

00:53:44,070	We have a motion by Commissioner Redmann. We have a second by Commissioner Gilbertson. Any discussion at this time, there being none. Julie, please. Please call. Roll. Commissioner Redmann a Hansen. Hi. Gilbertson. I president Jeske. I move on to the final item and that’s the approval of the bills. I need a motion to approve the bills.

00:54:05,570	Please present Jeske I move approval of the bills second. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Gilbertson. We have a second by Commissioner Redmann. Any discussion at this time, there being none, we will ask Julie to please call the roll. Commissioner Redmann a Heinsohn. I Gilbertson I president Jeske.

00:54:25,670	I, um, our next regular board meeting is October 15th, 2026 At 515. Sorry. Before you hit that final gavel. Could we just ask, um, Executive Director Lee to just give a quick update on our, um, facility study that is going on right now? Just to give a quick update, if you would, please. So good idea. President Jeske.

00:54:47,100	Commissioners. Commissioner Redmann. Yeah, just a quick update. The survey that we sent out, the initial statistically valid survey that went out that was mailed to 5000 residents of the Bismarck area, we did receive, you know, the minimal number back.

00:55:04,170	I think it was around 390 and we received 500 plus so far. So then we sent out, um, the rest of that survey to anybody that wanted to participate in it through our website, our social media site, the city’s. And we’ve received over 1100 responses to that. So I think that’s a pretty good response. And and right now we’re going to start compiling that information.

00:55:21,770	And, and then we’ll continue to work with our consultants. And executive director. Like I believe this survey is open for anyone to take until September 30th. I’m looking at Dana Dana. So it’s September 30th. So please, if you have not taken it, citizens of Bismarck, please. Take it. That is correct. Thank you.

00:55:37,270	Sounds good. And then executive director, leaker. When will the results of the survey be released? Will that be a public information session or how will that be shared? Yeah.

00:55:54,300	President Jeske, uh, commissioners, we do have our second round of meetings with our consultants coming up in in the middle of October, and we’ll start to look at that and then set a date for, you know, the following, uh, public opportunities to comment on the study. So appreciate the update. Thank you for Commissioner Redmann for suggesting that. Okay. So I am going to hit the gavel here.

00:56:10,000	So our next meeting October 15th, 2026 at 515 here in the