00:00:16,830	It is. Five. 5:15. On the 28th of April, this will be the board of, Board of Commissioners for the city of Bismarck. Meeting in a moment. But first, we’ll start with a pledge of allegiance and invocation of Chaplain Deacon Tony Turner. Please. Pledge first. Uh, invocation. First I turn the order. Sorry. Yeah.

00:00:42,400	Yeah. Let’s pray. Lord our God, we love you. And we thank you for the many gifts you have given us in this beautiful city of Bismarck. Come to us. Remain with us.

00:01:01,900	Enlighten our hearts, give us light and strength to know your will, to make it our own, and to live it in our lives. Guide us by your wisdom. Support us by your power. You desire justice for all. Enable us to uphold the rights of others. Do not allow us to be misled by ignorance or corrupted by fear or favour.

00:01:22,630	Unite us to yourself in the bond of love, and keep us faithful to all that is true. May you guide all our decisions so that they may be pleasing to you, and earn for us the reward promised to good and faithful servants. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

00:01:49,830	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 sir. If we can call roll to call the meeting to order, please. Commissioner Risch. Chair. Commissioner Zenker here. Commissioner Connelly here. Commissioner Cleary here. Mayor Schmitz. Here. First item on the agenda is public comment.

00:02:23,900	I think we’ll go ahead and I’m going to switch the order of. I don’t mind because we got five proclamations first, and then we’ll come back to public comment. First one is where is an 1872 J.

00:02:43,300	Sterling Morton proposed the that to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that days be set aside for the planting of trees. And whereas this holiday called Arbor Day was first observed with the planning of more than a million trees in Nebraska. Therefore, be it resolved that I’m Mayor Schmitz, on behalf of the Commission, do hereby proclaim May 1st, 2026 as Arbor Day.

00:03:00,170	I urge all citizens to celebrate Arbor Day and support the efforts to protect our trees and woodlands. And further, I urge all citizens to plant trees to gladden the heart and promote the well-being of this and future generations. Signed the 28th of April, 2026. The next one is for bicycles.

00:03:27,430	Whereas the bicycle is an economical, healthy, convenient and environmentally sound form of transportation and an excellent tool for recreation and enjoyment of the City of Bismarck. Scenic beauty.

00:03:45,070	Therefore, be it resolved that I, Michael Michael Schmitz, mayor of the City of Bismarck, on behalf of this Commission, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as Bike Month in the City of Bismarck and urge all residents to join me in this special observance signed today, the 28th of April, 2026. The next one. Whereas the National Trust for Historic Preservation established May as Historic Preservation Month in 1973 as a way to promote historic places for the purposes of instilling nation and community pride.

00:04:11,230	Promoting heritage tourism, and showing the social and economic benefits of historic preservation. Therefore, be it resolved that I, Michael Schmitz, mayor of the City of Bismarck, on behalf of this Commission, do hereby proclaim the month of May, his Historic Preservation Month in the city of Bismarck, and I encourage all citizens to join me in this

00:04:29,130	worthy observance. Signed the 28th of April, 2026. Whereas the landscape architects play a vital role in shaping the nature and built environments of the city of Bismarck, creating outdoor spaces that are functional, sustainable and visibly appearing appealing.

00:04:58,830	Therefore, be it resolved that I, Michael Schmitz, mayor of the City of Bismarck, on behalf of this Commission, do hereby proclaim April as Landscape Architecture Month. I urge all citizens to celebrate and recognize the contributions of landscape architects in creating healthy, resilient and vibrant communities. Sign the 28th of April, 2026 and the last one.

00:05:23,430	Whereas small businesses are the engine of the American economy and the foundation of free and prosperous, prosperous nation, accounting for more than 99% of all private sector employers and creating nearly two out of every three new jobs nationwide. Therefore, be it resolved that I am Michael Schmitz, mayor of the City of Bismarck.

00:05:44,130	On behalf of this Commission, do hereby proclaim May 3rd through May 9th of 2026, a Small Business Week in Bismarck. Urge all citizens to support small businesses and celebrate their many achievements and contributions to the daily fabric of our community. Signed the 28th of April, 2026. Thank you for indulging me with those five of them. Now we’ll move to public comment. Public comment is open for anything on the consent agenda or the regular agenda.

00:06:08,370	That’s not a public hearing or anything on the previous commission meeting agenda. A second call for public comment. A third and final call for public comment. Seeing no one hearing on one. The public comment period is now closed.

00:06:33,730	Commissioners, what are your wishes with regard to the consent agenda? Mayor, if I could certainly. I have one item. The encroachment agreement for Next Play LLC. I just want to disclose that I’ve been working with that group to design it and do that work. And if anybody’s got an issue with me voting on that, then we’ll pull that item. I have no concern.

00:06:51,330	No problem with that. I’ll make a motion to approve the consent agenda. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Excuse me. Call roll. We could have done it that way. Commissioner Zenker. Yes, Commissioner Connelly. Yes. Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Commissioner Risch. Yes. Mayor Schmitz. Yes.

00:07:16,100	Moving to the regular agenda, we have a request to receive a presentation from Bismarck Public School. Superintendent Doctor Foss. Not on the 2026 bond referendum. So go ahead, sir, you have the floor. Good evening, commissioners. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for giving us some time this evening to just give you maybe what we call the abbreviated slide deck.

00:07:37,000	As we’ve been going around the community to talk about what we’re characterizing, as you said, the 2026 bond for some, uh, um, maintenance and facilities work. And if you’re okay, I’ll just go through a few quick slides with you. So, um, thank you for the kind introduction. Again.

00:07:54,330	I have the privilege of being the superintendent for the best and the largest school district in the state of North Dakota. Um, nearly, uh, almost 14,000 kids. And, uh, get the opportunity to represent them every day. And 28,000 parents. And I love my job every single day.

00:08:11,130	So including stressful days like this in front of you and everybody else in the community. But, um, just a little background and how we got here. Just quickly, this has been a the districts had a long range facility plan for years. It’s been around it’s had different iterations. Actor doctor shares here. Um, director of business and operations. We’ve done this multiple times.

00:08:29,370	Um, just came to us this summer again from our school board who just said, update it, get it ready. We need to continue to work on this important work. So they did that and we present it to my board in January. And then it’s been everything from that’s been a path forward.

00:08:44,200	Um, how do we work to complete this important work. And I’ll characterize some of that for you and for people who want to know more. I gave you the link on the screen to find that it’s right on the front of the website Bismarck Schools. Org.

00:08:58,230	There’s a big button at the top 2026 bond, and we’ve been adding content to that to address questions and provide full transparency. And what we’re asking every single day we add something to it, I swear. So, um, so if I break it down into really big buckets, the first one is modernizing and improving efficiency.

00:09:15,500	That’s what we would characterize as all those mechanical systems, primarily, that live behind the walls and in the ceilings, in the basements of our buildings that need updating. Uh, we are going to put a lot of effort into that.

00:09:30,030	And then the other main buckets, what we call programmatic, is making sure we keep our students safe and supported, dealing with some growth, uh, growth areas in the district, responsible growth. And then also just community. Um, our role as part of a greater community. And I think we have a distinct role in that as we move forward.

00:09:51,230	So, um, when we talk about maintenance and HVAC systems, boilers, heating units, electrical systems, it could be, um, fire warning systems. Those are all things behind the scenes. Oh, sorry. That’s on my screen. Yeah. What am I doing? Thank you very much. Um, I know I have a meeting. I’m supposed to be somewhere, I guess. Um, right. Tell me to be here.

00:10:13,700	Um, so, um, actually, it’s, uh, those systems are what people don’t see behind the scenes, and it’s, uh. I would want to. I would want to applaud our maintenance crew. We’re spending 4 to $6 million a year on maintenance in the district. I think that’s a significant investment.

00:10:32,900	But, um, we talk about those things like boilers, like heating units, air conditioning, ventilation systems. Again, they they have a lifespan just like the roof on your house, the furnace in your house. And even with the best maintenance, there is a time. There’s a time it needs to be replaced.

00:10:47,300	Hopefully you’ve seen recently on our social media, we talked about the boiler at VHS being 70 years old. I think that’s a feat of nature, a feat of miraculous feat that our our team’s been able to keep that operational. But it has a time and it’s at its time, it needs replaced. That’s just one example. Um, again, I would share you get this as well.

00:11:04,970	Those things don’t get better with time. They’re not going to heal themselves. They’re not going to be cheaper next year. That’s why we think it’s really important we got to attack this problem now, uh, versus putting it off any longer.

00:11:20,370	And you can see the, the that maintenance work, that that facilities work is across the 22 different sites in our district. When we talk about keeping students safe. Um, really, this is a key point for us, something that we know we have to deal with.

00:11:38,570	Um, regardless of how the outcome of the bond would would come, is we have schools and we represent them by their logos on the screen for you and the public that still suffer from not having fully accessible bathrooms. And I would tell you, that’s not just a student issue, but that’s also an adult issue. It’s for the people that come visit our schools.

00:11:54,570	It’s for the grandmas and grandpas that come and visit, um, I think in 2026, we should be able to accommodate those needs. Um, and that’s something that is high on our priority list. And you have three schools. Will more pioneer prairie Rose that are multi-story facilities that don’t have an elevator. And I’ve said this multiple times, we are doing, um, unique accommodations for families.

00:12:14,900	Everything from carrying students up and down stairs. That’s happened in the past, to moving classrooms mid-year. If someone has an accessibility issue, um, temporarily to moving kids outside the building to get into a lower level and transferring kids to different schools, they don’t get the opportunity to go to their neighborhood school.

00:12:33,730	They go to a different school that can accommodate their needs. Again, we think an expectation for the community, your facilities and mine probably that they’re fully accessible to those people in our community.

00:12:53,930	Um, I think if I can steal the the words of our pastor or center invocation this morning, fighting for the rights of others, that was good enough for the prayer. It’s good enough for the work that we’re doing every single day. So we think that’s high priority work. Um, also, we talk about supported. I’m going to focus primarily on the fine arts.

00:13:10,470	One of the things that we heard from our community, Century Community, was, um, having equal opportunities across the district for kids to, to demonstrate their, their learning and performance. So, so one of the things you’ll find in the plan is enhancing our fine arts spaces at century. I hope you’ve had the opportunity to be in legacy. I hope you had the opportunity to be in VHS.

00:13:26,430	Those are outstanding performance areas for kids that, uh, that show their talents in the fine arts areas, be it drama or orchestra or band, um, century’s needs an update as compared to the other ones to give our kids those potentials to to demonstrate their full capacity.

00:13:46,430	So that’s also in the plan when we do some additions, which is in the plan, do some multi-purpose room additions on several schools, primarily our South side schools that are a little older, not designed with those spaces. And where we see some growth, like Solheim area, we’ve been talking about those multi-purpose room spaces. That’s good for us during the day.

00:14:05,600	It’s also really good for our community. It’s good for after school programming. We have about 350 kids between parks and area that are waiting for an after school, um, child care placement. Every time we build those out gives us an opportunity to expand those programs with our partners.

00:14:21,670	And if you see on there, um, we’re renting facilities across for 130 hours a day, Monday through Saturday. Um, we we are busy and that’s a community facility. We use them for Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts to youth rec, adult rec.

00:14:40,670	So when we build out those facilities, we think that’s an absolute win for the community and for us during the school day. So if we get into the money, which everybody gets to, the money eventually, um, you can see that this is, uh, inside of our long range facility plan.

00:14:56,630	I would make sure to share with you the district has a plan to get on top of this and stay on top of it. To get on top of it, we need community support to stay on top of it. We’re committing, um, our maintenance dollars and additional dollars to deal with what we call the green categories.

00:15:09,970	Let’s stay on top of this. So 15 years from now, when someone else has the privilege of leading this district, because I will not be working that long, I’ll be well past retirement age by then, that it’s not someone else’s problem. And we think this is a our plan to to address that in the future.

00:15:26,030	But when you add up all the colored categories and the programmatic work, it’s 127 million. That’s where we came up with that number. And the tax impact on 127 million. Using the valuations for the school district as of last winter, when those tax statements came out for every $100,000, a true and full value on your home.

00:15:44,700	And remember, that’s different than business because the calculation is different. But on your home, that would be $4.07 a month. Um, we think that as a is a ask. It is significant. I don’t I don’t at all. Um, downplay that the school is asking for additional dollars from our taxpayers.

00:16:02,470	That’s not an easy thing. But we do think it’s a reasonable ask, and I will quantify that by showing you some other school districts that have recently done this similar work. I saw another school district just today promoting a June 9th election in a small town.

00:16:19,900	Um, when you look at other other class two a schools that have recently run referendums for school construction and maintenance costs, you can see, um, due in part to the good work that you do every single meeting and every single day. We’re growing, thriving community. I think you say there’s about 1000 new residents every year that move into our community.

00:16:36,500	Um, that’s kids that get into our schools. But because of that, because we’re growing and thriving, um, we can do this good work across Bismarck Public for less impact on our taxpayers than any of these other communities have done just recently.

00:16:52,700	And I would point you to Valley City in the upper left of that screen. Um, they went to the legislature two times looking for assistance to help build schools, and we know that because our legislators have said so. Schools are local issues, local schools, local communities are supposed to address facilities.

00:17:12,430	And so again, that’s why we are coming to our taxpayers and our citizens here in June. So my job is not to tell you to vote yes. It’s not to vote no. I just get to tell you the facts. I don’t get to lean you one way or the other, but I would tell people it’s important to go out and vote.

00:17:26,770	And I say not only for this question is important, but I have a board of five as well. Three seats are open. So it’s not only a beneficial for the question, but it’s to fill those vacancies that are coming to my board as well.

00:17:43,370	Um, we have one incumbent running Miss Amanda Peterson, but we also have some candidates, one who is in the room tonight that are vying for those spots. And I would answer any questions you may have. That’s the very abbreviated version.

00:18:04,630	So anyone have questions? I just appreciate you bringing and present it because I think it’s important to get the information out as many ways as we can as to the the need and the the purpose. So thank. You, thank you. Thanks, Jeff. Thank you sir. Next is to consider request to receive the Dakota Western Arts Council 2025 Annual Report and Doctor Tom’s. Hello. Thank you for having me here. We have a number of our folks from Dakota West Arts Council community.

00:18:34,500	Uh, Josh Johnson, our board president, Andrea Burst, who’s a partner with Capital City Christmas, and Chris Katko, who’s there is one of our lead teachers who are here with us today. Um, great. Um. So I just created a small annual report for you here. Um, and to share, share a little bit about what we’ve done.

00:18:57,600	This is my, uh, about the end of my second year of being here with the Dakota West Arts Council. Our mission is to serve our community and celebrating art in every in the every day by cultivating and supporting all types of creative exploration and cultural artistic expression.

00:19:21,470	Um, when I took over d whack, uh, a year, a year and a half ago or so, we had no really active members because we had kind of fallen off for about six months before I became executive director. We now have 47, uh, paid active members of our organizations, arts professionals and community arts supporters. This includes pretty much every single major arts organization in our community.

00:19:43,830	The Symphony Dakota stage, uh, the Civic Chorus, uh, Children’s Choir, Northern Plains Dance. They’re all a part of what Dakota West Arts Council does. And one of the big things that we’ve tried to do is kind of act almost like a chamber of commerce in the arts for those folks.

00:20:03,670	We really work to help promote what they’re doing, what they have. Uh, what they bring to our community. And this year we have a new partner, which is Capital City Christmas. We are their fiscal sponsor. So we helped them manage their funds and helped them write their grant checks.

00:20:26,030	And that really is a major project that happens in our community in November and December. Um, this is a list of all the members that we currently have. Uh, and you can see there’s just a wide variety of folks, uh, individual artists. We also have folks like Dakota media access who’s a partner with us, the gateway to science.

00:20:48,470	Uh, Glance Spa and, uh, a couple other organizations in there. I would also point out, uh, Sacred Pipe Resource Center and some of the other community groups, uh, the North Dakota Art project actually is over in based in Mandan. So we have a few of our members who span across the river.

00:21:12,970	Um, one of the things that we really tried to work hard on in the last year, year and a half, has been to create a community arts calendar when I, uh, arrived here in Bismarck six years ago and, and for four years, all I heard was people say, oh, I wish we had an arts

00:21:26,900	calendar. And so that became the the number one and primary project that I had. We got a grant from the Leach Foundation to help us to create a community arts calendar. We updated our website.

00:21:48,870	And so now you can go on to our website, uh, here, the Dakota West Arts Council, this is our our home page. And you can see up in the top corner of their community arts calendar. We have these organizations that are there that are all kind of our hosts, and you can go there and find events all the time. It’s really neat. You can click on it, you can get right to a ticket.

00:22:06,900	It’ll show you where on a map it’s located. It’ll give you lots of information. We even have, uh, business profiles, artist profiles, um, that you can go and find out how to donate all these things. So, uh, this was a major, major project. Now, the Bismarck Mandan Convention Visitors Bureau has created.

00:22:29,370	Uh, maybe what we’ve been all waiting for is a wide, community wide thing, but I just met with them last week. Uh, we are working in synergy together, so they’re pulling events that are related to the arts, because that was one of their biggest weaknesses at the convention and Visitors Bureau didn’t have a lot of

00:22:47,270	arts events in their schedules. And so we’re helping them, and we’re also working with Dakota media access on creating better, uh, partnerships together. Um, we created a summer arts calendar last summer. We’re going to do that again this year.

00:23:10,100	We also created a holiday calendar, and these were actually in print, which you would think, why would anybody want to in print? There’s lots of people who want it in print.

00:23:24,500	They want to put it on their, their, uh, refrigerator and be able to look at it this summer arts calendar that we created last summer had 140 different events that people could attend between June and the end of August. And we’re in the process of getting ready to do that. We want to do it for Memorial Day through the United Tribes pow wow. We want to have that entire zone in this this summer arts calendar.

00:23:45,230	And then we did one for the holiday season, which folks could then find out where all the holiday concerts are between, uh, middle of November and the middle of January, which included Winterfest, um, one of our biggest programming things that we’ve been doing for a number of years and is getting stronger and stronger, is a partnership with Bismarck Parks and Recreation District, and it is kids summer stage.

00:24:08,700	And that’s what Chris Co helps lead in the summer. It’s ten weeks. Every single Wednesday at noon at Custer Park. We have a kind of a music education experience, a concert experience. And last year we added, uh, craft experience, care after art experience.

00:24:33,700	It’s like an hour and a half of, uh, opportunity for young, especially younger kids and families to be there. Uh, there was at least a few times where we had buses pull up from camps in town, and we had, I think one day, 120 folks at one of our kids summer stage events, um, it’s really a great opportunity.

00:24:51,900	It’s a, um, it means a lot to our community, but it also we can do it pretty, uh, responsibly when it comes to funding. And then we have the Summer song series, which happens at General Sibley Park. Uh, one time a month last year because it was so popular in previous years, we added May.

00:25:11,700	So we do May, June, July and August, and we offer a free concert in the park. Uh, an opportunity for folks just to come. And last year we had probably the most perfect weather every single day. It was just like, comfortable. And we were excited, laughing.

00:25:31,400	Sun has been a good partner with us and they bring out their beer, beer van and uh, so it’s a good opportunity to just kind of relax. This year. General Sibley’s having some construction. So our our August, we’re actually going to probably try to move that into town here, uh, and try to, to bring it so that it’s more central in August.

00:25:48,500	But otherwise we’re doing this again this year. And this is really a very successful program. And the last major thing that we’ve done in the last year, and we restarted this last year, was restarting the arts grants for Duke members.

00:26:07,830	And a good portion of that funding that we give out in grants is comes from what the city is allotting to the quarter Western Arts Council to do our work. And so this year, we’ve awarded out $26,750 in arts grants to arts organizations and professionals.

00:26:31,030	Our priorities this year, and in fact, our priorities have changed from what Dakota West Arts Council was doing 4 or 5 years ago, which was more operational support. Now our our grants are focused on three components. So this year, providing more free and reduced price admissions to concerts, programming to people in Bismarck and the surrounding community, there’s we’re really trying to get folks to think about what they can bring add into our community. That’s free.

00:26:56,870	Um, and also challenging the organizations in our community that pretty much only live on tickets to say, can you open your dress rehearsals to folks in our community who may not be able to afford to come to the concert, can you open this up? Can you make arts more accessible to every person? We send is to work to find ways to

00:27:17,830	reach new audiences that might not traditionally event attend events. And that’s that. The goal of the open rehearsals is part of it, but also challenging folks to be out in the community.

00:27:33,730	One of the partnerships we had last year, which we’ll do again this year, is that we’re working with Vaga at Capital Affair, and we’ve created what we called last year, Kids Zone, and it was just free arts and crafts opportunities for kids in one part of the capital affair, but also had performances and things like that, all for free, so that this was an opportunity for folks to do that.

00:27:52,500	And we heard a lot of good feedback. The saying, Thank God there was something for my kids to do because I knew we needed a break. We needed just to sit down for a little while, and that was good.

00:28:10,100	And this year, especially, we challenged folks to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States in as they were applying for grants. And we have a lot of good opportunities. And so these are all the grant grantees that, uh, who got grants this year.

00:28:32,030	You can see a number of organizations, a number of individuals, and all of this programming, uh, happens between February and August of this year that we gave this money for. And so that’s what we have. Any questions? Thank you, sir, for the presentation. Thank you, Commissioner, you for. What you do for our community. Appreciate that, doctor Tom. Thank you very much. Thank you. Item three.

00:28:57,970	Or C, I guess public hearing on application to transfer the alcohol license for Mad Park Properties LLC to L pm LLC at 2150 East there. This is a public hearing and you wish to speak to this. Please come forward. Good evening. My name is Rick Snyder. I’m the executive director at Backpack Wrestling. So basically, you know, nothing crazy or nefarious here.

00:29:21,500	It’s just we created a separate LLC still owned by MatPac wrestling, basically to, um, insulate maybe some of the liabilities that go with owning a bar to separate it from the rest of what we do. So that’s basically the the gist of what what what it is. So still still nothing changing on the ownership group or anything. Just a separate LLC. Okay.

00:29:45,530	Anyone have questions? Commissioner Risch? Mr. mayor, how many bars does MatPac or whatever the LLC is going to be? We just own the two. You own two bars? Just the two, correct? Okay. Yeah. It’s a not for profit enterprise. MatPac or is it. For.

00:30:04,230	It’s it’s a not for profit MatPac is but the LLC is a for profit. So this is a for profit. You know, pay the taxes just like everybody else. It’s a it’s it’s run completely separate off of everything else we do. So it’s actually a separate a separate board kind of that runs it too. So so the profits will go to MatPac or individuals.

00:30:21,800	It the profit goes to run and the running the bar and paying the loans. The bar basically has to stand on its own two feet, you know, so that so so the money will be reinvested into that. No individuals are getting, getting, getting paid from from this to, uh, to enrich themselves.

00:30:40,670	It just if there was excess, it would go into into the MatPac wrestling basically. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Any other questions? Okay. Thank you. It is a public hearing. Anyone else who wish to speak please come forward. A second call for public comment. A third and final call for public comment. Public comment period is now closed.

00:31:12,530	Commissioners, what are your wishes? Move to approve. Second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. We’ll call roll. Commissioner Connelly. Yes. Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Commissioner Risch. Yes. Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes.

00:31:36,570	Item D is a public hearing for an application to transfer the alcohol license from Matt Park Properties LLC to L m LLC at 804 East Main. Um, I’m assuming the same comments. I forgot to ask you to sign in when you were up here. I should have done that. I apologize. Um, so as he’s doing this, is there anyone else who wish to come to speak? A second call for public comment. A third and final call for public comment.

00:31:59,500	Seeing no one and hearing no one. Public comment. Period is closed. Commissioners. I’ll move. We approve as presented. Second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Roll. Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Commissioner Risch. Yes. Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Commissioner Connelly. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes.

00:32:22,500	Item E is a public hearing on an application to transfer the alcohol license from double Wood of Bismarck, Inc. to G h m Bismarck Holding Company, LLC at 1400 East Interchange Avenue. So public hearing. Anyone wish to speak? Please come forward. And again sign in as you as you introduce yourself, please.

00:32:58,170	Uh, Clinton Goering, general manager of the Ramada in Bismarck. Here. Uh, it’s just, uh, the old owner sold at the end of the year, and then the bank has now gotten it. So it’s just that transfer there. Okay. Thank you. Any questions? Anyone who wish to speak, please come forward. Do you have a question? Move to approve as presented. Well, I didn’t close the public hearing.

00:33:24,400	Close it. Any other comments? Seeing no one coming forward, we’ll close the public comment. Period. Go ahead. Commissioner, commissioners, whichever you prefer. Julie, can we just use that or not? I’ll make a motion to approve is presented. Second. Any discussion. We’ll be in the minutes twice. But let’s go. Hearing none, we’ll call roll. Commissioner Risch.

00:33:48,930	Yes, Commissioner Zacher. Yes. Commissioner Connelly. Yes, Commissioner Cleary. Yes, mayor. Schmitz. Yes. Item F Public Hearing and Ordinance 6659 A zoning map amendment from Agricultural Zoning district to RR residential zoning district and the Kruse Subdivision. Major subdivision final plat. Good. Daniel. Good evening. Mayor. Commissioners. This is. A. request from Lito Cruz. Damaris Torres.

00:34:14,070	Villegas and Vernon Barbara Hoover. Uh, and it’s a request for a zoning map amendment, as you mentioned, from agricultural to residential and for a plat of Cruze subdivision. Uh, the location, it’s actually. Due south. Of the city of Lincoln.

00:34:36,530	This is in an area that was within our extraterritorial area when this application was submitted, which is why it continued through to today. For your consideration, it is no longer within the extraterritorial area. This is in a location that is now under the jurisdiction of Burleigh County. Uh, this particular subdivision is a two lot, one block subdivision, uh, on the south side of 48th Avenue, Southeast.

00:34:57,470	Uh, the intent would be for a reconstruction of a residential home on a lot two a lot one. There is no immediate plans in the future for for development. Uh, the plan does comply with the future land use plan, which designates this as rural residential. And also the major street plan.

00:35:15,400	Because of the dedication of right of way of 48th Avenue Southeast and the North side. And, uh, what’s the name of the street on the east side? That would be Pinewood Loop. Um, so right of way dedicated for those streets. Uh, there are some existing structures that would be within that right of way that are there today and inside of that area to be dedicated.

00:35:35,800	Uh, those remain as non-conforming structures. So they couldn’t be, uh, improved or added on to, but they could remain in place, as is, uh, for and they would be within an Burleigh County highway Department has, uh, affirmed that.

00:35:51,370	And there is a note on the plat to affirm that as well. The Planning and Zoning Commission did hold a public hearing on this request in March 25th of 2026, and recommended approval of the zoning map amendment from AA agricultural to our residential and the major subdivision final plat titled Crus subdivision. If you have any questions I can attempt to answer.

00:36:11,000	Are there any questions? Commissioner Conley? Now, even though it’s out of our ETA, doesn’t Lincoln have their own ETA? And does it fall within that? So, commissioners, Commissioner Connelly, uh, Lincoln does have their own ETA, but it does not fall within that. It’s under my understanding is it’s it’s not within their ETA unless they would choose to expand that into the future.

00:36:29,130	Okay. It’s good for. Commissioner Risch. And I to know because we’re on the Burleigh County Board. Thanks. Any other questions? Doesn’t look like it. Daniel, this is a public hearing. Anyone who wish to speak to this, please come forward. A second call for public comment. A third and final call for public comment.

00:36:54,770	Seeing no one coming forward and hearing no one. Public comment. Period is closed. Commissioners, what are your wishes? Move to approve as presented. Second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. We’ll call roll. Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Commissioner Connelly. Yes. Commissioner Cleary. Yes, Commissioner Risch. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes. Next item. G is public hearing on ordinance 66.

00:37:20,430	61 is zoning ordinance text amendment to section 140419 floodplain district and updated. References. I’ll let you finish it, Daniel. Sure. Thank you again, mayor. Commissioners. Uh, so this is a request brought to you by the planning department, uh, as a zoning ordinance, text amendment. And, uh, it’s it’s quite simple.

00:37:42,830	The full text of the amendment is shown in the screen, also shown in your packet. It’s simply to update the references within our ordinance to align with Century Code. After changes to the law made in the floodplain chapter there.

00:37:59,030	So in Dakota Department of Water Resources is asking local governments to make these changes just to stay in line with with the center code, the public, the Planning and Zoning Commission did hold a public hearing on this request in March 25th, 2026, and based on findings contained, your staff report did recommend approval. I can answer any questions you may have. Any questions. Doesn’t look like it.

00:38:19,100	Again, this is a public hearing. Anyone wish to speak to this? Please come forward. A second call for public comment. A third and final call for public comment. Seeing no one coming forward and hearing no one. Public comment period is now closed. Commissioners, what are your wishes? Move to approve is presented. Second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Roll.

00:38:44,730	Commissioner Connelly. Yes. Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Commissioner Risch. Yes. Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes. Item H consider requests for approval of a Renaissance zone. Rehabilitation and commercial and commercial lease projects at 407 North fourth Street. Go ahead. Daniel. Thank you. Mayor.

00:39:09,430	Commissioners Andrea Oberst, owner of Spa and Salon and the property owner, Jab investments LLC, are requesting approval of a rehabilitation Renaissance Zone project and a commercial lease. For instance, zone project. The location, as you mentioned, is 407 North fourth Street. This is an entirely interior remodel. Uh, to the to the building. The portion of the building that is occupied by the glass Bon salon.

00:39:29,100	Uh, the intent would be to facilitate expansion of that business by updating and remodeling, um, the building, uh, the proposed investment would be $588,973, which does exceed the minimum thresholds to qualify for the property tax exemption. The, um, this is a reminder of how this works.

00:39:55,170	The property tax portion of the Renaissance zone, uh, would be an exemption of the increment between the pre project level of, of assessment and whatever that assessment would be after the project is completed. We’ve estimated that at, uh, as, as you see on the screen here, that is just an estimate. It will be confirmed once the assessing department does take that that measurement after the project is completed.

00:40:15,270	Uh, and there is also an income tax exemption as a portion of this. So the spa and salon as a commercial lease would be eligible for a five year income tax exemption on their state income taxes.

00:40:31,970	The um Renaissance Zone Authority did hold a public hearing on April 9th, and based on the findings in your staff report, recommend approval of the rehabilitation and Commercial Lease. For instance, zone projects. Uh, at this site, there was one condition to their approval. Uh, they were looking for a certificate of good standing from one of the applicants that has since been found.

00:40:46,570	And we have that on file right now. So that condition has been met. I know the property owner is here as well and can answer some more detailed questions. If you’d like to know about the nature of the project. Okay, commissioners questions.

00:41:07,300	So I do, because I’ve already heard part of this once already last week. Um, so my question is around the improvements and what are those improvements are specific to a salon and why a salon, which we have multiple in the city outside of the Renaissance zone, should qualify.

00:41:30,600	And what would that mean? I know we’ve estimated the potential improvement value, but I’m kind of struggling with this as an interior remodel. It’s the building’s already there. It’s operating. We’re not rehabilitating a vacant space. Sure. And if, if, if I may, um, if the property owner is willing to give it a little more. That’s why I don’t care who answers. Those are just. That’s been my struggle with this. I’m just.

00:41:52,600	Thank you, mayor and commissioners, if your question is the. Updates being done during during this remodel project or what are specific to the salon? My answer is similar to last week when I was on the call. None of it’s really salon specific except for one room, which will be renovated plumbing wise.

00:42:15,730	Electrically as well to house a couple specific treatment beds to offer water services. So we need specific plumbing and draining for those specific beds. So outside of those two beds, none of the actual fixtures as far as plumbing or electrical is salon specific. Does that answer your. Question? That part. So go ahead, Commissioner, I’ll let you. Go ahead.

00:42:37,030	What kind of beds? Tanning beds? No, they’re, um they’re for water services. So head spa beds, body treatment beds to allow for not necessarily massage, but services that need water to perform. So that’s why the plumbing has to be right under the bed. So that would be the only interesting modification, if you will.

00:43:01,470	So so are you are there areas of the building that structurally need remodeling and improvement? I’m trying to get my head around the purpose of the of Renaissance Zone, and why it was there in the first place, and how this fits that. Sure.

00:43:22,930	So structurally, the, um, is an older building, and so one of the bigger structure structural projects is removing an old staircase. Um, to expand the area and rehabilitate the floor. And just to create space that’s be the biggest structural, um, remodel.

00:43:49,030	Otherwise it’s moving walls to make the space a bit more efficient to, you know, work in that area, add proper plumbing, electrical needs for each individual treatment room as well. Right now, we don’t have any plumbing in those rooms, so it’s really hard to perform any service as far as our industry in those rooms. Updating the bathroom facilities as well. Um, pretty much just everything needs an update.

00:44:07,830	I’ve, I’ve been in that space for 16 years and haven’t been able to address any of the needs for this area. I have in other areas of the building, not just this spa area. Um, our windows are all going to be replaced as well. Um, very much needed.

00:44:30,330	They currently are all broken and have, um, styrofoam in them to keep for heating and cooling issues. So, um, does that help? So, so those those are the exterior windows, probably those we can’t see from the street front. Then from the alleyway, you can see it from. The alley. That helps me, helps me understand. I’m trying to get my head around some of this.

00:44:46,800	Yeah. So this area is on the east side of the building on the upper level. Okay. Anybody else have questions? I mean, I guess it’s probably not for you. It’s probably more for Daniel.

00:45:03,830	And just like a little bit of clarification because I understand what you’re saying, trying to get at like what what is the specifics of this. And so Daniel, please correct me if I’m wrong. It’s been a minute since we’ve talked about Renaissance Zone.

00:45:24,630	Um, but with some of this stuff, especially rehab projects, I feel like the point or the reason for Renaissance Zone existing and being in very specific areas of the community is more about like the age of the building and what surrounds it and how limitation like there’s limitations with the things you can do to it and how it gets more expensive because of the infill all around it and the age of the building.

00:45:41,170	And like that’s why she would have access to something like this versus a spa built outside of the rest. A Renaissance area. And is that correct? Like has more to do with the building? Not necessarily the purpose. To me, that feels more like a vision fund, where it’s like we want to make sure we’re expanding the growth of certain types of businesses.

00:45:58,730	Sure. I think that that is a good point. And the Renaissance Zone program is governed by our Renaissance Zone development plan. And really the intent of that is to see a district wide approach to revitalization. And so it’s I think you’re right. It’s not each individual building standing on its own.

00:46:13,230	Um, the business development is an important part of it. But I think also the upkeep and, um, and, and improvement of the infrastructure and the, um, just the bones, I should say, I guess of, of the, of the district are, are probably the most important part of this.

00:46:30,300	Um, and so, yeah, that I think that’s a good point. Okay. Thank you. Commissioner Zenker. Mayor, Commissioner, since ours is my portfolio, I can, you know, we we have certain discussions at the at those meetings as well. Right.

00:46:50,070	So in that, uh, in Daniel, correct me in case I get some wrong verbiage here, anything but within that confines or ordinances for the Renaissance zone, it doesn’t say anything about specific businesses or anything. It’s all about the building. So obviously there’s some dilapidation to the building. If she’s got foam in the windows and those types of things for 16 years. So that would that would help enhance the vibrancy of the downtown.

00:47:09,300	Right. Um, or of a building that’s probably 70 years old or 60 years old, whatever it is. Um, a lot of those times we’re in a deferred maintenance scenario. We’ve seen some Renaissance Zone projects be, um, very needed.

00:47:27,700	And then we’ve also seen some that have been kind of on the edge. Right? The ones that are on the edge is what what created the the stagnant for a year where we didn’t have in our Z program.

00:47:45,000	So, um, the good thing about this is that the only difference she’ll still has to pay the current property taxes on the facility. And the only variance she’s going to get is for whatever the difference is from today’s current value to what the potential could be. And that’s just an estimate. I mean, what was it was 1.3 to 900. So it’s roughly $400,000, you know.

00:48:04,300	So it’s it’s not like you’re getting a whole break as it was before, prior to the, the change where they got everything. Um, some of those scenarios are good for us because it helps.

00:48:24,100	Just like when we approve letters that go to to the state for them to buy down interest rates, every dollar that we invest back into our city comes back to us, and some type of property tax reform, right or not reform, but some type of property tax.

00:48:41,800	So if she’s specifically putting something in this building for hydrotherapy or facials or whatever that is, that’s just her business, it’d be no different than if, um, there’s large computer screens that go on walls for CPAs or doctors or whatever they need. We don’t determine our level or should, even at a city commission level, as to what we’re going to approve or approve or not approve based on what you put in your building.

00:48:57,100	It’s not our building. So why would we have that type of input on that? Um, we have some rules and regulations on what can go on the outside. So it meets the downtown design review and those types of things.

00:49:16,330	But that’s just to make it more cosmetic and, and, um, more kind of natural occurrences or not really natural, but more. Daniel, help me out here. I’m looking for a word, dude. Um, streamlined or, you know, things have to. They have a color for a reason, you know? So.

00:49:37,630	Well, so, I mean, she answered some of the questions that I didn’t have answered for me a week ago with because I was wondering more about the component structural items that I didn’t get to that last week. And so that was helpful for me to understand it, because it wasn’t really in our presentation either. So, Commissioner Risch.

00:50:00,630	Uh, the estimated, um, property tax benefit, $29,600, is that spread over like five years or ten years or what is it that’s 29,000 divided by five, $6,000 a year? Something to that effect for five years. Yep. Commissioner ish that you’ve got it. That’s exactly how this is calculated. And and as Commissioner Zenker said to this is this is a purely an estimate.

00:50:18,770	Um, this is estimating that the valuation in this building would go up from about 787,000 to 1200 to about 1.2 million. So we don’t know. But that’s the estimate at about 30,000 total over the course of the five years. And then another 30,000 total over the course of five years in the income tax exemption from the state. Which mayor, commissioners, income tax is a state scenario.

00:50:40,630	So we have nothing to do with that. So I appreciate the comments because that was some of what I was felt I was missing, but it was a whole different topic last week. So, so any other comments? Commissioners? Commissioner Risch.

00:50:58,770	I guess the good news is it’s only a reduction in taxes from the increase in value, not the entire structure. That’s because of the changes that were made at the Renaissance zone rules. Yep. Okay. Commissioners, what are you if there’s no other discussion. Move to approve as presented. Second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. We’ll call roll. Commissioner Cleary.. Yes, Commissioner Risch. Yes. Commissioner Zenker. Yes, Commissioner Connelly. No. Mayor.

00:51:26,170	Schmitz. Yes. Moving to item I can, sir. Request for resolution. Receiving bids, ordering preparation of the engineers statement and award. Contract for improvement. District. C, 599 code. Gabe.

00:51:58,030	Commissioners, we open bids for C 599, which is the extension of 15th Street from 43rd Avenue to the north towards Skyline Crossing. We had two bidders on the project, with the low bid being Northern Improvement Company with a little bit of $185,949.99. Our recommendation is to award to Northern Improvement Company. Take any questions that you may have. Any questions commissioners. Move to approve is presented. Second. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Roll. Commissioner Risch. Yes.

00:52:24,200	Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Commissioner Connelly. Yes. Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Mayor. Schmitz. Yes. Item J consider request from the Administration Department to provide an update on this strategic plan. Doug. Mayor. Commissioners. If you. Recall. Back in November, you approved the most recent update to our strategic plan. And during that discussion, uh, you had requested quarterly reports.

00:52:49,870	And so this is the first quarterly report for our recent update. Um, but before we start on that, I wanted to bring this to your attention. Each of you received this at your station there. This is the, uh, the printed copy, the finished printed copy we worked with to create this document.

00:53:09,230	So, um, this is what you approved back in November. Now, our strategic plan is a living document, and things may change over time. But as a reference point in time, this is what we approved back in November. So do you have any questions about that? Before I get into I just got one. Thing, Mayor commissioners.

00:53:27,170	So I will uh, the challenge when I was on the the strategic plan in 2019 was to make sure that commissioners kept that with them. So if we ever need to reference it during meetings or whatever or things that were at. So we we kept our vision moving forward. Right.

00:53:45,100	So I’ll make that challenge to you as well. Um, that you make sure you bring this to every meeting. I only got four left after tonight. So some of us are excited about that, especially my wife. Um, so I will challenge you guys to do the same thing. Um, because, uh, the team that put this together did a fantastic job.

00:54:01,900	Um, and I’m super excited to watch how this carries out, because I can still watch from afar. Thank you. No problem. That’s still here. Let me. No. Not yet, not yet. Okay. Uh, also. In your packet, you received an actual report. So this came out of our in Visio or our. our reporting software.

00:54:25,470	Um, and I’m going to take you to our public dashboard, which is something new that we haven’t had before with our strategic plan. I’m going to show this on the website. That’s the easiest way to get to it for the public. So this is public facing. And then staff will report on the back end.

00:54:40,470	And it will be updated every Monday 7:00 it it updates everything that’s been put in. So our staff will receive a request about two and a half weeks before I’m going to give a report. And they’ll put their updates in, and then it’ll feed into this dashboard automatically. So it’s pretty efficient process.

00:54:59,030	So if you go to the administration page on our city’s website, you can scroll down to the strategic plan. And on the strategic plan page. There’s a couple ways to get to this public dashboard. You can in the paragraph here there’s a link. Or you can go to the left top left corner and click on the public dashboard.

00:55:18,870	So across the top you can see the strategic focus areas which are in your document. You have in front of you. Um, but then as you scroll down you can get an overall update. And remember, we’re just a few months into the strategic plan. So 15% is where we’re at so far. Three months in.

00:55:39,570	And then you see some colors here. It just shows what those colors are just a status. So we have an in process. So that means we’ve hit a start date for a goal or an objective. And we have something to actually report. Uh the purple means it’s upcoming.

00:55:54,830	So we haven’t hit a date yet where we should have an update on that. And you’re going to see a lot of that in your report that you had in your packet. And on this public dashboard, uh, a couple colors that we should discuss a little bit are the yellow and red. Those kind of looks scary when you look at them.

00:56:08,500	You know, yellow means slow down, red means stop. But that’s not what this means. When we’re reporting. It’s just a different way to relate information. And they stand for minor disruption or some disruption. And a major disruption is red. And that just means there’s just been a change in the path.

00:56:21,600	It could be, uh, we don’t have funding or we haven’t been able to hire somebody. In the case of the street utility fee, for example, we decided to change route and not pursue a vote in June. So there is some disruption there on that update.

00:56:38,170	So that’s just an example of what that could look like. But if you go into this different strategic focus areas, you can get to it from the top and you have the different goals drop down or you can go down here and it’s shows it again.

00:56:57,630	So I don’t know which economic I’m going to go into infrastructure and development since I already mentioned it. You can see there’s some colors here. There’s some actual updates. And this is a lot of the work that Gabe has been doing.

00:57:12,500	Uh, with the half cent sales tax extension and with the utility fee work, and then also with a lot of the buildings that we’ve been working on, we have a lot of consultants hired right now to do architectural work for the police station, for the fire station, uh, and for this building as well. So there’s a lot of updates there.

00:57:27,170	Um, I guess I, I don’t want to go into this a ton. We could spend a lot of time going to each strategic focus areas, but you guys have that report in your packet. But there’s anything specific I can answer for you regarding where we are right now and our strategic plan. I’d be happy to do so.

00:57:42,930	So just one. And that’s probably more on you. I may have missed it when you said it, but how frequently is this public facing dashboard updated? Every Monday if there’s updates. So we. So I think that’s a great thing for our community to be able to see how we’re moving.

00:57:57,730	You probably won’t see updates nearly that often. Uh, quarterly a few weeks before I would do a report is primarily when you’re going to see updates, but we’ve had some directors that have provided updates earlier in the process.

00:58:14,570	So, yeah, and we’re going to do some social media on this, letting our citizens know that we have this available as well. Yeah, I really like the public facing dashboard. I think that’s a great enhancement. So Commissioner Clery.

00:58:31,030	I don’t have any specific questions about it, but I know when we originally started talking about this, one of my like main sticking points and I think we kind of everybody felt similarly is that the strategic plan should be actionable and you should be able to check things off as you progress. It shouldn’t just be a document like Commissioner Zenker said, it lives and changes.

00:58:49,730	Uh, so this progress report and being able to see it like lively get updated, I think is like a huge big step in the right direction from like the growth that we’ve seen with these past reports. Um, or past strategic plans.

00:59:06,370	So I think that’s really cool, not only for our citizens, but I think for us to getting the quarterly updates, but then also getting to see like as you scroll through this, like, you know, goal 1.1, like has an update, you know, like so I think that that’s really cool because it’s, it’s very specific to the, the individual goals within the plan. So I like I really like that.

00:59:24,100	I think that’s a huge increase to visibility and progress for us. So thank you. I know it’s a team effort, but it’s really great. Are there any any other comments.? Mister Mister chairman Doug, I’m wondering how you come up with the percentages.

00:59:42,570	I mean, I see the percentage in progress is that and that’s kind of, um, challenging to figure out the percentages or. , you know, each of the goals and objectives. There’s tasks below it. So if one objective would have three tasks below it, they’re simply just dividing it into thirds and drawing a percentage off of that.

01:00:03,330	Any other comments Doug. Do you have anything else that you want to share? I don’t think so. The next one will come in July. Okay.

01:00:15,400	And if there’s anything you would like change on the report or more information for the port that’s in your packet, this is that one’s a very high level. It’s the first one I have done. So there’s more that I could do if you would like to see more in that. I’m happy to explore and figure that out. Um, but we’ll get a lot of information from the dashboard as well. Okay. Thank you. Yep.

01:00:29,470	Is there any other is there any other business, Commissioner Rish. I just want to give a shout out to Public Works. Not my portfolio, but they did a good job last week on a spring cleanup. But I did notice that a neighbor had put some paint out.

01:00:46,670	And of course they don’t pick up paint or hazardous materials and things. But I want to remind the public that actually, at the landfill, we’ve got something called the reuse it store. You can bring paint stains, pesticides, herbicides, hazardous materials, or some things they don’t take. But as a business resident, you can take it there.

01:01:05,430	And the better news is you can also take whatever you need that they have on the shelves. Uh, Alicia, doctor is running a thing out there, and she’s got some people helping. So you can go in there and take your things. As a Bismarck resident, non-residents have to pay to bring such things. But Bismarck residents get to bring that. Plus electronics.

01:01:20,770	And then they have it all neatly arranged on the shelves. And I’ve gotten oil and paint and all kinds of things. So it’s a good, good thing for our community that we don’t process these hazardous materials. We actually allow our citizens to deposit them and other citizens to reuse them.

01:01:39,200	So a shout out to Alicia and Public Works for what they did last week and what they continue to do, and that store is open. What is it? 7 to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and on the first and third Saturday, 9 to 2 p.m.. So what I got. Okay.

01:01:55,930	Any other business, Commissioner Clary? Um, I was just going to embarrass you a little bit. It’s the mayor’s birthday tomorrow, so happy birthday. That’s all I have. No, I’m not going to. Drink cupcakes. I didn’t. I know Betty Crocker in the crowd. Or am I.