00:00:14,000	15. On the 12th of May, this will be the Board of City Commissioners meeting. We’re in the Tom Baker Room of the city County building. Before we start. Chaplain Chaffee is here. And if we can have invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance, please. Good evening, Mayor and commissioners.

00:00:34,870	Thank you all for all that you do. Let’s stand together and we’ll pray and say the pledge. Heavenly father, we come to you in faith and thank you for your goodness and faithfulness. We repent of our sin, known and unknown. Forgive us because of the price Jesus paid for us.

00:00:56,370	Thank you for your freedom that you’ve given us. We ask that Your Holy Spirit will cast out evil and bring your presence of health and wholeness. We ask for your supernatural provision, protection and favor and health for our leaders as they steward blessings and courage to follow your desire for us as a city,

00:01:14,270	state, and nation. Guide and direct us. Give us dreams and visions for the days and years ahead so we can be all that you created us to be. May we work to serve you in one another and joy and peace. And may your kingdom come in growing measure on earth as it is in heaven.

00:01:30,430	Lastly, we pray for all those displaced by the apartment fire as they get relocated and settled. And we thank you for the community outpouring of love and support. We are grateful for our community. We ask this in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen.

00:01:49,900	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. We’ll call the meeting to order. If we can call. Roll, please. Commissioner Risch. Here, Commissioner Zenker. Here. Commissioner Connelly here. Commissioner Cleary here. Mayor Schmitz here.

00:02:23,230	So, first item is an award presentation. Gabe, are you going to. Mayor and commissioners, the American Council of Engineering Companies is a group in North Dakota, and they have awarded the Engineering Excellence Award to Apex Engineering for the work that was performed on our South Washington Street reconstruction project from 2024.

00:02:50,000	As you may remember, that was a corridor project in 2024 where we converted a two lane rural section roadway into a three lane urban facility with lighting trails, traffic signals, roundabouts, shared use path, landscaping, transit pull outs, and assorted features.

00:03:14,070	This project was awarded a transportation category of the Engineering Excellence Award that recognizes the project’s innovation, complexity and overall value. So we have some representatives from Apex Engineering here today to present to the City Commission the the award or the plaque that we also then received. Through this, we have Caleb Weisgerber and Derek Anderson here from apex. And I guess we’d like to take a picture to showcase this award. Certainly.

00:03:32,630	Now, if you refer to South Washington, you can say it’s the award winning South Washington Street project when you need to in the future. You’d like us all. That’d be great. Yeah. Okay. Let’s. Thank you. You can. We didn’t win it all. We did speak. Thank you. Congratulations on the work. Next, we have a proclamation.

00:04:33,530	For public works professionals. Whereas public works professionals focus on infrastructure, facilities and services that are of vital importance to sustainable and resilient communities and to public health. High quality of life and well-being of the people of Bismarck. Therefore, be it resolved that I am Michael Schmitz, mayor of the City of Bismarck.

00:04:55,100	On behalf of this Commission, do hereby designate the week of May 17th through 23rd, 2026, as National Public Works Week. I urge all citizens to join with the representatives of the American Public Works Association and the government agencies in activities, events and ceremonies designed to pay tribute to our public works professionals, engineers, managers and employees, and to recognize the substantial

00:05:18,330	contributions they make to protecting our national health safety and advancing the quality of life for all. Assigned. Today, May the 2nd of May, 2026. Next public comment. Public comment is restricted items on well before I get to that, because there’s an item on the regular agenda that is being pulled because it causes a scheduling conflict.

00:05:49,870	Um, it’s item five D, which is the presentation from Convention and Visitors Bureau. So just so we know that that’s been pulled due to their request. It’ll be on next meeting. Um, so no, it’s on the regular agenda. Five D. And I just want everybody to wear that.

00:06:11,530	So that’s not an item on the agenda. So now I’ll open public comment. Anyone who wish to speak on an item on the agenda, please come forward. Identify yourself, sign in and tell us what you’re speaking to. Good evening, Mr. Mayor Members of the Commission. My name is Father Joe Hubbard.

00:06:36,000	I’m the executive director of ministry on the margins, and I’d like to speak to item number E on the regular agenda. Um, I was here a couple of commission meetings ago when, um, Renee Mock presented the report on phase one of the community Triage center, and there were some good conversations about what this would look like in practice.

00:07:05,070	And, uh, there have been community conversations since that time. Uh, there have been ongoing, um, meetings from stakeholders in the community about the triage center and the planning that needs to go in to make this possible.

00:07:24,970	And I hear from those in our community that are concerned that we might be creating a destination place for the unhoused and unsheltered. Um, and what I would like to encourage this commission to consider is that, in fact, we’re not creating a destination place at all. If you don’t recognize my accent, I’m from Alabama.

00:07:48,270	Um, and I can tell you people ask me all the time, why did you move to Bismarck, North Dakota? I said, well, they do, winters. Well. Um, folks aren’t coming to Bismarck, North Dakota to sleep on the street. Uh, I can tell you, serving at ministry on the margins.

00:08:10,270	I have met members of this community, members of this community who have stayed the night, uh, with us because their hospital bills have gotten out of control. And they have gotten behind on the rent. They’ve gotten behind on the car. Note, they’ve lost a job, and they’ve needed a place to go that is safe and warm in the wintertime. Um, I know one woman who stayed with us for a number of years as an addict.

00:08:30,000	We helped connect her to services in this community and not only connecting her to services, but connecting her to job opportunities. She is now employed and she is housed, and she is six months sober. Uh, this is a woman who was staying with us overnight at Ministry on the margins.

00:08:50,800	Um, and what I’m hoping we can recognize is that all these people that are staying with us, that are staying at United Way. These are members of our community. Okay. These are members of our community that were created because they have a gift that this community needs. They have a gift that this community needs.

00:09:12,870	But because of a series of unfortunate events, they can’t provide that gift. And I dare say, if any one of us, uh, was out of a house in the winter had no place for our families to go. Uh, we would we would very likely lose our jobs.

00:09:30,330	We would very likely get behind on our bills, and we would not be able to to provide the gifts that the God made us to share with this community.

00:09:46,470	So as we think about the triage center, I’d like for us to think about a place that will do what we are already doing at ministry on the margins, which is coordinating members of this community with the many resources, by the way, and folks are here in this community representing the stakeholders that provide these resources to the least, the last and the lost.

00:10:08,170	But what we do at Ministry is we connect those folks with the resources our community has to offer so they can get back on their feet and become again contributing members of the community. Wouldn’t we like to see the unhoused and unsheltered, uh, be part of the workforce again in Bismarck? Wouldn’t we like to see them be part of the the well, the taxpaying community in Bismarck? Um, part of those who pay property taxes, you

00:10:30,730	know, those are things that we like to see at ministry on the margins. And we see that as outcomes of the services that we’re able to coordinate for this community.

00:10:49,900	And I’m simply asking, as the Commission move forward in its discernment and decision on the triage center, that we begin to think of the triage center not as a destination place, but as a coordination place, so we can get the resources to those who need the most and those who need those resources can become, again, part of our workforce, part of our tax base, part of our community. Again, thank you very much. Thank you. Again, this is public comment.

00:11:17,370	Anyone wish to speak to an item on the this agenda last agenda? Uh, or on this agenda? That’s not a public hearing. Please come forward. A second call for public comment. A third and final call for public comment. Seeing no one else and hearing no one else. Public comment period is now closed. Commissioners, what are your.

00:11:46,970	Move to approve is presented? Is this a consent agenda? Yeah. This will be the this will be the consent agenda. Okay. I’d like to pull um item J2. I also need to pull item F. And I want to pull item D2. Okay. Well thanks for playing along everybody.

00:12:14,700	I’m sorry, Commissioner Risch, which one was yours? J2 the land development plan. Okay. All right, three. Commissioner Connelly. Commissioner Cleary has. I miss Commissioner Cleary. Yeah. Commissioner Cleary, which one is. Yours? That’s one. The public health. Okay. Oh, good. All right. So I’ll rescind my motion, and I’ll make a motion to approve. Uh, the consent agenda. Les item d2, F1, and J2. Second.

00:12:55,270	Any further discussion? Any discussion? Hearing none. We’ll call roll. Commissioner Zenker. Yes, Commissioner Connelly. Yes. Commissioner Cleary. Yes, Commissioner Risch. Yes. Mayor Schmitz. Yes. And I’m going to try to go in order of the agenda. So, Commissioner Connelly, you pulled the two. Letter of support to the North Dakota Opportunity Fund for job investments.. Last meeting.

00:13:29,500	It always resets here. Um, they got a glance. Um, salon got a Renaissance designation. And that the kudos to a business that applies for everything available and that. But we have a lot of salons. We have a lot of those type of businesses in the community.

00:13:54,630	And my, uh, I’ve been consistent is a unique that provides something that Bismarck doesn’t do or an entity that’s providing a service where the problems I was going to be bigger than the resources to address it, like an addiction and so on. But I would move to deny this. I it’s it’s going to die for lack of a second.

00:14:28,270	So, commissioners, what are your wishes with regard. I’ll move to approve item D2. Second is there any discussion? I got one thing. Yep. So this is this is probably the third or fourth meeting that the item like this has been pulled for discussion.

00:14:47,100	And I think we’re setting a bad message to our business community that we’re trying to pick winners and losers. This is a this is a state. This is a state funded state. Example of of, uh, by down loans and those types of things from a business man’s perspective.

00:15:06,100	I encourage everybody to apply for whatever they can apply for, because with the with just just take the last 90 days, what’s happened to our economy both locally and nationally. I mean, I’ve taken price increases in my businesses. Their price increases in, um, nationwide. I was just in, um, Georgia for some for some family stuff. Gas prices. There are 383.

00:15:27,800	We come, I come back home. It’s 425. So if there’s any way that we can support our local businesses to make sure that they have the opportunity to reduce their overhead and, and make it and, and give it a fighting chance.

00:15:46,270	Why are we, as a commission when everybody that sits up here that gets elected and it’s and it’s election cycle time and we all promote businesses, hey, we want economic growth. We want this. Why in the heck are we pulling these items to have a major discussion about this? Good. Commissioner Mr.

00:16:02,870	mayor, it’s interesting that you use the words pick and choose, because that’s exactly what happens when we do this. We pick the dental office. We picked a financial advisors office. We picked the electrical contractor one of each. And we’ve got probably 50 of each of them, not not 50 dentists office. We have lots of them.

00:16:20,900	And at the essentially they applied granted. And I’m not blaming them, but they applied. But actually it distorts the marketplace because we support one business over the other. I’m going to support passing this. Some of these things are loans I can get along, go along with that.

00:16:39,600	But I’m not a big fan of picking and choosing, um, businesses in which we should support. So my comment to that is I don’t think we are. If we are, if we are being consistent in encouraging economic development, and especially these particular opportunities to get the pace buy down, which is a state funded program and in this case, even more so, these dollars aren’t even being

00:16:57,370	loaned from the city. They’re being loaned from the North Dakota Opportunity Fund, which is also, I believe, funded. I don’t know what their funding mechanism is, but I believe there’s some state funding through that. Um, and if it is City of Bismarck, it’s a loan that we get repaid back on.

00:17:10,600	And so I try to also agree with Commissioner Zenker. I want to promote business growth. And this is one way to do that. And I’ve encouraged multiple people, all kinds of businesses in the same line to apply for this.

00:17:28,170	There might be other things that maybe that’s a more fine line, but, um, so anyway, any other comment? Go ahead. Commissioner Connelly. Um, it’s part of the reason why I didn’t pull D3 is because when we’re talking about an educational facility that’s also funded by tax dollars, it makes sense that there would be a lower interest rate on the building of a dorms, and that

00:17:45,970	there’s a lot of students that end up strapped with financial debt. So there’s multiple ways that we’d benefit and empower that, because these are the future leaders of our our area that are getting continued education.

00:18:09,270	And so it’s I don’t think it’s against, um, business development, but there are some businesses there that are incurring all the costs that you mentioned. Commissioners anchor, um, and they’re competing in the environment and working within that same scope that the people that applied to, um, there’s only so many dollars to go around. And I think that we should focus on the ones that really, truly start addressing the needs that the economic environment challenge more significantly than others.

00:18:34,100	And that’s why I said things like the programs that try to address addiction or homelessness, which is going to be on our agenda versus something that we see a lot of, okay. Any other comments? I’m going to call roll. Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Commissioner Risch. Yes. Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Commissioner Connelly. No. Mayor Schmitz.

00:19:03,730	Yes. Moving to item F one. I think that’s yours, Commissioner Cleary. Uh, yes. I was just asked by Public Health to pull this one because we are no longer going to be applying for the grant in this capacity, because what we had planned doesn’t fit all the

00:19:20,530	criteria of the grant. So we’re just not moving forward with it is the only reason that I pulled it. Okay. So no action necessary. Then. Commissioner Risch. Uh, on a lighter note, thank you, Mr.

00:19:35,900	Mayor I pulled, um, J1 because this is a call for a public hearing for our land development code. Major revision. Uh, that’s a zoning ordinance. This is a long time in the making. Probably 20 years working on this. Um, it can be a dramatic revision of our, um, zoning ordinances in the city.

00:19:58,100	And the goals are to establish a simpler, more consistent set of development procedures, implement goals of the city, and comprehensive plan, um, make the ordinance user friendly and create more predictable development outcomes. It’s 423 pages long, so I’m just giving our citizens alert that they might want to look at this next, next meeting. We’re going to have a public hearing on it.

00:20:15,970	I think, uh, Daniel and his team have done an incredible job. They had 34 meetings out there in 30, 34, 30 public events and 34 meetings. And, uh, we first started zoning in Bismarck in 1924. Zoning was new at that time. Bismarck was one of the early cities to actually adopt zoning ordinances, and it was controversial, very controversial. There were several cases.

00:20:39,430	Once the North Dakota Supreme Court challenging Bismarck zoning ordinances, and we made major revisions in 1936, 1953 and 1982. So it’s been 44 years since we made a major revision. This is what the mayor earlier said is a heavy lift. There was a lot of work gone into this.

00:21:00,600	We’ve got a consulting team in Daniel’s team, so I’m just alerting the public that this is a big deal and we’ll have a public hearing at the next, uh, um, commission meeting. I’ll move that. We do pass it as presented. Second. Any discussion? Hearing none. We’ll call roll. Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Commissioner Connelly. Yes. Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Commissioner Risch. Yes. Mayor Schmitz.

00:21:24,970	Yes. Um, and then I’m going to ask on the regular agenda if we just move item E to the top, and then we’ll go down, because I know there’s people here for that particular item to hear what the outcome is. So if that’s the consideration request to receive the update on the community Triage center.

00:21:43,330	And so Renee, I’m pulling you up here first because I know there are people here. And I would just respect their time. Sorry if I you weren’t alerted. For a loop there. Yeah. No, I’m good. Um, I’ll get my my slides up here. Jason. Will. Yeah. Here we go. Does this thing work? Yep. Okay. All right.

00:22:21,170	Uh, mayor and commissioners, uh, thank you for allowing me to provide an update for you tonight on the community triage center. Um, since the last time we met, um, there’s been a lot of work done, and I’m here to update you on some of the some of that work that’s happened.

00:22:36,230	Um, this is just a slide that is giving an overall summary of some of the activities. If you recall, Health Management Associates, uh, provided a final plan for us, and, um, gave us some implementation activities to work on. Um, and those are listed to the left. Activity one was to convene and organize. We’ve done that.

00:22:57,170	We’ve public health continuing to serve as a convener. We launched phase two and continue to engage partners in our work. Activity two was to clarify partner roles. Um, letters of commitment were secured, were secured to document partner support for phase two.

00:23:17,000	You’ll see those as part of your packet. Um, activity three was collecting local data. I have a lot of that data tonight that I will share with you from community partners to better understand the gaps and the service needs in the community. Activity four was to refine the model.

00:23:31,630	Um, we’ve done some of that. There’s still some work that we have to do, and we’ll continue to do, um, about refinement. And then five is exploring funding and facilities. Um, we’re looking at funding opportunities, locations and potential technical assistance options. So that’s a summary of of all of our work.

00:23:50,370	Um, for activity one, just to kind of show you the structure that we had for our steering committee. Um, those are the partners that we’ve been working together with, uh, city administration, Dakota Foundation ministry on the margins, Harborview Foundation, West Central um, Health and Human Services, CHC, Saint Alexius Health, Sanford Health, the Burleigh County

00:24:10,270	Sheriff’s Department, and the Burleigh Morton Detention Center. Um, something different that we did through this phase two planning was to assign some subcommittees and that, um, has different components. The first one is the low Barrier shelter subcommittee. Then we have medical detox and then social detox and crisis stabilization. Um, which is um, certified behavioral health clinic work.

00:24:37,370	Um, there’s been a lot of data gathering, and so not a lot of additional, um, work amongst the subcommittees, but a lot of the work was in itself capturing data in partnerships with these community partners. So for phase four, activity two, we got letters of commitment.

00:24:57,100	Those letters of commitment are basically outlining, uh, partner support for continuing phase two planning. Um, it justifies their willingness to participate in activities and a shared commitment to continue to address a coordinated response for behavioral health, substance use, housing instability, and crisis needs.

00:25:20,630	And we received letters from Dakota Foundation, Heart View Foundation, Ministry on the margins, Kai, Saint Alexius Health, Sanford Health, and West Central Behavioral Health Clinic to continue participating for activity three. We had one is our focus group surveys, and I’ll be showing you some data about that tonight. Uh, we were able to gather input from individuals with lived experience. We had volunteers that went out and talked to individuals that were experiencing homelessness.

00:25:45,730	Um, also gathered data from official point in time counts and shelter inventory and then partner data that I will review with you as well. So first I’ll start with the focus group survey data results. Um, so we were able to do 105 individuals were reached.

00:26:08,600	We had volunteers from the street outreach team with with Heart View Ministry on the margins and some public health staff that assisted in completion of gathering this data.

00:26:26,870	We had 93 individuals that completed a survey, uh, ten that declined to participate and then two that were actually unable to and were incoherent, not able to fill out a survey, um, of those surveys, we had 43% of the 93 that were from the United Way shelter, 42% were from Ministry on the margins, 10% were done through street outreach, and then 6% on clients at Stepping Stones. Just some demographics, um, 70% of the individuals we spoke to were male, 29% female.

00:26:51,900	And then we had 1% did not answer. Um, we did ask a question about employment, 82% said they were not employed at the time, but we did have 18% that are employed. So, um, unsheltered individuals that are going to work every day.

00:27:14,500	As far as the age group goes, um, the major demographics were between the ages of 25 and 54. Um, but we saw all age ranges. We had a couple under age 18, but, um, a wide variety of individuals that we were able to to capture data from. We asked another question, how many times have you experienced homelessness? 36% said once that this was their first time.

00:27:38,970	We had 30%. That said, 2 to 4 times, 20% for more times, and then 2% preferred not to answer. We asked the question, where were you living before experiencing homelessness? I think this is a question that comes up quite a bit.

00:27:57,070	And so we really wanted to focus on, um, are the individuals from North Dakota, from Bismarck, or from from where are they coming? Uh, we had 35% that were from Bismarck, 32% were from another North Dakota city or town, 26% were from another state, and then 6% said Mandan.

00:28:17,070	So if you look at the state of North Dakota as a whole, 74% of those individuals were from the state of North Dakota, with 26% coming from another state. When asked how long they’ve been in Bismarck Mandan, the majority said, more than three years. Um, so 77% have been here quite some time. 15%, 1 to 3 years, less than a month, 5%, 1 to 6 months, 3%.

00:28:41,870	So, um, they’ve been here for a while, and not just shown up. We also asked the question, what brought people to the Bismarck Mandan area? Majority of people said they had friends or family. Um, some people came for jobs or employment opportunities. Um, returning home and or growing up here.

00:29:02,100	So they had, um, returning to their roots, access to behavioral health or substance use treatment. Some preferred not to answer school 5%. And then a few others came in at 3%. One following a partner. Um, or relationship being released from jail or had housing and and it fell through.

00:29:26,170	So, um, the takeaway from this is that most respondents came to the Bismarck Mandan area because of family or friends employment, or had prior ties to the community, suggesting that many people are connected to the region rather than just arriving solely for services. This is self-reported data. We wanted to ask the question about, um, physical health conditions, ongoing mental health concerns, or substance use concerns.

00:29:51,870	And so this self-reported data indicated that substantial physical health, mental health and substance use needs, um, are happening in individuals experiencing homelessness. We had almost half that are, um, self-identifying as having these issues.

00:30:17,370	In the past six months, have you experienced any of the following? Uh, we asked about emergency room visits. We had 46% that said they’ve been to the emergency room. 35% of them had a hospital admission, 22% were EMS and ambulance response, 22% had a jail stay, and then 6% had detox services.

00:30:39,370	And so the key takeaway here is nearly half of the respondents reported that they’ve been to the emergency room in the past six months, which reflects a crisis driven system and frequent cycling through crisis response. Hospitals, EMS and jail.

00:31:01,800	We also asked them to choose the top three priorities if there were a low barrier shelter that were offered in the community and when they chose their top three. What what came out as the top three was personal safety at 75%, showers and restrooms 71%, and then 24 hour access was 51%.

00:31:26,330	So the key takeaway here was that our individuals we spoke to really want safe, uh, safety, hygiene and 24 hour access, which reinforces the concept that we’re planning for to have a safe, low barrier model that provides more than overnight shelter and really does serve as an entry point for stabilization and services. Now move into some of the point in time count data. So this is for region seven, which is the region that Bismarck is in.

00:31:45,270	Bismarck, Mandan and the surrounding counties. Um, just to speak, to what point in time count data is, um, there’s a homeless management information system, which the acronym Mis stands for, and that’s the shared data system used by homeless service providers to track shelter utilization services and client level homeless data.

00:32:09,630	And so this is pulled from the official data from, um, North Dakota Continuum of Care. I was able to capture data from them. When we’re talking about sheltered individuals, you’ll see a slide coming up. Those individuals are staying in a supervised emergency shelter or transitional housing program on the night of the point in time count.

00:32:30,900	So if they are at United Way, for example, that is considered a shelter and they would be considered sheltered, unsheltered, however, is um, individuals that would be in areas that are not designated for sleeping accommodation, that could be on the street, in their car, in the park.

00:32:50,270	And we also counted the individuals at the coffee house, because that is not considered a shelter. It is a place that individuals are coming to be out of the elements. And so that’s the numbers that you’ll be seeing reflected as unsheltered. So for region seven, this shows this. The data for the summer point in time counts.

00:33:09,800	Um, if you look at the green line, which is the top line that combines the sheltered and unsheltered together, um, from 23 to 25, we had 177 and 20, 23 to most recently in 2025, 189. And then this is the winter point in time count, which happens in January every year.

00:33:32,370	And then once again, the Green Line is the top line for the total sheltered and unsheltered individuals. Um, you can see the, um, the jump up there in 2024 to 232. But in 2025 it was 187.

00:33:51,000	We don’t have the most recent one that was completed in January of 2026 as of yet, but I can certainly add that statistic once the the data is finalized. So, um, our region seven emergency shelter inventory, I think this is something that people really need to understand as far as what we currently have available for individuals that might be in need of shelter.

00:34:15,470	Um, right now in our, uh, miss system, the abused Adult Resource Center is available for domestic violence victims only. They have 38 beds that individuals can come and stay. Um, youth works is youth only. They have five beds available for emergency sheltering.

00:34:36,900	And then we have the Missouri Slope area wide United Way emergency shelter. There’s 12 all year round beds for children, so there’s two family rooms and there’s bunks in those rooms. And then 30 all year round beds, um, 20 of those being for men and ten of them being for women. So 42 all year round beds.

00:34:56,630	Um, is is what is available through the United Way shelter. In addition to that, there is something called the overflow beds. And that is not necessarily a bed. It could be a cot, it could be a pillow or a floor. Um, just somebody sleeping on a mat, for example.

00:35:13,900	Um, the HUD guidance, when you’re doing the point in time count, uh, it says that, um, shelters are able to utilize these methods when the demand is high and that total inventory, including Cots, etc., is 87. So all year round they have the, uh, 42 actual like beds, bunk beds and then 45, um, overflow.

00:35:38,870	I also wanted to mention that there’s a non mis family shelter that does not use the system to report any data, but it’s available in our community and that is the welcome House. Um, it’s for families only. There are six rooms for six families.

00:35:57,100	Um, and when we talk to individuals that we’re doing the street outreach and doing surveys for the focus group, we were told that that’s always full. So that, yes. Commissioner Risch. Uh, Renee, what about, um, sisters of the stepping Stone and then the new the hotel North Bismarck, next to the Walmart that’s being converted to family housing.

00:36:21,070	Have you included those? So those would not be considered emergency shelter types of facilities? Um, the the I think it’s a treatment center, if I remember correctly, that can have, um, bring your child with you that it’s a treatment facility, which would be something separate. Um, and then what was the other, the other one that you asked about, the one up north and then.

00:36:37,430	The one on up north, they’re converting it. The old Best Western hotel into for children. For families, I think. Yes. And then sisters of the stepping Stone. Oh, the stepping stones. Yes. That’s medical respite. So that is a separate. Um. Okay.

00:36:53,600	You have to be released from the hospital, uh, with and be homeless and have medical needs to be able to be taken there. So it’s not an emergency shelter facility. Yeah. Um, just moving on to some community partner data, uh, ministry on the margins. Coffee House, as you know, is operating at fall and winter. So this is October through March.

00:37:18,370	Um, in 2024 is the orange, and then the green is 2025. So they have from 56 to 61 about average guests per night. And then in 2025, 64 to 74 between April and September. And um, just something to keep in mind at Ministry on the margins.

00:37:40,070	There are no showers, there are no, um, laundry facilities, um, hygiene that the people were looking for as far as shelter goes, that is not available at the coffee house. It is just a place to come in out of the elements. Um, this slide is in reference to social detox, and, um, it is a service that we currently have in our community.

00:38:03,700	Um, starting in 2017, when we had our Gold Star Task force that was launched, we started capturing this data. And social detox was a huge component and something that the police department was driving because of the amount of time spent on detox and the amount of time that it has been taking, or the

00:38:22,730	space that’s been taking as well in the jail. Um, I wanted to note that in 2020, Crisis stabilization unit that’s operated by Dakota Foundation through a contract from West Central, uh, they expanded their social detox services that would be open to the public.

00:38:40,330	So it’s not just West Central clients that are able to come into that facility. Um, so that’s a sit stand and then a stay, um, type of facility that we have locally. When we started having that as an option, you can see that the numbers of detox in orange of course, increased.

00:38:58,730	But the the number that are actually going to jail is decreased. And so that really shows that when you have appropriate community based stabilization services that can reduce the reliance on the jail for detox related needs. Um, so right now, rather than them going to jail, the focus has been shifted to the emergency rooms.

00:39:18,330	So, um, a lot of the work that Dakota Foundation does with the Crisis Response Unit or crisis Stabilization Unit, um, right now they don’t have, um, a nurse practitioner or anything like that that they can provide medical detox.

00:39:38,730	So when they need that additional step, an additional support for services, they have to go to the emergency room, where if we were to open a facility that would have a combined service, they would have medical detox, nurse practitioner staff on site rather than having ambulance transports back and forth. So that’s the difference. There. Um, I did get some emergency department data from the local hospitals. Um, I asked for some specific criteria.

00:40:02,530	One was the emergency department visits by crisis related diagnosis category. Uh, so you can see, um, this is for the Bismarck Mandan area, as they do, many of them do enterprise. They specifically narrowed it down to the Bismarck Mandan area in our ERS and substance use related is in blue.

00:40:24,630	That is the highest, uh, 9.9%. Um, we have. So it’s 2023 on the far left, 2024 in the middle, and then 2025 to the right. Uh, mental and behavioral health, um, is next highest suicidal homicidal ideation. And then homelessness was the lowest amount.

00:40:45,970	But these were the debt, the crisis related diagnosis that they were able to pull that are coming into the emergency departments. And so if you look at the total number of crisis diagnosis categories as a percentage of the total number of visits in the emergency department, approximately 1 in 6 of these visits are involved in a crisis related diagnosis.

00:41:08,170	So a substance use um, so 1 in 6 is coming in for substance use, mental health, those types of things. So some key takeaways from all of this. Um, our shelter demand exceeds our current purpose built capacity. Um, we have a lot more people and not enough bed space.

00:41:27,470	Obviously, that is purposely built to meet the needs we have. Um, Bismarcks relying on temporary overflow accommodations such as cots, chairs and floor space. Um, rather than infrastructure designed for hygiene, dignity and stabilization.

00:41:50,470	People are cycling through the systems and then emergency departments are carrying the crisis related demand. So approximately 1 in 6, as I said, had a crisis related diagnosis, uh, social detox and crisis stabilization data. As I stated previously, does show that community based alternatives can reduce the reliance on jail.

00:42:14,370	And lastly, our data that we were able to capture continues to support our planning for the triage center model that we’re working on. Um, activity four is something that we’re going to continue to work through. Um, just, uh, we need to further refine workflows between entities, how staff would be, um, exchanging information, what kinds of systems would be used, etc.. So this is more to come on this activity.

00:42:39,700	Um, and then activity five is exploring facilities and funding for facilities. We are looking very high level at a proximity to wraparound services. Um, as far as what would be needed to support individuals if they were to stay at the shelter, um, meal service, access to medical care, etc.. Um, properties that are available in alignment with appropriate, uh, square footage needs.

00:43:05,270	So we’re continuing to refine that. And then, um, for funding, there’s the North Dakota Rural Health Transformation grant that I wanted to bring forward tonight as a potential grant application that relates to this project.

00:43:24,330	Um, so that is what on my next slide is, um, this has been released last, I think it was last week or the week before. Um, it is ensuring safety net service delivery is what this pillar is called. And it is a competitive funding that is focusing on filling gaps in health and behavioral health services. Um eligible activities include technical assistance, training, planning, infrastructure development, equipment and remodeling to address continuum of care gaps.

00:43:50,530	Um priorities include medically managed withdrawal management, behavioral health crisis response, and other behavioral health capacity needs, which is a great tie into the work that we’re doing. And funding is intended to improve access to care, reduce, uh, avoidable emergency department use, improve care coordination, and strengthen community based health capacity.

00:44:14,530	The applications are due on May 29th. Um one year funding is approximately that. There have open is a total of $15 million. They’re anticipating an estimate of 50 awards of about 300,000 apiece. And so our intent would be to potentially apply for that $300,000.

00:44:36,470	And the proposed use for that would be to support technical assistance and implementation planning for this work. Um, I think some of the work that’s going to come next is the financial stability planning and mapping out some of that, and that is where we need some technical assistance and hope to get some experts that would be able to help with that. Commissioner Zenker.

00:44:56,470	Mayor, commissioners. Renee. So that funding, is it a one time deal or is it is there going to be opportunity in the future for more grant funding from the same program? So there my understanding is this is year one. And then for five years you can reapply.

00:45:16,470	Um, and so there’s a potential to have additional years. I’m not sure if the dollar amounts are going to be the same. Um, correct. They haven’t set all of those parameters, I don’t think yet at the state legislature. Yeah, okay. Thank you. Yeah.

00:45:35,470	So, um, the one thing is an eligibility consideration, and this is the reason why Commissioner Cleary had pulled our former grant application is we were found we found out at a technical assistance call here at the beginning of May that Bismarck is being considered an urban, um, area under the Rural Health Transformation Grant program.

00:45:54,530	And so in order for us to apply for Rural Health Transformation grant funds, we have to demonstrate that at least 50% of North Dakota rural citizens or that grant funded activities are focused on rural citizens. And so the project that we had planned on the memo on the consent agenda was for community gardens. Katy was going to do which in the city of Bismarck.

00:46:13,470	And that would not have met that 50% requirement. And good.. Mr. Mayor Commissioners. Renee. So what is that? You know, we kind of talked about this earlier on that the triage would be more of a regional type scenario.

00:46:30,630	How is that going to if we got a new classification that we’re dealing with, how is that going to affect the opportunity for that as well? Yes. Great question. That’s my segue to the next bullet. My proposed approach would be to frame, as we have been, the community triage center planning as a region seven safety net service delivery project. Um, yes, that’s fine. Um, because you can see the regions there.

00:46:53,100	Um, we’re region seven right in the middle and it’s, um, Burleigh, Morton, Oliver. That’s how the the West Central Behavioral Health Clinic is set up to serve region seven. And so that’s kind of the same concept that we would approach for this. Commissioner Risch. Mr.

00:47:12,900	Mayor, but Renee, when I saw your earlier, um, slides, most of these people are from the community, Bismarck or Mandan, far more than 50%, yes. Is that going to be a problem? Um, well, we only surveyed the people that were here. I’d have to look into that a little bit more. I look into that a little bit more.

00:47:32,630	Now, on previous presentations, you said that we’re the only triage center in the area, but when we see a map like this, it looks like there’s eight. So. Um, so there’s no other triage center. Those are just the West Central behavioral health clinics.

00:47:50,470	So like the West Central Human Service Center, it’s now behavioral health clinic. It’s called each region has a behavioral health clinic, but there’s not a triage center with medical detox anywhere in the state right now okay. So potentially since it’s two different conversations, the entire region of North Dakota, since we’re the only one, that’s the dynamic we would be talking about.

00:48:10,530	Potentially could be if you wanted to do a statewide thing. But I don’t know if that we would would we want to do that or approach it as a regional? I mean, I think it’s regional.

00:48:23,900	I think the point we have is, is we have population based in that region. Then if we take the whole population base of the region, we’re probably 50% regional or rural. And I mean, I personally have had some further conversations with a few of the delegation members from Bismarck and area, and they were not necessarily thinking this would be just cutting Bismarck out of these funding opportunities.

00:48:47,430	So I think there’s still more work to be done there as well. Okay. Because the actual federal grant defines all of North Dakota was rural. And that was what we were told originally, actually. Including the cities of Bismarck and Fargo. Yeah. But, you know, this has come out real fast.

00:49:10,430	So we got to give some grace to those people who are trying to administer it. But, I mean, go ahead. If you’ve got more, I know you’ve got an ask for us. So yeah, I do have an ask for you.

00:49:23,700	So, um, the last slide is one to receive for the presentation that I gave tonight. And then to authorize us at Public Health or me to continue serving as the backbone and convening organization, and then to apply for that grant fund, uh, opportunity, um, through the Rural Health Transformation Grant program. Commissioners questions or what are your desires? Well, I’ll move that. We received the report.

00:49:47,100	Authorize Bismarck Public Health to continue serving as phase two backbone convening organization and authorized Bismarck Public Health to apply for the North Dakota Rural Health Transfer Grant program. Second. Any discussion Commissioner Connelly.

00:50:11,100	I would say when it’s federal or state in this regard, that even if we don’t meet the requirements, you always hear of college students that fill out applications, even when they don’t qualify and they get awarded something despite that.

00:50:30,900	But to keep the onus off of the local dollar, I say we apply for everything instead of pulling it, because the sustainability of this, it’s going to be a hard needle to thread. And so when we’re, um, like the item that was pulled earlier, I think we should apply for that one too, because you get a change in Washington and things change pretty rapidly. And then we’re adjusting services.

00:50:50,600	So if we’re in it to win it for people, we need to do everything we can and know that our intention is there to make sure we’re winning it for everything that we can. Sure. Any further discussion? Call the roll. Commissioner Connelly.. Yes. Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Commissioner Risch. Yes, Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Mayor Schmitz. Yes. We’ll go to item A on the regular agenda. Public hearing on request for new class C-2 hotel.

00:51:22,730	Complimentary alcohol, uh, license from O’Mara LLC doing business. Super eight. This is a public hearing, and I wish to speak. Please come forward. Please identify yourself and sign in. My name is Rakesh Oza, representing super eight. We are just applying for beer and wine for the convenience of the customers.

00:52:00,070	If they are traveling come late night, that’s all. Nothing major. Thank you. All right. Public hearing is open. This is a second call for comment. A third and final call for a comment. Seeing no one. Hearing no one. Public comment. Period is closed. Commissioners, what are your wishes? Move to approve is presented. Second. Uh, any discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Roll. Commissioner Cleary. Yes.

00:52:36,900	Commissioner Risch. Yes, Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Commissioner Connelly. Yes. Mayor Schmitz. Yes. Item B consider requests to receive presentation from the Chief of Police at L. Mayor Commissioners. So, before we talk about this, because I’m sure there’s going to be some asks for some budgetary things or something like that in here.

00:53:01,730	Um, I just want to see if anybody’s got an issue with me voting on this item, because in the future, um, my firm will bid on this project. Probably. Maybe not guarantee that we get it. Um, we might make money. We might lose money to.

00:53:17,700	So I just want to. I just want to make sure if everybody’s okay with it. If not, then I’ll. I’ll sit over there by Gabe. I’m good. Commissioner Connelly. I don’t think it’s going to be an issue because you’re no longer going to be on the commission when that comes around. I’ll just. It’s a fair point to bring out.

00:53:33,700	So I think we’re good, though, just at this point in time. Go ahead. Chief Mayor Commissioners. Good evening. I’m here with Eric Horford, who is with JLG architects. Um. He’s kind of the main local point of contact for us. Uh, regarding the new police department.

00:53:52,730	And I have Brian Berryhill here with. He’s with Ross Shepherd. Uh, he is out of Denver, unfortunately. And, uh, no, he, uh, he’s he’s the expert in building police department. So both of them have been great. And then I saw Zoe with JLG. Also showed up here. Uh, a little later.

00:54:15,470	So before we get into a presentation, I just want to kind of give the history of of how we landed here, uh, to begin with. So in 1979 is when we built the current police department that we’re in, uh, we had 52 officers on staff at that time. Uh, currently, we’re authorized 136.

00:54:36,000	So that just shows the the growth that we’ve had in that many years. The current building lasted us decades. And it was it was a good building, there’s no doubt about it. But our programmatic and space needs just don’t fit any longer. Uh, we’re out of training space, parking space, locker room space.

00:54:55,170	Uh, space to conduct ceremonies such as retirements, promotion and awards. And quite frankly, I can’t even have a department meeting in my own building. So, um, we’ve just outgrown it. Is my point of that. Um, the Senate and anything new in 2019, we did a space needs study with a total different architect firm.

00:55:18,630	And, uh, they estimated square footage. They got to about. We are where we are with the point we are now with with the current firms. And they assessed a square footage based off talking to our staff, uh, reviewing our what we have right now and what we may need, you know, 20 years out in the future.

00:55:37,430	Um, we’re just going over this. We didn’t compare as we were moving forward, but we landed on the same square footage. Um, there was about 2000 more square footage that that we think we need right now to complete this. From what they assumed we needed in 2019. So.

00:55:57,100	And we’re going to be 8 or 9 years after, after the fact. So it just gave us some confirmation that I think we’re on the right track, uh, with our needs, uh, the previous study looked at, at a building parking ramp, uh, west side of our building. We looked at building north, south, uh, buying property from both of those property owners.

00:56:18,370	And we just we just couldn’t make it work with adding on to our current PD. We’re essentially landlocked. And, um, the acreage just isn’t there to, to build on. So that’s kind of why we are where we are today. Um, we’re asking for not a final budget, but a preliminary budget to work off of.

00:56:41,000	And it’s the best estimates we have with our construction managers, uh, that are coming on very soon. And then, of course, our two architect firms that are going to be talking here today. So it’s more of a preliminary budget so we can move on to, uh, a schematic design.

00:57:00,170	Um, I guess you don’t want to move too far forward into schematic design to have a bunch of funding cut, and then you have to waste it all that time and start over and and get into some issues with, with timing and, and bid packages. So with that, I will turn it over to Eric who’s going to speak first.

00:57:23,630	I don’t know how do we okay. Good afternoon. Mayor Schmitz. City commission. Um, my name is Eric Hofer. I’m with JLG architects. We have a very brief presentation for you here. It’s a high level overview of a much more detailed, um, uh, submittal that should be in your packet.

00:57:44,170	So hopefully you’ve had a chance to, to breeze through it. Um, so this this is meant to supplement that, but primarily meant to be a forum for you all to ask us questions as we move through this process.

00:57:59,630	Uh, I’m going to kick it over to Brian in a second and get more into the detail of where we’re at with the space needs assessment. But before I do that, I wanted to highlight this slide. Um, these are what we call the guiding principles for the project. It’s the first thing we do.

00:58:12,900	The first meeting that we have with the steering committee to talk about what is the ideal project, at the end of the day, what are the things that want to guide all the decisions that we make on this very important project for the city of Bismarck? And we had a really great kind of just open conversation.

00:58:29,000	And these were the things that rose to the top and what we thought was really important for this project and for the city of Bismarck. Um, so, so longevity and future adaptability, um, thinking well into the future, thinking about flexibility and technology that’s going to change over time.

00:58:44,730	We want to make sure that we’re designing a building that allows for, you know, the operations and the facility itself to morph over time and meet your needs over time, because those things will change. Um, the next one, we want to support staff wellness and and be efficient with their workflows and operations.

00:59:05,730	We’ve talked a lot about staff wellness in our meetings with with the steering committee and staff. Um, so we want to we want to prioritize that. We want to make spaces that promote their their health and their well-being. Um, they have a really hard job out in the field. So we want to make sure that they’re fit to do that, that job.

00:59:21,230	And we don’t want the building to be a barrier to that. Uh, of course, financial financial stewardship. This is a this is a taxpayer funded project. Um, we need to make sure that we’re being very diligent about how we spend those dollars.

00:59:38,800	Um, so we’re constantly thinking about what are the what are the upfront costs for the building. How do those how do those play into the operational and long term maintenance cost? You know, thinking about durability and future growth as well? Um, and then finally, um, one of the things that I think chief is, is really proud of is, is how well connected and engaged the

00:59:56,430	department already is with the citizens of the city. You know, of the city of Bismarck. And so having this building be a tool to further that relationship with with the city, with the citizens of the city of Bismarck, um, fostering, you know, that engagement and continuing to strengthen those relationships.

01:00:15,000	So these again, these are the guiding principles. These are the things we’ll fall back on when we’re trying to make decisions into the design process. If a decision we make doesn’t support these guiding principles, um, it’s not the right decision.

01:00:29,700	So with that, I’m going to kick it over to Brian to talk a little bit more in detail about where we’re at with the space needs assessment. Mayor, Commission, thanks for having us here this evening. And I do want to take a moment. I, I have the opportunity to work on, uh, law enforcement facilities, really across the country.

01:00:49,900	Um, our primary territory is essentially anything west of the Mississippi. Um, the, the city leaders and administration have been making good decisions about this project for several years now. Um, and it’s really refreshing to kind of see this methodical. Let’s let’s look at this. Let’s analyze it. We know there’s a need, and let’s make the next good decision.

01:01:11,000	Um, and a lot of your counterparts across the country don’t do that. So I just want to acknowledge that and say thank you. Um, the work so far to date, uh, the way we start these projects is when you, when you think about what architects do, you know, it’s always this idea of designing

01:01:26,530	the building. Uh, well, to get to that point, we spend a lot of time talking with a lot of people. We’ve been given access to multiple city departments. We’ve been given access to every unit within the police department. We’ve interviewed them, we’ve talked to them. We spent a lot of time touring the facility.

01:01:46,430	Uh, we’ve also gone on ride alongs. We’ve watched shift changes. Um, and through that process, we’re really able to understand the operations. Uh, we identify where the pinch points are.

01:02:07,000	Um, and then we, we ask really, um, most of the time, not necessarily hard questions, but make sure we didn’t leave anything, uh, or leave anything out. Um, and through that process, uh, what what we’re able to do is really hone in on room by room, what we call the space needs. Um, before we get there, I think I went too far. For those that don’t know, uh, this is a tour of the existing facility.

01:02:35,370	Um, office space, workout, space patrol space, front door, space storage space. Um, and this is just indicative. And we see this often, uh, where the building is just too small. Um, and so this type of crowding and using every square inch available, uh, is pretty typical.

01:02:55,330	And, and in a police department, they’re so mission driven. Um, a lot of times we don’t hear about it because they want to be out in the community doing their job. Um, but that really starts to identify the need and just how crowded it is.

01:03:08,600	Um, the why? Now this gets back to that idea of really honing in on the square footage. Uh, the the bar on the left shows the total square footage that’s that you have now. Uh, the bar on the right, uh, shows what’s needed. Um, and chief alluded to it when we got done with this study, we went back and looked at the study from 2019.

01:03:29,370	Um, and we were really off by less than 5%. It ended up being just over 2000ft. So the need is there and the need has been consistent even over recent time. Um, this is the summary of that. Um, right now, right sized. There’d be 173 total staff that’s sworn and civilian, uh, ten years out.

01:03:50,270	We’re looking at a need of around 196. And then when we think about the future, we think about 20 years out. And and there’s even more growth there. Um, and so when we talk about the square footage of one of these facilities, you can see, uh, as we get down to the grand total GSF number there.

01:04:10,370	Uh, and if we move across the page left to right, we can see over time there’s not a huge addition of square footage even 20 years out.

01:04:27,530	Um, and that just shows how once the building suits the need, uh, adding on for this future growth or this future staff, uh, is relatively easy to take care of. Um, and so, so working toward this target of somewhere around 135,000ft. Uh, it seems to be a be a really nice place to be. Uh, thinking about the need now and then allowing just a little bit for future growth.

01:04:49,900	Uh, so that you move in and you’re still able to accommodate a significant amount of more staff. Uh, before anything would need to be added on to, uh, parking is always a topic of discussion. Uh, the the site that, was selected, uh, will accommodate all the parking that’s needed.

01:05:09,900	Uh, it will also accommodate all of the building that’s needed and provide for future growth. Um, and so as we think about, uh, the site that has been selected and purchased. Um, these are just some different ways we could configure it. None of these are the actual final. We would want to come and present to you.

01:05:29,100	Uh, what would be some some good options for that as well? Uh, but we do have quick access to major roadways. Uh, it’s located in a portion of the city that allows for access to the rest of the city. Um, and we can most likely get two clear and distinct points of access into the site, but especially out of the site.

01:05:50,970	Um, and so when officers do happen to need to respond, we can get that secure access out of the site. Eric. The fun one. That was rather anticlimactic. So, um, project budget here. This this again, as chief alluded to, is is based on the information that we know now.

01:06:12,700	We didn’t mention this yet, but we have not started designing anything. The work that we’ve done since we came on board in February was the space needs analysis. It’s it’s essentially a spreadsheet that lists every space that you need in your building, the size of the space and the quantity.

01:06:29,270	Um, and so that’s what this budget is based off of. It’s based off of the square footage that we know that you need. And then it’s it’s filtered through our knowledge of the local market. Wrath.

01:06:45,800	Sheppard’s knowledge of these facilities in the region and the country, as well as the construction manager’s input, who, who this board recently approved bringing on board. I think it was at the last meeting or two meetings ago. Um, so we’ve gotten there and put on this as well. Um, so I’ll just cut right to the chase. Uh, we’re at $97.6 million. Uh, total project cost.

01:07:02,900	I want to be clear that that is that is more than just construction. Um, when we talk about a project budget, we have construction, which is the majority of it. You can see that’s the kind of the the $84.8 million right above where it says soft cost.

01:07:20,330	That’s what you could expect to pay a contractor to build this facility. But below that line is another, you know, just under $13 million of what we call soft costs. And we want to make sure we capture that in this total budget. And those are things like your furniture and your equipment.

01:07:39,730	Um, you know, various fees, including the fees that you pay, your design professionals, site surveys, geotechnical reports, all the things that are outside of the scope of a contractor. We want to make sure we capture those so that you really understand the full scope and the full cost of your project.

01:07:56,270	And one last thing you’ll see up on the top under construction costs, there are contingencies built into this because we’re so early in the process. We know that are going to be things that come up that we didn’t account for.

01:08:12,430	And so we want to make sure this early in the process that we have a healthy contingency to allow for those things, both during the design process as things come up that we didn’t think of, but also during construction. Uh, you know, when we dig a hole and we find something underground, we didn’t know it was there or other things that happened during construction. Um, so you get you get some contingencies in there as well for that risk management.

01:08:29,270	Um, and then I’ll just say this is also a living document. We’ll be updating this constantly as we as we move through the design process with input from the construction manager. And certainly we’ll keep you all informed throughout that process. I’m sure you’ll have questions on the budget. I have one more. Oh go ahead. Sorry.

01:08:45,470	Yeah. Mr. mayor, Commissioner Eric. Uh, when your team and the other architectural teams made presentations earlier or late last year, I guess it was. And a number of people in the room were on the selection committee, including myself.

01:09:03,170	Um, the recent police stations that were built around the country from your, your folks and the other teams as well, were between 450 and $650 per square feet. Now, this is $750 a square foot, which is considerably more.

01:09:27,370	Uh, what do you think is driving it? Is inflation been that substantial in the last two years that it goes up that dramatically a square foot? Yeah, I think there’s a number of things. We were just doing this math earlier before the meeting here, because I thought that would have been a question, which is a valid question.

01:09:42,870	Um, the construction budget here of 85 million, I think, is just under 650 a square foot, if you do the math. But total project, you’re right, is I think it’s around 720 or 730. Um, I think the difference between what we told you in our interview and now is that we just have more information.

01:09:59,100	We’ve been able to engage with our construction manager, um, really dig into what the needs of your project are. Um, and I’ll just be honest, when we do an interview, I think you’re I think you’re referring to the interview when you were selecting an architect, the presentation that you’re referring to. Sure. I think we said 650.

01:10:13,370	It’s a little bit of an on the spot response, and I hope we caveat at it during that meeting. But, um, it’s just something that we need to we need to dig into the details a little bit more. And now we have a more informed, um, uh, approach to the, to the budget that we’re presenting.

01:10:26,800	But this is the number that we think you need to build the project. Um, that is outlined in, in the documents in front of you. So just for the purpose, I think it’s built in here somewhat, but it says escalation, but maybe even also into your projected cost because we’re not building it

01:10:44,000	today. We’re building it right next summer, in the following summer, probably, or roughly, I don’t know even what’s a you know, you’ve got a timeline in here. Yeah. That’s um, but so I think we need to take that into account as we look at.

01:10:59,000	What’s that, what’s that dollar amount, that kind of the range, knowing it’s not the final budget anyway? Yeah. Mayor Schmitz, very good point. Escalation is currently in there at 5%. We typically when we call, when we say escalation, we do it to the midpoint of construction.

01:11:16,900	So that’s the amount that we would anticipate escalation to impact your project from now until the midpoint of construction, which um, based on feedback from the construction manager, we’re estimating at around 22 months if we start, you know, this May. Um, so, yeah, that that’s the number and that’s actually come down a fair bit from previous years.

01:11:34,100	We were seeing that at, you know, 5% a year just a few years ago. Um, so. Next question, Commissioner Yeah. Sorry. Next Mayor Thank you. Not we’re not we’re not starting construction this month. You don’t even have a drawn yet. Okay. No. That’s why I was saying it’s going to be probably into 28. Yeah, 22 months. Yeah. Go ahead.

01:11:57,630	Commissioner Uh, Mr. Mayor, uh, commissioners. Eric. So this construction manager at risk, he’ll be lining up, coordinating, making sure things are done in a timely fashion.

01:12:16,730	Will he have the authority to work with the subcontractors to try and negotiate as best he can to reduce the costs going forward? Or we just put it out for bids and whatever that is, that is. Yeah. Commissioner Risch. Good question. Um, this is a public project with public dollars. We want to do competitive, open bidding processes. So you’re going to get the low bidder.

01:12:33,870	Um, however, with construction management, um, the delivery method, you have the ability to vet those, those low bidders and make an informed decision on whether or not the low, because the low bidder isn’t always the best choice. Um, so to answer your question more directly, do they negotiate? Not really. It’s a it’s a competitive bid process. Um, but you have you have the ability. To.

01:12:54,700	Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah. So this is what happens. Okay. So those guys draw, it goes to the manager. Construction manager calls guys like me and say, hey, what do you think this is going to cost? I’m gonna say, I don’t know. What are we building? I’m gonna get a napkin.

01:13:06,600	They’re gonna say, hey, give me a budget. That’s pretty much how it goes for a while until they get to, they’ll they get the plans that are what they call C and D plans, which are a little bit more, um, structurally sound or not structurally sound, but have more of a dynamic of what the building is

01:13:20,900	going to be. So you can fine tune what that budget can be. Um, I can tell you this from experience. There are there are times that the, um, I’ve given budgets and been completely wrong, like way too low or way too high. Those types of things.

01:13:39,000	Because you don’t know what the market’s going to be, right? They’re going to ask for budgets for this thing. Probably. I’m going to give you eight, nine months before you get some conceptual designs out there. And then and then you’re not going to bid it until April of next year. Well or whatever that is. So some of those projects take a long time.

01:13:57,170	So does that help you? Yeah. All right. Commissioner, Kelly, I just make sure I’ve missed anything from you ever. Okay. Okay, so. So finally, this is my last slide. Uh, this is this is the proposed schedule. So we’re here at the beginning of May, and like I said, we have not started design yet.

01:14:14,230	We’ve just been doing the space needs analysis. And and we call programming phase. Um, we would like to begin design in June. And it’s a fairly aggressive design schedule for a project of this size.

01:14:32,900	But it’s all kind of built upon getting a bid package out for bidders early next year, we’re looking at in February that allows you to bid the project out, get everyone under contract, uh, get submittals coming through and reviews so that you’re ready to start construction as soon as the the the frost comes out of the ground and, you know, hopefully April maybe May. So it’s all built on that.

01:14:52,630	So, um, at that at this point we would we would open it up for questions. Commissioner Zenker mayor, commissioners. So, um, I’m going to elaborate a little bit on, uh, Commissioner Rice’s comment for the square foot cost.

01:15:08,500	So have you have you given any thought yet as to what that’s going to be? Is it going to be precast, going to be cast in place for that building? I mean, there’s. Right. Because each one of those is different.

01:15:28,370	And I’ve, I mean, so if anybody who understands or is watching or whatever what precast is, it’s basically, um, walls and panels that are hauled in from a, from a concrete company made in a different part of the state, you know, and then you can stand them up and pretty soon you got to in three weeks you got a building type thing. So because that’s going to that’s going to adjust your square foot price as to what you’re going to do versus trying to pour concrete and forms in February.

01:15:43,070	Correct. Um, and so to answer that question with a non-answer, I will say we’re not there yet. Um, what I can tell you is some of those example pictures, uh, one of those was Tilt Wall.

01:15:58,500	Um, we’ve done we’ve done a project in Dickinson that was conventional steel with pre engineered metal building attached to it. So, so being able to maximize the value while still providing a durable building is what we’re after. Um, and part of that right now, uh, the precast market is a little tenuous with scheduling at the moment.

01:16:18,100	So, for instance, if we wanted to do precast, we need to be looking at some type of early packages just to get in line to make our order. So those kinds of discussions were already having we’re just not there yet. And we would evaluate that holistically for all the major systems. Any other go ahead. Commissioner Connelly.

01:16:44,430	I will say that like right at the beginning where you said responsible financial and diligent stewardship, I know how the people organized the the work that went into provide the funding source for this.

01:17:05,900	So if there’s any rates where you get the best project with the maximizing of stretching those dollars, because we have several fire stations that are in the future, it’s the same funding source. So if we can get this to that level and then also meet the community needs and, um, it’s just one of those things, the sooner the better. Sure. We appreciate. That. So, chief, what’s your ask of us? Well, I’m going to have him ask it.

01:17:29,970	Yeah. So the ask is to approve a preliminary budget. Um, not that it’s set in stone. Um, we definitely were conservative. Meaning we did not want to get a number and then come in with something that’s much higher later on. I mean, we with our best guess. This is the maximum cost that it would.

01:17:53,900	It would cost. So, um, just to. Sure, sure. So, yeah, I mean, so I, you know, it makes sense now that we don’t move too much further forward, so we don’t start designing things around, you know, some sort of budget and then have to start over and scrap it and come back.

01:18:20,870	So I guess, you know, I understand this is very significant. Uh, we don’t take it lightly. I imagine that you don’t either. And I guess for tonight, that’s that’s what we’re considering. I don’t know if either of you have any comments for that. Sure. Just just to expand. Chief, is is absolutely right.

01:18:41,370	That’s what we’re that’s what we’re looking for today. And we need that to start the design process. As a design team. We need a we need a target to hit.

01:18:56,370	Um, because if if we get we start the drawings and we, you know, give, give the drawings to our construction manager and we get an estimate comes back and it’s, you know, right on. But then we decide it needs to be $60 million instead of 90, 96 or $97 million. That’s going to cost time, because we would have to start over on the design.

01:19:13,270	And so we just need to know what what is that comfortable target for the city. And we’ll hit that target. Um, so yeah, that is what we’re looking. That is what we’re looking for today as an approval on the target budget.

01:19:28,870	So the question I have, and this is just I guess it’s more for conversation if if this commission said the the number is 80 million, what happens to the facility in a general big picture standpoint? Yeah. Well but I want I want that explained so that we understand what we’re talking about. Yeah. Mayor Schmitz absolutely.

01:19:47,500	That that is since that’s all we have right now, our square foot numbers and a program that lists the square footage, that’s the first thing that we would do if you said the budget’s $80 million.

01:19:59,530	We would sit down with this with the steering committee tomorrow and say, what? What can you live with coming out of the out of the building so we can hit that $80 million? And I just want to set that because I, because I’m, I understand where you’re coming from and what we’re trying to build a 50 year building here. So but at the same time, if we can shell out something that we can add the finishes later, maybe that works too. I don’t. Know.

01:20:17,230	There are a lot of options on the table, is how I would say that any of the options below kind of this target is exactly what you’re talking about. It’s an operational shift in the department, and it may be we’re not able to consolidate. It may be that in ten years you’ve got to build something else out.

01:20:34,800	But it is an operational shift in the department. Okay. Thank you. That’s reasonable. Commissioners. Mr. Mayor Commissioners, I’m all in. I’m building a new police station, and I’m grateful to the citizens of Bismarck who passed the half cent sales tax to provide for it, because without that half cent sales tax, we’d be in a

01:20:56,530	jam right now. But that gives us the opportunity to bond for it and pay for it and not raise taxes. But as Commissioner Connelly said that, you know, we’re building fire Station six. In the future, there’ll be a fire station seven and the fire Station eight, and we bond this for 20 years.

01:21:14,870	Um, it’ll take up most of that sales tax. So I’ll make a motion that we approve the preliminary space needs analysis, scope, budget necessary to construct the new police department headquarters. The preliminary budget for construction is estimated to be $97,600,729, which is an interesting number, and hope that they come in way under that. I’ll second.

01:21:44,270	Is there any discussion? Hearing none. We’ll call roll. Commissioner Risch. Yes. Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Commissioner Connelly. Yes, Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Mayor Schmitz. Yes. Item C consider request to receive presentation of the City of Bismarck annual report. Jason. Good evening, Mayor and commissioners. I come to you with something that, um, I’m not sure our organization has accomplished in 20 plus years.

01:22:16,800	Um, I’m holding what I believe is the first comprehensive annual report in quite some time. I say comprehensive because historically, we’ve had departments that have done their own independent annual reports articulating the work that they do year over year.

01:22:36,070	Um, but I thought it was important to look at this holistically and touch on all the departments within the organization. And you each have a copy of the final printed material. Uh, we plan to share this with our stakeholders, our partners. Kaitlyn OST has developed a communications set of assets that he’ll be deploying. So it’ll go on the website on our social media.

01:22:54,170	This document will live out there for anybody to grab and pick through, and this will be the first of many years that we do this into the future. Um, but none of this could have been done without the help of some partners.

01:23:11,370	Um, as you may recall, in the past, we have reached out and utilized the support of local students in our community, and we did that again. Uh, previously we had worked with a couple of students from United Tribes to develop the, uh, what do we call it, the media kit. Uh, that’s on our website.

01:23:30,000	And that helps orient new media professionals to our organization, to the staff and how to kind of navigate, uh, who to connect with when you’ve got questions about stories or news information. This document was done with the help of a couple of students from Bismarck State College. Uh, Kirsten and Kayla Hilson.

01:23:47,600	Dagger embarked on this project with Kaitlyn starting last fall as part of the fall semester. And their heavy lift for us was really pulling all of the visual components together that you see. So the staff and the departments compiled all the information, the statistics and and all the data that’s there. But Kirsten and Kayla put together the the final results.

01:24:06,800	So the the really stunning part of all of this, and we are very grateful for their time and talent, but also, uh, it’s nice to be a part of their professional portfolio because this is a document that is real and true to the work that they do.

01:24:22,330	And when they’re out looking for jobs in the future, they can point to this as an example of how they collaborated with a significant stakeholder in the community and put together a very fine document. So I certainly don’t want to go through the whole thing, but I do want to just bring this to everybody’s attention.

01:24:37,470	Keep an eye on the website, keep an eye on our social media for more information from our communications professionals as they go through this. But if there are things that you would like to see in a future annual report, we’d be happy to take that feedback from you and incorporate that as we embark

01:24:52,170	on this in the future. But maybe just some highlights for anybody that’s watching or listening at home or wherever they might be. Not only are we featuring some of the statistics and the data from each of the departments within the organization, but then also kind of some significant things that we did throughout 2025.

01:25:09,730	Community partner projects. Um, talking about our call for projects, the Citizen Academy, uh, our media and municipality meetup, where our communication staff were meeting with local media people to introduce them to departments, but then also potentially generate story ideas and news information for local media to grab.

01:25:32,430	Of course, we talk about our strategic plan, and this does fulfill one of the strategic focus areas of our strategic plan. By having a more engaged and informed community. So there’s a lot of reasons that we’re doing this, but there’s a tremendous amount of information is in here.

01:25:47,900	I do need to say thanks to all the department directors and the staff that helped compile this. But then really, a special thanks to Kirsten and Kayla for the work that they did. Uh, they are here, but I was told that they would rather let their product do the speaking for them. Despite being communicators. I think they’re good with visuals, but maybe a little afraid of the podium.

01:26:05,000	So, um, not a problem with that at all. But, uh, just wanted to bring this to everyone’s attention. If you have any questions, comments. I’m happy to take those now, but if you have things offline after you’ve had a chance to flip through all the pages and and gather all the information,

01:26:19,270	that’s great. One other thing I do need to note that the vast majority of the photos that are in here were sourced from members of our community through the call for photos.

01:26:33,900	So another way that we’re working to bring people in, we do give photo credits for all the locals that shared some of their images with us. And so a very collaborative effort, but also a pretty significant lift for us as an organization. And I’m glad that we’re we’re doing this and we will continue to do this into the future. Any questions? Yep. Thank thank you to the students from BSc. It’s much appreciated. Thank you. Commissioners.

01:26:57,630	They’re hiding. I can’t see them. Okay. Moving to item F, consider a recommendation from Vision Fund Committee to support a flex space program. Endorsed by town for 43rd land, LLC. So before we start up. Yep. Um, so I am, um, my firm is doing this project. So you might want to recuse yourself. Now.

01:27:30,230	That’s good. If I need to be the tie breaking vote, I’m over here. Okay. All right, go ahead. Noah. Perfect. Mr. Mayor Commissioners, in your packet, you have a vision fund application from 43 land, otherwise known as Bismarck Sports Academy for a flex pace. Uh, loaned by down project.

01:27:55,170	The city portion is structured as a loan up to $107,692.30. Um, the Vision Fund received and recommended this project to the City Commission on April 23rd of last month, um, representatives from the project and the bank are here today to present and answer any questions you may have.

01:28:16,630	If you have any questions for me before they present, uh, you’re more than welcome to ask. I can also come up after the project has had a chance to talk to you and answer any questions, but I have a presentation. I will call them up if you have no questions. Go ahead. Perfect. Give that and give that to him.

01:28:43,270	Well, thank you, Mayor Schmitz and city commissioners for allowing us to, uh, give a brief presentation, um, on a kind of a two part business opportunity that we here for that we have here for Bismarck. Um, my name is Ben Woodside. So, uh, I went to NDSU from 2004 to 2009.

01:29:02,530	I played basketball with Luke Moorman here. My business partner. And, um, now reside in West Fargo. Introduce yourself quick. Yeah. Luke moorman I’m currently in my 17th year of teaching at Sibley Middle School. Uh, and it’ll be my last year.

01:29:21,370	Now, uh, I’ve also been coaching in the community since I moved here from college, but also played the same years as Ben. And, uh, also the, um, uh, athletic director at Saint Mary’s Academy currently. And I’ll be continuing to do that as well. So we have just a brief presentation here in hopes of, uh, the approval for the Vision Fund.

01:29:40,170	And I mentioned a two part business opportunity, and I’m going to go through this fairly quickly and can answer any questions at the end. And there’s a short, if you guys don’t mind, there’s a short two minute video that, um, can dive into the technology aspect versus me up here vomiting information, uh, at you. And you can actually visualize it a little bit.

01:29:58,270	So, um, what we have here is we have an opportunity for what’s called a shoot, 360 and also a Bismarck Sports academy. And, uh, shoot 360 is the franchise. Uh, there’s 50 locations globally. Um, it’s a very, very unique, um, franchise and a unique opportunity for Bismarck here for kids that want to improve their basketball skills.

01:30:20,130	Everything from shooting basketball to ball handling and why this opportunity is so unique for them is shoot 360, has a shoot 360 has a, um, a patent, a technology patent, a NOAA technology patent, um, that there’s nothing like it. And what that patent involves is when you shoot a basketball, there’s three main components.

01:30:42,970	Uh, there’s arc depth and alignment. So those the technology that we have that sits above those five shooting bays that you see is when a kid letz releases the basketball, our technology grabs that. And justifies the arc, the depth and the alignment.

01:31:02,530	So if a kid comes up to the ISS in one of those shooting bays and shoots the shot short, they can see an instant feedback and instant gratification from, okay, your arc was great, your alignment was straight on, but the depth was off and that and your depth was off by so many millimeters. And that’s why the ball didn’t go in the hoop.

01:31:23,700	So we also have the technology for the ball handling aspect. And I’m not going to get into all that. There’s like I said, there’s a brief visualization for it, but it’s an extremely unique opportunity for the community of Bismarck because one, there’s only 50 of them globally.

01:31:40,800	Uh, two, we own the territory rights for the western half of the state. And, um, another unique aspect is there’s kids in Bismarck that are on our shooting bays that could shoot against other kids globally.

01:31:57,800	So if there’s a kid in the Republic of Georgia, they could be in a challenge together and they could shoot against a kid in the Republic of Georgia or the country of Turkey. So it’s a very unique, um, it’s a very unique business, but it’s also a unique opportunity for kids, um, to hone in on their basketball Shield’s skills, shooting and ball handling. Um, the other aspect.

01:32:14,730	So that’s the 360 side, the other aspect, which is the rectangle going north and south here. That is what’s the Bismarck Sports Academy and what’s going to be part of the Bismarck Sports Academy is obviously basketball. There’s going to be volleyball, and then there’s going to be a turfed area for, um, batting cages.

01:32:35,070	So there’s three main components in the Bismarck Sports Academy basketball, volleyball and batting cages all through grades K through 12. And in the batting cages, we’re going to have what’s called hit tracks. So if you guys have ever been to a golf simulator, it’s kind of the same thing where, uh, the hit tracks can, uh, calculate your exit velocity for baseball and softball.

01:32:53,170	It can calculate your bat speed. So there’s, um, there’s a unique opportunity there as well. Um, the other aspect that I just want to point out for the, um, the non franchise side, the Bismarck Sports Academy is we want to partner with other local businesses in town.

01:33:16,170	Um, and what I mean by that is majority of the year there’s kids that are in school. So our gym goes unused because the kids aren’t training there. There’s no group sessions going on. There’s no one on one training going on.

01:33:35,000	So what we would like to do is partner with different businesses, say a daycare where we have, um, bouncy houses and I got two kids in in daycare right now, and I know how much energy I got to exert when they get home. But the but they could come. We could partner with daycares and they could go and they could use our gym during, um, school hours. And they could, you know, the kids could run around, go on our bouncy houses.

01:33:53,000	So that’s one aspect. The other aspect is homeschool kids, too. Um, you know, I don’t, uh, Luke’s a teacher. Um, he knows a lot more. The the, um, school end of it, but homeschool homeschool kids could have the opportunity to come to our gym and facilitate our gym. Kind of like a gym class, if you will.

01:34:10,100	Um, and then lastly, uh, we want to host birthday parties and gatherings for little kids, and it’d be great partnering with, um, other retail business. Uh, I hear pop is like a huge thing for kids around this area, and so it’d be awesome to partner with fizzle Pop.

01:34:29,500	And somehow we can coordinate and work together for little kid’s birthday or kid’s birthday parties. So there’s there’s that there’s that aspect of our operations on the Bismarck Sports Academy that’s not just geared for basketball, volleyball, and baseball, but it’s also geared to help support other businesses in the community.

01:34:51,730	Um, lastly, and I think this is one of the most important aspects that we, um, and I’m almost done here. But lastly is, uh, the community value for all kids and Bismarck Mandan.

01:35:09,970	This business, um, that we want to start here in Bismarck is not just for kids that can pay for a membership to go to shoot 360. It’s not just for the kids that can be part of a group training. Uh, three on three tournament at our facility on the Bismarck Sports Academy side.

01:35:29,700	But it’s for partnering with other organizations in town for the opportunity for underprivileged kids to be part of a state of the art facility, to have the opportunity to come in, um, use our facilities, but also the individuals that we need to hire and that the coaches that we need to hire are first class individuals, uh, respectable individuals.

01:35:49,530	And almost like, I’m not going to call them mentorship, but these kids know that there’s going to be people there that are going to show up for them and that are going to help them out. And so that’s a huge community value that we hope to bring to this, um, to this facility. So you may ask why the Vision Fund? Right.

01:36:04,430	Um, you know, for the benefit for our, our business, as you guys know, here, um, capital is expensive, capital costs, whether you’re getting capital, whether you’re, um, the construction costs, um, whether it’s, um, operations, whether it’s labor. And specifically for our 360 side, our equipment is very, very specific over there. And it’s very, very costly.

01:36:29,470	And so those three main components, um, plus the ability to have sustainable business for kids in Bismarck, um, the opportunity to get approval for the Vision Fund helps us get our feet wet, get some stabilization, and allows this business to to succeed long term. And that’s the whole purpose of this business.

01:36:54,530	Um, is for the kids long term in Bismarck. Um, the other aspect is city benefits, right? You have obviously this is a heavily investment, um, project. And so you have property tax, you have sales tax.

01:37:21,900	But also more importantly is you have outside community involvement such as camps such as um, team trainings, um, such as uh, bringing kids from uh, college kids from Jamestown to help coach a camp, bringing kids from NDSU who I know Coach Richmond really well, coming here and putting on a camp here in Bismarck. So you’re gaining you’re getting kids from outside the community coming to Bismarck.

01:37:37,730	Um, and so I think there’s some outside business involvement that would that would really help the city as well. So we stand up here together, um, and just ask for in hopes of, uh, you know, approval of the Vision Fund and, um, you know, what can this, this unique opportunity both on the 360 side, but also on the Bismarck Sports Academy side and how it can benefit,

01:37:55,900	uh, Bismarck as a whole. Commissioner Risch. Mr. mayor, commissioners. Um, Ben, where’s it going to be located? It’s going. To be. Have you picked a spot? Maybe you haven’t. I don’t know, it’s going to be located by the cash north side of, uh, north side of town by cash wise.

01:38:14,600	Um, uh, to the west by. Is it Haga and Kamara. North of 43rd? And yes, just east of Coleman. Kind of in the middle. The only reason why I brought up fiscally is because I know fiscally pops right there, because there’s a line of about 50 kids waiting in there. So that’s strip mall. The strip mall just to the south.

01:38:31,630	Of it, right. I’ll just follow up. It seems incredible. It’s, uh, what? Great benefit for a community. So thank you guys. Thank you. Do you have. Commissioner questions? Yeah. Wasn’t there a video that you were going to show? Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah. Our our monitor is not working over here. So you want two. Minutes okay. Go ahead.

01:39:00,970	Let us put this in and click on it. Welcome to shoot 360 the world’s most advanced basketball team training facility. We specialize in the essential skills of passing or handling and shooting.

01:39:24,000	Why did you shoot 360? Because our proprietary system offers the world’s best skill training with the most innovative technology in basketball. On our shooting courts, you will experience our one of a kind splash meter technology that will revolutionize your training and shooting success. The splash meter provides instant and precise feedback for every shot, capturing the three most important elements of shot make arc, depth, and alignment.

01:39:43,230	The green band connecting each of these three key elements is called the Splash zone. Shots that are aligned inside the splash zone will be made 98% of the time. In our shooting courts, you will have the ability to select pre-designed workouts where you will follow along with our virtual trainer.

01:39:59,900	In your shooting workout, we provide instantaneous feedback from our splash meter to improve consistency in your shooting. Our drills are tiered by difficulty to accommodate athletes of all ages and skill levels. Shoot 360 gamer finds the basketball training experience through interactive competition.

01:40:20,600	Our innovative approach to skill development allows you to hone your craft in an engaging, challenging and fun format. We are the only basketball training facility that provides virtual training competitions between athletes from all over the world. Our state of the art technology provides skill challenges that allow you to compete and perform under game like pressure.

01:40:40,530	Check out our shoot 360 leaderboards to see how you stack up against players in your area and from around the globe. Put your ball handling skills to the test and experience the world’s first high tech skill court, where you will work to improve your ball handling and passing while being challenged by the most unique and fun skill drills in the game.

01:40:57,370	Our shoe 360 certified Skill Development coaches are the best in the business. Our coaches will help improve your skill and technique, so you’re building excellent basketball habits because of three 60s world class technology, dedicated coaches, and one of a kind interactive training environment, we will expedite your skill improvement better

01:41:15,000	than anyone else. As we like to say, shoot 360 will unlock your game so that you can become the best basketball player you aspire to. Be experienced. Shoot 360. The facility that’s revolutionizing the way basketball players train the future of basketball is here. A little bit easier to see.

01:41:38,530	The visual verse makes, you know, explaining all that. So any other questions? I don’t think so. I’m going to let Commissioner Connelly find his way back to his spot. All right. Well, thank you for the time tonight. Thank you. And then ask the question what are your wishes? Commissioners? What are your wishes? I’ll move as presented.

01:41:57,700	And I’ll second and then I’ll add some, um, when it comes to these different types of funds, I often emphasize, um, unique to where they’re not competing against other businesses. And I think that, um, certainly occupies or this occupies that space. Okay. Is there any other discussion? Hearing none. We’ll call roll. Commissioner Connelly. Yes, Commissioner Cleary. Yes.

01:42:25,500	Commissioner Risch. Yes. Mayor Schmitz. Yes. Moving to item G, consider a request to receive a presentation of the city’s comprehensive procurement policy. It’s pretty cool stuff. And, Eric, are you. Go ahead. Eric. Thank you. Mayor Commissioners. Um, excuse me. We’re going to talk about the procurement policy.

01:43:06,070	It’s not nearly as fun and cool as shoot 360 right before us, but, uh, we’ll hopefully keep it entertaining for you. Um, I’m going to kind of break the ice and introduce Josh here in a little bit of our journey here for the procurement policy, and then he’s going to kind of get into the the finer points of

01:43:24,800	what’s in that policy. Um, if you guys remember about this time, 2024, we brought a need through the Budget committee, um, to talk about a procurement officer for the city of Bismarck. We’ve just grew too big and needed to get some expertise to help us along the way with that.

01:43:44,630	And so that happened with the 25 budget, which allowed us to hire Josh Fearn, our procurement officer. He comes to the city, um, in April of 2025, bringing almost two decades of procurement expertise. Um, both private and public.

01:44:07,500	He’s really helped spearhead this, um, this policy writing for the city of Bismarck to meet with all the directors, find out what we’re doing, what works, what doesn’t work, and really try to streamline this process for us.

01:44:27,900	Um, for procurement, um, change order management, um, those types of problems that we have, everything that we have today is simply governed by one little blurb in title seven, in the code of city ordinance. So what he’s done is met to understand the needs.

01:44:49,630	Um, the various compliance related issues that we face and try to come up with a policy, a method for the city to give us some, um, some standardization amongst all of the departments and finding things that work for all of us. So that way we’re we’re able to maximize and, um, on the city dollars that are being spent for our citizens and really streamline and be more effective. Um, with that, I will turn it over to Josh and let him talk about the finer points of the policy.

01:45:10,870	And after Josh is done, what we’re looking for is approval for the policy. Tonight. Um, with the approval of the policy, it will also be looking for direction from the Commission to amend title seven in the city ordinances, which will require, obviously, a public hearing, and we’ll move forward with those if the policy is approved. Okay. Welcome, Josh. Thank you. Eric.

01:45:36,630	Mayor Commissioners, I just wanted to take some time to kind of go over what the procurement policy is and how we got to where we are today.

01:45:52,800	So for the last several months, we’ve been meeting with all the departments and getting buy in from everybody on what are the needs the city has with procurement. What are the pain points? How can we alleviate the pain points and develop a policy that works day to day for all departments in the city? The policy was benchmarked against federal regulations. North Dakota Century Code, and then we also compared it to FEMA emergency purchase procedures.

01:46:15,630	And the comparable municipalities best practices. So we’re more stringent in our procurement policy than the federal government is and theirs, we’re just as stringent as the state is, and we can handle FEMA procurement if there’s an emergency. And we’re receiving federal funds, we’re in line already. We don’t have to make any adjustments in our purchasing.

01:46:38,730	The result, after all, our negotiations or our meetings with the other departments is we they weren’t negotiations. We were meeting and getting feedback. The the result is a comprehensive policy that organizes procurement into dollar thresholds. And within those dollar thresholds we provide, we identify appropriate procurement methods.

01:47:09,000	So the $3 thresholds that we have are anything below $10,000 is considered a low risk purchase. But we’re still promoting sound judgment. Fiscal responsibility. We’re not just buying something because we want it. We’re buying it because it’s a need. If it’s over 10,000 to $100,000, we require more formalized process where we’re ensuring fairness and competition and reasonable pricing.

01:47:34,630	Among our vendors, over $100,000 has the highest level of scrutiny there. We require formal solicitation and the procurement methods that are available for purchases over 100,000 are designed to promote transparency to the public.

01:47:58,630	We really have to justify not only why we’re purchasing this, but that the price is reasonable when these thresholds are within these thresholds, the policy defines seven or defines seven procurement methods. Each method is tailored to the size, type and complexity of the purchase, so this gives departments an opportunity to choose which procurement method best suits their needs. Purchasing a pipe is different than purchasing an automobile, and there might be different requirements, but we clarified the requirements in the policy.

01:48:24,170	The policy also defines contract and contract amendment execution authority. Who can sign a contract on behalf of the city, and who has to review contracts when they’re going through, when they’re being signed by the city. So we’re outlining based on a dollar amount what’s required. But within that dollar amount, we have options.

01:48:46,100	And those options are designed to provide flexibility for the departments to procure what they want. But at the same time justify price reasonableness and make sure we’re getting the best value for the city. The policy just represents the first phase of our procurement initiatives. As Eric said, I’m new. The city didn’t have a procurement policy.

01:49:07,100	So phase one is having a procurement policy. So we have guidance and governance for the departments. Phase two is we want to standardize the tools and procedures.

01:49:24,530	We want to create templates and forms so that all departments are operating in the same way, so that it’s very clear if I’m purchasing a car, what are the requirements? If I’m purchasing something that is sole source, what are the requirements? We want to standardize those across all departments. The final phase is to develop a centralized database, and I’ve been working with tundra and the IT department.

01:49:44,900	They’ve been fantastic in creating a database where once you purchase something, you can upload your documentation that is required under federal guidance that municipalities centrally store procurement documentation, and that we have a justification for the price we’re paying. But this also opens up spend management reporting. Once we have that information centrally located, we’ll have a database where we can look and see what is the city spending on certain items.

01:50:07,800	Are there group purchasing opportunities? Can we have departments co spend together? It’s going to open up a whole world of spend management, analytics. All of these things are coming together, but they start with the procurement policy, the procurement policy is the foundation that we’re building on.

01:50:28,800	What are the documents that we require in the database that comes from the procurement policy. So that’s just a broad overview of what we’ve been working on the last couple of months. And with that, I’ll open it up to questions. Commissioner Risch. Mr. mayor, Commissioner Josh.

01:50:48,370	Well, when I first got elected two years ago, I was surprised that the city of Bismarck, this big of operation, we did not have procurement officers. We buy a lot of things, and we need to buy them at the best possible price. I get nothing but good reports about you, Josh. So you’re you’re a procurement department.

01:51:04,330	You’re standing there, but, um, and just a heads up, I intended some of the citizens academies. Um, um, meetings this year. And Josh was in the Citizen’s Academy, and I thought that on his own time, mind you, every Thursday night for several hours to get a good feel of the city. So I thank you for doing that. Um, my basic question.

01:51:22,370	I went through the the document, and it looks like there’s been no stone unturned. I mean, this is this is thorough and very professional, but I never saw anything about negotiating. And I brought this up earlier. I know from the labor side I like to negotiate. I like to get a good deal.

01:51:40,230	Uh, last week, I purchased an American made card at a Bismarck dealership, but I traded mine in. So I go in there with my car and I said, well, yeah, I’d like to trade this in. They came up with a price. I said, wow, that’s a lot.

01:51:54,730	So I came up with, of course, a lower price went back and forth a couple of times. We agreed on a price if I were to right away said, oh yeah, I’ll take it at that price, I would have cost me several thousand dollars more.

01:52:12,370	So is there any provisions or any ability for you as a procurement officer to actually negotiate some of these prices that we’re paying for all these things the city needs? Yes, absolutely. The city should always be negotiating price and contract terms. We have procurement methods. As I said, there’s seven procurement methods. And those methods define when negotiation is reasonable.

01:52:36,800	As they were saying earlier, if we have a sealed bid situation, it’s provided that the vendors giving their firm lowest price. And so in that case, negotiation wouldn’t be reasonable after the bidding takes place. But if we’re publishing an RFP, a public solicitation, we should always be negotiating both price and contract terms. Any good Commissioner Connelly.

01:53:03,000	On the part where you mentioned, uh, sound judgment and fiscal responsibility, any part in this where it’s kind of an unusual or new purchase, where even if it’s below some of those thresholds to where at least the designated portfolio holder or coming in front of the commission makes sense.

01:53:24,900	Can we add that to the documentation itself, too? Just so we have a little bit more of that checks and balances. Absolutely, absolutely. We can look into amending that. We do have we do clarify that there are situations, for example, a contract review, regardless of price, needs to be reviewed by certain people.

01:53:43,530	If it’s, as I said, if it’s under $10,000, that doesn’t mean we can purchase whatever we want. There’s stipulations that this has to be reasonable, there has to be a need, and it has. It still needs director approval, but we can I can work with speak with you and we can look at amending it to be clearer on that. Commissioner Zenker.

01:53:59,870	Yeah. So on that, I would think that some of that stuff would be already vetted through the budgeting process. I mean, this is this is not in my I mean, yeah, it’s a procurement situation.

01:54:15,530	But if you’re if there’s something new that you want to bring into someone’s department or whatever, that should be really vetted through the budgeting process, not midway through the year that you got X amount of funds left over from something, and now you want to go buy something new. I mean, it still should go through that, that type of scenario.

01:54:30,630	I don’t I don’t know if it really needs to go as high as a portfolio holder because I mean, I got I got the public works, um, water side. And if they need a impeller or a diffuser or a, um, whatever for a pump. And some of those pumps are really big, that could easily be 10,000 bucks.

01:54:46,800	I mean, there’s specific to the manufacturer and we don’t we don’t have time to talk to everybody on the phone to get that stuff done. I mean, I’ve had several conversations with Michael about emergency buys and those types of things. And and they’re there in here.

01:55:03,330	Um, but I would think that once we vet this and go through it for a year or two, that that would be pretty simple to be able to do and, and run through it. So I think the purpose of the policy is exactly that. So that, you know, a if it’s in the budget, it’s approved.

01:55:21,470	Uh, purchase and a certain level of purchase, we can’t have things held up for two weeks for a commission meeting. And so that’s why this is a I thought this was a very good document. I thought it covered everything. Doesn’t mean it won’t. It’s a policy. So it can change some document. It’s always amendable. Yeah, yeah. So I think you did a great job.

01:55:37,270	This is an update. You’re going to go back and. You’re going to go back and negotiate with the rest of the team as to what you get out of the deal. We spent a year going through and making sure all the departments are set. I’ll make a motion to approve is presented. Second.

01:55:51,630	Further discussion. Hearing none will call roll. Commissioner Connelly.. Yes. Commissioner Cleary. Yes, Commissioner Risch. Yes, Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Yes, Mayor Schmitz. Yes. And then you have a request to change title. Yes. Or land title.

01:56:23,730	So part of this is, is staff getting direction from the commission, um, with some of the dollar thresholds that are listed in the, the procurement policy that will require us to amend title seven of the ordinances. Um, so we’ll we’ll start the process with, um, noticing the public meeting and that’ll be on the consent agenda for the next commission meeting. And then. Commissioner Zenker. Yeah.

01:56:44,330	So I mean, I would assume that you would you were going to have to amend this anyways in the next legislative cycle. They might change the the buys values and those types of things. So you’re going to you’re going to make those types of yearly changes or biannual changes anyway. So that’s correct. Make it practical. Yep. And hopefully with with having this the thresholds listed in policy going forward.

01:57:05,870	Um, we can handle it. In one meeting with the Commission here with policy amendments rather than going through the the continual two meeting for public hearing. Okay. Um. I think it’s a good idea to make those amendments and ordinance to be able to follow the policy, I think is is wise. Correct. All right. Thank you. More efficient.

01:57:27,170	Thank you. Thanks, guys. Next item H, consider a request to receive bids and award contract for street light and traffic signal project SV 88. Gabe. Here we go. Good evening. Mayor, commissioners Street light and traffic signal. Project 88 is our 2026 fiber interconnect project.

01:58:05,500	Have it up on the screen here and should have it in your packet as well. We received bids on May 5th for this project, and we had three bidders with a low bid being Fetzer Electric LLC with a bid of $199,500. Our recommendation is to award to Fetzer Electric. Take any questions you may have. To approve is presented. Second. Any discussion. Hearing. None. Roll call. Roll. Commissioner Cleary.

01:58:33,970	Yes. Commissioner Risch. Yes. Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Commissioner Connelly. Yes. Mayor Schmitz. Yes. Next item is. Consider request received. Bids in award contract and a water utility project. 153. Mayor Commissioners. Water utility project. 153 is our 2026 hydrant and valve replacement for this project.

01:59:05,370	We had two bidders with the low bid being DL Baki Construction Incorporated with the bid of 88,500. Our recommendation is to award to DL Baki. Move to approve. I just have a question for Gabe. Oh, Mr. Mayor, Commissioner, I’m not familiar with Baki Construction. You’ve worked with them before or you’re familiar with them. It’s a pretty low bid compared to what the other one. Mayor, commissioners.

01:59:27,230	Commissioner Risch, actually, this this project last couple of years, or maybe not every single year for the last couple of years. But Barclays actually received this project. The, uh, hydrant valve replacement project, a couple of times previously. Their firm out of Minot.

01:59:41,800	But it’s a type of project that can come down and kind of perform it and go back to Minot when they’re done. Sure. Second. Okay, any further discussion? Hearing none, we’ll call roll. Commissioner Risch.. Yes, Commissioner Zenker. Yes. Commissioner Connelly. Yes, Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Mayor Schmitz. Yes.

02:00:05,330	Next item is consider a request for partial release of existing easement within lots 1819 block for South Bay, fifth edition. Gabe. Mayor Commissioners. The city of Bismarck was granted an easement for the purpose of constructing or a private drive known as Nimitz Court in South Bay. Fifth edition. They have an exhibit up on the screen here.

02:00:23,530	The access easement was granted a width wider than was needed for construction. Uh, subsequent to that, the owner of the lots of 18 and 19 is requesting that the West four feet is released so that they can build their units or their structures a little bit closer to the actual driveway, as opposed to what the access

02:00:40,630	easement. We measure that setback from the access easement currently in ordinance. And the release of this easement will allow them to build that structure a little bit closer to the roadway itself. This will be a public hearing. Our access or our easement release policy is a little convoluted.

02:00:58,730	Most of these easements come a long time when we’re doing a platted subdivision. So a lot of times we tack this on to the public hearing for the plat or the zoning change.

02:01:13,000	Uh, rarely do we have a standalone, non platted easement that needs to be released, but the City Commission’s policy is to inform the adjacent landowners of of the easement release and then hold a public hearing for that. So I guess I’d step aside and have a public hearing before you take action on this. Okay. Didn’t know it wasn’t noted that way. But we’ll we’ll do that.

02:01:26,370	This is a public this will open the public hearing for this easement release. And we wish to speak. Please come forward. Second call for comment. Third and final call for comment. Seeing no one hearing on public comment is closed. Commissioners 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.

02:02:02,100	Mayor Schmitz. Yes. Or to other business? I would like to call. Oh, go ahead, Commissioner Zenker. Have you got other business? I was going to have chief fire Chief come forward and just talk about the fire and all the cooperation we had. And go ahead. Chief.

02:02:24,730	Mayor and commissioners, thank you for the opportunity to address you regarding the apartment complex fire on May 4th. To recap what occurred, Centcom notified us of possible smoke in the building on arrival, our first arriving crew, they encountered smoke within the entryway, along with a large number of residents that were needing assistance to evacuate.

02:02:49,630	So an initial priority was to move residents outside to a safe location and to evacuate the entire building. Another priority, of course, was the fire itself, which was below grade and within some concealed spaces. Our firefighters engaged in offensive firefighting, but after numerous attempts and the behavior of the fire, the decision was made to transition to a defensive mode.

02:03:14,370	The fire did move vertically and eventually entered into the attic space, so the firefighting resources were positioned to contain the spread of the fire so that it would not extend further east or south, and during that fire, there was a section of the building that did collapse.

02:03:33,630	We experienced one fire ground injury to a firefighter that was not related to the clap, to the collapse. The firefighter was transported for observation and should return to work. I believe this week I want to take a moment to thank the firefighters.

02:03:51,170	They were very professional, worked very hard and were successful in the rescue of persons and the containment of the fire. We can all be very proud of their actions. I’ve mentioned administrator to monarch on many occasions that the city of Bismarck has something unique. We’ve got a special trait amongst the departments. We’re clearly a team.

02:04:09,800	And this fire is one of those examples of how the team of departments came together. I’d like just to take a minute to describe how I saw that and what it looked like. Administration and Commissioner Risch were very supportive throughout the entire event.

02:04:33,470	The police department, they provided assistance with the evacuation of residents, helped us with firefighting equipment such as shuttling breathing air cylinders, provided our command staff aerial views of the drone, and controlled the perimeter of the scene. Centcom they ensured communications were monitored and that emergency traffic was relayed. They reached out to any external agency that we needed. Uh, fleet services are public work. They provided fuel throughout the night to our trucks.

02:04:53,170	Every piece of equipment was mechanically sound. Public works on the west side. They responded to our request. They increased the water pressure and actually came on scene when we had some difficulties Shutting down a hydrant. Building inspections.

02:05:15,000	They assisted our command staff with the actual building blueprints to supplement our pre fire plans. That was very helpful in determining the placement of our firefighting equipment to stop the spread of the fire. Emergency management. They initiated actions for sheltering other assistance requests. Public health engaged in the care of displaced residents. Residents through the sheltering activities, and there were other agencies, of course, such as crisis, crisis care, chaplaincy.

02:05:40,000	They provided the care and the safety of the residents. Metro ambulance. They had a large number of resources on scene to care for the emergency responders. Mandan Fire was called in to assist us, and they also provided us with air supply. The list goes on.

02:06:00,970	We have Red cross, Salvation Army, Kitty city, furry friends, utility companies, lions and many generous citizens. I’m afraid that I probably missed a department or agency, but my point here is to indicate that we all work very well together. We each have our roles and responsibilities, and together we do make a great team. So thank you to all these agencies and to you as the Commission.

02:06:21,630	Do you have any questions that I might be able to address? Commissioner rice. I just want to say, Mr. Mayor, commissioners chief, thank you. And the team at the fire department. Excellent job. And as you pointed out, all these other parts of the city pitching, including the city of Mandan, it’s remarkable.

02:06:38,970	And I know Renee is here. And, Renee, you had quite a. What troubles me about this? This is a lot of these people were handicapped, disabled people living in that building that needed a lot of care, which is a that’s a big burden.

02:06:58,170	So, Renee, you got anything to say? What was your department? I don’t want to cut you off, chief. I’m just asking her to add. You might have some more questions for you, chief. I do have some. Things to say. I don’t want to cut in front of him if he has additional things to say, but, um. Okay, so we were called in.

02:07:17,100	Um, I received a phone call from actually assisted Administrator Wiles about 545 just to notify us of the fire. We’ve practiced medical sheltering before, but, um, there’s been some close calls, but we’ve never actually had a situation where we had to set up a shelter.

02:07:39,600	Um, and then about 930, um, there was a notification that Red cross would be setting up medical sheltering at the Century Baptist Church, and there were significant, significant medical needs, as you had stated, individuals with mobility and accessibility related issues. So at 10 p.m., public health staff reported to the Century Baptist Church.

02:08:02,000	Um, it was me, the public health director, Theresa Schmidt, our nurse manager, Chris Kuntz, our emergency preparedness coordinator, and Jody Bender, health maintenance coordinator that reported that first night. Um, we had eight individuals that stayed overnight in the shelter. There were several more that reported to the shelter right away, but eight that actually spent the night. Um, immediate needs included replacement of some vital medications, support for medical conditions and assistive equipment.

02:08:23,100	Um, so that was all in the first night. And then on the following day, we continued to assist individuals with medication replacement, medical equipment needs, care coordination, and then some temporary lodging. It was a challenge for us to identify Ada accessible hotel placements for individuals. Um, and that was something that we worked on throughout the day.

02:08:44,800	And by the end of the day on Tuesday, we had four individuals that were remaining at the shelter location. Several community agencies like Hit Pride, enable Community Options actively supported their clients and assisted their clients with care coordination. And we worked with local pharmacies and physicians to help with medication assistance and replace medications and supplies.

02:09:07,270	Um, that second night, we had four individuals that spent the night in the shelter, and then the following day, Wednesday, we made it our goal to find placement for the remaining individuals. Um, at some type of lodging establishment. Um, we continue to help walk ins.

02:09:25,800	Um, but as five as of 5:00 on Wednesday, all the individuals that um, had come into the medical shelter for support had been placed in temporary lodging, a majority of which had Ada accessibility, um, needs.

02:09:47,330	And so, um, the Red cross then, um, we were done at the end of day on, on Wednesday for our role as medical shelter, uh, Red cross did stay um, through Friday morning at Century Baptist. And then they relocated to the Schaumburg Ice Arena, where they’re continuing to provide support services. Um, so just to to mention my thanks, um, to the community response, the community response has been amazing.

02:10:11,100	Um, the entities that we’ve been working with, um, donations, people, um, bringing, um, things to the Lions, disaster relief, uh, Paul Hare and the Century Baptist Church opened the facility and had support displaced residents during the time of shelter response. Marlo Anderson, the North Dakota Lions disaster relief um, has assisted us with hotel placements and emergency lodging support.

02:10:33,800	We would not known what to do with individuals if we didn’t have that resource. Uh, Red cross volunteers are continuing to provide wraparound services. Um, food support services to displaced residents. And then community partners. We’re still working with those individuals for case management of of clients. Um, I do too want to say like the firefighters thank you to them.

02:10:57,730	Um, but also thank you to the public health nursing staff. I know that much of our work happens behind the scenes. Um, and I’m always proud of the staff when they can come forward and show dignity and care to the clients that were in need. They really showed the best of public service. And it’s nurse’s week.

02:11:16,800	So, um, another opportunity for for me to say thank you for all that they do for the community. Well thank you. Thank you. Did anybody, chief, did you have anything else you wanted to? Okay, I just want to say thanks to the entire team of the city and all those individuals from the public.

02:11:35,100	We got all those individuals out safely. No casualties, which is amazing. And it just shows you the strength of our community. Um. Thank you. Any other business? Yes, sir. Go ahead. Mayor Commissioners. So I got to bring this up. So we have on Thursday. Gabe, correct me if I miss anything here on Thursday.

02:11:56,900	We have, um, at the Public Works from 4 to 7 and information and informational. Um, for the half cent extension for the half cent sales tax for the roads. Um, it’s going to be a little bit different. It’s going to be open house concept.

02:12:15,530	But at the uh, at 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00, there’s going to be a little, uh, 20 minute presentation. Um, kind of filling in the, um, what we’re doing, the the expansion of the projects. Um, duration of the extension and those types of things. So, uh, if anybody wants to go out to that at Public Works. Public Works. Gabe, I get it. All. I get.

02:12:39,000	Okay. Is there any other business? Yeah, I guess it’s a question for Commissioner Connelly. I was listening to the CalFire cafe radio show the other day, and, um, you were urging people to vote against this half cent extension of the sales tax.

02:12:57,870	But yet, as a commissioner, you were a commissioner with us that approved a language and approved putting it on the ballot. And now you’re on the radio urging people to vote no. I’d just like to get an explanation of what you’re up to. That’s not what I’m up to. I appreciate the wording was set in stone. I worked with citizens.

02:13:12,170	We tried to get one on the ballot and it was stopped. They went through due diligence. They were recommended to go to the stake. Um, election department to get formatting advice. State said that they would have to accept the wording based on what was presented to them. They brought it back here and it was stopped.

02:13:34,630	And I thought that the city and working with the citizens obstructed the citizens trying to put something forward. So, um, there’s three more opportunities to do it better. Well, you supported it and all you needed. To do. I did not support. I did not support it. The I supported the wording being put on the ballot.

02:14:00,170	It’s not much of a distinction. I’ve got one other thing, Mr. Mayor Go ahead. Um, I just want to recognize Zach Weiand from the Bismarck Tribune.

02:14:18,370	Uh, I got elected just over not quite two years ago, and he’s been a reporter here for the entire time I’ve been a Commissioner And this will be his last meeting. He’s going on to a different job. But I want to say that Zach has done some excellent reporting. He has written articles in an objective way. And I just really appreciate what you’ve done in your role at the Tribune. My trusty Tribune. So best wishes to you, Zach, for the future.

02:14:35,100	Thank you. I appreciate it. Good. Commissioner Connelly. Oh. I want Zach. Hey, you’re one of the best ones that I’ve ever seen as far as writing, um, at the local level. So I really appreciate that.

02:14:57,330	To follow up with, uh, Commissioner Risch, I mean, I got tagged a while back for bringing up a political question during the other business time. So there was a lot that went into this. There’s a lot of people that want more than one and done. They say their public input meetings, their public information meetings.

02:15:18,270	We had a one issue that we had talking about to where public comment was to close at a later date, and I made a motion to table it until after that comment. But we’re already making decisions on the project before that’s closed. That sends a message to the community that we’re going to do what we’re going to do, regardless of putting us in a position to listen to them. Well, at this point, that’s not.

02:15:39,530	This point is on the ballot. That’s not genuine, that’s not sincere, and that’s not communication with the public. Well, we’re communicating. There’s meetings and meetings and meetings. And thanks for Gabe for putting these additional ones to coming up this Thursday. So it’s already been decided. It’s going on the ballot. This commission decided that. Yep. And these.

02:16:00,070	Are public information one way or another. How it turns out we live in an awesome republic and civil discourse is how we get to our ultimate means. Is there any other business we