00:00:03,000	City. Current. Produced by Dakota Media Access. In-depth discussion with Bismarck and Mandan city officials. Watch on government access channel 602 HD and tune in to Radio Access 102.5 FM. Always local, always current.

00:00:32,170	Coming up on this July 15th episode of City Current, we'll take you to the Tom Baker meeting room and recap the ceremonial swearing in to new commissioners and the mayor maintaining his office. Talk about the half cent sales tax for roadway priorities for Bismarck, and recap the fantastic red, white and boom. I'm Tom Gerhardt from Dakota Media Access, joined as by Jason Tomanek, Bismarck city administrator. Good to see you. Hi. You said red, white and boom.

00:00:54,800	So I'm smiling still. Still. I bet you're still energized by. Yeah, right in high from that event. Got some great photos. And of course, you've got some really interesting statistics that we'll get to in due time. But last night, our two new commissioners were sworn in, as was the mayor in his second term.

00:01:16,000	And kind of a neat process to see although photo op and things. But then we'll also talk a little bit about a leadership code for elected officials that the city's developed and talk a little bit about orientation, just so people know, like we're not just plopping people down out of the city commission

00:01:34,400	and letting them find out the hard way. Right. There's a lot to learn about our organization, and we're fortunate both Commissioner Hull and Commissioner Dahl have been engaged with us as an organization for quite some time. So we're we're off and running. I would say at this point. They had served one, had served the historic preservation, and.

00:01:55,670	Hull was on historic preservation, is still on historic preservation. And Commissioner Amelia Dahl had previously served on Renaissance own authority, and she received that portfolio as well. So she'll continue to be in that capacity just as a commissioner instead of as a volunteer citizen.

00:02:15,770	So they're sworn in, and then you got up and just started to go through a little bit of this leadership, this kind of code for elected officials. Talk just a little bit about that. I think you mentioned this is something the mayor had thought up just a couple of years earlier. New. Yes. The leadership code for elected officials.

00:02:32,530	I was adopted by the city Commission August of 2024. And this was something that Mayor Schmitz had brought forward. For those that may not know, Mayor Schmitz has been a certified public accountant for over 40 years.

00:02:54,570	Obviously, ethics is a huge part of being a certified public accountant, and he felt that it was an appropriate time for the for the city commission to adopt leadership code. And really, it's trying to address the roles of the commissioners, their responsibilities, respect for their positions and the staff and the citizens that they will encounter, and then just general representation.

00:03:18,270	And so it kind of defines some policies and protocols related to conduct commissioner conduct with one another, Commissioner conduct with staff, with the general public, just general meeting decorum. And it generated some good discussion.

00:03:40,270	We've we've had this discussion over the years with different commissioners, and I believe it was Commissioner Reisch that was looking for some clarification on engaging with the public and interacting with the public, and that's a topic that it's an important one to understand. And what we're trying to avoid is any sort of perception of improprieties or a serial meeting. In other words, if a citizen comes to each of the commissioners independently and says, I have a concern, that's one thing. You can certainly raise your concerns.

00:03:58,830	But if the if the citizen were to say, I have a concern and I need you to do this and start to build consensus away from the commission table, then we get this perception and quite possibly the reality of a serial meeting where there is some behind the scenes discussions that could lead to some sort of consensus

00:04:18,300	in the future, and that that's where we need to draw. The bright line is that certainly engage with the citizens, have the conversations, but just be mindful not to commit to anything implying what you may or may not do in the future.

00:04:38,800	The other thing that Commissioner Richard noted with the portfolio assignments, if a citizen were to contact him and the concern was something related to a topic outside of his area of portfolio, he would either direct them to the appropriate commissioner for that 1 to 1, or he personally would contact that commissioner and say, do you mind if I talk to this person?

00:04:54,730	I know them from past experiences or history or whatever the case may be. And so I think it was good to have that discussion, certainly for a refresh for Mayor Schmitz. Commissioner Conley.

00:05:12,170	Commissioner Risch, who have all been at the table, but then also good for Commissioner Dull and Commissioner Hull to hear for the very first time as part of that orientation process. And speaking of orientation, what goes on behind the scenes for the new commissioners at the table? Well, with technology, of course, we're we want to fit them up right away with laptops, city cell phones so they can communicate and do their jobs electronically.

00:05:32,000	We've given them city email addresses. They all have city cell phones, and so they can choose to provide that information. Their emails are the same as any other city staff. It's just the first letter of their first name and their full last name at Bismarck. And we have those posted on our website.

00:05:47,600	But then also for the two new commissioners, we've offered to meet with them and help them make sure they're comfortable with the technology. Can you navigate the agenda online? Do you know where all the attachments are? And there's some subtle nuances to that.

00:06:07,470	I would say both Commissioner Hull and Commissioner Dahl are very comfortable with technology and adapted to that really well. Going forward, we will open ourselves up to tours or if you want to see certain facilities, we would encourage them to connect with their portfolio holders as they or their departments or committees, or whichever the assignment might be, to better understand what those expectations are.

00:06:27,670	Every director is probably going to be a little bit different. Some directors prefer to have a regular weekly engagement. Hey, Commissioner, here's what's going on in the department. Here's what I want you to be aware of. But I think I said this during the meeting. The expectation is certainly not day to day engagement.

00:06:43,830	We don't expect the commissioners to know all the staff and know what their tasks are and all of that they are they are at a high level, but also there to provide a bridge between what goes on at the commission table with what goes on with the directors, and kind of the bigger operations within the department.

00:07:01,200	You ought to slide a City of Bismarck overview. I thought it would be interesting to show for those that are able to see it. And in the bottom right hand corner is Dakota Media Access and just appreciated the nice shout out by you last night for our services and our. Shout out.

00:07:18,900	I've said this a lot and I mean it when I say it. When people talk about the phrase transparency in government, it can mean a lot of things. But to me, DMA Dakota Media Access is transparency and government on display? We are on the radio, we are on TV, we were on the internet.

00:07:35,900	We are providing everything that we're doing through your communications and means. So I think for us it's an important resource to call out. But it's also, you know, without without all of this display of information, we could be in a vacuum. I mean, most of our commission meetings have less than a couple dozen attendees.

00:07:57,070	So to know that we've got a city population of over 75, close to 78,000, we're a community of well over 100,000. Bismarck, Mandan and the surrounding areas. You guys do a great job 300m a year, and we're very grateful for the work that you do. And I think it's okay to talk about that sometimes.

00:08:14,970	And with a slide we just had up, the mayor has a show here called Bismarck Insights. We have the Human Relations Committee with these Are Your Neighbors podcast. And of course, City Current is another program that's created the really help people understand and learn about what's happening. And in this case in the city of Bismarck.

00:08:34,330	And of course we do this with Mandan as well. So it was a nice tip of the hat to the staff. So much work is done behind the scenes, and I know they appreciate. All but mighty team over here. That does great stuff.

00:08:49,100	And I will say this to every time we've come to Dakota Media Access with a request or an idea. The answer has never been know. You guys have always said, yep, we can figure that out. So that's that's great because without that we wouldn't have some of these other programs that are available. So it's not just government meetings. It's all the things that we've asked you to do.

00:09:06,970	Yeah. Grateful for that. Yeah. It's this month actually 39 years. You can leave it. So that's spectacular. People started back in 1987. So it's been quite a journey. I know what I was doing in 1987 and it wasn't starting community access, that's for sure. No, I was nine. I was in high school. So yeah, we're going away.

00:09:28,870	But that's like when they talked about the 1880s, you know, back when we were when we were growing up. But enough about us. Don't mean to pat us on the back, but I just did appreciate that shout out last night for services that and the relationship that we have with the city of Bismarck

00:09:45,300	and the city of Mandan, outstanding as well. So first thing on the regular agenda last night was the Opportunity Fund request, and there were three last night. I think maybe we haven't really talked about these last night, but they garnered some discussion last night.

00:10:03,730	They talked about the three requests and and why there was a little bit of discussion. So in the past we have had dozens of requests for letters of support. And these are generally from local businesses that are looking to capitalize or apply for some sort of funding through the Bank of North Dakota or the North Dakota Opportunity Fund.

00:10:24,130	Bank of North Dakota puts out grant dollars across the state, and if Bismarck isn't competing for those dollars, they're going to another city in North Dakota. So the requests for support, essentially, they're not asking for anything from the city other than just simply a letter of support. The city has no financial interest.

00:10:44,870	Direct financial interest in these projects. Where the city's interest is, is that these are local businesses that are either buying property or buying and improving property, growing their business by adding staff or providing additional services.

00:11:03,570	As the mayor pointed out last night, when those local businesses are investing in properties and investing in their staff and their their businesses, that is ultimately a success story for the city of Bismarck. If you're improving your property, that will increase the valuation, which then increases the taxable value and the amount that the city is able to collect to continue to provide services.

00:11:22,630	As we've discovered over many years, the growth of Bismarck is what is sustaining our operations. Because we are a growing community, we are very fortunate with House Bill 1176 that caps the budget at 3%, but with new growth meaning improvements to properties or brand new properties that are getting built, we are able to tax those 100%

00:11:43,370	the first year, and that gives us an additional lever to pull when we're going through our budgeting process. So for these businesses to be buying perhaps underutilized or underdeveloped properties or even viable properties, and then growing them even more, that's just bolstering the tax base on the commercial side of things.

00:12:04,900	And in some ways it lessens the burden for the residents, but it really just creates a stronger foundation for that tax basis for various reasons. We've got a couple of commissioners that have expressed concerns and frankly, just a general displeasure towards incentives and recognizing in certain cases, some of these businesses do have direct competitors in the community.

00:12:30,430	And I can understand that where if you've got a company A and company B, both providing the same service and one is getting an advantage over another, that's that's a difference, I get that.

00:12:48,300	But at the same time, if you take a step back, these programs are available to any business in the community provided that they meet the qualifications. So the fact that company A is applying for some type of an incentive in company B is not, I guess that's company B and company A's choices. All the request is again from the city.

00:13:06,600	Here is to say yes, we we support this businesses ability to grow and expand and add to all of the offerings and services that they provide. So it's gotten some attention lately. But these all three of them passed. We need three votes to pass. And a couple of them went three two. And I think one of them went 4 to 1. Yep. So the businesses will move on.

00:13:24,600	They'll go to their next step through the Bank of North Dakota or the North Dakota Opportunity Fund, whichever the case might be. And we wish them all the success in the future. And I guess we will continue to receive these requests through the Bismarck Mandan Chamber EDC.

00:13:43,400	They are our consultant group that handles economic development application requests, which this falls into. And so we will continue to address these things one by one as they come forward. Businesses generate sales tax. And I guess you can tie that into the next item on our agenda, which is the presentation on the half cent sales tax for roadway prioritization.

00:14:02,370	And that was extended in the the June primary for another ten years after our current ten year expires. There's a lot there. I guess I'm just wondering how you'd like to break down the conversation last night. We're talking about some funding guidance, prioritization of projects moving forward.

00:14:32,300	Sure, maybe the probably the easiest part to dissect and talk about in my mind anyway, would be the prioritization of the roadways. And so the voters approved back in June by a fairly healthy margin. I think it was 67% approval for the extension of a half cent sales tax. So we'll be collecting through 2038 now.

00:14:52,300	Originally it was set to sunset in 2028, so there's another ten years beyond that. But the prioritization is something that I think a lot of people were interested in. So there were, you know, well over two dozen sections of roadway that were analyzed.

00:15:08,800	And between our city engineer, Gabe Shell, and some of the staff in the engineering department, they put together some criteria to evaluate these various sections of roadway. Because there are a lot of potential projects. Lots of. Options and unknowns. I'm sure it's true.

00:15:26,870	And Commissioner Rich noted, it's likely even in the next 12 years, we wouldn't be able to complete all of these projects, and we didn't complete all of them from the first ten year cycle either. So some of them may not get done. Some of them may rise to a different priority level depending on how development affects those those corridors. But the engineering staff was looking at the cut activity and network completion.

00:15:46,130	In other words, do we have roadways with gaps? Calgary Avenue is one that comes to mind. If you travel East Calgary, you'll know there's a couple spots where I'd sure like to continue down this corridor, but it doesn't exist. So that connectivity and completion, traffic operations, of course, safety, pedestrian, bicycle and transit connectivity.

00:16:07,130	So how well are we doing with multimodal transportation? Is there a deficiency in the existing infrastructure and then implementation feasibility and then overall community benefits. So those seven criteria fell into the evaluation process. And from there a list of about ten roadway sections came to the top. And Gabe presented these as part of his recommendation as the initial prioritization list.

00:16:31,470	And it starts with Ottawa Street in North Bismarck. And for anybody that's been in that part of our community in the last few weeks, you'll know it's under full blown construction. And that roadway was initially it was just a two lane asphalt road when you said old Highway. It was originally part of highway 83.

00:16:49,630	It's bizarre to think that, but in the when it's done, it'll have sidewalk, curb and gutters, street streetlights, street trees, all the things that you would typically see in a in urban roadway. But then the list gets into some of these kind of maybe less traveled roads, but roads that still need attention.

00:17:11,270	And those roads I think about Calgary, I'm sorry, not Calgary, but buckskin, Colt and Arabian avenues. These are residential streets just west of Washington Street. Those came to the top of the list. Here. Again, we've got narrow two lane roadways without sidewalk, curb and gutter street lighting. And so those need to have those modern treatments.

00:17:34,530	So there are sidewalks where people can walk safely and things like that. So the prioritization I think was probably an important discussion. But then it also came back to funding. And how do we how do we program all these costs in the revenue and what are we anticipating.

00:17:57,830	So the available anticipated revenue over the lifespan of this is about $117.5 million. Leading up to 2030. Eight, correct. At about 10 million a year, I think gave estimate. I mean, that's kind of where you're sitting. That's what the trend is showing that it's about a $10 million annual collection.

00:18:14,330	So with that 10 million over the next 12 years, what are we able to accomplish and how are we able to get it all done? And so some of the things that Gabe, it asked for, we have some existing policies on like water and sewer infrastructure funding, if we're going to be fixing a road where contrary to that, if we're going to be fixing the water

00:18:31,730	and sewer infrastructure, can we also fix the road? And when we do those things, the utility department generally helps pay for some of those costs because it's causing some of that work to happen. And so what Gabe was looking for was affirmation that we continue down these existing paths of some kind of braided funding or shared funding.

00:18:51,570	The other thing that had come forward was this idea of still having some type of special assessments for local and collector streets or roadways that are not classified as arterial, and what the recommendation was from Gabe in the ultimate decision from the commission was that 80% of the funding for those roadways not classified as arterials

00:19:13,700	should be through the half cent sales tax, which would then leave a 20% balance for special assessments. So it's not a complete abolition of specials, but it is a recognition that sales tax dollars will go towards improving these roadways because they're major roadways and connective corridors throughout the community.

00:19:29,870	So and then the other part of this, the rural road policy, which was something developed back in 2013, it applies to projects funded by the rural road sales tax. Again, that was reaffirmed as continue to support it as is and and go forward and make the projects happen.

00:19:51,070	So where we landed, we've got the prioritized streets, starting with Ottawa Street, Lea Avenue, a portion of Calgary, a portion of 19th Street, a portion of LaSalle drive, Airway Avenue. So now we're down close to the airport. Here again, it's another two lane road with no sidewalk, curb and gutter any of those things. And then we talked about Arabian Bucks getting cold.

00:20:13,630	And then also on the list would be Santa Fe Avenue. That's a road, east west road on the south side of Bismarck near Cottonwood Lake. Again, there's a gap. You can kind of see both sides, but it doesn't connect. And so that connectivity between Boston Drive and South third Street is on the list as well.

00:20:33,530	And so that's the list we have for now. But again, this list is by no means cemented and finalized. This is something that can come forward and be reevaluated on an annual basis if necessary.

00:20:50,730	So a lot of discussion on this one though I think it was it was good for all the commissioners to engage and share some thoughts and appreciate the work and the insight that came forward from our professional engineers. We certainly value their opinions, but also understand that this list may look different a couple of years from now, just based on how our community continues to grow and evolve.

00:21:09,670	We touched on this at the start of the show today, but at the end of the agenda were portfolio assignments and the designation of a vice chair for the Board of City commissioners. And we can't we're not going to go through all the portfolio assignments, but I thought I'd just give you a little bit of an opportunity.

00:21:28,970	As an example, Dakota Media Access has liaison, and that's Commissioner Connolly, and he attends our board meetings as a liaison for the city. And I think it's great that we have he's able to take that back to the full board if necessary. But it really helps with the understanding. And then, of course, he's learned a lot about us.

00:21:47,530	And I just think that communication is really important. And that happens in other examples. As well. It does. We have four positions that are liaison, meaning they are not necessarily a voting board member, but again, a bridge or a voice between the two organizations.

00:22:08,200	In addition to the Media Access liaison, there's also a liaison position for the Bismarck Parking Authority, for the Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library and the Transit Board. So those four have liaison positions in why are we involved with those? Because we are involved with those different agencies. The the Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library has a board of directors that is prescribed by North Dakota Sentry Code.

00:22:30,030	So it's not that our city leaders in the past decided, oh, the library needs another board. No, the state leaders decided every library needs a board of directors.

00:22:48,570	And so rather than have our commission and the board, you know, at odds or anything like that, we have a liaison from the commission that will attend those board meetings and hear what the board is deciding on the library's behalf and, if necessary, carry that message back and then vice versa between city commission and the library. So and then another examples.

00:23:07,470	What's an example of a portfolio for, say, Commissioner Risch who now is the vice chair? So what minimum century code prescribes that we have to have we call them portfolios, but they sentry code calls them out for police, fire streets and improvements and lighting, cleaning, sanitary conditions of the streets, public improvements. Sentry code also says a water works and sewerage commissioner and a commissioner of finance.

00:23:34,230	So we're dealing with some kind of antiquated language a little bit. But essentially over the years, we've taken this prescription from the Sentry Code to identify those departments. But because we have other departments beyond these minimums, we've essentially assigned portfolios to all the city departments, whether it be a liaison position or a direct portfolio holder.

00:23:58,430	So for Commissioner Risch, he will be the Public Works Service operations portfolio holder. And that entails all the components within public works services. So there's six divisions there forestry, building maintenance, fleet, roads and streets. I'm going to miss a new one. I started I was I was going to miss him.

00:24:24,400	But with the service operations he will also then inherit the position for Forestry Advisory Board. So he becomes a voting member of the Forestry Advisory Board, because forestry is part of the Service Operations Division, he will also continue to hold the airport, which he was assigned two years ago.

00:24:41,770	He will have engineering and between the engineering and public work service operations, there's a lot of overlap because our engineers are designing the projects that service operations will ultimately be maintaining. He will. Commissioner Risch will also hold building inspections, and then he will take the mayor's seat on the Bismarck Burleigh Commissions Committee, which I also am there. That is a group that meets monthly.

00:25:03,600	The county representation currently is the county auditor and the vice chair of the commission, which I believe is Commissioner Steve Bakken. So Commissioner Risch has essentially five assignments. But as I mentioned in service operations, there's a number of other kind of subcategories within that bigger department. So the idea is to kind of spread this around. So all the commissioners have equal an equal volume of tasks.

00:25:27,270	But also the mayor met with and heard from each of the commissioners with their preferences to the areas that they're most interested in. And for Commissioner Matt Hall, we heard during his campaign that he was one of his top priorities was supporting public health, whether it be through the creation of the triage center or attempts to

00:25:48,300	reduce the homelessness situation in Bismarck. And so loud and clear, Commissioner Rice or Commissioner Hall, we heard your request. And so he was given the public health portfolio. So and these will likely be in this composition for two years until we have another election.

00:26:06,530	And we could introduce new faces at that time and then shake them up and start all over again. Speaking of public health, I just wanted to give a nod to Renee Mark, the executive director of Bismarck Public Health. Talk about the honor bestowed upon her, I'd say just a few weeks ago. Yes.

00:26:26,130	At the end of June, Renee was recognized or selected as the vice president of the National Association of City and County Health Officials. She often refers to it as Nacho. It's a national board of directors. And actually today this board is meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, and Renee is there as the vice chair or the vice president.

00:26:46,130	So this is a very high honor for anyone in the public health realm. And it is a very wonderful distinction for region eight, which is the region that we are in. Renee will be representing a voice from the rural health community. A lot of the other board members are from large metropolitan cities.

00:27:03,600	And so Renee is the first public health director from North Dakota that was elected to the national position in more than 30 years. So this is great. It's a it's a wonderful feather in Renee's professional cap, and we're very glad that she's there.

00:27:21,230	We know she's going to do a great job representing North Dakota, but also Bismarck as well. So we wish her the best of luck with that. Let's have some fun now and recap Red, white and boom, you've got some great photos, but you had some really interesting statistics. And I know I bumped into you and I don't know, 12,000 people.

00:27:40,130	12,000 was 12,000 was the big number. Look at this. Great. I think this is a drone shot. You said that. Just give a perspective of bouncy houses, seating stage I mean vendors, it's a lot going on. It worked really, really well.

00:27:58,400	And I I'm not going to try and mention all the partners because I can't even remember all six divisions in public service operations. But a huge thank you to the fanatics. Fanatics Events, which is a local Bismarck entertainment company. They really took the lead on programing and bringing the vendors and the volunteers and everybody together, coordinating the meetings between the safety personnel and just all of it. It was just a great experience.

00:28:22,730	At the peak, we had well over 8000 people in the bowl itself, whether it be on the turf, on the on the soccer field, on the West End or up in the bleachers.

00:28:40,430	But then across the entire campus were electronic data is telling us that we had somewhere between 11 and 12,000 people there for the fireworks and the drone show and Savannah Ben's the Bismarck, Mandan Symphony Orchestra, Braveheart band. They all did a great job with their live entertainment, and it was just a spectacular experience.

00:28:59,930	My wife and I and the mayor and and his wife were the greeters at one of the gates on the way in, and it was it was just an uplifting opportunity to see the diversity of our community and people coming out and just celebrating not only America's 250th anniversary, but just celebrating the community that we are a part of.

00:29:20,470	Through the data that we were able to collect with cell phones and just general information, we had people from Dickinson, Jamestown, Minot, their percentages of visitation grew by the hundreds of percent. We had over 25 different zip codes in the bowl itself. And so that tells us that there were people coming from lots of different places. The average amount of time somebody state was well over two hours.

00:29:41,030	So they didn't just come for the fireworks, they didn't just come to see one thing, they came and made a night of it. And yes, we've heard I experienced the two. Parking and exiting was still a challenge. We understand that we will. I will pledge that we will continue to get better year over year.

00:29:56,370	Our law enforcement presence this year was amplified much higher than it was last year, and we learned a lot. We had a drone in the air watching where the pinch points were.

00:30:15,430	We now understand Washington to divide fourth and divide were those traffic signals are we need to overrule those traffic signals, keep them green so cars continue to move away from the community Bowl. Please give us another opportunity. Come back next year. We're going to do it again and we will continue to work on exiting. But at the same time, I heard from a lot of people. Oh, it took me 45 minutes to get home okay.

00:30:32,470	But somebody got out first. Somebody. It only took him a few minutes to get home. So not everybody had a terrible experience with parking. But all in all, I can't say thank you enough to everybody that came out, everybody that worked 364 days after the last year to make this year's event even better.

00:30:50,730	And we've already met again, and we're talking about how to improve next year, not just with parking, but more so the visitors experience. What does the the general public need to have a better night. And we know that mobility challenges are present.

00:31:09,330	And how do we do a better job of helping people get to and from the places they want to be with a shuttle service or golf carts or whatever the case might be? But then also just knowing that having a free event that's open to the public, where you can come and meet your neighbors and just be entertained, we got to keep doing that.

00:31:26,630	This is placemaking. This is quality of life stuff. And to know that people are coming from Bismarck and James to, I'm sorry, Minot in Jamestown because their communities don't do things. That tells us a lot that people want to be a part of big, exciting things, and we have a responsibility to help do that.

00:31:43,330	And we didn't talk about this, but I think it's important to think about like the city took this on after it left the Capitol grounds so we could be one of those communities with nothing. Could be. And so and. I wasn't going to let that happen, though I didn't like it.

00:32:02,670	So I was saying, when you're and again, I'm not trying to suck up to the city, but I mean, the fact that that now this is your second year, you took this on free, as you mentioned, for any everyone and everyone who wants to participate.

00:32:18,500	As you're waiting 45 minutes, just keep in mind that we could all be at home with no activity. That's a good point. If the city hadn't stepped up and the partners that have made this possible. So I, I think we all have to be a little patient.

00:32:35,300	Obviously, you're all working behind the scenes to make this a better experience, and nobody wants anyone to have a bad exiting experience. But I know the people I've heard from, including people here in the office, just had an extraordinary time. So well done for all the partners that made this happen. And as you mentioned, you talk about community, bringing people together, 12,000 people. My goodness. You know. It might be the biggest event in Bismarck.

00:32:53,230	You know, you think about a concert at the event center, full blown, all the tickets you can possibly sell Elton John. It was over 10,000. This was 12,003. So it might be the biggest thing that Bismarck has done in a long time. And we know that we have a responsibility to do better and do more.

00:33:13,870	Again, what I'm anxious to see is if we can continue to pull this number of people in next year, right when it's the 251st, it's not the semi centennial, it's just 2027. So I think the entertainment, the the experience for people should be enough to bring them back next year. I guess time will tell.

00:33:36,230	The weather will play a part in all of that and whatever else is going on next year. But I think this year was a wonderful success. It was a wonderful experience to be a part of it, and I'm just so, so thankful that we do have a 4th of July celebration in the capital city of North Dakota.

00:33:52,870	As it seems that should be. Well, one last thing. As you mentioned, a lot of construction going on. I just wanted to let people know you can go to Bismarck, IndyCar, gov streets to find out updates on all the latest projects.

00:34:12,030	And you mentioned it earlier, but you know, we offer a lot of live coverage here at Dakota Media Access on our radio 102.5 FM, our radio app, or at RadioAccess.org also at DakotaMediaAccess.org. You can see things live but also on demand. If you can't watch City Current or the City Commission meeting, you can watch it on your time by visiting any of these sites. So until next time, thanks for joining us.

00:34:33,100	Have a great day! For more information on what was discussed in this episode of City Current, visit BismarckND.gov or call (701) 355-1300. If you have suggestions, comments or issues you would like addressed in future episodes, contact us at info@freetv.org. This program airs on Government Access Channel two and 602 in HD, all on Radio Access 102.5 FM.

00:35:01,530	It's also available as a podcast on Radio Access and as a video viewing link at freetv.org. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of City Current.