00:00:14,870	April 21st, 2026. It is 5:30 p.m. and we are in the Bosch Freilich Meeting Room at Mandan City Hall. Mr. Neubauer, could you please take the role? Commissioners roar Schulberg here. Hein Chong here. Ron. Yes, mayor Freilich. Here, please stand. Remove any headgear for the Pledge of Allegiance.

00:00:41,670	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. We will start off with an announcements. Uh, May 1st, 2026 is Arbor Day. The city of Mandan. Jason Herman, our ground maintenance supervisor. Good evening, Mayor and commissioners.

00:01:19,270	I’m here this evening to briefly share details about our upcoming Arbor Day celebration. Um, this year it will be held Friday, May 1st at 1 p.m. down at the Doug Shawn Park. Um, the grounds maintenance staff, along with the North Dakota Forest Service, will be working with two fifth grade classes from Lakewood Elementary.

00:01:37,200	Um, the students will take part in a short activity and then help plant two new trees down at dike. Shore. In past years, we’ve typically held this event at an elementary school with a single class. However, this year marks the 50th year for Mandan as a Tree City USA community.

00:01:55,400	To recognize that milestone, we wanted to do something a little different by bringing the students out to the park to help replant two trees that remove. Last fall. With that, we’d respectfully ask you to proclaim May 1st, 2026 as Arbor Day in the city of Mandan. Thank you, and I’d be happy to answer any questions.

00:02:11,770	I have a question. We’ve been fighting the Dutch Elm disease for quite a few years now. Have we got over the peak of that? Have we got things pretty much under control, or is it still prevailing? We do still have Dutch elm. Um, here in the city.

00:02:25,970	It’s not as prevalent as it was before. Um, we still are doing some removals, but not at the scale as it was in the past. What’s the species of tree we’re planting? Planting now? Yeah, we. Had a planting on Arbor Day in. The past on Arbor Day. We haven’t decided yet.

00:02:41,130	Um, kind of waiting to see what some of the nurseries have in stock will probably choose, um, either a tree off of our median boulevard list or large boulevard list. Uh, one of the varieties that’s on there. Okay. Thank you. Jason. Thank you. Second announcement. Um, May is a National Bike Month.

00:03:05,900	So we encourage everybody to go out and ride a bicycle. And also to be safe. And the motoring public to keep an eye out for bikers of all ages. Now we’ll move to construction updates. Gerke. Marion. Commissioners. Good evening.

00:03:27,670	Um, I have a kind of a group of updates to give to you, uh, three specific projects. And then I grouped all of our neighborhood projects together. Um, Memorial Highway construction has started up on both phases of that project.

00:03:50,130	Um, just to reiterate, for anybody who’s curious, phase one, um, is the reedy project on the east side of the corridor? Um, and that was, uh, started last year and will complete this year, um, around July. And then phase two is, uh, the Northern improvement. Uh, construction phase. And that’s on the, on the west side of the corridor. And they started work around the, around the main Street intersection.

00:04:14,000	And then, uh, following that, they will be moving on to utility work and main line paving, and that will continue through this construction season and then into the 2027 construction season as well. Um, one topic that we’ve been hearing about a lot about lately is road conditions.

00:04:31,200	I think that’s on everybody’s mind as, uh, we’re in kind of this wet period in spring, and the roads are susceptible to failures. Um, I did want to, uh, kind of reassure everybody that prior to the Memorial Highway project, we did go and, uh, evaluate the peripheral road roadways around the projects, uh, roads that we thought would be sensitive to construction traffic.

00:04:52,530	So we have kind of a snapshot in time of the condition of those roadways prior to the project. And we were able to compare that to how the roadways look at the end of the project. And they will be, um, and any project related damages will be repaired as part of the construction. Um, moving on. We’ve got first street reconstruction.

00:05:09,230	Not a big update on this one. We have our pre-construction meeting with, uh, site works on Friday, April 24th. At that meeting, we will have a schedule submission and will be able to have a lot of dialogue, get a lot of dialogue started with the contractor related to how they intend to tackle the project.

00:05:27,300	And then after that, after we have that information, we are going to be engaging property owners immediately. So we’ll be getting that information out there as soon as possible. And then I did want to reiterate that we do have a project website for this one.

00:05:44,430	Um, and we will we’ll we’ll get information up here too, so that people can keep track of it. Um, live as we get information. Uh, next, I have the Collins Avenue reservoir. Right now they are active.

00:06:06,200	Active with this, um, uh, the demolition of the retaining wall and, uh, everybody can see that they’re kind of peeling back to address a line of line of sight issue. Um, after this or I do have kind of pictures, uh, comparing the kind of the conceptual drawings to what we currently see in the field. Um, after this, they will still do reservoir painting and site restoration.

00:06:28,130	Um, and we should have a fairly complete project by the end of this construction season. So I’m excited for that. Um, and then I did group a bunch of our neighborhood projects together. Um, we have our side 235 project. This is the project near Lost Trader and Culver’s. Uh, this project is very close to being closed out.

00:06:46,270	We have some checklist items that were left over from our walkthrough with the contractor that they will be addressing on the project, our Water and Sewer 65 project near Lewis and Clark Elementary. There is paving work and sanitary sewer line lining.

00:07:02,330	Uh, remaining on that project, and a postcard was sent to the property owners in the district last week. They should have the information related to what they can expect for this construction season. Our street Improvement District 241 project near Red Trail Elementary. Um, we have a pre-construction meeting, uh, in the near future. Strata was the low bid on that project.

00:07:20,470	And as soon as asphalt plants start up and load restrictions are lifted, we’ll be will be, uh, starting on that project. City Street Improvement District 242 near Roosevelt Elementary. We are in final design of that project. And then that’s the same as Mandan proper phase one.

00:07:40,930	We are in final design of that project. I did want to bring up a Roosevelt Elementary final design and Mandan proper phase one final design, because since we last talked, there have been some changes related to those projects. We thought that the Roosevelt project would be starting towards the end of 2026.

00:08:05,000	Um, but the North Dakota Department of Water Resources, the State Water Commission, um, ran out of municipal funding at their last meeting, and they do not expect to have any more municipal municipal funding available for the current biennium. So the earliest that funding would be available again would be July 1st of 2027.

00:08:24,800	So our plan at this time is to complete design on these projects and then schedule bids strategically around that. July 1st, 2027 bid date. Um, and then if anybody has I mean, kind of the information around these projects are always shifting.

00:08:43,870	And, uh, I just wanted to reiterate that for most of our projects around town, they are up on our City of Mandan website. The project’s web page, where people can navigate to and get more information. And I do have a QR code right up here for anybody that might be watching.

00:09:02,300	That’s what I have for tonight, but any questions that I can answer? Did you have a start date for the, uh, Monte Drive neighborhood? I do not have a start date. I would imagine it would be a lot very similar to the three. A, um, timing, because we’re still waiting for the asphalt to. But I do think that they were up cleaning sanitary sewer mains.

00:09:21,630	Uh, recently, in preparation for the lining piece of that project, but won’t be as that won’t affect residents as much. Okay. Any other questions for Derrick? Yes. Mayor and Derrick. Um, so on that Memorial Highway project or the construction on the peripheral roads, the repair work is part of the dot bid.

00:09:46,130	For those areas that those those are bared by the dot on those areas that have been identified, certain areas, not everything. Right. But there are certain areas on those peripheral roads. Correct? I would say the contractor more specifically, that is incidental to the to the bid items in the project. Gotcha. Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you.

00:10:08,770	Eric. We will move on to item number four under announcements Spring Cleanup Week, April 20th through the 25th. Mr. O’Keefe. Evening, mayor. Commissioners. Just a quick update. Our spring cleanup week has started. Uh, goes through April 25th. Like you said, we’ve had a strong start.

00:10:32,600	Good participation, both at the curb and the landfill. Just a couple quick reminders. Items should be out by 5 a.m. on collection day, and no more than 24 hours in advance. Keeping the items separate from regular garbage helps our crews.

00:10:50,830	Uh, just stay on schedule so we don’t have to, uh, especially if the garbage trucks are in the area as well. Uh, we’re we’re collecting items that can safely be handled by two people, including furniture, appliances. As long as appliances are cleaned out. And always crews will not enter private property. So items need to be placed along city maintained streets.

00:11:10,400	Also a reminder the construction materials, carpet and similar items won’t be collected. Uh, it’s a great opportunity for residents to clean up and take pride in their neighborhood with the country celebrating its 250th anniversary. Just a great time to clean it. Clean a few things out, and if it’s been sitting around since Reagan was office, I’m comfortable saying you’re probably not going to use it.

00:11:30,770	That’s good assessment. Thank you. Shane. We’ll move on to item number five. Community cleanup Month, which is May Madison. Yes. Mayor and commissioners, I’m here to talk more trash. Community Cleanup month is May. There are only four routes remain to be claimed, so we would love to have all 17 routes.

00:11:54,400	Claimed we would be open to more if there is more interest. Volunteers who clean up route during the month of May are eligible for a whole host of door prizes, thanks to local businesses, and you can learn more and sign up at City of Mandan Cleanup.

00:12:14,500	Do you have a picture of the route? Um, I do not, but if you go to Stepanakert Litter cleanup, you can. Why don’t you? Okay. Why not? I’ll do it. Okay. So this would be good for a civic group. Uh, church? Yep. Boy scouts. And like I said it all month long so you can choose your day. You want to. Let’s see. Click here.

00:12:48,700	Here are the routes. And they’re all contained in the city. We’re not talking the interstate. Mayor, I think we, um, we do not like to send folks along the interstate highway because of the speeds and things like that, but I think there might be one route.

00:13:20,200	Um, on the way on East Mandan that we do Twin City Drive, and I apologize. I don’t think we can dive into the interstate ditches. No. I don’t. Want unfortunately. No. It’s traffic’s a little concerning with the high speeds and things like that. And.

00:13:36,600	No, I want the civic groups to know that they’re not going to be, uh, have to put their lives in danger to pick up trash. That’s correct. Okay. Thank you. Madison. Welcome. Now we will move on to public comment. Mr. Neubauer, do we have anyone? No public comment for tonight. Okay. And with that, we will move on to the approval of the agenda. Commissioners. So moved. Second.

00:14:05,030	We have a motion by Commissioner Brown, a second by Commissioner Schulberg. Any further discussion regarding the agenda? Hearing none. Roll call please. Commissioner Schulberg. Yes. Hi, John. Yes, Ron. Yes. Roar! Yes. Mayor. Freilich. Yes. We will move on to approval of the minutes.

00:14:29,230	Consider approval of the April 7th, 2026 Board of City Commission meeting minutes. I move to approve. April 7th, 2026 meeting minutes. Second motion by Commissioner Brown. Second by Commissioner Roger. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioners. Henson. Yes. Yes. Roar. Yes. Spielberg. Yes. Mayor. Freilich. Yes. I have item number two. Under minutes a consider approval of the April 7th, 2026 City of Mandan Board of Equalization.

00:14:56,330	Minutes. I move to approve the April 7th, 2026 City of Mandan Board of Equalization meeting minutes. Second motion by Commissioner Schulberg. Second by Commissioner Haynes. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioners. Braun. Yes. Roar. Yes. Yes. Hi, John. Yes. Mayor. Freilich. Yes. There are no public hearings tonight, so we will move on to bids. First item.

00:15:28,900	Consider bid for the Municipal Sidewalk Improvement Project 20 2620. Riley. Good evening. Mayor. Commissioners. So this is the downtown improvement project. This will be doing a bunch of sidewalk, a bunch of curb. Just general concrete improvements. Kind of focused in that downtown area.

00:15:49,500	Uh, this came before you on March 17th, uh, to get approval for plans and specs. So we’re all good, and we’re all ready to get gussied up. Okay. Any questions for Riley? Move toward the base. Bid for the 2026 municipal concrete contract to Sarah Concrete, LLC. Second motion by Commissioner Brown. Second by Commissioner Roger. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioners. Roger. Yes. Jo’burg. Yes. Yes. Ron. Yes. Mayor. Freilich.

00:16:25,500	Yes. Item number two. Under bids, consider concurring with the North Dakota Dot bid for the micro surfacing. Work on 810, which is the expressway. Derrick. Mayor. Commissioners. The MnDOT open bids for the micro serving project along the interstate, and the kind of the other highways connected to the interstate system.

00:16:50,070	Uh, this is somewhat a sequel to the chip seal project from last year. Um, this project has a different treatment type, as well as different project scheduling that should be less impactful on traffic around the area. Um, our estimate for this project was 27. Our estimated responsibility for this project was $27,000 and change. And the bids came slightly under under.

00:17:15,670	And our estimated, uh, responsibility is $24,624.76. Um, we’re recommending concurrence with the MnDOT bid award. Um, and I can try and answer any questions. Any questions for Jerry? You shouldn’t have said sequel. Usually you make a sequel when a movie successful that wasn’t too successful last year. Everybody’s clamoring for more. Yeah, right.

00:17:42,370	Any questions? Okay. Hearing none. Commissioners. I move to concur with the North Dakota Dot’s bid award. Second motion by Commissioner Schulberg, second by Commissioner Hinson. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioner Schulberg. Yes. Sean. Yes. Ron. Yes. Roar. Yes. Mayor. Froehlich. Yes. We will move on to the consent agenda.

00:18:12,800	Commissioners, are there any items you would like removed for further consideration from the consent agenda? None. And with that, then I would entertain a motion to accept the consent agenda as is. Moved. Second motion by Commissioner Brown. Second by Commissioner Hasan. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioners. Yes. Braun. Yes. Yes. Schulberg. Yes. Mayor. Freilich.

00:18:44,770	Yes. We’ll move on to old business. Item number one. Consider a preliminary plat for Meadowlands, third edition and a zone change from RH residential mobile home park to MH residential. Residential mobile home subdivision. Mr.. Neubauer, mayor. And commissioners. This item was before you. On November 18th of 2025. Our recommendation has.

00:19:13,070	not changed from that time. I know that we were having some technical issues with our audio at that point in time. The applicant, Mr. Jennings, asked for a, um, another opportunity to present his case on this.

00:19:36,100	Again, this really involves a, uh, right of way between gateway trailer or gateway, uh, mobile home park and also connection to South Frontier Trail through Meadowlands. And again, our our recommendation is to keep that right of way in place. Um, and to have that developed as a connecting roadway so that it’s easier for connectivity for both entities that have residents living in those neighborhoods, and also for emergency services to have access to both. So.

00:20:00,570	Again, don’t need to kind of regurgitate the information that was presented on November 18th. But again, applicant has asked that they be allowed to present again because of the audio issues that were held that were existing on November 18th. Okay. Um, the staff has not changed. Our recommendation.

00:20:27,530	Our recommendation remains consistent with the motion that you have in front of you. Um, was the same as it was approved in November. Okay. Mr. Jennings, do you want to. Knowing what you’re up against here? Uh, thank you for an opportunity to speak.

00:20:53,100	Mayor and commissioners, um, I’d like to read, uh, my position and then also share with you, um, the position. of Gateway Park. Uh, that came through with an email on, uh, Mr. Zebulon, the owner of Gateway’s, uh, Gateway Park. Uh, first of all, uh, yes, during the November 18th, 2025 meeting, Mandan City Commission, uh, meeting with the Meadowlands development.

00:21:19,670	Second phase preliminary plat was reviewed and approved. At the time, the Mandan Planning Department recommended that Meadowlands Development provide for a public right of way between Gateway Mobile Home Park and Meadowlands, what currently had existed. There was a secondary access road for emergency access only.

00:21:52,200	Both Meadowlands Development and Gateway strongly oppose this recommendation and request that the Mandan City Commission eliminate any future requirement for the public right of way. Meadowlands development has halted any further development on its phase two final plat proposal, pending the Commissioner’s decision on this right of way issue.

00:22:15,430	Meadowlands development built the Meadowlands Park 55 plus community with a clear intent that it would be a private community in 2015, my brother purchased gateway and Older all age 205 home 500 plus resident mobile home park and I purchased the raw land next to gateway to build a brand new 55 plus senior community, later called Meadowlands Park. It was our specific intent to keep each entity private and separate, given the very different resident makeup.

00:22:46,700	Meadowlands built a 3300 foot long, six foot high security and privacy fence and planted 70 30 foot blue spruce trees to separate the two properties. The city planner at the time, Bob Decker, recommended and encouraged the private 55 plus community and acknowledged the need for the privacy and security fence.

00:23:12,800	At that time, the Mandan Planning Department also recommended a temporary gate in the fence to allow for a secondary access only for emergency vehicles. And that was because 18th Avenue was a dead end in the development and would not connect to Memorial Highway until future development required.

00:23:38,400	The current planning Commission’s recommendation is contrary to the design and intent of our development, and that was supported by the previous Planning Department’s position in 2015. In 2015, the MnDOT, after reviewing the Meadowlands Development Traffic Study, cited safety and traffic volume concerns if the Gateway Park residents were to be given access to Memorial Highway via 18th Avenue, only after

00:24:07,800	Meadowlands development confirmed plans that a privacy and security fence would separate the two parks, not allowing gateway traffic access to 18th Avenue did the MnDOT grant. Meadowlands Development Access approval. This correspondence between Meadowlands Development and the and the MnDOT was communicated through and confirmed by Justin Frost, the head of engineering and planning at that time.

00:24:38,930	The current planning committee’s recommendation is contrary to both the position taken by the city and the MnDOT in 2015. Since Meadowlands Park 55 commute Plus community was built, senior residents had moved to Mandan and made home purchases at the Meadowlands Park 55 plus community.

00:25:08,670	Because it was a safer, quieter, private senior community that was separate from the neighboring all age mobile home parks. Few, if any, of the Meadowlands senior residents would have purchased their homes if they thought Gateway Park residents could get direct access to our private community, a public right of way into gateway.

00:25:32,200	Negatively impacts the value of Meadowlands senior residents investment, as well as their safety, quiet enjoyment and privacy. South Frontier Trail is a private, privately owned street and maintained by gateway and cannot easily be converted to a public street.

00:26:02,870	Additionally, the Planning and Zoning Commission already concluded on October 27th, 2025 that the South Frontier Trail and Gateway Park could not be used by Meadowlands as a secondary access for emergency vehicles. For our phase two development. Because I quote, it is a private street with no assurances that the street wouldn’t be blocked or covered with snow. We don’t understand how the planning department can now make the argument that that same private street is necessary as a public right of way.

00:26:28,270	Meadowlands Development Phase two proposal meets all road requirements as established by the Mandan Building code. Meadowlands has agreed to build out 18th Avenue now to meet building code. Emergency vehicle requirements. There are no building requirements for a third access road or a public right of way.

00:26:57,230	In 2015, I would not have developed Meadowlands 55 plus community if I thought the city would later change its position and require a public right of way through gateway. It is unfair to the existing senior residents that have bought and moved into Meadowlands community, with the expectation that it would continue to be safe, private and quiet.

00:27:21,600	I do not believe that I could successfully develop my proposed next phase in marketed to new senior residents. If the adjacent public right of way were required. Mandan needs more affordable senior housing like Meadowlands Park. I encourage the city Commission to eliminate any future requirement for a public right of way through Gateway Park.

00:27:53,800	I would also like to read an email that Nick Sibylla, the owner of gateway, who’s the other key stakeholder in this, has written and submitted to the commission. Uh, they just became aware of the meeting yesterday and submitted. So I wanted and he requested that I get this into record. Dear commissioners are whom it may concern.

00:28:14,170	My name is Nick Sibylla, and I am one of the owners of Gateway Mobile Home Park, located at 101 12 sixth Avenue Southeast Mandan. I am submitting this correspondence as formal public comment regarding any proposed development or roadway connection that would extend a public right of way into the rear of our property. Specifically, from the direction of 18th Avenue.

00:28:39,070	I am writing to formally express that I do not consent to any public right of way or road connecting being extended into the rear of Gateway Mobile Home Park.

00:28:57,670	We understand there have been discussions about access from 18th Avenue, and we want to be clear that we do not support any connection from that direction into our community. Gateway is a privately owned community, and the internal roadways and infrastructure are private property maintained and improved at our sole expense.

00:29:23,330	These roads were not designed or intended to function as public throwaways, and any effort to convert them to a public right of way would raise serious private property rights, maintenance and liability concerns. In addition, gateway is an all age community with many families and children where residents regularly use the streets for walking, biking, and daily activities. Introducing additional traffic from Anderson adjacent development would create significant safety risks and negatively impact the character and livability in the community.

00:29:55,970	We also maintain a single control point of access within our management office, located at the main entrance. This allows us to oversee activity within the park and maintain a safe environment for our residents. A secondary access point through the rear of the property would undermine the structure.

00:30:18,270	For these reasons, we respectfully request the city not pursue or support any proposal that would require or encourage a public connection through our property without our consent. Please include this letter in the official record for any related application, hearing or review. We appreciate your consideration and are happy to discuss this further if helpful. Nick Sibylla.

00:30:48,700	Any questions for Mister Jennings? Thank you. Barry. Appreciate it. Mayor and commissioners. Perhaps you’d be best to answer this. It sounds like, based on his testimony, that in the past it was. In fact, we were in agreement. Now, explain to me why the changed. We have a map that we could pull up.

00:31:19,630	Absolutely. And pulling that up right now so everybody can kind of visualize the conversation that’s being had right now. So, the Meadowlands development is generally the area to the west and east of 18th Avenue Southeast.

00:31:39,730	Right now 18th Avenue Southeast terminates at a dead end on the north end of this development. And then the access point that is being discussed is right here. And it is Frontier Trail. Um, or the trailer park having access to 18th and then, um, Mr. Jennings also did mention that 18th would continue north, connecting to Memorial Highway, where there would be a right in write out only, um, intersection. Um. I’m sorry.

00:32:12,200	Yeah. And then maybe you could would you be able to repeat your question more specifically? Well, what has changed since 2015? When when the prior commission and, uh.

00:32:33,930	Um, mayor, Commissioner, I think that what what maybe has changed, um, would be staff one uh, Justin, Justin was around, uh, recently, and I worked with Justin. Um, this, uh, kind of application has taken place while I’ve been in my role. And I think that I do have maybe a little bit more passion for, um, connectivity and addressing some of the connectivity issues around town.

00:32:55,430	Um, I think Mister Jennings had mentioned that there are 200 uh, units in this Gateway Park that are being served by a single access point where South Frontier Trail connects to Sixth Avenue Southeast. That means that this 200 unit community is very vulnerable. Um, to issues at this intersection.

00:33:26,270	Um, and I think that one of the clarifications is, um, we believe that the secondary access requirements for the Meadowlands community are met through their access onto Third Street southeast on the south end, and their future connection to Memorial Highway on the north end. What we don’t want to happen is to deprive the gateway community for their only other opportunity for secondary access. At this point.

00:33:49,730	And I would I would maybe argue that the stub to the east is maybe indicative of planning for a future access point right there. I appreciate what you’re saying, but I go back to the the previous commission, and that stub was theirs already in 15. Correct.

00:34:15,870	So they’re agreeing on to maintaining how it’s at right now. Even with that comment you made about the stub. So we have we have the fire department from Main Street that could respond or we have the one on 40th that could respond, but they would have trouble coming in from the east side. Correct.

00:34:30,830	They would have a lot of trouble coming in from the east side. Um, I think that in recent aerial imagery it has been cleared. But this this is a gated, gated fence and often has, um, items stored in front of it.

00:34:50,070	Um, I think that fire fire response is one thing, but, you know, EMS response, uh, police response. Um, general connectivity, um, would all benefit from a more traditional access point to the community. Granted. Now, let’s perhaps planning and zoning would be better to answer this question. He claims that we connect that that will depreciate that property.

00:35:15,100	Is that in fact correct? I would not be able to speak on that. I think that anybody who would speak on that confidently would be speculating. Um, I do think that the, uh, MnDOT traffic comments would maybe be misrepresented a little bit.

00:35:38,670	Um, that this community, that this community’s access through 18th and onto Memorial Highway would impact Memorial Highway traffic because this is a right end right out only intersection. Um, residents would have to turn north to turn south at Memorial Highway. Um, I think that would make more sense that residents would turn south right away and would maybe even reduce traffic on Memorial Highway as it exists today. But, um, yeah.

00:36:03,970	Property valuation. I would not be an expert on that. Mayor. Jared. So I understand the property rights here. This A6, A6 Street you’re talking about, is this the property that the street is on? Is that city owned that property by any means, or who owns the the area of the street is owned by the property owners

00:36:29,930	here or who who is the actual owner of those property of the property where an access street would be? The the current, the current setup or in the proposed setup, the current setup, I believe it’s privately owned property with a public access easement on it. Okay. The easement. Then there would be.

00:36:51,830	Does the city, uh, take on the responsibility of maintaining that? And does it become like a regular public street then, or is it just some other category of designation for a street? Um, mayor. Commissioner. Roger, in the in the scenario that we are presenting, it would become public right of way that that small stub off of 18th Avenue southeast.

00:37:13,330	18th Avenue Southeast is already public right of way and is already maintained by public works. So this would be kind of just added on to that, um, stretch of maintenance responsibility. So it’d be coming to the auspices of the city of Mandan, basically. Um, yes, sir. Okay.

00:37:40,430	Any other questions for Eric? If not. Um, and if there is no motion to change the staff recommendations at this time. Um, there’s nothing more to do. Mr. Ulmer, would you like to speak? Good evening. Mr. Mayor. Commissioners. Uh, I have reviewed. I came on within the last couple of years with Barry on this project.

00:38:09,770	Um, during, uh, preliminary plat phase and everything like that. It was kind of surprised on us at the end about the public right of way. Comment at that meeting. Uh, it was mentioned, I think, a day or two earlier than that.

00:38:31,070	Uh, to us before that, we were proposing it to keep it as a, as an access easement because fire still wanted some kind of secondary access to that Gateway Park. Uh, multiple developments in Mandan. Well, less in Mandan, but in Bismarck and other communities have access easements for fire and for emergency services, some provided with security gates that standard vehicles cannot go through. But EMS and fire can.

00:39:00,000	That is an option and can be negotiated, I guess as part of, uh, I can’t make that decision. Barry would have to make that decision. But I also am in in, uh, I do have some of the original comments back from MnDOT, uh, with Kevin Levi as the head of the district engineer, I have that correspondence, that

00:39:21,800	correspondence pretty much stated that they didn’t want 18th Avenue to connect in the first place, that the city of Mandan kind of forced their hand to try to make that connection.

00:39:41,470	And on top of that, they didn’t want Gateway Park extra traffic to go that way, including if they did allow that right in, right out. So we do have that correspondence to that we could submit to to the city staff as well. And actually we did submit that. So you don’t want the 18th Avenue to connect to Memorial Highway. So we’re going to need that secondary access right now.

00:39:57,500	No. At that time they suggested trying to go around gateway on to the right onto the railroad property and go back to 1806. Instead of connecting to Memorial Highway.

00:40:17,430	But through that correspondence, back and forth and the traffic study that was submitted, uh, they finally did allow a write in right out. But part of their stipulations was that gateway extra traffic wouldn’t be part of that traffic study. And included in that report. What year was that? Uh, 2015. 2015. Have you had any correspondence regarding that in the last couple of years, or the planning department? No.

00:40:43,430	Mayor, I do believe Abe has shared this. And, um, I think that and I think that some of this overlaps with maybe Andrew being here and Andrew being the the original or the main point of contact for this.

00:41:08,530	But, um, my recollection was the dot comment was asking the question about if during the traffic study, gateway traffic had been considered, and of a definitive. Um, we do not want gateway or. Um, yeah, gateway traffic on our road. And I would have to review. I would have to review this. The North Dakota dot said they do not want gateway traffic on on their road.

00:41:30,430	I would say that it was not as definitive of a statement as that. And that’s my recollection of it, but I, I could be mistaken. They’re very aware that 18th is probably going to go through. Right? Correct. And and they’re fine with that. Correct. Yes. They are fine with that.

00:41:48,630	At the end of the discussion with Dot and Dot, this is from Kevin Levi, uh, dated six for 15. Uh, N.D. Dot’s primary concern is what affect the proposed proposed north axis will have on Memorial Highway, meaning 18th Avenue connection. The department is opposed to the north axis that serves services.

00:42:10,630	The entire Meadowlands development, including office structures off of Memorial Highway and any traffic from the existing development. The existing development, as I understand, would be Gateway Park. The study states that some of the new development traffic may use the new connection to Frontier Trail, as well.

00:42:31,330	What will prevent all that existing development traffic from using that connection to the north axis? Due to the projected traffic volume, due to the projected traffic volumes, take that possibility into account.

00:42:51,130	Also, is there room for a north frontage road to access the office buildings onto the north side of the Meadowlands? Is it possible that this frontage road could connect to 1806 to provide an adequate northern access? Therefore eliminating the proposed north access onto Memorial Highway? No. And then there was some back and forth. And ultimately they did come back and and approve 18th Avenue connection. The way it was proposed with a gate and just the access easement for emergency services to Gateway Park. And that was a 2015. Correct.

00:43:24,230	So everybody’s been aware of the access at the gate, but there’s been, uh, barriers placed in front of the gate. But they’ve been moved. Now, I think there was a basketball hoop or something in front of that gate. I guess I do not know about that. Every time I’ve driven by, it’s always been on the East side.

00:43:43,370	I’m going to let Chief Pitts speak on this. Good evening. Mayor and commissioners. Um, yeah, just kind of a high level summary from the fire department standpoint. Um, when the original development, uh, Fox Drive, uh, Meadowlands Park area was proposed, 18th Avenue southeast.

00:44:08,600	Um, there was discussion about the need for secondary ingress and egress at that point. And that’s how we landed on the, uh, temporary what was believed to be temporary or secondary emergency access through Frontier Trail. Um, to allow for the secondary ingress and egress for Meadowlands.

00:44:30,970	Uh, and that’s when the gate was installed with the intention that the gate in that we’ll call it the stub road between South Frontier Trail and 18th Avenue Southeast. The intention was that road would be maintained, um, with the understanding that eventually 18th Avenue would connect all the way up to Memorial Highway to provide right of way. Uh, secondary access. Once further development occurred.

00:44:51,900	So now we’re at the point, you know, within the last year or two, we’re further development is occurring, and we were able to come to agreement with the developer to secure that right of way along 18th Avenue.

00:45:13,600	Um, so the question comes, should we take out the secondary access over to Frontier Trail or maintain it? Excuse me? And, uh, the developer is proposing to maintain it as, um, an access easement with the gate on there. That is there today. And unfortunately, we do have documented history of that gate being blocked either by snow or basketball hoops or bicycles or overgrown trees. We have pictures of that.

00:45:37,170	Um, so we have a documented history of that gate not being accessible to public safety. So that’s where we land. On the recommendation to maintain the public right of way all the way up 18th Avenue, as well as right of way to connect over to South Frontier.

00:45:56,130	Um, as mentioned, it wouldn’t be right to take access away from the Gateway Park folks when it’s there today. We should, if we have a chance to fix this and correct it for the long term. These developments, they don’t go away. So these decisions can’t be made on what, uh, or should not be made on what serves us best in this immediate near future.

00:46:10,400	We need to look long term. And the, uh, these decisions we make, they’re here forever. So we need to make them very cautiously. Right. Um, would Rachel like to comment. If I can finally unmute that? Yes, I would love to.

00:46:35,870	Um, just on general planning practice, it is generally considered to be a best practice to ensure that your neighborhoods are well connected for pedestrian activity and for vehicular activity. Um, you know, if there’s not a road that goes all the way through and that secondary access has been fine, totally fine.

00:46:52,730	But I think, um, you know, like Jared said, I think there’s there’s certainly been some shift in city staff, right. Um, but I think if you have the opportunity to make an improvement for the better, um, my recommendation would be always to go with additional connectivity through the city.

00:47:12,670	If you think about, for example, say, one of the individuals on the east side of the park has an older relative living over on, um, in the Meadowlands subdivision. That walk is like close to three quarters of a mile around. Um, and you would certainly want to think about the impacts of that versus just, you know, walking through a public right of way to, to get over there.

00:47:33,530	Um, so that would be my recommendation is the best practice is always to add connectivity for pedestrians and vehicles wherever possible. Um, in this case, there’s a stub out to the east. It was clearly thought about as an option. Um, and my recommendation would just be that the staff recommendation be maintained. That’s that’s about all I’ve got. But I can answer questions.

00:47:53,230	Any questions for Rachel? If not, thank you, Rachel. Thank you, chief bits. Again, we come to this very. Comment. Now, since there’s been a lot.. Sure. Make a quick. Okay. Yeah. I just I want to be clear that we certainly support an emergency access.

00:48:19,000	If you wanted to keep and create the emergency access. Our concern is with a public right of way. So having people going back and forth, both the stakeholders here have requested that we don’t open this up to the public. We understand the need for emergency vehicles. We condone that. We support that we have all along.

00:48:42,870	This access was never given. Originally the easement. It was always for emergency access. And right now we’re in a position where we’re sort of forgetting about the stakeholders here a little bit. We’ve got existing seniors that don’t want it. We’ve got a proposed set of expansion to the seniors that don’t want it.

00:49:05,270	And there’s no way I can even do this development with it. You’ve got the stakeholders with the Gateway Park, the owners saying we don’t want it either. It’s going to be very disruptive. So I’m trying to understand who’s the public we’re trying to serve here.

00:49:24,200	who you’re dealing with all the stakeholders here who don’t want it. Um, as a public right of way. Again, I support emergency access vehicles, and I would also comment that there was one time that we were notified there was a snowplow left in the gate. We removed that. We’ve kept it all in it so it actually could function.

00:49:46,400	And we’re happy to put in a better gate. We’re happy to give an create an automated gate. Other, uh, other entities do that. Other cities, everywhere else, we could give the keys to, you know, all the emergency vehicle places. We just don’t want to have open access. We don’t want it.

00:50:05,070	The seniors don’t want it, and our neighbors don’t want it. And I’m just trying to understand what to what end. We’re trying to get this. So that’s my my final comment. Thank you very. Chief Betz asked me to pull something up. Chief Pitts. Mr.

00:50:34,770	Mayor and commissioners just want to share that this is what we’ve experienced. And this is one picture. I also have another one on my phone from the other side. Um, dated. Um. I’m sorry, I just lost the. Different date. I don’t have the date in front of me, but there’s a basketball hoop and overgrown.

00:50:54,770	Is there a way to maybe share on this thing if I don’t appear or not? If you want. I mean, we have we have documented experience of more than one occasion where this. So that the past 12 months is a good indicator of the next 12 months is my experience. So I would not recommend, uh.

00:51:17,900	Deviating from what we’re recommending, what’s already been approved. Okay. Thank you. Chief. Okay. At this time, again, I will say, if there is not a motion, uh, against the staff recommendation, then, uh, what was decided in November holds. And commissioners, I just have one more comment. And that is.

00:51:53,070	I find it difficult for me to go back when something was agreed upon. 15 years. A business decision by two different entities to create a certain situation. I understand times change, staff changes. So now we get up to to where you claim the people don’t want it and that that may be absolutely accurate.

00:52:18,000	But when it comes to emergencies, it only takes one time where they can’t get in that side because it’s plugged up with grass, a plow, whatever. Um, signing an agreement that says you will you will take full responsibility with your counterpart that that will always be open, uh, still leaves us open to what was just presented by Chief Bits. Now, that’s causing a problem for me.

00:52:42,070	Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Brown. So with that, um. With no motion to amend the staff recommendations, uh, the November 18th, 2025, uh, Commission decision stands, and we will now move on to new business, consider a request for a special use permit for our shop condos for lot one, block one sible subdivision. Jordan.

00:53:19,370	Good evening, Mayor and commissioners. Before you is a special use permit for shop condos. Lot one, block one sible. Subdivision. Um, this proposed special use permit is for what we call shop condos or multi-use shops. At that property, the address would be 902 Missouri Drive, Northeast.

00:53:43,470	Uh, let me pull this up. Give me a second here. Just get a sight picture where we’re at currently off of Mandan Avenue. We have the mini storage, and this would be just on the other side of this, on the north side of the road between Mandan and then Division. Obviously interstate there.

00:54:07,930	Um, give me a second here. I was going to. That one. We’ll have it up on the screen here shortly, but, um, it would be just a sight picture of what this property is going to entail if we can get it up.

00:54:45,530	I don’t know if we can or not, but, um, this property also is along the interstate, which involves our gateway overlay district. There’s a lot of extra, um, different requirements for this property. And so far, what we’ve gotten from them is all been those approvals. The last piece that we need from this is, um, a approval from the Mandan Architectural Review Commission.

00:55:12,530	And, um, the engineer on the project actually submitted it today. So we’ll be having this come up in discussion. But I just wanted to show you on this screen that this is for this site and what you are approving and what you’re looking at is, is five units plus a shop building.

00:55:29,770	So the ones that are in blue is what we are having this special use permit for. Everything in red is self storage, which would be um, kind of the same thing they’ve had on the other side of the road for the Dakota mini storage.

00:55:45,200	So this special use permit is for just the the seven units would be the five, which would be this building here. And then the two, which is these two. This is not part of this, but it’s different phases of construction. So anyway that’s what this special use permit is for.

00:56:06,530	Um, we’ve had recommended approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission. I believe it was unanimous. And like I said, the last thing we have is the landscaping plan, um, approval for for Mark, which will happen next week. So any questions for me? Any questions for Jordan? Okay. If not commissioners I’ll move to recommend approval of the special.

00:56:30,030	Use permit for shop condos for lot one, block one. subdivision. Second motion by Commissioner Schulberg, second by Commissioner Hinson. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Commissioners. Braun. Yes. Roger. Yes. Yes. Hi, John. Yes. Mayor. Freilich. Yes. Item number two, under new business, consider approval of the plans and specifications.

00:56:53,570	Engineers report and authorize the call for bids for the 2026 Striping Project. 20 2621 Riley. Uh, good evening, mayor and commissioners. Uh, so this project will refresh the striping along Main Street from 10th Avenue to, uh, just before Mandan Avenue to not disrupt the ongoing Memorial Highway construction.

00:57:17,000	Uh, so it’ll just be grooving epoxy in all the lane lines, as well as the arrows. And the only you would see on the road. Jeep. And that will start when, if approved. Uh, so we did the dates, uh, look at the calendar once.

00:57:37,330	I can’t remember the top of my head because I would go to bed this Friday. Um, then we’d be three weeks out. So it would be awarded at, I believe, the second meeting in May, which would be the 19th. Uh, so they would be able to start on the 20th of May and they would be completed by June 22nd. Okay. Any other questions for Riley? Hearing none.

00:58:02,330	What are your wishes? I’ll move to authorize the engineering department to advertise for bids for the 2026 Striping Project. Second motion by Commissioner Hinshaw, second by Commissioner Rohrer. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Commissioners. Roger. Yes. Hilberg. Yes. Hi, John. Yes. Ron. Yes. Mayor. Freilich. Yes. There are no resolution and ordinances tonight.

00:58:29,200	There is no other business. The future meeting dates for the Board of City Commissioners is are as follows. Tuesday, May 5th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m.. Tuesday, May 19th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m.. Tuesday, June 2nd, 2026 at 5:30 p.m..

00:58:55,770	We are exactly 74 days out from the 4th of July Day Parade. I urge those that want to get a float in to do so, and at this point, uh, be kind to yourself. Be kind to your neighbor, and it’s onward and upward. Mandan in this meeting