00:00:12,400	Today is August 18th, 2026. We are in the Ed Bosh Froehlich meeting room at Mandan City Hall. It is 5:30 p.m. Mr. Neubauer, could you please take the roll? Mr. Heinsohn here. Braun. Yes. Belohlavek here. Sjoberg. Mayor Froelich. Here. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge allegiance to the flag. Of the United States of America.

00:00:39,600	To the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. We’ll start out with announcements. Construction project updates. Jarek. Mayor. Commissioners. Good evening. I’ve got updates for four projects around town today. Um, heavily focused on Memorial Highway. Uh, for the east half of Memorial Highway, it is substantially complete.

00:01:12,200	The walkthroughs for both the above ground and below ground infrastructure were completed. And a final punch list has been, um, uh, created. And the contractor is working through them. Um, one notable punch list item is Hull Road Repairs. People may notice that that is happening right now.

00:01:28,900	Um, there are a few other areas that are set to be, um, reconstructed, uh, as a part of the Memorial Highway project that will be reconstructed later on in the season, just to to timing and lay down yards in the contractor being able to get in and out of their work area. So most of it will be done.

00:01:46,470	Now there is a few spots that will be addressed later on. For the west half of the project. Um, the eastbound temporary asphalt lanes are installed and we are and we have, uh, eastbound concrete completed from Main Street in the intersection to the floodwall.

00:02:07,670	We’re expecting a traffic shift tomorrow morning, so this will be a big change for everybody. Um, it’ll flop from the current, uh, north side to the south side so that the contractor can start working on the north side, on the underground, on the north side.

00:02:27,400	So that’s a that’s a big change coming that everybody, uh, everybody should be aware of. And then on, uh, third Street, there is a lot of activity going on there related to stormwater infrastructure installation. People will notice a crane out here and a cofferdam that’s associated with the construction of an outlet structure. Um, there will also be a 72 inch stormwater pipe. Uh, bored underneath third Street.

00:02:51,030	But Third Street should remain open the entire time. Uh, another topic of conversation is the dewatering activities. Uh, have pictured here. Uh, the groundwater dewatering. Um, this is positioned right next to an inlet.

00:03:15,270	And, uh, what this is, is just basically, uh, pumping groundwater into our stormwater conveyance system, and this is just to dry out trenches so that the contractor has a dry area to work in while they’re doing some of those underground improvements. Uh, next is the first street reconstruction project. The phases one and two are substantially complete.

00:03:36,570	There’s a few items that still need to be done in those phases, such as the colored concrete boulevard work and just some of those other button up items. But people can drive down them and take a look. Um, I drove down there this morning and here’s a picture of Fifth Avenue Northwest. Um, looking north. If everybody if anybody’s interested in that, uh, this week we are expecting phase three.

00:03:57,730	And and the intersection at fourth Avenue Northwest. Uh, we’re expecting water main and storm sewer installation to occur there. And then upcoming, the contractor will be moving to phase five. So they’re allowed to have two phases open at a time. And they will be three and five in the coming weeks.

00:04:16,500	Um, they’ll complete the road based installation on phase three and start, um, putting the surface improvements on that. And then they’ll be opening up phase five and starting the underground improvements. There. Um, water and Sewer District 65 up by Lewis and Clark Elementary.

00:04:37,770	This project is substantially complete and there are a few punch list items that were developed and they are going to be worked on by the contractor through the end of the year. Uh, Street Improvement District 241 up by Red Trail Elementary. Asphalt paving is complete as of right now.

00:04:59,130	Um, in the next week or so, we’re expecting the chip seal and fog seal contractor to mobilize in and start working, uh, around the around the school first and then around the entire project area. Um, also stormwater conveyance improvements are in progress and will continue, uh, after Labor Day.

00:05:21,200	Kind of a short project update this week, but we do have a project website for, um, some of our other ones going on around town, and I can try and answer any questions if you have any. Eric, can we go back to the downtown project? Um, you said they’re working on the storm sewer in unit three or section three. Correct.

00:05:40,700	Do you anticipate any issues with that like we had in the first section where we had to punch a hole? No, it should be. It should be much smoother. Um, installation process here. There’s a lot less utility conflicts in this segment. And then, um, we’re working with, uh, infrastructure. That is, as we expected it to be.

00:06:02,230	Um, on that first on that first segment, uh, the, the assumptions that we were going into the project with, we found out weren’t correct. It’s not the case in this segment. So it should be smoother. Thank you. Mayor and commissioners. Go ahead. Chair should mention yes, I did leave it out of the construction update.

00:06:22,400	We are also we we uh, we went through that, uh, stop sign, uh, configuration at the intersection of Collins and 14th. Uh, we went through kind of a trial period, seeing how that would operate as a two way intersection or a controlled only on the minor street being 14th.

00:06:40,770	Um, we are planning on putting that back to a four way stop based on community feedback. Um, we did feel that it Collins Avenue operated very nicely with the or with the the two way control, but the improvements at the interstate, there’s several large improvements that should be made at the intersection in conjunction with, uh, configuration change. And that warrants more, uh, study and planning in order to implement.

00:07:09,930	So if that change were to be made permanent, that would be a little further down the line. Commissioner Braun. Are there some things that are going on with the City Hall? Um, yes.

00:07:32,270	Uh, as a part of our municipal concrete contract, there are um, there’s some flat work being done on the south side of City Hall. Um, there’s some sidewalk and stairway improvements being made on the south side. The main entrance of City Hall. And we are expecting that to continue for the next couple of weeks. Um, besides that, I’m not aware of other work that might be happening. Thank you.

00:07:51,100	Any other questions for Jared? Okay. Thank you Eric. We’ll move on to public comment. Mr. Neubauer, any comments? No. Okay. Move on to approval of the agenda. Entertain a motion to approve the agenda. I move to approve the agenda. Second motion by Commissioner Braun. Second by Commissioner Heinsohn. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Commissioners. Braun. Yes. Belohlavek. Yes. Heinsohn. Yes.

00:08:19,870	Mayor Froelich. Yes. Approval of the minutes. Consider approval of August 4th, 2026. Board of City Commission meeting minutes. I’ll make a motion to approve the August 4th, 2026 Commission meeting. Minutes. Second motion by Commissioner Belohlavek. Second by Commissioner Braun. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioners. Belohlavek. Yes. Heinsohn. Yes. Braun. Yes. Mayor Froelich.

00:08:46,600	Yes. We’ll move on to public hearing. Item number one. Consider revision of to the Mandan Land Use and zoning code. Jordan. Good evening. Mayor, commissioners, uh, this evening we got Rachel on the line to present just kind of the overview of the entire project as a whole.

00:09:06,970	I just wanted to make one note. Um, before she starts in on that, we had a clerical error in the packet that, um, had the data center piece listed in. In one part of it. It wasn’t in the piece that you had as commissioners, um, that you were able to look at.

00:09:25,070	And I just want to clarify that that is reserved and will not be voted on. Um, as we’ve maintained so far in this process, we had two pieces of it in the existing one that had that in there was left in one of the in the resolution and

00:09:41,530	ordinance piece of that. But that is not to be voted on. That’s reserved that section. So I just wanted to make that clear. And you would not have had that in your packet. So, um, if you looked at the entire agenda, Attorney Oster had had found it for us.

00:09:57,430	So I just wanted to make note of that before we get started on it. So, and I think Rachel is on and we’ll probably share her screen with the presentation. If not, I can as well. So evening. Can you all hear me? Yep. Okay. Perfect. I am going to share my screen. Uh.

00:10:25,730	Hopefully that’s working. Let me know if it’s not. Um, so this is the public hearing for the Mandan land use code. Um, the Planning Commission did hear this last month. Um, as Jordan noted, data centers are not part of this, and I will I will get to that too, but I will start with, um, a project timeline.

00:10:47,730	So this project started back in fall of 2023. The city and Stantec began working on background analysis and a code audit. Um, so Stantec is a consulting firm that frequently does land use codes. They’re great at it. Um, so back in fall of 2023, this project started in winter of 2023.

00:11:12,470	They held the first working group in spring of 2024, they held a second working group meeting. They did a completion of best practices summary and there was an initial review of a draft. In summer of 2024. They held meetings three through five of the working group.

00:11:30,530	They did surveys of builders and developers. They completed the draft of the section 109, which is the subdivision regulations, and they held an open house. In fall of 2024, there was a first draft of the complete ordinance and staff review. Um, then in winter of 2024 through 2025, um, this project was placed on hold.

00:11:53,400	Um, as you know, obviously your planner, um, had moved on to a different position. And, um, the contract with Stantec had completed. Um, and so in spring, fall of 2025, you contracted with Interstate Engineering. Me, um, to, uh, work as your interim planner.

00:12:19,430	And at the time, staff said discuss kind of saying, let’s hold on this, um, land use code project. We’ll wait til the new planner gets in here, and then we’ll take care of it. As the months have gone on, um, in, uh, late winter of 2025, staff noted. Hey, we probably should pick this up, right? It’s been sitting here for a while. It’s mostly done.

00:12:40,670	Let’s let’s get this approved. Um, and through the finalization of the process. So in February of 2026, um, our team held a working session to review the draft and determine any additional needed updates. Um, there were a number of them. And then in June of 2026, we held a final working session.

00:13:01,770	So that is seven full working sessions with staff, commissioners, notice to the public. Um, with that final working session, we did identify a few things that were kind of going to hold on and come back to. Data centers are one of them. There’s a few others that I’ll go over.

00:13:18,800	Um, and then in July, this one before the Planning and Zoning Commission. Frequently asked questions why are we working on this project? I’ll answer that one. Um, but it has come up a couple of times. Why isn’t there a red line version of the code available? So this question has been asked by the public a few times.

00:13:36,330	The updates to the land use code are substantial enough that a red line version does not actually provide any useful information. These are not like in line in text changes. They are, for the most part, a wholesale update to the Land development code. There are pieces that are the same.

00:13:53,770	There are pieces that are different, but a red line version doesn’t provide a ton of useful information. Um, there are a number of resources on the zoning rewrite study website, and I’ll go over major changes tonight, but that zoning rewrite study website has the original, um, code audit from Stantec. It has, I think, every draft and working session presentation, um, it has several interim documents.

00:14:18,070	So that’s really the best place to kind of see the changes in the code as time has gone on. Why was this project needed? So land use codes always need regular updates, right? As we come across more modern uses, as we, um, kind of come across sticking points in a code, um,

00:14:36,200	I guarantee you this code will also need some updates eventually. Um, but occasionally a total overhaul is needed to modernize language, address new concerns, and ensure that the code is working effectively and efficiently. And so that’s why this was originally decided to be done.

00:14:53,330	Our data center is included in the ordinances before you tonight, know this section has been reserved until August. Planning and Zoning Commission meeting to allow for thorough public and commissioner review. And that draft is out and has been for, I believe, 12 days.

00:15:15,200	Um, what are the major changes that we’ll talk about tonight? So the zoning code audit, um, in fall of 2023, Stantec completed a zoning code audit on on chapters 101, 105, 109 and 115. In the rewrite in front of you tonight, there are two chapters 105 and 109.

00:15:36,570	Um, so Administration and planning, which was 101, has been subsumed into 105, which is the new zoning code, and then 109 land subdivision has stayed as land subdivision. And 115 right of way has been saved. So we will come back to 115 in the zoning code audit, the findings were that there are a lot of districts that are similar. Several districts no longer exist but are still on the zoning map.

00:15:54,830	There are several districts in the ordinance that are not used on the existing map. District descriptions and uses don’t match. There’s outdated language. There’s no administrative review of some uses. There is a list of uses with special standards that needs to be modernized. Um, creative uses and small uses are not addressed. Setbacks throughout the code could be modernized.

00:16:16,600	Park Park dedications or limited to payment in lieu options. Some design standards or recommendations or suggestions um right away with should be reexamined and updated to current best practices. Landscaping ordinance does not have a clear set of standards, and the administrative process is unclear. So this was all back from 2023. Um, public involvement.

00:16:39,600	So a community survey again back in 2023 was held, um 500 users, 500 plus users of the code. Um participated in this community survey. The um answers to the survey. The results are online there on that zoning code website.

00:17:02,470	The top three issues that were identified by survey respondents were to adjust the uses that are permitted in Mandan to include those that are more modern, to require more park dedication. With development of new subdivisions. So that’s land over funds. And to clarify, residential and commercial uses intended for the areas surrounding the downtown Mandan business district.

00:17:23,000	Um, and then this has six but seven working group sessions were held to evaluate specific code sections, provide education and determine direction. So quite a bit of public involvement. So these are the major changes. And I’ll go through each of these individually. But landscaping park dedication access management right of way with new zoning districts, specific use type updates administrative changes and parking and driveways.

00:17:45,830	So for landscaping, um, this was updated to closely mimic Bismarck’s landscaping code on the request of local developers. Um, it lays out street tree requirements and commercial and residential areas. It creates clear buffer zone requirements utilizing tables and measurements. Um, it updates perimeter and island planting requirements and it modernizes expected landscaping.

00:18:08,730	If I had to boil down the landscaping changes to like a one sentence explanation, I would say that if you are building a building and need to put in landscaping, it is much easier now to go into that code and say, okay, I need to plant 15 trees and 17 shrubs and I need X amount of space and square footage

00:18:27,330	dedicated to it, um, which was not possible in the old code or the current code, I guess. Um, Park dedication. So this update allows the park district to require land or payment in lieu as allowed per North Dakota Century Code. Um, it applies to commercial or residential properties with tiered approaches based on land development style and density.

00:18:48,200	Um, so it’s basically just allowing the Park district to fully utilize the um, rights given to them under the Century Code. Access management. Um, there’s a lot of details within this section in the zoning code, but essentially it updates access, spacing and allowances to modern best practices, and it clarifies the intent of different street

00:19:10,370	classification types, um, and right of way widths. It widens the minimum width of arterials and classifies principal and minor arterials. It creates two standards for local roads residential and non-residential. And then it adds in rural standards. Um, it creates five new zoning districts.

00:19:36,130	So RR Rural Residential allows for rural development on well and septic is intended to support the TJ. The minimum lot size is 1.5 acres. Mm industrial is very heavy. Industrial uses and the proposed zoning map limits this use to the refinery. Downtown fringe has been rewritten to provide a more logical transition zone.

00:19:58,070	It eliminates drive through motor vehicle services and retail group B, um and the proposed zoning map reduces the footprint of the downtown fringe district. The neighborhood mixed use district, uh, is a form based code concept to support vertical and horizontal mixed use redevelopment. And. Oh, sorry. And it’s not on the proposed map.

00:20:19,430	Um, and then CMU corridor mixed use is suited for infill development and reuse along auto oriented corridors, and has larger scale commercial areas. Um, I will come back to this this proposed zoning map, but I, um, want to make a note that there is, um, this was proposed.

00:20:41,870	These are the new zoning districts, and they are all intended to to essentially address modern uses of properties and new uses of properties that weren’t contemplated under the current code. Uh, specific use types. So there are, um, some changes here. So there it modernizes languages and use types across the board. There’s a new use table that clearly shows whether a use is permitted, permitted, conditionally or not permitted.

00:21:06,300	Um, it clarifies structure and how to determine use type for different uses. It adds additional housing types, reserves, data center section for later review and updates. Multi-Use shops to allow for administrative approval. Um, so that was one that changed recently, but it essentially sorry. I keep. You bouncing.

00:21:34,630	Um, essentially and this is I think, uh, what the code tries to do across these specific use types is to create regulations and requirements that allow for, um, administrative approval of certain of certain use types rather than asking them to go through maybe Mark or through planning and zoning Commission. Um, and so it’s simplifying development in some ways while also adding additional standards.

00:22:06,600	Um, administrative changes clarifies review structure, clarifies administrative requirements in both subdivision and zoning sections. It codifies the administrative appeal process. It creates additional administrative processes to streamline development for citizens. So what I just talked about, it moves some conditional use permits to being administratively approved uses with additional standards.

00:22:27,430	Again, what I just talked about and then it updates definitions, modernizes languages terms and visual aids, parking and driveways. Um, so it removes exterior parking requirements for dwellings. It reduces parking requirements for senior or affordable multi-unit buildings. Um, there is an allowance for on street parking adjacent to residential property to count towards required minimum parking.

00:22:52,130	There’s a reduction in minimum parking for retail establishments to one space per 500ft. Medical clinics. Minimum parking now based on square footage rather than employees. Um, there’s an allowance for parking reductions to be reviewed and approved by the city planner up to a reduction of 25% for minimum requirements.

00:23:13,030	There’s a creation of a concept of proof of parking, which allows for project owners to construct only 80% of required parking, so long as the rest of the required parking area is preserved for future use if needed, and then minimum and maximum driveway widths are established. And so a lot of these are again modernizing parking requirements.

00:23:33,630	Um, modern planning has moved toward, um, reduction of parking and allowance of creative parking solutions. And so that’s this is really what the section is getting to. Um, so goals of recent updates. So in the spring of 2026, staff and consultant team goal has been to accept work done previously while making strategic updates to several sections. Those sections are um shown on the screen.

00:23:56,230	So landscaping, multi-use shops, park dedication, formatting and final two AUC and then identification of next steps. So um, as we noted, there’s a few things that as staff and our team looked at the, um, code and where it was at, we said, um, we have a few things that we maybe need additional time to deal with, right?

00:24:22,070	Either the city needs more time to deal with it. Our team needs more time to deal with it. Just a heavy lift. And so that is the next few items, the next few slides. The first one of those is the zoning map updates. So there are still some unresolved comments and updates that need to be made.

00:24:39,830	It’s a big lift to update the zoning map at the same time as a zoning code. Um, there’s a lot of public notice. There’s a few public meetings that would need to occur. Um, and so trying to update both at the same time is probably just not feasible in general.

00:24:56,330	I don’t think it’d be feasible if you had an in-house planner. Um, but in general, it I think this is the best way to handle it. Um, so the intention would be to pass the zoning code and then move on to the zoning code update, where staff and our team can take time to answer questions from individuals

00:25:12,970	whose properties may be proposed to have zone changes on them. Um, I know a question was brought up to staff about whether or not zoning map updates would like help facilitate the data center. That is not something that’s being contemplated within this zoning map.

00:25:32,170	Update the user simply to address this the downtown fringe area and then properties that have zoning that no longer exists, um, on the map or in the code application. So there are new applications that are needed once you update a zoning code has have been created.

00:25:51,570	Um, staff will roll those out with new codes, signs and right of way. So sign codes, um, should be reevaluated based on content neutral regulations. Um, it currently allows for more flexibility and negotiation. It’s been mildly updated in this version of the Land Development Code, including a sign master plan.

00:26:11,230	These are great steps, but there’s probably a little bit more to do. Um, I think one of the requests that staff had said that they’ve gotten in the past from sign companies is that, um, it mirrors Bismarck’s a little bit more. So this is just something that staff will have to come back and look at. Um, and then right of way.

00:26:26,100	Chapter 115 needs to be reevaluated and updated. There were some sections that were incorporated into 101, but it just needs additional review before a public hearing. Um, there were two main public comments heard between Planning Commission and now. Um. One was a comment from a citizen regarding impact of landscaping updates on prior approvals.

00:26:49,230	The city has addressed those comments and questions with the citizen. And then there was a comment received via email and at Planning and Zoning Commission about street trees and requesting to not require any street trees due to maintenance and safety concerns.

00:27:08,430	Um, we’ll note that street trees are a very common requirement in subdivision and zoning codes. They can reduce the effect of heat islands. They generally update, uh, they generally increase property values. Um, and they do slow traffic. So there are some reasons, but they did have some concern about those from maintenance and safety perspectives. And I think that email was forwarded to the commission.

00:27:26,970	Um, so those were the two main public comments we’ve heard that weren’t related to data centers. There were a number of those at the Planning Commission meeting. Um, and so the recommendation would be to approve the draft land use code, sections 101 and 109, in whole, as presented, as well as the repeal and reservation of the current

00:27:45,200	section 105. And I can take any questions. Any questions for Rachel. I have a couple of questions. Rachel. Um, the first one I want to address is, uh, regarding the residential, the rural residential, um, I just want to clarify. Ah, is that the area, the one mile, etc.

00:28:11,400	? Um, that we have jurisdiction over, but they’re not city parcels. Um, I that’s an interesting question. I think that would be generally like not nothing within the proposed code would, um, affect any existing properties right now. It simply makes that zoning district available, um, to those properties for zoning. So there may be some properties in the city that would be appropriate to be rural residential.

00:28:39,230	Either they don’t have access to, um, you know, they’re not planning to develop, but typically, yes, you would see rural residential on, um, you know, in the itJ or in areas that are undeveloped.

00:29:01,470	It just seems that if we are that close to the city’s, um, jurisdiction, future planning would warrant maybe to make those more residential or city regulations so that we don’t have to deal with rural regulations or updating their roads and their features that define rural versus city. Um, later down the road, if we’re not too far from annexing some of these properties.

00:29:21,170	So I was just trying to get a clarification of maybe some examples of where we would see this rule. Residential. Chair Frohlich Commissioner Belohlavek, I’ll take this one.

00:29:38,170	Uh, Rachel, I know one of the one of the things too, and she, she spoke on it, but would be the the zone change map and for the current parcels that may not be um, in that they would have to request that or we would, we would put that on them.

00:29:55,400	One of the areas that I think of that we’ve, I think slated for this type of, um, use is the ones that already are one and a half acres or more in the ET, um, J area. So your areas that already have one and a half acre lots and things like that, that are already developed and have that now for raw land, that would be a different story. I understand what you’re saying, Commissioner Bellavia.

00:30:13,470	So somebody comes to you and wants to develop a more rural area. Are we going to require them to develop that more based on a rural setting, or are we going to use the city’s protocol with curb, gutter, sidewalks? Uh, city infrastructure? Mayor, commissioners, I think I think I could help answer that

00:30:36,970	one. Um, typically at that point, we would be utilizing the comprehensive plan. Um, the future area road plan and the, um, the the general request from the developer to make it an evaluation based off of all of your codes and all of your planning, um, to say whether or not a request like that is

00:30:58,200	appropriate, I don’t think it would be something that would be automatic by any means. Okay. Um, other questions I have regarding the trees and the landscape concern that citizen um, presented. I know it says every 40 lineal feet. Um, you would want a tree to be planted.

00:31:20,170	Um, just for some clarification, if a person has, I mean, a standard lot size is is how big a street frontage in the middle of a block, not a corner. Probably. Probably 70. Okay. And so half of that 40ft is going to be driveway. And how far from a driveway would we plant to tree. 15 to.

00:31:44,800	20ft okay. And we might also consider that there could be, um, streetlights. There could be hydrants. So even though we’re stating that we want them every 40 lineal feet, there are factors in there that are going to reduce where we can plant the trees and how many we actually need. So some property might not require any potentially.

00:32:09,870	Mayor, commissioners, I believe there’s an allowance for it to be placed in the front yard. Um, if they do run into significant barriers within the boulevard and so they can kind of make that decision.

00:32:29,200	Um, but yes, that’s it’s typically a pretty common, I think, occurrence that you’d end up with like one tree for a standard size lot. Okay. And if we’re on a corner, we aren’t going to allow them to plant them within 40ft of a corner because of the site view, right? That’s correct. Okay. Okay. Then within our site triangle we have specific things for that, especially on, um, well-traveled roads, things like that. Okay. All right.

00:32:49,400	Thank you. Yeah. And just to note to I know it was brought up just, uh, between the two, I did pull up Bismarcks, and they have three shade trees required for every 100 and then obviously offset. So there could be leeway there in that. But it’s close to what they have. So.

00:33:16,070	Any other questions for Rachel or Jordan? If not, thank you. At this time we will open the public hearing. Anyone with comments, please approach the podium. First call. Second call. Third and final call of the public hearing. Public hearing is closed. Commissioners, would you please go to.

00:33:57,930	Under resolution and ordinances, item number two, consider first reading of ordinance number 1490 reenacting land Use Code sections 101 and 109, and repealing and reserving the current section 105. Rachel, did you want to comment or Jordan. If not, commissioners. I move to approve the draft Land Use Code, section 101 and 109, in whole as presented, as well as to repeal and reserve the current section 105..

00:34:37,170	Second. A motion by Commissioner Belohlavek. Second by Commissioner Heinsohn any further discussion. Hearing none. Roll call please. Commissioners Heinsohn. Yes. Braun. Yes. Belohlavek. Yes. Mayor Froelich. Yes. There are no bids tonight. We’ll move on to the consent agenda.

00:35:01,830	Are there any items you would like removed? If not, I would entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. So moved. Second motion by Commissioner Braun, second by Commissioner. Hi, John. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioners. Heinsohn. Yes. Braun. Yes. Belohlavek. Yes. Mayor Froelich. Yes. Mayor Froelich. Make one comment on item C. I just want to thank, uh, Shane for his work.

00:35:30,100	I know the Public Works isn’t my portfolio anymore, but I know the amount of time he put in researching how how to operate in this type of, uh, with personnel. And I think he’s put a lot of time in developing his staff. And I just want to commend him on on moving this forward, because I think it’s great for the city.

00:35:50,900	Okay. Thank you. There’s an old business. No new business. We’ll move on to resolution and ordinances. Item number one. That is the first consideration of ordinance 1489 to repeal section 243-2 of the Mandan Code of Ordinances and to enact new article 20 of chapter 24 of the Mandan Code of Ordinances

00:36:20,830	relating to the Use and Operation of Electric Bikes. Electric Micromobility devices and mini bikes within the city limit. Chief Zeigler. Mr. Mayor and Commissioners, uh, what’s in front of you today? Uh, came to us with us observing a lot of, uh, of these vehicles out there running around our city.

00:36:47,600	Uh, we decided that it was necessary to change the ordinance because we weren’t. It was kind of outdated. And, uh, so we wanted to fix this and get it more in line with North Dakota central code.

00:37:09,130	And to give our police officers the ability to not only, um, educate, but in cases where education is not working, it gives them some type of enforcement element to these scooters and, and bicycles. Um, anybody that’s out there and about can see them going all over the place. Uh, I’ve had several citizens complain about almost hitting them because they can’t see them. And, uh, young kids driving them.

00:37:29,700	So it’s it’s a safety concern, too, with, uh, the way that they’re being operated. So it’s only appropriate to start to have these regulations so they can be operated safely. And I’ll stand for any questions. Do you have pictures of all of the, uh. Bicycles, the electric mobility devices that fall under this.

00:37:56,900	Not attached. Uh, you could Google them and see just about everyone that’s out there. I do not have them attached to this. Are we talking about the, uh, what? Looks like a skateboard? It’s that scooter with the upright handles.

00:38:23,630	The other thing that, uh, this ordinance does, it restricts the use to however many people that can carry. So you’ll see a lot of people doubling up on these things, which is extremely dangerous. Um, it talks about the different classes of the e-bikes. Uh, the biggest difference is the class three can go up to 28 miles an hour.

00:38:43,500	Some of them can actually even exceed it. Uh, so there’s a lot of, of just no, no regulations on these yet. Uh, so communities across our state are starting to enforce regulations and, uh, enacting ordinances to help regulate.

00:39:08,400	So where are they confined to? Can they go up and down the sidewalk? They can. Yes. If you look at it, um, the way the ordinance is written, they can’t operate on sidewalks, but they can’t exceed 15 miles an hour on sidewalks. Uh, there’s a section in there, talks about any of these vehicles that exceed 30 miles an hour.

00:39:27,630	Cannot right, on sidewalks or on multi-use paths, which is what the park district would have. Um, so. But if they’re going 15, it’s okay. If they’re going 15 miles an hour right now. Yes. It could be on the park parks path. Correct. But they have the ability to go 30. Okay. Yeah.

00:39:49,870	A lot of these walls, they also have, uh, speedometers on them and different things like that. So. And it also has written in here the ability of there if we do see issues. The park director, myself, city engineer, public works director has the ability to get together and restrict them from areas or put more restrictions with signs.

00:40:17,830	Do you currently have the paths posted with the speed limit? Are you intending to. Put in place? I believe I saw in the ordinance that children under 12 are not permitted to drive these. Is that accurate? That is correct, ma’am. Any any class of these? Correct? It’s just really dangerous. Uh, they can’t operate it, but they have to have an adult with them.

00:40:46,230	You can’t just send your child out. That’s under age 12, going down the middle of the street, not knowing left or right and whatever. Um, it’s just, you see, a lot of these young kids out there, and they’re they’re not paying attention.

00:41:11,230	We got uncontrolled intersections with cars and stuff, and I just don’t want to see a horrible tragedy happen where we can restrict these. And there’s also a section in here, too, talks about the fines. And you know, who’s responsible for him. Uh, for, for children, uh, parents, responsible parents or guardians will be responsible for the fines.

00:41:30,430	Uh, everything can be taken to the courts that, you know, the judge in front of the judge if they choose to. Chief, what’s the current fine for a 12 year old riding a ten speed at 35 miles an hour? There is none, Mr. Mayor. Okay. Mayor Ziegler, a couple of questions. I have, um. I.

00:41:55,770	Don’t I don’t know all the the different bikes and stuff out there, but I’m, I’m always surprised when I see people riding the e-bikes that they don’t look like e-bikes. Right. So, yeah, we probably have those times where children are riding those and we don’t even really know they’re any bike.

00:42:14,300	Right? Because they just got a little bit of battery assist with them. Um, but the other the big question I have is so this is not commercial though, right? Because what if we would have or is it if we had the bird scooter? People say they wanted to put bird scooters in Mandan.

00:42:36,600	We would allow them on on trails as long as they didn’t exceed 15 miles an hour. Or would that be a separate ordinance? So, uh, Mr. Mayor and Commissioner Heinsohn, this ordinance is for any of these micromobility type vehicles.

00:42:55,370	Uh, of course, if they come forward and they want exemptions and stuff, the commission can grant exemptions, but this would be any of them operating with inside our community. So we would we would allow the commercial scooters on park trails and stuff. We wouldn’t as long as they didn’t exceed 15.

00:43:26,770	Mayor commissioners, for the record, my name is Cole Higlin with the Mandan Park district and the difference between a public e-bike or e-scooter is that it’s owned individually. The birds that you talk about are for rent. That would be a completely different type of operation that would require city approval, which they’ve come before you before, um, they would not be allowed for rent on public trails.

00:43:43,200	The one of the issues that we’ve been trying to discuss with, uh, public works operational Keefe, is that ownership of city right aways and Park District property. There are trails that are not on park property that we maintained. We don’t own those.

00:43:59,430	So there are right of ways and street improvement projects that go specifically at Mandan Avenue would be one, 40th Avenue would be another one where these trails are maintained by the Park District, Broad City right away. Then we have trails on park property where they are owned and operated by the Park district.

00:44:17,600	So a lot of our grants, a lot of our street improvement projects, we collaborate together on these, but there is kind of a dual role between city property and or park property. So that’s why we have to collaborate together. I think the intent with this ordinance is to protect the youth from some type of major injury.

00:44:34,630	Um, I foresee us probably having to tweak this ordinance as it gets more feedback and input from the community. But overall, we’ve solicited from Dickinson Grand Forks. I know we had Fargo. Um, there was a state coalition that we participated in, um, Deputy Chief Beer and I sat on a few of those teams calls.

00:44:52,770	It’s a it’s a statewide initiative that we’re trying to incorporate. And I think this ordinance is a good start. We do have concerns. So any federally funded multi-purpose trail allows e-bikes of class one and class two. There is a discrepancy that we’re trying to get resolved on the class three, which are the ones that can go up to 28 miles an hour.

00:45:12,030	So those are some of our concerns. We do get majority of our complaints on our trails with those e-bikes that are traveling at a high speed. Going to the question in regards to, um, the difference between a e-bike and a gas powered one, or an e-bike with pedestals.

00:45:31,970	So if you have foot pedestals, you know, like a motorcycle dozer would be considered illegal. They have to have some type of pedal mechanism. That’s why it’s an e-bike. Technically is for assisted, um, pedaling, uphills and things of that nature. And they’ve now converted where they’re just full blown, using them as a e-bike for electricity and not doing much pedaling.

00:45:50,570	So they would have to have a pedal to be considered legal on our trails and or sidewalks. We talked about some discussions in regards. Do we block off certain areas of town like we know downtown Mandan with all the events and activities that you have? We’ve talked we’ve had two instances in our parking lots at Raging

00:46:04,900	Rivers. They come flying into our parking lot to go to the water park. People are backing out and they’re getting clipped, and luckily we haven’t had an injury. But the parking lots are our biggest concern. Um, that we’re looking into. But we see this continuing to grow as we go.

00:46:18,400	But going back to your question, Mayor Froelich, in regards to signage, we know we have to put signs, but we have almost 30 miles of trail and multiple access points.

00:46:34,230	So we’ve talked about do we just paint speed limit on our trails in certain areas instead of having to do multiple signs throughout the city? So that’s where we’re kind of struggling is we know there needs to be some education, but signage is going to be difficult because there’s so many different access points. So I’ll stand for any more questions you may have. Yeah.

00:46:49,770	How many interactions or complaints do you get from walkers? Joggers on the bike paths or, you know, shouldn’t call them bike paths? Should we? Multi-Purpose. Multi-purpose path. Um, honestly, we don’t get that many phone calls. It’s usually in an area of town or they come to a park for me, or they see me out throughout the community.

00:47:06,300	That’s where we usually hear it from. Not a lot of emails or phone calls upset about it, but we’ve had individuals over the last 12 months come to our park board meetings and share their concerns.

00:47:20,700	It’s usually those that are either walking a dog or have a young child that are trying to push on the on the trails, or a young child trying to ride a bike, and these individuals just come flying by and they just scare them, unfortunately. So we haven’t had it.

00:47:34,500	We’ve only had two accidents that I’m aware of on our trails in the last 12 months, and they’ve all been along Prairie West and Kist, where we have that 90 degree turn, where that e-bike takes the inside corner, and then the person riding the bike comes the inside. And that’s where the collisions we’ve had. So we’re just trying to prevent injuries.

00:47:47,470	Um, there have been some injuries statewide that unfortunately have had some severe results of this. And so we’re just trying to prevent that. And that’s why we like the age of 12, um, having parental supervision and then having to have a helmet under the age of 18. Um, I went home last week and there was a electric scooter doing the same speed limit.

00:48:04,130	Me that passed me on 46th and was passing me on it and had no helmet, no shoes, just flying down the road and I just see an accident happen. If they hit a recessed manhole or some type of crack in the road. Unfortunately, we don’t want to see what the end result would be.

00:48:19,400	Well, they obeyed all the, uh, stop signs and everything, didn’t they? Because I’ve seen them go right through the four way stop at my house. They just disregard it. I mean, we’re never going to curtail 100% of it, but at least we can get some education.

00:48:35,070	And hopefully parents will use this as an opportunity to at least keep their children safe. We’re not here to try to give out a bunch of fines. Um, we’re hoping that we can do an education first. That’s kind of what we’ve talked about. Use it as an opportunity.

00:48:47,170	And if it continues to be a habitual effect where individuals continue to be violating it, then there’s opportunities that we can do the fine and or revoke the bike and require parents to come back and get it. But again, that’s a city responsibility on there. We’re just trying to collaborate and show our partnership.

00:49:04,370	Our board did approve this last Monday night, so they supported the ordinance, and we’ve been working on this since about February of 26. So it’s taken a long time to get to where we’re at. What kind of methods are we going to use to educate? Uh, we’ve been working with both public information officers from city and the park district.

00:49:20,370	We’ve reached out to the county also. We want to do a cross collaboration. Get that social media out there and education. We’ve had, um, individuals for men and PD go to our after school care programs at Summer Mac and educate some of those.

00:49:36,230	We do need to reach out to the bicycle, um, organizations that sell these here locally. I know shields does. I think there’s another one that we can at least get some information out to them so that they sell these bikes, at least that there’s an opportunity. But we know that they’re biking, buying them online.

00:49:48,570	They have the ability to retrofit them and do other things that the issue is the class one and class to be in designated on those bikes. But you can switch out those designation stickers no different than what we did as a kid when we had our bikes. They just weren’t they weren’t electric power. They were motor powered by our feet.

00:50:04,030	And so there’s just a lot of things that we got to be taken in consideration as technology continues to grow. We’re kind of the no man’s land, aren’t we? I mean, we don’t have designated, uh, corridors on our city streets, right? We’re using the multi-use path for, uh, all the

00:50:28,070	bicycles, but. Um, I think downtown. I’d like to. I’d like to not see them in the downtown area on the sidewalk, but we don’t have a place for them in the road, either. Uh, Mr. Mayor, under century code, a bicyclist has the right one third of the road. Um, that’s their travel path.

00:50:56,300	Yeah. I just walked out of some businesses downtown here, and that e-bike came right by me. I wouldn’t have fared well with that encounter. Mr. mayor, I don’t disagree with you. And we can restrict them from downtown if that’s something that you would want us to do. Uh, to keep them off the sidewalks.

00:51:22,700	The only problem that we would run into, um, on the sidewalks, we’d have to be very clear that it’s the downtown area, because you’ll see people using them around their neighborhoods and stuff like that. And it’s like, uh, Cole said, is we really want to educate and and get people to utilize things safely.

00:51:44,070	Our goal isn’t to find them and everything that that that’s our last option. Each officer has there has a discretion on doing that. But, um, the biggest thing of this is, is trying to make sure people are operating. They’re educated on how to operate these things and that they’re doing it safely.

00:52:03,870	So we don’t have any serious injuries or fatalities on them. Um, do they have to have lights? Do they have a headlight? Mr. Mayor? They will have to have them if they’re. It’s 30 minutes. Uh, before sunset and 30 minutes after, I believe, or before dusk. Dusk and dawn. It’s the it’s in the or. I can look at it.

00:52:28,100	Look it up for you if you want me to, but yeah, it’s 30 minutes prior to sun setting and 30 minutes prior to sunrise. This is the best way to explain it. Okay. They have to have lights operating at dark. Yes. Okay. Any other questions for Chief Siegler? Feeding on what the mayor said, chief? Uh, bicycles.

00:52:53,300	Just regular pedal bikes. Are they allowed on Main Street sidewalks? Uh, currently, yes. I know I had actually, Officer Hampton look into that. And there’s really nothing that restricts them from being able to be ridden on sidewalks anywhere within the city limits.

00:53:17,300	And then going back to what the mayor said concerning speed, there’s no somebody flying down the road on a pedal bike. They can go 25. Mr. Mayor and Commissioner Braun, the only restriction is if we have posted speed limits.

00:53:34,370	They’re considered a vehicle that we can if they’re if they say it’s a 15 mile an hour zone, school zone, and they’re going 30, technically we can write them a speeding ticket for that. So the nice thing that I, that I listen to is we can pass what we have in front of us, but we can we can revisit this, for example, none of these e-bikes allowed on Main Street or things like that. So I like that option.

00:53:56,830	Yeah. On the Main Street sidewalk. But where I think about this in the last five years, it’s become the substitute and affordable substitute for people not purchasing a car. So they’re still getting to work. Um, and you get the big tires on.

00:54:15,130	And I know we’re talking more about the 12 year olds, but we don’t want to limit those people’s access to the whole city that are using it as their main mode of transportation. Mr. mayor, I would I would probably guess that a responsible operator of an e-bike would not have a problem with this ordinance. Okay. All right. Any other questions? Commissioners.

00:54:46,000	I’ll move to approve the first consideration of ordinance 1489 to repeal section 2432 of the Mandan Code of Ordinances, and to enact new article 20 of chapter 24 of the Mandan Code of Ordinances relating to the Use and Operation of Electric Bicycles. Electric micromobility devices and mini Bikes within the city of Mandan. I’ll second that.

00:55:17,930	We have a motion, a lengthy one by Commissioner Heinsohn, second by Commissioner Belohlavek. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call please. Commissioner Braun. Yes. Belohlavek. Yes. Heinsohn. Yes. Mayor Froelich. Yes. We’ll move on to item three.

00:55:43,270	First consideration of ordinance 1491 and an ordinance to enact section 22, dash two, Dash two, subsection D of the Mandan Code of Ordinances relating to Sales Tax. Mr. Neubauer. Attorney. Oster Jarek. Somebody. Chair Frohlich. In this. Commissioners. This is related to the sales tax. Um, that was voted on in June.

00:56:15,800	Um, approving where the voters approved the movement or reallocation of the three quarters cent sales tax from the sports complex. When that is, facilities paid off into a an account for a fire department. Um construction and equipment upgrades and renovations at stations two, in station three, and also um stations one and station two and including uh land purchase potential for station four.

00:56:38,570	So this will just add the language in our in our code of ordinances that allows that sales tax to continue until I think we had estimated a $14 million price tag on that. Yep. Okay. Any questions for Mr. Neubauer? None. Thank you, Mr. Neubauer. Commissioners move to approve ordinance 1491. As presented.

00:57:04,730	Second motion by Commissioner Braun. Second by Commissioner Heinsohn. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Commissioners Belohlavek. Yes. Heinsohn. Yes. Braun Yes. Mayor Froelich. Yes. There is no other business before the commission tonight. Future meeting dates for the Board of City commissioners. Tuesday, September 1st, 2026 at 5:30 p.m..

00:57:32,500	Tuesday, September 15th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. and Tuesday, October 6th at 20 2026 at 5:30 p.m.. A reminder, the Planning and zoning meeting is this Monday night or, uh, August 24th, and that will be in the auditorium at Mandan High School. Okay. And with that, be kind to yourself. Be kind to your neighbor. And it’s onward and upward. Mandan