00:00:14,600	Today is September 1st, 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? Commissioner Heinsohn here. Commissioner Braun. Commissioner Belohlavek here. Commissioner Sjobert. Commissioner. Craig Sjobert. Commissioner. Craig. Robert Sjobert. Commissioner. Sjobert. On behalf of the citizens of Mandan.

00:00:53,170	Our city employees and your fellow elected officials. Thank you for your service to our community, your life, your leadership, and your devotion to Mandan will not be forgotten. May you rest in peace with God, and may your family be surrounded by comfort and love. In the days of. Well done, good and faithful servant. Mayor Mayor Froelich. Here.

00:01:23,470	Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America. To the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. At this time, we’re going to take a five minute recess. We’ll start off with announcements. Construction project updates Jarek.

00:03:09,230	Mayor. Mayor and commissioners. Good evening. Have a handful of updates for you tonight, starting with. Sorry, starting with Memorial Highway. Um, east half. It’s a substantially complete. We have some punch list items that were developed and are going to be continued, uh, to be worked on through the rest of the fall.

00:03:32,970	One of these is the Hull road repair, um, checklist item. Uh, you’ll notice that there are few areas around Memorial Highway have been milled out. The top layer of asphalt has been removed, and, um, they are scheduled to be overlaid again this week. Um, most notably shown up on the screen here is 46th.

00:03:54,730	Um, on the west half of the project, eastbound temporary asphalt lanes are installed and are in use. Um, the eastbound concrete is completed from Main Street to about the floodwall. And this is.

00:04:17,530	And traffic was flipped in order to accommodate the installation of what is considered to be the Northern Utilities, which is the storm water and sanitary sewer work on the north side of the road. Additionally, the work along Third Street continues. Um, people will notice a lot of activity that’s associated with in a stormwater outfall, stormwater lines, that and stormwater lines that run from Memorial Highway itself to the heart River.

00:04:41,000	Um, notably, again, this is always a topic of public interest. There is dewatering activities that, um, take place along the corridor, um, that is meant to, uh, drain the water from the utility trenches to create a safe working environment for the contractor. Oops. Um, for our first street reconstruction project, um, phases one and two are substantially complete.

00:05:11,470	Um, and right now, phases three and five are closed. And being worked on actively. Um, I do have a picture of, uh, fifth right here. Um, looking north, this week, we can expect phase three water services and road preparation to be completed.

00:05:35,600	Um, and then upcoming work would include the road based installation on phase three, which would be right before the road installation itself, as well as water main installation on phase five and then road preparation on phase five. Um, phase one, there was a little bit of work that was left out.

00:05:53,830	And this is the colored concrete at the pedestrian crossing locations, as well as some sidewalk gaps that were left, um, as well. So that will be completed in the coming weeks. Water, Water and Sewer District 65 near Lewis and Clark Elementary. Once again, just keeping on here to remind people that it is substantially complete.

00:06:09,670	But there are punch list items that were developed and are going to be completed by the contractor in the coming months. Red Trail Elementary asphalt paving is complete and chip seal work is expected to begin tomorrow. Stormwater conveyance improvements in the area are also expected to begin tomorrow. And then after the chip seal, we would follow that up with a fog seal. That kind of black final coat on the top.

00:06:31,530	Um, and we would expect that to begin next Tuesday if the weather allows. Um, I think over the next couple of meetings, we’ll start talking about some of the future projects.

00:06:52,970	Two of those are our 2027 neighborhood projects, Street Improvement District 242, also known as the two B Project Area and Street Improvement District 243, also known as Mandan proper northwest, shown on the screen right now. They are both in final design and we are expecting both of them to be bid in the late winter or early spring, probably in that February time frame. Um, the city 2422 B project was going to be bid this summer.

00:07:14,270	Um, but the State Water Commission ran out of municipal funding for this biennium. So right now, the State Water Commission, um, is going through a study and considering modifications to their cost share policies to address anticipated deficits over the next 5 to 10 years.

00:07:37,200	So, um, the exact cost share policy that will be landed on um, isn’t determined yet, but that does have a chance to affect, um, these two projects in particular. They are very they have a significant water related items associated with the projects. Um, just wanted to keep everybody in the loop.

00:07:54,470	There’s a lot of people expecting the Toby project to kick off this year, and it won’t. And that is done to minimize local burden. Uh, local financial burdens. So, um, do you have a QR code up here and a link to our project’s website? This has this has a landing page for a lot of projects.

00:08:16,900	And, um, we can always be reached out to if anybody’s curious about anything specifically. Okay. Uh, a couple of questions. East main, the on the east side, right before the underpass. What are they doing there? Um, mayor, mayor and commissioners or mayor? That is, uh, stormwater work associated with the Memorial Highway project. There’s a stormwater lift station on the northeast corner there.

00:08:46,030	Um, and the, uh, stormwater infrastructure at the underpass location needed to be upsized. Um, to meet stream crossing standards for the Memorial Highway project. So a lot of stormwater work going on there. Okay. And, uh, fourth Avenue in front of the rice bowl. What’s our, uh, estimated time? Um. Completion for that section.

00:09:07,370	I believe that the estimated time would be about five weeks from start to finish. So we would expect right now to be probably at the beginning, first week of October for that to be open back up. Okay. And that’s barring any weather or. I’d imagine these that we didn’t know were there.

00:09:26,030	Um, mayor, there should be less utility conflicts in this segment of the roadway. Um, I imagine that that, uh, schedule did have some cushion built into it, but of course, um, extraordinary weather could could delay it beyond that. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions for Eric? If not, thank you. Derek. Next up Shane.

00:09:56,170	Public works, free fall landfill week. Good evening. Commissioners. Mayor. It’s that time of year again. City of Mandan. Free fall landfill week. Uh, starting September 14th through September 19th. Mandan residents can bring eligible items to the Mandan landfill free of charge. The landfill will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m..

00:10:23,730	Residents may dispose items such as furniture, appliances at no charge with proof of Mandan city address. Please remember, this is not a curbside pickup and restrictions do apply, including construction debris, hazardous waste and liquid paint. Uh, if you’ve got something tucked away in the garage since Atari came out, this is a great time to get rid of it. Uh, free fall.

00:10:44,530	Free fall and free fall. Landfill week is a great chance to clean up, clear out some space, and help keep our community looking clean. If you have any questions, give us a call at Public Works 6673240. Okay. Who thought up that name? Shane. It just strikes me as funny. Free fall.

00:11:07,030	Free fall. Yeah. Um, mayor, I’m gonna just say one of my predecessors. You inherited it. Okay. All right. Next up, uh, MPOs annual dinner Mount. Evening, commissioners. Um, yes. So next week, we have our annual dinner, and it is. There it is. All right. There we go.

00:11:48,670	Our our annual, uh, boots and bling annual MPO fundraiser and dinner at Dykshoorn Park next Thursday from five until eight. Um, this is our kind of our core fundraiser of the year. Um, plenty of sponsors coming out for it, and and just to celebrate, kind of the mid part of our year, we just finished up our great summer touch truck buggies and blues, 4th of July.

00:12:06,970	So this is kind of time to reflect on that. And uh, the successes of the summer and then look towards the end of the year here as we enter into the fall season of the Haunted Ford at Fort Abraham Lincoln and the holiday lights on main, which will kick off late November after Thanksgiving.

00:12:24,400	So, um, a great time to celebrate all of our partners, um, and whatnot that, uh, support the MPO and support all the events that we have. Uh, will be awarding the float winners from the 4th of July parade at the event as well, and also giving out the business of the year award.

00:12:42,000	Um, so this is a great time to come on out. It is open to the public to to attend with tickets. And you can still get those tickets online at visit mandan.com through Friday. Um, so get those tickets if you want to attend. It’s a fun event. Um, silent auction. Live auction.

00:12:59,700	Um, all the fun things that will happen. Love music on the on the newly, uh, renovated bandshell as well. So we’ll get to see that as well on Thursday. So always a great time. So hope people will come out and support us. Okay. Thank you Matt. Thank you. Okay. We’ll move on to public comment. Mister Dunbar.

00:13:20,430	Mayor Froelich I believe that we had one public question, but that will be handled with, um, Mister Singer and Miss Wheeler. Okay, so no public comment tonight. Correct. Okay. Thank you. We’ll move on to approval of the agenda. Look for a motion to approve the agenda for tonight. So moved. Second.

00:13:41,770	We have a motion by Commissioner Brown, a second by Commissioner Sean. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call please. Commissioner John. Yes. Braun. Yes. Belohlavek. Yes. Mayor. Mayor Froelich. Yes. We’ll move on to minutes. Consider approval of the August 18th, 2026 Board of City Commission meeting. Minutes. Move to approve the August 18th, 2026 City Commission meeting minutes.

00:14:10,100	Second motion by Commissioner Belohlavek. Second by Commissioner Heinsohn. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioners. Braun. Yes. Belohlavek. Yes. Pine. Sean. Yes. Mayor. Mayor Froelich. Yes. We do not have any public hearings tonight, nor bids, so we’ll move on to the consent agenda.

00:14:35,230	Look for a motion to approve. Or are there any items you would like removed? Commissioners, I’d like to hear on number six. Okay. Look for a motion to approve items one through five. I’ll make a motion to approve items one through five of the consent agenda. I. Second motion by Commissioner Heinsohn. Second by Commissioner Belohlavek.

00:15:05,670	Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call please. Missus. Belohlavek. Yes. Heinsohn. Yes. Braun. Yes. Mayor. Mayor Froelich. Yes. Uh, we’ll take up item number six. Consider approval of the ground maintenance crew supervisor. Job description. Amy. Yes. Good evening, mayor and commissioners. Any questions I can answer? This is in relation to a new position, uh, that we’re creating.

00:15:31,770	That was my question. Is this a new position? Okay. Yep. Thank you. Thank you. When we’re talking about ground maintenance crew supervisor, can you be a little more descriptive as to, I take it it’s public works? Yes. Yeah. Mayor and commissioner is public works.

00:15:55,900	That the meeting before this is when we had our, uh, consideration for the restructure of public works. So part of that would be creating a position in the grounds maintenance department. Uh, as a crew lead. Okay. And how. Many? Go ahead? How many people would he be responsible for? Were she.

00:16:17,730	For this position? They would be overseeing two full time employees. And then the seasonal staff, which can range from, I would say 5 to 7 in that department over the summer season. Okay. Thank you. Amy. Would look for a motion to approve. I move to approve item six. I’ll second. Motion by Commissioner Brown, second by Commissioner Belohlavek. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioners. Belohlavek. Yes.

00:16:52,670	Hi, Sean. Yes. Braun. Yes. Mayor Froelich. Yes. There is no old business will move on to new. Consider the 2027 health insurance plan. Design change recommendations. Amy. Yes, mayor and commissioners. So tonight we have a request to consider the 2027 health insurance plan. Design changes.

00:17:17,830	Um, and so a little bit of a background with that, the city of Mandan participates in, uh, North Dakota public Health Insurance Fund, um, also known as NDI fit or trust. Excuse me not fund, also known as Indi fit.

00:17:41,530	Um, and beginning in 2027, the trust is making some changes where they will have nine standardized plans that groups are able to pick from in 2027. It will be optional, and then in 2028, it will be required for us to pick one of those plans. So then in looking at our renewal, uh, if the city makes no changes, we would have a 9.76 renewal. Uh, however, between those nine options, there is a plan that is very similar to our current plan.

00:18:03,470	And if we do pick that plan, we would be at 7.71% renewal. Uh, we did meet twice. The health insurance committee this year after that renewal came out. Uh, we looked at various things plan design options, long term sustainability and affordability, and then also the effects of recruitment and retention.

00:18:31,200	Um, so with that, the health insurance Committee is recommending that we change plans this year to option for, uh, for that 7.71% renewal. Uh, the preliminary budget that finance had prevented, we didn’t get these renewals until that was presented. Uh, was at a placeholder of 5% renewal.

00:18:57,470	Uh, so with this recommendation, if approved, we would be requesting a budget amendment of that additional 2.71%. Um, and that would be approximately $99,826 for that amendment. In addition, for 2027.

00:19:23,100	Uh, we do believe that the health insurance Committee should continue to meet so that we have some proactive decisions prior to waiting for those renewals to come out late in the year. So we also are planning to meet, uh, throughout April to hopefully have some long term strategies and plans in place for the coming years. Uh, the staff impact is pretty limited for these plan design changes.

00:19:43,730	It would be an active enrollment, so all staff would need to, uh, enroll and make a selection on what they would be looking to do. And they would also be getting new, uh, cards in the mail to with the plan design.

00:20:05,700	Uh, really, the only change in the plans would be to the out-of-pocket maximum, which would the new plan would go up $500 individually and $1,000 for that out-of-pocket maximum for employee plus family or employee, plus one. With that, the recommendation is to approve the recommended plan design changes as presented along with the associated budget amendment. As presented, and I’d be available for any questions.

00:20:41,430	Any questions for Amy? Mayor and Amy, what was our increase from 2025 to 2026? Again, do you remember that? Yes, I have that. Here. So 2025 was an interesting year because that’s when we did make significant plan design changes. Okay. So with those changes we did see a little bit of a decrease in the renewal. So in 2025 it was 2.44%. Uh, and then in 2026 it was 7.26%.

00:21:07,570	Do you have the 2024 increase then too? Yes. That was a high. Very high, uh, 16.77% increase. Okay. So I mean, when we look back ten years, how much has it increased? So yes, in ten years, I would say it’s about a 10% average.

00:21:38,530	Uh, in 2021 is when we moved from Andy Purves, which is a two year renewal, which kind of skews that average. Uh, to NDI fit, which is a yearly renewal. The past five years, you know, it’s a little bit easier to look at with the one year renewal. And that’s been about 9.41%. So we’ve we’ve doubled our health insurance expense in ten years. Yes. Okay.

00:22:01,000	You said they only impact the employees. Will see will be that out of pocket, Max. Uh, is the coverage the same? Yes, that’s a good question. So the coverage would be the same. The same plan. And, uh, nothing’s changing in network or anything to do with that.

00:22:20,700	Um, and then also, there would be no burden to the employee to pay for any of the premiums per month. No change there for this year. What is their current out of pocket Max? Their current out-of-pocket max for a single plan is 5500. So this would go to 6000.

00:22:42,200	And again, the out-of-pocket max would be the most they would pay. Uh, that wouldn’t mean they would be paying it. It’s a small number of people that would reach that after they, uh, insurance would cover 80%, but that would be the max they would pay per year. Any other questions for Amy? Not thank you. Amy. Thank you. Commissioners.

00:23:07,700	I’ll move to approve that. The recommended plan changes be made to the health insurance plan for 2027 plan year, along with the associated budget amendment as presented. I’ll second. Motion by Commissioner Heinsohn. Second by Commissioner Belohlavek. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioners. Heinsohn. Yes. Braun. Yes. Belohlavek. Yes. Mayor. Mayor Froelich.

00:23:32,600	Yes. We will now move on to resolution and ordinances. Item number one. This is a second consideration of ordinance 1489 to repeal section 2432 of the Mandan Code of Ordinance and to enact new article 20 of chapter 24 of the Mandan Code of Ordinances relating to the Use and Operation of Electric Bicycles.

00:24:02,370	Electric micromobility devices, and many bikes within the city of Mandan. Chief Zeigler. Mr. Mayor and Commissioners, I’m going to do a short presentation that I’m going to address. Um, a email that, uh, was forward to me by Commissioner Heinsohn, and there was several questions on that that was brought up by a citizen. And I’ll address each one of those questions.

00:24:23,030	So the Commission understands. So we’ll go to this slide now how do I get this thing done. There it goes. There we go. So this is just a kind of an educational, uh, PowerPoint.

00:24:50,430	So everybody can kind of see what these micro mobilities, these e-bikes and these vehicles that are running around our roads look like. And then when we talk about the ordinance, um, the citizen that sent the email had a lot of questions. So I’ll be able to cover a lot of the questions, reference the ordinance itself and how it affects each of these different devices.

00:25:10,530	So if you look at what we’ve got here, this is the the difference between the classes of e-bikes. It’s the power output, the speed limit and the pedal requirements. So in order for something to be considered an e-bike, it has to have pedals. And it has to be pedal assisted at some point. Uh, a class two can be throttle assisted.

00:25:28,970	So what you see up there, that is what we would call an electric mini bike or a motor, which are illegal to drive on sidewalks and roadways within our city without without this ordinance, they are still illegal to drive. So this is the capabilities of an e-bike. And that is what a common e-bike looks like.

00:25:49,570	They’re very difficult to tell you what class those are, except for under state law. There’s a sticker that is on the center bar that will tell you what class that bike is. So if you look at this, the the class ones, they’re pedal assisted and max speed of 20 miles an hour.

00:26:08,200	So what pedal assisted means is you still have to pedal the bike, but as it goes up an incline, the motor kicks on and you still kind of have to move the pedals. It just real easy for the bike to move and maneuver uphills, so the rider does not get tired as they go uphills.

00:26:25,830	The throttle assisted, which is the class two, actually has a throttle on the handlebars, uh, with the speedometer, and it is assisted either with the throttle itself or they can pedal and use the pedal assist with a class two, a class three. The major difference between the class three and the other two is the speed you could see.

00:26:47,670	The speed can go up to 28 miles an hour. Anything that goes above 28 miles an hour is not considered a street legal e-bike. The electric dirt bikes. We’ll see these. Um, we’ve been seeing these quite a bit throughout the city. These are the, um, little mini bikes.

00:27:07,630	Uh, there’s a lot of kids that are riding these things, and they’re very unsafe and sometimes very hard to see by the traveling public in cars. So if you look at what these are, they’re they’re an e-bike.

00:27:28,800	Uh, if an e-bike exceeds 750W, um, in power and goes above 28 miles an hour, it does not meet the statutory definition for a bicycle or an e-bike with inside the state of North Dakota. So that’s 750W. You’ll see in the statute, um, quite often when it talks about vehicles and if it goes above that, they’ll need a driver’s license, a registration, a license plate.

00:27:52,330	And they’ll also need vehicle insurance to drive those things that go above 28 miles an hour. Statute says actually, 30 miles an hour. But, uh, there is no specific vehicle. It says 28, then it says 30. Next thing that we’ll cover is the scooters. These electric scooters. This is also includes your Segways and any hoverboards and stuff.

00:28:14,330	Like they’re all kind of classed in together. So the typical wattage is 250 to 1000W. They have a hub motor, which that means it’s around the wheel itself and that they go anywhere from you can see 15 miles an hour to 35 miles an hour, depending on the make and model of the vehicle.

00:28:32,870	So these also would fall into the micromobility vehicles, which will also cover here shortly, so you can see the hoverboards, scooters, Segways, um, scooters with handlebars.

00:28:49,500	The other thing that we got to keep in mind that we’re also seeing out there, and I think this is probably all over the country, is people doubling up on these vehicles, and they should not be. So our ordinance addresses that, that you can only have as many people as the vehicle is designed to hold. So if there’s two seats, then you can have two people. If there’s only one seat, you can’t have two people on a one seat bicycle.

00:29:08,630	Or if it’s designed as a scooter for one person, you can’t have two people on it. So that is a that’s another thing that our ordinance and it’s a safety thing. This here talks about the Segways. Um, their typical low wattage, low speed. And they would be classified under the same classification of those micromobility or the, the, um, the scooter boards.

00:29:31,570	This is a hoverboard. This is typically what you’ll see a lot of kids in neighborhoods that are just starting to get into these things. Um, you’ll see them going around. They’re very low speed, uh, you know, 6 to 10 miles an hour.

00:29:50,270	Uh, and they’re usually they stay within a certain area, but they can if they can’t control them, they can zoom out into traffic. Uh, so it is something that, uh, um, can be dangerous if not monitored by parents. So. But you’ll see a lot of kids riding these things. And this is kind of a picture show, so everybody can see what a hoverboard looks like. Electric skateboards.

00:30:10,530	These things can go very, very fast. You can see they can go all the way up to 38 miles an hour. Uh, they’re again under our ordinance. They’ll fall under the micromobility, uh, vehicles. So, uh, they still have to fall within the same guidelines as a scooter and everything else.

00:30:28,730	And some of these, these motorized ones, uh, they go extremely fast. So I don’t see a lot of these in our community. Um, I’ve seen a few. I don’t know if Officer Hampton sees him. He’s a he’s our one of our bike officers. And also, uh, on our, our e-bike squad.

00:30:47,870	So I don’t remember seeing a lot of these out there. Uh, they’re not big. Yeah. So there’s not a lot of these that we were seeing. So that is the presentation. So we did have one citizen sent an email that I know of, uh, to Commissioner Heinsohn, and he forward it to me.

00:31:21,530	So I went through each of the citizen’s, uh, questions and just answered them. So this can be covered. So the first question was based upon education happening before the law changes. And. And this is with all due respect, but you can’t educate somebody if you don’t have a law to educate them on.

00:31:45,530	So you need to have something in place that we can educate people on what they can do with e-bikes, micromobility, mini bikes, whatever it is, has to be in place. Then we educate and we’re going to continue to educate.

00:32:05,270	We actually started an education program at the beginning of the summer, with the park district going to the Mac programs and explaining the dangers of riding without a helmet and how to properly ride your your electric bicycle and scooters and stuff like that. So we have been doing an educational program before this even came out, and it was for targeted at kids because that’s who we’re seeing utilize these vehicles the most.

00:32:25,370	So we will continue to do the education component of this. Um, I, we are going to work on having a flyer that, uh, we can hand out to people as we see them. Our first job is not going to be to site people with these. We want to educate them.

00:32:42,670	We want to make sure they, they have have, uh, knowledge of how these things operate, how we expect them to operate safely out there on the roadway and on the sidewalks. So the education will continue. The other one was there was some questions about, um, you know, the definition of the high speed bicycles.

00:33:05,830	We took our definitions directly from century Code. So century Code defines them in a certain way. And we we defined them the same way in our ordinance. And with with that we kind of go into the other one.

00:33:28,730	The next one is um, they were talking about under under the definitions of the high speed that kind of explain what a high speed is, but the high speed. And I explained it earlier, it’s anything that’s 750W or higher. The other thing about that is when you look at it, most of those vehicles will travel 30 miles an hour or more, so they should be on a roadway, not on a sidewalk.

00:33:44,600	They if it’s a high speed thing, they should not be traveling on bike paths and stuff, like, you know, places where normal people would walk or travel at a slower pace. Um, and this would be like mopeds. Mopeds can get up to about 35 miles an hour, uh, you know, so some of those electric motocross can go quite fast.

00:34:04,430	So that’s what that targets. Uh, the her next question is referring to the 15 mile an hour that we’re going to, that we are going to oppose on our sidewalks.

00:34:25,200	Um, and decide if you read the ordinance, it’s specific to sidewalks and that the Park district can actually post these on their bike paths throughout the city. So the, the, the individual was concerned that the way I read the question was that it was too slow. And I started thinking, I said 50 miles an hour on a sidewalk with people walking and other people doing things is still kind of fast. Um, we want people to be safe.

00:34:49,830	As they’re walking across the sidewalk, and if somebody’s coming up behind them at 50 miles an hour, that’s still pretty fast. Uh, the other thing that was tagged into this was the the individual was concerned about when the e-bike passes, somebody’s walking that they have to slow down to walking speed.

00:35:10,600	And they reference about three miles an hour. And that this is dangerous for a bicyclist. Um, if you’re a skilled bicyclist, most bicyclists will slow down. They’ll either signal to the person in front of them, hey, I’m behind you. Could you please move over? Whatever.

00:35:29,830	But three miles an hour is still fast enough for a bike to stay upright. And it’s not like we’re going to be out there with a speed gun and trying to catch people going, you know, five miles an hour past them and stuff. That’s not what the purpose is.

00:35:47,430	This is just to try to make whoever’s riding the bicycle aware that if somebody is walking, they’re walking in a slower speed and you should not be going past them at 15 miles an hour. So this is slow down. We don’t want people hitting somebody because if they hit them at 15 miles an hour, it’s going to hurt. It’s going to hurt real bad. And we just don’t want that to happen.

00:36:02,430	So I think the 15 miles an hour is, um, a fair speed for sidewalks. And that part of the ordinance is specific to sidewalks, not the roadway. The roadway is a whole nother topic. So on the roadway, a cyclist has the right one third of the road and they can follow with traffic.

00:36:25,330	Um, it is not impeding because she talks about that police power. We could stop them for impeding the flow of traffic. That’s not what this ordinance design is designed about. And I’ll get to that a little bit later.

00:36:41,930	And how, uh, her question came about that, but we’re the bicyclist has the right one third vehicles when they have the opportunity, can’t pass them. It’s not illegal for them to impede on that. They can travel. They have the right to that part of the roadway. So the next one where we at? Uh. It’s okay.

00:37:01,130	She she lists some concerns, and she specifically targeted, um, 24, 2014 through 18. And so I went through each of them and, uh, her she was saying that this is, this is the area that, uh, gives the the police a little bit, um, she’s concerned that it gives the police a little bit more power than we probably need to be with these electric bikes.

00:37:23,530	So, 24, 2014 is for temporary restrictions for special events. So we’ve got the 4th of July parade, or we have a special event. It authorizes, uh, my, the chief of police or the Parks and Rec director to post specific speeds or to ban them from areas during these events.

00:37:49,830	So the only time that that would happen is if it was something that I felt there was a true safety. And of course, I would talk to my portfolio holder and I would talk to my staff before we would ever do any ban or any restrictions on bikes at a special event.

00:38:02,830	It’s not something that I’m just going to scratch out one day and say, hey, we don’t want bicycles down here for this event unless it’s a complete emergency. And then I would explain myself later. The other one 24 2015. Um, this is specific to the park district. It doesn’t even it’s not to the police department.

00:38:26,600	It’s the coordinate with the park rules and the boards. So the park district can actually make their rules and enforce, uh, put their speed limits for enforcement, which we can enforce on Park district property. But that’s up to the park board to make the decisions on who can travel and what speeds they want them.

00:38:45,400	It’s not that’s not a, a a police, uh, rule. There. 24 2016 is referenced DUIs. So this basically we follow central code on what Central Coast said says with e-bikes, which you can be charged with an infraction for a DUI on a bicycle.

00:39:07,330	And it would it would translate back over to an e-bike. So that’s what that one’s about. Uh, 24, 2017. This is the one that says parents or guardians are responsible for their children. Um, if their children are out and about, uh, and they continuously violate the law and stuff, and there is a citation issued, um, that the parents and guardians are responsible for their children.

00:39:28,330	The children are not responsible for the fine. That’s what that section is for. Um, and I’m not sure what she did not like because she just she just listed these things where she just said it’s, uh, given the police too much power. Um, but that gives us the enforceability.

00:39:42,930	So if somebody is violating that, we can enforce it under city ordinance, uh, 24, 2018, this was removal and impound, and it basically this one here says that we have the ability to stop them if they’re in violation.

00:40:03,130	Um, you know, either unlawful operation abandonment, and it also gives us the ability to impound a bicycle, an e-bike, or any of these vehicles that are used illegally. Um, an instance is let’s say we find a child riding one illegally. We can take control of that until the parent comes and we turn the bike over to the parents.

00:40:21,200	It’s not like we’re keeping it for ourselves. It clearly states in the ordinance that we would turn it over to the proper owner or guardian once they arrive. We just can’t allow them to continue to break the law if they’re not capable or able, because we want them to be safe.

00:40:38,600	Um, so she was talking about that being that if if it also talks about obstructions and safety hazards. So if you’ve got an abandoned, uh, e-bike blocking the roadway, we should be able to seize it until we find the proper owner. That’s what this talks about with obstruction. It’s not that they’re driving the bike down the road. We pull them over and say they’re obstructing traffic.

00:40:57,070	That’s not that section. That section is already covered up on top. Where if where they they have the right one third. That’s under century code. And it clearly states in there that, um, we can that, that the bikes or the micromobility vehicle will be released to the proper owner or parent or guardian.

00:41:17,900	And I think that covers all of her questions. Um, and I’m open to any questions from the commission about this. I think this ordinance is a good starting point.

00:41:39,330	And even when we started down the road with this, we understand that, uh, sometimes these can be fluid, and you place ordinances in place to protect people and to make things safe for people. I’ve received tons of complaints personally, myself, uh, from citizens concerned about the e-bikes, the scooters and all these things running around unregulated. So this is the first step to try to get things under control.

00:42:01,670	Like I said, we’re going to do a a an enthusiastic educational campaign and make sure that these kids understand and the parents understand that these can be fun, but they also can be very dangerous to operate, if not operated appropriately. And I’ll stand for any questions. Any questions for Chief Siegler.

00:42:27,800	Mayor and Chief Siegler, um, the policy I think that you have written is as well. Um, one of my concerns is, is that the kids don’t know the rules of the road, so they’re flying through intersections, four way stops. They don’t stop. They don’t look. They don’t do anything.

00:42:47,000	Um, there’s a crash in McKenzie County this week where there was two kids on on a bike. Um, I would like to see some sort of. With your training that you’re getting out there, some sort of videos that talk about just the safety hazards of intersections when these kids are coming through them. Um, I think that it’s really important for kids.

00:43:04,130	I know 12 is is kind of the starting age, but 12, 13, 14 year olds, they’re not driving yet, so they don’t understand the road. Um, and so I think having some videos would help with your training material, and I would like to see more of that information passed on to kids, because while they’re riding on the sidewalk, they

00:43:21,800	still get through the intersections without looking, and it puts everyone else at risk. That’s in the intersection. So, um, I think your ordinance is good. I just would like to see some more information for kids. Mr.

00:43:39,900	Mayor and Commissioner Belohlavek, um, that is our full intention to try to educate these kids the best as possible. Um, I know that, uh, we even talked about putting it out with the messenger. Some information out with there, uh, kind of have a basic checklist for parents so they know what they’re buying.

00:43:59,270	Uh, we’re looking to try to get, uh, locations who sell these devices to have information pamphlets that we will provide to them that they can hand to people before they buy them, so they know what rules to follow over here.

00:44:16,730	Um, and the video’s a good thing if we can find some good videos out there, I’ll have my my cert officers do some research and try to put some stuff together and, uh, and yeah, I think that’s a great the better we can educate people. And again, our goal is not to site people. Our goal is to educate and for people to utilize these things in a safe manner and enjoy.

00:44:35,400	You know, what what we have in our city, in, you know, travel on our bike paths and, and areas safely so we don’t have those, uh, whether it’s a fatal crash or a serious crash with people not paying attention and intersections, especially uncontrolled intersections, are a major concern. So I’ll make sure that that my team knows that that’s going to be a focus.

00:44:56,800	Something else that I forgot to tell, and I don’t want to get, uh, well, uh, Shane Walter call upset with me, but please charge in your garage, not in your house. He asked me to mention that, and I almost forgot about it until I looked at my notes there briefly, and but, um, fires can these things can start fire.

00:45:14,400	And if you’re charging them in your house, um, that’s that’s a bad thing. So if you’re going to charge them, charge them in the garage area. So. We’re outside. Or outside. Yeah. That’s the best areas. Any other questions for Chief Sigler? Not thank you, chief commissioners.

00:45:46,970	I move to approve the second condition consideration of ordinance 1489 to repeal section 2432 of the Mandan Code of Ordinance and to enact new article 20 of chapter 24 of the Mandan Code of Ordinances relating to the Use and Operation of Electronic Bikes. Electric Mobility devices and mini Bikes with the city of Mandan.. Second. We have a motion by Commissioner Belohlavek. Second by Commissioner Brown. Any further discussion hearing done. Roll call. Mr. Neubauer. Commissioners. Braun.

00:46:10,430	Yes. Belohlavek. Yes. Yes. Mayor. Mayor Froelich. Yes. Motion passes. We’ll move on to item number two, which is the second consideration of ordinance 1490 reenacting Land Use Code section 101 and 109 in whole, as well as to repeal and reserve the current section 105 Jordan. Good evening, mayor.

00:46:36,530	Commissioners, I believe we have Rachel on tonight to give just a little brief piece, and then I’ll address the question that, uh, citizens have. I, uh, good evening, mayor. Commissioners, um, this is the second reading of the land use code. Um, I will not go through my whole presentation again unless you would really like me to go through it.

00:46:58,770	As a reminder, this does not include data centers. Um, it also does not include a new zoning map at this time. This would be, um, a potential map. Uh, moving forward, based on the zoning districts, um, that are added into the code.

00:47:20,330	Um, so as we talked about under the first reading, you know, there’s still a couple steps to go. Um, there is ordinance 115, um, which is right of ways. There is the passage of the zoning map, and then there is, um, a few smaller pieces, such as signs, um, that we deliberately said, well, we’ll deal with after, um, the land use code has been passed.

00:47:41,330	So zoning districts are being put into the code that are able to be used, but there is no change of zoning to any property. But the land use code. And I can answer any questions. Yeah.

00:48:01,270	And I’m just I just want to add to that to just to address that, um, for any of like Rachel said, for all of this, it was to get the ordinance in place so that we have the opportunity to, um, address some of the zoning things.

00:48:19,130	And I know I talked about it at PNC, but, uh, one of the areas that we’re we’re looking at is, um, in maybe some of the residential mobile home parks, we have them listed as RLS Ms., which is our existing large scale mobile home, um, zoning. And that’s not even in the code anymore. So that’s, that’s one of the areas that we want to address.

00:48:37,800	The other one is some of the area toward the downtown fringe districts that we’re going to be taking some of those properties out of the DF zone and move them more into our normal residential neighborhoods. And as Rachel said, that’s going to be later. That also, just so everybody is aware, if your property is in any of these maps that we are looking at changing, you will be notified by us.

00:48:59,470	And that’s one of the reasons that we’re waiting. We want to get the ordinance in place first, and then we will deal with the zoning map and those changes, which includes going back through P and Z, doing the the zoning changes for those specific properties, and then the notification piece, public hearing. Um, and then coming to this board for those changes.

00:49:19,400	So there again, that’s, that’s um, that’s the plan. But it would be a lot to do the ordinance and um, notifying I think probably several hundred um, properties about a possible zone change, which doesn’t um, just I go back to the downtown fringe because it we’re not doing anything with your

00:49:43,470	property. It’s going to act as it normally would. We’re just taking it out of that specific section and, and putting it into something that we as staff and the ordinance would be more what your property already acts as, which is a residential property. So.

00:50:03,730	Oh, does that answer everything? Susan, I just want to check with Susan because I know she had that and just make sure. Is there anything else? Yeah. Well, I would just. Can I approach. Yeah. Good evening commissioners. Um, I’d like to express my condolences to to the community on the loss of our commissioner, Craig.

00:50:30,000	Um, but my name is Susan Beeler, and my questions were in that a lot of community members are suspicious or wanting to have answers. And a lot of it is just that, um, we need an education part, as in the processes.

00:50:53,930	And so that’s why I asked, because when I was looking at the the map last, um, commission meeting, I was confused as because I’m thinking this is a new map where it doesn’t. The zoning seems to be the same or different, but I couldn’t quite nail it. And then I had asked for maps previously, requested them through, um, email, and I could not follow the process.

00:51:20,370	And so, um, if I can’t follow up, maybe there’s other people out there too that are questioning, you know, especially because we have this large, um, land use that may come into existence with the data center. Um, they may have questions on how this process works and what. And so that’s kind of what I wanted to know.

00:51:42,470	And so as I’m understanding what he’s saying now is that this map is just basically kind of a formality to a next step that would go through planning and zoning to update zoning. Um, if I’m understanding it correctly.

00:52:00,270	And so I guess that’s kind of my thing is because if other people are watching it, then they think, well, what’s going on with the zoning? Why? Why are we talking industrial in an area that’s residential? And, you know, that kind of thing. And so that was my question is because, um, looking at this is why there’s even consideration for industrial in an area that has been longtime zoned as residential agricultural land.

00:52:25,970	And so if I’m having that question, I’m sure there’s other people that are having that question or they’re just trying to figure out. And so then if they can’t figure it out, then people’s minds always go to the first thing.

00:52:41,870	Well, there must be a up to something, you know? And so I just wanted a clarification and I think whatever information we can give out to the public is so helpful, especially because most people, they have no clue on the processes, you know, and how many hearings there might be and how many opportunities they might have. And so I really appreciate it.

00:53:03,670	Um, um, the chief answering so thoroughly that one email and on the other hand, I’m very disappointed in all the emails that we sent in for planning and zoning, and it’s so lightly touched on, and it wasn’t even confirmed in the planning and zoning. Nobody, nobody mentioned. Okay.

00:53:26,070	Um, in response to that, um, there were, uh, five amendments, six at the planning and zoning that were taken from the suggestions of those that wrote in. So I want to dispel this myth right now. We did listen. We were attentive. This process.

00:53:56,100	Um, Bill Robinson quipped that the last time our land use code was, uh, amended or written, uh, single family homes with a single car garage were in vogue. So it’s been a long time coming for us to change this. I know it looks like what we’re doing this because of a data center, but that’s not the case. I would say it’s been 40 years, Mr.

00:54:16,800	Neubauer, since this has been changed, updated, and building technology has changed. So it needed to be. So this is all aboveboard. It’s all on the up and up. Jordan. Yeah. Mayor, commissioners.

00:54:38,130	And just to add on to that, like I said, any any zoning change for any parcel, any property within the city or the ETA is going to be a notification, um, from us and then a public hearing through PNC, the entire process. So like I said, we’re going to wait on that, um, just with everything else, we we’d really like to get this piece done first.

00:54:55,900	Um, there’s some important language that we have in here with landscaping and some of the other things that we’ve been working on for the last three years. Um, with Rachel and her team, uh, and Stantec and some of the other, um, consultants that we’ve been working with that have been really helpful to us. But, yeah, if you had anything else, I guess Rachel and I will stand for any other. Any other.

00:55:10,400	Yeah, we’re going to I’ll add this. We’re going to be totally transparent. There’s nothing to not be transparent about. And Susan, you’re right. Um, people do have to pay attention to the process and how it works because, uh, the other night was just one step in putting a ordinance in place, which we

00:55:31,230	did not have to protect the citizens of Mandan. So with that, any questions for Jordan? If not, thank you. Jordan. Commissioners. I’ll move to approve the second reading of ordinance number 1490, reenacting land Use Code sections 101 and 109, in whole as presented as well, as well as to repeal and reserve the current section 105.

00:56:07,300	Second motion by Commissioner Heinsohn. Second by Commissioner Brown. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call please. Commissioner Belohlavek. Yes. Heinsohn. Yes. Braun. Yes. Mayor. Mayor Froelich. Yes. We’ll move on to item number three. Second consideration of ordinance 1491. To enact section 222-2, subsection D of the Manning Court of Ordinances relating to Sales Tax. Mr. Neubauer.

00:56:37,170	Mayor, Mayor Froelich and commissioners, this is, in essence, the enactment of the vote that was passed in June related to the continuation of the three quarters cent sales tax as to when it, um, the bonds are paid off on the sports complex, that the money would continue or the tax would

00:56:55,700	be continued to be imposed until a fire station three and equipment and also potential land for a fourth fire station and upgrades to stations two and one. Okay. And we’re still on track to retire that debt. Mayor Mayor Froelich, I believe that’s end of 2027. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions for Mr. Neubauer? Okay. Thank you. Commissioners.

00:57:32,700	I move to approve ordinance 1491 as presented. I second. Motion by Commissioner Brown, second by Commissioner Belohlavek. Any further questions? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioners. Belohlavek. Yes. Heinsohn. Yes. Braun. Yes. Mayor. Mayor Froelich. Yes. We’ll move on to item number four.

00:57:59,470	First consideration of ordinance 1492 to amend and reenact section 22, Dash two, Dash eight to the Mandan Code of Ordinances relating to Maximum Tax imposed. Mr. Neubauer. , Mayor Froelich and commissioners, at the request of the Budget and Finance Committee. We do have a cap on our sales tax that is $56 and $0.

00:58:26,770	25, which equates to, I think, about a single or group of single transactions that would be in excess of $2250 or $2500. Some math going on there. Um, it has been suggested that we would remove that cap in reviewing other cities across North Dakota, there is a very mixed bag of some communities have removed that cap.

00:58:45,470	Some people some communities have a cap in place, some communities may have a cap arbitrarily set that $100 or $75 or $50, um, in discussions also, it would be just becomes more effective to administer for businesses that are imposing or collecting this and remitting this tax. So again, our recommendation is to remove that limit.

00:59:08,900	I wish I could tell you what a fiscal dollar effect it would have. Um, sales tax records are confidential from the North Dakota Tax Department or the North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner. Therefore, that information is as would be challenging to come by.

00:59:25,330	We think it would have a minor positive effect. But what that would be would be simply a guess. And I, I don’t have my crystal ball. Okay. Any questions for Mr. Neubauer? Okay. Thank you. Jim. Commissioners. I move to approve the first consideration of ordinance 1492. Second motion by Commissioner Belohlavek. Second by Commissioner Heinsohn. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioner Heinsohn. Yes.

00:59:57,000	Braun. Yes. Belohlavek. Yes. Mayor. Mayor Froelich. Yes. We’ll move on to other business. In recognition of the life and service of Commissioner Craig Robert Sjobert.

01:00:21,430	And in honor of his passing while serving as a member of the Mandan Board of City Commissioners, I hereby direct that the United States and North Dakota flags at all City of Mandan facilities be flown at half staff from sunrise until sunset on Friday, September 4th, 2026, the day of Craig’s funeral celebration of life. Commissioner Sjobert served the citizens of Mandan with dedication, integrity and a steadfast commitment to public service.

01:00:48,600	The city of Mandan is grateful for his service and the lasting contribution he made to our community. And with that, I would, um, say that it was a privilege to serve alongside Craig. He was a tenacious, um, servant for the citizens of Mandan. I was always in awe of his copious amounts of notes and use of a yellow highlighter.

01:01:17,400	So he is going to be sorely missed. And at this time I would open it up to the, um, commissioners if they would like to say something, and also to city staff commissioners. Uh, mayor. Um, thank you for awarding us the opportunity to speak on, uh, about Craig.

01:01:44,300	So Craig and I came into the city commission together a little over two years ago as the new guys on the block, like Craig would say, uh, I know we were both grateful for each other and helping one another find our footing.

01:02:01,500	Craig was someone who believed in service as a former police officer, former firefighter and current commissioner. He spent his life helping others and serving his community. He took his responsibility to the board and the people of Mandan very seriously. Up here, he was always 100% prepared, honest and never afraid to ask the tough questions or say what needed to be said.

01:02:20,500	You always knew where Craig stood and you could always Still, he cared deeply about doing what was right, even though not always popular with everyone. There were many times, he would say during a commission meeting, I’ll be the bad guy and humbly explain why he had to make a motion, even though every person in the room certainly wasn’t happy with

01:02:35,500	him. I’m grateful I’ve had the opportunity to serve alongside him, and I’ll miss having him here with us. Thank you for your friendship, your service, and your dedication to Mandan. You will not be forgotten.

01:02:56,730	While I’ve only had the opportunity to work with Commissioner Sjobert for two commission meetings, I have known him for years. I was a senior in high school and my family moved to Mandan and my dad joined the Mandan Rural Fire Department and he met Craig. Even as a young adult, I knew Commissioner Sjobert was the type of person you wanted to be around. He was loud.

01:03:13,330	No thought of his went unheard because he said just about everything he thought and he did everything with 100% effort, even telling his stories. And he brought an energy that drew people in even more than those things. He was a man of integrity who put his heart and soul into serving his community.

01:03:30,400	In his final years, he put so much effort into his role as commissioner, making sure every decision he made was made with knowledge, care and the best interest of this community in mind. I was really looking forward to serving with him. My thoughts and prayers go out to Pudge, Jesse, Kayla and the entire family.

01:03:48,670	Thank you for sharing Craig with the rest of us. We are truly fortunate to know him and I grateful I had the opportunity to work alongside him, even if it was just for a short time. Rest in peace, Craig. Craig. May God bless you with eternal life. Natural light shine upon you. Mr. Neubauer.

01:04:19,500	Thought this would be easy talking about Craig, because he talked with such fluidity. And easiness. Um, I first met Craig two years ago when he first came in. To.

01:04:40,600	Talk about running for commission and pick up all the paperwork, and his first, um, impression was, this is a big man who commands the room when he enters it. He which he did every single time with his wavy hair and his calves, the size of tree trunks and everything else that he had, um, and stories that he would tell.

01:05:02,800	Um, I think, um, after I think every commission meeting while we knew Craig had the gift of gab, Commissioner Sjobert, um, we might finish a commission meeting at 630, and he and I would be in that hallway on the stairway until 830 at night. And he was always. If you just have a minute every meeting, he could turn.

01:05:22,370	He had a knack for turning a 15 or a half hour meeting into three hours or 2.5 hours or whatever. We will miss that. While at times we all maybe have complained a little bit about it. It was one of those where we knew he was doing his homework. He would do his research.

01:05:44,430	He would take, as Mayor Froelich said, copious notes, his yellow highlighter, and make sure that every meeting that he went to, whether it was a committee of city stuff or other items, he would bring in those notes to me and say, here’s what happened at the library board. Here’s what happened at the airport board, here’s what happened at this committee or that committee.

01:06:01,030	Um, much appreciated. Again, it’s rare that you find a commissioner that has spends that much time and puts that much homework and effort into learning about things that he didn’t quite understand when he first started, but had an appetite to learn because he always wanted to do the right thing.

01:06:19,270	Um, we will miss him. We’ll miss his big laugh. We will miss his jokes. Sometimes appropriate and sometimes inappropriate. Uh, but that was Craig. And again, we, as Commissioner Belohlavek stated, thank you to Pudge, Jesse, Kayla for sharing Craig with us. Um, thank you to former Commissioner Rohr.

01:06:42,330	I think he’s the one who twisted Craig’s arm and got him to run for city commission. We didn’t really know what we were getting into at the time, but it didn’t take us long to figure out that this was a man who wanted to do the best for this community and put all kinds of effort into doing it.

01:06:59,730	We will miss you and Godspeed. I just wanted to get up and speak a little bit. Jim touched on this, but, um, I remember Craig, Commissioner Sjobert coming into the office with an interest to run for city commission, and from that day on, he gave 110%, though I

01:07:30,430	don’t think 110% is accurate. I think it was much higher than that. He would come in and if there was a meeting, he would go to it. Um, if he was here and if he wasn’t here, he would be sad that he wasn’t able to make it.

01:07:48,870	And he’d stop in and he’d ask what he missed. Um, and often catching up on other things to, um. And I just appreciated his ability to. Um, even if you didn’t agree with you, he could disagree in a very respectful manner. And, um, and he would be the one to say it, too, which was wonderful.

01:08:12,330	And then just personally, after having my daughter, he would often stop in to visit with her. Um, and then once she went to daycare and I can speak for Madison too, on this, that he didn’t leave without asking how the girls were and telling us to give them a big hug.

01:08:34,200	So, um, he had a huge presence here and a huge impact in our lives. It didn’t matter if we’ve known him our whole life or for two days or two minutes, but he impacted a lot of people and he will be missed greatly. Good evening. Mayor. Commissioners. Thank you, Mr.

01:09:01,430	Mayor, for allowing us to get up and share a little bit about our good friend Craig. Um, on behalf of the man and fire department and Fire Chief Bitz, who’s unable to be with us tonight. Um, we send our sincere condolences to Pudge and Jesse and, um, city staff and the community. Uh, this one hurts. Hurts real bad. And, um, I’ve had the ability.

01:09:25,170	I’ve had the. I’ve been fortunate to know Craig for all of my career with Mandan, which has been just about 22 years. And way before Craig was a commissioner at the desk. He poured a lot of his heart into our fire department.

01:09:51,870	He was, um, a foundational member of of the team that brought in our junior firefighter program. Um, and he was just always there. He was always present. He would come in and help us rewrite SOPs.

01:10:09,730	Um, to this day, he would he would text when he heard there was a bad call just to check on us and let us know that there was a scrapbook to look at and a cold and root beer at his house that we could always stop by and and visit.

01:10:25,230	And, um, Craig was the the epitome of what it meant to be a public servant from his time to be, from when he was a police officer to a firefighter, or to when he sent me 15 photos of his address on his house because he repainted it bright yellow and thought it could be used as a good public awareness campaign. Uh, that’s just the type of gentleman that he was.

01:10:47,600	And, um, we will miss him, and we will forever be grateful for everything that he instilled at us. Mr. Mayor and commissioners, on the behalf of the police Department, our condolences to the family. Um, Craig is very special. I can remember the first time I met him, he was running for commissioner, and he pulls up in this pickup truck with a yellow tailgate.

01:11:12,730	And he told me, he says, you’ll always remember, because I’m the only person in town has a yellow tailgate. That ugly. And I said, noted. And a lot of the conversations that Craig and I had, um, I’m going to keep to myself, mostly because I can’t say in front of the public what that conversation was.

01:11:32,500	It was two old cops talking about cop shop. And, uh, the one thing I know is he loved all public servants. I don’t care where you served, but he also had a specific affection for police and fire because he served. And he knows the troubles that we deal with and the demons that haunt us at night.

01:11:53,370	And, um, it’s a tough job. And someone like him kind of made it a little bit easier talking to him, because you’re able to get a lot off your shoulders and off your chest. And, you know, I’m going to miss his wisdom and his laughter and his long conversations. After commission meetings.

01:12:12,530	Um, he was just a very special human being. And, um, we’ll always have a place in my heart. God rest my friend. Okay. I need to wrap. What’s that? Barb. Sorry. Oh. That’s okay.

01:12:38,270	Waiting to see if anybody else, um, on behalf of the Morton Mandan Public Library Board and our entire library family, we want to express how deeply saddened we are by the loss of Craig. Even though the library was a city portfolio that was assigned to Craig, he took his role extremely seriously. He’d pop in to visit, ask questions, and provide a good feedback.

01:12:56,870	He believed in what we were doing, supported both our staff and his fellow trustees, and was always willing to lend his voice, knowledge and leadership when needed. What I think I’m going to miss most is simply Craig, his encouragement, the kindness, his little history and war trivia, and the way he made you feel like the work you were doing mattered.

01:13:16,600	At the end of our meetings, when everybody else is gone, he would leave and he would look at me and he would say, way to go, kid. Those four little words mean a lot. And now I’m going to miss hearing them.

01:13:35,430	Craig, thank you for believing in our library, for serving our community, and for cheering us on along the way. Way to go, Craig. You made a difference. I don’t know if I want to do this, but I think I’ll regret it if I don’t. So, um, I wrote this down. I don’t normally do that, But I want to get this right.

01:13:54,570	Um, first of all, I wanted to say to Craig’s family and friends that I’m so sorry for your loss. My time with him was a two year blip in the grand scheme of his life. But at the city, we all felt such immense love and support for, from Commissioner Sjobert. Leaving that impression is a testament to his capacity for care and his ability to lift others up.

01:14:13,730	So thank you for sharing him with us. We talk about Commissioner Sjobert taking office in July of 2024, but I first met him months before I knew him as the stranger who was attending all of our boring city meetings during his spare time.

01:14:32,000	Um, by the time he actually took office, he was already already well-versed with the minutia of gateway overlay district garage door placement considerations. He brought that same kind of dedication and infectious passion to every aspect of public service. He walked into this room with a lifetime of goodwill and credibility, and I always felt lucky just to ride his coattails.

01:14:53,800	In that sense, he stood up for what he felt was right. He never shied away from making hard decisions, and I hope we can make him proud by carrying on that legacy, standing right here, presenting on tough issues.

01:15:11,030	I could always rely on Commissioner Sjobert for reassuring eye contact, subtle head nods or not so subtle thumbs ups. He would effortlessly cut through anxiety of tough moments. I will miss that. And I will miss him tremendously. Thank you. Anyone else? Good evening, Mayor and commissioners. I just, uh, I became the superintendent of the wastewater treatment plant, and then shortly thereafter, he became the portfolio holder.

01:15:40,800	And, uh, he was instantly felt like a friend. And, uh, it was great, great working with him. Um, the the notes were were great to see. It was good. He always had good questions, made the meetings. You know, I learned a lot from him. Um, I just thought he was really cool. I thought he was funny.

01:16:04,800	It was nice to have a laugh in meetings and, uh, you know, I’ll miss working with him, and I’m going to miss seeing him at the gym, but, uh, I’ll probably get a workout in now. Yeah, I’ll miss him. Rest in peace. Okay. With that? Anybody else? Okay. I failed to, uh, read the future dates.

01:16:33,530	September 15th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m.. Tuesday, October 6th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m.. And Tuesday, October 20th at 20, 2026 at 5:30 p.m.. Um, Craig warrior. Uh, I don’t know if any of you noticed it. He wore a be Kind wristband.

01:16:56,800	Uh, I don’t know if he started it or if I started it, but I’m gonna I’m gonna say this, uh, be kind to yourself. That’s foremost. Be kind to your neighbor. And it’s. Onward and upward, man down.

01:17:17,000	I’m going to read a piece of scripture that seems like it’s read at every funeral, but I think it aptly applies to Craig. And it’s a second Timothy, chapter four, verses six through seven. You all probably know it by heart. As for me, my life is already being poured away as a libation and the time has come. For me to depart, I have fought the good fight to the end. I have run the race.

01:17:48,330	I have kept the faith. The roar is silent. The old lion is dead. Rest in peace, Craig. Thank you all.