00:00:12,270	And welcome. Today is September 15th, 2026. We are in the Ed Bosh Froehlich Meeting room, Mandan City Hall. It is 5:30 p.m. Mr. Neubauer, could you please take the roll call? Commissioners Braun. Yes. Belohlavek. Yes. Heinsohn. Yes. Mayor Froelich. Yes. Please stand for the pledge.

00:00:36,800	I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. Let’s start out with announcements, construction project updates. Jarek. Mayor and commissioners.

00:01:08,470	Um, construction is season is slowly winding down, so we’re kind of, uh, getting to the end on some of these. Um, I’ll start off with Memorial Highway. Uh, reminder about the east half. Everybody can see that. It’s pretty much done. Um, it is substantially complete. There are some final punch list items, some gate valves that need to be adjusted.

00:01:27,070	And, um, some sanitary sewer televising that needs to be done. But that’s all kind of getting slowly chipped away at this fall Hall Road. Uh, repairs were done. People notice that they’re completed. Uh, once again on the map here, it’s 46th. Um, there was some more work done on 40th and on 19th for Memorial Highway West.

00:01:44,670	Um, we are getting prepared to, uh, pour concrete in the westbound lanes. Uh, in this picture shown, uh, kind of in the removal phase, but that’s all nice and graded out now.

00:02:03,870	Um, and then we are also preparing to put the temporary winter pavement on the westbound side, and that would give us our winter temporary section of asphalt, um, on Memorial Highway West. And then on third Street, people will notice that, um, the storm sewer work is continuing and will continue to be worked on over the next, uh, few weeks to, to the, to the end of the year.

00:02:27,400	Uh, reminder, uh, there is dewatering happening on the Memorial Highway project. This picture is down by midway lanes. But this might be there. People might see similar setups at different parts of the corridor. Uh, this is, uh, groundwater that is being pumped out of the ground to create dry working conditions for contractors. And it is nothing to be too worried about.

00:02:47,070	First street reconstruction project, uh, phases one and two are substantially complete, and phases three and five shown in orange and purple here, are currently active construction. Um, did keep that picture here of, uh, fifth. Um, this week we’re expecting, uh, phase three to get curb and gutter or curb and gutter and then roadway preparation done.

00:03:10,600	Phase one, we will have the, uh, concrete contractor mobilized over there to complete some small, um, concrete installations like ped ramps and, uh, I think some of that colored concrete work will get done this week. Upcoming.

00:03:26,730	We’re expecting a water and storm sewer to get to ramp up on phase five, and then phase five will get prepared for roadways and, um, at the same time, landscaping is going to be done on phase one. Louis Water and Sewer District 65, up by Lewis and Clark Elementary. That one is substantially completed.

00:03:46,470	Punch list items have been developed and the contractor is going to be slowly working on those through the through the end of this year. Um, Street Improvement District 241 up by Red Trail Elementary. Asphalt pavement paving is complete. The chip and fog seal work is complete, and we are currently working on landscape restoration.

00:04:09,930	Um, next would be, uh, uh, signs, traffic control signs and pavement markings to be completed. And then we’re expecting to do a walkthrough in the next two weeks where we would we would identify deficiencies with the contractor, with the consultant engineer, with, uh, public works, who will be taking over maintenance of the work, um, and put together a checklist for the contractor to address before final acceptance.

00:04:31,400	Um, and then last week, I did touch on the, uh, a couple of neighborhood projects, another project that I’d like to touch on that is still active. Kind of behind the scenes is our eighth Avenue Northwest and 27th Street.

00:04:47,130	Project design is complete on this, and we are expecting bid opening to happen this winter with construction next summer. And, uh, we do expect, even though we’re calling this our eighth Avenue Northwest and 27th Street project, we’re expecting a much larger work area where we are going to be addressing some of the rehabilitation needs in the roadways around this major corridor.

00:05:10,200	And so it will include an urbanized, uh, section on eighth and 27th, similar to the one to the road just west of the new high school. And then, um, district wide rehabilitation, probably Valley Gutter rehabilitation patches, chip seal, um, some of that just kind of, um, patchwork in the surrounding area.

00:05:29,970	Um, and then we do have a lot of other active projects, and those are all posted on our website and have individual project websites, and I can try and answer any questions if you have anything else for me. Just a reminder, eighth and 27th, when is that slated to be rebuilt? Um, we’re expecting reconstruction to happen next next year. Okay.

00:05:49,130	Any other questions for Eric? I have a question. Um, not any of these projects that you talked about, but what about the sunset corridor? Uh, interstate exit there. What is the status on that project? Um, mayor.

00:06:10,000	Commissioner, the, uh, North Dakota Department of Transportation just went through a value engineering study on the design of that interchange, where the where they had a, I think a third party consultant identify a few changes that could be made in the interest of bringing the cost down on that project. So they are very much still in the design phase of that.

00:06:27,730	Um, I don’t think that we would be able to pin down the dot on exactly when they would say that project would occur, because I don’t think that they have funding explicitly allocated to the project quite yet, though they are expecting it. So, um, I would expect 2028 would be a good guess at this point in time.

00:06:44,630	And that project goes from south of the interstate to old Red Trail or beyond.. Mayor. Commissioner slightly beyond old Red Trail. So it would basically be between boundary slightly south of boundary to slightly north of old Red Trail. Thank you. Mayor and commissioners. You mentioned punch list.

00:07:07,630	What does that entail exactly? Punch list. Mayor, Commissioner Braun punch list would be, uh, kind of a random assortment of, uh, what we would what would not meet spec for the project.

00:07:29,530	So, um, where we might, uh, require where they might have replaced curb and gutter along a certain section, and stormwater isn’t flowing through there, and it’s sagged, and stormwater is collecting in that curb and gutter. That would be an example of kind of a checklist item where we would say, well, that, you know, that that didn’t mean our specification for this construction project.

00:07:42,400	And that’s going to need to be addressed by the contractor to bring it up to the standard that we are, that we were contracted for with the construction contractor. Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you. Eric. And now the topic that is brought out, this large crowd free fall landfill week Jarek or Shane. Good evening mayor.

00:08:11,330	Commissioners, I just wanted to remind everyone this week is free fall landfill week. Uh, this is. You can bring anything to the landfill. Um, not. We do not do a pickup this week. This is bring out to the landfill. Um, Mandan residents can bring eligible items such as furniture, household appliances to the Mandan landfill free of charge.

00:08:33,130	Just with your proof of residency, a driver’s license or a bill. Um, as a reminder, construction materials, hazardous waste, liquid paint. We do not accept. Um, and we asked residents to securely secure your loads, properly secure your loads.

00:08:49,600	I know that yesterday in the winds, we were trying to make sure that was a thing. We had to go back out on the road and pick up some mattresses and stuff. So just make sure we’re securing down our loads before you’re heading out to the landfill. And it’s just a great opportunity to clean up around town. And on another side note, we have a water meter project coming up.

00:09:03,470	Um, letters were mailed out last week. This is a, um, specific area where we’re working on our older water meters across town, uh, trying to update them and replace them through the water. Smart grant funded Advanced Army project. Um, we’re just have a selected amount.

00:09:24,400	If you receive the letter, it is not, um, fake. It is from us. It will have a letterhead with the city of Mandan and Rain’s meter maids. That is the contractor we’re working with that we’ll be doing the replacements and all the scheduling. So if you did get one of the letters in the mail, it is not a scam.

00:09:40,800	It is an actual project that we’re working on through town. Is there a certain section of town? Uh, there’s four areas through town. Uh, we found meters across town that were past their living age that were replacing. So there is four specific areas, um, pretty broad across town. Okay. And one more time, it’s drop off. Not pickup free.

00:10:03,200	Fall landfill week. It is at the landfill, not on the boulevard. Okay. Thank you. All right. We’ll move on to public comment, Mr. Neubauer. Mayor Froelich. We have, uh, Susan Beehler has asked to comment on items G-1, which would be the budget.

00:10:27,370	Um, public hearing, but I think the applicable one would be K3 on the filling. The vacancy on the commission. Is that. Come up now? Yeah. Good evening. My name is Susan Beehler, and I’m a Mandan resident since 1992. Um, and my comment on the budget, um, is, um, one of the things that a lot of our residents do not realize that our city is not totally funded by property tax.

00:11:03,100	Uh, last year it was 15%, and I’m not sure I didn’t see that in the budget package. How much our property tax is a part of that new budget.

00:11:20,370	And so my I had a lot of questions and maybe I’ll have those answered after the presentation of that budget. And then um, also the cost of the water bill going up. Um, a lot of people, older people are on, um, you know, limited income and, um, you know, that that can be a burden to have an increase of that much.

00:11:41,770	And then, um, so that was my comments on the budget. So basically I’ll wait and see. Um, and then the other thing the comments were on filling the vacancy, and I’m just going to read a little bit from and then I’d like to submit this as testimony for the record.

00:12:00,470	Um, so the, the people of Mandan deserve a voice in the decisions that shape our city. On September 14th, we were submitting petitions requesting for a special election to fill the vacant seat on the Mandan City Commission created by the passing of our Commissioner, Craig Sjoberg.

00:12:22,200	We respect Sjoberg service to our community, and we extend our condolences to his family and friends. This petition was not about who should fill his seat. It is about who should make that decision. And we believe the voters of Mandan should make that decision.

00:12:42,330	And so the citizens that signed those petitions that we turned in are asking for the opportunity to elect the person who will represent them on the city commission. We delivered those signatures to Jim, um, yesterday at the city and are asking that their voices be heard through the special election. And then, um, in that press conference, I didn’t see any city people there.

00:13:00,800	And so, um, that’s the other reason I want to turn this press release in, um, part of the reason why we feel our voices not being heard is because of the amount of open records I had received in regards to the planning and zoning meeting that we had.

00:13:21,800	And there was one that in particular that really stood out to me was the email that was addressed to our mayor. And, that was from a veteran that had been deployed two times. And it looks like they were not replied to at all.

00:13:40,830	And all those open records, I didn’t find any replies, so I don’t know if that’s a mistake on the city’s part in those open records or if somebody actually did reply to the hundreds. It seemed like hundreds of people that sent in comments. And so that is one of the things that we want to voice in our government.

00:14:00,470	And people exercise that voice by sending emails to the commission to Planning and Zoning. And they heard nothing in reply, not even a thank you. Well, I should say not. There was a few that came through that said thank you will pass it on to planning and zoning. But there was no relevant conversations.

00:14:19,630	Questions were asked, no answers received, and so that’s part of the reason that has brought us to this point where we have, um, decided we need to have a voice because we’ve elected you and there’s no response. So, um, I’m monitoring that in for the record. I don’t know if I’m done. Okay. Thank you. Okay. We will move on. No other public comment? No, sir.

00:14:52,630	We will move on to the approval of the agenda. Entertain a motion. I’ll make a motion to approve the agenda. Second motion by Commissioner Belohlavek. Second by Commissioner Heinsohn. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioners. Heinsohn. Yes. Braun. Yes. Belohlavek. Yes. Mayor Froelich. Yes. Consider approval of the September 1st, 2026 Board of City Commission meeting minutes.

00:15:19,870	Move to approve. I’ll second. Motion by Commissioner Braun. Second by Commissioner Belohlavek any further discussion. Hearing none. Roll call please. Commissioner Belohlavek. Yes. Heinsohn. Yes. Braun. Yes. Mayor Froelich. Yes. We’ll move on to public hearings. Public hearing for ordinance number 1488 to the 2027 budget. Justin. Good evening. Mayor.

00:15:56,430	Commissioners, uh, there is no presentation tonight as that was done at the preliminary budget meeting. And then October 6th is when the commission will take action on the 2027 budget. Excuse me. Tonight is just the. Is not just. But tonight is the public hearing for any public comments on the budget.

00:16:19,070	Um, to the question earlier on property tax and utility rates, that was in the presentation, which is posted on the website. If there are any further questions, um, either Greg or I would be more than happy to go through that sit down or whatever it may be needed. And we have not received any other questions. Um, at this point. Mr. Neubauer.

00:16:40,930	Mayor Froelich the sensory code indicates that the public hearing would be starting at 6:00, so I would if you want to move on to other items on the agenda and then not close the public hearing on the budget until after 6:00. That would be appropriate. We will suspend this and move on to the consent agenda. And somebody keep the time. Not on that clock. All right.

00:17:05,030	We’ll move on to the consent agenda. I would like to pull item number five, please. Okay. Any other items? If not, I would entertain a motion to approve items one through four. So moved. Motion by Commissioner Heinsohn. Second by Commissioner Braun. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioners. Braun. Yes. Belohlavek. Yes. Heinsohn. Yes. Mayor Froelich.

00:17:34,900	Yes. Item number five. Consider authorizing staff to advertise the construction manager at risk. Request for qualifications. Jarek. Mayor. Commissioners. Um, this is a request, um, to basically solicit who who the contractor will be for our wastewater treatment project.

00:17:57,530	This, um, for a project of this scale, we are, um, uh, suggesting or we have been suggested to go with a construction. Construction manager at risk delivery method.

00:18:21,330	Um, in this method, the, uh, CMR has an opportunity to participate in design, and we are going to take advantage of that in in the interest of identifying risks and minimizing costs. But I can try and answer any questions if you have anything specific for me. Best guess what are we looking at right now? Um, as is 100 120 million. Uh, mayor, our current estimate that we are basing our utility rate adjustments, I think is 114 million.

00:18:44,870	That $114 million estimate is a 2023 number. So I would expect it to be I would expect it to be above $114 million. But by how much? It’s maybe too early to say. We’re expecting to have 30% design done in January of 2027, in which where we would have a much more solid answer at that point in time.

00:19:06,170	Okay, so it’s 114. You figure it’ll probably come in at 120. Um, and refresh my memory, this is at 2% money. I know it might be getting a little off track, and at a 30 year loan.

00:19:27,530	Mayor, um, commissioners, I believe that the 2% 30 year loan is the is what we had used for our utility rate adjustment. But, um, I think at this time we have only, uh, coordinated with SRF to take out $20 million loan, and that would cover us through at least the design portion.

00:19:45,270	And then we would, uh, either modify that loan or take out a new loan for the remainder, in which we would hope to lock in as low as as low as we can, hopefully 2%, but. Right. So I’ll probably end up about $100 million at 2% over 30 years, which is quick. Somebody to do the math, 40 million in interest. Yeah, hard to say. I don’t have that right in front of me.

00:20:04,900	Right. So thus the increase on the utility bill. Correct. Because we have to figure out a way to pay for this. Yes. Um, the finance department has done a lot of forward thinking in their long range financial planning.

00:20:23,070	And, um, instead of, uh, making a base rate adjustment all at once, they are kind of ramping it up over a five year period of time, I believe. So everything is status quo in the town and at our current growth rate, the utility bill has to go up. Mayor. Yes.

00:20:40,430	For for the community needs that have been identified through the capital improvement process, it would be prudent to make adjustments right now so that we don’t have to make more drastic adjustments down the line. Okay. I have some questions. Just if you could clarify, I’m a bit confused. Um, A.E., who’s designed or re contracted with AOS to design this project. Correct.

00:21:05,470	So how is what you’re recommending here? The construction manager at risk different than the two US contract design. And why would we go with this route rather than taking bids.

00:21:28,730	Why would we do a request for quotes if that’s what we’re going with? Mayor Commissioner Belohlavek, uh, this, this process up to this point and through design will be basically having a contractor, a construction contractor who builds these types of facilities, um, contracted with us to participate in design in which they will be offering a different perspective on construct ability, on estimating. I think they take a different approach to estimating than engineers do. And we would at the city.

00:21:51,770	Um, so they through design, they would be offering a perspective. And then through that design process, they would also be giving us a guaranteed maximum prices through throughout um, in which at the end of design, we would have the opportunity to lock in at that stated guaranteed maximum price and would give us a lot

00:22:11,400	of certainty for our funding, um, that we’ve been working on. Or there would be an off ramp there where we could choose to bid the project. Um, but it’s just it’s just a way to control risk, basically.

00:22:32,300	So to dumb it down for me a little bit, 82 S would be the architect. And this construction manager would be the builder, the bidder who we’re going to to build our beautiful house at 82 S, designed in a sense, but in a world of a water treatment facility. Absolutely.

00:22:51,030	And then the goal would be to in order to maximize that relationship to, to bring them in early so they can participate in design when, when they could have the most influence on reducing costs or identifying more efficient ways to do it. But we would have both on contract with us throughout the whole process. Correct? It would be. It would be a it would be a team that we’re putting together. Okay. So they’ll work together pretty closely.

00:23:09,630	Yes. Okay. Jared, can you just briefly go through the history of this. So this didn’t come up yesterday regarding the wastewater treatment plant. So this has been in the works for how many years? Um, mayor it has been in the works, I think.

00:23:26,200	Well, I would say I would say 2023, but I know it’s been in the works since before 2023. Um, I, I got here in November of 2022 and, um, one of the first, uh, things that we worked on was the plant is going to be at capacity in short order, and we

00:23:45,570	need to identify what needs to be done there. And then we did work with us to update our master planning document. Um, and that was finalized in 2023, which identified the need. And then doing our due diligence, we asked them to compare the master planning document for updating the plant.

00:24:06,870	Compare that to, um, regionalization with Bismarck or doing a brand new greenfield construction at a different location than it’s currently at. Um, those were both financially infeasible. Uh, so we were back to upgrades at our current location.

00:24:30,400	Um, after that, we did, uh, opt for a peer review from a consulting firm that isn’t a to us, um, where we worked with HDR to evaluate the liquid and solids treatment alternatives. And, uh, go through an independent cost estimation to so that we internally could verify, scope and verify need verify the magnitude of the project.

00:24:52,930	Um, and what HDR essentially came back with was the need is there the cost is, you know, our numbers are different, but it’s basically the same. The order of magnitude is correct. And um, after we got that confirmation and we worked through long range financial planning and capital improvement planning with finance and the whole city, we, uh, solicited for the design of

00:25:16,870	the project went through a qualification based selection of 82 s for that design, for the design of the project. And then now we’re here today. Okay. So outside of being a capacity, what is the condition of the plant? Mayor.

00:25:39,600	Um, the plant is uh, I would say not very reliable and it has no redundancy. The no redundancy, um, plays a lot into the poor reliability, I would say, because it’s not redundant. We don’t have an opportunity to take down portions of the plant to do routine maintenance or even do inspections.

00:26:02,130	Um, so the plant was fired up in 1997 and for the most part has been flowing the way it’s flowing today. Since 1997. And crumbling pieces of it crumbling along the way. So.

00:26:25,730	Okay, so if we don’t fix it, what can happen? Um, mayor, if we don’t fix it, we could have, uh, we could have a a failure that that we are not ready for because of the lack of redundancy. And then if we don’t fix it for long enough, we would, uh, start to be noncompliant with our, uh, discharge requirements, in which case we would start getting fined. Probably daily. Okay. And it’s important that a city takes care of its waste, mayor. That is correct. Disease is a problem, correct? Correct.

00:26:52,300	Yes. Any other questions for Jack? If not, I would entertain a motion to approve. Or we can use up to three minutes to 6:00 with another question. Motion. I’ll make a motion to approve item number five on the consent agenda. Second motion by Commissioner Heinsohn. Second by Commissioner Braun. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please.

00:27:27,500	Commissioners. Heinsohn. Yes. Braun. Yes. Belohlavek. Yes. Mayor Froelich. Yes. And at this point, do we want to go into the growth fund or do we want to wait till six, or can we go after six? Mayor I think we can move on to new business. Number one. Okay.

00:27:55,470	New business Mandan growth fund recommendation for forever Treasures retail incentive. Madison I could do some jokes for you guys till 6:00 if you want, but funny. All right, so, mayor, commissioners, at our August 26th, 20, August 26th, 2026 meeting, the Mandan Growth Fund reviewed an application for the Retail Incentive Program.

00:28:19,470	And just a refresher, the purpose of this program is to serve as a catalyst for securing new retail concepts to fill vacant properties and stimulate new construction by providing financial assistance to qualified applicants. And I would kind of compare this program to our Business Pitch challenge.

00:28:39,070	But like a mini version of that, this new business is being served by Lori Lochner, and she will help fill demand for a consignment store in the Mandan community. They’ll be leasing the building space at 1311 First Street Northeast. This building is a current storefront improvement project, which is almost complete and has been vacant for many years.

00:28:53,500	Just kind of give you some direction of where it is. If you go east on First Street, it is connected to the Leingang Chiropractic building, and then also across the street is Mandan Chiropractic. So it didn’t look high to Mankind chiropractic block.

00:29:13,900	Forever treasures is a mid-market consignment store offering affordable, quality secondhand clothing, accessories, home goods and unique items. It provides an easy way for people to sell items they no longer need, while creating a welcoming shopping experience.

00:29:35,070	The business empowers co-signer with simple, profitable sales channel, creating a welcoming and visually engaging store environment and supporting the community through eco conscious practices, local partnerships and events that connect shoppers of all ages with timeless, unique treasures. And one of the main questions I think at the Growth Fund meeting was the difference between a consignment store and a thrift store. Um, a consignment store is when individuals bring in items to the store to be sold. Um, the original owner retains ownership until the item sells.

00:29:53,800	When the item sells the store and the owner split the proceeds according to an agreed commission, and it often focuses on higher value items such as designer clothing, furniture, antiques, or collectibles. And then versus the thrift Shop, which is non-profit and donated to the store.

00:30:11,400	And that revenue usually supports charity, non-profit organizations. The rating system for the Retail Incentive program has 13 different criterias, and I did attach that into the agenda packet at the end. If you want to take a look at that, it has all the growth funds, scoring, and each of the 13 different criterias.

00:30:32,330	The average rating of the seven Managed Growth Fund members was 3.7 on a scale of 1 to 5, with five being the highest. The score warrants an incentive at $3.75 per square foot rate, with a total of $12,937.50. The Mandan Growth Fund’s cash balance, after commitments for economic development projects as of August 31st, 2026, was a $105,810.

00:31:01,600	50 um, the recommend recommendation for the Mandan Growth Fund was a vote seven zero, with two members absent to recommend approval of a retail incentive for forever treasures. The incentive rate, based on committee scoring, is recommended at $3.75 per square foot, with a total of $12,937.50 in this assistance over 12 months to begin one month after opening.

00:31:24,700	And then I moved to approve the $12,937.50 as a retail incentive for forever treasures payable in 12 equal monthly installments. After the start of operations at 1311 First Street, First Street Northeast. And I am available for any questions. We also have Lori in the crowd as well with us. So if you have any questions for her. Any questions? No questions.

00:31:53,930	With that, I would entertain a motion. I move to approve the $12,937.50 as a retail incentive for forever treasures, payable in 12 equal monthly installments. After the start of operations at 1311 North 1311 first Street Northeast. Second motion by Commissioner Belohlavek. Second by Commissioner Heinsohn. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioners. Belohlavek. Yes. Heinsohn. Yes.

00:32:25,370	Yes. Mayor Froelich. Yes. Thank you. Madison. Now we’ll move back to the public hearing for ordinance number 1488. Are we officially at six? Mr.. Newberg? Don’t look at that clock. Yes, mayor. We are officially passed six, so we’re good to go. All right.

00:32:48,870	So at this time, first call for public comments regarding the 2027 budget ordinance number 1488. Second call. Third and final call. At this point, the public hearing is closed. Commissioners. We don’t need a vote. Okay, then I thank Greg and Justin for their hard work on putting the 2027 budget together.

00:33:28,130	I think it’s very, uh, fiscally responsible to the citizens of Mandan. So with that, we will move to item number two on new business. Consider a driveway apron variance at 602 Sixth Avenue Northwest. Mayor and commissioners. Um, this is a an appeal to administrative denial. A driveway for a driveway, um, at the, uh, at a property along sixth Avenue Northwest.

00:33:56,230	Um, the property is a 140 foot by 140 foot parcel, which is exceptionally large, um, pretty much double the size of the typical parcel. The current driveway at this location is, oh, is about 21ft at the top, and the applicant is requesting an additional 18ft to construct a southern driveway to accommodate a detached garage.

00:34:21,800	Um, on the east side of the property. Um, generally shown back here. Um, with the, uh, exceptionally large size of the parcel and the low, uh, kind of frontage percentage that the driveway weight that the driveways would take up.

00:34:44,930	Um, we’re recommending approval of this, uh, variance, but we can try and answer any questions if you have any. Any questions for Eric? I have some concerns about that street light. That’s right there. Um, I don’t know what the distance is from the property line to the street light. Um, they’re requesting a 18 foot wide driveway.

00:35:07,800	It seems like it will be very close to that. And I have a concern about that getting hit. Yes, mayor. Mayor. Commissioner Belohlavek, we do have requirements for setbacks from streetlights.

00:35:24,800	And we did contact the applicant to to make him aware of our concern and ask him if he shared the concerns or if he still wanted to proceed with the variance process. And he did. So, um, when a, when and if a right of way permit is pulled for this driveway, uh, we will still be holding them to all of our typical standards for, uh, setback from public utilities.

00:35:47,230	So what are we looking at for a distance from where his apron would flare out to the pole? Um, Commissioner Belohlavek, I did not pull that exact distance, but it would be. It would be tight for what he’s trying to accomplish. Um, he may need to if he still wants the 18 foot driveway. And it does.

00:36:05,570	Uh, it has conflict with the light pole. Um, he would maybe have the opportunity to remove and reset the light pole at a different location, but that would be entirely, um, upon him to to perform and pay for. So was that suggestion presented to him? Um, I do not know.

00:36:29,630	I’m being told by the building official that he might not want to use the whole 18ft, so he would prefer to go, uh, narrower, maybe to, uh, accommodate a single vehicle, maybe even down to ten feet. Would be able to accommodate a vehicle. So we might have wiggle room there. But is variance is asking for 18ft correct? It’s not asking for ten. Correct.

00:36:54,500	Okay. Another concern I have is watershed. From the landscape in his yard right now, it looks like there’s a little berm or something that’s stopping water from shedding off the backyard to the front. Um, that gets removed and concrete gets poured.

00:37:16,970	Are they going to keep that flat? Are they going to have a hill for their driveway? How are they going to control the water that they’re going to have now that there’s more surface area of concrete? Mayor. Commissioner Belohlavek, the the intent of the applicant was to collect, um, to collect the stormwater as it currently runs, which is towards his property.

00:37:36,270	And, uh, drain it through underground means he was planning on putting, um, a mini storm sewer, uh, to collect, uh, and discharge towards the roadway, which is what we would prefer. But in any case, uh, we would we would make sure that they are discharging towards the roadway and not their neighboring properties. Any other questions for.

00:38:01,770	What is the setback from the from the, uh, property line on the driveway to his moving towards his property? Um, for a secondary building like a garage? Is that the question. For the driveway itself? The driveway itself? I don’t believe that we have a setback distance for driveways. Because I know the property line. Yep. Okay.

00:38:30,030	I guess my concern is that, um, if we’re coming, if you’re coming to us with a variance and you’re asking for 18ft, but we aren’t certain that we have 18ft to give, I would like to see an adjustment made with more satisfactory measurement of where we’re going to end, and how much you’re actually

00:38:49,500	asking for. So we don’t have a, uh, unknown variables in this situation. So. Mayor, Commissioner Belohlavek, that’s fair. Okay. Any other questions? Approximately do we know how far that light post is from that property line? I could get you. A rough estimate. Mayor. Commissioner Heinsohn, I’m getting 22ft right here.

00:39:30,830	Okay, so if. Had the 18 have about four feet potentially to work with. If they took the full 18, right. Mayor, Commissioner, that would be approximate. Yep. Okay. You said that this application was denied previously.

00:40:07,200	I guess I just worded it that way just because when something doesn’t meet our standard, uh, process, um, we present it as a variance because of administrative denial, in which case it’s a variance to the rules that we’re operating within as staff. And what what are your rules that you would say this didn’t qualify for? Um.

00:40:30,270	Mayor, Commissioner Belohlavek, we have, um, specific limits to how much driveway frontage properties can have. And the request would be beyond that for a single property. Although the nuance here is that this is essentially two properties that were combined.

00:40:56,870	In which case, if they were two properties installed driveway separately and then combined parcels, uh, we could end up with the exact same situation through, you know, a regular process. So we just don’t think that it’s an unreasonable request and is maybe more of a nuance of how our code operates. Thank you. Okay. Commissioners. What are your wishes? I’ll move. To approve the driveway variance request for 602 Sixth Avenue Northwest. Second motion by Commissioner Heinsohn.

00:41:34,870	A second by Commissioner Braun. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Commissioner Braun. Yes. Belohlavek. No. Heinsohn. Yes. Mayor Froelich. Yes. We will move on to item number three. Discussion regarding open city Commission seat. Mr. Neubauer. Mayor Froelich and commissioners.

00:42:10,530	Um, we did have petitions that were turned in yesterday afternoon to call for to have the commission call for a special election to fill the open seat that was vacated and fill the unexpired term of Commissioner Sjoberg. The the, uh, we have verified that there were 176 valid signatures on the petitions that were turned in. Um, was required, 162 so those petitions are valid.

00:42:35,100	A little bit of background information, uh, the the calling of a special election, uh, is it’s a little complicated, but in essence, if the commission would call for a special election this evening, the earliest that that election could be held, I think, is December 19th, which is a Saturday.

00:42:59,730	Um, we from a staffing standpoint, there are some other things we need to consider, such as location of polling location, 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 locations for a separate um, city election. There’s also the ability availability of workers to work that election. Um, but in essence, the earliest this could be held would be 95 days after the calling of the election.

00:43:21,000	So our recommendation would be we kind of hang on to this for right now and probably come back in the first week of October and then have some recommended dates for elections for you again, in the process would be once the city calls for the election.

00:43:38,070	Um, any candidates that are interested in running for the seat would need to gather the appropriate signatures, which I think are 125 signatures. Um, have to be allowed 64 days in which to gather those signatures and in turn, and you can’t call for the election until at least 30 days after those signatures have been turned in.

00:43:56,930	So that is the in essence, of 95 day timeline from the date those you call for the election. Mr. Neubauer, what century, code wise, what are the remedies when a commissioner passes away or resigns? Mayor Froelich and commissioners.

00:44:29,370	Um, the remedies that would be available to you had the petitions not been filed, the commission could, um, run with four commissioners. They are not required to appoint a commissioner to fill that seat. So you would run vacant with one spot until the next election, which would be June of 2028. Or you could you have options? You could appoint someone to fill that unexpired term.

00:44:49,600	You could simply appoint someone, or you could call for letters of interest with from folks to say if anyone is interested in filling that seat, um, you know, please supply a letter of interest. And then the commission would have the option to interview those folks and then make a selection after that.

00:45:06,170	Do we have a cost estimate on this special election? Uh Mayor Froelich. I do not have a cost estimate yet, because, again, we need to determine, um, do you want one polling place or do you want two polling places or three polling places and, and how you want to work that. So again, those numbers would be variable.

00:45:21,170	And it would just be guessing at this point in time based on there will be some expense. It will be a hand tallied election. I don’t believe that the the county machines would be available to do that, unless I could talk to Auditor Ron and see how that works. But again, um, special elections are usually hand counted..

00:45:41,970	And in regards to the death of an elected official, can you speak on the moratorium before a commission can act on that seat? Right. Mayor Froelich there’s a we can call it a 15 day period where the public is is has the availability to petition the commission to call for a special election.

00:46:08,130	So again, um, that’s that kind of a we can call it a quiet period, whatever you want to term, you want to use. But there’s that 15 day period in which, um, which residents could again file petitions to force the commission to call for a special election. Within the 15 days after death or after the 15 days.

00:46:27,270	Mayor Froelich that 15 day starts on the day following the vacancy that occurs. So Commissioner Schoenberg’s death was August 29th. So that 15 day period started on August 30th. Okay. And then 15 days would have terminated on Sunday, September 13th.

00:46:51,630	But because it’s a Sunday, moved to the next following day and you’re at Monday, and we chose 4:00 on Monday, okay. As that deadline. So again, usually that is a quiet period for um, for residents to, uh, express if they want to have the commission go to a vote to elect. Okay. Any questions for Mr.

00:47:11,630	Navarro? So because we received the petition, that is the only option at this point, correct? Mayor Froelich and Commissioner Belohlavek, yes, that is the only option that’s available to you right now. So at a minimum, um, you would be running with four commissioners until at minimum, December 19th.

00:47:32,100	And then it’s a matter of do you want to call for an election during the holiday season? Do you want to move to January or February? There’s significant time frames in there in which you could call for an election, but it would have to be 95 days after.

00:47:56,730	Mayor and Jim, there’s there’s no potential appointment during the interim before special election though as well. Correct. Mayor Froelich and Commissioner Heinsohn, I do not believe that is a remedy that is available to you. Okay. So realistically, this is going to be after the first of the year.

00:48:18,030	Mayor Froelich that, um, again, that is a choice of the commission. Um, on when you would want to call for that election. Yes. Okay. We are going to decide tonight. So but thank you for the information. Any other questions for Mr. Neubauer? Okay. Let’s move on to the last item. Resolution and ordinances.

00:48:46,170	Second 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, Mayor Froelich and commissioners, we have had no comments received regarding this ordinance. Okay. Thank you. With that, commissioners. I move to approve the second consideration of ordinance 1492. I’ll second.

00:49:11,700	Motion by Commissioner Braun, second by Commissioner Belohlavek. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Commissioners. Heinsohn. Yes. Braun. Yes. Belohlavek. Yes. Mayor Froelich. Yes. There is no other business in front of the commission tonight. Future meeting dates for the Board of City Commission are. Tuesday, October 6th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m..

00:49:35,200	Tuesday, October 20th at 20, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. And Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. With that, be kind to yourself. Be kind to your neighbor and it’s onward and upward. Mandan meeting is