00:00:09,870	In the room. What do you do? We do. Welcome. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Hey, let’s stand as we pray. And then also. Then we play the pray. Say the Pledge of Allegiance. Heavenly father, we just come before you today knowing that, uh, you care about meetings like this.

00:00:30,670	When we talk about things that concern your creation. And we thank you for this county. We know that an election is coming up next Tuesday, and we pray for that election. We pray for those that will be voted in. And God, even the ones that we might not vote for that will get voted in.

00:00:47,930	We just pray we can support them in this endeavor in our county. And so be with these commissioners tonight, as they are with the task at hand. And may you guide us and everything we do, and we do this all in your son’s name, Jesus Christ. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the. Republic for which it stands.

00:01:09,170	One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Yes. Thank you. Hold that. I’ll call the June 1st, 2026 meeting of the Burleigh County Commission to order. First item is roll call. Members. Commissioner Bakken here. Commissioner Schwab here. Commissioner Woodcox here. Commissioner Munson here. Chairman Bitner here.

00:02:10,530	Uh, the next is the approval of the agenda. Um, commissioners, I’d like you to note there’s an addition under ten C. Of what the agents and our staff has been up to. And so I’m not gonna go through any of that.

00:11:18,670	You guys can take the time to read that if you would like just some upcoming program to make you guys aware, um, in the month of June, we do have a cooking camp that’s going on. We also are hosting a youth farm safety camp.

00:11:36,270	Uh, the new ag agent and myself actually are up working in the Wilton Senior Center with a new program up there calling called growing with Burleigh County Extension. And then right at the beginning of July, we will have our achievement days, and that is July 6th through the 10th. And so I’m also here this evening to ask for approval to close our office to the public. During that week of achievement days.

00:11:54,270	So I’ve been here the last couple of years asking for that, and it’s all hands on deck. And it’s a it’s a full day. So full day, full week actually. And so if I could get that approval tonight that would be wonderful. Yeah. How about if we address that right now.

00:12:08,300	Yeah. Um, so as far as, uh, when you’re out of the office, uh, if somebody needs, if something arises, somebody needs to get hold of you. What’s the process for that? Yeah. So we have where, like, our voicemail is set up to hit emails as well.

00:12:27,630	And so like, periodically we, um, like, last year, in the years before we do check that when given, um, a lot of times we’re able to I’ll be honest, like people are able to leave a message directly with the agent. They’re going to. Hold on. Perfect. So we just it’s a delay in response. But, um, it’s an annual event.

00:12:43,630	It’s still accessible. So with that, I would move to approve, uh, the closure for the event. Second motion and second to approve the requested closure. Any further discussion? Do you have anything, Commissioner? Never know. It might rain. All right. Let’s pray for that. Maybe this will force the parade.. Any further discussion? Call the roll.

00:13:04,370	Commissioner Munson. Yes, Commissioner. Bakken. Yes, Commissioner. Schwab. Yes, Commissioner. Woodcox. Yes, chairman. Bitner. Yes. Motion carries. Thank you. Commissioners. Uh, two last things before I turn it over to Seth here is, um, we did have an admin who left, and we did rehire, and she just started last Tuesday.

00:13:24,130	So, um, in the ground running with that and stuff. But here tonight, I really want to introduce Seth, our new egg, and, uh, natural resource agent. So I will have Seth give a little introduction of himself. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Commissioners, uh, my name is Seth Buckler. I’m.

00:13:46,070	As Kelsey mentioned, I’m the new Agriculture and Natural resources agent for NDSU extension, Burleigh County, uh, graduated NDSU in 2020. Um, moved back home to Burleigh County on my family ranch, where I am the fifth generation, um, where me and my girlfriend are currently raising cattle. Uh, I started with NDSU extension on April 20th. Kind of hit the ground running.

00:14:11,670	I have, uh, hosted a pesticide training already. I’m getting involved with, uh, programs with Kelsey and doing a weekly crop and drought monitoring. Uh, prior to employment at NDSU extension, I worked for Burleigh County Soil conservation. Um, so I kind of have a history of agriculture.

00:14:34,000	Uh, and when the job opened up, I felt like it would be a good, uh, start to the next chapter of my life. And, uh, happy to continually continue to support and work for the county that I live in. So, um, if you have any questions for me, I’m happy to answer them. If not, that will conclude my report. The Commissioner Bakken.

00:14:51,670	Seth, if you had an opportunity to meet with Darren Johnson, our wheat officer, yes, I have, yes. Okay, good. He came into the office and introduced himself. Um, and we had good conversation. I look forward to that relationship growing. Thank you. I. Commissioner Bucket, I mean, Commissioner, the the last person in that office had a license.

00:15:12,500	For spraying and to sell tor done. Do you? I have a commercial pesticide license. Um, so that I can spray and I can provide training, uh, for, for, uh, pesticide application, but I, we do not sell, any.

00:15:41,870	No, because when, when our former weed officer resigned, I had to take all these calls for nine months, and I could not sell tor done. In other words. Okay, the sale. So you would be in the same position if if, uh, if, uh, Darren is out of town, are you able to do that? I cannot sell.

00:16:05,830	You don’t sell it. You sign off on it for the county. You don’t collect any. I would have to talk to. Talk to Darren about that. Talk to Darren about that. Okay? Because that was the only way I could get that out. Okay. Yeah, I’d have to. I’ll. I’ll look into that.

00:16:25,030	Yeah. The other stuff isn’t restricted, but the tore down is right. Okay. Good question. Anybody else? Okay. Welcome aboard. Thank you. Thank you. Kelsey, do you have anything else? Okay. Thank you. Item number eight. Ben Gehrig.

00:16:50,430	We got a consideration of a zoning text amendment to prohibit new data centers and consideration of an ordinance to prohibit and remove flock safety cameras. Um, and, of course, we’re going to give the public an opportunity to weigh in on this. Uh, are you Ben? Yes, I am. I’m Ben. Derek. Welcome. Thank you. Um, Mitch, did you bring any additional zoning information or anything like that? Um, Commissioner Woodcox said you were going to. Thank you.

00:17:23,270	Zoning? Yeah, it was with the ordinance, the existing ordinance or anything like that. On. Data centers. I have the original ordinance that we’ve signed and approved. Okay. So if there’s any questions. You have any questions? Yeah. Okay. Mr.

00:17:40,330	chairman, I would just mention the fact that he would be here to represent us because I know some of this we’ve already handled. And he was hearing to. Sure. Okay. Just clarifying that he’s available to do that. Um. Good evening, commissioners. Chairman Bitner, my name is Ben Garrick. I’m a Burleigh County resident and I live in Bismarck.

00:18:21,400	I want to first start by recognizing your service to our community and the work you do. As we’ve seen recently, you often have very difficult decisions to make. And that is not lost on me. So thank you for your public service. Taking the time to consider this item on the agenda and allowing me to speak on it.

00:18:41,270	For the record, I am here as a private citizen giving opinions that are on my own, and I would like to say that I’m not a Luddite. I’m not an anti tech extremist and neither am I anti progress. I’m an IT professional and like many in this field, I am terrified to see the direction this technology is headed.

00:19:01,600	As many of us have seen in the news lately, data centers are proliferating across the nation and around the world. I can understand the argument that data centers are needed to process and store the ever increasing volume of data, but I question, for what purpose is all this data needed and why is

00:19:21,000	it happening? Also fast? Many times behind closed doors, without public input? And why do we need so many? So I’m here tonight to make the case for why data centers should be prohibited from being built here in Burleigh County. I don’t believe this issue is partisan nor political.

00:19:41,730	Data centers threaten the livelihood of residents in our county and the counties that they exist in. Whether you’re left leaning, right leaning, or in the middle, this is about our future. And Burleigh County is beautiful.

00:20:01,270	There are many hidden gems, hidden gems in our area, and one of which is under threat. Buckstop junction and out of state company Orem Capital Ventures wants to enter our community and take advantage of our spacious agricultural land and resources for profit. Why not instead allow local farmers to farm that land, as the Coleman family did in recent years, people say. Sir, sir.

00:20:25,330	I have to inform you. I don’t mean to interrupt, but I have to. We took action. There was somebody that came before the county commission quite some time ago, requesting whether the county would be interested in in selling some land for that, and it was unanimously denied.

00:20:46,900	So I’m not sure where you’ve heard a rumor or why you think that there’s a data center going in on county land at that location. That is simply not the case. Okay, okay. Well, that that. That’s off the table, there is no sure. Well, I spoke with the county zoning and board commission, um, or zoning planning and Zoning Commission.

00:21:12,270	And the person I spoke to said that, uh, the project was, um, being studied. It just hadn’t been approved yet. So that’s wrong. I don’t know who you spoke to. Sure. So, um, because I also sit on that board. Okay. As. And I’m sure our planning director is at that meeting as well. There is zero plan there. Okay.

00:21:34,900	Anybody heard anything other than that? I’m here to tell you that is not anything more than a rumor, sir. Okay, well, then, um, I apologize for for that, but my, I could I continue to. Make the point. I just want to clarify that that’s not going to happen.

00:21:52,870	So, um, to to can you continue on to the purpose of this consideration? Um. As Burleigh County as a whole? Um, people say we have an abundance of resources here, plenty of water, plenty of lands, low utility bills. And my response to that is, yes, yes, we do.

00:22:12,670	Um, and that’s what makes this such a great community in which to live. So, um, if there were to be a data center, put somewhere in Burleigh County, um, I think it would be a mistake to introduce such a massive resource hog into our community that would drive prices up.

00:22:37,770	So, um, but recently we’ve seen an uproar in Box Elder County, Utah, uh, due to three commissioners, uh, approving the the project with getting, um, a massive amount of pushback from their local community. Um, and I think there were genuine concerns voiced by the residents of that community.

00:23:05,000	And, uh, that was another reason why I thought it should be brought up in a commission meeting to be considered. Um, so that that doesn’t happen here so we can get ahead of that in the event that there would be a plan to put a data center in Burleigh County. But I would like to, uh.

00:23:27,870	Continue that many community leaders make hasty decisions, um, made by, uh, and fall for empty promises made by data center developers and some of which, uh, promises are made are that they’ll bring jobs, tax revenue, make the community a hub for more businesses to come in and develop it out.

00:23:56,300	But, um, what we see recently in across the country is that, uh, a lot of times these entities overpromise and under deliver, and then the communities are stuck with the consequences of a decision that was rushed and were locals were kept in the dark.

00:24:21,870	So, um, but I would like to note that last week, Governor Armstrong, um, was interviewed on CalFire and he said, quote, one, make sure you’re talking to the locals because you need support locally. And two, don’t you dare raise consumers rates. Not now, not six weeks from now, not six months from now.

00:24:43,800	Because not only are you causing yourself problems, you’re causing the opportunity costs to everything else. End quote. And he also mentioned, um, getting a public input to build up a framework for data centers based on resource use.

00:25:16,830	And, uh, made a point to, uh, remind local officials to not enter into non-disclosure agreements with these developers, as we saw in Fargo, between City Administrator Michael Ellinger and Applied Digital. Um, and also recently, we saw in Williston that there was a settlement between Atlas Power Data Center and the local residents who sued, asking for damages for the noise. And. Um. They won that settlement.

00:25:44,730	And, uh, it’s it’s just a clear pattern we see going across the nation where nobody wants to live next to a data center. And even when they try and mitigate the concerns, the locals are still very unhappy. Um, and some of these concerns are diesel fumes, light pollution, a constant, relentless drone of sound and infrasound.

00:26:10,200	So I would just like to make a point that I don’t know very many people that would like to live next to a data center. I certainly wouldn’t, um, and I would invite you, Mister Chairman and commissioners, to raise your hand if you would voluntarily move to and live next to a data center. Thank you for your feedback.

00:26:44,530	So if you if you commissioners and our community leaders, um, wouldn’t want to live next to a data center, I think it’s fair to, um. See that. It would be unfair for local residents to have to live next to one. And, uh. I should clarify, I’m just not willing to move. Not whether I’m willing to move next to one. I’m just.

00:27:13,330	I’m just not going to move. I think I’m going to die where I live. Sure. That’s all. Thank you for your honesty, Chairman Bitner. But I believe a prohibition on data center development would be what’s best for the living standard of our community. And I’ll wrap up here.

00:27:34,170	Um, I submit to you that the harm that comes from data center greatly outweighs the alleged benefits. If other communities and counties think otherwise, then they do so they allow these facilities to enter at their own risk.

00:27:59,700	And I hope that I’ve illustrated and that upon reflection, we see that our quality of life here in Burleigh County, um, would be diminished if we did allow a data center to come in and, um, Governor Armstrong also mentioned that this topic will be considered in the next legislature, uh, legislative session.

00:28:27,400	So I think if we act now, um, and consider or even go so far as to enact a prohibition here in Burleigh County, we will, uh, have a better protection if the state legislature would go and make, uh, lax regulations for them. So I think it’s good to get ahead of that. And, um, protect our community, protect our water, our land, our electricity.

00:28:55,200	And so I just ask that you consider these, these concerns and that remember that this is our home. This is where we live. Um, I certainly wouldn’t want to live next to a data center. And I’ve talked to many people in the past week about it, and none of them would want to either.

00:29:13,630	So, um, thank you for your time, and thank you for allowing me to make my case. And I’ll stand for any questions. Commissioners, any questions? Commissioner Munson. So. So, Ben, when you were visiting with. Planning and Zoning. Did you get a copy of. The most recently. Passed ordinance for. data centers? No, no, Commissioner Munson, I did not.

00:29:31,130	So this commission, the planning and Zoning Commission, and the Burleigh County Commission, a year and a half ago spent almost a year creating an ordinance I would think you should look at that and read it and make sure you know it, because I think we’ve done our job very well as a planning and zoning commission.

00:29:48,830	And the Burleigh County Commission to make sure a lot of the concerns you just raised are covered. Thank you, Commissioner. Munson. Okay, okay. We’re going to open it up to anybody else who wants to speak on that subject. Hi again everybody. Terry, efforts, you’ve got a copy of my materials.

00:30:08,670	If you walked in late and you’re in the public, there’s also some copies sitting up here and my email address and my phone number is on there. If you guys want to give me a ring, I’m with tech, and, uh, we are starting an infrastructure education coalition.

00:30:20,600	And there’s some things I just want to put on the record about data centers in North Dakota and where I agree with Ben on a few things. I will I will say that we’ve seen the same pattern play out in a lot of different places in the US. Um, Utah was specifically mentioned, and the difference of of a bad situation.

00:30:39,270	In a good situation is whether or not local governments actually have a factual framework in place before a developer arrives, and whether they’re building in the middle of a of a crisis and things of that nature. So Burleigh County went the right route and they went and they put this ordinance into effect.

00:30:56,330	We actually a tech ND between ourselves planners from around the state, some industry as well had a model ordinance task force that we convened. We used part of your guys’s code for that as well. So good job. Thank you. You made it easier on all of us.

00:31:12,500	Um, I also agree with Ben and the comments that he highlighted from Governor Armstrong. And in addition to appearing on Kfir, he also had a nice blurb, which not the most attractive word, but he had a nice blurb in the Economic Development Guide, where he went through the same analysis and he says, don’t you come in here if you’re going to be raising the rates of our

00:31:28,400	consumers? We learned a lot from the situation up in Williston, where we had an investor owned utility and a co-op trying to work in the same area on the seam of the provider, and things didn’t work out right. But that’s not the case everywhere, and we’ve learned a lot from it, really.

00:31:45,630	The job of anybody that is considered any community considering a data center has to be look at the challenges. What’s going to happen to the roads? Are we going to have a land use agreement? What’s going to happen to, uh, is there going to be light pollution? You have to look at

00:32:00,100	those challenges, and then you have to look at the benefits to your community, and you have to consider how the technology actually works. And underneath that entire net benefit analysis that you’re going to run, you also have to consider the fact that there’s property rights on both sides of this

00:32:15,400	issue. Yes, you have property rights, but so does your neighbor, who finally is ready to sell his land. And so making sure that a strong framework in place is the most important thing that we can do as a community to make sure that we’re all protected on both sides.

00:32:30,330	You know, we’ve heard that narrative that data centers drive up the electric rates. You know, in some places that could be true. We saw it, we saw a bad situation. We’ve learned from that. Uh, in Ellendale since applied started. They’ve returned $38 million back to consumers in the ratepayers there.

00:32:45,430	So it doesn’t always have to be that way. They also end up paying for the upgrades to the system, which can benefit the rest of the the customers that are on their, uh, you know, we have to just look at these things honestly, uh, are the job jobs sometimes inflated when you say, oh, it’s going to bring so

00:32:59,930	many jobs? Well, it’s your it’s your duty as an elected official to look at that and say, yeah, some of these are permanent jobs and some of these are temporary construction jobs because there’s huge projects, uh, in some of the larger data centers, there’s 120 permanent employees per building and bringing in 120 or 240 new

00:33:25,370	residents into a North Dakota community is not insignificant. So I just want to put out there that we’ve got some factual information. I like to hear both sides, and then let’s just run an analysis on both, on both the pros and the cons, because the only way that we all move forward together is to

00:33:42,670	make sure that we’ve actually got a protection in place, and it’s just important to know that a moratorium isn’t really a decision. It’s just a deferral that creates legal explosion. Well, we don’t really solve anything with that. I would stand for any questions. Commissioners. Commissioners, any questions? I don’t see any. Thank you for. Your time. Thank you.

00:34:02,700	Anybody else was speaking this welcome. State your name for the record, please. Uh, Rachel Heidel. Uh. Commissioners, I’m here to register my opposition to data centers. Um, I don’t know what the rush is.

00:34:25,170	And why do we need so many? We’ve only got 4 or 4000 in the United States all over this country. And I’m just going to give some examples of some that have already been built. There’s one data center and this is provided by Newsmax. This is not just a wild place to get this information.

00:34:44,400	One data center in Texas called Project Matador is as big as 15 Disneyland’s and uses as much electricity as the whole state of Colorado requires. In a year. It also uses over a billion gallons of water a year. Another data center under construction in Utah is going to require twice as much electricity as the whole state of Utah uses annually.

00:35:10,530	There’s the data center in Fayette County, Georgia, 6,000,000ft in size in one year, they have used 70 million gallons of water, which is 100 times what the public was told they were going to use. And they pay for their water, not at the rate that the public residents pay, but at a preferential rate.

00:35:36,130	Also, an unknown to the county was that they tapped into a residential water main and siphoned off 29 million gallons of water. So these are just a few of those things that are happening across this country.

00:35:55,000	And I can imagine there’s many more with the 4000 data centers already going on, where the public is not being told the truth, they’re not living up to what they’re saying. Um, and what about total noise? Total noise from these data centers is what happens from EMF, electromagnetic frequencies and Elf extremely low frequencies noise that you’re not necessarily aware of, but has can have a very negative impact on upon people and livestock and so forth.

00:36:23,130	Um, so I think we better think long and hard in Burleigh County before we allow this activity to go on in our county. And what’s the benefits to us as residents of Burleigh County? There will be some temporary jobs in constructing it, and it feels skeletal people left to operate it. What benefit do we get out of it? They take our electricity.

00:36:48,800	They take our water, they create noise, pollution, all these kinds of things that affect us here. And, um, so I just ask you to consider all these facts when you’re making your decision. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. For the record. My name is Dustin Gavrilo, Burleigh, County resident. And I’ve been working on this issue.

00:37:15,930	Uh, via my organization, North Dakota Watchdog Network, for some time. Last week, uh, we had a, I was invited down to a meeting in Linton where the locals there are very concerned about this. This is going to be the next big fight nationally.

00:37:34,600	But based on what you’ve heard so far, I think it’s very important that you call time out and let the public know what Burleigh County has already done on this issue, maybe word for word, reading it out, and then make sure that it is posted on the website so that people and citizens understand what the county has already done on this, so that you don’t have people thinking

00:37:51,670	that you aren’t doing something on it. Uh, one thing that has been made very clear is that a one size fits all solution, even for those who are opposed to data centers, is not going to work because there are small data centers that are owned by North Dakotans, owned by people in Bismarck.

00:38:13,830	And the money that they are making off of these things are is getting funneled into the local economy. So I would urge you to consider what what people have to say, make sure that they understand what is already in the in your, uh, ordinances.

00:38:34,930	And keep in mind that there is not a one size fits all cookie cutter approach to this issue, that you do need to keep your options open so that you can address things case by case. With that, I’d stand for any questions. Mr. Bachman.

00:38:51,570	You know, one of the things to Dustin is, is it’s a one size fits all with the term data center, because there’s crypto mining and so many other things that play into this. And I know so many individuals in the community that already are doing the crypto mining side of things. Um, and, and it’s not water. They’re using gel and other cooling methods. So, um, I think the terms a little erroneous as well.

00:39:11,800	So I would really ask people to do their homework because there’s a big difference in a wide spectrum when you’re talking from over here to over here, when you lump everything under the term data center. Yes, absolutely.

00:39:32,900	That the people at the top, at the national level who are going to benefit the most from the data centers are their own worst enemies when it comes to public relations. Uh, I won’t name names, but we all know who they are out on TV making quotes that sound pretty bad, and they are actually the big, probably the biggest thing that is inspiring, uh, folks, to be very upset.

00:39:51,900	The other thing is that there’s a lot of AI generated. Ironically, there’s a lot of AI generated misinformation on this issue, and people are not understanding that there are certain websites that are designed to inflame the situation, that are not focused on the facts. And I’m a critic. The data centers in general.

00:40:09,400	But if you don’t have your facts straight, you’re not going to win. So with that, I will sit down. Great. Thanks, Justin. Anybody else? Welcome to. Hi, I’m Galen Becker and a few things I just like to mention and not to have promises in writing and whatever that is.

00:40:37,200	If there’s violations, what the penalties are, if you consider having those up front, if it’s a closed water system and it’s not completely closed water system, what’s going to be the penalty per gallon of water and have it specified who’s going to take care of all costs associated, plus the penalty?

00:40:54,270	Okay. Just so we know what we’re getting into, if electric costs are raised for electricity and infrastructure costs should be spelled out, who’s going to pay for them? And, um, who’s going to be paying for the disassembly of the data center after it’s obsolete? No longer and return the soil to its original form?

00:41:15,200	And will there be sales tax exempt, like I’ve heard in some situations, where will they not be? Whatever you can think of, have those things in writing spelled out so you can make a good decision. Any questions, commissioners? Any questions for I see any. Thanks again. Thank you. Commissioners.

00:41:55,030	My name is Donovan Moeller, a long time Burleigh County resident. Um, be honest, a full disclosure I was unaware that there’s already an ordinance in place dealing somewhat with these data centers, so I don’t know what that consists of or what that says.

00:42:12,270	And, uh, part of what I have here is, uh, ignorance on my part of not knowing where we are today. Um, I just found out about this meeting tonight, uh, this afternoon. So short notice. So, uh, bear with me here. Um, I I’m here to strongly urge the commission to, uh, strongly consider the zoning text amendment to prohibit new data centers in the county.

00:42:32,070	While we recognize the economic value of technology, standalone data centers are heavily our heavy industrial, uh, industrial operations that cause irreversible harm to nearby neighborhoods. I ask you to support this amendment for two critical reasons. First, we must protect our residents, uh, from severe 24 over seven noise pollution.

00:42:56,770	Uh, data centers require massive industrial grade cooling towers and exhaust fans that run constantly. This is not standard commercial sound. It is a relentless, low frequency hum that vibrates through the walls and can be heard for miles. It disrupts, sleeps, disrupts sleep, ruins the enjoyment of outdoor residential spaces, and cannot be mitigated by standard property setbacks.

00:43:21,130	Furthermore, periodic testing of their massive diesel uh, diesel backup generators create an overwhelming roar and release a localized emissions. Because North Dakota has no state level environmental review process for data center noise, your local zoning text is our only line of defense.

00:43:45,230	Second, data centers place a severe economic and community strain on Burleigh County while offering almost no long term benefits during construction. Residents face years of heavy truck traffic, dust and torn up roads. But once excuse me, once complete, these massive, windowless concrete fortresses operate with minimal staff, often requiring fewer than 30 permanent jobs.

00:44:07,730	They can occupy 108 hundreds of acres of land without generating the local consumer foot traffic or employment that a standard business or housing development would. Instead, they threaten nearby property values. Homes facing an industrial perimeter of high security barbed wire fencing and constant hum face steep depreciation of their property values.

00:44:31,070	Furthermore, these facilities consume massive amounts of local electricity and water, threatening to strain our public infrastructure and will trigger utility rate hikes for everyday citizens. We frequently hear about the massive tax revenues and economic investment that data centers bring to a county. We do not dispute dispute. Burleigh County needs a strong tax base. However, the tax revenue should never come at the expense of public health. Residential property values or our quiet peace.

00:44:56,270	The reality is that the financial benefits of a data center do not stay in the immediate neighborhood, but the damages do. If a data center is built next to our homes, the broader county might see a boost in its treasury.

00:45:15,330	But the immediate residents face severe property depreciation, unlivable 24 over seven noise pollution and ruined landscape. Furthermore, North Dakota offers substantial tax level exemptions for large technology infrastructure, meaning that the actual long term tax payout to our local schools and roads may not be far lower than the developer’s promise. While permanent burden on our water and power infrastructure remains exceptionally high, no amount of tax revenue is worth sacrificing.

00:45:37,300	The quality of life of the citizens who already live, work and pay taxes here. Passing this type of tax amendment creates a clear, permanent standard that protects our property values, our quiet peace, our county infrastructure for the health and safety, and the welfare of our community. Please vote yes on this text. Amendment to ban data centers in our county.

00:45:57,070	Thank you and I’ll answer any questions that I might also add that, uh, that a second location that was identified for this data set is should the county land fall through, was the state school section straight north of that where Wapa has their power center? So that’s another I don’t know

00:46:17,730	where that’s at at this point, but that was identified as a secondary location. You know. There is no county land on the table. Yeah. The early county is no part of this. We honestly folks, we went through this whole thing. We developed an entire ordinance about. Why we.

00:46:36,100	Did it last year. Why? Yeah, we honestly, we think that we’re ahead of the game here. I’m not sure how nobody knows about that or not. Everybody knows about it, but we think we’re ahead of that game. Um, there is no data center going on. County land, and I guarantee you that. And my point.

00:46:55,770	My point at this board. My point, sir, was. that the county lands off the table. The state land. Okay. Let me let me address that one for you, because. Thank Commissioner Munson brought that up to me earlier.

00:47:12,800	That is state land inside city limits and completely out of control of Burleigh County. I’m sorry to say that, because we’d love to have jurisdiction and control that for you, but that’s out of our control. So if something were to happen there, um, it’s not this board that has anything whatsoever to do with it, sir. Commissioner, do you have anything? Okay, I just want to be clear about.

00:47:32,000	That, and I appreciate that. No control. You know, it’s like that. Bus is. Somebody else is driving that bus. Yes, sir, I get it. Thank you, thank. You, thank you for your time. Commissioner Bach, and just.

00:47:48,730	It’ll probably be tomorrow, but for future reference, just so anybody wants to take a look at the ordinance, we are going to post it up at the top of the page.

00:48:01,930	So just like we do with fire warnings and everything else, just so everybody can go back and look at it, because it is in the full ordinances in that package if you go in and look at it. But just so it highlights. So this is a point of a topic point at the moment. We’ll put that on the website just so everybody has operational awareness of what that ordinance that we crafted last year looks like. Okay. Thanks, Commissioner Bakken.

00:48:20,330	But it’s already on the website. It is part of the zoning ordinances. And we only have room for so many things on the top of the page. So I’m sure we’ll get a link to put it wherever.. We’re going. To link to it. It’ll be great. So it’d be easy to access. Good evening gentlemen.

00:48:35,000	I appreciate you guys taking time to hear people tonight. Um, my concern with this whole issue is we keep hearing banned in Burleigh County. We want to ban OHV. We want to ban wind towers. We want to ban data centers. We want to ban this. We want to ban that.

00:48:54,800	As leaders and representation for the county folks. I think, you know, we need to put a little bit more faith in you guys. But I want to say, when we keep, you know, when people keep hearing this ban word, it turns business and opportunity away because we look uninviting. You guys have done your due diligence.

00:49:09,330	You have passed ordinance. You have gone ahead of this. Um, I think you guys should get credit for that. I appreciate that as a county resident, but I would urge you guys to maybe instead of using these banned words, I mean, a moratorium is much different

00:49:24,700	than a ban. That is a pause. It is it is time to give you guys time to come up with ordinances, which a lot of our smaller counties have, a lot of our smaller counties are behind you guys on the whole data, uh, data center topic.

00:49:40,200	But, uh, the reason I came tonight is I just want to make sure that we’re not turning people away. If we have people that have ideas and they want to bring something in the Burleigh County, we want to create an atmosphere where they can come to you guys and discuss that idea, discuss it with the community, build that

00:49:56,730	relationship. We don’t want to put a closed sign up for Burleigh County, because that will have economic impact. That’s all I wanted to say. Thank you. Hello, my name is Christopher Freeman. I’ve been a resident of Burleigh County for about six years now.

00:50:17,530	I, as someone who has a master’s degree and is pursuing a PhD in the field of AI, I understand that data centers are not something that are nice. They are required. However, with that being said, I think it’s also important to take into consideration location, proximity, and overall benefit.

00:50:33,400	As has been mentioned before, having these in close proximity to homes or other businesses ends up being more of a nuisance. And what it’s worth, because once it’s built, the amount of traffic it’s going to be there, it’s going to be minimal.

00:50:46,100	So the economic impact on the local jobs and facilities nearby, the stores, they’re not going to benefit much from it. They will see more of a detriment from the overall noise. As mentioned before, all those things are going to have that type of impact. I did just have a few questions and some of it may be my ignorance of not catching some of the things here for this particular data center.

00:50:59,470	Will they? Will there be any tax incentives offered to this business as part of that? I know that might have been answered, but I wanted to make sure. No, we have not been considering anything like that. There is no request. There has been no talk of any sort about that.

00:51:14,070	Just wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss anything on. That. Unless anybody ever had any, and nobody that I’m aware of. And that’s what I thought.

00:51:27,400	I just would rather have that clarification when it comes to the environmental reviews that are going to be done as part of that project, when it comes to things like the impact of wildlife, will that also be assessed as part of that process, as data centers do have continual noise 24 over seven, and that potentially have an impact on the wildlife in the near area? I don’t know if wildlife is part of the ordinance, but it

00:51:40,270	may be okay. You’ll you’ll be you’ll you’ll be able to review that and come to your own conclusion. Okay. Um, then the other question I have is when it comes to the infrastructure of the electricity, it’s going to be required for it.

00:51:57,400	It’s something that’s always known when if those types of upgrades have to be made, what protections are going to be made in place to ensure that cost is solely on that organization and not being passed to the consumer? And some I don’t want to say backdoor because that puts them in a bad light. But in some almost cynical way.

00:52:10,500	So they can phrase it, that it makes it look like, hey, this is just normal cost of doing business. Well, that’s that’s in a minute. That’s something I am particularly interested in. And I have had conversations with, um, specifically with the manager of Capital Electric regarding that.

00:52:32,600	And he forwarded me some information from Basin Electric, who is who they buy their power from, and they have assured me that the goal across the board with the power company is to do like what we’ve been talking about, to not have any of those costs impacting the, uh, the current ratepayers, because I certainly don’t want my rates going up to pay for some other business down the road, or regardless of

00:52:54,600	what that business is. But having said that, I don’t have any guarantees and I’m not aware of anything that we can do through our ordinance structure. Um, that that would basically assure that I think there may be something in the ordinance.

00:53:11,670	I’d have to review it myself, because it’s been over a year now. But, you know, we’re all of the same opinion. I think that none of us want to share in the, um, in the expense of, of data centers or AI centers or something. Yeah, I think that’s why having that. Yeah. What kind of. It’s legitimate. Don’t get me wrong.

00:53:32,000	But if you wanted to add something, Commissioner Munson. At least the statement. There there is not a project. In front. Of Burleigh County at this time. So. So your questions haven’t been asked. Of us. That doesn’t mean those questions shouldn’t be at least thought of. Correct. But for right now, there is not a project.

00:53:52,170	In front of Burleigh County Planning and Zoning or really County Commission to even consider these. Questions. Uh, that’s that’s all I have. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Anybody else? Mr. chairman, commissioners, my name is Jan Winkler, longtime resident of Burleigh County.

00:54:27,130	Um, I truly appreciate the fact that there are things already in place, um, that you put together over the last year and a half. Um, I do have some questions on how any of that would have to do with the flock cameras, or if it does or does not.

00:54:45,730	Um, both the the data center and the flock cameras are really touchy subjects for a lot of people, and both of them seem to be things that kind of infringe on property rights and people’s ability to, um, have autonomy. And so I’m kind of looking to find out why these are both kind of grouped together.

00:55:08,730	Or maybe they aren’t just they’re both listed together, but maybe they aren’t exactly tied together. But it kind of seems a little bit so with the way that, uh, it was presented. And also I have a little bit of a observation that things that have been quote unquote decided don’t necessarily get enforced.

00:55:34,170	Um, we had issues with the Midwest Industrial Center, um, and infringing on residential, and there were lots of promises made not necessarily by this board, but more so the city.

00:55:57,130	And when there was additions to it, there were more promises made, and none of them were followed, but none of them were enforced, or none of the things that were done that infringed upon the people around the area were addressed by the city, or any of them that had the jurisdiction to do so. So my fear and my fear comes from experience is that that could happen with something like this in Burleigh County, whether it is the flock cameras or it is the the data centers.

00:56:19,700	And I’m wondering what kind of teeth are. And it’s probably been as long since I’ve reviewed, reviewed that ordinance as, as what I’m hearing here because it hasn’t been top of awareness lately.

00:56:38,730	But, um, I’m kind of wondering what kind of teeth are going to be placed with any of these things should you decide to do a full on prohibition rather than a moratorium, or put controls in place. So if you have any answers to that, I’d really appreciate it. Well, let’s see how to start with that. Jen.

00:56:58,470	Um, first off, the the data centers and the flock cameras are two separate issues. When I introduce the agenda item, I just kind of put eight A and B because he’s on for both of them. We haven’t talked about flock safety cameras yet. I haven’t had a chance to talk to the sheriff, but I’m not aware of any of those in Burleigh County, maybe in the city.

00:57:17,130	I don’t believe there’s any in Burleigh County. And frankly. Not a way to get out of the city of Bismarck without being viewed. Period. So I have no control over that. No, I realize that. And, you know, you know as well as I do the. Issues out.

00:57:33,670	There that you know as well as I do out of out at Midwest there, that was city jurisdiction. And you’re right about that. So Burleigh County wasn’t able as much as it pained us and pained me personally. We weren’t able to do anything to to assist with that. Outside of talking with them.

00:57:54,100	Now, to give them credit, that extraterritorial jurisdiction on a lot of those existing areas has been turned over to the county. And I can assure you that the county has more bite in its bark than the city does outside city limits. And I’m not assuming that you’re going to all of a sudden put a bazillion flock cameras out in the county. That’s that’s not my insinuation whatsoever.

00:58:14,870	Um, but if you would be in favor of doing a prohibition, I don’t think you’d meet a lot of resistance, because we have already lost that autonomy and individuality. You know, um, we were talking ahead of the meeting just a little bit. Me and and Commissioner Munson, that.

00:58:36,100	What about ring cameras? What about business cameras? What about, you know, uh, he mentioned there was one murderer guy that we wouldn’t have necessarily caught had it not been for, um, some cameras that caught him. You know, I own a fair amount of of surveillance cameras myself, and we use them all the time.

00:58:57,530	Um, unfortunately, it seems to me in this, in this day and age, there is no privacy anymore. If you’re out on a public street and you’re outside of your own home, I don’t think there’s an expectation of privacy anymore. I just simply, I think it’s gone. Just like. I sad it is.

00:59:11,670	It is sad, but I think it’s gone because, you know, um, we’ve had uh, everybody has had to utilize cameras because of the, dare I say, um, criminals of the world. Right. And so that’s a separate issue.

00:59:33,830	But with regards to the data centers, I strongly recommend that you review the existing ordinance because it is relatively new, and I’d certainly be willing to hear if you have any. Um, um, concerns or suggestions for any changes. And we can address that then. Can you explain to me what, um, jurisdictions happen with the city and the state land? And you said that you have no say in that. , right.

00:59:56,570	That. that’s actually the the forest. Is that’s. Actually inside the city limits. Correct. But it’s state owned property at this point, is it not? Does nothing to us. That is that’s entirely between the state and the city. And I think it’d be a pretty hard sell. They can’t just walk in and buy state land.

01:00:15,430	And I guess that’s not even my question. I’m just wondering if you are aware that it is truly owned by the state, but it’s within city limits. Is that correct? That is correct. I have verification on that because we had some conversation about a different subject related to that land had nothing to do with the data center.

01:00:36,200	But so if that land was owned by the city and the county decided to do a prohibition, would it affect the city owned land? No. Oh, so then Burleigh County does not necessarily have full jurisdiction over all of Burleigh County, just rural, right? Not it’s not a question of not necessarily. Burleigh County has zero jurisdiction.

01:01:01,900	I’m just I’m trying to help all of us understand a little bit better where we are. Yeah. Well, I appreciate the question because Burleigh County has zero jurisdiction within the cities or the extraterritorial area of a city, not just necessarily Bismarck, any towns, you know, they all have their own based on population and such. Commissioner Bakken.

01:01:22,700	And, uh, school lands, they’re held with certain protections as per the century codes, so that not in our jurisdiction as well. So that is school land. Yeah. Yes. That’s true. I mean, they can’t they can’t just walk in and make the offer, make the state an offer to buy that.

01:01:42,530	There’s a whole set of rules and laws that relate to that. And it’s again out of our wheelhouse. And one hopefully tiny last question. The current ordinance and I personally will review it for my own satisfaction. Is it a moratorium or a prohibition? No. It’s neither. It’s an ordinance.

01:02:04,370	It’s just an ordinance on what has to take place. Should that come before the county, am I right? Okay. Thank you for your information. You’re welcome. Jim. Thank you. Commissioners. Chairman Bitner, my name is Andy Bunch. I represent base and electric power cooperative.

01:02:31,300	And the reason I’m up here tonight is that Basin Electric is brought up, and I thought maybe I would just shed a little bit more light on our large load commercial program. And essentially what had happened is within the last couple of years, we’ve been seeing tremendous amounts of large of of low growth within our membership. We serve nine states, 3 million members.

01:02:50,870	It just so happens that headquarters is here in Bismarck, North Dakota. And so essentially what the board decided to do was put forth this program that Chairman Bitner had mentioned, and it’s called the Large Load Commercial Program.

01:03:11,270	And the concern was, is that our existing generation and transmission, for instance, our existing generators are at about $800. The new stuff is at about $3,000. So the more the new stuff you add on, just like a car fleet, obviously the higher the cost. And so what the board wanted to do, working with our members, is they established this program and what it does is it isolates that cost to the data center.

01:03:30,330	So it allows the member, let’s say, um, you know, Capital Electric or somebody like that to serve this member. Um, but what it’ll do is if there is upgrades needed for generation, which most of the time there is or transmission, it pushes those costs down on the the requester or the in this

01:03:49,900	instance, who would be data center. And the reason this was done is is back even five years ago, a large request was 2 to 3MW. That was a large request. Now we’re getting requests for 300, 500, 1000 and 1500MW. Bismarck Mandan alone is about 250MW.

01:04:10,330	Just to give you an idea. And so I’m really proud of what the cooperative did as far as trying to isolate this, it would be no different than if you owned a section of land. The co-op line was three miles away and you said, hey, I want power right here.

01:04:23,930	They would say, well, we’re not putting that on the backs of all of our other members. You’re going to have to pay for the line in, and then we’ll serve you. That’s essentially what we’re doing, but we’re doing it on a much larger scale.

01:04:37,230	And so that’s at least what the cooperatives is, is attempted to do to try to isolate those costs. Um, from, from the members. So with that, I will stand for any questions. Commissioner Woodcox, is there such a thing as tours of one of these centers, like one by Williston or Ellendale? Because we I don’t know if any of you have ever been.

01:04:52,000	I’ve never been to one. I know the pictures. I see all the information. But we don’t know how big these are or what they do or how loud they are, or we hear all the complaints, but we don’t know for sure what we’re talking about. Right. Um, that would probably be a better question for like, Terry efforts or somebody else.

01:05:08,070	Um, I’m essentially up here just talking about the rate side of things from the power perspective. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to do that. Commissioner.

01:05:28,870	What have you guys, uh, I’m going to bring up the scenario back about three years ago, four years old, uh, the gas lines down in Texas froze, and we’re shuffling power from state to state, including North Dakota. And we were close to having brownouts to. So what happens if that power has to be sent down there again? Who gets cut? The citizens or the data centers? So that’s a great question.

01:06:02,530	And and the the the topic you’re talking about is Winter Storm Uri. It was in 2020 1st February to be exact. Um, and in that instance, it was the RTR, the, the uh, regional Trade Organization. And we’re in Southwest Power Pool. Sometimes you hear ESP, they’re the ones that make the determination along with Wapa on who gets cut.

01:06:23,800	And what they try to do is they try to roll that. So, um, in that instance, I couldn’t tell you that decision would be made. I can tell you, though, that one thing, at least our cooperative believes in heavily is dispatchable generation. And so think coal, think natural gas, think things that turn on.

01:06:42,670	And what we try to do is we try to line up our dispatchable generators that we have enough, uh, ability to do that along with our members so that we know that we have the machines that will run in effect. And then we can also bring in other non dispatchable stuff like wind and solar.

01:07:00,600	If that happens to come around to rest, those other machines. Well if there’s this pool who’s, who’s all part of it that makes these decisions. So anybody that gets power from the southwest power pool area. Or even out of state. Oh yeah. Yeah.

01:07:30,030	So my concern, my concern is why in the world would we go and help this kind of a, a business if we’re not guaranteed power? The citizens and somebody else can make a decision to give us brownouts. That’s unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable. And one thing about that is, and it happened with summit. Want it in writing. And if you don’t see it in writing, I can’t even support it. Right. Understood.

01:07:59,900	Okay. Yeah. The the best answer I have for you is that we try to we try to balance that, keeping our coal units and our natural gas units. Barn to kind of not answer the question. Yeah. The thing is, it should never happen. Understood.

01:08:19,130	And the citizens were here first and they’re going to have the brownouts in their homes, keep the data centers going in Texas going, and whatever. Or somebody else from out of state decides, no way, no. Oh, that is concerned. But action at this table is probably not going to fix that. Well, I certainly don’t want to see citizens of early county and middle of winter have their furnaces.

01:08:42,100	I agree 100%. No power to to run the fans, the blowers, the refrigerators. That is not going to happen. If I have anything to say about it. Any other questions? Guarantee with stiff penalties. That’s a different ballgame, but I don’t see any effort. Period. Good. Thank you. Any other questions for any? Okay. Thanks. Thank you. Appreciate it.

01:09:19,970	Okay. Anybody else? Good evening. Commissioners to sign the sheet or. Should be on there. Have a pen. Uh, my name is Michael Berg. Uh, I’m not a resident of Burleigh County, but I thought it was important to speak.

01:09:45,300	Um, I traveled here from Mercer County, and, uh, I just wanted to tell you a little bit of what we have going on. Um, we are being proposed with a 2000 acre hyperscale data center campus. Um, by Basin Electric and NextEra energy. Um, my family’s been on the land for 117 years, and, uh, this center will be 500 yards from my house.

01:10:07,530	Um, so some things that you need to consider, and I appreciate the work you may have done into your ordinances. Um, but if you’re not 100% sure on any of that, I would strongly urge you to take another look at it, because I think there’s people here that pointed out different types of data centers, and I

01:10:22,170	agree with that. But we’re talking about large scale hyperscale. And that’s what I’m here to tell you. What we’re being faced with. And in Oliver County, eight miles down the road, these companies are coming here from out of state, and they’re not benefiting local communities like Dustin mentioned, they’re they’re taking advantage of our

01:10:40,670	resources. So I think you need to be mindful of who wants to come here and what companies they are. And, uh, how big they are. Uh, NextEra is $190 billion company, and we’re, uh, working with them. Um, some other thing, some other things to consider.

01:11:04,170	Talked about the large load commercial program that doesn’t take into effect the existing infrastructure that’s being built in place right now and has been in the in the past for these reasons. In Ellendale and Jamestown, the jet transmission line is being built for grid reliability, but it essentially ties two data centers together.

01:11:24,400	And that cost us was being brought on to the ratepayers. Um, loss to Tandy line is being built this summer, tying two natural gas plants together for large load growth. So I think you need to be mindful of those projects. That’s 163 mile transmission line. Those costs will go on to the ratepayers. Anyway.

01:11:42,070	I just wanted to make it a point that if you’re not 100% certain on what you’re dealing with or may not be dealing with, I urge you to take a look at it again. Even if it’s just reviewing it. Um, as far as the state trust lands, I don’t know.

01:11:58,800	I don’t know what the jurisdiction is within Burleigh County or the city limits, but something to note. The State of North Dakota Trust Lands Board has given $247 million in data center development. So if you I think. That that’s. Not an option for development.

01:12:20,770	And what we’re finding is these locations across the state, in Mercer County and Oliver County and Ellendale, these shell companies are buying land directly adjacent state trust lands. And all these solar leases are adjacent to state trust lands.

01:12:41,370	All of these data center locations and Mercer County, other land that’s being bought in Oliver County and land down by Ellendale is adjacent to state trust lands and the State of North Dakota Trust Lands Board has invested their dollars in the success of the data center industry as a whole. So you may not have a project in front of you right now, and they may be true, but you will. So you need to be aware of things that will be happening.

01:12:56,270	And I just wanted to share some of my experiences, and I’d be happy to talk with any of you about what that’s been. My wife and I are expecting a child next month. In a month and six days in the last three months, I probably attended 80 meetings last week or two weeks ago.

01:13:15,100	We had eight meetings between Monday and Wednesday, 72 hours between Mercer and Oliver County. So it’s a big commitment. I spend more time attending meetings doing this stuff than I have farming. I’m a 32 year old farmer.

01:13:34,130	I used to work for Basin Electric, and I spent more time attending meetings, going to these events than I have with my own family or attending my own farm. So I’m not telling you guys you’re not doing a good job, but it takes a lot of time. But don’t get me wrong on that. But please do your homework. Thank you. Got a question for you.

01:13:56,600	Where’s where’s the approximate location? That one in Mercer County. Um. Like, from the gas plant from the. Highway, 312, two miles south of highway 200. Highway 31. And there’s. I’ll give you my number afterwards. Your proximity to what town? You’re green between Hayes and Center. Hazel and center. Okay, that’s the one we know of. Okay.

01:14:23,270	There’s other prospective locations we’re finding out about. Yeah. Why don’t you come up afterwards and your number? I’m just curious. All right. Thank you. Congratulations on the expected kid, too. I hope everything goes your way. Anybody else? Anybody else wish to speak? Welcome. Lancaster County. Resident. Um, start with. A school lounge. Trust. Uh, land. That’s Opa area.

01:15:06,530	Uh, you know, if if our governor wants that thing made into a data center is going to happen because he controls that, that board, school and university of school and his trust board, I know it’s nothing to do with you guys, but, uh, you know, everybody is freaked out about these data centers because

01:15:24,200	we’ve seen it’s they’re snuck into areas like, um, Cass County. Dickie Morton, Mercer, Oliver. You know, the DLC, and I’m not saying you guys are lying at all, and I’m glad you got ordinance. I just haven’t read it.

01:15:48,070	But they all say there’s no, uh, nobody asking for permits, you know, but they’re out buying land, and, uh, it’s going to happen. I’m sorry. So that’s why everybody’s freaked out? Because. Because it’s happening all around us. That’s all I got to say. Okay. Thanks, Lynn. Fair warning. Huh? Fair warning. Fair warning. Yeah. Well, like I, like I mentioned it probably more than once.

01:16:09,570	Feel free to review that ordinance. And then, you know, if you have issues with it. Certainly not to get Ahold of me. Anybody else? Going once, going twice. Okay.

01:16:37,730	Um, I think before we would take any additional action on anything prohibitive or whatnot, because I think the state’s attorney can already tell me that we can’t do that, because I think we already had that conversation. Um, a year and a half ago.

01:16:55,370	But, um, before we would do anything, I think everybody would want to take a fresh look at the current zoning ordinance and see if there’s any kind of need to, um, you know, review it or consider changes before we take any other action. Anybody have any other thoughts on that? Well, that’s what I would recommend. As well. So. I think that would be a safe, safe thing to say. Mitch, you’re okay with that? Okay. Probably.

01:17:15,700	Um, just can you, um, copy and paste that in an email and just send that chunk of the ordinance to all commissioners, please? All right. Thank you. Make it easy to review. Um, I guess with that, we would have been. If you want to continue with the consideration of ordinance to prohibit and remove flock safety cameras.

01:17:39,900	But like I said, we don’t have anything like that in Burleigh County and under our jurisdiction. Right, Kelly? We have nothing. Um, and so if it’s a, um, just so you’re aware, any use of that type of device is in the city of Bismarck and outside of our jurisdiction, regardless of what we did for ordinances. Go ahead. That’s correct, that’s correct. Chairman Bitner. Thanks.

01:19:16,300	Good evening. Again, chairman Bitner and commissioners, I just want to first, uh, apologize again for any misinformed opinion on the previous agenda item. Uh, that that’s my fault. And I take responsibility for that. And I apologize to anybody. If I gave out. Incorrect information. All good. Thank you. I appreciate you.

01:19:42,230	willing to come in front of us and have the conversation. Sure. Right. And ultimately, um, that’s my goal. Uh, as you can probably imagine, this is my first time doing something like this. I have no experience. This has just been me. You’re doing fine.

01:19:58,130	I don’t have a team, so I’m just doing the best I can to look out for our community. So, um, if if nothing, uh, comes of a prohibition or a ban, as some might say, um, at the very least, I would like our community to have a robust, uh, debate and discussion about these topics ahead of time before we’re faced with, uh, the, um, relentless spread of

01:20:23,600	these facilities or devices that are a hot topic in our country right now. So, again, um, for the record, my name is Ben Gehrig, and I live in Bismarck. And I want to also thank you again for allowing me to speak on this topic of lock cameras. And, uh, thank you for your public service.

01:20:44,170	Thank you for the work you’ve done. And, um, allowing me to speak. So, uh, on the topic of flock cameras, um, the I understand, and as you correctly stated, uh, Chairman Bittner, um, the the the cameras that do exist in Burleigh County are within Bismarck city limits, not in the county in a rural sense.

01:21:09,530	Um, and that’s why I’m addressing this commission. I’ve also reached out, hopefully be able to get in touch with the city commission. Um, but I’m here tonight to, uh, speak about our Fourth Amendment right as Americans and as a citizen.

01:21:34,730	Um, the Fourth Amendment says the right of people to be the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

01:21:56,000	So flock safety is the company in question of the this topic, and which I’ll hereafter to refer to simply as flock calls its cameras automated license plate readers or Alpers.

01:22:21,300	However, I believe this description is inaccurate because these devices are actually AI powered surveillance cameras and Chairman Bittner, you made the point earlier that, uh, what about ring cameras and and business cameras and such? And that’s a fair point.

01:22:45,130	Um, they do have a few similarities, but, um, my point tonight about is specifically flock cameras and similar automated license plate readers where they’re posted in general public areas, uh, to be positioned in a way where they’re scanning license plates on cars that pass by. So I’ll explain why I believe these devices are a threat to our society, and why I believe we should act to prohibit these from being allowed in the county.

01:23:06,530	I know there’s that separation between cities, jurisdiction in the county’s jurisdiction, but, um, again, trying to get ahead of it, trying to start a conversation in our community because we’re seeing these, uh, come up across the nation right now. So flock produces a many products, and here’s a few of them.

01:23:31,000	Falcon is a license plate reader that captures not just license plates, but also vehicle characteristics, color, make model decals, damage, etc. and it sends alerts to authorities on vehicles of interest. Condor is a video camera that captures continuous video surveillance that can detect people and vehicles, and also provide searchable video. Raven is an audio detection device that detects gunshots and other critical sounds.

01:23:57,200	Estimates, location and alerts, law enforcement, and Raven is often paired with the Falcon cameras and then freeform Search is the search tool that lets flock users search, video and LPR data using natural language queries, so it makes it very easy to pull up this data and across a vast amount of databases.

01:24:21,730	And then Nova is the investigative software that searches these databases, as I just mentioned, and combines maps, cases and records. Um, so combine all these together and you have the kind of nightmare that George Orwell had tried to warn us about.

01:24:39,800	Um, but since flock is a private company, it makes it harder for law abiding citizens to protect themselves against their data collection practices. Um, but to continue on that point, um, the third party doctrine is what says, basically, if you voluntarily give your information to a third party, you usually lose some constitutional and privacy protection over that information.

01:25:06,200	So when FLoC contracts as a private business with government agencies and police department, that third party status allows a sidestepping of the Fourth Amendment protections from unreasonable searches. So flock sells their data by subscription to these government entities, which allows them to search without a warrant. Flocks database using free forms.

01:25:30,570	Natural language queries, and I’ll quickly mention a couple of headlines that have been in the news recently. This one is from Nine news in Colorado. He didn’t commit a crime, but flock cam alerts keep getting him pulled over.

01:25:51,030	Kyle Dorfman, a resident of Gilpin County, Colorado, has was repeatedly pulled over every time he passed a flock camera due to an automated alert from a flock hotlist that incorrectly linked his license plate to an active warrant, and then another one closer to home from Fargo. And a tragic story.

01:26:13,800	Uh, AI error jail’s innocent grandmother for months in Fargo fraud case from the article quote Angela Lips spent nearly six months in jail in Tennessee and North Dakota after being misidentified by Fargo police through AI facial recognition in a bank fraud investigation. Unable to pay her bills from jail, she lost her home, her car and even her dog, end quote.

01:26:34,700	So, um, this last story involving the wrongful arrest and imprisonment of Angela Lips actually used a different AI powered surveillance called Clearview AI. But my point is the same is that these technologies are incompatible with a free society such as ours, and the ideals that this country was founded upon.

01:26:59,200	So, um, like I said, there’s none in Burleigh County as of this date, but I believe it’s important that we act to prohibit these AI powered data surveillance tools from being used in Burleigh County. Um, we don’t know if that might come up in the future. But again, getting ahead of it, I think, uh, being proactive is a good start. Or at least here having a discussion.

01:27:21,070	I mean, my goal is watching out for the community. Uh, that’s why I’m here tonight. And, um, there’s plenty more to be said about, uh, flock specifically. Um, that they’ve hired local government officials to more easily get flock cameras established in communities or, um, talking about Fargo PD specifically.

01:27:51,170	They’ve already updated their official policy as of 2025 to explicitly state that ALP data and images, including flock type systems, are exempt from public disclosure under North Dakota Code section 440418.7, but and one more point here.

01:28:19,270	Uh, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden sent a letter to FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, uh, quote, to investigate flock safety for needlessly exposing Americans to the threat of hackers and foreign spies, tapping the data that they collect, end quote. And I’ll wrap this up here quickly, commissioners. Um, I just want to close with this thought that FLoC Nova does not require probable cause or particular description to use. In contrast to what the Fourth Amendment prescribes.

01:28:43,330	This technology allows one of our God given inalienable rights to be violated, even when it is used with good intentions. And I’ve just presented a couple of small examples. There’s more in your packet that I encourage you to review. Um, but again, we don’t have to live like that here in Burleigh County. Um, Bismarck still working on that. Hopefully we can have a conversation for the city.

01:29:05,730	But, um, I urge you to please think carefully about this and remember that these devices don’t discriminate. They’ll target anybody. Military, police personnel, police officers, uh, elected officials, your family. And that’s not the kind of society I want to live in. So I’ll end with this quote I need privacy.

01:29:29,730	Not because my actions are questionable, but because your judgment and intentions are. Thank you for your time. And I don’t know if I appreciate that. My my my intentions. Are you referring to me? No. No, Commissioner, not you. It’s just a it’s a quote, uh, referring to a person defending their right to privacy.. And that’s wrong. And people. Offending us. Right. Okay. Well. I apologize.

01:29:53,770	I just got it. You know, just a hair trigger. Yes. Right, right. And and that’s just, uh, a sentiment. Common sense. Thanks for clarifying that. Um, I’m just curious. Um, did did you have an idea that we had flock cameras or we were intending to get some or something, or, uh.

01:30:13,500	Chairman Bittner? Uh, no. Uh, so there’s a website called De flock.org that you can go and there’s a map that it’s a crowdsourced, um, map where users input the data to show, uh, report where these devices are located.

01:30:36,670	And so that’s where you can go as of this date, you can see that there are the six here in Bismarck. Um, and there’s three at Lowes, three at the Kirkwood Mall. And, uh, none that have been reported so far in Burleigh County. And so, again. Okay. It’s this is just a precaution of what I’m doing is to to look out, get ahead of it.

01:30:56,300	Because, Fargo, if you look at that map, they have close to a hundred of these devices. And again, I don’t want to live in a dystopia such as that. And I’m sure a lot of, uh, a lot of you commissioners and people in this hearing appreciate the values that we or the freedoms that we enjoy. And they’re slowly being eroded.

01:31:18,670	Um, and under constant assault. So we have to take action and stand and reaffirm them by, uh, hopefully enacting ordinances to prevent these types of technology from creeping in. Sure. Mister chair. Commissioner Munson.

01:31:44,130	South bend on that Fargo in that map is that in city limits, are they included in the county? Did and then made the follow up question or a second question for you? Did you assume that Burleigh County would have authority over the city of Bismarck’s ordinances? Thank you for the questions, Commissioner Munson. I believe that all the cameras, uh, in Fargo, are within the city limits of Fargo and Harwood.

01:32:01,930	I’m not sure entirely. I’d have to double check on that for you. Um, and no, I did not assume that, um, Burleigh County would have jurisdiction over Bismarck. I know those are two separate entities. I’ve also reached out to Bismarck. I just, you know, Burleigh County is where you are.

01:32:20,370	As soon as you exit Bismarck. And that’s where I live. That’s where most of us live, I would imagine. So, um, trying to cover both both bases there. Okay, great. I got, you know, I really appreciate you taking the time, and I certainly appreciate the concern with the Fourth Amendment and whatnot, because I served in the United States

01:32:39,470	Marine Corps and I worked in electronic intelligence when I was in the Marine Corps. And I got a bad news for you. There is no such thing as privacy. Anything. Even 40 years ago, when I was in the Marine Corps, um, we knew everything that was going on.

01:32:58,570	It was electronic intelligence. You have probably in your possession right now. The single biggest problem that everybody faces is your phone. Your phone is way, way more invasive on your privacy than any traffic camera is. I guarantee you I. Yeah, I mean.

01:33:22,670	You’ve heard those stories and everybody knows that, um, you mentioned something in range of a phone or whatever, and all of a sudden it shows up on your internet stuff on your face time or whatever, whatever you’re using, right? Happens. Everybody. I know this happened.

01:33:40,300	I was just talking to a friend of mine about this yesterday, and I mentioned a word that I know I’ve never heard it before myself. I mentioned this word and I spelled it to him. And wouldn’t you know, there’s like six of those things on my internet feed today. Yeah. Yep. I mean, that’s how that works.

01:34:01,700	So personally, like I mentioned earlier, I have a bunch of cameras and the least of my concern is anybody recording my license plate or my make and model of truck because that that’s public record. Anyway, anytime I leave my house, um, there’s no expectation of privacy anymore from my perspective. So any notion I don’t mean to rain on a parade or anything.

01:34:18,300	And I understand your concerns with it, but there is no privacy anymore. There is no such thing. I think the constitutional thing that you’re referring to in the Fourth Amendment talks about unreasonable search and seizure.

01:34:39,870	I do think that the law enforcement use of these things, although there are some like the instances that you you read and I’m sure there’s bad apples in any kind of barrel, but we all knew about the the lady that was unjustly, um, incarcerated in Fargo. As a matter of fact, we talked about it with the sheriff. Um, that’s that’s a well-known case.

01:35:00,400	However, I think the criminal prosecution and apprehension of criminals probably outweighs what my license plate says on the front of my truck. I’m. That’s just me. So I appreciate I really appreciate you taking the time because that’s very well put together. Yep. Very well. You did great, Commissioner.

01:35:23,730	One question for you, I’m in the process of putting dash cams in my vehicles and they are so good they can read, record a license plate. You want that band to. Uh, Commissioner Schwab? Uh, that’s a very good question. And I know it’s a good question. Thank you for the question.

01:36:00,070	Um, so the I agree, there’s a an overwhelming sentiment that, um, the idea of privacy is old fashioned and we should just forget about it. And the distinction between different devices such as flock cameras. Alpers Dash cameras, um, cell phones. And that’s those are all very good points, but, um, the difference between those and Alpers, uh, dash cameras and cell phones, uh, will dash cameras. Let me address that one first.

01:36:27,870	Dash cameras, uh, depending on which kind you have. Um, doesn’t have internet access. You fully control the data that’s being captured and the video or images that’s being captured. So.

01:36:58,130	And, um, that’s for your own protection from, uh, an individual, law abiding citizen who might face, uh, an accusation in a car accident where an individual claims, falsely, that you caused the accident. And I have a dash camera on my car. It’s the data goes to an SD card, and, um, again, it’s. I fully understand that reasoning to have that for your own protection in the in the case where.

01:37:25,800	Question was, do you oppose that? I do not oppose, uh, dash cams because those aren’t automated license plate readers that, uh, you can connect to an AI system and it automatically searches a vast amount of databases and. Ring cameras do. Right.

01:37:55,270	And and for the record, I’m opposed to ring cameras as well, but those are commonly used by private citizens who make that decision of their own, um, on their own to commit to using those devices in their on their own private property. Um, and again, it’s a very good point to make, but what I am talking about specifically is the flock cameras and commissioner or Chairman Bittner, if I may respond to a point you made earlier.

01:38:14,970	Can you keep it brief? Yes. Okay. So, um, when you said privacy is is I’m not exact quoting you, but you’re, uh, summarizing that privacy is kind of a thing of the past. Is that correct? It’s gone.

01:38:36,870	So, um, in my packet that I submitted with this request to consider this item on the agenda, I referenced United States versus Jones, uh, Supreme Court case from 2012. And the majority ruling of the justices. Was that, um, citizens do have an expectation of privacy in their physical location. Um, so that kind of gets to the, the the difference. Again, we can’t. You know, just hang on. I don’t know the case.

01:39:05,130	Um, however, they were probably if you’re referring to a physical location that’s not a blanket, it might be you’re entitled to privacy in your own home, probably on your own property to a certain extent. But I can tell you there’s a common word that that’s used in the industry that’s free to air.

01:39:24,930	So whatever you use and do that is free to air is captured and is captured. All the time. You can’t you can’t go outside and and have any reasonable expectation of privacy. I’m just the facts because not only I tell you, we got satellites that can count the stripes on your tie.

01:39:55,570	You know, we’ve been doing that for many, many years, chairman, and there’s good reason. You know, if I may respond to that point. Well, I’m you know, I’m not going to argue back and forth here. It’s we’re not going to change the world here. Right, right.

01:40:09,400	But and that’s the whole point of this is we can’t change the world, but we can protect ourselves here in the county because in the Carpenter case. How our goal, like a government’s goal, is to protect the safety of its citizens.

01:40:26,970	And if that’s a tool that does that, I mean, how can I make the connection? I’m not out there doing crime, so how can I have a problem with it if it’s protecting me somehow? I, I’m not quite following how that’s an interruption of my life for me.

01:40:46,130	Chairman Bender, I apologize if it was unclear, but I’m trying to make the distinction here between the government’s access to this data and a private company. We can’t stop these private companies from harvesting this data. I understand that, but my point is, when the government contracts with these these, entities, they pay a subscription and they can search this data. That should be protected by the Fourth Amendment without a warrant.

01:41:04,800	And that’s what the Fourth Amendment says. And then the Carpenter case, um, the judge, uh, law enforcement must show a judge enough factual evidence to convince the judge that a crime has happened and that the place to be searched is connected to that crime. And so. Um, you know. Okay. Yeah, I get your point. Fair.

01:41:27,270	So that’s been the long lines of probable cause and all that, but. So I just, I think because it’s one of our rights in the Bill of rights, I think it’s worthy of consideration to reaffirm it here in the county, even if the rest of the world isn’t going

01:41:41,570	to do that. I think it’s we shouldn’t just let these rights go away without a fight. Right. And I thank you for your time. Thank you. Okay. Anybody on anybody else want to speak on that particular item? Okay. Seeing none, we’ll move on. Item nine. State’s attorney, the lawyer. We’re on, page 70.

01:42:07,800	Investigator. Salary review, redesignation and legal assistant. Restitution specialist. Job descriptions and salaries. Welcome, Julie. Thank you. Commissioners. Um, so just as background, the, um, human resources has been going department by department, kind of reviewing our job descriptions and what we actually do, um, for our jobs and having us update our job

01:42:31,830	descriptions. So, uh, in 2025, that’s when the State’s Attorney’s office went through all of our job descriptions. We updated what we do. We sent that to Human Resources. So there were a couple of things that HR found when they did that.

01:42:49,230	Um, the first one that I have in your packet with the attachments is the legal assistant, um, one restitution clerk and the legal assistant to restitution backup. Uh, we have two individuals that are working on basically bookkeeping making within the State’s Attorney’s office, um, handling restitution payments that come in once they’ve been ordered by the court.

01:43:09,200	And then we have to make sure that that restitution gets to that victim. So we did revamp those job descriptions because it does require bookkeeping and kind of accountant type work. And so attached are the updated job descriptions for legal assistant, restitution clerk and legal assistant to restitution backup, which I’m requesting that the commission approve, um, for the the individuals that do those jobs,

01:43:34,270	uh, basically with the pay regarding those, the legal assistant one restitution clerk that um, when HR ran that through their matrix to find out what the pay grade should be for that position.

01:43:51,970	Um, that position right now is at a grade four, and their recommendation is that with the duties assigned to that job, it should be a grade five. And so with that, I’m requesting that the person I forgot to put that in her line to that the person who is going to be switched over to that job also have the page switched over to what the

01:44:04,970	grade should be, which would be grade five. Um, the legal assistant to. When they. Ran that through with the restitution back up again that that was still a grade five. That’s where she’s at right now.

01:44:19,130	However, with the extra duties that she’s doing, HR recommended that we, um, increase her step pay because she didn’t get any increase in pay with the extra duties that were imposed on her to do that restitution. Um, so that’s the first part of that.

01:44:35,670	Um, the next part of that is they ran the investigator job through the matrix that they have, and it indicated that that pay or that position should be at a pay grade eight. Right now, it’s at a pay grade seven. Um, I did have a meeting with the sheriff and with HR today to see how that would go in line with the sheriff’s department.

01:44:53,330	My understanding is HR is working on the sheriff’s department now, specifically their deputy, their um, deputy corporal sergeant positions to see where that would all fit in as well. Um, however, where we’re at now with what we did in 2025, those were the suggestions of HR. And so that’s what I’m asking the commission for. Okay. Okay. Commissioners, do you have the information in front of you? I would move to approve all three second.

01:45:14,100	Motion and second to approve all. I think Sheriff. Lieberman wanted to speak about it as well. You would want to hear from him. He’s too late. You sit on. Come on now. Mr. Chairman. Commissioners, I did contact Commissioner Woodcox. When I saw this on the agenda. Uh, make them aware I did have concerns.

01:45:35,600	Like Julie said, we did have a phone meeting today, myself. HR, uh, state’s attorney and one of our other guys that supervises, uh, basically, we are going to, um, depending what you do here tonight, which, like Julie explained, you know, department by department, looking at these job descriptions and like Julie explained, our investigators are a grade seven, but we’ve

01:46:00,530	looked at for a long time and I won’t waste a lot of time tonight. But what we’ve looked at is years ago, we had a senior deputy position that went away many years ago.

01:46:21,430	Uh, we’ve talked about bringing that back because currently we have like investigators, we have deputies that teach, um, are on Swat and dive teams doing a lot of extra stuff that really they don’t receive any compensation for. Uh, so in our meeting today, Pam said she would work with our department.

01:46:43,730	And so we’re comfortable with Julie’s proposal and just want to plant the seed that once, Julie or once Pam works with our agency, there might be some other changes coming that we’re going to request not to put you on the spot. Okay. Thanks. I’m not going to make a joke out of. That. I’m out of humor. Um, any other discussion on the motion? Did we get a second? Yes, we have a motion and a second.

01:47:06,730	Any other discussion? Seeing none. Call roll. Commissioner McCann. Yes, Commissioner. Schwab. Yes, Commissioner. Woodcox. Yes. Commissioner. Munson. Yes. Chairman. Bittner. Yes. Motion carries. Thank you. You’re welcome. County Planning Director Flanagan got Ponderosa, Riverside village and subdivision. Something. Something. Variance and apple meadows. Third. And I want to remind you that I’m going to hand off the chair.

01:47:33,930	We can get to see. Good evening, commissioners. This is the first on the on your in your packet is a Ponderosa village. Uh, ponderosa Riverside village eight. This is a lot combination that he wanted to. The owner wanted to add a 30 foot strip within your packet. There’s a lot of exhibit showing a dashed line.

01:47:56,930	So basically increased the lot one, which is on the top from 48,000 to 58,000ft, and the lot on the bottom from 40,000 to 41,000. Roughly these um, it was at the public hearing, it was recommended approval 8 to 0.

01:48:21,470	These this is over in the Ponderosa Estates is what I’m there many, many numerous lots that are less than 40,000. So, um, it’s kind of a hodgepodge of lots out there. We we have turned down a request for permits because some of these lots are less than 40,000ft. So this one would meet the minimum square footage for century code, septic system, uh, square footage. So. Okay. Commissioners. Move to approve.

01:48:46,770	Second motion, second to approve any further discussion from. Commissioner Schwab. Yes, Commissioner. Woodcox. Yes, Commissioner. Munson. Yes, Commissioner. Bakken. Yes. Chairman. Bittner. Yes. Motion carries. Next up, commissioners, is cave builders contacted by the county staff regarding the construction of a 1200 square foot accessory building.

01:49:14,330	Um, that was somewhat restricted on the lot size. They’re asking for, uh, 812 foot relief of the 20 foot setbacks. Um, this is an Imperial Valley. And so it’s, um, it’s basically a simple, uh, accessory building request. The actual 20 foot setback is more restrictive than our than rural residential for side lot.

01:49:39,000	So at the public hearing, it recommended a vote of approval by 8 to 0 in your packets are the site location. And there’s also a location of where they want to put the building. Move to approve. Second motion second to approve any further discussion. Yes. Commissioner Woodcox. Will you pronounce ten B for me? Pronounce.

01:50:00,830	It never appears in any of the material you gave us, but it’s on the. What’s the name of. The the. O the owner. Yeah. Oh, that’s the owner’s name. Okay. Uh. Okay, I. Didn’t I didn’t hear it. In here. Okay, great. I thought I’d catch you on one, but I didn’t.

01:50:22,800	Have a motion to second to approve any further discussion. Call the. Roll, Commissioner Woodcox. Yes, Commissioner. Munson. Yes, Commissioner. Baskin. Yes, Commissioner. Schwab. Yes, yes. Motion carries. Um, I will ask for a motion to allow me to, uh, conflict of interest out on a vote on this next moved second motion.

01:50:45,730	And second, any further discussion? Call the roll. Commissioner Munson. Yes, Commissioner. Bakken. Yes, Commissioner. Schwab. Yes, Commissioner. Woodcox. Yes, chairman. I guess you wouldn’t vote. No, I don’t need to vote on that. I’m going to hand a chair off for the purposes of the discussion on this. Motion carried. Uh, next item up. Item ten. See Apple Meadows, third block one, lot 14. Mitch.

01:51:05,900	Correct. Uh, Mr. Chair, the commissioners I did, there was a change this morning of, uh, from your packets. I handed you a new memo with additional information for the, uh, lot modifications instead of just one, uh, access line change will be two.

01:51:33,130	Um, one for Apple Meadows, third block, two, lot one and Apple Meadows, third block one, lot 14. The owners are requesting to have the 100 foot non access line reduced to 60 foot in order to place an approach onto both properties.

01:51:54,000	Access lines a non access lines of selectively drawn on a plot to limit access to high speed terrace volume, roadway and intersection. The County highway department did not state any objections to the request. The in your in the ones I handed out today, there was the site plan which shows the two lots, one on the north side and one on the south side of McIntosh Avenue.

01:52:17,470	Um, on the lot modification it shows the non access line of 100ft. They want to reduce that down to 60ft on both sides. And then there’s also a copy of the resolution. Which is that affect any um neighboring parcels. No this is only this would only be on the lot one and lot 14.

01:52:37,730	And it would not uh, it’s just the basically a non access line to the corner. So that’s the way it was platted back in 22,002, I think. Two. Okay. Uh, any questions for. Mitch? Move to approve. Second motion and second, any further discussion? Hearing none. Call the roll, please. Commissioner Schwab. Yes, Commissioner. Woodcox.

01:53:01,270	Yes, Commissioner. Munson. Yes, Commissioner. Bakken. Yes. Motion carried. I have a question, Mr. Chair. Who would sign the resolution? Uh, I would for the. I’ll leave a copy with. The first item. See? Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Uh, I would make a motion to return the, uh, control back to Chairman Bittner. Second motion. And second.

01:53:29,000	Any discussion? Call the roll, please. Commissioner Wilcox. No. Commissioner. Munson. Yes, Commissioner. Botkin. Now I’m thinking. About it. Yes. You should have told me what you’re gonna do. I’d have been right in line. I don’t just I just I’m just being obstinate, that’s. All you have to say? Yes. I know the business.

01:53:50,930	Um, Commissioner Barkan mentioned the, um, uh, city county commission meeting, I would think. And while we had that presentation earlier, um, it wouldn’t hurt to maybe bring up some, uh, some conversation at that about that, uh, zoning center and flood camera issue, too. I will bring that up.

01:54:13,330	But, uh, at, uh, our meeting tomorrow, then, um, so, uh, our Bismarck early commission meeting for tomorrow evening at 5:00 in this room. Um, there’s a couple items that are on the agenda. We’ve already addressed it. Uh, I just wanted to bring it back up.

01:54:32,300	Um, we’re getting into the budget time, uh, for both the city and the county. So, uh, they want confirmation. We’ve already approved, um, through consensus. What we are going forward. But the ones, uh, uh, they had concerns about was, uh, public health, which, uh, our consensus was the 25%, uh, we were committed to that. So nothing has changed with that, correct? Correct.

01:54:56,030	Um, uh, the other one was Burleigh County Emergency Management Building lease agreement, um, which Mary, did you have anything you wanted to add on that or not? Julie just reviewed it tonight and. Provided some it. Okay. Yep. And we’re good. Julie. Yeah, I provided Mary the information.

01:55:18,800	And I know there’s a meeting tomorrow that I’ll be at two. You’ll be there tomorrow? Yeah. Okay. Perfect. Uh, did you get a chance to confer with the city attorney then? Um, I sent them an email today. I I’ve been out, so I sent them an email today asking for any information they may have that’s outside of the lease. Okay.

01:55:35,100	It’s not actually a lease. No. It’s not. It’s an agreement. So. Yeah. No, I see it. I that’s the only document I have though. Um, and then um, the other two were city, county, first floor lease agreement continuing this, uh, the space that we’ve got through 2027. Yes.

01:55:59,470	Um, and then the IT services agreement through 2027. Yes. Okay. So that was all part of the meeting for tomorrow. They wanted some assurances that that’s the way we’re proceeding. I just wanted to bring it up. Just for points of clarification and transparency.

01:56:16,570	Uh, so we’re all on the same page, uh, as we go through that meeting for tomorrow. Um, and that is all that I had. Very well, thank you for the update on that and the clarification. Um, uh, those are things that we’ve already talked about. So anything else for the good of the county. We are adjourned. Thank you.