May 7, 2025 • 33 mins
Tom Gerhardt talks to Jason Tomanek about the Bismarck City Commission meeting that took place on 4/22/25.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
City Current produced by Dakoda Media Access in depth discussion
with Bismarck and Mandan city officials. Watch on Government Access
Channel six oh two HD, or tune in to Radio
Access one O two point five FM, Always Local, Always Current.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Welcome to City Current Bismarck Edition with Bismarck City Administrator
Jason Tamonic. Jason, good to see. I noticed it's greening
up a little bit around town, although we need a
little bit more rain.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I'm jealous of a few yards.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
They're already showing their green hue and mine is not.
But I did notice we have a tree in our
backyard with little buzz on it, So all right, it's
it's official.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, we'll take it.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
I'm sure there will be snow at some point in then.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
It's we've gotten by pretty well this winter, that's for sure.
So it wouldn't surprise me if we got a big
dumb but won't stick around.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Right well, and it would be full of moisture, which
is what we really need at this point. Absolutely, it's
very dry everywherely dry.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Coming up or coming off of last night's City Commission meeting,
we have some topics I just wanted to throw them
at you what we'll be talking about today. There was
an evening of proclamations and we'll go over those. A
couple of the big items, I think, and leading up
to next week's workshop meeting. Event center improvement Plan report
(01:29):
from Jeff Wouble and then the event center management report
from jll Really interesting stuff going on there. And then
legislative update I just wanted to highlight that you gave
last night also includes a public library bill that you
said has gone on to the governor. I don't know
if he's signed it or I just checked. Okay, well,
we'll let we'll make people wait for the latest on that.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
As you just checked the city hanger.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It's a cliffhanger on city current. Well, let's talk about
those proclamations. Five of them last nights, starting with Arbor
Day Arbor Day, and we it's kind of proclamation season.
We see a lot of reoccurring proclamations year over year,
and we're glad to put these out for the mayor
and the city commissioners to support Arbor Day. Obviously, that's
(02:15):
a great one for us. We've been in Tree City,
USA for more than fifty years. There's a lot of
requirements that go into being a tree city, USA, but
proclaiming Arbor Day, that's a regular reoccurrence for us, recognizing
the importance of planting trees in the community, especially here
on the Rice Weber areas of North Dakota. And then
also we've got some Arbor Day celebrations that are coming
(02:36):
up as well. It will talk about at the end
of the show, after the announcement on the lid. And
I think I heard last night, if I'm right, in Bismarck,
we've celebrated or commemorated Arbor Day over forty years, and
I guess I had never learned through the years that
this all started in Nebraska. So interesting history.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
The first year they proclaimed Arbor Day, I think the
state of Nebraska planted over a million trees.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
So good for thrust of.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
That's an effort now would have been way back way
back when. Another proclamation the Day.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
Of Prayer, yep, definitely that's another excuse me. Another local
proclamation recognizing some groups that are part of the first
Prayer of the Continental Congress in seventeen seventy four, opening
every session of the House of Representatives and Senate with
(03:27):
an invocation and so recognizing the day of prayer as
May first, twenty twenty five. That was another one of
the proclamations that Commissioner Cleary, who ran the meeting last
night because the mayor was out of town, or just
say I had electronically, so Commisier Cleary got to proclaim
that as well as May is Historic Preservation Month, something
(03:48):
near and dear to you.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
That's a yeah, it makes me smile.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
But also as an organization, we of course have the
Historic Preservation Commission, which is a volunteer committee that is
supported by the staff in the Community Development Department. And
so Lauren Oaster came forward and talked about some of
the things that will be going on throughout the month
of May, whether it be Founder's Day with the Bismarck
Historical Society, there's a couple of different programs that are
coming up, but we certainly want to remind people that
(04:16):
history is an important part of Bismarck as well, and
not just Bismarck, but North Kota and the United States.
And then another annual proclamation, and this is a very
deserving and worthwhile cause, is the Law Enforcement Memorial Week.
Of course, locally we've had officers that have lost their
lives in the line of duty and we never want
(04:37):
to forget that the sacrifices that they make, and so
it's nice to recognize the Law Enforcement Memorial Week. And
then probably the biggest one last night was for Chi
Saint Alexias celebrating one hundred and.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Forty years and we did some math.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
We did it.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Did take out the calculator, but we did do some math.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Before.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Saint Alexis is older than the state of North Dakota. Yeah,
rate five years lead y. Eighteen eighty five was Saint Alexis.
Eighteen eighty nine was statehood. And so there's a number
of things that Saint Alexis is going to be doing
over the year to raise awareness to the to the
one hundred and forty years of healthcare that they have
committed to and a great partner in this community, whether
(05:19):
it be for health care or for employment. They've been
employers of tens of thousands of residents in the Bismark
Banded community over those years, and so thanks to them,
congratulations to them as well. It's a very notable distinction.
We don't have a ton of businesses in this community.
They don't say they've been around that long.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
That long and provided so much as you indicated Commissioner
Cleary did, she got to her voice was everywhere at
the beginning of the meeting last night. So a lot
of reading, but as you said, five well deserved proclamations
and yes, tipping our hat to law enforcement as you mentioned,
for all they provide. The consent agenda was.
Speaker 5 (05:59):
Pretty you know, without items pulled. I think the commission
rish pulls one item from the airports items on consent agenda.
It was a bid for some security a service work
that needed to be done out there.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
They asked to have that pulled. No action taken on that.
And then there was another item that was discussed. There
was a resident from just outside city limits that spoke
on an item relating to the vacation of a non
access line a property off of Tandem and I'm gonna
(06:32):
forget the other cross Street. It's in the Midwest Business
Park just on the east side of Bismarck on fifty
second Street and Main Avenue right And the concern that
was raised by the citizen was there's development proposed for
this particular piece of property. And this is in a
as the name implies, a business park, large buildings the
(06:52):
ups sorting facility is out there. The proposed use that
is intended for the property is a new location for
mid Coat, and so they would have some storage area.
They would have about a ten thousand square foot office
on there. The concerns that were raised were relating to
access and visibility and exterior storage. In the end, the
(07:14):
Commission discerned that although the residence concerns certainly not trying to.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Diminish any of that.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
The request that was on the agenda last night was
to essentially move a non access line closer to fifty
second Street. And essentially what does that translate to. It
means the driveway for the property will be further away
from fifty second Street, so there's less traffic conflict that way.
It gives better flow for the site, so vehicles can
(07:44):
move in and out. There's two access points for that
particular property. And despite the concerns of the resident that
shared her thoughts, the commissioners did vote to vacate the
non access line, essentially moving forward with the development process
as it or the development project as it was proposed.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
And moving to the regular agenda. A couple of really
interesting nuggets from last night. The Bismarck Event Center Capital
Improvements Plan report from Jeff Ubel, and I know that
this is evaluating studies and projects proposed, looking at infrastructure needs,
and this goes way. The civic center of the event
(08:25):
Center has been.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Around a long time.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Nineteen sixty nine it was first opened, so just over
fifty years it's been around. And some of the infrastructure
in the building is original. We've got boilers, some of
the HVAC stuff is in there from nineteen sixty nine.
And so Jeff and his team put together a nice report,
(08:48):
and the report was generated by looking at the variety
of studies and reports that have been done over the
past few years, but then also talking with the staff
walking the building, looking at all the equipment that is there,
and they kind of categorized the needs into maybe three
three arrangements. One was a new ballroom area modernization, fixing
(09:13):
eighty eight compliance things, and then also deferred maintenance, so
new space modernization, deferred maintenance. When they started to assemble
the components of those three categories, it became apparent that
the deferred maintenance needed to be the top priority, and
so Jeff put together kind of a strategy on which
area to focus on first, and ultimately no decisions were
(09:36):
made by the commissioners last night, just a lot of
information shared that will really tee up, as you alluded
to earlier, the special City Commission meeting that will be
on Tuesday, April twenty ninth at five point fifteen. The
commissioners will have essentially two items on their agenda to
talk about work through direct staff on next appropriate steps,
(09:57):
this being the first piece of it, the capital improvements
plan for the event center.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
And the third maintenance isn't the sexiest thing. It's stuff that,
as you mentioned, most people won't notice, but you know,
like HVAC. I think you said some of those boilers
are original to the building from nineteen sixty nine. Everybody
you know can do the math at home, but these
are essential items to build.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
For the future of the event center.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Essential and expensive. Unfortunately, the just the estimate for the
HVAC modernization alone, spanning it over three years design and construction,
we're talking about fifteen million dollars worth of improvements and
some might say, well, how is that going to get done? Well,
what I can share is that the City of Bismarck
collects a an additional sales tax. It's called the lodging
(10:46):
liquor restaurant tax, and so as the name applies lodging, hotel, accommodations, liquor,
alcoholic beverages, and restaurant food and beverage, there's an additional
sales tax on those items, and a portion that sales
tax is intentionally dedicated and exclusively dedicated to capital improvement
projects at the Events Center. And so the City of
(11:08):
Bismarck has some cash on hand in reserves that has
been identified to help start this project. But then as
the plan moves forward and the years go by, there
may be some times where we would have to incur
a little bit of debt we could borrow from ourselves
through reserves. But in the end, through the work that
(11:29):
Jeff and his team have prepared, and then also our
finance director Dmitriy Trigniak and the city's controller, Eric Lund,
and the finance team, there is a pretty clear plan
of how this can be successfully accomplished over about a
ten year time span, and so we'll get into more
of that on the twenty ninth, But I think what
I wanted the audience to hear is that yes, there
are some major improvements to the building. Some of them
(11:52):
you won't recognize firsthand, but then there are things that
will be very apparent. There are parts of the building
that will be refreshed, whether it be carpet, paint, signage.
Jeff kind of touched on that a little bit last night.
There really hasn't been a unified approach to signage throughout
all the facilities within the Bismarck Event Center, and having
(12:13):
some of those forward facing improvements I think is very
important because the public can identify with hey, that's different
than the last time I was here. But it's also
extremely important for us to have a building systems that
are maintainable, functioning efficient, and just make the operations of
the facility that much easier for the staff that's there
every day.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
So a separate but related report last night came on
management and operations of the event Center from a representative
from JLLL, and that also was very interesting. The point
that came up toward the end with Commissioner ZNCER was
(12:54):
one of the findings from this report, and it's a finding,
right nothing's been decided, is that they recommended a third
party operator come into play with the event center management.
We can get to that in a second, I guess,
But what were some of the highlights that you took
from the JLLL report.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
I think some of the takeaways is the report, although
it does have a very impactful recommendation at the end,
it's a much different approach than how we've done things.
I think if you step back and look at the
report for what it is, the first bullet point, the
first clear objective was that things cannot stay the same.
The operations of the event center need to be adapted
(13:34):
to mesh with current standards and practices. And so how
do we do that. Well, there's a number of different
ways that that can be done, and through the recommendations
and through the reporting and the work that JLLL did,
there will be scenarios that the Commissioners will talk through
and consider at the meeting on the twenty ninth. It's
not as simple as just saying we want to hire
(13:57):
a third party to operate this facility. That is not
that that's not how this is going to work. And
too Commissioners Anchor's point, we just got done talking about
a very impactful capital improvements plan to fix the building,
to refresh the building, and then to simply turn it
over to a third party and.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Let them run it.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
I understand his concerns, I agree with those concerns.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
And so getting to.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
The next step, what is the right next formula. That's
really the purpose of the meeting on the twenty ninth
is to discern how through all of these different options,
all of these different models, what's the best one for Bismarck,
Because just simply turning it over to a third party
and saying well, good luck, that that can't work. And
so one of the scenarios that was discussed a little
(14:43):
bit last night was this idea of creating an event
center authority and it becomes an advisory board that is
on an organizational chart. It would be between the staff
and the City of Bismarck. So the city would create
a contract to create an authority and then have a
contract without authority, and that authority would then be responsible
(15:07):
and contractually obligated to work with a private vendor or
a private operator of the event center. So the city
would still own the building. Cities still is in charge
of the building, it's still the city's resources, it's still
the city's dollars. It's simply working with an entity that
that is their Forte. That is what they focus on.
That is the work that they do. There's a handful
(15:29):
of these groups throughout the nation that could be considered
for the work here in Bismarck. I think one thing
that's important to know is that when you work with
a third party operator, that's their role. They have many
other venues and facilities around the nation or hopefully around
the region, And when you work with a third party,
you can benefit from some of the skill sets that
are with rant organization as well. And so I don't
(15:53):
want to pretend I know what the answer is going
to be. After the meeting on the twenty ninth, I
think it's going to be a great discussion. There's a
lot of information for the commissioners to consider. We will
be taking both reports that were provided at the meeting
on Tuesday night and including those in the agenda packet
for Wednesday. So for anybody listening or watching that wants
to see these full reports, go back and read the
information they will be attached to the agenda.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Go to the SANDI Bismark West put.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Together today in your office, correct.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
That is one of the major roles of our offices
to build the agenda packet to support the City commission meetings.
Staff and I talked about it this morning. We've got
Dimitri and his team working on some financial information that
will be included as well. We want the commissioners to
have as much information as they can so they can
make the most well informed decision on how to best
(16:39):
move forward for the Bismark Event Center, right for the staff,
for the community.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
I think that's another thing I need.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
To mention is that the staff is currently city employees
and they are very much a part of this organization.
And I believe it was the mayor that noted it
is not his intention to harm the employees in any way.
In fact, it's quite the contrary. How do we best
protect and preserve the employees that are here today and
help them do the best jobs that they can going forward.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
I think that was the that was.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
The impetus for much of the work that's been going
on over the past six months. I think that is
still the driving force and all of this is that
we want to treat our employees likely wins' that's first
and foremost. But the City Commission, the City of Bismarck
has a responsibility to effectively manage and operate the event center,
so it is a vital asset within our community.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Then to your commissioners anchor, I think that was one
of his concerns, the twenty five employees or so that
our City of Bismarck employees and that their future isn't
uncertain but correct. So there was some emotion attached to
that part of the meeting last night. The mayor did
chime in, as you said, and I think brought that perspective.
And then, as we all know, these are not final
(17:56):
decisions at this point, good point, works in progress.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Yep, no decisions have been made.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
The commissioners now have essentially six days to go back
and evaluate the information that both Jeff Yuble and Dan
Fenton with JLL shared I would trust that the commissioners
are going to be sharing that information and talking with
their advisors and constituents and people that they go to
for perspective. And then my hope is that everybody comes
(18:23):
to the meeting on the twenty ninth with the goal
of building consensus and making the right decisions to get
the event center in the right direction moving forward for everybody.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
We have one more graphic. I thought it'd be good
to show there's a lot of information on here, but
attached to that JLLL report again, some of the key
areas of consideration, as it says, include the operational excellence
metrics for performance and reporting you can read for yourself, sales, food, sustainability, technology,
(18:54):
guest experience. All those things are things that are important
that are being considered in trying to form this bigger
picture moving forward.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
And Dan talked about KPIs or key performance indicators and
what are those. They're essentially metrics that we would use
to measure the effectiveness or the value that the event
center is adding. But then also using those key performance indicators,
and it's things like the having the right mix of events,
(19:25):
optimizing the facility for its highest and best use. Obviously,
income is a big part of a key performance indicator,
but is it the only measure in the answer is no.
There's more than a dozen different ways to evaluate the
impacts the event center has on the community. And I
think it needs to be stated that the event center
(19:48):
by itself doesn't always make money, but it makes money
for the community by bringing people here for conventions and conferences.
Those people stay in hotels, they eat in restaurants, they
shop in stores, they support the sales tax that then
goes back into supporting the event center. It's a very
symbiotic relationship. And so for hotels restaurants in retail to
(20:09):
do well means the event center should be doing well.
And for the event center to do well, we've got
to have good hotels and good restaurants.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
And it's just this.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
It's a very delicate balance and a very delicate relationship,
and we need to make sure that all the components
are functioning at their highest level.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
We've been talking about the legislature for several well or
going into our fourth month, I think, but things are
starting to wind down.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
They should be day sixty eight, sixty eight out of eighty,
and they generally want to save a few days for
themselves in case.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
So I maybe I'm not a I'm not a.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Fortune teller, but I'm thinking by this time next week,
they're going to be pretty croose dough well.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
House built ten twenty, the State Water Commission budget with
the flood control for South Bismarck. What's the latest on now,
we'll just go over three bills that we've been talking
about all We certainly.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
House built ten twenty. As you mentioned, State Water Commission budget.
This was the bill where the South Bismarck flood Control
project was identified. Initially, when the session started, we were
encouraged to request an ample amount of funding. The total
project estimate is about one hundred and seventy three million dollars.
The ask from the state, from the city to the
(21:25):
state was about seventy to eighty million. As time went on,
as committees met and made decisions, Bismarck's funding for that
project slowly got cut and dwindled, and now we're to
the point where we're not even on the list yet
or currently. However, as I reported to the Commission on
(21:45):
Tuesday night, I did have the good fortune of meeting
with Senator Sorvog and Representative Swantek, both of Fargo, both
on the committees that are evaluating these projects and part
of the appropriations. A great discussion helping them understand the
project from our perspective that it is not a stormwater
(22:06):
control project, it is a flood project, and not saying
we're going to have flooding, but when we do have
high water in the Missouri River, it creates other problems
for South Bismarck because the area is so flat, because of.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
The drainage channel that we have.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
This project that is being proposed one hundred and seventy
three million dollars flood control project is a result of FEMA,
Federal Emergency Management Agency, coming in and remapping the river corridor,
reidentifying new floodplain areas. And so we are simply responding
to something that showed up at our front door. And
(22:42):
we are still optimistic that through continued conversations and work
with state leaders, that there is an opportunity for Bismarck
to receive some state funding. We would be very grateful
for that. But we will continue on the design for
the South Bismarck Flood Control project and once the design
is complete, we will have, as they say, a shovel
ready project from there, should we be able to secure
(23:04):
enough funding to make the project happen.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
A bill all of us should be interested in his
House Bill eleven seventy six, and that deals with property
taxes and also the cap on what the city of
bismu three percent for the City of Bismarck plus growth
for your budgeting purposes. I think you said that's moved
a conference committee where members is a House and Senate
(23:26):
sit down and try and hash things out. I do
think Representative Nathan and Bosh from Bismarck or on they
are on the Pace Committee. What's the latest on that bill.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
It is scheduled for three thirty pm Wednesday, the day
we are recording. Three thirty pm they will have the
Conference Committee will be meeting in the House and Finance
House Finance and Taxation Room, So Representatives Headland, Nathan and
Bosh and then Senators Weber, Beckett, All and Early will
(23:57):
get together and.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Try and.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
Try and go on consensus. There have been a number
of amendments to the bill right since it started. The
Governor was the first out to say, here's the plan,
here's how we get to zero property tax. Here's the
concept that I support. The House got a hold of
it and reduced that primary residential income or tax credit
(24:20):
from fifteen fifty down to fourteen fifty. The Senate got
their hands on it and reduced it down to twelve
hundred and fifty and put a cap at seventy five
percent on the total exemption, and they called it the
skin in the game amendment. So we are we're definitely
watching politics at play here. But as a property owner,
as a city administrator. We are very very interested in
(24:41):
this one, both personally and professionally. But I again optimistic
here that in the end, through good old fashioned North
Dakota work ethic conversations, the right answer will come about.
And I trust that by the time we're done here,
the governor will have a bill that he's comfortable sign,
and by the next time you and I visit we
(25:03):
should have an answer. Yep, you can talk about it
with mister Newbau.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
He like, maybe he'll know the answers.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Sentonvill twenty three oh seven. We talked about at the beginning.
This is the public libraries, which include public school's bill
and a version has passed and is now well or
is it Governor Armstrong's desk.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
But last I, according to the bill tracker website that
the state keeps up on, the bill was delivered to
the governor's desk on April eighteenth, and so it would
be up to him now to sign the bill and
then it becomes law, or it would be his choice
to veto the bill and it does not become law.
So we are certainly watching this one from the perspective
(25:46):
of our library. Bismark Veterans Memorial Public Library Department of
the city. We have already established a process for patrons
when they have concerns about library materials and content, they
can bring those concerns to a library professional and there
is a committee that will evaluate and review those materials.
And so that is in many parts what Senate Bill
(26:07):
twenty three to zero seven is intending to do. It
also adds another layer that if the library patron is
not satisfied with the results, they can take their concerns
to the state's attorney in that county. I certainly can't
speak for the Burley County state's attorney or any other
state's attorney in North Dakota, but I can from where.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
I can see things.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
Our state's attorneys are quite busy dealing with district court
matters and this although you know, if it is a
state mandated is a state law, then the obviously they
would have to make the time to do that work
as well. But this is one that we've been watching
very closely. Our library director, Christine Quiava, has done a
great job communicating and coordinating with and keeping her staff
(26:50):
well aware of how these things are shaking out. And
I guess we will just wait and see what the
governor wants to do with this one too.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
A few dates we wanted to remind folks of we
have an Arbor Day celebration May second, one o'clock.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
I believe that.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Custer Park, Custer Park the oldest park in Bismarck. Speaking
of Historic Preservation Month, Custer Park is the park. I
guess it'd be bookended by Broadway and Thayer, and then
you've got Washington Street on the east side and the
wonderful Custer Park neighborhood on the west side. There's a
number of memorial trees in that park, and this year
the recipient of the memorial tree planting will be Stan
(27:30):
Churchill Stand passed away last year. Stan owned a local
arbor company and was a longtime member of the Bismark
Forestry Advisory Board. So certainly condolences to Stan's family on
his passing, but also a very nice way to commemorate
the work that he did to help keep Bismarck beautiful
by planting a tree in his howner.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Absolutely just reiterating the April twenty ninth, Next Tuesday, the
special commissioned workshop for the Events Center will be at
five point fifteen, so watch for that well.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Of course carry that.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
You guys, got it. It's a it's a public meeting.
It's open to the public, so if anybody wishes to attend,
by all means that is an option of theirs, or
if they would rather consume that the from the comfort
of their their wherever, wherever home there, wherever their app works.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Yes, watch the meetings.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Also, we have the Eleventhaniel Keep Bismarck Beautiful clean Up
Day that the Bismark Rotary will sponsor. I think boys
are meeting over at Peace Park.
Speaker 4 (28:33):
Peace Park, which is directly west of the Bismarck Parks
and Recreation District office. That is Saturday, May fourth, from
nine to noon. I believe the intent is to have
everybody start at Peace Park and then I think they
sign areas on where you can go collect trash. It's
you don't necessarily have to sign up, but if you
can pre register, I'm sure they would appreciate knowing. It's
(28:55):
a nice event. Another sign of spring. It is zetting
out and cleaning up garbage. And thanks to the road
and all those members and volunteers and everybody that they
bring around because without at without that effort, we would
have lots of loose garbage, something.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Around, something I've participated in, especially up at the arboretum
near tom Olary Golf Course, and it's a lot of
fun to get out there, a good family event. It
is got some fresh air. Also on May eighth, we
have the Public Transportation Community Conversation meeting from six to eight.
Tell us what we're going to talk about.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
That is led by.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
The City of Bismarck's Human Relations Committee, which is a
volunteer committee that meets monthly, and as the name implies,
they are interested in human relations and in this case,
the Community Conversations is a project that they've taken on
over the last year and a half or so, typically
tied to a specific topic. As you indicated in this
topic is very forward facing in the top of mind
(29:52):
for a lot of us. In its public transportation. This
is on the heels of the most recent local election
in November where citizens approved a new half sent sales tax.
Two fifths of that half sent goes towards public transportation,
and so there's a transportation steering community that has been
meeting trying to discern what is the best use, how
(30:13):
do we imp implement these new funds, and where do
they go and how do we improve public transportation. The
purpose of the community conversation is just that to have
more voices add to this very dynamic, very evolving.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Topic and in the end, the hope, the gain.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
The result here is the best public transportation that we
could offer for Bismarck Band and that's both fixed route
and paratransit door to door route service.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
So also wanted to mention the Governor's Prayer breakfast to
schedule for May twentieth with General Dorman speaking. I guess
now he's a part of it Armstrong's staff, but you
won't want to miss General Dorman or Al Dormant speaking
that morning.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
And the proceeds go to a great cause, go to
benefit the crisis Care Chaplaincy, which I always struggle to
get those words out without muddling them up, but the
crisis care Chaplaincy, they are the chaplains that are there
when there is a crisis with law enforcement, or with
the death in the family, or can you get those
challenges anyway, just can see involved. And it's not just
(31:20):
law enforcement but also first responders and fire personnel as well.
So the work that they do is it's so important,
it's so supportive and the proceeds raised from the Mayor's
prayer breakfast on a twentieth will go directly to supporting
the Crisis Care Chaplaincy and the work that they're doing.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
And the Mayor interviewed Greg Carr from Crisis Care Chaplaincy
and I can appreciate, being a former TV anchor the
difficulty of saying that phrase, but we both got through
it this time. But if you want to see that program,
we just wanted to mention that we have two new apps,
Code Media Access app that you can download. Our Radio
(31:57):
Access one oh two point five app you can download
and you can scan the QR code there to find
where you can get those and then you can watch
everything that we have to offer here at the Koda
Media Access. Jason, thanks for the time again, look forward
to visiting in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
Always a pleasure. Thanks Tom, See you next time.
Speaker 6 (32:18):
For more information on what was discussed in this episode
of City Current, visit Bismarck end dot gov or call
seven zero one three five five one three zero zero.
If you have suggestions, comments, or issues you would like
addressed in future episodes, contact us at info at free
tv dot org. This program airs on Government Access channel
(32:39):
two and six oh two in HD, or on Radio
Access one oh two point five FM. It's also available
as a podcast on Radioaccess dot org and as a
video viewing link at free tv dot org. Thanks for
tuning in to this edition of City Current
Speaker 4 (33:06):
Need
City Current produced by Dakoda Media Access in depth discussion
with Bismarck and Mandan city officials. Watch on Government Access
Channel six oh two HD, or tune in to Radio
Access one O two point five FM, Always Local, Always Current.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Welcome to City Current Bismarck Edition with Bismarck City Administrator
Jason Tamonic. Jason, good to see. I noticed it's greening
up a little bit around town, although we need a
little bit more rain.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I'm jealous of a few yards.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
They're already showing their green hue and mine is not.
But I did notice we have a tree in our
backyard with little buzz on it, So all right, it's
it's official.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, we'll take it.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
I'm sure there will be snow at some point in then.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
It's we've gotten by pretty well this winter, that's for sure.
So it wouldn't surprise me if we got a big
dumb but won't stick around.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Right well, and it would be full of moisture, which
is what we really need at this point. Absolutely, it's
very dry everywherely dry.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Coming up or coming off of last night's City Commission meeting,
we have some topics I just wanted to throw them
at you what we'll be talking about today. There was
an evening of proclamations and we'll go over those. A
couple of the big items, I think, and leading up
to next week's workshop meeting. Event center improvement Plan report
(01:29):
from Jeff Wouble and then the event center management report
from jll Really interesting stuff going on there. And then
legislative update I just wanted to highlight that you gave
last night also includes a public library bill that you
said has gone on to the governor. I don't know
if he's signed it or I just checked. Okay, well,
we'll let we'll make people wait for the latest on that.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
As you just checked the city hanger.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It's a cliffhanger on city current. Well, let's talk about
those proclamations. Five of them last nights, starting with Arbor
Day Arbor Day, and we it's kind of proclamation season.
We see a lot of reoccurring proclamations year over year,
and we're glad to put these out for the mayor
and the city commissioners to support Arbor Day. Obviously, that's
(02:15):
a great one for us. We've been in Tree City,
USA for more than fifty years. There's a lot of
requirements that go into being a tree city, USA, but
proclaiming Arbor Day, that's a regular reoccurrence for us, recognizing
the importance of planting trees in the community, especially here
on the Rice Weber areas of North Dakota. And then
also we've got some Arbor Day celebrations that are coming
(02:36):
up as well. It will talk about at the end
of the show, after the announcement on the lid. And
I think I heard last night, if I'm right, in Bismarck,
we've celebrated or commemorated Arbor Day over forty years, and
I guess I had never learned through the years that
this all started in Nebraska. So interesting history.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
The first year they proclaimed Arbor Day, I think the
state of Nebraska planted over a million trees.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
So good for thrust of.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
That's an effort now would have been way back way
back when. Another proclamation the Day.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
Of Prayer, yep, definitely that's another excuse me. Another local
proclamation recognizing some groups that are part of the first
Prayer of the Continental Congress in seventeen seventy four, opening
every session of the House of Representatives and Senate with
(03:27):
an invocation and so recognizing the day of prayer as
May first, twenty twenty five. That was another one of
the proclamations that Commissioner Cleary, who ran the meeting last
night because the mayor was out of town, or just
say I had electronically, so Commisier Cleary got to proclaim
that as well as May is Historic Preservation Month, something
(03:48):
near and dear to you.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
That's a yeah, it makes me smile.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
But also as an organization, we of course have the
Historic Preservation Commission, which is a volunteer committee that is
supported by the staff in the Community Development Department. And
so Lauren Oaster came forward and talked about some of
the things that will be going on throughout the month
of May, whether it be Founder's Day with the Bismarck
Historical Society, there's a couple of different programs that are
coming up, but we certainly want to remind people that
(04:16):
history is an important part of Bismarck as well, and
not just Bismarck, but North Kota and the United States.
And then another annual proclamation, and this is a very
deserving and worthwhile cause, is the Law Enforcement Memorial Week.
Of course, locally we've had officers that have lost their
lives in the line of duty and we never want
(04:37):
to forget that the sacrifices that they make, and so
it's nice to recognize the Law Enforcement Memorial Week. And
then probably the biggest one last night was for Chi
Saint Alexias celebrating one hundred and.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Forty years and we did some math.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
We did it.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Did take out the calculator, but we did do some math.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Before.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Saint Alexis is older than the state of North Dakota. Yeah,
rate five years lead y. Eighteen eighty five was Saint Alexis.
Eighteen eighty nine was statehood. And so there's a number
of things that Saint Alexis is going to be doing
over the year to raise awareness to the to the
one hundred and forty years of healthcare that they have
committed to and a great partner in this community, whether
(05:19):
it be for health care or for employment. They've been
employers of tens of thousands of residents in the Bismark
Banded community over those years, and so thanks to them,
congratulations to them as well. It's a very notable distinction.
We don't have a ton of businesses in this community.
They don't say they've been around that long.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
That long and provided so much as you indicated Commissioner
Cleary did, she got to her voice was everywhere at
the beginning of the meeting last night. So a lot
of reading, but as you said, five well deserved proclamations
and yes, tipping our hat to law enforcement as you mentioned,
for all they provide. The consent agenda was.
Speaker 5 (05:59):
Pretty you know, without items pulled. I think the commission
rish pulls one item from the airports items on consent agenda.
It was a bid for some security a service work
that needed to be done out there.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
They asked to have that pulled. No action taken on that.
And then there was another item that was discussed. There
was a resident from just outside city limits that spoke
on an item relating to the vacation of a non
access line a property off of Tandem and I'm gonna
(06:32):
forget the other cross Street. It's in the Midwest Business
Park just on the east side of Bismarck on fifty
second Street and Main Avenue right And the concern that
was raised by the citizen was there's development proposed for
this particular piece of property. And this is in a
as the name implies, a business park, large buildings the
(06:52):
ups sorting facility is out there. The proposed use that
is intended for the property is a new location for
mid Coat, and so they would have some storage area.
They would have about a ten thousand square foot office
on there. The concerns that were raised were relating to
access and visibility and exterior storage. In the end, the
(07:14):
Commission discerned that although the residence concerns certainly not trying to.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Diminish any of that.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
The request that was on the agenda last night was
to essentially move a non access line closer to fifty
second Street. And essentially what does that translate to. It
means the driveway for the property will be further away
from fifty second Street, so there's less traffic conflict that way.
It gives better flow for the site, so vehicles can
(07:44):
move in and out. There's two access points for that
particular property. And despite the concerns of the resident that
shared her thoughts, the commissioners did vote to vacate the
non access line, essentially moving forward with the development process
as it or the development project as it was proposed.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
And moving to the regular agenda. A couple of really
interesting nuggets from last night. The Bismarck Event Center Capital
Improvements Plan report from Jeff Ubel, and I know that
this is evaluating studies and projects proposed, looking at infrastructure needs,
and this goes way. The civic center of the event
(08:25):
Center has been.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Around a long time.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Nineteen sixty nine it was first opened, so just over
fifty years it's been around. And some of the infrastructure
in the building is original. We've got boilers, some of
the HVAC stuff is in there from nineteen sixty nine.
And so Jeff and his team put together a nice report,
(08:48):
and the report was generated by looking at the variety
of studies and reports that have been done over the
past few years, but then also talking with the staff
walking the building, looking at all the equipment that is there,
and they kind of categorized the needs into maybe three
three arrangements. One was a new ballroom area modernization, fixing
(09:13):
eighty eight compliance things, and then also deferred maintenance, so
new space modernization, deferred maintenance. When they started to assemble
the components of those three categories, it became apparent that
the deferred maintenance needed to be the top priority, and
so Jeff put together kind of a strategy on which
area to focus on first, and ultimately no decisions were
(09:36):
made by the commissioners last night, just a lot of
information shared that will really tee up, as you alluded
to earlier, the special City Commission meeting that will be
on Tuesday, April twenty ninth at five point fifteen. The
commissioners will have essentially two items on their agenda to
talk about work through direct staff on next appropriate steps,
(09:57):
this being the first piece of it, the capital improvements
plan for the event center.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
And the third maintenance isn't the sexiest thing. It's stuff that,
as you mentioned, most people won't notice, but you know,
like HVAC. I think you said some of those boilers
are original to the building from nineteen sixty nine. Everybody
you know can do the math at home, but these
are essential items to build.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
For the future of the event center.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Essential and expensive. Unfortunately, the just the estimate for the
HVAC modernization alone, spanning it over three years design and construction,
we're talking about fifteen million dollars worth of improvements and
some might say, well, how is that going to get done? Well,
what I can share is that the City of Bismarck
collects a an additional sales tax. It's called the lodging
(10:46):
liquor restaurant tax, and so as the name applies lodging, hotel, accommodations, liquor,
alcoholic beverages, and restaurant food and beverage, there's an additional
sales tax on those items, and a portion that sales
tax is intentionally dedicated and exclusively dedicated to capital improvement
projects at the Events Center. And so the City of
(11:08):
Bismarck has some cash on hand in reserves that has
been identified to help start this project. But then as
the plan moves forward and the years go by, there
may be some times where we would have to incur
a little bit of debt we could borrow from ourselves
through reserves. But in the end, through the work that
(11:29):
Jeff and his team have prepared, and then also our
finance director Dmitriy Trigniak and the city's controller, Eric Lund,
and the finance team, there is a pretty clear plan
of how this can be successfully accomplished over about a
ten year time span, and so we'll get into more
of that on the twenty ninth, But I think what
I wanted the audience to hear is that yes, there
are some major improvements to the building. Some of them
(11:52):
you won't recognize firsthand, but then there are things that
will be very apparent. There are parts of the building
that will be refreshed, whether it be carpet, paint, signage.
Jeff kind of touched on that a little bit last night.
There really hasn't been a unified approach to signage throughout
all the facilities within the Bismarck Event Center, and having
(12:13):
some of those forward facing improvements I think is very
important because the public can identify with hey, that's different
than the last time I was here. But it's also
extremely important for us to have a building systems that
are maintainable, functioning efficient, and just make the operations of
the facility that much easier for the staff that's there
every day.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
So a separate but related report last night came on
management and operations of the event Center from a representative
from JLLL, and that also was very interesting. The point
that came up toward the end with Commissioner ZNCER was
(12:54):
one of the findings from this report, and it's a finding,
right nothing's been decided, is that they recommended a third
party operator come into play with the event center management.
We can get to that in a second, I guess,
But what were some of the highlights that you took
from the JLLL report.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
I think some of the takeaways is the report, although
it does have a very impactful recommendation at the end,
it's a much different approach than how we've done things.
I think if you step back and look at the
report for what it is, the first bullet point, the
first clear objective was that things cannot stay the same.
The operations of the event center need to be adapted
(13:34):
to mesh with current standards and practices. And so how
do we do that. Well, there's a number of different
ways that that can be done, and through the recommendations
and through the reporting and the work that JLLL did,
there will be scenarios that the Commissioners will talk through
and consider at the meeting on the twenty ninth. It's
not as simple as just saying we want to hire
(13:57):
a third party to operate this facility. That is not
that that's not how this is going to work. And
too Commissioners Anchor's point, we just got done talking about
a very impactful capital improvements plan to fix the building,
to refresh the building, and then to simply turn it
over to a third party and.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Let them run it.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
I understand his concerns, I agree with those concerns.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
And so getting to.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
The next step, what is the right next formula. That's
really the purpose of the meeting on the twenty ninth
is to discern how through all of these different options,
all of these different models, what's the best one for Bismarck,
Because just simply turning it over to a third party
and saying well, good luck, that that can't work. And
so one of the scenarios that was discussed a little
(14:43):
bit last night was this idea of creating an event
center authority and it becomes an advisory board that is
on an organizational chart. It would be between the staff
and the City of Bismarck. So the city would create
a contract to create an authority and then have a
contract without authority, and that authority would then be responsible
(15:07):
and contractually obligated to work with a private vendor or
a private operator of the event center. So the city
would still own the building. Cities still is in charge
of the building, it's still the city's resources, it's still
the city's dollars. It's simply working with an entity that
that is their Forte. That is what they focus on.
That is the work that they do. There's a handful
(15:29):
of these groups throughout the nation that could be considered
for the work here in Bismarck. I think one thing
that's important to know is that when you work with
a third party operator, that's their role. They have many
other venues and facilities around the nation or hopefully around
the region, And when you work with a third party,
you can benefit from some of the skill sets that
are with rant organization as well. And so I don't
(15:53):
want to pretend I know what the answer is going
to be. After the meeting on the twenty ninth, I
think it's going to be a great discussion. There's a
lot of information for the commissioners to consider. We will
be taking both reports that were provided at the meeting
on Tuesday night and including those in the agenda packet
for Wednesday. So for anybody listening or watching that wants
to see these full reports, go back and read the
information they will be attached to the agenda.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Go to the SANDI Bismark West put.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Together today in your office, correct.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
That is one of the major roles of our offices
to build the agenda packet to support the City commission meetings.
Staff and I talked about it this morning. We've got
Dimitri and his team working on some financial information that
will be included as well. We want the commissioners to
have as much information as they can so they can
make the most well informed decision on how to best
(16:39):
move forward for the Bismark Event Center, right for the staff,
for the community.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
I think that's another thing I need.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
To mention is that the staff is currently city employees
and they are very much a part of this organization.
And I believe it was the mayor that noted it
is not his intention to harm the employees in any way.
In fact, it's quite the contrary. How do we best
protect and preserve the employees that are here today and
help them do the best jobs that they can going forward.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
I think that was the that was.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
The impetus for much of the work that's been going
on over the past six months. I think that is
still the driving force and all of this is that
we want to treat our employees likely wins' that's first
and foremost. But the City Commission, the City of Bismarck
has a responsibility to effectively manage and operate the event center,
so it is a vital asset within our community.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Then to your commissioners anchor, I think that was one
of his concerns, the twenty five employees or so that
our City of Bismarck employees and that their future isn't
uncertain but correct. So there was some emotion attached to
that part of the meeting last night. The mayor did
chime in, as you said, and I think brought that perspective.
And then, as we all know, these are not final
(17:56):
decisions at this point, good point, works in progress.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Yep, no decisions have been made.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
The commissioners now have essentially six days to go back
and evaluate the information that both Jeff Yuble and Dan
Fenton with JLL shared I would trust that the commissioners
are going to be sharing that information and talking with
their advisors and constituents and people that they go to
for perspective. And then my hope is that everybody comes
(18:23):
to the meeting on the twenty ninth with the goal
of building consensus and making the right decisions to get
the event center in the right direction moving forward for everybody.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
We have one more graphic. I thought it'd be good
to show there's a lot of information on here, but
attached to that JLLL report again, some of the key
areas of consideration, as it says, include the operational excellence
metrics for performance and reporting you can read for yourself, sales, food, sustainability, technology,
(18:54):
guest experience. All those things are things that are important
that are being considered in trying to form this bigger
picture moving forward.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
And Dan talked about KPIs or key performance indicators and
what are those. They're essentially metrics that we would use
to measure the effectiveness or the value that the event
center is adding. But then also using those key performance indicators,
and it's things like the having the right mix of events,
(19:25):
optimizing the facility for its highest and best use. Obviously,
income is a big part of a key performance indicator,
but is it the only measure in the answer is no.
There's more than a dozen different ways to evaluate the
impacts the event center has on the community. And I
think it needs to be stated that the event center
(19:48):
by itself doesn't always make money, but it makes money
for the community by bringing people here for conventions and conferences.
Those people stay in hotels, they eat in restaurants, they
shop in stores, they support the sales tax that then
goes back into supporting the event center. It's a very
symbiotic relationship. And so for hotels restaurants in retail to
(20:09):
do well means the event center should be doing well.
And for the event center to do well, we've got
to have good hotels and good restaurants.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
And it's just this.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
It's a very delicate balance and a very delicate relationship,
and we need to make sure that all the components
are functioning at their highest level.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
We've been talking about the legislature for several well or
going into our fourth month, I think, but things are
starting to wind down.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
They should be day sixty eight, sixty eight out of eighty,
and they generally want to save a few days for
themselves in case.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
So I maybe I'm not a I'm not a.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Fortune teller, but I'm thinking by this time next week,
they're going to be pretty croose dough well.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
House built ten twenty, the State Water Commission budget with
the flood control for South Bismarck. What's the latest on now,
we'll just go over three bills that we've been talking
about all We certainly.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
House built ten twenty. As you mentioned, State Water Commission budget.
This was the bill where the South Bismarck flood Control
project was identified. Initially, when the session started, we were
encouraged to request an ample amount of funding. The total
project estimate is about one hundred and seventy three million dollars.
The ask from the state, from the city to the
(21:25):
state was about seventy to eighty million. As time went on,
as committees met and made decisions, Bismarck's funding for that
project slowly got cut and dwindled, and now we're to
the point where we're not even on the list yet
or currently. However, as I reported to the Commission on
(21:45):
Tuesday night, I did have the good fortune of meeting
with Senator Sorvog and Representative Swantek, both of Fargo, both
on the committees that are evaluating these projects and part
of the appropriations. A great discussion helping them understand the
project from our perspective that it is not a stormwater
(22:06):
control project, it is a flood project, and not saying
we're going to have flooding, but when we do have
high water in the Missouri River, it creates other problems
for South Bismarck because the area is so flat, because of.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
The drainage channel that we have.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
This project that is being proposed one hundred and seventy
three million dollars flood control project is a result of FEMA,
Federal Emergency Management Agency, coming in and remapping the river corridor,
reidentifying new floodplain areas. And so we are simply responding
to something that showed up at our front door. And
(22:42):
we are still optimistic that through continued conversations and work
with state leaders, that there is an opportunity for Bismarck
to receive some state funding. We would be very grateful
for that. But we will continue on the design for
the South Bismarck Flood Control project and once the design
is complete, we will have, as they say, a shovel
ready project from there, should we be able to secure
(23:04):
enough funding to make the project happen.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
A bill all of us should be interested in his
House Bill eleven seventy six, and that deals with property
taxes and also the cap on what the city of
bismu three percent for the City of Bismarck plus growth
for your budgeting purposes. I think you said that's moved
a conference committee where members is a House and Senate
(23:26):
sit down and try and hash things out. I do
think Representative Nathan and Bosh from Bismarck or on they
are on the Pace Committee. What's the latest on that bill.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
It is scheduled for three thirty pm Wednesday, the day
we are recording. Three thirty pm they will have the
Conference Committee will be meeting in the House and Finance
House Finance and Taxation Room, So Representatives Headland, Nathan and
Bosh and then Senators Weber, Beckett, All and Early will
(23:57):
get together and.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Try and.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
Try and go on consensus. There have been a number
of amendments to the bill right since it started. The
Governor was the first out to say, here's the plan,
here's how we get to zero property tax. Here's the
concept that I support. The House got a hold of
it and reduced that primary residential income or tax credit
(24:20):
from fifteen fifty down to fourteen fifty. The Senate got
their hands on it and reduced it down to twelve
hundred and fifty and put a cap at seventy five
percent on the total exemption, and they called it the
skin in the game amendment. So we are we're definitely
watching politics at play here. But as a property owner,
as a city administrator. We are very very interested in
(24:41):
this one, both personally and professionally. But I again optimistic
here that in the end, through good old fashioned North
Dakota work ethic conversations, the right answer will come about.
And I trust that by the time we're done here,
the governor will have a bill that he's comfortable sign,
and by the next time you and I visit we
(25:03):
should have an answer. Yep, you can talk about it
with mister Newbau.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
He like, maybe he'll know the answers.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Sentonvill twenty three oh seven. We talked about at the beginning.
This is the public libraries, which include public school's bill
and a version has passed and is now well or
is it Governor Armstrong's desk.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
But last I, according to the bill tracker website that
the state keeps up on, the bill was delivered to
the governor's desk on April eighteenth, and so it would
be up to him now to sign the bill and
then it becomes law, or it would be his choice
to veto the bill and it does not become law.
So we are certainly watching this one from the perspective
(25:46):
of our library. Bismark Veterans Memorial Public Library Department of
the city. We have already established a process for patrons
when they have concerns about library materials and content, they
can bring those concerns to a library professional and there
is a committee that will evaluate and review those materials.
And so that is in many parts what Senate Bill
(26:07):
twenty three to zero seven is intending to do. It
also adds another layer that if the library patron is
not satisfied with the results, they can take their concerns
to the state's attorney in that county. I certainly can't
speak for the Burley County state's attorney or any other
state's attorney in North Dakota, but I can from where.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
I can see things.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
Our state's attorneys are quite busy dealing with district court
matters and this although you know, if it is a
state mandated is a state law, then the obviously they
would have to make the time to do that work
as well. But this is one that we've been watching
very closely. Our library director, Christine Quiava, has done a
great job communicating and coordinating with and keeping her staff
(26:50):
well aware of how these things are shaking out. And
I guess we will just wait and see what the
governor wants to do with this one too.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
A few dates we wanted to remind folks of we
have an Arbor Day celebration May second, one o'clock.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
I believe that.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Custer Park, Custer Park the oldest park in Bismarck. Speaking
of Historic Preservation Month, Custer Park is the park. I
guess it'd be bookended by Broadway and Thayer, and then
you've got Washington Street on the east side and the
wonderful Custer Park neighborhood on the west side. There's a
number of memorial trees in that park, and this year
the recipient of the memorial tree planting will be Stan
(27:30):
Churchill Stand passed away last year. Stan owned a local
arbor company and was a longtime member of the Bismark
Forestry Advisory Board. So certainly condolences to Stan's family on
his passing, but also a very nice way to commemorate
the work that he did to help keep Bismarck beautiful
by planting a tree in his howner.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Absolutely just reiterating the April twenty ninth, Next Tuesday, the
special commissioned workshop for the Events Center will be at
five point fifteen, so watch for that well.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Of course carry that.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
You guys, got it. It's a it's a public meeting.
It's open to the public, so if anybody wishes to attend,
by all means that is an option of theirs, or
if they would rather consume that the from the comfort
of their their wherever, wherever home there, wherever their app works.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Yes, watch the meetings.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Also, we have the Eleventhaniel Keep Bismarck Beautiful clean Up
Day that the Bismark Rotary will sponsor. I think boys
are meeting over at Peace Park.
Speaker 4 (28:33):
Peace Park, which is directly west of the Bismarck Parks
and Recreation District office. That is Saturday, May fourth, from
nine to noon. I believe the intent is to have
everybody start at Peace Park and then I think they
sign areas on where you can go collect trash. It's
you don't necessarily have to sign up, but if you
can pre register, I'm sure they would appreciate knowing. It's
(28:55):
a nice event. Another sign of spring. It is zetting
out and cleaning up garbage. And thanks to the road
and all those members and volunteers and everybody that they
bring around because without at without that effort, we would
have lots of loose garbage, something.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Around, something I've participated in, especially up at the arboretum
near tom Olary Golf Course, and it's a lot of
fun to get out there, a good family event. It
is got some fresh air. Also on May eighth, we
have the Public Transportation Community Conversation meeting from six to eight.
Tell us what we're going to talk about.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
That is led by.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
The City of Bismarck's Human Relations Committee, which is a
volunteer committee that meets monthly, and as the name implies,
they are interested in human relations and in this case,
the Community Conversations is a project that they've taken on
over the last year and a half or so, typically
tied to a specific topic. As you indicated in this
topic is very forward facing in the top of mind
(29:52):
for a lot of us. In its public transportation. This
is on the heels of the most recent local election
in November where citizens approved a new half sent sales tax.
Two fifths of that half sent goes towards public transportation,
and so there's a transportation steering community that has been
meeting trying to discern what is the best use, how
(30:13):
do we imp implement these new funds, and where do
they go and how do we improve public transportation. The
purpose of the community conversation is just that to have
more voices add to this very dynamic, very evolving.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Topic and in the end, the hope, the gain.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
The result here is the best public transportation that we
could offer for Bismarck Band and that's both fixed route
and paratransit door to door route service.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
So also wanted to mention the Governor's Prayer breakfast to
schedule for May twentieth with General Dorman speaking. I guess
now he's a part of it Armstrong's staff, but you
won't want to miss General Dorman or Al Dormant speaking
that morning.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
And the proceeds go to a great cause, go to
benefit the crisis Care Chaplaincy, which I always struggle to
get those words out without muddling them up, but the
crisis care Chaplaincy, they are the chaplains that are there
when there is a crisis with law enforcement, or with
the death in the family, or can you get those
challenges anyway, just can see involved. And it's not just
(31:20):
law enforcement but also first responders and fire personnel as well.
So the work that they do is it's so important,
it's so supportive and the proceeds raised from the Mayor's
prayer breakfast on a twentieth will go directly to supporting
the Crisis Care Chaplaincy and the work that they're doing.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
And the Mayor interviewed Greg Carr from Crisis Care Chaplaincy
and I can appreciate, being a former TV anchor the
difficulty of saying that phrase, but we both got through
it this time. But if you want to see that program,
we just wanted to mention that we have two new apps,
Code Media Access app that you can download. Our Radio
(31:57):
Access one oh two point five app you can download
and you can scan the QR code there to find
where you can get those and then you can watch
everything that we have to offer here at the Koda
Media Access. Jason, thanks for the time again, look forward
to visiting in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
Always a pleasure. Thanks Tom, See you next time.
Speaker 6 (32:18):
For more information on what was discussed in this episode
of City Current, visit Bismarck end dot gov or call
seven zero one three five five one three zero zero.
If you have suggestions, comments, or issues you would like
addressed in future episodes, contact us at info at free
tv dot org. This program airs on Government Access channel
(32:39):
two and six oh two in HD, or on Radio
Access one oh two point five FM. It's also available
as a podcast on Radioaccess dot org and as a
video viewing link at free tv dot org. Thanks for
tuning in to this edition of City Current
Speaker 4 (33:06):
Need
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