April 11, 2025 • 35 mins
Tom Gerhardt talks to Jason Tomanek about the Bismarck City Commission meeting that took place on 4/8/25.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
City Current, produced by Dakota 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 Condition along with Bismarck City
Administrator Jason Tamonica. I'm Tom Gerhart from Dakota Media Access,
and I guess we need to acknowledge right off the bat,
this is a big change for you and for the
first time in over three hundred some episodes, I believe
Mary van Sickle is outside knocking on the window looking
in on.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
He's seeing in. She said she was going to distract us,
but she's still in the building. But it's your show now.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, So I've really come to enjoy the value of
finding out what's happened at the prior evenings Commission medi
and Bismarck in your case, and then in Mandan with
Jim Nubauer. So last night's meeting went over three hours.
We'll talk about some of the hot topics I guess eventually,
like Tyler Parkway the expansion project there, but kind of
(01:13):
start at the top of the agenda Jason, and there
were two meetings. I guess last night the Board of
Equalization met annual report.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Touch on some of the highlights that came out of
that definitely. So Board of Equalization is the city commission.
They gavel in as the Board of Equalization through North
Coda Century Code, all communities must beat as the Board
of Equalization annually and the purpose there is to receive
the annual report from the assessor's office and to accept
(01:42):
the valuations of all the commercial and residential property. But
it also gives property owners an opportunity to raise concerns
with the valuations that have been assigned to their properties.
And so a number of those individuals received letters. So
our assessing division sends out letters to anybody whose property
(02:03):
value increased by more than ten percent or I believe
it's three thousand dollars year over year, and so a
high number of letters go out to people. And oftentimes
what that does is it generates a conversation between the
property owner and our staff. And the staff has an
opportunity to explain the process of how valuations are arrived upon,
(02:25):
but the homeowner or the property owner has an opportunity
to say please come and physically look at my home.
If an assessor hasn't been in your home in a
number of years, some assumptions can be made based on
similar properties in the community. If your house is relatively
unchanged in the last thirty years, that might be something
(02:46):
to have the assessors realized, because there it could be
a reflection on your valuation. Same said, if you have
made significant improvements in the last few years without obtaining
a permit, and you have some extravagant things that the
city may not have been where previously, that could have
an impact on your value as well. So in the end,
we had a good number of people engaged with staff.
(03:09):
We didn't see anybody at the podium last night specifically
with concerns about their valuations. But what we did have
is a report from our city assessor, Alison Jensen, and
I just wanted to talk about some of the Yeah,
it is the interesting data that's there.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
We can take a look. We have a photo of
the report cover and then to your point, we just
pulled this out a taxable valuation comparison. And I love
statistics and baseball and sports and Facebook analytics and things
like that, so this is fascinating you mentioned, I mean
the residential and commercial growth in Bismarck. It's kind of
(03:46):
mind blowing. It is.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
When you look at a market value comparison. From twenty
twenty four to twenty twenty five, the value of commercial
property in the city of Bismarck, and this is the
value of the buildings and the value of the land,
and the total commercial valuation based on market comparisons was
just over four billion dollars with a B. This year
(04:08):
the valuation is four point one seven to three billion,
or an increase of about three point six nine percent.
That's year over year. And so some might say, well,
where is that growth coming from. It often comes from
new construction. We as a community are very fortunate for
the last twenty years we have seen very sustainable, intentional growth,
not just on the residential side of things, but also
(04:30):
on the commercial side of things, and these numbers reflect
that type of growth. When you compare the residential valuations
again at market value comparison, total residential property in twenty
twenty four in the city of Bismarck was just over
seven billion dollars. Twenty twenty five valuations is just under
seven point four billion, so about a three hundred and
(04:52):
seventy four million dollar change, about five point three three percent.
When you average that across all the properties, we're at
about a four point seven percent sent market growth from
twenty twenty four to twenty twenty five. Yeah, that's a
pretty healthy ste you going to say in your site,
and it would be that's a really healthy growth for
this area.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Good indicators.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
It is it and new growth obviously comes new services,
new challenges for us as an organization, but it also
provides the revenue. The property tax collections that come from
new construction is what sustains a community when it's growing,
and so we're very fortunate that we have a nice
balance of growth. But we're also we're also able to
continue to provide those services in those newer areas. So
(05:33):
just a little little nugget to share. Most communities will
have these types of comparisons year over year, but I
think it's just nice to share that information with people
to understand it's more than just assigning a dollar value
to a specific piece of.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Property and to the initial point to know as a homeowner,
you know there's a process that I can go through,
and your staff is willing and ready to have those conversations.
That's key. Well, the City Commission then and right away
talked about something I know that you're awfully proud of,
and that's the Citizen Academy. And they recognized the cadets.
(06:09):
Are they called cadets starting a calling them cadets.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
We refer to them as season So we got Season
four of Citizen Academy. It was a great opportunity to
talk about the program again, invite everybody that was able
to join us. We didn't have everyone from the class
this year, but we had a great turnout. It was
fun talking.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
About the program.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Some of them shared their stories and experiences, a lot
of gratitude for the staff. Twelve weeks, three hours every Thursday.
You know, you get to know these people and it's
not just us as staff getting to know them. But
I am very confident to know that there are relationships
friendships that have formed there as a result out of
each other being in this program and going through these
(06:49):
experiences together. And I kind of joked with them all
on our last week at the police station. I said, Okay,
now that you've all been through this, you all have
a responsibility to go out and vall in here for
an advisory board or run for an elected position, or
do something with this new information that you've learned. And
a couple of them talked about that last night when
they shared their remarks, and so a lot of gratitude
(07:12):
for them. I realize everybody's busy and to commit to
something for twelve weeks at the beginning of the year,
dead of winter, it's dark, it's cold outside, and one
of the participants, one of the cadets, said, you know,
when the class started, I was tired and hungry, and
by the end of the night, I was jazzed up
and didn't want to leave. And that's probably one of
the best endorsements that you can get, is there was
(07:33):
just genuine enthusiasm and I'm excited to see where the
program goes from here. It's we plan to.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Continue to do this year over year.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
We're always looking for a way to bring it to
more people. I say this about the program. It's tremendously effective,
but it's terribly inefficient only talking to twenty people at
a time, and we've got seventy seven thousand people that
called it's nice home. So if anyone's got ideas, and
we asked the that's as well, we ask them for
their feedback. We want them to tell us what do
(08:04):
you think would make this experience even more valuable than
it already is. So we'll talk about Citizen Academy again
in November. That's when we take applications for the following year,
and so we'll definitely bring this one back around again.
But thanks to everybody that was part of it. Thanks
to the staff. As I mentioned last night, there was
somewhere probably around eighty different city staff that came together
(08:26):
over the twelve weeks and now thirteen weeks because we're
actually going to do a bonus tour at the wastewater
treatment plant. Go to see Travis back by pocket or
demand the group. This will be the third year now
that the group has requested a tour of the wastewater
treatment plan. So kudos to them, and from where I'm
at as the administrator of the city, just a heartfelt
(08:47):
thank you to all the staff and the directors and
the participants because this is no small lift. I also
need to say this with a smile on my face.
To the best of my knowledge, we are the only
city you're going to have to go that.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, we're the.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Only ones that are offering this program right now. And
I'm not trying to boast, but I am. I am
very proud that we can do that, and I think
that it is paying off. We even have a current
city commissioner at the table who was part of Season one.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
You're called the public service commissioner Rish. You mentioned can
you give him back? And he definitely heeded that.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
He answered the call. And we've heard it from others
going through this experience gave them the confidence to step
up and volunteer or run for other things because they
had they held a base of knowledge that it starts.
It starts that spark of interest, it starts that engagement,
and there's so much to understanding.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Yep, those early relationships and probably a little bit moreable
moving into a place or into a spot on a
commissioner or something having a baseline knowledge of what's happening.
And no, you've been involved in this sense the beginning.
You're going to pass the torch to Assistant City Administrator
Doug Wyle.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
It's I've told Doug this will be it's his program,
and whatever changes he wants to make is it'll be great.
I don't doubt that whatever happens will only enhance the experience,
and my role, hopefully in the future will be limited
to just that first week when the administration Department is
is on display. So look forward to where we go
from here. But it's been it's been a joy. It's
(10:22):
been certainly a time commitment, but it's one of those
things that fills my cup.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah, so absolutely, And I can tell listening to, as
you said, a lot of the cadets coming to the
microphone last night, and by the way, you can listen
to what they had to say good well on decodemediaccess
dot org if you go to our government access site
watch the meeting or watch that portion. But the amount
of gratitude overall in that room was really heartwarming last night.
(10:49):
So the Mayor's welcome Initiative proclamation, I wanted to mention
that quickly because I know that's something that means a
lot to him and does what's going on with the proclamation,
I know that some things in action coming.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Up, definitely, and so the mayor reads proclamations. Generally this
time of the year, we'll see two or three proclamations
on a lot of agendas. Oftentimes the proclamations are focused
on the community, and we get requests form proclamations from
national organizations and we often tell them, unless you have
a specific tie to Bismarck, we respectfully decline to accept
(11:24):
your offer. In this case, the proclamation that the mayor
read last night is very near and dear to his values,
and it is talking about where home means more than hello,
and the mayor has been talking about this for quite
some time. Bismarck is a friendly place, but we're not
always very welcoming, and the initiative here is to create
(11:46):
opportunities to welcome new residents by engaging them and the
business owners and help them take that extra step to
become integrated into the fabric of our community and not
to go back to citizen Academy again. But we heard
that last night from one of the participants. She said,
now that I've been through this, this is my home.
I feel a part of this. And the mayor is
(12:07):
looking for more opportunities to foster that type of experience
for people. And we've heard when someone is new to
a community, we generally have twelve months to help them
decide if they want to stay there or if they
want to find somewhere else. That brings them joy, and
if we can create more reasons for people to want
to stay in Bismarck, all the better. It adds to
(12:29):
the culture, the diversity, the experiences for everybody here. And
it ties back to our initial conversation today about the
growth taking place in Bismarck, and those go hand in hand. Definitely. Yeah,
And so you'll be hearing more from the mayor, not
just Mayor Bismarck, but also City Amandon is going to
be participating this and so over the next few days,
(12:51):
more and more information will be coming out about the
Mayor's welcome initiative. But we certainly support him in this
endeavor and want to find more ways to help him
find success here too.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
A lot of items on the consent agenda last night,
but one thing I just pulled the side that I
found interesting was the South Capital Survey project. I know
there's an assessment growing. We have a picture map kind
of show you the area that we're talking about just
south of the Capital from Boulevard down to is it
Avenue AA, It gets to Avenue A on the south
end and then about Fourth Street to sixth Street roughly,
(13:26):
so a real concentrated corridor.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
This corridor is very interesting because it links the activities
of the Capitol with downtown. But there's also some very
prominent architecture, there's some very significant individuals that have lived
in these neighborhoods. It's just a really kind of a
really neat part of our community. And there's my time
(13:49):
with the city. They spent ten years in Community Development department.
There was always conversations about how do we connect the
capital with downtown, how do we connect downtown to the river. Well,
this study will he'll do that in another way and
it's a research project essentially that we'll be performed by
South Fork Historical Research Company and it will be an
(14:11):
assessment of the properties within those within that boundary that
we described, And this kind of ties back to a
study that the city did in twenty fourteen was called
the Downtown Subarea Study. One of the projects that was
recommended was actually a self guided heritage tour, a cultural
historic tour identifying the significant properties between downtown and the Capital.
(14:36):
So this isn't necessarily a new idea, but this is
a kind of a reconstitution of that effort and very
glad to see the Historic Preservation Commission moving forward on this.
The cost of the project is fifteen thousand dollars. It'll
start in May of this year and take about thirteen
months until full delivery, so next year in June when
we're talking about elections in June of twenty twenty six,
(15:00):
we can also talk about the results of the cultural
heritage study that was done in just south of the
Capitol roilse.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it. That's a lot
of interest, as you said, a lot of history in
that area, so anxious to see what comes with that.
Regular agenda last night from the City Commission, just talking
about the Human Relations Committee. They release their annual report
and walk us through some of the talking points there.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Absolutely, Human Relations Committee. This is one of the many
advisory boards the city. City Administration Department is the staff
support for this particular advisory committee. Human Relations Committee typically
meets once a month and they do a number of
events throughout the year. The annual report kind of showcases
some of the things that they're doing, and it's things
(15:48):
like participating in the Juneteenth Celebration or the Martin Luther
King Junior Celebration in January. One of the projects that
they're spending a lot of time and seeing a lot
of valuable feedback use these community conversations that have been
hosted at the library. I think they've done three or
four to this point. There's another one coming up scheduled
(16:08):
for May eighth. It'll be in the Tom Baker meeting Room,
not the library this time Tom Baker Meeting Room, and
a topic there is public transportation, and obviously with the
recent election in November, there's a new half sent sales tax.
Two fifths of that half scent is dedicated to public transportation.
And so bringing that topic into the light and hearing
(16:28):
from the community on what does quality of public transportation
look like or paratransit transportation as well, because that is
certainly a component of Bisman transit. So definitely want to
plug that May eight coming up. But then also I
think because we are in the radio studio here at
Dakota Media Access, I think one of the outcomes or
one of the projects that the Human Relations Committee is
(16:50):
most proud of, is the podcast These Are Your Neighbors
and sar Jiama Woodski and Tia Jorgensen are the hosts
of that program. I heard him say last night, episode
fifty three recently aired here on Dakode of Media Access
Radio Access where we get your podcasts, and so those
two women do a fantastic job. I've been a guest
on that program. I've listened to almost all of them
(17:13):
to this point, and it really gives them a chance
to get out and shine a light on other people
in the community that are doing good things organizations, businesses, individuals,
whatever the case might be. And I give them a
lot of credit for the work that it goes into
that program. They've really honed their craft and look forward
(17:34):
to hearing more of that. But they definitely wanted to
talk about that as part of their annual report as.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Well, and you can. I got a chance to visit
with both of them last week here and they're so
passionate about this podcast telling the stories of our neighbors
here in Bismarck. So it's been a fantastic local content
that we're proud to have an offer to folks to
listen to. And Tia and Sargiana do as you said,
(18:00):
trific job. And the photo we had up, I guess
Commissioner Rish makes another appearance. He did.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
He's the guys everywhere. I see him all over town,
and I know he was a recent guest. I think
they've had other commissioners as guests in the past, and
so if you're not familiar with the program, I would
put in a plug to either go to the Radio
Access website, go to the Radio Access app, going any
place you get your downloads for your podcasts, and just
search these are your neighbors, and I bet you'll find
(18:26):
somebody that you know that has been a guest.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Uh. One of the hot topics last night, or maybe
probably the item that took up the most time, was
the Tyler Parkway expansion project. And I know this has
been talked about now going back over two decades.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Yeah, since umber the nineties, I think when we started
long range transportation planning and a decision was made. Last night,
a decision was made, a unanimous decision. All five commissioners
voted to support the recommendations that came forward. And Tyler Parkway,
for those that know, is a pretty important route north
(19:06):
and south and we've got a gap in a section
just north of Valley Drive and that section that would
be extended would tie into I believe it's Cogburn Road.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Let's show some photos of while you're talking about it,
so not to interrupt you, Jason, No, I find I
can see that green space, and then I'll just forward
and here's really the proposed extension, and you can pick
up where you left off, and I'll show a couple
other photos.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
So for those that do have a screen in front
of them, what you're looking at is the intersection of
Tyler Parkway, which runs north and south runs to the
top of the screen being north, and then Valley Drive
runs east and west left to right across the screen.
There is a gap in Tyler Parkway due to the topography,
due to the challenging construction type, due to the drainage
that's through there, and frankly, Tyler Parkway has developed as
(19:57):
the neighborhoods around it have come in. Also, I mean
Tyler Parkway, for what it's worth, was originally constructed in
a lady's early nineties and now here we are almost
forty years later and we're finishing that piece. If you
think about Tyler Parkway, it starts near Exit one fifty
seven on the south end, and once this connection has
(20:20):
been made, this road will really extend all the way
up to Highway eighteen oh four, which it then transitions
into the County and the name changes, but it becomes
fifteenth Street, and fifteenth Street goes all the way up
to one hundred and tenth Avenue and then it turns
into a minimum maintenance road from there. So I guess
really what I'm saying here is this will be one
of the longest north south corridors in Bismarck into Barley County.
(20:43):
The project will be paid for using the half sent
sales tax dollars. That was an election that was held
back in twenty eighteen. We started collecting half cent a
half cent sales tax for major roadway construction projects like
this one. We've also done forty third Avenue South Washington
Street ASHCOO. This year we'll be doing the extension of
East Century Avenue over towards fifty second Street. All of
(21:05):
that is being paid for using local sales tax dollars.
And so we did have some opposition last night from
the neighbors. We held a public input meeting at Elkridge
back in March and heard a fair bit of opposition
as well, and much of that comment was relating to
the preservation of green space, concerns with traffic volumes, traffic speed,
(21:27):
and I think that was probably the most common concern
that I heard at all the public input opportunities and
feedback that was provided electronically, whether it be through the
survey or whatnot. And so recognizing how do we calm
some of that traffic, how do we quiet some of
that speed down, and that came through the recommendations. One
(21:48):
of the proposals is to propose a three lane section,
meaning you've got a north lane in a south lane,
and then a center lane in the middle to do
your left turns. There will also be some mini roundabouts
installed and a pavement markings as well, and some landscaping
in here. And the whole idea is to narrow that
(22:11):
driving corridor. If you think about get over an East
Century Avenue sometimes east of twenty sixth Street, it's wide open.
You have five lanes. It almost looks like a freeway
over there, and it's hard not to speed. And even
the police chief mentioned you said it, chief Train, you
got to look down, you got to make sure you're
not going too fast. And so the idea of narrowing
(22:33):
the roadway creates this environment that you do need to
be more cautious, you do need to slow down, and
that's the idea here is you are traveling primarily through
a residential corridor. We're not trying to make a bypass
or a freeway. We're trying to connect. We're trying to
connect neighborhoods. Not just for the purpose of connecting neighborhoods,
but primarily also we're thinking about emergency responders. We heard
(22:55):
from the fire chief and the police chief last night
that this roadway connection is important because we will continue
to grow to the north and the west from here
and having this will save time. You create a more
direct route for emergency services and Metro Ambulance, which is
another emergency provider separate from the city of Bismarck. So
I understand that there is some opposition, but I also
(23:16):
understand the need for the project, and I think that's
where our commission landed as well, is with a five
zero boat to support. To me, that says that you're
not going to make everybody happy with this one, but
for the greater good of the community, this is the
right time and place for this project.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
And you mentioned how it would be paid for. But
I did caught my ear last night that there won't
be any special assessments, correct because of that half cent
sales tax. And then I think another key thing just
to talk about is one construction will begin.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Sure, and so final design will occur going forward, and
what we heard from city engineer Gabe Shell is it
will be a two year construction timeline. First year, there
will be some earthwork and an embankment created to help
essentially hold up the roadway that will cross over the koolie.
There will be a large culvert system to allow stormwater
to move through the coolie or also be a pedestrian
(24:11):
underpass at some point so people can safely traverse. But
the purpose of building the embankment in year one is
to allow that structure to settle into place. We've got
some tricky soils in this area and to give it
time to just be where it wants to be and
then come back the following year and then connect the roadway.
So yes, we will see construction likely starting in twenty
(24:33):
six and then completing at twenty seven and maybe even
spilling into twenty eight. Oftentimes we'll see some of that
landscaping and those sarder touches at the end.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
And I know there's also a lot of folks it
sounds like through a public comment or the past meeting
there are concerned about the trails and the nature and things,
and we have another map, but it's kind of a
lot to look at. But I know that's something we
talked about just the head of City Current was making
sure that you're that vision and outdoor activities and the
(25:05):
wildlife that people like to enjoy that's being taken into consideration.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
As well, and all coexist. And I think the one
thing that I failed to mention about the street itself
the project it does include a multi use trail parallel
to the roadway and so sidewalk, curbon gutter, lighting, roadway
surface and that's all part of this project as well.
But making those connections for pedestrian and bicyclist is important
as well, And so not just the pave trails, but
(25:31):
also the single track trails that are down into the
green the open space areas those are we were talking before.
Those are some pretty special places for a lot of
people and certainly not looking to compromise that in any way.
But at the same time, a growing city has things
that need to be addressed, and I think this falls
(25:51):
into that category.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Something that maybe a smaller group of people have interest in,
but what's been happening up at Misty Waters. And there
was an appeal for a zoning map amendment last night,
and there was also a decision made last night. So
I guess we can show people map of the area
that we're talking about and then you can fill us
(26:18):
in on what happened.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Sure, So Misty Waters for anyone that's not familiar with
that neighborhood, it's in the extra Territorial area. It's outside
city limits north of Bismarck. It's a neighborhood that is
zoned as a planned unit development or oftentimes you hear
the the acronym PUD, and some might say, well, what
is a PUD a planned unit development? And I often
(26:41):
describe it as a one of a kind Taylor made
zoning district just for that neighborhood. And why is a
PUD necessary at Misty Waters? Primarily because the edges of
these properties, a lot of them touch the river or
a man made bay that was created for the neighborhood.
When you're building a along the river, you've got things
(27:02):
to be mindful of, whether it be setbacks, the high
water mark, a lomar, which is another acronym for a
letter of map revision. It's a FEMA term dealing with
floodplain and your ability to manipulate the ground and the
land around it. And so this neighborhood was originally started
in two thousand and six and since that time a
(27:23):
number of homes have been built, and unfortunately, back in
I think it was twenty twenty four, a property a
home was constructed that caused a fair amount of turmoil
in the neighborhood and the project ended up coming back
to the City Commission on multiple occasions. And the root
of the issue was whether or not the home exceeded
(27:45):
its boundaries on the face of the platte, did it
encroach into the setback, was it beyond the Lomar line.
A lot of moving parts, and for the neighborhood, a
very important issue because it sets the stage moving forward
for the Commissioner's last night. The appeal actually was a
little unique. The appeal came from city staff, and the
(28:08):
appeal was the appeal of the decision made by the
Planning and Zoning Commission to deny the zoning change for
getting this really kind of granular bureaucratic government stuff here
and for anybody that's following along this has been a
very long conversation in the end where we are as
(28:30):
a last night, we ended up with a split vote.
We had three commissioners voting to overturn the decision of
the Planning Commission and two commissioners voting to support the
decision of the Planning Commission. So, following the majority, the
next step in this process will essentially be to call
for a public hearing at the City commission level. Hold
(28:50):
a public hearing, which will likely be at the meeting
on May thirteenth of twenty twenty five, and the City
Commission will have final say over this matter, hopefully once
and for all, and we can address all the concerns
and correct anything that needs to be adjusted and just
simply move forward with this entire neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Let's head back to the Capital legislative session. Continues that
what did you say, were eight fifty nine? Yeah, out
of a potential eighty. But you mentioned they're hoping to
save a few days. It seems like they a couple
of weeks and we could be looking at I feel
like we're getting very close to the end. We're starting
to see a lot of bills either meet their demise
(29:31):
or work their way through conference committee. The governor signed
a number of things over the last few weeks. We're
still focusing on a fair number of bills, but really
three that are most interesting right now.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
House Bill ten twenty. We talked about that last night.
We've talked about on the program before. That's the bill
that has the budget for the State Water Commission. In
that budget was or is an appropriation dollar amount for
self bismarked flood control project. This is a very big
project that we are considering as a result of FEMA
(30:05):
coming through and remapping the floodplain area. House Built ten
twenty is still working its way through committee. Sorry to
report to our commissioners last night that the initial appropriation
that was identified was I think seventy three million of
one hundred and seventy three million dollar project. The current
dollar amount that is showing anyway has been reduced to
(30:27):
twenty million, a significant reduction not just for Bismarck, but
a lot of the projects that are in that pool
are seeing similar cuts. Just the Staate just doesn't have
the money to go around to support some of these
flood control projects.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
So we'll still.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Still definitely going to engage with that one and do
our best to help them understand the project from our perspective.
House Built thirteen eighty nine. I mentioned this one last night.
This one was killed by the Senate. This bill would
have been an actor would have enabled municipal governments to
forego special assessments and in turn create a monthly street
(31:01):
utility fee. This would have been a fee that would
have showed up on a utility bill, just like your
garbage recycling and water usage. The city would have used
those dollars to do the street maintenance projects and eliminate
special assessments for street maintenance. That one kind of got
a little cumbersome through the House. There was some amendments
that were put on it, and the amendments essentially made
the bill really undesirable from a government from our perspective.
(31:24):
So we weren't sad to see that one get killed.
And then the last bill, and this is the one
that I think a lot of people are very interested
in as it relates to property taxes, House Bill eleven
seventy six. This has gone through some changes on the
Senate side. There's a twenty five percent minimum amount that
you have to pay for property tax. They're labeling that
(31:46):
the skin in the game clause. There's also a reduction
in the maximum exemption. It started at fifteen hundred and
fifty dollars, now it's down to twelve hundred and fifty dollars.
I think this one's going back and forth. There might
be some politics tied to this one. I'm not so sure,
but we are definitely still interested, still engaged, still at
(32:08):
the table, trying to provide information when we can. But
at this point most of the hearings have subsided and
it's just a lot of conference committee and committee work,
and we're doing our best to try and keep tabs
on all of it.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
And now is the time where you really have to
keep your eye on what's happening.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Changes can happen, they can go quickly, they can come
out out of nowhere. So we're not done, and of
course we continue to rely on our partners at the
North Kota Lega Cities Matt Stephanie, Bill Corey. They're doing
a great job keeping track of all of those things
for not just Bismarck, but the three hundred and fifty
four other communities in North Dakota. So thanks to the
(32:48):
dedication and the talent that they bring to the table
as well. We couldn't do it without them.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Jason, thanks for a great conversation. You mentioned it earlier,
but I just want to let people know you have
our apps. If you don't, please download them. Code to
Media Access. You can get our Community Access and government
Access channels connections on that. Our Radio Access app has
you know, a lot of great podcast hosts, a lot
(33:14):
of great DJs, awesome music. So there's a lot of
places that you can get this information and watch the
commission meetings, see the agendas, and consume them. We're putting
the QR codes on the city Commission meeting so people
at home can get them on their ipaddan.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
Your stand the agenda.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
On the agenda and so yeah, I mean the whole
idea is just to make it all more accessible for
our residents and help them get that also what's happening
in Bismart.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
I've said this to a lot of people. I'm going
to say it one more time, and I'll probably say
it ten more times again down the road. But for
US Dakota, media Access is a demonstration of transparency in government.
This is what it looks like when we talk about
transparency and government. We're breaking down the meetings, we're providing
information links, different stories about what we are doing here.
(34:03):
Citizen Academy is another example of that, and so we
couldn't do that without you guys here and everybody that's
behind the scenes and making that happen, so and all
of this would be lost without an audience. So for
anybody that's listening, watching, sharing, thank you. Yeah, we appreciate
that as well. Thanks for taking your time to learn
a little bit about the towns you live in.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
For Jason Tomonic, Bismark City Administrator, I'm Tom Gerhart. Thanks
for joining us.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
For more information on what was discussed in this episode
of City Current, visit bismarckend 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 two
(34:52):
and six oh two in HD, or on Radio Access
one oh two point five FM. It's also available as
a podcas test 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.
City Current, produced by Dakota 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 Condition along with Bismarck City
Administrator Jason Tamonica. I'm Tom Gerhart from Dakota Media Access,
and I guess we need to acknowledge right off the bat,
this is a big change for you and for the
first time in over three hundred some episodes, I believe
Mary van Sickle is outside knocking on the window looking
in on.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
He's seeing in. She said she was going to distract us,
but she's still in the building. But it's your show now.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, So I've really come to enjoy the value of
finding out what's happened at the prior evenings Commission medi
and Bismarck in your case, and then in Mandan with
Jim Nubauer. So last night's meeting went over three hours.
We'll talk about some of the hot topics I guess eventually,
like Tyler Parkway the expansion project there, but kind of
(01:13):
start at the top of the agenda Jason, and there
were two meetings. I guess last night the Board of
Equalization met annual report.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Touch on some of the highlights that came out of
that definitely. So Board of Equalization is the city commission.
They gavel in as the Board of Equalization through North
Coda Century Code, all communities must beat as the Board
of Equalization annually and the purpose there is to receive
the annual report from the assessor's office and to accept
(01:42):
the valuations of all the commercial and residential property. But
it also gives property owners an opportunity to raise concerns
with the valuations that have been assigned to their properties.
And so a number of those individuals received letters. So
our assessing division sends out letters to anybody whose property
(02:03):
value increased by more than ten percent or I believe
it's three thousand dollars year over year, and so a
high number of letters go out to people. And oftentimes
what that does is it generates a conversation between the
property owner and our staff. And the staff has an
opportunity to explain the process of how valuations are arrived upon,
(02:25):
but the homeowner or the property owner has an opportunity
to say please come and physically look at my home.
If an assessor hasn't been in your home in a
number of years, some assumptions can be made based on
similar properties in the community. If your house is relatively
unchanged in the last thirty years, that might be something
(02:46):
to have the assessors realized, because there it could be
a reflection on your valuation. Same said, if you have
made significant improvements in the last few years without obtaining
a permit, and you have some extravagant things that the
city may not have been where previously, that could have
an impact on your value as well. So in the end,
we had a good number of people engaged with staff.
(03:09):
We didn't see anybody at the podium last night specifically
with concerns about their valuations. But what we did have
is a report from our city assessor, Alison Jensen, and
I just wanted to talk about some of the Yeah,
it is the interesting data that's there.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
We can take a look. We have a photo of
the report cover and then to your point, we just
pulled this out a taxable valuation comparison. And I love
statistics and baseball and sports and Facebook analytics and things
like that, so this is fascinating you mentioned, I mean
the residential and commercial growth in Bismarck. It's kind of
(03:46):
mind blowing. It is.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
When you look at a market value comparison. From twenty
twenty four to twenty twenty five, the value of commercial
property in the city of Bismarck, and this is the
value of the buildings and the value of the land,
and the total commercial valuation based on market comparisons was
just over four billion dollars with a B. This year
(04:08):
the valuation is four point one seven to three billion,
or an increase of about three point six nine percent.
That's year over year. And so some might say, well,
where is that growth coming from. It often comes from
new construction. We as a community are very fortunate for
the last twenty years we have seen very sustainable, intentional growth,
not just on the residential side of things, but also
(04:30):
on the commercial side of things, and these numbers reflect
that type of growth. When you compare the residential valuations
again at market value comparison, total residential property in twenty
twenty four in the city of Bismarck was just over
seven billion dollars. Twenty twenty five valuations is just under
seven point four billion, so about a three hundred and
(04:52):
seventy four million dollar change, about five point three three percent.
When you average that across all the properties, we're at
about a four point seven percent sent market growth from
twenty twenty four to twenty twenty five. Yeah, that's a
pretty healthy ste you going to say in your site,
and it would be that's a really healthy growth for
this area.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Good indicators.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
It is it and new growth obviously comes new services,
new challenges for us as an organization, but it also
provides the revenue. The property tax collections that come from
new construction is what sustains a community when it's growing,
and so we're very fortunate that we have a nice
balance of growth. But we're also we're also able to
continue to provide those services in those newer areas. So
(05:33):
just a little little nugget to share. Most communities will
have these types of comparisons year over year, but I
think it's just nice to share that information with people
to understand it's more than just assigning a dollar value
to a specific piece of.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Property and to the initial point to know as a homeowner,
you know there's a process that I can go through,
and your staff is willing and ready to have those conversations.
That's key. Well, the City Commission then and right away
talked about something I know that you're awfully proud of,
and that's the Citizen Academy. And they recognized the cadets.
(06:09):
Are they called cadets starting a calling them cadets.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
We refer to them as season So we got Season
four of Citizen Academy. It was a great opportunity to
talk about the program again, invite everybody that was able
to join us. We didn't have everyone from the class
this year, but we had a great turnout. It was
fun talking.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
About the program.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Some of them shared their stories and experiences, a lot
of gratitude for the staff. Twelve weeks, three hours every Thursday.
You know, you get to know these people and it's
not just us as staff getting to know them. But
I am very confident to know that there are relationships
friendships that have formed there as a result out of
each other being in this program and going through these
(06:49):
experiences together. And I kind of joked with them all
on our last week at the police station. I said, Okay,
now that you've all been through this, you all have
a responsibility to go out and vall in here for
an advisory board or run for an elected position, or
do something with this new information that you've learned. And
a couple of them talked about that last night when
they shared their remarks, and so a lot of gratitude
(07:12):
for them. I realize everybody's busy and to commit to
something for twelve weeks at the beginning of the year,
dead of winter, it's dark, it's cold outside, and one
of the participants, one of the cadets, said, you know,
when the class started, I was tired and hungry, and
by the end of the night, I was jazzed up
and didn't want to leave. And that's probably one of
the best endorsements that you can get, is there was
(07:33):
just genuine enthusiasm and I'm excited to see where the
program goes from here. It's we plan to.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Continue to do this year over year.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
We're always looking for a way to bring it to
more people. I say this about the program. It's tremendously effective,
but it's terribly inefficient only talking to twenty people at
a time, and we've got seventy seven thousand people that
called it's nice home. So if anyone's got ideas, and
we asked the that's as well, we ask them for
their feedback. We want them to tell us what do
(08:04):
you think would make this experience even more valuable than
it already is. So we'll talk about Citizen Academy again
in November. That's when we take applications for the following year,
and so we'll definitely bring this one back around again.
But thanks to everybody that was part of it. Thanks
to the staff. As I mentioned last night, there was
somewhere probably around eighty different city staff that came together
(08:26):
over the twelve weeks and now thirteen weeks because we're
actually going to do a bonus tour at the wastewater
treatment plant. Go to see Travis back by pocket or
demand the group. This will be the third year now
that the group has requested a tour of the wastewater
treatment plan. So kudos to them, and from where I'm
at as the administrator of the city, just a heartfelt
(08:47):
thank you to all the staff and the directors and
the participants because this is no small lift. I also
need to say this with a smile on my face.
To the best of my knowledge, we are the only
city you're going to have to go that.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, we're the.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Only ones that are offering this program right now. And
I'm not trying to boast, but I am. I am
very proud that we can do that, and I think
that it is paying off. We even have a current
city commissioner at the table who was part of Season one.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
You're called the public service commissioner Rish. You mentioned can
you give him back? And he definitely heeded that.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
He answered the call. And we've heard it from others
going through this experience gave them the confidence to step
up and volunteer or run for other things because they
had they held a base of knowledge that it starts.
It starts that spark of interest, it starts that engagement,
and there's so much to understanding.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Yep, those early relationships and probably a little bit moreable
moving into a place or into a spot on a
commissioner or something having a baseline knowledge of what's happening.
And no, you've been involved in this sense the beginning.
You're going to pass the torch to Assistant City Administrator
Doug Wyle.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
It's I've told Doug this will be it's his program,
and whatever changes he wants to make is it'll be great.
I don't doubt that whatever happens will only enhance the experience,
and my role, hopefully in the future will be limited
to just that first week when the administration Department is
is on display. So look forward to where we go
from here. But it's been it's been a joy. It's
(10:22):
been certainly a time commitment, but it's one of those
things that fills my cup.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah, so absolutely, And I can tell listening to, as
you said, a lot of the cadets coming to the
microphone last night, and by the way, you can listen
to what they had to say good well on decodemediaccess
dot org if you go to our government access site
watch the meeting or watch that portion. But the amount
of gratitude overall in that room was really heartwarming last night.
(10:49):
So the Mayor's welcome Initiative proclamation, I wanted to mention
that quickly because I know that's something that means a
lot to him and does what's going on with the proclamation,
I know that some things in action coming.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Up, definitely, and so the mayor reads proclamations. Generally this
time of the year, we'll see two or three proclamations
on a lot of agendas. Oftentimes the proclamations are focused
on the community, and we get requests form proclamations from
national organizations and we often tell them, unless you have
a specific tie to Bismarck, we respectfully decline to accept
(11:24):
your offer. In this case, the proclamation that the mayor
read last night is very near and dear to his values,
and it is talking about where home means more than hello,
and the mayor has been talking about this for quite
some time. Bismarck is a friendly place, but we're not
always very welcoming, and the initiative here is to create
(11:46):
opportunities to welcome new residents by engaging them and the
business owners and help them take that extra step to
become integrated into the fabric of our community and not
to go back to citizen Academy again. But we heard
that last night from one of the participants. She said,
now that I've been through this, this is my home.
I feel a part of this. And the mayor is
(12:07):
looking for more opportunities to foster that type of experience
for people. And we've heard when someone is new to
a community, we generally have twelve months to help them
decide if they want to stay there or if they
want to find somewhere else. That brings them joy, and
if we can create more reasons for people to want
to stay in Bismarck, all the better. It adds to
(12:29):
the culture, the diversity, the experiences for everybody here. And
it ties back to our initial conversation today about the
growth taking place in Bismarck, and those go hand in hand. Definitely. Yeah,
And so you'll be hearing more from the mayor, not
just Mayor Bismarck, but also City Amandon is going to
be participating this and so over the next few days,
(12:51):
more and more information will be coming out about the
Mayor's welcome initiative. But we certainly support him in this
endeavor and want to find more ways to help him
find success here too.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
A lot of items on the consent agenda last night,
but one thing I just pulled the side that I
found interesting was the South Capital Survey project. I know
there's an assessment growing. We have a picture map kind
of show you the area that we're talking about just
south of the Capital from Boulevard down to is it
Avenue AA, It gets to Avenue A on the south
end and then about Fourth Street to sixth Street roughly,
(13:26):
so a real concentrated corridor.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
This corridor is very interesting because it links the activities
of the Capitol with downtown. But there's also some very
prominent architecture, there's some very significant individuals that have lived
in these neighborhoods. It's just a really kind of a
really neat part of our community. And there's my time
(13:49):
with the city. They spent ten years in Community Development department.
There was always conversations about how do we connect the
capital with downtown, how do we connect downtown to the river. Well,
this study will he'll do that in another way and
it's a research project essentially that we'll be performed by
South Fork Historical Research Company and it will be an
(14:11):
assessment of the properties within those within that boundary that
we described, And this kind of ties back to a
study that the city did in twenty fourteen was called
the Downtown Subarea Study. One of the projects that was
recommended was actually a self guided heritage tour, a cultural
historic tour identifying the significant properties between downtown and the Capital.
(14:36):
So this isn't necessarily a new idea, but this is
a kind of a reconstitution of that effort and very
glad to see the Historic Preservation Commission moving forward on this.
The cost of the project is fifteen thousand dollars. It'll
start in May of this year and take about thirteen
months until full delivery, so next year in June when
we're talking about elections in June of twenty twenty six,
(15:00):
we can also talk about the results of the cultural
heritage study that was done in just south of the
Capitol roilse.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it. That's a lot
of interest, as you said, a lot of history in
that area, so anxious to see what comes with that.
Regular agenda last night from the City Commission, just talking
about the Human Relations Committee. They release their annual report
and walk us through some of the talking points there.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Absolutely, Human Relations Committee. This is one of the many
advisory boards the city. City Administration Department is the staff
support for this particular advisory committee. Human Relations Committee typically
meets once a month and they do a number of
events throughout the year. The annual report kind of showcases
some of the things that they're doing, and it's things
(15:48):
like participating in the Juneteenth Celebration or the Martin Luther
King Junior Celebration in January. One of the projects that
they're spending a lot of time and seeing a lot
of valuable feedback use these community conversations that have been
hosted at the library. I think they've done three or
four to this point. There's another one coming up scheduled
(16:08):
for May eighth. It'll be in the Tom Baker meeting Room,
not the library this time Tom Baker Meeting Room, and
a topic there is public transportation, and obviously with the
recent election in November, there's a new half sent sales tax.
Two fifths of that half scent is dedicated to public transportation.
And so bringing that topic into the light and hearing
(16:28):
from the community on what does quality of public transportation
look like or paratransit transportation as well, because that is
certainly a component of Bisman transit. So definitely want to
plug that May eight coming up. But then also I
think because we are in the radio studio here at
Dakota Media Access, I think one of the outcomes or
one of the projects that the Human Relations Committee is
(16:50):
most proud of, is the podcast These Are Your Neighbors
and sar Jiama Woodski and Tia Jorgensen are the hosts
of that program. I heard him say last night, episode
fifty three recently aired here on Dakode of Media Access
Radio Access where we get your podcasts, and so those
two women do a fantastic job. I've been a guest
on that program. I've listened to almost all of them
(17:13):
to this point, and it really gives them a chance
to get out and shine a light on other people
in the community that are doing good things organizations, businesses, individuals,
whatever the case might be. And I give them a
lot of credit for the work that it goes into
that program. They've really honed their craft and look forward
(17:34):
to hearing more of that. But they definitely wanted to
talk about that as part of their annual report as.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Well, and you can. I got a chance to visit
with both of them last week here and they're so
passionate about this podcast telling the stories of our neighbors
here in Bismarck. So it's been a fantastic local content
that we're proud to have an offer to folks to
listen to. And Tia and Sargiana do as you said,
(18:00):
trific job. And the photo we had up, I guess
Commissioner Rish makes another appearance. He did.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
He's the guys everywhere. I see him all over town,
and I know he was a recent guest. I think
they've had other commissioners as guests in the past, and
so if you're not familiar with the program, I would
put in a plug to either go to the Radio
Access website, go to the Radio Access app, going any
place you get your downloads for your podcasts, and just
search these are your neighbors, and I bet you'll find
(18:26):
somebody that you know that has been a guest.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Uh. One of the hot topics last night, or maybe
probably the item that took up the most time, was
the Tyler Parkway expansion project. And I know this has
been talked about now going back over two decades.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Yeah, since umber the nineties, I think when we started
long range transportation planning and a decision was made. Last night,
a decision was made, a unanimous decision. All five commissioners
voted to support the recommendations that came forward. And Tyler Parkway,
for those that know, is a pretty important route north
(19:06):
and south and we've got a gap in a section
just north of Valley Drive and that section that would
be extended would tie into I believe it's Cogburn Road.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Let's show some photos of while you're talking about it,
so not to interrupt you, Jason, No, I find I
can see that green space, and then I'll just forward
and here's really the proposed extension, and you can pick
up where you left off, and I'll show a couple
other photos.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
So for those that do have a screen in front
of them, what you're looking at is the intersection of
Tyler Parkway, which runs north and south runs to the
top of the screen being north, and then Valley Drive
runs east and west left to right across the screen.
There is a gap in Tyler Parkway due to the topography,
due to the challenging construction type, due to the drainage
that's through there, and frankly, Tyler Parkway has developed as
(19:57):
the neighborhoods around it have come in. Also, I mean
Tyler Parkway, for what it's worth, was originally constructed in
a lady's early nineties and now here we are almost
forty years later and we're finishing that piece. If you
think about Tyler Parkway, it starts near Exit one fifty
seven on the south end, and once this connection has
(20:20):
been made, this road will really extend all the way
up to Highway eighteen oh four, which it then transitions
into the County and the name changes, but it becomes
fifteenth Street, and fifteenth Street goes all the way up
to one hundred and tenth Avenue and then it turns
into a minimum maintenance road from there. So I guess
really what I'm saying here is this will be one
of the longest north south corridors in Bismarck into Barley County.
(20:43):
The project will be paid for using the half sent
sales tax dollars. That was an election that was held
back in twenty eighteen. We started collecting half cent a
half cent sales tax for major roadway construction projects like
this one. We've also done forty third Avenue South Washington
Street ASHCOO. This year we'll be doing the extension of
East Century Avenue over towards fifty second Street. All of
(21:05):
that is being paid for using local sales tax dollars.
And so we did have some opposition last night from
the neighbors. We held a public input meeting at Elkridge
back in March and heard a fair bit of opposition
as well, and much of that comment was relating to
the preservation of green space, concerns with traffic volumes, traffic speed,
(21:27):
and I think that was probably the most common concern
that I heard at all the public input opportunities and
feedback that was provided electronically, whether it be through the
survey or whatnot. And so recognizing how do we calm
some of that traffic, how do we quiet some of
that speed down, and that came through the recommendations. One
(21:48):
of the proposals is to propose a three lane section,
meaning you've got a north lane in a south lane,
and then a center lane in the middle to do
your left turns. There will also be some mini roundabouts
installed and a pavement markings as well, and some landscaping
in here. And the whole idea is to narrow that
(22:11):
driving corridor. If you think about get over an East
Century Avenue sometimes east of twenty sixth Street, it's wide open.
You have five lanes. It almost looks like a freeway
over there, and it's hard not to speed. And even
the police chief mentioned you said it, chief Train, you
got to look down, you got to make sure you're
not going too fast. And so the idea of narrowing
(22:33):
the roadway creates this environment that you do need to
be more cautious, you do need to slow down, and
that's the idea here is you are traveling primarily through
a residential corridor. We're not trying to make a bypass
or a freeway. We're trying to connect. We're trying to
connect neighborhoods. Not just for the purpose of connecting neighborhoods,
but primarily also we're thinking about emergency responders. We heard
(22:55):
from the fire chief and the police chief last night
that this roadway connection is important because we will continue
to grow to the north and the west from here
and having this will save time. You create a more
direct route for emergency services and Metro Ambulance, which is
another emergency provider separate from the city of Bismarck. So
I understand that there is some opposition, but I also
(23:16):
understand the need for the project, and I think that's
where our commission landed as well, is with a five
zero boat to support. To me, that says that you're
not going to make everybody happy with this one, but
for the greater good of the community, this is the
right time and place for this project.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
And you mentioned how it would be paid for. But
I did caught my ear last night that there won't
be any special assessments, correct because of that half cent
sales tax. And then I think another key thing just
to talk about is one construction will begin.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Sure, and so final design will occur going forward, and
what we heard from city engineer Gabe Shell is it
will be a two year construction timeline. First year, there
will be some earthwork and an embankment created to help
essentially hold up the roadway that will cross over the koolie.
There will be a large culvert system to allow stormwater
to move through the coolie or also be a pedestrian
(24:11):
underpass at some point so people can safely traverse. But
the purpose of building the embankment in year one is
to allow that structure to settle into place. We've got
some tricky soils in this area and to give it
time to just be where it wants to be and
then come back the following year and then connect the roadway.
So yes, we will see construction likely starting in twenty
(24:33):
six and then completing at twenty seven and maybe even
spilling into twenty eight. Oftentimes we'll see some of that
landscaping and those sarder touches at the end.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
And I know there's also a lot of folks it
sounds like through a public comment or the past meeting
there are concerned about the trails and the nature and things,
and we have another map, but it's kind of a
lot to look at. But I know that's something we
talked about just the head of City Current was making
sure that you're that vision and outdoor activities and the
(25:05):
wildlife that people like to enjoy that's being taken into consideration.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
As well, and all coexist. And I think the one
thing that I failed to mention about the street itself
the project it does include a multi use trail parallel
to the roadway and so sidewalk, curbon gutter, lighting, roadway
surface and that's all part of this project as well.
But making those connections for pedestrian and bicyclist is important
as well, And so not just the pave trails, but
(25:31):
also the single track trails that are down into the
green the open space areas those are we were talking before.
Those are some pretty special places for a lot of
people and certainly not looking to compromise that in any way.
But at the same time, a growing city has things
that need to be addressed, and I think this falls
(25:51):
into that category.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Something that maybe a smaller group of people have interest in,
but what's been happening up at Misty Waters. And there
was an appeal for a zoning map amendment last night,
and there was also a decision made last night. So
I guess we can show people map of the area
that we're talking about and then you can fill us
(26:18):
in on what happened.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Sure, So Misty Waters for anyone that's not familiar with
that neighborhood, it's in the extra Territorial area. It's outside
city limits north of Bismarck. It's a neighborhood that is
zoned as a planned unit development or oftentimes you hear
the the acronym PUD, and some might say, well, what
is a PUD a planned unit development? And I often
(26:41):
describe it as a one of a kind Taylor made
zoning district just for that neighborhood. And why is a
PUD necessary at Misty Waters? Primarily because the edges of
these properties, a lot of them touch the river or
a man made bay that was created for the neighborhood.
When you're building a along the river, you've got things
(27:02):
to be mindful of, whether it be setbacks, the high
water mark, a lomar, which is another acronym for a
letter of map revision. It's a FEMA term dealing with
floodplain and your ability to manipulate the ground and the
land around it. And so this neighborhood was originally started
in two thousand and six and since that time a
(27:23):
number of homes have been built, and unfortunately, back in
I think it was twenty twenty four, a property a
home was constructed that caused a fair amount of turmoil
in the neighborhood and the project ended up coming back
to the City Commission on multiple occasions. And the root
of the issue was whether or not the home exceeded
(27:45):
its boundaries on the face of the platte, did it
encroach into the setback, was it beyond the Lomar line.
A lot of moving parts, and for the neighborhood, a
very important issue because it sets the stage moving forward
for the Commissioner's last night. The appeal actually was a
little unique. The appeal came from city staff, and the
(28:08):
appeal was the appeal of the decision made by the
Planning and Zoning Commission to deny the zoning change for
getting this really kind of granular bureaucratic government stuff here
and for anybody that's following along this has been a
very long conversation in the end where we are as
(28:30):
a last night, we ended up with a split vote.
We had three commissioners voting to overturn the decision of
the Planning Commission and two commissioners voting to support the
decision of the Planning Commission. So, following the majority, the
next step in this process will essentially be to call
for a public hearing at the City commission level. Hold
(28:50):
a public hearing, which will likely be at the meeting
on May thirteenth of twenty twenty five, and the City
Commission will have final say over this matter, hopefully once
and for all, and we can address all the concerns
and correct anything that needs to be adjusted and just
simply move forward with this entire neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Let's head back to the Capital legislative session. Continues that
what did you say, were eight fifty nine? Yeah, out
of a potential eighty. But you mentioned they're hoping to
save a few days. It seems like they a couple
of weeks and we could be looking at I feel
like we're getting very close to the end. We're starting
to see a lot of bills either meet their demise
(29:31):
or work their way through conference committee. The governor signed
a number of things over the last few weeks. We're
still focusing on a fair number of bills, but really
three that are most interesting right now.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
House Bill ten twenty. We talked about that last night.
We've talked about on the program before. That's the bill
that has the budget for the State Water Commission. In
that budget was or is an appropriation dollar amount for
self bismarked flood control project. This is a very big
project that we are considering as a result of FEMA
(30:05):
coming through and remapping the floodplain area. House Built ten
twenty is still working its way through committee. Sorry to
report to our commissioners last night that the initial appropriation
that was identified was I think seventy three million of
one hundred and seventy three million dollar project. The current
dollar amount that is showing anyway has been reduced to
(30:27):
twenty million, a significant reduction not just for Bismarck, but
a lot of the projects that are in that pool
are seeing similar cuts. Just the Staate just doesn't have
the money to go around to support some of these
flood control projects.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
So we'll still.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Still definitely going to engage with that one and do
our best to help them understand the project from our perspective.
House Built thirteen eighty nine. I mentioned this one last night.
This one was killed by the Senate. This bill would
have been an actor would have enabled municipal governments to
forego special assessments and in turn create a monthly street
(31:01):
utility fee. This would have been a fee that would
have showed up on a utility bill, just like your
garbage recycling and water usage. The city would have used
those dollars to do the street maintenance projects and eliminate
special assessments for street maintenance. That one kind of got
a little cumbersome through the House. There was some amendments
that were put on it, and the amendments essentially made
the bill really undesirable from a government from our perspective.
(31:24):
So we weren't sad to see that one get killed.
And then the last bill, and this is the one
that I think a lot of people are very interested
in as it relates to property taxes, House Bill eleven
seventy six. This has gone through some changes on the
Senate side. There's a twenty five percent minimum amount that
you have to pay for property tax. They're labeling that
(31:46):
the skin in the game clause. There's also a reduction
in the maximum exemption. It started at fifteen hundred and
fifty dollars, now it's down to twelve hundred and fifty dollars.
I think this one's going back and forth. There might
be some politics tied to this one. I'm not so sure,
but we are definitely still interested, still engaged, still at
(32:08):
the table, trying to provide information when we can. But
at this point most of the hearings have subsided and
it's just a lot of conference committee and committee work,
and we're doing our best to try and keep tabs
on all of it.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
And now is the time where you really have to
keep your eye on what's happening.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Changes can happen, they can go quickly, they can come
out out of nowhere. So we're not done, and of
course we continue to rely on our partners at the
North Kota Lega Cities Matt Stephanie, Bill Corey. They're doing
a great job keeping track of all of those things
for not just Bismarck, but the three hundred and fifty
four other communities in North Dakota. So thanks to the
(32:48):
dedication and the talent that they bring to the table
as well. We couldn't do it without them.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Jason, thanks for a great conversation. You mentioned it earlier,
but I just want to let people know you have
our apps. If you don't, please download them. Code to
Media Access. You can get our Community Access and government
Access channels connections on that. Our Radio Access app has
you know, a lot of great podcast hosts, a lot
(33:14):
of great DJs, awesome music. So there's a lot of
places that you can get this information and watch the
commission meetings, see the agendas, and consume them. We're putting
the QR codes on the city Commission meeting so people
at home can get them on their ipaddan.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
Your stand the agenda.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
On the agenda and so yeah, I mean the whole
idea is just to make it all more accessible for
our residents and help them get that also what's happening
in Bismart.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
I've said this to a lot of people. I'm going
to say it one more time, and I'll probably say
it ten more times again down the road. But for
US Dakota, media Access is a demonstration of transparency in government.
This is what it looks like when we talk about
transparency and government. We're breaking down the meetings, we're providing
information links, different stories about what we are doing here.
(34:03):
Citizen Academy is another example of that, and so we
couldn't do that without you guys here and everybody that's
behind the scenes and making that happen, so and all
of this would be lost without an audience. So for
anybody that's listening, watching, sharing, thank you. Yeah, we appreciate
that as well. Thanks for taking your time to learn
a little bit about the towns you live in.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
For Jason Tomonic, Bismark City Administrator, I'm Tom Gerhart. Thanks
for joining us.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
For more information on what was discussed in this episode
of City Current, visit bismarckend 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 two
(34:52):
and six oh two in HD, or on Radio Access
one oh two point five FM. It's also available as
a podcas test 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.
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