August 13, 2025 • 31 mins
Tom Gerhardt talks to Jason Tomanek about the Bismarck City Commission meeting that took place on 8/12/25.
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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 ZHO two HD, or tune in to Radio
Access one O two point five FM, Always Local, Always Current.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Welcome to City Current. I'm Tom Gerhart from Dakota Media
Access and joining me as always at least every other
week as Bismark City Administrator Jason Tomonic. Good to see you, Jason.
Thanks Tom, I'm glad to be here fresh off of
City Commission meeting. Coming up on City Current today, we'll
be talking about a number of things, but not limited
to the Board of Health met last night.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Before the City Commission.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
We'll talk about the strategic plan that they're working on.
Also a big topic last night during the City commission
meeting CLASSD liquor licenses and although I think we're supposed
to have a ninety degree day this week or talking
about fall leaf collection and sounds like we have a
plan moving forward.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
We've got some options, all right, Well, can't.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Wait to get to that. But the meeting began last
night with a proclamation, Yeah, our friends at AARP are celebrating.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Ninety years of Social Security and so We're always glad
to see former City Commissioner state AARP director Josh Askeg
and he brought a team of friends wearing red shirts,
and I believe our communications strategist Kaleenos got a picture
shared it on social media, and so the proclamation it's
(01:37):
very much a ceremonial thing, but it's also a nice
way to recognize some milestones in kudos to AARP and
their team and also the team of volunteers that they've
got in Bismarck and across the stakes. I only do
great things, not just for Bismarck, but for everybody that
they can throughout North Kota. So high five to Josh
and the staff over at AARP. And if you like
(02:01):
that stuff, you can go to our social media page
and engage with that and share your comments on the
picture too.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
And it was Kaylan because I was watching the meeting
last night on to quote I Media Access and I
saw I was going to take a screenshot, but then
it included Klan, you know, so I'm sure glad he
did take the photo. So it's an unobstructed view of
the ARP crew and guys and.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
Shows if you're at home watching, you've got a different perspective. Yes,
Aalen say, you're as a camera and I'm off to
the side, So I got all.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Of it well.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
I mentioned we mentioned the Board of Health and strategic plan,
and Rene was able to provide an update on what
she's been working on.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
She and the team at public Health are always busy,
but right now they've been going through their strategic planning process,
which is a normal iteration, but every three years they'll
go through and update the strategic plan. We've talked about
this before when Word of Health has met, and maybe
just to back up a little bit for those that
aren't really sure what the Board of Health is, it
(03:00):
is essentially the city commissioners.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
They assume a different role as the Board of Health.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
It is something that is required by Century Code because
we have a public health district. Board of Health needs
to meet and can dene quarterly and so Renee provides
an update about through four times a year and so they.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Update this time.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
They were talking about, of course, you know the service area,
the mission, the vision, the values that public health holds,
but also more recently what has been driving the future
of public health and the community health Needs Assessment is
something that we've talked about here.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
That is.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
A fairly large project that the Public Health Department goes
through to really get the pulse of what is what
are the emerging needs in the community and behavior health,
mental health, addiction, homelessness. These are all things that come
to the top of the of the list. Obviously, we've
talked about the work that RENEE is doing as far
as the Community Triage Center. That is a big project
(03:58):
for public health as well, and sharing some of the
goals and objectives as they move forward into the next
two three years. And for RENEE, the timing of the
public Health Strategic Plan is very opportunistic. We as the
City of Bismarck, are also updating our own organizational strategic Plan,
and so for these two for a department to overlap
(04:19):
with the organizational plan, it just reinforces the value of
having a plan and knowing where we want to be
in the next two three five years from here.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Now. She had a nice job.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Her full report is part of the agenda. For anybody
that would like to read it in depth, you can
go to the Bismark, Indie dot gov then click on
the Agenda center and you can find it in its
entirety and We.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Have the four strategic focus areas up on screen. For
a little bit, I'll just read behavioral health, healthy Living,
access to healthcare, preparedness, and public safety. And thanks to
an idea I think that came from you.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
If you go back and watch.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
The archived meeting, you can scam the QR code, which
will lead you to the agenda, which will lead you
to the public health plan.
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Sim beautiful.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
As long as the technology wants to cooperate, we're trying
to make it as accessible as we can for everybody.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Absolutely, we had the first public comment time last night
at a Bismarck City Commission meeting, at least in terms
of what the legislature passed this past spring. That opened
it up at every public meeting, and we actually had
a couple of folks step up to the mic and contribute.
They were commenting on I believe liquor license and special
(05:29):
event permits correct.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
There is on the consent agenda. There is a call
for a hearing. There is a proposed ordinance amendment that
relates to the alcohol licenses, so that's coming from the
City Administration Department. We work with the Legal Department to
draft proposed language that would change the law, change the ordinance.
What we're doing here is addressing some changes that needed
to be made to how special events are administered. And
(05:53):
so what is a special event. It is a permit
that our office issues to an alcohol license holder. Actually,
what it does is it allows them to take their
alcohol to a separate location for a specific event, for
a set number of days or a set period of time.
Some clarification needed to be incorporated into the ordinance. And
(06:13):
what we heard from the two individuals that spoke last night,
what I believe their concerns were is that they were
hoping to not see a cap or not see a
limit on the number of special events that they can
do annually. And that comes from the perspective of being
a catering company.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
That's primarily what our business is.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Our show is on the road all the time, and
so I think it's a fair comment to be made
for the city to determine that now we think you
can only do X number of events a year. It
seems a little heavy handed, and so that to clarify, though,
that is not incorporated into the ordinance, and the mayor
did encourage the second individual that spoke to read the
(06:55):
ordinance in its entirety. There is no intention to put
a set number of times per year.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
You could have a special event.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
So I hope that clarifies for those two individuals, and
I guess just to finish this conversation. In two weeks
there will be the public hearing, and so they are
welcome back to that meeting. They can speak during that
portion of the meeting or anyone else that has questions
or comments relating to the proposed ordinance changes. That's the
purpose of the public hearing.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Moving on to the regular agenda from last night, there's
a public hearing on a couple of ordinances that involve
traffic laws and some maintenance are cleaning up. I guess
you could say again related to the twenty twenty five
legislative session and Ordinate sixty six thirty involved a number.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Of traffic traffic related related changes. And I don't want
to get into the practice of reading the entire ordnans.
I am certainly not the attorney or the law enforcement
officer that has to interpret these, but for anybody that
is interested, there are changes to how careless driving is enforced,
speeds in a construction zone, and then therefore the finds
(08:02):
associated with speeding in the construction zone, passing a school bus.
Those finds have gone up as well, and parking for
mobility impaired individuals. Many of us are familiar with the
placard that is typically hung on the mirror. The law
changed now says it is also acceptable to place the
placard on the dash of your vehicle, which seems like
(08:22):
a good common sense thing. I know, I've seen that
a number of times. And then the last thing that's
changed in sixty six thirty relates to signaling when leaving
a roundabout. You no longer need to turn your blinker
on when you go to exit a roundabout. So for
those that weren't sure, do you signal on the way in?
Do you signal on the way out? You can signal
(08:43):
as much as you'd like, but the law says you
no longer have to signal when you leave the roundabout.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Now, I recall them that may have been the police
department or the city. A social media post, probably related
to forty third Street. I remember that being a very
hot topic of conversation at some point. So I don't
mean to smile, but I know people are you've.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Worked up about that?
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Yes, quite whatever? Raising roundabouts get a lot of attention.
Our city traffic or our city engineer will tell you
that they are safe, they move traffic efficiently, and it's
quite likely we will be seeing.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
More of the future.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Ordnance sixty six thirty three caught my attention because that's
also an update that would say you're obstructing law enforcement
a police officer if you fail.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
To identify yourself right and failing to identify yourself means
something as simple as not handing over your driver's license
or identification when you are requested to do so, and
you may not even be the.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Driver of the vehicle.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
But if you are refusing to provide that information to
a law enforcement officer, that could be determined as obstructing
a law on enforcement officer from doing their duty, and
so that now becomes a penalty. I will read this
one because it is a short ordinance amendment. So this
applies to Chapter six, Section two, Dash eleven of the
(10:01):
City Code, and it says obstructing law enforcement officers in
discharge of their duties. That's the title of the ordinance.
A person is guilty of obstructing a law enforcement officer
if the person wilfully engages in a physical action, in
action or refuses to obey the lawful commands of a
law enforcement officer, which hinders, delays, or obstructs any law
(10:22):
enforcement officer in the discharge of his or her official duties.
So if you get a fight, that's one thing, that's
obstructing law enforcement. But if you simply do nothing and
refuse to comply, you may be charged with obstructing law enforcement.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
All right, that's the update there. I think, yeah, is good.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
You read the whole ordinance for everyone. Really interesting item
last night, at least from you last night. Moving on
on the agenda was the request rey lease additional Class
D liquor licenses. And from what I can gather, this
is the number of licenses is based on population. Bismarck
continues to grow. I think we heard from you last night.
(11:00):
The last license was issued in twenty twenty three, correct,
and the bid was over three hundred thousand dollars for
that license. So, and not to steal all of your thunder,
just had a couple of notes here, twenty six licensed
Class D liquor licenses. Currently we could provide up to
five additional based on our populations exactly, and so fill
(11:20):
in the details of the conversation that ensued with the
commissioners last night and where we stand after the meeting.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
So this is one of those and I'll say the
word unfortunate topics where the answer is, well, this is
a way we've always done it. So this is a
method that has been long standing in Bismarck, this practice
of limiting the number of Class D licenses. And so
what can you do with a Class D license? Well,
you can do really two things. You can own and
operate a bar. Well, i'll say it three things. You
(11:48):
can own an operate a bar. You can own and
operate a package store a liquor store, or you can
do both using the same license. And so we have
a couple of businesses in town that have a traditional
bar which is all so attached to a liquor store.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
That's one.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
I have to be attached, They have to be attached.
You have to be able to move between the two spaces.
Because it is considered one business, one license for us.
Many of the licenses you see are simply a package store.
And I'm not going to name all of those, but
we know who they are in town. And so you
can purchase your products, you take them home and you
consume them there. The other type of the other half
(12:22):
of that license are the traditional bars where you can
go and have a drink and maybe some snacks or
entertainment or whatever the case may be. Historically, we have
limited the number of bars in the community, and this
is a system that my predecessors inherited. I'm not even
sure how long it's been this way. I have seen
liquor licenses back into the nineteen fifties, and it is
(12:43):
my understanding we were doing this thing the same practice
then long standing tradition in the city of Bismarck. So
where are we today. We're at about seventy seven thousand people.
We haven't issued a new license in a couple of years,
but we've had a number of requests recently, and that's
generally what spawns this conversation is our office is contacted
by potential new business or a business looking to expand
(13:07):
or do things differently in the community, and they call
us and say how do I get a Class D license?
And we say, well, we can't just simply issue them.
We have to go through a process, and the process
is essentially what Doug Wiles did for us last night.
Shared the information with the commissioners. Here's the last time
we issued a license, here's where the population is. We've
had a number of people interested. I think Doug shared
(13:28):
there's as many as seven right quests, So that to
me says there's a strong interest. And so where do
we go from here? Commissioners Anchor noted that the local
government in this case city of Bismarck has created a
bit of a commodity with these D licenses because we
limit the number of them. The other thing that is
unique about the D license is it is transferable. In
(13:51):
other words, you can sell it to another entity and
they can turn that into their own business, or they
can purchase your business and make it go forward that way.
A restaurant license is not the same. If a restaurant closes,
a license simply just dissolves. There's no limit on the
number of restaurant licenses. So that's kind of the unique
distinction with.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
The class D.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
So we've got seven potential places that are looking for
a new D. Commissioner's Anchor made a motion and it
was supported unanimously to issue three three new licenses. And
so how do we issue those licenses?
Speaker 3 (14:26):
It becomes a sealed bid process.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
We will put a notice on the website, we will
put a public notice in the tribune. We will make
the announcements on social media, our traditional methods of communication.
We will accept City administration will accept sealed bids. I
don't know the dates, but it'll be in the not
too distant future. We will publicly open these bids, and
just like any other project, the three high as bids
(14:50):
will as long as they qualify and can meet all
the requirements of owning a Class D license. It would
be on my understanding that our recommendation to the Commission
would be to accept those three highest bids. And last night,
did you mention there's a minimum bid? There is a
minimum The ordinance allows the Commission to set the minimum
bid threshold, and Commissioners Anchor is part of his motion,
(15:10):
directed staff to follow the model we used in twenty
twenty three. At that time, the minimum base bid was
two hundred thousand dollars. So let's do quick math. If
it's a minimum of two hundred thousand dollars, we've got
three of them out there. We're talking about potentially generating
over a half million dollars for the city's general fund.
Why is that important because many departments are operating off
(15:31):
the general fund, but most importantly, the police department is
the largest consumer of the general fund dollars, and the
police department is likely the one that is going to
be responsible for enforcing any of the things that can
come along with an alcohol license. Yeah, so it's all
part of how the city works.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
It's there's a there's a method to some of the approach.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Some would like to see the licenses tweaked a little
bit and maybe some of these traditional Class D, these
legacy licenses as I'll call them, maybe those become a
little more attainable, or maybe there's a different model to
give people a better opportunity to get into the business.
But for local government to determine how many of these
(16:14):
licenses are available, some might say that's really not the
role of government. Yeah, but so I might say, it's
an important tool to have to make sure that our
community remains wholesome and safe and all the things that
we want it to be as well. So there's a
delicate balance. That's why we elect the politicians. They get
to make those decisions well.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
And then moving from Class D liquor licenses to fall
leaf collections. So, I mean it just gives you some
insight on as a city administrator, as a city department,
as a city commission, all the variety of things that
you have to work with. But leaf collections also.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
A very hot topic, it is, and at which part
of testing.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah, up north maybe not so much yet, but in
the older parts of town certainly. And I've lived in both,
so I can verify what you're saying. But we got
an update on what will happen this fall. It sounds
like we are moving forward with fall.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Leaf collect We will be offering some type of leaf collection.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
In the floor the different The idea is brought up
at the last meeting, I believe does a city provide
some bags?
Speaker 3 (17:20):
How do we collect these leaves? Right?
Speaker 4 (17:21):
And so Steve Salwey, public Work Service Operations Director, to
a really nice job of sharing the information that he
and his team have gathered over the last couple of months.
And Steve even brought some show and tell materials. He
had these thirty gallon paper bags that you can often
find at the larger home centers and the retail stores.
Those bags are specifically designed exactly for that for compostable
(17:43):
leaf collections.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
So you're not filling up the landfrow.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
Not filling the landfill, those would end up in the
compost area with the lawn clippings that we gather all
summer long, and it adds to that nutrient rich material
that you can frankly purchase from the landfill or in
some cases take from the landfill if you're looking for compost.
So that was one option, and Steve shared some of
the comments from citizens along the way the city should
(18:07):
provide a container, meaning just like your trash container, we
should have a leaf container. That might work for some,
but I know when we took on recycling citywide, some
of the pushback there was I don't have room for
another ninety six gallon container on my property.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
I don't want that.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
So again, it might work for some, but it may
not work for all. One of the other suggestions was
don't do anything and people can just mulch the leaves
into their lawn. Okay, that might work for some if
you don't have an abundance of leaves, but if you
live in the Cathedral district, if you live near Hillside,
if you've got mature elm trees, I don't know that
you can mult all of those leaves, so that again
(18:44):
appreciate the suggestion, but it may not work for everyone.
Then they looked at compostable plastic bags, but under our
landfill conditions, they don't actually break down, so it just
becomes more trash in the landfill. So Steve said, that's
not an option for us at all. And then they
looked at at providing paperbacks, and from what I gathered
(19:04):
from Steve's information, it really isn't cost effective for us
the city to be purchasing bags to hand them out
to people, or to try and even resell them to people,
because at the retail centers.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
You can get them cheaper than we can get them.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
The city would have to buy them in bulk, but
I can though, I can run to a local business
and do thirty or sixty cents a bagg.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Something like that.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Said yeah, so Commissioner Cleary had some thoughts. Of course,
this is her portfolio. She said, if we're going to
be doing leaf pickup, the containers would need to be compostable.
That seems like a pretty fair assessment because what we're
ultimately trying to do is preserve the life of the landfill.
The landfill is a very expensive operation, a very significant
(19:47):
investment into a frankly a hole in the ground, and
the more things that we can prevent from filling that
hole quicker, we're saving tax sators saves all of the
money that went into resources to stabblish that site, and
building a new landfill is not an easy task, and
so we want to hold onto the site as long
as we can. So we don't want to throw trash
(20:11):
in the landfill. We don't want to put leaves in
the landfill in a plastic bag, so that one's not up,
not going to move forward. Leaf pickup is desired by some,
but not for all, and so if we start providing
that service, are some residents subsidizing the service for others?
And so in the end, I think where the general
consensus was, the hope is weather dependent that two times
(20:34):
in the fall, city crews will get out and collect
those leaves that would be placed out on the boulevard,
whether they be in a container or a compostable bag.
If they're in a plastic bag, I think that provides
a different challenge moving forward. But this is something that
will be done as a service throughout the community, and
obviously there's neighborhoods that are going to have more attention
(20:54):
just based on the tree volume than others.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
And this is my understanding too. Steve didn't want to
set a date because of weather. The idea is there
will be two pickups, but he'll have flexibility to determine
based upon whether when those times will.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Be direct and will announce those as we typically do
through local media, through social media, and if if we
get snow in October, we might pick up. Yeah, we're
at the mercy of mother nature on.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
Some of these things as well.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
So and I should also mention the self drop sites.
There're seventeen of them across the city. Those will continue
to be fully staffed containers, you know, recycled in and out,
new containers, full once removed, things like that. So that
is still an option if you're able, if you have
the means to all the leaves to those self drop sites,
those will continue to be there for you as well.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Toward the end of the agenda last night, Dmitri came up,
the finance Strector for the city, talked about the twenty
twenty four Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and sounds like that's
really important and long range planning and its budgeting.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
It's an audit.
Speaker 4 (21:59):
It's an annual audit of the city's books and our
financial functions to make sure that we are doing things
in accordance with government accounting standards. And I'm pleased to
say that we had a fairly clean report. We did
have one finding related to some operations at the event center,
and we had that finding last year, so it wasn't
a it wasn't a shock because it we haven't moved
(22:22):
to that third party model just yet, and so some
of the operational things are as they were. We were
anticipating that would be the case. But otherwise, we are
pleased to say that we've got very competent staff, very
professional staff working in our finance and fiscal services areas.
And for anybody that is interested, the full audit is
posted to the city's website, as our past audits as well,
(22:45):
And so if that's your jam, if you Lerizo's pages,
I think I heard the last only one hundred and
sixty pages of very technical information. But also it's a
very it's a very nice thing to be able to
say that we are proud that we do have a
very high level and a very achievable goal of having
a good audit every year, and it's great for.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Us and the transparencies there of the public ones. Absolutely
dig in a couple other notes. September two, the combined
Bismarck Burley Commission will meet again, and it sounds like
you're going to tee up that next special meeting at
that time talking about the ETA.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Right, So the two combined commissions met on August fifth.
You and I have not met since that time, but
that was all five city commissioners at the table and
four county commissioners at the table, and one online commission
Munson participated remotely. So all ten elected leaders from Bismarck
and Burley County at the table, and it was an
(23:41):
opportunity to share information. City staff, primarily Ben Eric from
Community Development, shared the history of the ETA. We're talking
about the extra Territorial Area. This is a negotiated boundary
beyond city limits where the City of Bismarck takes the
lead in relation to developments. We have jurisdiction for zoning
(24:02):
and then also for building inspections and permitting. The county commissioners,
some of them, have indicated they would like us to
have a significantly reduced area the city Bismarck. From my
perspective and from an organizational perspective, the ETA is a
very important tool because it helps us grow into these
areas where we know we can continue to provide services.
(24:23):
His Mark has consistently added one thousand people every year
for the last twenty years. That doesn't happen by accident.
It happens by very intentional, very well informed decisions made
to extend utilities into areas where we can get them,
extend roads into areas where we can get them. So
we're not just willy nilly saying yesterday every single subdivision
that's coming at us. Some of the information that was
(24:46):
shared through the public comment relates to some concerns and
some frustrations that people within the ETA have and as
a result of that, and this is not new information,
This is not new feedback. It's not a surprise to anybody.
This has been a in an ongoing discussion for decades
and where we are today. Where the commissioners agreed is
that city staff, in conjunction with county staff, will begin
(25:10):
looking at the jurisdictional maps. Are there subdivisions in our
jurisdiction that will likely never be a part of city limits.
And I can tell you, having started in the Community
Development Department twenty years ago, the mindset was that at
this rate we will grow into these rural subdivisions. And
I think today staff has a little different perspective. It's
(25:31):
some of the significant challenges that it would take to
provide water and sewer services to some of these rural
large lots subdivisions. And so are there subdivisions that are
nearly built out or entirely built out, that are around
the edges of the city that quite frankly, will never change.
And those would be areas that we as city staff
would be interested in saying, you know, Burley County, by
(25:55):
all means you can, we'll take this out of the ETA.
It was noted though during the Joint Commissions meeting. The
Burley County Planning and Zoning Department is a staff of
three people, and if they're going to be inheriting more jurisdiction,
it would likely mean the need for additional staff as well.
So that would be something Burley County is going to
(26:15):
have to balance and consider. But I believe the pledge
will be to talk about what the map changes could
look like at the Bismarck Burley Combined Commissions meeting, and
so that is County Commissioner Steve Backen, County Auditor Marx Plaskowski,
Bismarck Mayor Mike Schmiz and myself. The four of us
meet every month. That is the first Tuesday of the
(26:37):
month at four o'clock. Course you guys host that meeting
on online as well and on cable, and so at
that meeting in September September second, we will begin talking
about how do those map changes get evaluated, how do
we come back with a recommendation, What is the date
for the next joint meeting between the full commission so
we can really start talking about changes to the extra
(26:57):
territorial area.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
And if you want to, we did carry start to carry.
We had a couple of meetings at the same time
during that last Combined meeting. But it is online if
anybody wants to go back on Dakoda Media Access dot
orgon and find it and inform yourself to be prepared
moving forward. And speaking of moving forward, it's hard to believe,
(27:20):
but it's back to school time, back in.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
It's I've heard it from others. I'll admit my kids
are no longer in public school. They're college age students
at this point. But I was at the mall this
weekend and I forgot it was.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Back to school shopping.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
I was looking for a pair of sneakers and I
was overwhelmed by family all signed doing the exact same thing.
So thank you for mentioning that we are not the
Bismarck Public School District.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
We are the City of Bismarck.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
But we are still very much interested in the safety
of the students and back to school time, young drivers,
new schools, families, different pickup and drop off times. I
think the elementary schools are starting a little earlier than
they have in the past, and the bussing is the
wow we have schedule is a little different to traffic.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I guess it doesn't show the times, but just a
reminder to parents that, yes, the elementary students start the earliest,
I believe seven fifty something like that, and then middle
school and secondary all different times due to that bussing issue,
trying to get kids moved to and from schools. So
the City of Bismarck, I'm sorry, go on, I'm gonna
(28:25):
say the nineteenth for public schools.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
I think you said the.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Fourteenth for Lyti Christ Saint Mary's. Yeah, yeah, And so
that's the se week this week, just a little nugget
of information.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
I love tidbits.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
And again we're not the school district, but Bismarck has
the largest public school district in the state of North Dakota.
I find that staggering city of Fargo has close to
fifty thousand more residents than we do, but we have
more kids in public school than Fargo. Yep, that's correct,
that's amazing. I think there's eighteen elementary schools, middle schools,
high schools, public schools only, and then of course you
(28:59):
had the cathedral, Saint Mary's, St. Anne's all of those
in as well, And so that tells me there's a
lot of young families. But it also tells me as
a driver, you mind Pascia, slow down if you're if
you're in those areas where there's high traffic or lots
of kids running around school buses. We mentioned fees went up.
Finds went up for passing a school bus as the
(29:20):
August first, as the August first, take it easy, watch
for the kiddos, and good luck at.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Least all the fans at least the pack and a routine,
maybe right, as I don't trying to look on the
bright side. Yeah, but yeah, it's such a such a
nice time of year, but football seasons and all the
sports and all the falls as well. And speaking of streets,
just the reminder that if you want to find out
what's going on in Bismarck as far as construction goes,
you can go to Bismarck n D dot gov slash
(29:50):
streets to find out the latest. And finally, we've talked
a couple of times about if you want to go
back and access archives of any of the city commission
or County commission meetings or school board, park board, part district.
They're all on our app, the DMA app, and you
can also watch them live on the app. And then
(30:11):
we have our sister Radio Access one or two point
five app that has a variety of podcasts and locally
produced radio programs too that you can check out. And
I know that you're a frequent listener.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
I'm a fan of history hot dish, I can't I
can tonight. But actually this morning, as I was getting
ready and going about my routine, I was listening to
the latest episode of Bismarck Insights with Michael Market, our
public Works Utility Operations Director.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
So I listen to all of it. Yeah, when we
appreciate it. Stuff.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Well, thanks Jason for joining us, and thanks to you
for tuning in.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
We'll see you again next time.
Speaker 5 (30:46):
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
(31:07):
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.
City Current, produced by Dakota Media Access in depth discussion
with Bismarck and Mandan city officials. Watch on Government Access
Channel six ZHO two HD, or tune in to Radio
Access one O two point five FM, Always Local, Always Current.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Welcome to City Current. I'm Tom Gerhart from Dakota Media
Access and joining me as always at least every other
week as Bismark City Administrator Jason Tomonic. Good to see you, Jason.
Thanks Tom, I'm glad to be here fresh off of
City Commission meeting. Coming up on City Current today, we'll
be talking about a number of things, but not limited
to the Board of Health met last night.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Before the City Commission.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
We'll talk about the strategic plan that they're working on.
Also a big topic last night during the City commission
meeting CLASSD liquor licenses and although I think we're supposed
to have a ninety degree day this week or talking
about fall leaf collection and sounds like we have a
plan moving forward.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
We've got some options, all right, Well, can't.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Wait to get to that. But the meeting began last
night with a proclamation, Yeah, our friends at AARP are celebrating.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Ninety years of Social Security and so We're always glad
to see former City Commissioner state AARP director Josh Askeg
and he brought a team of friends wearing red shirts,
and I believe our communications strategist Kaleenos got a picture
shared it on social media, and so the proclamation it's
(01:37):
very much a ceremonial thing, but it's also a nice
way to recognize some milestones in kudos to AARP and
their team and also the team of volunteers that they've
got in Bismarck and across the stakes. I only do
great things, not just for Bismarck, but for everybody that
they can throughout North Kota. So high five to Josh
and the staff over at AARP. And if you like
(02:01):
that stuff, you can go to our social media page
and engage with that and share your comments on the
picture too.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
And it was Kaylan because I was watching the meeting
last night on to quote I Media Access and I
saw I was going to take a screenshot, but then
it included Klan, you know, so I'm sure glad he
did take the photo. So it's an unobstructed view of
the ARP crew and guys and.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
Shows if you're at home watching, you've got a different perspective. Yes,
Aalen say, you're as a camera and I'm off to
the side, So I got all.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Of it well.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
I mentioned we mentioned the Board of Health and strategic plan,
and Rene was able to provide an update on what
she's been working on.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
She and the team at public Health are always busy,
but right now they've been going through their strategic planning process,
which is a normal iteration, but every three years they'll
go through and update the strategic plan. We've talked about
this before when Word of Health has met, and maybe
just to back up a little bit for those that
aren't really sure what the Board of Health is, it
(03:00):
is essentially the city commissioners.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
They assume a different role as the Board of Health.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
It is something that is required by Century Code because
we have a public health district. Board of Health needs
to meet and can dene quarterly and so Renee provides
an update about through four times a year and so they.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Update this time.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
They were talking about, of course, you know the service area,
the mission, the vision, the values that public health holds,
but also more recently what has been driving the future
of public health and the community health Needs Assessment is
something that we've talked about here.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
That is.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
A fairly large project that the Public Health Department goes
through to really get the pulse of what is what
are the emerging needs in the community and behavior health,
mental health, addiction, homelessness. These are all things that come
to the top of the of the list. Obviously, we've
talked about the work that RENEE is doing as far
as the Community Triage Center. That is a big project
(03:58):
for public health as well, and sharing some of the
goals and objectives as they move forward into the next
two three years. And for RENEE, the timing of the
public Health Strategic Plan is very opportunistic. We as the
City of Bismarck, are also updating our own organizational strategic Plan,
and so for these two for a department to overlap
(04:19):
with the organizational plan, it just reinforces the value of
having a plan and knowing where we want to be
in the next two three five years from here.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Now. She had a nice job.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Her full report is part of the agenda. For anybody
that would like to read it in depth, you can
go to the Bismark, Indie dot gov then click on
the Agenda center and you can find it in its
entirety and We.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Have the four strategic focus areas up on screen. For
a little bit, I'll just read behavioral health, healthy Living,
access to healthcare, preparedness, and public safety. And thanks to
an idea I think that came from you.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
If you go back and watch.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
The archived meeting, you can scam the QR code, which
will lead you to the agenda, which will lead you
to the public health plan.
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Sim beautiful.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
As long as the technology wants to cooperate, we're trying
to make it as accessible as we can for everybody.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Absolutely, we had the first public comment time last night
at a Bismarck City Commission meeting, at least in terms
of what the legislature passed this past spring. That opened
it up at every public meeting, and we actually had
a couple of folks step up to the mic and contribute.
They were commenting on I believe liquor license and special
(05:29):
event permits correct.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
There is on the consent agenda. There is a call
for a hearing. There is a proposed ordinance amendment that
relates to the alcohol licenses, so that's coming from the
City Administration Department. We work with the Legal Department to
draft proposed language that would change the law, change the ordinance.
What we're doing here is addressing some changes that needed
to be made to how special events are administered. And
(05:53):
so what is a special event. It is a permit
that our office issues to an alcohol license holder. Actually,
what it does is it allows them to take their
alcohol to a separate location for a specific event, for
a set number of days or a set period of time.
Some clarification needed to be incorporated into the ordinance. And
(06:13):
what we heard from the two individuals that spoke last night,
what I believe their concerns were is that they were
hoping to not see a cap or not see a
limit on the number of special events that they can
do annually. And that comes from the perspective of being
a catering company.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
That's primarily what our business is.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Our show is on the road all the time, and
so I think it's a fair comment to be made
for the city to determine that now we think you
can only do X number of events a year. It
seems a little heavy handed, and so that to clarify, though,
that is not incorporated into the ordinance, and the mayor
did encourage the second individual that spoke to read the
(06:55):
ordinance in its entirety. There is no intention to put
a set number of times per year.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
You could have a special event.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
So I hope that clarifies for those two individuals, and
I guess just to finish this conversation. In two weeks
there will be the public hearing, and so they are
welcome back to that meeting. They can speak during that
portion of the meeting or anyone else that has questions
or comments relating to the proposed ordinance changes. That's the
purpose of the public hearing.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Moving on to the regular agenda from last night, there's
a public hearing on a couple of ordinances that involve
traffic laws and some maintenance are cleaning up. I guess
you could say again related to the twenty twenty five
legislative session and Ordinate sixty six thirty involved a number.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Of traffic traffic related related changes. And I don't want
to get into the practice of reading the entire ordnans.
I am certainly not the attorney or the law enforcement
officer that has to interpret these, but for anybody that
is interested, there are changes to how careless driving is enforced,
speeds in a construction zone, and then therefore the finds
(08:02):
associated with speeding in the construction zone, passing a school bus.
Those finds have gone up as well, and parking for
mobility impaired individuals. Many of us are familiar with the
placard that is typically hung on the mirror. The law
changed now says it is also acceptable to place the
placard on the dash of your vehicle, which seems like
(08:22):
a good common sense thing. I know, I've seen that
a number of times. And then the last thing that's
changed in sixty six thirty relates to signaling when leaving
a roundabout. You no longer need to turn your blinker
on when you go to exit a roundabout. So for
those that weren't sure, do you signal on the way in?
Do you signal on the way out? You can signal
(08:43):
as much as you'd like, but the law says you
no longer have to signal when you leave the roundabout.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Now, I recall them that may have been the police
department or the city. A social media post, probably related
to forty third Street. I remember that being a very
hot topic of conversation at some point. So I don't
mean to smile, but I know people are you've.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Worked up about that?
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Yes, quite whatever? Raising roundabouts get a lot of attention.
Our city traffic or our city engineer will tell you
that they are safe, they move traffic efficiently, and it's
quite likely we will be seeing.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
More of the future.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Ordnance sixty six thirty three caught my attention because that's
also an update that would say you're obstructing law enforcement
a police officer if you fail.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
To identify yourself right and failing to identify yourself means
something as simple as not handing over your driver's license
or identification when you are requested to do so, and
you may not even be the.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Driver of the vehicle.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
But if you are refusing to provide that information to
a law enforcement officer, that could be determined as obstructing
a law on enforcement officer from doing their duty, and
so that now becomes a penalty. I will read this
one because it is a short ordinance amendment. So this
applies to Chapter six, Section two, Dash eleven of the
(10:01):
City Code, and it says obstructing law enforcement officers in
discharge of their duties. That's the title of the ordinance.
A person is guilty of obstructing a law enforcement officer
if the person wilfully engages in a physical action, in
action or refuses to obey the lawful commands of a
law enforcement officer, which hinders, delays, or obstructs any law
(10:22):
enforcement officer in the discharge of his or her official duties.
So if you get a fight, that's one thing, that's
obstructing law enforcement. But if you simply do nothing and
refuse to comply, you may be charged with obstructing law enforcement.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
All right, that's the update there. I think, yeah, is good.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
You read the whole ordinance for everyone. Really interesting item
last night, at least from you last night. Moving on
on the agenda was the request rey lease additional Class
D liquor licenses. And from what I can gather, this
is the number of licenses is based on population. Bismarck
continues to grow. I think we heard from you last night.
(11:00):
The last license was issued in twenty twenty three, correct,
and the bid was over three hundred thousand dollars for
that license. So, and not to steal all of your thunder,
just had a couple of notes here, twenty six licensed
Class D liquor licenses. Currently we could provide up to
five additional based on our populations exactly, and so fill
(11:20):
in the details of the conversation that ensued with the
commissioners last night and where we stand after the meeting.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
So this is one of those and I'll say the
word unfortunate topics where the answer is, well, this is
a way we've always done it. So this is a
method that has been long standing in Bismarck, this practice
of limiting the number of Class D licenses. And so
what can you do with a Class D license? Well,
you can do really two things. You can own and
operate a bar. Well, i'll say it three things. You
(11:48):
can own an operate a bar. You can own and
operate a package store a liquor store, or you can
do both using the same license. And so we have
a couple of businesses in town that have a traditional
bar which is all so attached to a liquor store.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
That's one.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
I have to be attached, They have to be attached.
You have to be able to move between the two spaces.
Because it is considered one business, one license for us.
Many of the licenses you see are simply a package store.
And I'm not going to name all of those, but
we know who they are in town. And so you
can purchase your products, you take them home and you
consume them there. The other type of the other half
(12:22):
of that license are the traditional bars where you can
go and have a drink and maybe some snacks or
entertainment or whatever the case may be. Historically, we have
limited the number of bars in the community, and this
is a system that my predecessors inherited. I'm not even
sure how long it's been this way. I have seen
liquor licenses back into the nineteen fifties, and it is
(12:43):
my understanding we were doing this thing the same practice
then long standing tradition in the city of Bismarck. So
where are we today. We're at about seventy seven thousand people.
We haven't issued a new license in a couple of years,
but we've had a number of requests recently, and that's
generally what spawns this conversation is our office is contacted
by potential new business or a business looking to expand
(13:07):
or do things differently in the community, and they call
us and say how do I get a Class D license?
And we say, well, we can't just simply issue them.
We have to go through a process, and the process
is essentially what Doug Wiles did for us last night.
Shared the information with the commissioners. Here's the last time
we issued a license, here's where the population is. We've
had a number of people interested. I think Doug shared
(13:28):
there's as many as seven right quests, So that to
me says there's a strong interest. And so where do
we go from here? Commissioners Anchor noted that the local
government in this case city of Bismarck has created a
bit of a commodity with these D licenses because we
limit the number of them. The other thing that is
unique about the D license is it is transferable. In
(13:51):
other words, you can sell it to another entity and
they can turn that into their own business, or they
can purchase your business and make it go forward that way.
A restaurant license is not the same. If a restaurant closes,
a license simply just dissolves. There's no limit on the
number of restaurant licenses. So that's kind of the unique
distinction with.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
The class D.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
So we've got seven potential places that are looking for
a new D. Commissioner's Anchor made a motion and it
was supported unanimously to issue three three new licenses. And
so how do we issue those licenses?
Speaker 3 (14:26):
It becomes a sealed bid process.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
We will put a notice on the website, we will
put a public notice in the tribune. We will make
the announcements on social media, our traditional methods of communication.
We will accept City administration will accept sealed bids. I
don't know the dates, but it'll be in the not
too distant future. We will publicly open these bids, and
just like any other project, the three high as bids
(14:50):
will as long as they qualify and can meet all
the requirements of owning a Class D license. It would
be on my understanding that our recommendation to the Commission
would be to accept those three highest bids. And last night,
did you mention there's a minimum bid? There is a
minimum The ordinance allows the Commission to set the minimum
bid threshold, and Commissioners Anchor is part of his motion,
(15:10):
directed staff to follow the model we used in twenty
twenty three. At that time, the minimum base bid was
two hundred thousand dollars. So let's do quick math. If
it's a minimum of two hundred thousand dollars, we've got
three of them out there. We're talking about potentially generating
over a half million dollars for the city's general fund.
Why is that important because many departments are operating off
(15:31):
the general fund, but most importantly, the police department is
the largest consumer of the general fund dollars, and the
police department is likely the one that is going to
be responsible for enforcing any of the things that can
come along with an alcohol license. Yeah, so it's all
part of how the city works.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
It's there's a there's a method to some of the approach.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Some would like to see the licenses tweaked a little
bit and maybe some of these traditional Class D, these
legacy licenses as I'll call them, maybe those become a
little more attainable, or maybe there's a different model to
give people a better opportunity to get into the business.
But for local government to determine how many of these
(16:14):
licenses are available, some might say that's really not the
role of government. Yeah, but so I might say, it's
an important tool to have to make sure that our
community remains wholesome and safe and all the things that
we want it to be as well. So there's a
delicate balance. That's why we elect the politicians. They get
to make those decisions well.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
And then moving from Class D liquor licenses to fall
leaf collections. So, I mean it just gives you some
insight on as a city administrator, as a city department,
as a city commission, all the variety of things that
you have to work with. But leaf collections also.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
A very hot topic, it is, and at which part
of testing.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah, up north maybe not so much yet, but in
the older parts of town certainly. And I've lived in both,
so I can verify what you're saying. But we got
an update on what will happen this fall. It sounds
like we are moving forward with fall.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Leaf collect We will be offering some type of leaf collection.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
In the floor the different The idea is brought up
at the last meeting, I believe does a city provide
some bags?
Speaker 3 (17:20):
How do we collect these leaves? Right?
Speaker 4 (17:21):
And so Steve Salwey, public Work Service Operations Director, to
a really nice job of sharing the information that he
and his team have gathered over the last couple of months.
And Steve even brought some show and tell materials. He
had these thirty gallon paper bags that you can often
find at the larger home centers and the retail stores.
Those bags are specifically designed exactly for that for compostable
(17:43):
leaf collections.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
So you're not filling up the landfrow.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
Not filling the landfill, those would end up in the
compost area with the lawn clippings that we gather all
summer long, and it adds to that nutrient rich material
that you can frankly purchase from the landfill or in
some cases take from the landfill if you're looking for compost.
So that was one option, and Steve shared some of
the comments from citizens along the way the city should
(18:07):
provide a container, meaning just like your trash container, we
should have a leaf container. That might work for some,
but I know when we took on recycling citywide, some
of the pushback there was I don't have room for
another ninety six gallon container on my property.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
I don't want that.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
So again, it might work for some, but it may
not work for all. One of the other suggestions was
don't do anything and people can just mulch the leaves
into their lawn. Okay, that might work for some if
you don't have an abundance of leaves, but if you
live in the Cathedral district, if you live near Hillside,
if you've got mature elm trees, I don't know that
you can mult all of those leaves, so that again
(18:44):
appreciate the suggestion, but it may not work for everyone.
Then they looked at compostable plastic bags, but under our
landfill conditions, they don't actually break down, so it just
becomes more trash in the landfill. So Steve said, that's
not an option for us at all. And then they
looked at at providing paperbacks, and from what I gathered
(19:04):
from Steve's information, it really isn't cost effective for us
the city to be purchasing bags to hand them out
to people, or to try and even resell them to people,
because at the retail centers.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
You can get them cheaper than we can get them.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
The city would have to buy them in bulk, but
I can though, I can run to a local business
and do thirty or sixty cents a bagg.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Something like that.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Said yeah, so Commissioner Cleary had some thoughts. Of course,
this is her portfolio. She said, if we're going to
be doing leaf pickup, the containers would need to be compostable.
That seems like a pretty fair assessment because what we're
ultimately trying to do is preserve the life of the landfill.
The landfill is a very expensive operation, a very significant
(19:47):
investment into a frankly a hole in the ground, and
the more things that we can prevent from filling that
hole quicker, we're saving tax sators saves all of the
money that went into resources to stabblish that site, and
building a new landfill is not an easy task, and
so we want to hold onto the site as long
as we can. So we don't want to throw trash
(20:11):
in the landfill. We don't want to put leaves in
the landfill in a plastic bag, so that one's not up,
not going to move forward. Leaf pickup is desired by some,
but not for all, and so if we start providing
that service, are some residents subsidizing the service for others?
And so in the end, I think where the general
consensus was, the hope is weather dependent that two times
(20:34):
in the fall, city crews will get out and collect
those leaves that would be placed out on the boulevard,
whether they be in a container or a compostable bag.
If they're in a plastic bag, I think that provides
a different challenge moving forward. But this is something that
will be done as a service throughout the community, and
obviously there's neighborhoods that are going to have more attention
(20:54):
just based on the tree volume than others.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
And this is my understanding too. Steve didn't want to
set a date because of weather. The idea is there
will be two pickups, but he'll have flexibility to determine
based upon whether when those times will.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Be direct and will announce those as we typically do
through local media, through social media, and if if we
get snow in October, we might pick up. Yeah, we're
at the mercy of mother nature on.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
Some of these things as well.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
So and I should also mention the self drop sites.
There're seventeen of them across the city. Those will continue
to be fully staffed containers, you know, recycled in and out,
new containers, full once removed, things like that. So that
is still an option if you're able, if you have
the means to all the leaves to those self drop sites,
those will continue to be there for you as well.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Toward the end of the agenda last night, Dmitri came up,
the finance Strector for the city, talked about the twenty
twenty four Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and sounds like that's
really important and long range planning and its budgeting.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
It's an audit.
Speaker 4 (21:59):
It's an annual audit of the city's books and our
financial functions to make sure that we are doing things
in accordance with government accounting standards. And I'm pleased to
say that we had a fairly clean report. We did
have one finding related to some operations at the event center,
and we had that finding last year, so it wasn't
a it wasn't a shock because it we haven't moved
(22:22):
to that third party model just yet, and so some
of the operational things are as they were. We were
anticipating that would be the case. But otherwise, we are
pleased to say that we've got very competent staff, very
professional staff working in our finance and fiscal services areas.
And for anybody that is interested, the full audit is
posted to the city's website, as our past audits as well,
(22:45):
And so if that's your jam, if you Lerizo's pages,
I think I heard the last only one hundred and
sixty pages of very technical information. But also it's a
very it's a very nice thing to be able to
say that we are proud that we do have a
very high level and a very achievable goal of having
a good audit every year, and it's great for.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Us and the transparencies there of the public ones. Absolutely
dig in a couple other notes. September two, the combined
Bismarck Burley Commission will meet again, and it sounds like
you're going to tee up that next special meeting at
that time talking about the ETA.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Right, So the two combined commissions met on August fifth.
You and I have not met since that time, but
that was all five city commissioners at the table and
four county commissioners at the table, and one online commission
Munson participated remotely. So all ten elected leaders from Bismarck
and Burley County at the table, and it was an
(23:41):
opportunity to share information. City staff, primarily Ben Eric from
Community Development, shared the history of the ETA. We're talking
about the extra Territorial Area. This is a negotiated boundary
beyond city limits where the City of Bismarck takes the
lead in relation to developments. We have jurisdiction for zoning
(24:02):
and then also for building inspections and permitting. The county commissioners,
some of them, have indicated they would like us to
have a significantly reduced area the city Bismarck. From my
perspective and from an organizational perspective, the ETA is a
very important tool because it helps us grow into these
areas where we know we can continue to provide services.
(24:23):
His Mark has consistently added one thousand people every year
for the last twenty years. That doesn't happen by accident.
It happens by very intentional, very well informed decisions made
to extend utilities into areas where we can get them,
extend roads into areas where we can get them. So
we're not just willy nilly saying yesterday every single subdivision
that's coming at us. Some of the information that was
(24:46):
shared through the public comment relates to some concerns and
some frustrations that people within the ETA have and as
a result of that, and this is not new information,
This is not new feedback. It's not a surprise to anybody.
This has been a in an ongoing discussion for decades
and where we are today. Where the commissioners agreed is
that city staff, in conjunction with county staff, will begin
(25:10):
looking at the jurisdictional maps. Are there subdivisions in our
jurisdiction that will likely never be a part of city limits.
And I can tell you, having started in the Community
Development Department twenty years ago, the mindset was that at
this rate we will grow into these rural subdivisions. And
I think today staff has a little different perspective. It's
(25:31):
some of the significant challenges that it would take to
provide water and sewer services to some of these rural
large lots subdivisions. And so are there subdivisions that are
nearly built out or entirely built out, that are around
the edges of the city that quite frankly, will never change.
And those would be areas that we as city staff
would be interested in saying, you know, Burley County, by
(25:55):
all means you can, we'll take this out of the ETA.
It was noted though during the Joint Commissions meeting. The
Burley County Planning and Zoning Department is a staff of
three people, and if they're going to be inheriting more jurisdiction,
it would likely mean the need for additional staff as well.
So that would be something Burley County is going to
(26:15):
have to balance and consider. But I believe the pledge
will be to talk about what the map changes could
look like at the Bismarck Burley Combined Commissions meeting, and
so that is County Commissioner Steve Backen, County Auditor Marx Plaskowski,
Bismarck Mayor Mike Schmiz and myself. The four of us
meet every month. That is the first Tuesday of the
(26:37):
month at four o'clock. Course you guys host that meeting
on online as well and on cable, and so at
that meeting in September September second, we will begin talking
about how do those map changes get evaluated, how do
we come back with a recommendation, What is the date
for the next joint meeting between the full commission so
we can really start talking about changes to the extra
(26:57):
territorial area.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
And if you want to, we did carry start to carry.
We had a couple of meetings at the same time
during that last Combined meeting. But it is online if
anybody wants to go back on Dakoda Media Access dot
orgon and find it and inform yourself to be prepared
moving forward. And speaking of moving forward, it's hard to believe,
(27:20):
but it's back to school time, back in.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
It's I've heard it from others. I'll admit my kids
are no longer in public school. They're college age students
at this point. But I was at the mall this
weekend and I forgot it was.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Back to school shopping.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
I was looking for a pair of sneakers and I
was overwhelmed by family all signed doing the exact same thing.
So thank you for mentioning that we are not the
Bismarck Public School District.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
We are the City of Bismarck.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
But we are still very much interested in the safety
of the students and back to school time, young drivers,
new schools, families, different pickup and drop off times. I
think the elementary schools are starting a little earlier than
they have in the past, and the bussing is the
wow we have schedule is a little different to traffic.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I guess it doesn't show the times, but just a
reminder to parents that, yes, the elementary students start the earliest,
I believe seven fifty something like that, and then middle
school and secondary all different times due to that bussing issue,
trying to get kids moved to and from schools. So
the City of Bismarck, I'm sorry, go on, I'm gonna
(28:25):
say the nineteenth for public schools.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
I think you said the.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Fourteenth for Lyti Christ Saint Mary's. Yeah, yeah, And so
that's the se week this week, just a little nugget
of information.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
I love tidbits.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
And again we're not the school district, but Bismarck has
the largest public school district in the state of North Dakota.
I find that staggering city of Fargo has close to
fifty thousand more residents than we do, but we have
more kids in public school than Fargo. Yep, that's correct,
that's amazing. I think there's eighteen elementary schools, middle schools,
high schools, public schools only, and then of course you
(28:59):
had the cathedral, Saint Mary's, St. Anne's all of those
in as well, And so that tells me there's a
lot of young families. But it also tells me as
a driver, you mind Pascia, slow down if you're if
you're in those areas where there's high traffic or lots
of kids running around school buses. We mentioned fees went up.
Finds went up for passing a school bus as the
(29:20):
August first, as the August first, take it easy, watch
for the kiddos, and good luck at.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Least all the fans at least the pack and a routine,
maybe right, as I don't trying to look on the
bright side. Yeah, but yeah, it's such a such a
nice time of year, but football seasons and all the
sports and all the falls as well. And speaking of streets,
just the reminder that if you want to find out
what's going on in Bismarck as far as construction goes,
you can go to Bismarck n D dot gov slash
(29:50):
streets to find out the latest. And finally, we've talked
a couple of times about if you want to go
back and access archives of any of the city commission
or County commission meetings or school board, park board, part district.
They're all on our app, the DMA app, and you
can also watch them live on the app. And then
(30:11):
we have our sister Radio Access one or two point
five app that has a variety of podcasts and locally
produced radio programs too that you can check out. And
I know that you're a frequent listener.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
I'm a fan of history hot dish, I can't I
can tonight. But actually this morning, as I was getting
ready and going about my routine, I was listening to
the latest episode of Bismarck Insights with Michael Market, our
public Works Utility Operations Director.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
So I listen to all of it. Yeah, when we
appreciate it. Stuff.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Well, thanks Jason for joining us, and thanks to you
for tuning in.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
We'll see you again next time.
Speaker 5 (30:46):
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
(31:07):
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.
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