June 18, 2025 • 25 mins
Tom Gerhardt talks to Jim Neubauer about the Mandan city commission meeting on 6-17-25.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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 (00:22):
Welcome The City Current aligned with Mandan City Administrator Jim Nubauer.
I'm Tom Gerhart from Dakota Media Access and Jim. We're
knocking on the first official day of summer and it
finally feels like summer out there.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
It's a gorgeous morning out there, Tom, So if for
folks that have to work, sorry about that. For all
of us that have to work, sorry to us also,
and for those that don't today, get out and enjoy it. Yeah,
it seems like a pretty nice day.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Hit a trail and Mandan or a golf course and
enjoy the day. Well, we're here to recap last night's
City Commission meeting and coming up on City Current, we'll
be talking about city employee recognition, a pretty neat deal.
You introduced new employees last night and then also recognized
others for their years of service. Will provide an update,
(01:09):
a recap of the Mandan art Ally project, and talk
about a grant application that could bring some additional would
bring some additional firefighters to Mandan. But first let's start
with the new employee in the work anniversary recognition and announcement.
So a number of new employees and then a number
of employees with various years of service, but one gentleman
(01:31):
has was recognized for four decades.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Yeah, forty years of service and congratulations to Dwyane Freeze.
He is our water treatment plant superintendent. Dwayne started working
part time summertimes in high school during his what do
you call it quad decade here, something like that, but
go with that, you know, four years for Dwayne does
(01:55):
an awesome job at the water treatment plan. I think
he's been through water tree plan optimization phase one, two, three, four,
ninety five of them. I'm not sure what the county
is right now, but Duane's worked his way up through
the ranks, obtained many certifications that in that world, and
became the water treatment plant superintendent several years ago. And
(02:16):
you know, congratulations to Wayne. Forty years in with one
entity is kind of unheard of nowadays. And really we
started to do our employee quarterly work anniversaries to get
those awards out for three, five, ten, fifteen forty year awards.
Along with every quarter we're going to bring in some
(02:37):
of the new employees that we have hired. One it demonstrates,
you know, here are long term employees here, so show
some of the newbies you can have a career with
the city, man ad. So it's a good combination to
have and also to like SA recognize those folks and
our new hires. We love to bring them in so
that they can meet the commissions. Here's what a city
(02:58):
commission looks like. Commissioners meet them and so if they
see them on the street or see them out in
a snowplow or crack ceiling the various projects that we
have going on within the city. So it's a nice
combination to have.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, and the photo that I have here, Jim, just
kind of shows that cross section of the employees that
were recognized last night. And as you mentioned, Dwayne, I
guess standing to the left of Mayor Frelich right and
to the right of your screen. Again recognized for forty years.
But I thought it was really cool just watching. As
(03:32):
you mentioned, we're seeing everybody from a new employee who's
working in an obscure area of the city, all the
way up to you know, everything For me is the
sound was kind of fun and I can see where
that's a valuable thing for the employees. And then also
the commission to interact like that.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Yeah, and we think that's we really like doing that.
And some folks don't like gaining up and being recognized
for that, but we think it's important. It's not you
have to show up. It's like we'd like you to
show up, present you with a certificate, and also for
the new employees to see that.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
One interesting thing about Dwayne is I think his both
of his sons have worked also fart time out at
the water treatment plants, so it's kind of been a
family tradition. I don't think any of them are working
there now. But again the super congrats to Dwyane does
a great job for us, and he's lived through many
transitions out at the work.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
No no, yeah, no kidding, going all the way back
into what would.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
That be the eighties yues So, like I said, he
was working there part time when he was in high school.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Well, Matt Shannandor from the Mandan Progress Organization excuse me,
also spoke last night a little recap of buggies and blues,
and as we were talking about before we were on
the air here, that ended up being an extraordinarily windy weekend,
but it didn't stop folks and we heard anywhere from
I thought Matt set up to thirty thousand people over
(04:55):
the entire weekend. But you said you've had quite a
story when you popped in some I was thissy mile
an hour wind gusts. I was shocked, to tell you
the truth.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
We had been out at man An Airport for pancakes
and planes earlier in the day and they had all
the planes were tied down and unfortunately usually there's some
Snoopy and the Red Bear and planes that are flying
around at the airport during that time, that didn't happen
again because of the fifty mile hour winds. We left
there and drove downtown because I just want to say, Okay,
(05:25):
who's all what's this going to be like?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Right?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
I was totally blown away by the number of people
that were downtown. So kudos to all of the folks,
the food vendors, the bands that had been playing Friday
night through Saturday and on Sunday, for all the folks
that came out. I know I think Matt said twenty
two thousand people roughly on Sunday. That means you had
(05:48):
probably four thousand on Saturday and four thousand on Friday night.
So great event continues to grow in popularity, and like
I said, they changed a few things up with the
band in the state each location, which we.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Heard, Yeah, it looked really really cool.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
A lot of compliments on hey, we get to sit
in the grass and we get to you know we
maybe we should have advertised bring your lawn chair to
watch the bands because a lot of people did that
instead of having to stand. The picnic tables we had
were all filled up with folks. So you know, congrats
to the MPO and all the sponsors that helped. You know,
those events don't happen without sponsorship.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yes, I mean you talk about all those people. Of course,
that's a lot of business for the businesses and just
recognition from Mandan and kind of a fun side too.
I think Matt said the headlining band was from California,
camera if you said Orange County, but it was their
first time in North Dakota.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Orange County, so they got taste of the wind tape.
Maybe not the Santa Ana Wins from California, but they
had North Dakota wins and but again great turnout, great crowds,
the bands were awesome, and again kudos to all the
folks to help put that on Matt and the crew
at the MPO along with and like I said, without
sponsorships that go in there, these events don't they just
(06:58):
aren't possible.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
You know. Public hearings last night and the consent agenda
was passed unanimously. But I just wanted to talk about
one item on that consent agenda I found interesting, and
that was a contract that was renewed with the Heart
River Correctional Center. And tell us what you're able to
do with those agreements that helps the city out.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Yeah, we have again agreement with Heart River Correctional Facility
where we are able to contract with them. They will
bring out folks and help weed whipping at the weed
whacking whatever you want to call that. If you're from
New Jersey, like the former fire chief, it'd be weed whipping. Well,
that's weird.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
I've never heard that. I like that. Now, how many
is that term?
Speaker 3 (07:43):
So they help out getting the cemetery prepared for Memorial
Day because of the I think there's eight thousand grave
sites out there, and we need a little bit of
help getting those prepared and ready to go looking good.
They do garbage clean up in the ditches on the
way out to the landfill and around the landfill, and
also around town. They'll do snowshoveling in the wintertime. So
(08:04):
it's a great asset for us to have, and it's
pretty economical for them to do too, So it's good
to have that resource available to us, and we certainly
do make use of it.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
New business. We got an update from the Bismarck Mandan
Chamber EDC. They appeared at the Bismarck City Commission last week,
but I just wanted to reiterate I think a message
there was just how critical workforce development is and how
it goes hand in hand with economic development and something
certainly they're working on for both the cities.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Yep, big shout out to Brendan Egel who came in
and did another very nice presentation to the board. We
like to have them come in and say here's what
we're working on, because we, as the cities of Bismarck,
Man and Berlinmore Counties are members of the Chamber EEDC,
and what are you doing to help us out? And
talent attraction and workforce development is top of mind of
everyone if you're trying to find employees. There's a lot
(08:57):
of programs out there there trying to help people get
people here, and I would throw out one of those
things at One of the most interesting things that we
find out is if there is a family connection. If
you know of friends or family that are living and
working out of state, they most likely maybe want to
(09:18):
get back to North Dakota and there are jobs available
for them here. And we find that that is one
of the critical key parts of talent attraction and workforce
development is if you know someone who knows someone, encourage
them to go job hunting here if they're looking for
a move. And I said, I think that's a big
part of the talent attraction program with the Chamber ADC.
(09:39):
So again, kudos to Brenda for coming in does that
about you know, twice a year and gives an update
on here's what we've been doing, and away we go.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
So and you guys have a nice connection. Mayor Frelik,
Brenda mentioned lives on the board of directors for the
Chamber and so he's up to speed on everything. He's
up to speed.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
We have other commissioners and that will attend their government
affairs and local issue committee meetings and things like that.
So there's a very good participation both from our elected officials,
our staff, and also from members of the community that
serve on those boards too.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Wanted to talk about the twenty twenty five Business Pitch Challenge.
Some money that available in the Mandawn Growth Fund. I
believe fifteen thousand dollars they're looking at and just a
neat way to encourage entrepreneurs to come forward with some
new ideas.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Yeah, great, I think I can't remember if this is
the fifth or sixth year of the Business Pitch Challenge
started kind of modeled after a lot of people will
watch Shark Tank yep, and you know, really what it's doing.
It sets a deadline out there for entrepreneurs, well I'm
thinking about starting a business. I may not, but this
gives them that extra push and a lot of help.
(10:48):
Will will help you have resources available to help people
get their business plans ready. You'll come in and do
a business pitch and then they'll be ranked and graded
by members of the community. And so what's different this
year is we're looking at a instead of a ten
thousand dollars first prize award, which will continue adding three
thousand for a second and two thousand for third. And
(11:09):
these are all in a forgivable loan, so that if
you're you have a certain amount of time to get
your business up and going, and you have to stay
in business for a certain amount of time or that
for a givable loan isn't forgiven based on the number
of years that you are open, so it's not without
some clawbacks, some protections, and there's so not unopen for
(11:29):
a year and then I'm out. But again, we talked
about sponsorships for Yal's and Blues and all the events
and man and great sponsors help us out in this program,
and we're looking for that, I think in this coming
October November, so keep an eye out for that. And
again we heard feedback that we heard was like, hey,
it'd be nice to have you know, not just your
(11:50):
grand prize, but second and third place would would be
able to share in that too, And that's why this
idea was brought forward.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Yeah, I like the idea of spreading the wealth and
giving others some opportunity. And you know that third Place
person could end up being the most impactful entrepreneur down
the road, you know.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
And that's how it is worked in some in some
years where their top prize winner will get going to
open their business, but maybe there's someone who didn't even
make the finals and they have. You know, we've got
a couple examples and man, and of those folks that
didn't win, but they have very thriving businesses going right now.
So we think it's not just the first place prize,
it's you might be fifth, you might be fourth, But
(12:28):
it gives us entrepreneurs a reason, right, let's get off
the dime and let's do something because we've been thinking
about it for three years and let's go for it now.
And like I said, having that deadline in there, I
think makes makes things move a little quicker.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Another item on the agenda aims to bring more visitors
to Mandan and that's the Mandan Heritage Valley Art Project.
They're looking for I think thirty five thousand more dollars
from the visitors fund, and we have a lot of
photos of examples of what this art alley could look like.
Bismarck has one, I think Aaron Barth mentioned last night.
(13:03):
This whole concept originated out of Philadelphia years ago, but
really a neat opportunity to bring I think fourteen artists
to the first couple of phases of this project.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
It'll be and again one of these grassroots projects that
was spawned I think out of a meeting we held
last May, in May of twenty twenty four. You know,
how do we invigorate how do we get more people downtown.
We know that a lot of people like to walk
the alleys in the evenings in kind of the entertainment district,
and the idea of a murals and ali art came up.
(13:39):
And I know that Matt Shannandor was instrumental in Andrew
Stromi or formal planner, we're instrumental in moving this forward,
and got Aaron and his crew to buy in. In
February of twenty twenty five, they came in and said, hey,
we've got we've raised the money. We're not going to
ask anything from the city. We're good to go. Awesome.
They put out the call for artists and they got overwhelming,
(14:02):
overwhelming response on from artists, and they said, you know,
we're going to need a little bit of help financially
to do this now. So the Buszarors Committee met last
week and approved, you know, if they're up to thirty
five thousand dollars, and the commission approved that last night.
So and these folks are ready to go. And a
lot of very good questions last night about the artists
(14:23):
who they were and give us some examples of that work.
And I think Aaron did a nice job of sharing
that information. While they didn't depict here's exactly that piece
of art that will go on that building, it's a
matter of here's an example of what we can do,
and here's a story that I kind of want to tell.
And we'll go for them, not me personally, because my
stick people will really be a great You mentioned your
(14:45):
heart abilities. The inabilities is more like that I'd be
more and so great. Project commission was very supportive. They
wanted to know, Okay, how is this going to draw
more people downtown? And we think just the fact that
it'll clean up the alleys in some ways. A lot
of talk about graffiti and things like that, and I
(15:05):
think what's been shown over and over again is that
taggers or artists don't like to mess up other artists work,
and that is you know, if you look through the
alleys right now, it's you know, there's some things have
occurred that aren't the best. And with this additional money
that's being provided, you know, these folks that know what
(15:26):
they're doing are going to be doing it. It's not
Jim and Tom going to go out there with our
stick figures, with our stick figures and our candapaign that's
been in the sit in the basement for years and
try and do something. These are professionals. They know what
they're doing. They know what kind of applications to put on,
they know what will work and so and it's thank
(15:47):
you to the business owners that have provided the platform
right for those of artist.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
The businesses signed off on this.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Yeah, I say, Aaron said, they've got fourteen or fifteen
locations and they've all signed off and it says, yes,
we want to be a part of this. And again
we think it's it's great and we think that you know,
you're alley walking and things like that. We mentioned last
night that you know, put the art in the alley
and then the idea is to make it a safer
place to walk. So next project will probably be looking
at some additional lighting in the alleys to make that
(16:19):
make sure that happens. But you know, kudos, we're looking
forward to to see what happens.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Yeah, absolutely, I'm looking forward to taking that walk myself.
The acronym safer yep, you know. But that's our next
item on the agenda's a grant from the Homeland Department
of Homeland Security of the Chief made, but utilizing some
federal funds to bring an additional six firefighters to Mandan
(16:44):
seems like a win win proposition.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
It is, and that's part of been our long term
planning process. A lot of the meanings we've held with
the Commission since the beginning of the year. You know,
what does our long term financial plan look like from
a personnel from monetary standpoint. This one of the things
that was key on the Commission's list was how do
we make sure that we have adequate staffing for the
two stations that we currently have. And Fire Chief bit said,
(17:10):
you know, by applying for six new firefighter positions, we're
not assured we're going to get that grant at this
point in time, but the Commission improved applying for it.
If we get six more positions and a good part
of that is funded through this grant, I think for
about three years and then they become ours and our responsibility.
(17:31):
But we can get those stations fully staffed with at
least three people on each shift.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
And the chief bit said, there's a plan for sustainability.
Right if people are wondering, well, what happens when the
grant runs out, but it really initially gets the firefighters
here and in place much more quickly.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
And again it's a matter of those discussions have been
happening with the Commission since you know, the first part
of January, and what are the priorities and how do
we fund these things? And this opportunity came up. And
these opportunities aren't there all the time, so as a
matter of let's apply for them. If we're successful, we'll
move forward. If not, we will, you know, look at
(18:09):
things again and then go to Plan B. Yeah, but again,
this is a good opportunity for us that we don't
want to pass up.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
This interesting topic. Next, I think when you talk about
growth or communities, what's happening in Mandan In this case,
we're talking about second development of Lake Shores Lakewood Shores,
excuse me. And you know the city is working with
developers and developers are working with the city to get
these things off the ground, and in this case a
(18:37):
couple of bumps in the road that you guys are
trying to figure out. I guess I would say.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Yeah, We've had many discussions with the developer of Stores
of Lakewood second edition and third edition and fourth edition
on a development agreement, and that development agreement really lays
out the expectations on the developer and the expectations on
what is the city going to provide, what is developer
going to provide, and we want to make sure that
those expectations are clear and they're all met and they're
(19:03):
all agreed upon before projects move forward. So again, it's
a really good document that we've utilized in the past
and say here's what the developer is responsible for, here's
what the city is responsible for. In this case, we
reached a couple of i'll call them impasses with the
staff and the developer and needed a little bit of
direction from the Commission on which way they wanted to
go on three or four items. We got that direction
(19:25):
and now we will sit down with the developer again
and kind of work through that agreement and make sure
that you know when we bring it forward in July first,
I think that we will have those things ironed out
so that all parties can move forward. And that just
shows that, you know, things just don't happen. This is
a long term development. We mean to make sure that
the city's interests are protected for all the citizens of
(19:47):
Mannon and things are done right, and the developer knows
what to expect from us and we know what to
expect from them.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah, I think, you know, the end result always looks easy,
whether you're talking about a musician or an actor, or
an Atha fleet or in this case, a city, But
there's so much wherek that goes on behind the scenes
to make it look easy in the end.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
So and we would, you know, from a staff standpoint,
we would love to bring agreements to the commission that
are all everything's worked out and it's all good to
go sign it and approve it. Let's go. In this case,
we were saying no from a staff standpoint to a
few items that the developer wanted to do, and we
just said no, no, no, And it came to a
(20:27):
point where all right, Commissions, let's get some feedback from
you and then we can move this process forward.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Just wanted to bring up something on of course, Memorial
Highway reconstruction continues and there was a move for a
change order last night that was approved, but it would
bring a more substantial level of asphalt and to a
temporary roadway essentially and just to make it a little
(20:56):
better surface in the meantime while construction continues for this
year next year. Yep.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
The crux of that was that change order, which there's
no additional out of pocket costs for the city man
and or our residents because of the funding formula on
this project. But the second piece of that is giving
the city engineer the ability to approve change orders to
a higher dollar amount wreshold so that this project can
(21:21):
continue to move forward. And again it's a one hundred
million plus dollar project. There's going to be things that
are unforeseen and things that need to be changed, and
the ability to do them quickly and move the project
keep the project forward versus hey, we've got maybe there's
a change order that comes in today and we've got
two weeks before our next meeting. Well we've got a
(21:44):
there needs to be some movement, and like I said,
so we up the level of the change order ability
for a city engineer to make and again these are
for no additional costs out of the city's pocket. It's
it all effects, you know, the federal and state highway funds.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
We'll have another edition of City Current July first, I think,
as you mentioned right or second before the fourth. But
just wanted to remind folks about the Mandan Independence Day
Parade because it's such a significant event and with the
construction on Memorial Highway, just throwing it out.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
There, yeah, where it's always good to remind folks. There
was a change in the staging area, and like I said,
with all the construction going on Memorial Highway, I want
to leave a little early if you're coming to the parade,
and it might take you a little longer to get
out when the parade is done. So just a reminder
for folks to plan accordingly. Look at our cman website
(22:41):
or Men in Progress organization, or visit Mandan websites and
they will have some updates on where to park and
how to navigate. A lot of the construction that's going
on this year, and it'll be the same next year
and probably the third year after. So again Matt shnandor
his crew has worked very closely with our all of
our emergency service providers to make sure that traffic moves
(23:04):
as smoothly as it can or will there be hiccups, absolutely,
But again things are going to be a little bit
different this year. So main Street will still be filled
with the parade. It's just said there's that part from
the stage area to Main Street which will not be
available for spectators.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Hard to believe we're talking about July already, but as
we all know, the days do go faster.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Yeah, even though we've got a lot of sunlight. I
think last night we're sitting outside about nine forty five
ten o'clock and going, wow, it is still daylight.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Yeah, I think is it? Friday is great? Friday is
the first official, first official day of summer. So then
then we start going down.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
We started turning, but well I know about downhill. But
it's like said, summers are short on earth to go off, folks,
certainly you got to get out and enjoy them when
they can, just like today.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yeah, we want to do I guess when we were
talking about the Memorial Highway yep. But we have the
QR code and phone number and website that if you
want to stay up to date. That's a way to do.
So to find out what's happening on Memorial Highway is
as you said, this is a long term, significant project,
but easy access to information online by using that QR
(24:14):
code or or you can call as well.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
So, right, lots going on in Mandez, a lot of
going on Manden and you know, use caution when you're
traveling Memorial Highway. Continue to participate and partake in the
businesses on there. We always you know, if you go
to the Mandan visitmann dot com. I think the the
additional money on the on the gift card program is
still right there.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Business fows out yep, keep them in the eyes.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
Ads something twenty five percent onto your purchase purchasing power
if we can say that, yes correctly.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
And just a reminder that you can watch city current.
You can watch a Mandan City Commission meeting, the Morton
County all the meetings on our DMA app if you
want to download that on your iPhone or Android or
wherever you are. And we also have our radio so
Access one O two point five app and you can
listen to our podcasts and all of our DJ producers
(25:06):
with all their excellent music phone music shows, so you
can find us wherever you are whenever you can. Jim,
great to see.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
You, Thanks for having us as always.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Yeah, have a great day and thanks for watching City Current.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
For more information on what was discussed in this episode
of City Current, visit Cityofmandan dot com or call seven
oh one sixty six seven three two one five. If
you have any suggestions, comments, or issues you would like
addressed in future City Current episodes, contact us at info
at FreeTV dot org. This program airs on Government Access
(25:39):
channel two and six oh two in HD or on
Radio Access one oh two point five FM. It's also
available as a podcast on Radioaccess dot org and as
a video viewing link at FreeTV 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 (00:22):
Welcome The City Current aligned with Mandan City Administrator Jim Nubauer.
I'm Tom Gerhart from Dakota Media Access and Jim. We're
knocking on the first official day of summer and it
finally feels like summer out there.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
It's a gorgeous morning out there, Tom, So if for
folks that have to work, sorry about that. For all
of us that have to work, sorry to us also,
and for those that don't today, get out and enjoy it. Yeah,
it seems like a pretty nice day.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Hit a trail and Mandan or a golf course and
enjoy the day. Well, we're here to recap last night's
City Commission meeting and coming up on City Current, we'll
be talking about city employee recognition, a pretty neat deal.
You introduced new employees last night and then also recognized
others for their years of service. Will provide an update,
(01:09):
a recap of the Mandan art Ally project, and talk
about a grant application that could bring some additional would
bring some additional firefighters to Mandan. But first let's start
with the new employee in the work anniversary recognition and announcement.
So a number of new employees and then a number
of employees with various years of service, but one gentleman
(01:31):
has was recognized for four decades.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Yeah, forty years of service and congratulations to Dwyane Freeze.
He is our water treatment plant superintendent. Dwayne started working
part time summertimes in high school during his what do
you call it quad decade here, something like that, but
go with that, you know, four years for Dwayne does
(01:55):
an awesome job at the water treatment plan. I think
he's been through water tree plan optimization phase one, two, three, four,
ninety five of them. I'm not sure what the county
is right now, but Duane's worked his way up through
the ranks, obtained many certifications that in that world, and
became the water treatment plant superintendent several years ago. And
(02:16):
you know, congratulations to Wayne. Forty years in with one
entity is kind of unheard of nowadays. And really we
started to do our employee quarterly work anniversaries to get
those awards out for three, five, ten, fifteen forty year awards.
Along with every quarter we're going to bring in some
(02:37):
of the new employees that we have hired. One it demonstrates,
you know, here are long term employees here, so show
some of the newbies you can have a career with
the city, man ad. So it's a good combination to
have and also to like SA recognize those folks and
our new hires. We love to bring them in so
that they can meet the commissions. Here's what a city
(02:58):
commission looks like. Commissioners meet them and so if they
see them on the street or see them out in
a snowplow or crack ceiling the various projects that we
have going on within the city. So it's a nice
combination to have.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, and the photo that I have here, Jim, just
kind of shows that cross section of the employees that
were recognized last night. And as you mentioned, Dwayne, I
guess standing to the left of Mayor Frelich right and
to the right of your screen. Again recognized for forty years.
But I thought it was really cool just watching. As
(03:32):
you mentioned, we're seeing everybody from a new employee who's
working in an obscure area of the city, all the
way up to you know, everything For me is the
sound was kind of fun and I can see where
that's a valuable thing for the employees. And then also
the commission to interact like that.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Yeah, and we think that's we really like doing that.
And some folks don't like gaining up and being recognized
for that, but we think it's important. It's not you
have to show up. It's like we'd like you to
show up, present you with a certificate, and also for
the new employees to see that.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
One interesting thing about Dwayne is I think his both
of his sons have worked also fart time out at
the water treatment plants, so it's kind of been a
family tradition. I don't think any of them are working
there now. But again the super congrats to Dwyane does
a great job for us, and he's lived through many
transitions out at the work.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
No no, yeah, no kidding, going all the way back
into what would.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
That be the eighties yues So, like I said, he
was working there part time when he was in high school.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Well, Matt Shannandor from the Mandan Progress Organization excuse me,
also spoke last night a little recap of buggies and blues,
and as we were talking about before we were on
the air here, that ended up being an extraordinarily windy weekend,
but it didn't stop folks and we heard anywhere from
I thought Matt set up to thirty thousand people over
(04:55):
the entire weekend. But you said you've had quite a
story when you popped in some I was thissy mile
an hour wind gusts. I was shocked, to tell you
the truth.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
We had been out at man An Airport for pancakes
and planes earlier in the day and they had all
the planes were tied down and unfortunately usually there's some
Snoopy and the Red Bear and planes that are flying
around at the airport during that time, that didn't happen
again because of the fifty mile hour winds. We left
there and drove downtown because I just want to say, Okay,
(05:25):
who's all what's this going to be like?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Right?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
I was totally blown away by the number of people
that were downtown. So kudos to all of the folks,
the food vendors, the bands that had been playing Friday
night through Saturday and on Sunday, for all the folks
that came out. I know I think Matt said twenty
two thousand people roughly on Sunday. That means you had
(05:48):
probably four thousand on Saturday and four thousand on Friday night.
So great event continues to grow in popularity, and like
I said, they changed a few things up with the
band in the state each location, which we.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Heard, Yeah, it looked really really cool.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
A lot of compliments on hey, we get to sit
in the grass and we get to you know we
maybe we should have advertised bring your lawn chair to
watch the bands because a lot of people did that
instead of having to stand. The picnic tables we had
were all filled up with folks. So you know, congrats
to the MPO and all the sponsors that helped. You know,
those events don't happen without sponsorship.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yes, I mean you talk about all those people. Of course,
that's a lot of business for the businesses and just
recognition from Mandan and kind of a fun side too.
I think Matt said the headlining band was from California,
camera if you said Orange County, but it was their
first time in North Dakota.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Orange County, so they got taste of the wind tape.
Maybe not the Santa Ana Wins from California, but they
had North Dakota wins and but again great turnout, great crowds,
the bands were awesome, and again kudos to all the
folks to help put that on Matt and the crew
at the MPO along with and like I said, without
sponsorships that go in there, these events don't they just
(06:58):
aren't possible.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
You know. Public hearings last night and the consent agenda
was passed unanimously. But I just wanted to talk about
one item on that consent agenda I found interesting, and
that was a contract that was renewed with the Heart
River Correctional Center. And tell us what you're able to
do with those agreements that helps the city out.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Yeah, we have again agreement with Heart River Correctional Facility
where we are able to contract with them. They will
bring out folks and help weed whipping at the weed
whacking whatever you want to call that. If you're from
New Jersey, like the former fire chief, it'd be weed whipping. Well,
that's weird.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
I've never heard that. I like that. Now, how many
is that term?
Speaker 3 (07:43):
So they help out getting the cemetery prepared for Memorial
Day because of the I think there's eight thousand grave
sites out there, and we need a little bit of
help getting those prepared and ready to go looking good.
They do garbage clean up in the ditches on the
way out to the landfill and around the landfill, and
also around town. They'll do snowshoveling in the wintertime. So
(08:04):
it's a great asset for us to have, and it's
pretty economical for them to do too, So it's good
to have that resource available to us, and we certainly
do make use of it.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
New business. We got an update from the Bismarck Mandan
Chamber EDC. They appeared at the Bismarck City Commission last week,
but I just wanted to reiterate I think a message
there was just how critical workforce development is and how
it goes hand in hand with economic development and something
certainly they're working on for both the cities.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Yep, big shout out to Brendan Egel who came in
and did another very nice presentation to the board. We
like to have them come in and say here's what
we're working on, because we, as the cities of Bismarck,
Man and Berlinmore Counties are members of the Chamber EEDC,
and what are you doing to help us out? And
talent attraction and workforce development is top of mind of
everyone if you're trying to find employees. There's a lot
(08:57):
of programs out there there trying to help people get
people here, and I would throw out one of those
things at One of the most interesting things that we
find out is if there is a family connection. If
you know of friends or family that are living and
working out of state, they most likely maybe want to
(09:18):
get back to North Dakota and there are jobs available
for them here. And we find that that is one
of the critical key parts of talent attraction and workforce
development is if you know someone who knows someone, encourage
them to go job hunting here if they're looking for
a move. And I said, I think that's a big
part of the talent attraction program with the Chamber ADC.
(09:39):
So again, kudos to Brenda for coming in does that
about you know, twice a year and gives an update
on here's what we've been doing, and away we go.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
So and you guys have a nice connection. Mayor Frelik,
Brenda mentioned lives on the board of directors for the
Chamber and so he's up to speed on everything. He's
up to speed.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
We have other commissioners and that will attend their government
affairs and local issue committee meetings and things like that.
So there's a very good participation both from our elected officials,
our staff, and also from members of the community that
serve on those boards too.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Wanted to talk about the twenty twenty five Business Pitch Challenge.
Some money that available in the Mandawn Growth Fund. I
believe fifteen thousand dollars they're looking at and just a
neat way to encourage entrepreneurs to come forward with some
new ideas.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Yeah, great, I think I can't remember if this is
the fifth or sixth year of the Business Pitch Challenge
started kind of modeled after a lot of people will
watch Shark Tank yep, and you know, really what it's doing.
It sets a deadline out there for entrepreneurs, well I'm
thinking about starting a business. I may not, but this
gives them that extra push and a lot of help.
(10:48):
Will will help you have resources available to help people
get their business plans ready. You'll come in and do
a business pitch and then they'll be ranked and graded
by members of the community. And so what's different this
year is we're looking at a instead of a ten
thousand dollars first prize award, which will continue adding three
thousand for a second and two thousand for third. And
(11:09):
these are all in a forgivable loan, so that if
you're you have a certain amount of time to get
your business up and going, and you have to stay
in business for a certain amount of time or that
for a givable loan isn't forgiven based on the number
of years that you are open, so it's not without
some clawbacks, some protections, and there's so not unopen for
(11:29):
a year and then I'm out. But again, we talked
about sponsorships for Yal's and Blues and all the events
and man and great sponsors help us out in this program,
and we're looking for that, I think in this coming
October November, so keep an eye out for that. And
again we heard feedback that we heard was like, hey,
it'd be nice to have you know, not just your
(11:50):
grand prize, but second and third place would would be
able to share in that too, And that's why this
idea was brought forward.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Yeah, I like the idea of spreading the wealth and
giving others some opportunity. And you know that third Place
person could end up being the most impactful entrepreneur down
the road, you know.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
And that's how it is worked in some in some
years where their top prize winner will get going to
open their business, but maybe there's someone who didn't even
make the finals and they have. You know, we've got
a couple examples and man, and of those folks that
didn't win, but they have very thriving businesses going right now.
So we think it's not just the first place prize,
it's you might be fifth, you might be fourth, But
(12:28):
it gives us entrepreneurs a reason, right, let's get off
the dime and let's do something because we've been thinking
about it for three years and let's go for it now.
And like I said, having that deadline in there, I
think makes makes things move a little quicker.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Another item on the agenda aims to bring more visitors
to Mandan and that's the Mandan Heritage Valley Art Project.
They're looking for I think thirty five thousand more dollars
from the visitors fund, and we have a lot of
photos of examples of what this art alley could look like.
Bismarck has one, I think Aaron Barth mentioned last night.
(13:03):
This whole concept originated out of Philadelphia years ago, but
really a neat opportunity to bring I think fourteen artists
to the first couple of phases of this project.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
It'll be and again one of these grassroots projects that
was spawned I think out of a meeting we held
last May, in May of twenty twenty four. You know,
how do we invigorate how do we get more people downtown.
We know that a lot of people like to walk
the alleys in the evenings in kind of the entertainment district,
and the idea of a murals and ali art came up.
(13:39):
And I know that Matt Shannandor was instrumental in Andrew
Stromi or formal planner, we're instrumental in moving this forward,
and got Aaron and his crew to buy in. In
February of twenty twenty five, they came in and said, hey,
we've got we've raised the money. We're not going to
ask anything from the city. We're good to go. Awesome.
They put out the call for artists and they got overwhelming,
(14:02):
overwhelming response on from artists, and they said, you know,
we're going to need a little bit of help financially
to do this now. So the Buszarors Committee met last
week and approved, you know, if they're up to thirty
five thousand dollars, and the commission approved that last night.
So and these folks are ready to go. And a
lot of very good questions last night about the artists
(14:23):
who they were and give us some examples of that work.
And I think Aaron did a nice job of sharing
that information. While they didn't depict here's exactly that piece
of art that will go on that building, it's a
matter of here's an example of what we can do,
and here's a story that I kind of want to tell.
And we'll go for them, not me personally, because my
stick people will really be a great You mentioned your
(14:45):
heart abilities. The inabilities is more like that I'd be
more and so great. Project commission was very supportive. They
wanted to know, Okay, how is this going to draw
more people downtown? And we think just the fact that
it'll clean up the alleys in some ways. A lot
of talk about graffiti and things like that, and I
(15:05):
think what's been shown over and over again is that
taggers or artists don't like to mess up other artists work,
and that is you know, if you look through the
alleys right now, it's you know, there's some things have
occurred that aren't the best. And with this additional money
that's being provided, you know, these folks that know what
(15:26):
they're doing are going to be doing it. It's not
Jim and Tom going to go out there with our
stick figures, with our stick figures and our candapaign that's
been in the sit in the basement for years and
try and do something. These are professionals. They know what
they're doing. They know what kind of applications to put on,
they know what will work and so and it's thank
(15:47):
you to the business owners that have provided the platform
right for those of artist.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
The businesses signed off on this.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Yeah, I say, Aaron said, they've got fourteen or fifteen
locations and they've all signed off and it says, yes,
we want to be a part of this. And again
we think it's it's great and we think that you know,
you're alley walking and things like that. We mentioned last
night that you know, put the art in the alley
and then the idea is to make it a safer
place to walk. So next project will probably be looking
at some additional lighting in the alleys to make that
(16:19):
make sure that happens. But you know, kudos, we're looking
forward to to see what happens.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Yeah, absolutely, I'm looking forward to taking that walk myself.
The acronym safer yep, you know. But that's our next
item on the agenda's a grant from the Homeland Department
of Homeland Security of the Chief made, but utilizing some
federal funds to bring an additional six firefighters to Mandan
(16:44):
seems like a win win proposition.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
It is, and that's part of been our long term
planning process. A lot of the meanings we've held with
the Commission since the beginning of the year. You know,
what does our long term financial plan look like from
a personnel from monetary standpoint. This one of the things
that was key on the Commission's list was how do
we make sure that we have adequate staffing for the
two stations that we currently have. And Fire Chief bit said,
(17:10):
you know, by applying for six new firefighter positions, we're
not assured we're going to get that grant at this
point in time, but the Commission improved applying for it.
If we get six more positions and a good part
of that is funded through this grant, I think for
about three years and then they become ours and our responsibility.
(17:31):
But we can get those stations fully staffed with at
least three people on each shift.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
And the chief bit said, there's a plan for sustainability.
Right if people are wondering, well, what happens when the
grant runs out, but it really initially gets the firefighters
here and in place much more quickly.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
And again it's a matter of those discussions have been
happening with the Commission since you know, the first part
of January, and what are the priorities and how do
we fund these things? And this opportunity came up. And
these opportunities aren't there all the time, so as a
matter of let's apply for them. If we're successful, we'll
move forward. If not, we will, you know, look at
(18:09):
things again and then go to Plan B. Yeah, but again,
this is a good opportunity for us that we don't
want to pass up.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
This interesting topic. Next, I think when you talk about
growth or communities, what's happening in Mandan In this case,
we're talking about second development of Lake Shores Lakewood Shores,
excuse me. And you know the city is working with
developers and developers are working with the city to get
these things off the ground, and in this case a
(18:37):
couple of bumps in the road that you guys are
trying to figure out. I guess I would say.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Yeah, We've had many discussions with the developer of Stores
of Lakewood second edition and third edition and fourth edition
on a development agreement, and that development agreement really lays
out the expectations on the developer and the expectations on
what is the city going to provide, what is developer
going to provide, and we want to make sure that
those expectations are clear and they're all met and they're
(19:03):
all agreed upon before projects move forward. So again, it's
a really good document that we've utilized in the past
and say here's what the developer is responsible for, here's
what the city is responsible for. In this case, we
reached a couple of i'll call them impasses with the
staff and the developer and needed a little bit of
direction from the Commission on which way they wanted to
go on three or four items. We got that direction
(19:25):
and now we will sit down with the developer again
and kind of work through that agreement and make sure
that you know when we bring it forward in July first,
I think that we will have those things ironed out
so that all parties can move forward. And that just
shows that, you know, things just don't happen. This is
a long term development. We mean to make sure that
the city's interests are protected for all the citizens of
(19:47):
Mannon and things are done right, and the developer knows
what to expect from us and we know what to
expect from them.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah, I think, you know, the end result always looks easy,
whether you're talking about a musician or an actor, or
an Atha fleet or in this case, a city, But
there's so much wherek that goes on behind the scenes
to make it look easy in the end.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
So and we would, you know, from a staff standpoint,
we would love to bring agreements to the commission that
are all everything's worked out and it's all good to
go sign it and approve it. Let's go. In this case,
we were saying no from a staff standpoint to a
few items that the developer wanted to do, and we
just said no, no, no, And it came to a
(20:27):
point where all right, Commissions, let's get some feedback from
you and then we can move this process forward.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Just wanted to bring up something on of course, Memorial
Highway reconstruction continues and there was a move for a
change order last night that was approved, but it would
bring a more substantial level of asphalt and to a
temporary roadway essentially and just to make it a little
(20:56):
better surface in the meantime while construction continues for this
year next year. Yep.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
The crux of that was that change order, which there's
no additional out of pocket costs for the city man
and or our residents because of the funding formula on
this project. But the second piece of that is giving
the city engineer the ability to approve change orders to
a higher dollar amount wreshold so that this project can
(21:21):
continue to move forward. And again it's a one hundred
million plus dollar project. There's going to be things that
are unforeseen and things that need to be changed, and
the ability to do them quickly and move the project
keep the project forward versus hey, we've got maybe there's
a change order that comes in today and we've got
two weeks before our next meeting. Well we've got a
(21:44):
there needs to be some movement, and like I said,
so we up the level of the change order ability
for a city engineer to make and again these are
for no additional costs out of the city's pocket. It's
it all effects, you know, the federal and state highway funds.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
We'll have another edition of City Current July first, I think,
as you mentioned right or second before the fourth. But
just wanted to remind folks about the Mandan Independence Day
Parade because it's such a significant event and with the
construction on Memorial Highway, just throwing it out.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
There, yeah, where it's always good to remind folks. There
was a change in the staging area, and like I said,
with all the construction going on Memorial Highway, I want
to leave a little early if you're coming to the parade,
and it might take you a little longer to get
out when the parade is done. So just a reminder
for folks to plan accordingly. Look at our cman website
(22:41):
or Men in Progress organization, or visit Mandan websites and
they will have some updates on where to park and
how to navigate. A lot of the construction that's going
on this year, and it'll be the same next year
and probably the third year after. So again Matt shnandor
his crew has worked very closely with our all of
our emergency service providers to make sure that traffic moves
(23:04):
as smoothly as it can or will there be hiccups, absolutely,
But again things are going to be a little bit
different this year. So main Street will still be filled
with the parade. It's just said there's that part from
the stage area to Main Street which will not be
available for spectators.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Hard to believe we're talking about July already, but as
we all know, the days do go faster.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Yeah, even though we've got a lot of sunlight. I
think last night we're sitting outside about nine forty five
ten o'clock and going, wow, it is still daylight.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Yeah, I think is it? Friday is great? Friday is
the first official, first official day of summer. So then
then we start going down.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
We started turning, but well I know about downhill. But
it's like said, summers are short on earth to go off, folks,
certainly you got to get out and enjoy them when
they can, just like today.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yeah, we want to do I guess when we were
talking about the Memorial Highway yep. But we have the
QR code and phone number and website that if you
want to stay up to date. That's a way to do.
So to find out what's happening on Memorial Highway is
as you said, this is a long term, significant project,
but easy access to information online by using that QR
(24:14):
code or or you can call as well.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
So, right, lots going on in Mandez, a lot of
going on Manden and you know, use caution when you're
traveling Memorial Highway. Continue to participate and partake in the
businesses on there. We always you know, if you go
to the Mandan visitmann dot com. I think the the
additional money on the on the gift card program is
still right there.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Business fows out yep, keep them in the eyes.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
Ads something twenty five percent onto your purchase purchasing power
if we can say that, yes correctly.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
And just a reminder that you can watch city current.
You can watch a Mandan City Commission meeting, the Morton
County all the meetings on our DMA app if you
want to download that on your iPhone or Android or
wherever you are. And we also have our radio so
Access one O two point five app and you can
listen to our podcasts and all of our DJ producers
(25:06):
with all their excellent music phone music shows, so you
can find us wherever you are whenever you can. Jim,
great to see.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
You, Thanks for having us as always.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Yeah, have a great day and thanks for watching City Current.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
For more information on what was discussed in this episode
of City Current, visit Cityofmandan dot com or call seven
oh one sixty six seven three two one five. If
you have any suggestions, comments, or issues you would like
addressed in future City Current episodes, contact us at info
at FreeTV dot org. This program airs on Government Access
(25:39):
channel two and six oh two in HD or on
Radio Access one oh two point five FM. It's also
available as a podcast on Radioaccess dot org and as
a video viewing link at FreeTV dot org. Thanks for
tuning in to this edition of City Current.
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