MINOT — Most seats were filled as Mayor Shaun Sipma delivered the State of the City address to a luncheon meeting held at the Cognizant building that will house Minot’s second high school.
Mayor Sipma pointed to “the collective decisions we have made with purpose, not only as elected leaders but as a community” as positive steps for the city of Minot.
“If we look at the voters voting to approve a new high school, and that is only one decision made that collectively works together with all of the other decisions that were made, and we’re all working together toward a better Minot,” according to Mayor Sipma.
He also pointed to the other areas of Minot that are growing “whether it’s Trinity, downtown, Dakota Square, the energy sector, and even the agriculture sector that plays in step with the port services, there are so many wonderful things that are going on.”
Mayor Sipma said that we as a city must not only acknowledge the growth, but also ensure that we continue to work on all of these areas of growth because “complacency only just leads to stagnation." As an example, Mayor Sipma pointed to the new Big M building being developed by EPIC in downtown Minot. “But then we have the challenges ahead of Trinity vacating downtown Minot,” said Sipma. “But we acknowledge all of the things that were done with purpose, and that is what got us here today.”
When asked if today is different than when he first ran, Mayor Sipma replied, “Much different than when I first ran. That’s not that when you run you are coming in to solve every problem in the world, but a lot of things have changed dynamically, significantly than when I first ran. We have an overall wholistic message spreading throughout the city. The bigger vision is collective, and I think the message and the atmosphere is a lot more optimistic, and it doesn’t take just one, it takes the collective to get there.”
Also part of Friday's event was a moment of thanks given to John McMartin for his years as Executive Director of the Minot Chamber, and now Minot Chamber Economic Development Corporation. McMartin will be retiring at the end of 2022.
Mayor Sipma also took a moment to recognize Eric Locken as Citizen of the Year. Besides a certificate, he presented Locken with a Minot Coin.
Other projects that the mayor noted as the right road taken were the vote to build a second high school and turn Central Campus into a third middle school, the continued work on what he referred to as the largest infrastructure project every undertaken in Minot, the Mouse River Flood Protection Plan, the Northwest Area Water Project that will bring Lake Sakakawea water to dozens of cities in the area, the new fire station soon to be built on 4th Avenue NW, the purchase of the old Wells Fargo bank building in downtown Minot that will soon house City Hall and the emergency dispatch center, and the remodeling of the old Minot City Hall to house the Minot Police Department, Municipal Court, and other Minot City Offices.
The mayor ended his State of the City address with, “It’s the willingness to get involved in the community that will make all the difference.”
