A fresh look City Council took the dais Monday evening, the first of July, with three new members being sworn in. Outgoing City Councilmembers Stephan Podrygula, Scott Burlingame, and Carrie Evans were replaced with the newly elected members Mike Blessum, Rob Fuller, and Scott Samuelson in a special session taking place immediately before the regular session. This included Mark Jantzer being elected as President and Lisa Olson elected Vice President of the city council.
The agenda would kick off with Mayor Tom Ross’s Report, where he met some of the new commanders at Minot Airforce Base and spoke at the 50th anniversary of Magic City High School, among other things. This was followed by both the City Attorney’s, and City Managers report. One item of note was an update on the 3rd Street Bridge, with it to remain closed pending a follow-up survey by the DOT after some questionable structural issues were discovered.
12 Consent items were approved with items 2 and 12 being pulled for further discussion:
1. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
2. ORDINANCES
3. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS
4. BILLS, TRANSFERS, & PAYROLL
5. GAMING SITE AUTHORIZATION RENEWALS
6. MINOR SUBDIVISION PLAT TO BE KNOWN AS MASTER BLOCK 3RD
ADDITION TO THE CITY OF MINOT, NORTH DAKOTA
7. MINOR SUBDIVISION PLAT TO BE KNOWN AS NORHEIM HEIGHTS 3RD
ADDITION TO THE CITY OF MINOT, NORTH DAKOTA
8. 1500 20TH AVE SW - PERMANENT EASEMENT TASK ORDER 1 (4802)
9. 2023 SIDEWALK, CURB & GUTTER - FINAL PAYMENT (4713)
10. 3RD ST AND CENTRAL AVE RECONSTRUCTION CPM AGREEMENT
(4826)
11. FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT WITH NOVA
FIRE PROTECTION, INC.
12. AGREEMENT FOR ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY INTEREST -
LIBERTY SIERRA VISTA, LLC
The request for further discussion was presented by new Councilman Mike Blessum who sought clarity in some of the pricing and timelines, and the necessity of those costs. After some brief discussion with city engineer Lance Meyer, the items were passed unanimously.
The first Agenda item was to create a paving district at the development on 55th ST SE, near Nedrose school. In short, a development company petitioned the City of Minot to allow for a special district to be created where the city would pay the development company some $17,000 per lot in the zone. This would be used to check utilities, fix roads, and other minor repairs. After these repairs, the developers would then build single family homes which would then be sold where the city would then eventually recoup its expenses through property taxes. The Council felt the risk was not worth the potential reward and struck down the proposal with all six present members voting against.
This would lead to the next agenda item, approval of the purchase of property located next to the Public Works property on the East side of town. This space is becoming overcrowded with material storage and newly relocated buildings, and the purchase of the adjacent property could allow the Public Works to expand into. The property was listed for $920,000, or about $2.88 per square foot according to new City Councilman Rob Fuller. He, along with Councilman Scott Samuelson would question the “plan” to develop the property, with Utilities Director Jason Soerenson replying “At this point, basically, it’ll be for equipment storage, and some of our lay down area for storm sewer pipe and things of that nature. There have been quite a few inquiries and I’ve understood there are people that would like to buy the Burdick frontage, so there would be a possibility of, we could subdivide and sell some off. So, I think at this point we don't have any grand master plan yet, but that would be the next step.”
Councilman Blessum and City Manager Harold Stewart confirmed that the $920,000 would come from cash reserves from the Enterprise funds, which would be unavailable to be used by the city for any road construction or tax relief. Councilwoman Lisa Olson would voice her support of the purchase, saying “I realize that $920,000 is a lot of money, and could be potentially used for something else. I also know that the price of land only increases, it never decreases, and with the proximity to the public works department, I think the investment makes sense.”
Mayor Ross then called a vote that would fail due to lack of majority, with Ross, Olson, and Councilman Mark Jantzer voting in favor, and Blessum, Fuller, and Samuelson voting against. Councilman Paul Pitner was unable to attend tonight's meeting. This would be brought up again at the end of the meeting by Councilwoman Olson who sought clarity on a reconsideration, if possible, which could be held at the meeting immediately succeeding if called to a vote by any council member.
The final agenda item would be the Accounts Receivable Policy Update that was tabled in the June 17 meeting. This is to update the policies on delinquent payments and how those are handled. Councilman Blessum would offer an amendment requiring dual approval on any write offs the city were to offer, as well as maximizing the staff's ability to manage these on their own, mitigating the need for the Council to be involved. Both the amendment and motion would go on to pass unanimously 6-0.
Following a few brief public appearances, including one advocating for further safety measures to be taken at Minot’s lone roundabout, the Council would adjourn for the evening.
View this evening’s agenda: City Council Meeting • Agendas & Minutes • CivicClerk
View tonight's meeting here: Minot City Council 7/1/24 - YouTube
