City Commission - Regular Meeting

Call the meeting to order and we'll begin with the pledge of allegiance. I invite you to join us. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation indivisible.

Roll call. Roll call. Here. Capcorn here. Strand here. Turnberg here. Mahoney here. Roll call.

We're going to show the first part of the video of the state of the cities. Uh I think the Archie broke it into three segments. Heat. Heat. At the heart of Fargo success is an unwavering commitment to service. Each department, each employee, each initiative reflects one goal to serve Fargo's residents and visitors with care, integrity, and consistency. Local Gov works around the clock to keep our city safe, moving, and thriving. From plowing snow to maintaining streets to responding to emergencies, the dedication of Fargo employees continues to shine as a beacon this community can count on. In 2025, we saw major roadway projects improve traffic flow on Fargo streets, enhance safety for pedestrians, and bolster existing infrastructure that supports our continued growth. Among these projects was the reconstruction of 32nd Avenue South, which enters its final phase in 2026 with work from 15th Street to Lumpy Park. 2026 will also mark the start of reconstruction on Main Avenue from University Drive to 25th Street. At Hector International Airport, we have a new parking ramp with about 1,000 new parking spaces. This means

travelers won't have to shovel out their cars in the winter. Connecting the ramp to the airport will be an enclosed skyway. Progress continues on the renovation of the Hector Terminal, expanding Fargo's capacity to welcome visitors and serve the travel needs of local residents. The city of Fargo has been working to install digital water meters in every home and business to modernize the community's water infrastructure. The new meters will give residents better insight into their water usage, help identify leaks, and improve service efficiencies across the city. Fargo continues to appear in national headlines celebrating what residents already know. This city is a great place to live, work, and raise a family. Fargo was recognized in 2025 as the second best city in the nation for veteran healthcare. And as the fifth most affordable community to rent a home against stiff competition from more than 300 cities, Fargo's new water tower was named tank of the year in a national contest. Our tower earned the top honor for its visual design and innovation that reflects Fargo's pride, creativity, and culture. Fargo's public safety sales tax was fully implemented in 2025 and began funding enhancements in safety and technology for our first responders. These funds are also helping to ensure that staffing levels in our police and fire departments meet the needs of our growing community. Significant progress on the Fargo Convention Center project was made in 2025 with site and developer selection advancing to the final phase. Funded by a lodging tax approved by voters, the new convention center, once completed, will attract even more events and visitors to Fargo, fueling our economic engine and driving growth into the future.

Very good. Is there a motion to approve the order of the agenda, moving item number 15 from consent agenda to regular agenda and adding an extra item to the end of the regular agenda for application games choice for TNT's kids fitness and gymnastics for a raffle on 12526? I move. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor say I. I. Motion carried. Is there a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting January 5th, 2026? I move for approval. Is there a second? I second. All those in favor say I. I. Motion carried. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda items 1 through 26 excluding item 15 which has been moved to the regular agenda?

So move. Is there a second? Second. Roll call vote please. Yes. I I fur.

Mahoney. I public hearings annexation of two three 236 acres more or less of southeast quarter and east one half of the southwest quarter of section 35 township 141 north range 49 west of the fifth meridium princip principal Meridium Cass County North Dakota it was continued from 1110 11:24 128 and 1222 regular meetings and to stop the annexation of the property in section 35 in Harvard Township initiated on July 31st 2025 and approve the new resolution of annization for the same property. Uh Yan Mlan, you want to explain or Jim? Yeah. Uh thank you, Jim Gilmore.

As you recall, in July, you initiated three annexations of property up by the proposed data center. Uh the one was in the west half of section three. Uh that one you withdrew and that has now been annexed into the city of Harwood. uh the one to the east of that east half we're in mediation on that one and so the one we're addressing tonight is this one up in section 35 u we had notified the property owner of the annexation and the property owner's address that we had was an ad matthews and others and certainly we notified her there was no response however because there's actually seven different property owners that own a piece of that I've been advised by the city attorney that we should really notify all of them uh because you need to notify them within seven days. We've kind of missed that window. And so the recommendations here are one to stop this annexation that started in July and then just reinitiate that same annexation of this property and we would begin the notices all over again. So be happy to answer any questions.

Any questions of the commission? Mr. Piporn. So Mr. chair. So, Jim, couldn't we just continue this and just try to make an effort to contact them and then just act on it later instead of starting all over again? I mean, we've already contacted them several times. There's just no response. And so, um, I don't have their phone number or anything like that. So, this is how we're contacting them. We're having to follow this entry code and notify them by certified mail. But that's my question. I I I mean if you make a best attempt, do you have to start this process all over again or can't we just continue this?

I I think we need to start it all over again because when we started the first annexation, we followed the law and notified kind of that main owner, but we didn't notify the others within seven days. So, the only way to really start this over is to have you adopt a new resolution of annexation. Then within the next seven days, we'll notify all of those owners and everyone will be aware of it and hopefully they'll get in touch with us if they're going to protest. Should they protest, then we can decide what to do at that point. Does anyone present wish to speak to this annexation? Is anyone wanting to speak to this annexation? If not, I close the public hearing. Do I have a motion? Mayor, I have a question. Um,

Commissioner Strand, are there two motions or one motion? It's two actions in one motion. If you want to split the uh actions, you certainly could. That's exactly what I'd like to do. I'd like to divide the question. So, the first motion is to stop the annexation and the second motion would be to approve the new resolution going forward. Is there a second? I'll second it. Any further discussion? So, Jody, the first one would be to stop the annexation. So that's what we'll take a roll call on first. Strand. Yes. Pepcorn. I Kpac. I. Turnberg. Hi. Mahoney.

Hi. The second one is to restart the annexation for this piece of property. Roll call. Strand. No. Pepcorn. Hi. Holack. Hi. Turnberg. Hi. Mahoney. Hi. Thank you. Final design recommendation for 64th Avenue South interchange project improvement. Tom Knock was to explain.

Good evening. Uh, as the mayor stated here, uh, seeking a decision on, um, a build or no build alternative for, um, ramps at, uh, the intersection of 64th Avenue and I29. Uh, real brief project background timeline here. Uh, you know, this project really started in earnest about 20 years ago. uh city of Fargo uh initiated a study uh to ensure that we could preserve rightaway uh in the northeast quadrant of I29 and 64th Avenue. Um ultimately in 2007 uh the city of Fargo purchased that land uh from the developer of the Maple Valley edition. Um in order to ensure that we could we could hold that land uh for future ramps. Uh and then also in 2008, City of Fargo uh adopted a a corridor study. And in that corridor study, I just want to highlight a couple things. Uh the study really talked about the the near-term, the mid-range need uh for an overpass at 64th and I29 and acknowledge that at some point uh ramps would be added to that interchange uh in more the long-term range at the time, which was between 2018 2027. So since that time, since we've started uh improvements in this area, there have been a number of projects uh needed to to support the ramps. Uh ultimately, City of Fargo has invested over $61 million uh to get to a point where we're able to uh add ramps to 64th Avenue. And so part of this is to to really capture that investment uh in what in in the infrastructure that we've improved. So uh why 64th Avenue? Part of the reason is uh there are operational issues currently at 52nd Avenue that create safety concerns and adding ramps at 64th Avenue alleviates the congestion safety concerns at 52nd. Uh like I mentioned uh also adding ramps at 64th Avenue really leverages the the investment of more than $61 million uh into that area.

Also we have been awarded 21.25 25 million in federal funds. Uh and those are dedicated to the 64th Avenue interchange and they cannot be reassigned. And so if a city commission were to choose to not move forward with a build alternative, that funding would revert to the North Dakota DOT and they would reprogram uh in whichever manner they find best in their system. Uh 76th Avenue interchange does not address the operational issues at 52nd Avenue. That's something we looked at through the traffic operation study. Um, and just want to remind the commission and public as well, uh, an interchange at 76th Avenue would require a a level of investment comparable to what's already been made at 64th Avenue. And so again, there'd be considerable investment, uh, in that that corridor, uh, if we chose when and if we choose to to add ramps or an interchange at 76. The other thing I want to say, uh, you know, why 64th Avenue? It's really supported by the far growth plan. There are a couple spots in the here where we talk about um our super grids and really managing expectations uh from the p to the public uh of our development pattern. And so one of those areas it it talks about um how our growth grids are used as a tool to promote orderly growth. Uh and then by using those we can continue to limit leaprog and we create critical mass in areas undergoing development and maximize the efficiency of its infrastructure investments. There's another spot in here uh where it talks about the the new land code that um planning is currently working on. So 64th Avenue and I29 is situated there. Um Commissioner Strand I believe asked a a question at the last meeting un wanting to understand uh what we anticipate for uh land development in this area and where all this relates in in uh with the diversion footprint. And so in blue towards the left and bottom side of the screen is that diversion input imprint. Um but one of the things I want to point out that the uh growth

plan talked about are uh community centers. And so you can see there's a community center uh anticipated at the intersection of 64th Avenue and 45th Street and another one at 76th Avenue and and 25th Street. Um the interchange at 64th Avenue certainly supports uh growth grid sorry super grids A and Super Grid B. no different than 76 will also support these. Uh but um 76 really starts to support uh super grid C. And so one of the things that the the growth plan mentions is that um you know it it's not specifically calling out a community center in super grid C um or D because the timing of development those areas uh is likely a decade or more away. And so again, I I just bring this up because again, the growth plan is is supporting that idea of this this linear growth, capturing the investment that's already been made uh and acknowledging that an interchange uh and future development is going to happen. Uh but it is still some time away. Uh just a reminder from two weeks ago, we did look at uh three different build alternatives uh in this area. Um all of them perform really well. Uh there's some characteristic differences. Uh, alternative one, uh, has a roundabout on the east side. Uh, more of a traditional intersection on the west side. Uh, alternative two has roundabouts on each, uh, interchange, um, um, intersections. Uh, and then alternative three was a diverging diamond. So, we did bring this to uh, the public works project evaluation committee a week ago. Um, and staff is recommending alternative one as being the best option. So, if we do move forward with this, uh, this is somewhat what it'll look like along that corridor. Um, I do also want to acknowledge that there have been, um, there are property owner concerns. Um, we've had a number of meetings with those property owners. Uh, and I'll just say, you know, if this project moves forward, if if city commission chooses a

build alternative, um, we'll continue to work with those residents to address their their concerns, uh, where we're able to, uh, feasibly through our engineering solutions. And with that, uh, here's a motion I prepared, uh, supporting alternative one.

We have some public speakers. Um, I want to say thank you very much. You did work with the neighbors, uh, heartily and and I try to meet their concerns and I thought we had very positive meetings with the neighbors. It was very uh, productive. Uh, we have uh, seven speakers. Nathan Warmouth is up. Walmouth is up first. Nathan Thank you, commissioners. I'll try to be brief. Uh Tom stole some of my thunder with uh his comments already. So, um good evening, S commissioners, and thank you for the opportunity to speak. Uh my name is Nate Volmouth. I'm an architect and real estate agent here in Fargo. I'd like to speak in support of the 64th Avenue ramps uh alternate alternate number one. I would ask that you support your planning and engineering city staff's recommendations to install the ramps at the 64th Avenue overpass. Over the past several years, the planning department has worked has been working to update the land development code. The ramps at 64th Avenue support the proposed LDC 2024. the city staff has been working tirelessly on for the past several years. It supports it in four ways. Density, it improve it promotes higher density and higher tax base. Number two, orderly growth. The LDC 2024 promotes limiting leaprog development. An example we would be to put the 76th Avenue interchange in before 64th Avenue. Number three, growth grid growth grid sequencing. On page 80 of the LDC, I quote, "By communicating a preferred geographical sequence of development using the growth grid, Fargo can

continue to limit leaprog, create critical mass in areas undergoing development, and maximize the efficiencies of its infrastructure investment. 64th Avenue is the next logical location for growth along 45th Street between 52nd Avenue and 64th Street or 64th Avenue. Number four, Super Grid A, the first of four super grid developments laid out in the LDC. It currently occurs directly on 64th Avenue. Closing remarks. Building 64th Avenue interchange now allows Fargo to grow orderly and not leaprog south towards the diversion. It supports higher density revenue generating commercial development along I29, relieves growing congestion on 52nd Avenue, and improves safety and emergency response. This interchange also helps support um investments Fargo has already made including storm water infrastructure, the Fargo Park Sports Center, NDSU NDSCS Career Innovation Center, and long-term plans for a connected commercial corridor between Fargo and Horus. Thank you for your time and um and service to the community.

Austin Morris Austin Mores Enclave Development. uh probably the I'm in support of the interchange and uh part of the nuances or details relative to the interchange that I think about when we think about approving something this major and you think about uh the last probably four or five years of work. The DOT doesn't uh hand out interchanges uh for fun or easily. the amount of research and time invested in traffic studies and back and forth with uh our great city staff to figure out whether it warrants it is years in the making. You look at West Fargo, they're they're trying to get an interchange and I believe that's probably out until 2029 2030 and that's limiting their growth. So I look at this interchange from a economic development standpoint. We have Fargo public schools owns 68 acres out here. You have all sports complex, the largest all sports complex in our state that's driving traffic from all across the state for sporting events. You have Capstone School. You have NDSCS. Um, and you have an opportunity for economic impact, higher assessed value, and a much more productive development. And if you don't provide great access, which this will, we also can't have visitors uh attending these events that get to enjoy our entire city versus what they can see within a mile or two on a corridor arterial. Um so I'm in favor of it. Thank you for having me.

Rob Coast Hi, commissioners. Thanks for for having me and uh I appreciate all the time that many of you have spent with us over the last weeks. Um, I just ask that if this does get approved that we remember our neighborhood and the people that were there and that we address pedestrian safety. We address driver safety. We address the delivery and service access, noise pollution, and special assessments. We've been hit very hard already. and please make sure it's part of this project if it does get approved. Um these are valid concerns by our neighborhood and we really need to make sure that there's engineered solutions put in place if this does go through. Um we've had very good productive meetings. I'm just asking for follow through if if this is going to get approved. So, thank you Walter Samuel,

Mayor Commission. Thanks for having me again. I'm starting to feel more like a regular in this place than an outcast. So, that's good. Um, again, I'll echo what uh Rob said if it goes through. You know, appreciate what you guys have done. the time you've put in to talk to us, it's really been noticed and uh it makes the city feel more like a city as opposed to uh the city versus us. So, thanks for changing that perspective and um you can still vote no. We can go to 76 just in case you're wondering. So, thanks Chris back. Uh good evening uh commissioners. Um I'm Chris Mack with Christensen Companies. Um I sent a letter uh last Friday uh showing support for uh this 64th Avenue interchange. Uh Tom did a great job at showing the investment and the amount of uh time and effort that was put into the growth grids and the uh growth plan that was uh just approved um in August of 24. Um and this uh interchange will be crucial um for for that development and continued uh success of of those developments. And um I talked to Nathan Orurboom with uh engineering last week. Uh and we had a good conversation about some of the safety concerns. I you have a great engineering staff and uh I think there are opportunities to help alleviate some of the uh speakers before me um with some of the traffic um concerns that they are having and just thank you for your work on this and uh showing support. Thanks

Don Dabbert. Good evening, uh, Mr. Mayor, city commission. Uh, thank you for this opportunity. Uh, Don Dabber, Dabber Custom Homes. Um, it's been a long time in the making. Uh, started, you know, developing some land out there, uh, over a decade ago, so it's nice to kind of see it. Uh obviously we're here to speak in favor of it and uh because it really kind of aligns with the uh the growth plan that we've been talking about for over a decade to go through. We realize that uh having some impact to the neighborhood and certainly want to be mindful of it even some of those early meetings with the bike paths and stuff that were talked about when 64th Avenue was first developed and would certainly like to make sure we continue on that and have continuation of um connectivity through our new developments. Along those lines, I won't address everything else that's been talked about, but um it it's very we feel very critical for the transportation imbalance that's going on as a business owner down um on 56th Avenue and stuff. We see it on a regular basis of what 52nd Avenue is like in the ramps to go through there. Um but really just overall I just want to speak in favor of it for all the other obvious reasons that have been mentioned. So, thank you,

Tyler Brandt. It's not often we get all the developers here. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, commissioners, for your time. Um, I'll make this really brief because they've spoken on most of the stuff that we're concerned about. I'm Tyler Brandt. Uh Brandt Family Ventures. I'm a land developer. Um Don said he's owned land out there for 10 years. I think we've owned land for 60 now. Um because that was my family some of my family farm. And my dad said before he passed away, he said, "Never sell this until you sell it by the square foot because someday they're going to build an overpass here." So, he had a little, you know, um, I guess premonition and, you know, I don't want to see the the community leaprog and have 76 built first. I think that would be stretch resources, stretch um, stuff that's already in place to put in 64th. I understand the the local neighbors and I think most of the traffic I would anticipate would head west going to the the um Fargo parks and and uh you know 52nd Avenue is already too busy. We all know that. So, I don't think there's any more for me to touch on other than this is going to be a great corridor for more commercial development and more taxes for the city and and uh I think overall it'll be um for all the visitors to Fargo, it'll be it's what it's needed. So, um I'm here to support it and uh I hope you uh find uh it as a need. Thank you for your time. Have a good day.

Thank you, Tom. You want to come back to the podium? Uh, any commissioners have any questions of Tom? Mr. Porn, I got a couple questions for Tom. First of all, Tom, can you talk a little bit? So, some of those parcels are big parcels and so back in the day it's converting from a kind of a rural to urban. So, the special assessments, is there a way we can help them especially going forward when they're right on 64th? Are there things we can do? Can you talk a little bit about that?

Yeah, and excuse me. Uh wish I would have had Doug Durgen here to help better explain it than than I could, but um in in general uh what happens when we have these larger residential parcels adjacent to arterials, uh we have um a practice in place where we limit the initial special assessment and defer anything for uh typically it's been 10 years uh beyond that initial. Um there are some triggers that if they redevelop to a higher um and better use um those deferrals go away, but but there are some tools in place currently to limit the special assessments um on those adjacent residential parcels.

Just a couple more, Mr. Chair. So, can you talk a little bit too on the on the west side of the interstate? Those are a lot of nonprofits and things like that. Can you talk how how do the assessments work when it's an area like to like the park district? Do they still have to pay uh or or how does that work? Can you talk a little bit about that?

Yeah, so um all all properties are subject to special assessments if they're within a benefiting area except for one land type and that's a cemetery. And so uh nonprofits, schools, churches, whatever it might be, uh do pay special assessments. And so when we make improvements through special assessments, they certainly do pay those. Okay. And just one one more question. So this is just my So we've we were out and visited with them and and I don't know if everybody did, but we went out there and I believe that 64th when you put that interchange, the traffic is going to change and and I think you talked about we can do some things to address speed concerns with those neighbors. But just when you have roundabouts and you have more uh right now it's a straightaway for many miles. And so I this is just my opinion. I think it's I think the traffic is going to be reduced just because it's going to be a the characteristics are going to be different. Can you just talk a little bit about that?

Yeah, currently on 64th from 25th to 45th uh there are two miles that are not controlled for a motorist traveling east to west on on 64. So again, you can see from this image uh by having a signal at the the west um interchange uh access point and having a roundabout at the east one um will change traffic patterns and speeds uh in this area. Um so again there there are other things like I said we we are certainly committed to continuing those conversations and seeing what other things can be done. Um I know there's a comment of it needs to be part of the project. One thing I'll say is that it would be separate from the project and that's just because of the federal funds we have here. Uh the environmental clearance that was done near the interchange wasn't also done near 25th Street. And so they do have to be separate projects but again it it would still be something that we we are committed to looking at and and bringing options back to city commission.

Also Doug Durham when he went through the assessments commissioner Pepcarn you did find there's some reduction already. we've already brought some of the pricing down. And the second thing is that the federal funding has really helped out. So that also has bring the pricing down. So it's one of those options where you get the federal funding. You got to grab that federal funding and that decreases the city's cost. Commissioner Copek.

Yeah, thank you. Just a couple clarifying comments, but first to the staff. The amount of time you've spent on this project over 20 years certainly, but in the last six months working with citizens is very much appreciated. Appreciate the real engagement we've had from the public on this too. A number of comments have come in in the last month. Um I just want to make one clarifying point um about the propos alternate number one is also $3 million less correct but I don't think that point was made. Um and secondly um what was my second point? Um, oh, in some of my conversations also with area legislators about this, there was a little bit of confusion on federal funding being able to be diverted if we just would now go to 76. And the reality is it would have to all start all over again. And so I just wanted to make sure that that point was made to the public, but sincerely appreciate all the work in time.

Mr. Strand,

thank you, Mayor. Um Thomas, I'm wondering the topic of safety just so we don't overlook the request for followup because we've all met with the neighborhood up there and that's front burner for them especially and understandably what are the safety considerations we will uh embark upon. I I think there are a lot of options that we can look at. Um I think if there is a a decision by commission to move forward with this um those are the conversations we're going to have in greater depth. And so part of what we've talked about uh one-on-one with the property owners is uh a lot of concern about the the properties on the south side. Uh so accessing in uh into their site and and then leaving their their residential properties as well deliveries, things like that. So, um, we've talked about frontage roads, we've talked about, uh, turn lanes, we've talked about more like a call it a a parking lane that wouldn't be for parking, but more for access. Those are all opportunities. Um, maybe looking at midblock crossings for pedestrians, um, with uh, median refuges. Um, adding planter medians in the median in certain strategic areas to to kind of create a little bit of bottlenecks that help reduce uh, traffic speeds. There a lot of things that we've kind of spitballled so far, but again um you know Mike Bitner uh with Bolton and Mink and and Jeremy Gordon our tra traffic engineer those those two individuals that would have great ideas that they can bring to the table too uh when we look at these types of uh concepts that we would further evaluate.

Might I continue? What would be the timeline of the consideration and process for those safety topics? I would say if there is a decision uh to move forward with a build alternative tonight uh we would kick off those conversations. We would develop those concepts uh put some pricing to it and ultimately re bring them back to city commission for consideration.

And my last question uh and and also thanks to all your staff and to your people who've put a lot of time into this uh and have been very responsive to the public and and it's great to see that type of interaction and engagement. Um, is it safe to assume that we're going to have both? Because my thinking is is we are we modify our motion to uh address 64th now and in the same motion uh lay the groundwork for opening up the discussion immediately for 76. So there isn't any time lag on that. Is that reasonable or is that assumed or? So I anticipated that that might come up and so um I did put this alternative motion together which basically uh selects alternative one as the preferred option for 64. So that gives us the direction to move forward with that. Uh but then it goes further to direct engineering department to prioritize program because there's a lot of work that takes place to to get um everything lined up to really pursue funding. Um and so if that's the wish of city commission I did provide that as an alternative motion. So, just to clarify though, again, it tells us to move forward on 64th Avenue, alternative one, and then we go after programming 76.

But I think Commissioner Strand wanted to address the neighborhood as far as safety concerns of the neighborhood, John, almost a separate motion. Would that be fair? Because if we do that, so the concern, we met with the neighbors, had great meetings, but uh what are you going to do in special assessment? So, if we do one alternative, they all get special assessed. If you do another alternative, the city covers the cost. do another alternative. It was it was convoluted and when we met with the neighbors, they weren't quite sure which one they had. And then where the fire station is ultimately may put a stoplight in there as well and that gets special assessed a special way. So there were concerns about let's not pile a bunch of special assessments on the neighborhood, but is there a way that we can look with prairie dog funds or other funding to address some of the safety issues. So, I'd almost prefer let's vote on this motion, maybe alternative motion, and then have a separate motion to instruct the Indian department to work with the neighborhood to address the safety concerns. But give Tom some latitude because we had like six or seven things we talked about and the con the neighborhood wasn't convinced because if you do that frontage road, those six neighbors would get assessed $700,000. Well, that isn't going to work. So,

mayor, I go ahead. I make the alternative motion to to the commission. Is there a second? I'll second discussion. Mr. Turnber,

I would just like to make a couple um comments. First of all, I would like to validate uh Travis, Walter, and Rob. Your concerns, they're valid. Uh for people who are maybe wondering why these residents are upset about this, imagine having your driveway enter onto 52nd Avenue. So that's what these neighbors are worried about and I would not want that at all. So um absolutely your concerns are validated and uh we hear you and I think we've come up with some ideas that we can start working on. We've had some great brainstorming sessions and uh working to fix that. I think Commissioner Strand too has been part of that. Um, I would like to if we somehow can give asurances to homeowners in a separate motion that we will be moving forward with some safety features, speed, maybe those bumpouts, um, something that is not financially hurtful like a like a frontage road, but that is that is doable for all. I do like that the specials are spread out even to the nonprofits. I think that helps out immensely. And the fact that this first option not only saves $3 million, but I like how going to the east where we have residences, there is the roundabout which seems more residential and to the west where it's more commercial property, we have the stoplight. So I think too that breaks it up. After one of our recent meetings, um, Commissioner Pepcorn and I left, um, one of your homes and I wanted to see what it was like. I mean, I drive that all the time, but just to consciously um, take note. I had to put my cruise control on to follow the speed limit because it is just a wide open track and

people were buzzing by me like crazy. So, absolutely, the stoplight, the roundabout, if we can add some friction. I've learned a lot of new engineering terms, too. Um, medians, whatever. But we will continue to work with you, and I just want to make sure these residents have are reassured tonight when they leave that you're not forgotten and that we're moving on with this project. Um, without your concerns taken in into mind. And I did, I mean, I even spoke with the the fire chief and his understanding was this was going in. And then when we have a brand new fire station on 64th Avenue, it just makes sense. So even though my heart breaks for you guys because we have had a lot a lot of conversations, um I do think for the aggregate good, it's best for the city to move forward with 64th. I just want you to know that your concerns are valid, that we will keep working on this, and I just think for for the the greater good that we should move forward.

Any other discussion? Roll call vote, please. Yes. Icorn. I Tom, could you kind of maybe suggest a motion to John as far as I don't want to just confide it to traffic concerns or whatever whatever engineering terms you would like to utilize for what to address the neighborhood's concerns.

Yeah. Um, I suppose the way I'd frame it is is really directing the engineering team to work on um traffic calming um speed reduction, safety improvements uh east of the proposed interchange. Um I would recommend from from here all the way to university. um we'll need some time to to come forward with some concepts um and some costing and so within the next um maybe two to three months we could certainly be back to city commission with with some proposed ideas and and have some costs associated with that. Let's give you three months. John, would you make that motion?

Okay. Do you want to make the motion? I will make the motion to come back in three months with alternative uh neighborhood mentioned recommendations for the neighborhood east of the interchange. Second. Second. Any other discussion? Roll call vote, please. Turnber. I Yes. Paci. Epcorn. Hi. Mahoney. Hi.

Thank you everybody for getting involved. It's a good example. if you get people involved, you get some good answers and you get good discussions and that's what the city's about. And uh I really want to thank Tom Nachmus and his team because they did an excellent job and Doug came over and helped us from Sessor's office just was really well done. So appreciate that and next time we have the developers in the room we'll talk about how we're going to develop Fargo but okay um we're now have information updated and employee engagement survey Joe Manette to explain as well a couple other people. Good evening. So, we want to start off uh tonight by briefly reviewing the purpose of the overall employee engagement initiative. At the highest level, the purpose really was to first measure the level of engagement across the entire workforce for the city and then to develop action plans that support uh both how we achieve high engagement currently and how we address causes of disengagement. Um so we we in addition to that really one of the most important goals is to celebrate our successes. Um there are really great achievements happening across the city every day 24/7 um throughout the city and sometimes we get too busy and and we forget to celebrate those successes. So again, that's one of our most important goals with this overall initiative. And like any organization, of course, we have areas that need improvement that were identified through the survey as well. Um, and it's really important to recognize that our key stakeholders for this overall initiative really are the employees of the city of Fargo. And by normalizing conversations about all the

factors that affect both engagement but factors that lead to disengagement, our employees really will help to create an action plan um over the course of this year to two years that will will affect real positive effective change throughout the city. Uh in order to do that, we really need to create a safe space to encourage constructive feedback, collaboration, and civility. And this is really through a shared responsibility with all of our employees, our leaders, and our elected officials. So, I want to briefly discuss the overall timeline just to review some of the steps that have already been completed and where we're headed next. So, as you know, the survey was launched last fall and we received those results late October, early November. At the end of November, November 20th, we held a cabinet retreat where we had a really lengthy discussion with all of our department leaders about the results of the survey and and next steps with the overall initiative. We provided a toolkit for our department leaders to guide the preparation um for those department leadership team discussions and then ultimately for some of the preliminary action planning as well. So now in 2026 during the first quarter we're going to be holding the employee discussion groups. The departmental leadership uh and employee discussions are well underway um with a few departments already developing their action plans which is great. Many of our departments uh have built in employee engagement as a standing agenda item uh either in their leadership team meetings or their overall uh team meetings for

their departments. The bulk of the action plan development and implementation will begin happening in the second quarter of 26. And then in the last half, we'll begin ongoing meetings with city administration and our department leaders to review our early progress in uh achieving some of those items on the action plan. Then as we look to 2027, the action plan implementation of course will continue as we track our progress. Ultimately the next survey is planned for 2027. And that next survey is what will really allow us to, you know, fully measure our progress from the results to 2025 to what progress we've made in 27. So, now that I've covered the timeline, Beth is going to give you more detailed information on our next steps for early 26. Good evening, commissioners. As Jill mentioned, at a recent cabinet retreat, we distributed toolkits that are designed to help our department heads um really support their action planning processes. And within those toolkits are what we call an action planning worksheet, which helps support the next steps of the process, the employee discussion groups. Um so prior to the discussion groups beginning, we are asking department heads to review their results to identify um areas that stood out to them within the survey, things that surprised them, things that didn't surprise them. Um and then to identify two to three key drivers of engagement that they want to prioritize during the

discussion groups. Um, additionally, leadership teams will identify high impact solutions that can be acted upon quickly, assess what in the survey needs further exploration, um, what resources are needed and which stakeholders will be impacted in which areas. Um, additionally, we are asking them to identify areas that may need to be addressed immediately. Uh leaders will also identify engagement drivers that were viewed positively in the survey and those things uh should be maintained, enhanced and celebrated. And then once the leadership teams have identified their priorities, we will move into the employee discussion group um process and that will in help inform the action planning that we'll discuss in just a few minutes. As far as the employee discussion groups go, we have two plans for that. Um, each department will host uh departmental discussion groups that will be designed to discuss their individual department's results. And then we will have city-wide groups that will consist of crossf functional teams with representatives from each department to discuss the results we received at a citywide level. Um the purpose of these discussion groups really is to move beyond the survey scores um and to help us identify the why be behind the scores and so ultimately they provide qualitative context to the quantitative data that we received in the survey. Additionally, the discussion groups are designed to demonstrate that city leadership is listening to the employees and not just measuring engagement levels uh and hopefully

improve the quality and the re relevance of the action plans. Um and then as far as the action planning framework goes, um we have developed a common action plan framework that will be used to ensure consistency throughout the city. And so we are asking each department to complete the framework that will ultimately be rolled up into an overall city of Fargo plan. Um, and this framework is determined to or you is intended to be used to determine what areas that we're trying to address, what impact each of those drivers have on employee engagement, what might be causing problems, what actions are needed to address the potential problems, and then what are the optimal end results. Uh and on my next page here I have an example of the action planning framework. Um so you can see that there are several columns here. The first one identifies the tasks or the action steps that are needed to achieve each objective and what specific processes or actions will help address um the driver of engagement. We've asked departments to identify champions or the people that will be responsible for implementing these tasks. Um we've looked at resources needed whether that would be people resources, financial or physical resources. Um we are looking to identify milestones or key dates that indicate u movement in each task and then what those measures of success might look like. Um, and then progress review dates. So, check-in dates that are designed for us to make sure that we are moving this initiative

forward. And then finally, a communication plan and and ensuring that we are communicating activities and results to employees in a way that is um holding leaders accountable and um keeping us open and transparent for the activities that we're engaging in. Well, thank you commissioners for the time this evening to talk about this really important initiative. As noted earlier, this is really the very first phase of this work. It's the first time ever that we've done this in our organization's history. And so, this is really going to help us frame our overall engagement strategy and initiative, you know, going forward. Um, one of our key next steps is going to be spending a lot of time within our leadership teams talking about what this means as we roll it out. had one of those great conversations as early as this morning within our senior leadership team talking about what we want to do within the departments. You heard some of that feedback tonight. We have many of our departments already off and uh running with this initiative and doing a lot of great great activities. But uh please know that your human resources and administration team is also going to be highly engaged in this process, not just today but tomorrow and in the years that follow. Uh as a first-time survey, we're going to learn a lot here, but we think it's very important that we return to this in a couple of years. And we have already planned that this will be our baseline survey. This is going to be something that we revisit in 2027 and we're going to plan for that. It's really an important and meaningful early stage process for us. Uh but we need to come back to that and and revisit that. Look at your baseline. See how we did. See how we improved. See how we made changes uh from 2025 and 2026 to 2027. The other thing that you're going to hear us talk a lot about is supporting our department heads and our leaders to make sure that they're supporting that change management. Beth just talked about that. Making sure that they're equipped, that they have the tools, they have the resources today, tomorrow, and beyond to uh be able to help move the needle and help us move to a more engaged workforce. And I think that's a really really great great thing. This two-year cycle is really going to allow

us to keep coming back to this, too. I think this is very important to note that this is not just a one-time survey and then we're done with it. No, in fact, this is a longitudinal effort. It's something that you have to measure today and then you come back to it and hopefully at years four, six, eight, etc., you continue to show progress to your goals and you continue to show that we're doing quite a bit as an organization to engage employees. So, I think that two-year cycle is is really important. And perhaps most important is we think from an employee employer perspective, it's really going to help us meet uh that expectation that we have in our action plan, which is to really uh listen to our people. uh very directly to listen to them, learn from them, and then act on what they're sharing with us. And so, we're happy to answer any questions you have today. We thought it would just be helpful to give just a very brief update. And uh we're happy to keep the commission in the loop as well on this long range initiative for the city of Fargo. So, thank you very much,

Mr. Cole Pac, you brought this to the agenda. Any comments you want to make?

Yeah, thank you. I appreciate the update and it's important that this stay front and center. We made that promise to employees that we were going to do this work, that we were going to have action plans associated with how we're going to address the concerns that were raised. I sincerely appreciated the cander and the the the honesty that was shared in the 436 public comments at the end. Um, and so working with each department and each division head to address what those divisional items are is going to be very important and making it a actionable is is step one. So, we'll be asking for regular updates um you know every quarter hopefully. I've talked to Mr. Redinger about that. Um but I appreciate this this this start. So, thank you.

Any other questions? Thank you. Thank you. Have a motion for the application of property tax exemptions. That's a move. Is there a second? Second. Roll call vote, please. Pepcorn. I. Turnberg. Hi. Colpac. Strand. Yes. Mahoney. Hi. Leison on assignments. Commissioner Strand. Do we have two more items? Okay. I I can delay leison on till after that if that's Let's do that if we could, Mayor. Would that be okay? Okay. Direct city office uh to review the tobacco ordinance chapter 35. Uh you brought this question up, Commissioner Turnber.

I did. My phone was blowing up this morning from business owners around the region uh wondering what exactly was going to be uh discussed at the meeting tonight. So, I wanted to make sure we were clear and transparent and uh coordinating with the public and businesses so they know what is being discussed um at city hall. I will say a concern that I have after digging into this is it seems almost fruitless to me to put any restrictions on these vapes when you can order them online. So in my mind, we would be punishing local businesses because they wouldn't be allowed to sell them. although anyone over 21 or having someone who is 21 could order them online. So I just think that's important to bring up that people are aware. John Paul will address that. We had an inservice last week that talked about vaping. Uh very well done. We had a lot of different experts speak to us in this regard and Minnesota Klay County and I think city of Morehead does have an ordinance in regards to this. So really the request for the public understands that it was for a city attorney to look at this ordinance and make see what might become of it but it would come back to the commission for discussion and public input as well if that happens. So John follow you want to explain what the dynamics of this are please.

Sure. Good afternoon. Thank you commissioners. Uh the item number 15 on the agenda tonight is the direct the city attorney's office to review the tobacco ordinances chapter 35 for the city of Fargo. Um, the memo that came over to city hall on the 14th of January was to have staff at Fargo Cast Public Health request permission to work with the legal team to examine the components of a comprehensive tobacco ordinance to include but not limited to tobacco licensing and flavor policies. So, the uh the the content on the agenda was supposed to be more clear and specific that it's it's broadening what we're looking at. for background for the commission and for the public. Uh in in July of 2025, we did ask for permission to begin this work with the city attorney's office and we were granted that permission as we've been working with our local and national partners on the topics. Uh we're starting to process many of those components that have best practices really reducing the access to flavored vapes um for the youth in the communities not just across the river but across the state and across the nation. to share some of the concerns and the content that we're learning from the process. We wanted to have the board of health and the city commissioners become aware of what we were learning. So, we hosted a joint meeting last week Thursday here in chambers. That meeting was recorded and is uh available on Fargo public's health Facebook page as well as the city of Fargo's Facebook page and I would direct any interested u public members who want to learn more about that meeting to really go to those sites. the uh recording is there in its entirety uh and the comments that flowed afterwards are listed as well. I won't be able to do that meeting justice with all of those who presented in the few moments that I have here for the hour that they they took the time to be thoughtful in their comments at that meeting. The partners for the Fargo public health have been working with those partners and those supporting um had shared many of their comments in that meeting but those who weren't able to share within the hour meeting they

were in the room to support as well. Those partners include the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Cancer Society, Cancer Action Network, Sanford Health, Essentia Health, Southeast Behavioral Health Clinic, Fargo Public Schools, Fargo Police Department with their school resource officers, Campaign for Tobaccofree North Dakota, Tobaccofree Kids, Foundation for a Healthy North Dakota, the Multi-Partner Health Collaborative, Klay County Public Health, and the SAFE Coalition. The multi-partner health coalition uh collaborative rather is a a group of professionals who work closely with the North Dakota state ship which is the state health improvement plan and there's a goal in the state health improvement plan to have a uh curbed reduction in the use of tobacco. We are working with them to help align us to become the healthiest state of the nation once again which has been a proud goal for North Dakota to return to. The Safe Coalition is a smoke-free air for everyone and this was formed in 2002 and is responsible for such legislation as a smoke-free air um indoor workplaces and it's the reason why you don't have to be asked if you want to seat in the non-smoking or smoking sections and restaurants any longer. So, this uh group of people came together and they're helping us draft policy. We want to continue to explore chapter 35 within the city of or city of Fargo's ordinances. Uh we don't have a specific draft yet for sharing. Uh that is going to come forward in future commission meeting. And right now we just wanted permission to continue to look at what we want to draft into and really pulling in best practices from all the different entities that have been sharing with us.

Thank you. Any comments or discussion? We have a motion. So move a second. I'll second. And I have just a comment if I may, Mr. Chair. You may make a comment. Yeah. I just I want to reiterate the I was impressed with the level of expertise on that panel, the wide backgrounds on that panel and the fact that it was so data driven and researchbased and so I thought it was a good start to begin the conversation and kind of level set excuse me what the issues are and um so thank you. I thought it was very good information. Thank you, Mr. Strand.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm just curious, Jen. Um, I I I I serve as the chair of the board of health and I'm the least health oriented person there as far as the profession goes, but so my job in my head is is to help facilitate the the wishes of the health board and and public health department. Will this get vetted, Jen, in public health initially and then come to the city? That's what I'm hoping happens that that that's the arena that the public health experts and people can talk and vet it there. Is that what you expect?

One of the partners I failed to mention is the public health law center in Minnesota. Uh and they help with language and what is best practices um from a public health perspective and angle. Uh and also working with health and human services North Dakota to make sure we're aligning with the state's initiatives as well. So would the public health board make a recommendation to this entity in the end ultimately? Would you is that what you would see that? It's not the step work that I had anticipated. Um, is it you can tell me what you wish to have happen there, Commissioner? We I I I think it it'll be in both arenas for sure. It'll be vetted in public health and we'll see what's natural, but we need to get John, are you trying to be vetted in board of health? Board of Health and then come to the commission. Yes.

Yeah. That's what I would expect. So, that would allow public input at both venues and often times we do engage the owners of the shape shops to get engaged to see what they recommend as well. If if we jump just to the city commission and overlook and don't have it worked through at the public health board level, we're skipping them in this process. And I would like to know that we have their endorsement completely before it would come to us. Okay. Which I expect probably would happen. Any other discussion? It was moved and seconded. Roll call vote, please. Strand. Yes, Colpac. Hi, Epc. Hi, Turberg. I

Mahoney. Hi. Application for games of Chance. TNT Kids Fitness and Gymnastics. Dave, you should have told him to put that in on time, but is there a motion for it? I'll make a motion and I get to add something. So, uh, TNT Fitness is awesome place. If anybody's been there and my son Alex is the director of the special needs program there, and I'm very proud of him. And so if you're going to join or you're going to play a raffle, please play play this raffle. All right, that's not a conflict now for you to make the motion, right Dave? You make no profit off that,

but I do not have a conflict of interest. So Commissioner Strand is always concerned about that, but I just wanted to put a plug in for it's a great thing and they do lots of services, but it's a great place. All right. Thank Sorry for going on, Mr. Chair, but that's my motion to approve. Is there a second? Second. Moved and seconded. Uh any discussion? Further discussion. Roll call vote. Pepcorn. I. Colpac. Strand. Yes. Turnberg. I. Mahoney. Hi. Okay. John, now I go to leazison on assignments. John Strand.

Well, I'm going to try and manage and contain my excitement, but Commissioner Turnberg and maybe some others. We we toured the new airport terminal last week with members of our economic development team and committees and departments and oh my goodness, we have a really beautiful terminal. It's it's beyond my expectations of of what it would look like. So, any chance you get it, not just the parking ramp, which is we're all excited about, but you get inside this new terminal and you go, "Wow, this is Fargo." You know, it's spectacular. I'll just leave it at that. But it's absolutely spectacular. And the folks at the airport authority board of directors, volunteers, and all the people who've done this that that put countless hours and and focus into this effort for the community. And it'll be a legacy project that and I know comm I have pictures of commissioner Turnberg and and uh others there that are Paula chair our chair but it's just spectacular. I encourage you to go see it as soon as you can.

Mr. Copac.

Yeah, we had a nice overview by the chair Ecman at the chamber state of the cities John. So she did a really nice job too. So we got to see some photos there at that event. Um I have two slides. The first is fire department several updates. On January 1st, the department successfully transitioned to a new records management pre-planning inspection system called first due. Helps our department meet new federal reporting requirements. Um on Saturday, January 17, Fargo's first responders attended the Fargo's hometown heroes night at Shields Arena. Um Fargo's 1924 LeFrance fire engine was on display. And this morning, 10 new fire recruits in the Metro Fire Academy kicked off their training with the chiefs from Fargo, Morehead, and West Fargo giving a welcome address. So, good luck to all our new recruits. And then I wanted to to wrap up the Salvation Army Red Kettle Drive. We raised $762,800 as honorary chair. It was an honor to see all the volunteers that showed up to hit the goal at 90% which was a good a good target. But um you know in today's economy it was a fabulous turnout. And as I said Fargo really show Fargo and the and our surrounding cities really showed up and helped. And the last thing I'll add is that the North Dakota realtors won first place in the competition. Fire department got second and police officers got third in their annual competition. Thank you.

I think you're just supposed to tell who gets first. I don't know. You need to go to the second and third part, did you? Yes, I do. I need to support all three.

Uh, today we had an event here with Senator Hovind and he's constantly been our champion as far as many of the projects we had. And the exciting news is at the core if they are under budget, you get the excess revenue comes back to the entity that's running the project. And he has got anywhere from 100 to 120 million that will come back into the coffers. And what that means to the public is a sales tax will go less yours. So we voted in a sales tax sax goes up to 284 but this will bring that down substantially and more money we get back from core is better. And what Hovind did that was particularly neat was that normally that would be 31 or 32 that money would come in but we might get it this year. So that really helps out out as far as our financial projections. Red River Valley Water Supply also got $50 million for the NWAS part of it. We're looking for 450 million. We're working on that and we'll continue to to work on that. And then uh John, I just wanted to come and you know Martin Luther King Day was yesterday and normally we have an event and the public knows or didn't know this has been six months in advance. people knew that wasn't going to happen and actually HRC was asked go out and get public funds and we did have donors that oftentimes donated to that event and the only disappointment I had is Frederick used to have young children or young high school kids do poems talks songs dances and it was a great event. It was really enjoyable, but as a city, we oftentimes have to turn over that to other sites and maybe the school like they did with the youth initiative could do something or like that, but I would lot like to lose the youth enthusiasm when they do those presentations. And they used to do a great great presentation. So people have to understand sometimes somebody else has to step up when the city of Fargo steps back. Commissioner Turnberg.

Yes. Thank you. Commissioner Strand and I did have a wonderful tour of the airport. It is fabulous. And thank you to Paula Ecman for taking us on that tour along with several other um area officials. And I have uh pictures posted on my commissioner Michelle Turnberg page so you can see I mean handless bathroom faucets from soap water to dryer. You don't have to touch anything. The doors swing open so you can get your bag inside. Children's play area with interactive screens. The parking ramp. It's just it's really fabulous. Pets. You got to mention pets.

Pet the pet area. You can go into the pet area. It's got artificial turf. They do their business. You use a hose and it all drains to the sewer. It's amazing. So, um I do have pictures of that on my Facebook page and I also have library updates, all the upcoming events that are scheduled for the next few weeks on there as well. And thank you to Tom for the engineering update because I couldn't begin to uh summarize that. Thank you, Mr. Pepcoin.

Sure. Just real quick, the parking ramp at the airport. I want to congratulate the mayor cuz back in the day that was like pulling teeth to get them to build a ramp and Jim Gilmore's son was back and said, "Wow, this looks like a real airport now with the ramp." And so one day there was 725 cars parked in that ramp. And so most people now are willing to pay to not come back from Florida into a 4-foot snow drift. And so that's been great. The good thing is it's the financial part of it. We can add on to it down the road if we if demand. So that's that's that's great news. So I I apologize for not being at that, but I that's that's uh that was a challenge and we worked on it for a long time because it was not easily done. So anyway, that's that's my update and uh thank you everybody and have a good uh when when he today it was 14 degrees and you had to get outside to enjoy the warm weather. That's North Dakota. Public comments. We have two public comments. Kimberly Ando, please.

Good evening and thank you so much for uh having me here. I'm pretty new to the area, been here just a few years and I was met from Fargo First online and welcomed to come here by Commissioner Turnberg. Thank you so much for having me. I am just a resident, but my field of expertise is healthcare operations, specifically long-term care. I've operated facilities throughout the United States, including nursing homes, assisted living facilities, memory care facilities, continuing care, retirement communities, and a medical community consisting of senior living, rural health clinic, chemical dependency facility with detox and dispensary. I'm also a graduate and terminal professor in healthcare administration, and a subject matter expert in instructional design and clinical technology. Over the past 15 years, I've educated thousands of students from 16 universities throughout the United States and Saudi Arabia. Part of my expertise and experience has even been serving as an undercover professor with my students to meet healthcare facilities to make sure they're remaining compliant and taking care of their residents and patients. My interest here tonight is ensuring the voice of the community are heard and prioritized based on what's really happening. And for me, that's education and healthcare. As I said, I was introduced here for Fargo's First and Commissioner Turnberg. And I'm here today to hear for myself what's going on since I really don't know anybody. And with that being said, there have been some recent occurrences in the nation that have really shifted what's important and this shift needs to be felt here in Fargo to ensure the financial viability, reputation, and future. I support the retirement of the three commissions, Human Rights Commission, Native American Commission, and the Arts and Culture Commission. Based on what I've seen and heard, there are more important matters to attend to that are more supportive of all residents rather than merely hyperfocusing on one group. To be honest, I was a bit takenback when I heard the outrage of how the town doesn't always support the Somalian

community. I did some research and I must say it's clear that this population has greatly benefited from the generous resources offered. From receiving $2,400 per migrant to Lutheran social services, giving transitioning funding, free healthcare, free housing to free food via EBT, it's clear the demographic is thriving and given many opportunities. Rather than continue focusing on one group, I think we need to come together and look at what is really important. Yesterday, we saw an attack on a church. I really believe Christian phobia is a thing and I really think we need to take a look at it and make it sure it does not continue here.

Joseph Garcia, I think Joseph is not here tonight and I we will be adjourned. Thank you.