Remarks by Michelle Turnberg
40 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 2 of 2
“And if GTC was located in the former Cass Public Health and NSP building, why wouldn't they go back? Because if my fear is now we have the deck building, the former deck building, and the Civic Center, which will both be demolished, we're going to be throwing loads of money into both buildings. But we have that other property across the street. Has there been any discussion on that?”
“I am meeting with all of my departments in the coming week to discuss the budget and what we can do to help with it and also getting more involved and meeting more people through my new diversion departments, diversion authority committees. So any updates that I have or newsworthy items will be posted online.”
“May I ask, would you do this project without the Renaissance zone money?”
“Aren't they already doing, starting on work inside the building?”
“I so move. Thank you. second second thank you commissioner strand any discussion commissioners commissioner turnberg i would just like to say um now thank you commissioner strand i took over your seats with the airport authority and have been discussing this for quite some time but there are more than 40 airports that do this this is not a new idea bismarck already does it minot minneapolis st paul many of the places that Fargo applies to directly. And just like any establishment that serves alcohol, the servers already have training. This alleviates the pressure on the limited seating that…”
“And I believe, too, the airport authority has done a lot of discussion on this and a lot of just checking it out, different scenarios. So I would be in full support of letting them lead the way, and we support this move.”
“I have had many, many conversations with the business owners in this area, and none of them that I've spoken with want this to go in. It's been 20 years and they function just fine without it. It is total industrial. There's a trucking business, which would almost be dangerous to have a sidewalk, a cul-de-sac in an industrial area, and then if you put it into a seasonal business, you're then forcing Thunder Road to maintain the sidewalk throughout the winter when they don't have business. So to me, this is just the city is us spending unnecessarily. It's going to be costing the business…”
“Just to be clear, Commissioner Strand, is your motion to install the sidewalks in all the red or to waive the yellow?”
“No, I just will reiterate, I'm glad it's not my business. I wouldn't want to spend another $12,000, $20,000 out of pocket for a sidewalk where there aren't people and pedestrians walking. It just doesn't make sense to me. And I think it's a happy medium where you have populations and people living. You have sidewalks, the apartment buildings. In the middle there, those are shop condos, I believe. So that's not housing. And Thunder Road has been there for 20-some years, and I don't know that I've ever heard of an accident with a pedestrian. But to me, the happy medium is to allow the waiver.”
“I just wanted to agree with you, Commissioner Strand, that we want to follow policy, but our policy also includes the waivers. So, in fact, we are following policy by allowing the protest to take place. So I think this is a good compromise and being sensible.”
“Who's just going to second? Thank you. Thank you.”
“Excuse me. I have a couple of questions. What is the holdup or the delay for the big vacation of 24th Street?”
“It's a street. It's not a building, Becky.”
“Thank you. I also want to just add that this has been on the radar for the two years that I've been on the commission. And I've had numerous police officers reach out to me about this. They've been talking about it for the two years I've been on the commission. We have the luxury of secure parking when our parking garage was under construction. I didn't really enjoy going out walking to my car by myself after a late meeting. When I worked at the television station, we also had secure parking for people coming and going. And the city has also put the resource and recovery center right next to…”
“Now that our portfolios have somewhat changed, I still have the library, so I will post updates with what is going on there. We're in the middle of budget discussions, so we're getting to know the ins and outs of the budget. It was an early day this morning. It'll be an early day tomorrow. So just getting the hang of all the new departments and new people, new faces, and we'll keep you updated as changes come.”