City Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Monday, February 2nd, West Fargo City Commission meeting. Madam Secretary, would you please call the role? Commissioner Jorgensson, present. Commissioner Zundell, here. Commissioner Dardis, here. Commissioner Olsen, here. Commissioner Anderson, here. Thank you. Let the record show all commissioners are present. At this time, I would like to call on Troop 213, please come forward and lead us to the pledge of allegiance.

[snorts] [clears throat]

Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. Ice to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [clears throat] Thank you, Troop 213 and Logan. Thank you for having your fellow members with us this evening. Commissioners, the first order of business is item D is to approve the order of the agenda as presented. Move to approve.

Commissioner Anderson moves to approve the agenda as presented. Is there a second? Second. Commissioner Jorgensson. Second. We have a motion and a second to approve the order of the agenda. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Motion carried. Thank you. Item E is the approval of the minutes of January 19th, 2026. They have been distributed and in your packet. Move we approve. Commissioner Zundal moves to approve. Is there a second? Second. Commissioner Olsen seconds. I have a motion and a second to approve the minutes of January 19th as presented. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Opposed.

Motion carried. Item F is the building permits. Again, the building permits have been distributed and in your packets. Move to approve. Commissioner Olsson moves to approve the building permits as presented. Is there a second? Second. Commissioner Anderson seconds. We have a motion and a second to approve the building permits as distributed. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Motion carried. Next order of business. We are now in the consent agenda. The consent agenda uh involves items A through E. Again, that has been distributed and in your packet. Motion to approve. Commissioner Jorgensson moves to approve the consent agenda as presented. Is there a second?

Second. Commissioner Zundell second. We have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda items A through E. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. Motion carried. We move on to the regular agenda. At this time, we are in public comment. Madam Secretary, is anybody signed up to speak at public comment? I do not have anyone.

Public comment is closed. We now move on to item number two. Item number two is a proclamation for the 100th anniversary of Scouting America, Troop 213. It is my pleasure this evening to share with you a proclamation regarding troop 213 and their 100red-year anniversary. Whereas the scouting movement through its programs has encouraged youth and adult scouters to live by the scout oath and law which serves to build character, train youth in personal responsibility, citizenship and leadership development and promote personal fitness since 1910. And whereas success in scouting is a result of countless hours of selfless volunteerism by youth scouters, dedicated leaders, parents, and community organization which posit positively impact local communities. And whereas Scouting America troop 213 chartered by Faith and Journey Lutheran Church in the city of West Fargo was established in 1926. And whereas 100 years, Troop 213 has upheld the values of Scouting America and served the community with dignity and honor, guiding youth to do their best and always be prepared when performing numerous community search service projects on outdoor adventures, earning rank advancement and merit badges. And whereas the city of West Fargo is better because of the contributions of Troop 213 who learn to be better leaders, the importance of helping others and how to make the world a better place. Therefore, be it resolved, I, Bernie Dardis, mayor of West Fargo, North Dakota, do hereby recognize and celebrate the 100th anniversary of

Scouting America 22 Troop 213 and express gratitude for 100 years of service, leadership, and dedication to the highest ideals of citizenship and extends its best wishes for continued success in the years to come. At this time, I have an official proclamation which we'll be presenting to 213. And uh if the boys would join me at this uh this lectern over here to their right, I'll sign the proclamation. Got everybody gathered around. Yeah.

I hope the public understands how significant that Hope Journey Church and the contributions that they've made the community through years and years and years of service, generations, and for you young men to be a part of that is terrific. We're very proud of you. Thank you.

[clears throat] I'm going to present that to Logan. Thank you.

Thank you all. [applause] item number three is public hearing. Um, first order of business is a pilot incentive request and public hearing from Mar LLP DBA Sandy's Donuts. Call on Casey Sanders Bergland, economic development director for the city of West Fargo. Good evening and welcome.

Good evening, President Commissioner and commissioners. Uh tonight I have an expansion project to share with all of you. Um as stated the applicant is [clears throat] Mar LLP or better known as Sandy's Donuts in West Fargo. They are looking to add the location of 1914th Avenue Northwest to their property portfolio. This location will serve as a manufacturing and distribution arm of this business. Previously, this location held a business called Air Mechanical, which was in the process of dissolving their business prior to the this acquisition. From the staff report here, I'm going to scroll while I pause. Okay. Um, from the staff report, you can see that this property is 11,300 ft². These owners would like to expand the property by about 3,000 square ft. So the goal uh Sandy's is looking to accomplish here is efficiency and future scaling. So through our conversations um and in discussion about a pilot typically we have conversations around adding job creation or multiplier effects like sales tax. Those are two things that specifically they are not going to be um creating with this request. So when it comes to job creation here, there might be some um incidental jobs that are created, but that is not their intent. Their goal here is efficiency uh and adding about 400 $46,000 of um machinery and equipment. They'll be transferring jobs that would normally be um part-time jobs into maybe one to two full-time jobs. Um and then as far as sales tax goes, uh the conversation around sales tax was that this will

increase volume. So with efficiency that would increase volume. However, we we have a few locations of Sandies um in West Fargo proper. However, there's many vendors that carry them throughout the state, not only in North Dakota, but in Minnesota. So likely there will be volume ancillary. So, I didn't want to include a direct um tie back to West Fargo regards to sales tax. And I think that's important when we're talking about these incentives. Um I would like to point out too during your discussion at EDC though they ultimately approved this request and wanted to bring as it stands today. We did have a very thorough conversation about this um application. Originally Sandy's Donuts brought forward a different proposal and um through that discussion the EDAC ultimately would wanted to move forward with this modified request um and specifically Sandy's Donuts current or for this property the property tax is at $16,994 in property tax after the increase it's estimated to be around 19,000. So, as the request stands today, uh, and what was approved at economic development, they're requesting the increase. So, the difference of the increase. So, to be clear, they will continue to pay the 16,994 or whatever that tax amount is, their current property tax, cuz that may increase as their value increases, but the the tax on the new growth is what they're asking for as the um pilot. And so, um, I I also wanted to just share that the economic development advisory committee was clear that they wanted to respect the fact that we want to continue to have growth within our community and also respect the fact that

the city is going to face some unknown uncertainties with the new property tax cap as we move forward into the um 2020 2027 budgeting cycle. Um Jeff Osland with uh Sandy's Donuts text me on my way down here saying that he actually had a kid emergency, otherwise he'd be here today. Um so if there's any questions, I'll stand for those. Um if there's anything we need to reach out to him, he said he's available by text message or phone. So, oh, one last note. I think this is important. um the Sandy Jones was actually approved for and has received a um automation tax exemption for their equipment uh through the state of North Dakota and they that's a window and they hit that window perfectly for an expansion. So sorry now I'll stand for questions

questions for S questions on the Sandies project. Bergwin. Anyone? Motion approved. Commissioner Jorgensson moves to approve the pilot incentive request and uh for Excuse me. We got we have to have a public meeting to this. Yes.

So before the motion u are there any questions for this person? All right. We are now out of the regular agenda. We are in a public hearing. Is there anyone that would like to speak in favor of this pilot program for Sandy's Donuts? Is there anyone that would like to speak in favor of this project for Sandy's Donuts? Is there anyone that would like to speak in favor of this pilot program for Sandy's Donuts? The favor comments are now closed. We move into the Is there any opposition to the pilot program for Sandy's Donut? Is there any opposition to the pilot program for Sandy's Donuts? Is there any opposition to the pilot program for Sandy's Donuts? Hearing none, the public hearing is closed. We are now back into the regular agenda. I have a motion by Commissioner Jorgensson. Is there a second? Second.

Commissioner Olsson seconds. We have a motion and a second to approve the pilot incentive uh for Maror LLP for 5 years. Is there any discussion?

Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Motion carried. Thank you. Item number four, project number 2293 and 9inth Street Northeast grade separation. We call on Dan Hansen, senior director of community and development. The purpose of this uh item this evening is to direct and approve an engineers report and direct an engineer to prepare plans and specifications. Mr. Hansen, good evening. Welcome.

Good evening, Commissioner, President Dartis, and commissioners. Uh, as you're all aware, uh, there is the plans to construct a bridge over the BNSF railroad on 9inth Street Northeast. Uh, originally that was going to be done in conjunction with the 9th Street Northeast reconstruction project, but uh, when it was, uh, determined that, uh, we needed to go through when we got the raise grant, uh, it went through federal highway and the DOT did not want to be part of that agreement. So, we separated it out into a separate project. So, the purpose for bringing it uh tonight is not because it hasn't been covered before. It just hasn't been covered as its own project for an engineers report. So, I thought that would be appropriate uh given this chart right here, which I don't know if you can scroll back out, zoom out a little bit on that, Emily, but um you can see where we're at with the process right now. Uh there is no intended special assessments with this improvement of the construction of this bridge. And uh so in the packet is an engineers report that details out all of the different uh funding. And when I first put this packet together, there was a a flex grant that had been applied for through the DOT. And uh it was on uh no January 27th that we I got an email um with the results of our application for that flex grant, which we were unsuccessful in securing a flex grant for that. However, they informed us that they were going to award us $5,864,257 worth of prairie dog funds towards the project. Uh this is huge for West Fargo's taxpayers because that directly comes straight out of the local share. So that is uh uh $5,864,257 that we don't have to figure out how to how to fund. Uh the caveat to that is that the prairie dog funds are distributed after the buckets fill up at the state. And so as those buckets fill

up once the municipal uh fund is full, we'll get an letter saying that the funds have been encumbered towards the project. And it's from that point forward that any project costs are eligible uh to be paid for out of these out of these funds. So, um, we're hopeful that, um, those buckets fill up as quickly as possible. Uh, the project right now, uh, sits where, uh, the Houston engineering has been, uh, working on this for a couple of years. Uh, it is for the most part designed and on the shelf, waiting for the agreement between the federal highway and the city to be approved. Um, we're hoping that that comes quickly cuz it's been about six or seven months since it was originally submitted. Uh we have had some correspondents that they're working on it. Uh but in the end uh wanted to celebrate the ability to not have to pay over $12 million in local share towards this project. And the total local cost now is down to $6,661,193. So out of that $36 million project, uh we're going to get 30 million of it basically covered through grants that we were successfully uh able to obtain. So, uh, with that, I would entertain any questions.

Questions for Mr. Hansen. All right. Commissioners, move we approve. Commissioner Zundal moves to approve project number 2293 to direct and approve the engineers report and direct the engineer plan specifications for the 9th Street Northeast grade separation. Is there a second? Second. Commissioner Olsen seconds. We have a motion in a second. Is there any discussion? Just great work on getting the grants. I'm sorry. Great work on getting the grants. Oh, thank you very much.

Just want to comment that uh we started this back in 2020. So, it's taken a long time to get here. I sat in on the original um panel, so to speak, or committee to determine the engineer. So, it's great that it's coming to this point.

These large projects take a lot of planning. So, but we're anticipating that construction is going to occur this summer and the completion date of the bridge portion of the whole overall area project is in the middle of the summer of 2027 for final completion. Anyone else? Anything for Mr. Hansen? I have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Motion carried. Thank you. To echo the comments by Commissioner Jorgensson. Outstanding work, Dan.

Thank you. going and getting that last, you know, communicating with the state and federal partners and [clears throat] that's truly a great benefit for the city of West Fargo that another 6 million isn't going to be on the taxpayers. [clears throat] Great work. Item number five, we move on. 20 26th Street Northwest and 7th Avenue Northeast rail crossing subsurface replacement. We call on Jerry Wallace, the city of uh city engineer for the city of West Fargo. The purpose of this discussion is to authorize entering into a cost share agreement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Mr. Wallace, good evening and welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Commission President uh and commissioners. Uh try to be respectful of your time here tonight. Uh purpose of this item is to uh we have two locations in town where BNSF approached us uh about doing some repairs and fixes uh to uh the crossing surfaces and and the current condition of them. Uh with that being said, um we're looking tonight for the action uh to authorize entering entering into the these two crossing surface installation agreements with BNSF. Um, essentially it just boils down to uh, you know, we like and we very much appreciate our our friends at BNSF uh, helping keep uh, uh, city rightofway crossings with BNSF right away in good working order. And, uh, this is essentially just a cost of doing business of uh, um, you know, keeping uh, that level of service in effect. Uh in total uh it looks like we're going to be uh agreeing to about $144,000 uh for the two agreements uh in payment to BNSF uh for for the crossing surface work itself. Um we'll also be on the hook for uh some potential uh um street removals adjacent to the work um should uh BNSF have to look at uh um replacing some ties, those types of things. But, uh, those costs, those additional costs, uh, you know, we're we're expecting those to be relatively minimal, uh, compared to the size of the, uh, the dollar amount here we're looking at tonight. Um, so again, um, looking, uh, for authorization to enter into the crossing surface, uh, installation agreements and, uh, I'm available for any questions you might have.

Questions for Mr. Wallace? Anyone? It's an actionable item. Commissioners move to approve. Commissioner Anderson moves to approve [clears throat] authorizing and entering into a cost share agreement to Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Is there a second? Second. Commissioner Jorgensson seconds. We have a motion and a second for the project at 26th Street Northwest and 7th Avenue Northeast regarding the rail crossing subsurface replacement. Is there any discussion? Commissioner Olsen? So the motion is to enter into a cost share agreement. What are they sharing as far as their the cost? What are they sharing in?

Uh, honestly, Commissioner, I think it's um generally when you're you're working with our friends at BNSF and you have them being responsive and willing to perform work in conjunction with your forces, um, a lot of times we chalk that up as a win in and of itself. Um, as for what additional costs they may they may be incurring with this work, I I can't say. I could I can certainly look into it if you'd like.

No, that's fine. It just it looks we have to look at it that the um it's their railroad and we're using a street crossing. So, we're on the hook to pay for a new improvement on there. So that just so the public understands that even though we're improving their railroad crossing, it we're the ones that are crossing their railroad. So it's a great point. Absolutely. That's all I had to make.

I have experience with this and the Metro Flood Diversion Authority too with uh working with uh Santa Burlington Northern Santa Fe and they always have to have mutual aid agreements constantly. We have a motion in a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Wall. Thank you for your time. Item number six, we call on Mr. Dustin Scott, our city administrator for the city of West Fargo. Good evening, Miss Scott, and welcome.

Good evening. Thank you, Commissioner President and commissioners. Well, I'm happy to start off with a hopefully a final update on our HR director search. Uh we had a a great day on Thursday going through uh stakeholder group sessions and finally an interview panel in the afternoon. Uh we interviewed three finalists and we extended an offer to uh someone that as of this afternoon has accepted the position. So, we I am pleased to announce that uh Beth Wigum uh currently employed with the city of Fargo is going to uh be our new director of human resources. Uh she brings over a decade of experience uh with the city of Fargo alone. So, uh we're excited to find somebody that understands municipal government uh and has a breath of HR knowledge. So, we're happy to get her on board. It sounds like her start date is going to be sometime early March. she wants to uh work with Fargo over the next month to help with their transition. So happy to announce that. Any questions on the HR director search?

Anyone please continue?

Good. Uh update on our finance software endeavor. As you know, we we published an RFP a couple months ago. Uh the submission deadline is February 13th. So we are quickly approaching the the final submittal deadline. Uh and then after that we have about two months worth of process to uh find uh get the uh qualified vendors identified uh do a a series of interviews with them and demonstrations. So we have a very uh rigorous process outlined and so I'll be uh keeping the commission updated as we get into that uh process. There are uh there's a group of uh people that are going to be very involved. So, a good cross-section will help identify the next uh uh endeavor with our finance software. Uh we do plan to have contracts fully executed before June 1st. Any questions on the finance software? No.

Okay. And then last, I just uh I I want to give a big thank you to Mr. Dan Hansen and and the team. they have been absolutely relentless in in searching for additional funds for these projects. Uh [clears throat] I know you you just thanked them, but I just again want to recognize that the Ninth Street corridor alone, as as you heard, there are two projects there, the the overpass and the uh main arterial corridor. Uh between the two projects, we're talking about $60 million of construction costs. Through their efforts and all of the funding that they've been able to secure, our local share is only going to be about $8 million. So that is very significant. Um when we did the Cheyen Street project as an example, we had about a $60 million project there with about half of that being a local share. So very significant work that they've done and our taxpayers and are are really going to uh see the benefits of that. So any final questions for me?

Questions for Mr. Scott? We're good. Thank you. Thank you much. Does any commissioner have any non-aggenda items you'd like to bring forward at this time? [clears throat] I have two comments I'd like to make. First of all, will the parents and the scout leaders for troop 213 please stand? [clears throat]

Thank you so much for encouraging uh your troop 213, helping out, getting them to the meetings, helping them with their merit badges. Thanks, Mom and Dad. Thank you, scout leaders. It's great for West Fargo. We appreciate you. [applause] I'd also like to recognize that in the crowd this evening we have House member House of Representative member Representative Jim Jonas joining us this evening. Representative Jonas, thank you for sh being with us this evening. Thanks for all the great work you guys do.

Yeah. So, anything that you want to talk to about the state? That's your guy. Again, commissioners, any non-aggenda item? No. Does any department head have any non-aggenda item? Mr. Wallace, please. [clears throat]

Thank you again, Mr. Commission President. Uh, I just uh in all the talk about uh uh funding and grants uh received. I just wanted to uh bring to light that uh the engineering team and our our consultant friends at Moore Engineering uh were also successful in securing uh a little over $3.8 $8 million uh in flex funds uh for a uh an upcoming beat and drive reconstruction project. And uh uh just say and reiterate that you know the staff is lit literally trying to do everything we can to chase uh grant dollars and uh again just wanted to you know uh kudos to the team. So thank you. Thank you Mr. Wall.

Get two of us. Usually there's none. Just a reminder that our next commission meeting is on Tuesday, February 17th due to the President's Day holiday. So moved from Monday to Tuesday for next meeting. Thank you. Thank you, Rachel. Director of communications. Anyone else? Any department head? [clears throat] Commissioner Anderson? Move to adjurnn. Mr. Zundell second. [clears throat] Please.