City Commission - Regular Meeting

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Mhm. I started to put my volume on. In the absence of uh Commission President, Mayor RD Dardis, uh I Brad Olsen, vice president of the commission, we'll call the meeting to order. Uh those in attendance, please silence your cell phones except for emergency personnel. And please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I aliance 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.

Madam Secretary, you take roll call, please. Commissioner Jorgensson, here. Commissioner Zundell, here. Commissioner Olsen, here. Commissioner Anderson, here. All right. Let the record show that uh four members are here. Uh Mayor Daris is uh not available due to personal conflict. Next item on the agenda is to approve the order of the agenda. Move to approve. We have a first. Is there a second? I second. First and second. Any uh discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. I.

Oppos. same sign. We have a approved agenda. Next item, approval of the minutes from May 4th. What's the board's wishes? Move we approve. We have Commissioner Zundell made the motion to approve. Is there a second? Second. We have Commissioner Anderson seconded. Any discussion on the minutes? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. Opposed? Minutes have been approved. Building permits. I motion to approve the first 10 building permits as listed on the docket. Okay. Motion a second.

And and Commissioner Anderson seconds the motion to approve the first 10 items on the building permits. Any discussion on that? Uh I will recuse myself. Okay, we have one recusal. Any discussion? All those in favor of the motion, please signify by saying I. I. I. Oppos. Same sign. Okay. The first 10 have been approved. I move that we approve building permits starting with number 11 on the building department report uh through number 24. So the remaining building permit. Remaining remaining. I'll second the remaining permits.

Okay. We have a first and a second to approve the remaining building permits. Any discussion? I would like to recuse myself from voting on this matter. Okay, we have one recusal. Any other discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say I. I. Oppose. Same sign. Motion carried. Okay. On to the consent agenda. We have items A through G. Move we approve. We have a motion by Commissioner Zandell to approve. Is there a second? Second. Commissioner Jorgensson seconds. Any discussion on the consent agenda? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. I.

Opposed. Same sign. Consent agenda has been approved. Regular agenda. Madam secretary, do we have anybody signed up for public comment? There is no one. We have none. All righty. On to item two, public hearings. We have one public hearing for a pilot application by Ellery Milan Med Spa. Casey Sanders Berglin will be uh presenting that. Oh yes. Well, she does the first then we'll break out. Yep. Y

Emily, I'm just gonna pause while you get the packet up for a second or I could get started here. Um, good evening, commissioners. Um, as noted on the staff summary here, so Emily is getting that pulled up on the staff summary. Ellery Milan is a luxury boutique u medie spa and they're proposing a building that's just shy of 6,000 ft. Um the intent of this request is just to ensure that the city is making a good investment um and to ensure that we are gaining more property tax and sales tax while also assisting a small business to make the jump from currently leasing to building and expanding in West Fargo. Um the the location under review is just to the east of city hall on vacant property. I Let's see. Emily, is the packet going to come up on the screen? Normally I'd just scroll to like the location. Sorry. I'll I'll jump into um Oh, there we go. Okay, I'm just going to scroll here just to make note. One more. Okay, so you can see the location here and just a a simple rendering as of right now. Um jumping into the potential fiscal impacts. I'm going to scroll up here so I'm not doing two things at one time. Okay. Um, the public assistance is proposed through a payment in LO of tax or pilot on a graduating graduating scale for 5 years with year 1 at 75%, years 2 through 4 at 50% and the final year at 25%. The estimated public participation is $62,500 for all the taxing entities. Additionally, it's estimated that Ellery would bring in anywhere from 11 to

12,000 of sales tax annually and potentially grow. Looking at this number conservatively, using the low number of 11,000, I wanted to compare what the city of West Fargo would receive out of both the sales tax portion as well as the property tax portion for this city alone. So if I add only the portion of sales tax and the property tax that West Fargo will out of all the taxing entities gain, excuse me, should this proposal be prop approved, it's estimated at $34,125 over the period of 5 years. I mentioned this only to show that while the city as well as the school county and handful of other taxing taxing entities will be part of investing in this business, West Fargo will still aim to increase the overall value and at 5 years this project will mature and close. There will be an opportunity for expansion in staff and sales as the business continues to grow. Currently they operate with approximately 10 to 15 personnel full-time personnel and aim to be around 25 within the five years of business. The economic development advisory committee did review this and approve it on April the April 2nd meeting. It was posted in the paper for a public hearing. And while the discussion at the economic development advisory committee centered around um the value of the graduating scale and how West Fargo will see an influx in both property tax and sales tax right away. They also saw value in supporting a small business. I'll stand for any questions.

Commissioners, any questions? I have one. In the staff report, it says that the parcel currently generates no property tax because it's undeveloped. Is that a true statement? I would think that all parcels, whether developed or not, have some kind of property tax. There will be uh land tax, but that's not included in this number. Okay. There's no improvement. I should maybe state that differently. There's no improvement.

Okay. Unless it was owned by a nonprofit organization or something like that, that's about the only way I could see where there'd be no tax revenue at all. But there must be some tax revenue. This would be what you what you presented is new tax revenue. This this would be new. That's correct, Commissioner. Okay.

Any other questions? Okay. We're going to gavvel out of the um regular agenda into a public hearing. Does anybody have any public any comments on this? Anybody have any public comments about this pilot um application? Any public comments? Okay, public hearing is closed. Commissioners, you've heard uh the presentation. What are your wishes? This is an actual item. Move we approve.

We have a motion to approve by Commissioner Zandell. Is there a second? Second. Commissioner Jorgensson seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. Oppose. Same sign. Motion carried. Item three, requests from Beyond Shelter to amend the city's general plan for urban renewal and urban development. Mr. Aaron Nelson, director of planning and zoning.

Good afternoon, commissioners. So, I am here tonight to introduce Christopher Miller with Beyond Shelter, Inc., or BSI for short, uh, regarding the request for the city to amend its general plan for urban renewal and urban development. Uh, Christopher is here to formally make this request to the commission and answer any uh, questions commissioners may have. However, before I hand things off to him, I do want to provide just a quick overview of the request as well as to provide some background information. um specifically regarding the general plan itself as it's not something that we discuss often. So to uh start with um Beyond Shelter, Inc. in partnership with the housing authority of Cass County is currently working to develop a low-inccome senior housing project called Elson Shores, which is to be located southwest of city hall uh right across uh Sixth Street East, be located on the west side of Sixth Street. Uh previously the city has supported this effort through approval of a reasonzoning for the project as well as a payment in of taxes or pilot uh incentive as well as sponsor sponsorship of a um CDBG or a community development block grant application. Uh but BSI is currently working to secure additional project funding through the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency and staff's understanding is that their funding application will be more competitive if BSI can demonstrate that the project is located in an area designated for housing revitalization or infill within a city uh revitalization plan. And so this is why uh BSI is petitioning the city to amend the general plan for urban revitalization and urban development. So I'm certain I probably stole a little bit of a Christopher's thunder there, but just wanted to provide that quick overview. Uh the second thing I wanted to quickly note is um for context is the uh the nature of the general plan for urban riverization and urban um development. So this uh general plan exists for the purpose of compliance with North Dakota's urban renewal laws. Um in summary, adoption of the general plan by resolution is uh pretty much a prerequisite for the use of urban

renewal to tools established by the North Dakota Sentry Code. Uh the biggest one being the uh tax increment financing district or the ability for the city to to designate those districts. Uh the proposed amendments that BSI is requesting is not intending is not intended to change any of the existing content within the general plan. Uh rather the requested amendment would essentially add a new section to this uh to the existing general plan uh that would essentially summarize the housing policies contained within the city's comprehensive plan uh West Fargo 2.0. Um again the purpose there is to uh bolster the existing and future any the existing application and any future applications for state and federal housing um incentive programs or funding programs. So, with that uh bit of overview, I can hand things off to Christopher regarding the request, but um I'm certainly here to answer any questions you may have uh for staff as well.

Thank you, commission. Any questions for Mr. Nelson before we turn it over to Mr. Miller?

Mr. Thank you, Aaron. Thank you, Commissioners. Yeah. Um to kind of just reiterate some of the points that Aaron had. um for the we apply for low-income housing tax credits through the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency and we're partnering with Housing Authority of Cass County on this development of senior affordable housing and one of the requirements is to meet revitalization and the current plan as Aaron identified has a specific area in northwest cargo designated and we need to be able to expand that area as the city has grown to include other developed areas of West Fargo. And this allows the project to bring in um private equity that builds the development and allows us to leverage some of those funds that the city of West Fargo has already approved for this development. Um, this development would be a total of 76 units of senior affordable housing, but it not only allows affordable housing that beyond shelters working with on housing authority of Cass County, but potential other developers and projects down the road as land is harder to find in the city of West Fargo. Um, especially in areas that serve affordable housing well. Um, so essentially just to kind of reiterate what Aaron and I already said. So I'm open to any other questions. Okay. Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Miller?

Okay. This is an a national item to uh the requested action is to direct staff to prepare an amendment to the general plan for urban renewal and urban development that incorporates a housing section and bring it to um bring it back to the commission for future uh consideration. I'll make a motion. Okay, we have a motion by Commissioner Jorgensson. Is there a second? Second. Commissioner Zondell second. Any discussion hearing? None. All those in favor say I. I. Oppos. Same sign. Okay. You got your marching orders there, Aaron.

Thank you. Okay. Item four, project number 2304, pedestrian improvements on 32nd Avenue and Fifth Street West. Uh Mr. Jerry Wallace, our city engineer.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Vice President and uh commissioners. Uh originally I believe Dan Hansen presented this item uh while I was out of town. Uh essentially the situation here is uh uh the lights when there's events taking place um there's an extremely hazardous condition uh for pedestrians attempting to cross at an uncontrolled crossing. Uh we're looking to install a controlled crossing um and improve uh basically provide a safe corridor for those pedestrians to do so. um here before you tonight uh essentially with my engineers report uh looking for the approval of that report and uh the direction uh to prepare prepare plans and specifications for the work. Um as you can see uh currently the total estimated project cost is just under $350,000. uh we would be looking to utilize a uh carbon reduction program grant that we received from uh Metro Crog and the state uh in the amount of $184,448. Uh since the last time this was presented, uh there had been discussion about modifications and and taking out a turn lane. Uh we're not based on on feedback we had received from the commission at this point, we're not looking at doing that anymore. Um there's going to be a smaller refuge created in the existing median. Um and then we'll be looking to install uh overhead style RFBS. Uh the the theory behind that is uh less likely for a vehicle uh attempting to drive through to uh you know potentially miss or not see a groundmounted RRFB. Uh so again the the cost for the total project has has increased a little bit. the remaining local share would be approximately $165,252. Um, that's what we're estimating. Um, with that, uh, again, looking for the

approval of the engineers report and, uh, direction to prepare plans and specifications and, uh, I'm available for any questions you might have. Commissioners, any questions? We have Commissioner Zundell. Is this going to be just a blinking yellow light or is this going to be one of those where you press it and then pressing it turns the traffic signal to be red for the oncoming traffic? Uh, as proposed, it would just be the the flashing light. It wouldn't it wouldn't create a a stop condition to a red light. Is it always going to flash or is it only going to flash and blink if someone activates it to flash and blink? If someone activates it.

Okay. And then uh my other question would be when we're doing these like large events and things at the lights, is there an attendance threshold where we're adding in any like I know with those permits they kind of circulate through the different departments. Is there an attendance threshold where we consider for example shutting down street access to something like that. Um hordes of drunk people tend to just cross the street wherever they want to a lot of times I feel like. Um, have we looked into that as an option or as an adjunct to this?

Uh, that's a great point. Uh, to this point we we haven't looked at anything like that and there is no policy that I'm aware of. Um, in regards to the threshold for shutting down a street or something. Um that that's certainly something we could look at if if the commission would would like to see that

because I think of even like along where the Fargo dome is where you essentially have to put in fence to funnel them to a safe area where there is something crossing like that. So um is there going to be a large enough space if we're talking about high volume traffic events where there's enough space in that median for people to stop in high volumes of traffic. if we're proposing keeping some of the median

uh to I guess to that point there hasn't been a a significant concern for there uh being enough space in the existing median. I think that's part of the um part of the reason why it's so much wider than a traditional crossing I think was to intended to create that space. Okay. Okay. Yep. Any other questions? Okay. Um, you've heard the present. Any question? One thing I have just want to point out that that remaining local share of over $165,000 would be um not special assessed. Correct.

Uh, that's correct. We propose using a capital improvement sales tax. Great, great point. Just wanted to make sure that the public hears that. All righty. Uh, commission, you've heard uh Mr. Wallace's presentation. What are your wishes? I'll make the motion to approve the engineers report and direct engineer to prepare plans and specs. Is there a second? I'll second it.

We have a second. Any questions? Any discussion? I so I just the way what I'm looking at this if there's people that are crossing the crossing the street I just get worried that there's going to be vehicles stopped in the intersection they're fifth street as well. So that's you know on the westbound lane. So that's kind of where I'm where my concerns at with this. Overall I like the idea of having something for it but I started something I'm struggling with on that one. But there's probably not a lot of vehicle traffic during during those events. Correct.

Well, I think my hope would I I've been there and I even think of this or an event at the Fargo Dome or any other large event where we have where I think this is a great adjunct for times when it's not super super busy. But I if the concern is large hordes of people when we have the eight events a year that West Fargo Events hosts, I guess my concern would also be like in addition to this, I really think we should consider having some type of true traffic control in conjunction with police department, in conjunction with shutting portions of the street down because I don't think this solves high volume traffic event type stuff in my I'm trying to envision how it would function for what I guess what I've seen when I'm at that.

Yeah. Where I think it's a great project for general traffic, but my hope would be that a discussion would occur about what we're doing with large special events regardless of who's having it and when it warrants a true street shutdown to get people across the street safely if that's the concern. Uh I'm going to call on uh Chief Nielsen. Do you have any comments about this project?

Yes. Uh commissioners, uh we did some studies with uh engineer. Um this original project was brought to the engineers office from the police department. Uh what we're seeing is large amount of people that leave these events and the parking generates the parking lots near the businesses over there. and for them to not have an actual crosswalk to cross over 32nd Avenue besides the Cheyenne Street um crosswalk is the biggest issue. So, you're having people um essentially running all directions to to head south from the lights. And what we tried to figure out was is try to figure out some way where we could get them to possibly get to one crossing lane and to cross. There have been discussions internally in the police department with barricades, um, cones to shut different, uh, you know, routes off for traffic. And that's going going to probably be happening at some of these events that are that are going to be much larger. But, you know, when when this ends and the the the concert ends, they literally are running playing Frogger to get across 32nd Avenue. A lot amount of people. So, we figured this would probably be one of the better ways to at least, you know, funnel people to one spot and this is what they came up with. But we are in support of of any type of crosswalk at this in this area. Okay. Thank you. I see Mr. Hans has moved to the podium.

Yeah. Thank you, commissioners. Um, if I could just add a little bit of a context and some history here. Again, as Chief Nielsson pointed out, this was originally brought to engineering from the PD because of the what he just described. And the first thing that we were going to look at was on the north side of the Fargo Dome, how they've got those the fence basically in the median. And uh we did take a look at that. And what happened is they're all just crossing uncontrolled in that intersection where you have the two turn lanes. Uh, so we took a look and we said if we were going to be putting in one of those walls or something like that to get them there, there's still just a huge amount of width that you have where you can't put that wall across the turning lanes. So, it really didn't accomplish the goal of keeping them channelized, uh, the pedestrians channelized. So, the second thing that we did was we took a look at, if you recall, um an option where we would remove the northbound left turn lane and increase the size of the median, giving a pedestrian refuge in the middle. Uh but with that, um it would direct all the traffic that's heading north into that complex area up on Sixth Street. Uh the commission at the time had directed me when I brought it forth to u meet with the parties uh involved. And so I just wanted to report back that I I did meet with the school district in West Fargo events and uh ex describe to them the improvements that we were proposing at that time. In conjunction with that, we also described that we could potentially in uh extend Sixth Street uh north and east and connect on the north side of the uh event center uh the hockey rink there uh back over to Fifth. Um, and when that uh was explained to the representatives from both West Fargo Events and the school district, uh, they took it back to their boards and described what we were talking about. U, both of their boards uh, were not in favor of us taking away that northbound

left turn lane. We also heard that Bell Bank was also not in favor of that because there's obviously people that go through there and get into their business as well. So, uh, given the fact that we did not have, uh, either of those two entities that basically own and operate the the events over at the hockey rink, uh, we didn't feel that, uh, it was worth bringing back the original proposed improvements that we first did. Uh, so that's where we said, okay, we need to start taking a look at other options, uh, because we just need to do something there other than just allowing everybody to cross it frogger style to quote Chief Nielson. Um, and so anyways, they ca we came up with several different options. One being the one that's in front of you. Another one being the same thing that you see, but just with the push button ground mounted RFBs. And what that resulted in in is say that you have a pedestrian that hits the button. The RFBs do that. The right just speaking to the westbound lanes, say the right side, north side, westbound lane. Say somebody was stopped there and a pedestrian was crossing in front. Well, the car that's coming west in the left lane might not either see the RRFB blinking or see the pedestrian in front of the car that's already stopped, causing that pedestrian to potentially go out and and get hit. Uh, so the the next option was was potentially modifying the median to expand keep the keep the left turn lanes, but expand the median between the left turn lanes and basically make a 45 degree angle crossing. uh between so people the northeast corner and the southwest corner would be where the sidewalk enters and then they cross through that 45 degree median. It is really not a standard thing that people see around here. It's something that is done in several places nationwide. We had examples of it and we just didn't feel that it was uh something that people are familiar with around here and

it was different and so we didn't want to bring that forth. Uh and then this uh this option that is being presented right here with overhead RFBS, it gives the ability for uh both lanes that are traveling westbound, both lanes traveling eastbound, the ability to see it blinking above them. So, uh it gives the most notice that you can to make things safer. And having that crosswalk there does give us a good shot at getting it channelized if people do have a place that they can cross. Generally speaking, they're not going to cross on the east side if they have a crosswalk on the west side. Now to you know it is not a signal so it does not stop traffic basically. Uh but the law states if there's a pedestrian in the intersection they have the rightway. That's great until somebody just goes through it. But it this gives the us the best chance of putting something in there that seems to be reasonable for all involved. We can still keep the leftbound uh the northbound left turn lane in place for the to satisfy the both West Fargo events, Bellbank and the and the school district uh to keep that access to the lights area in that area. Um but it does give us a chance for pedestrians to cross in one place. It does give um some overhead when these things light up. They light up pretty well. Uh, one of the things that was, uh, when they took a look at it, they took a look at the pedestrian crossing, it was after a concert had gotten done at the lights and there was, I believe, 600 people that had crossed the intersection late at night. So, again, it it's under dim lit conditions and those are the conditions where these RFBs really stand out. And uh they do find that um there was a study that I remember that they quoted uh where if the RFBs are hit in that study it basically said 100% of the traffic noticed that these these were

on. So we do believe that this greatly increases uh is it perfect? No. But does it greatly increase pedestrian crossing? Absolutely. We do feel that. So wanted to give a little bit of background and also report back that I did meet with the with the players that was directed to me by the commission at that time. So, thank you, Mr. Hansen. Um, how is the actual street lighting in that area? Is it adequate to at night for to see a pedestrian?

What I what I would say is that when when 32nd Avenue was constructed, uh, and with with lighting, there's studies done on how many lumers hit the ground in different places to overlap the lighting for it. So the street uh now I I'd have to verify but um a major corridor like this typically would have had that analysis done to find that it is illuminated enough for that. Is it ultra illuminated at that intersection? I don't know that answer. Um but I do know that there are there are lights over on you know obviously Cheyenne and sixth where we do have additional intersection lighting and and I do believe that there is uh overhead lighting in those spots. So, I I'm assuming that it was designed to current standards at the time for the roadway.

Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Jorgensson.

Are these programmable? And where I'm going with it is, let's say you have 200 people there. Will it be on for say a minute and then shut off so the traffic can flow for a minute or can you just keep form just keep walking and shut it down for four straight minutes? Uh they I believe they are programmable as far as when you press the button, how long is it going to flash? Um but you you have to weigh that with during events and not during events because if it's not during an event and somebody hits it, you don't want that thing flashing for four minutes. You know what I mean? So it is a pretty standard timing for those type of improvements. Uh what I would say is that if you do have the situation where you have 70 people that are wanting to cross after something. Once once it it hits and it's and it's lit up, generally speaking, it's stopped traffic and the the crowd is just going and it's already in a stop condition during those really heavy major events. So, even if the lights stop flashing, there's typically cars stopped waiting for them and and people do have the ability to hit the button again and and turn it back on. But, I can't speak to, you know, if there's 200 people and it's going to take that long. I mean, it there's a good chance that it it might actually shut off during the passage, but it the intersection's already full with a bunch of stopped cars and and people crossing already in those situations

and what

Yeah. to what we're saying is exactly why I just I really think we should look at specifically our event permitting process around this area for those larger events because that is most definitely I think this is a great solution for everyday traffic, the smaller events that we have going on. And if there's stuff happening at the sports arena and people want to go across the street to get something to eat when they're done, I mean, I think this is I think it's a great idea for that. I just at the end of the day, if you're hosting a large event, part of the onus and responsibility that comes with that is protecting some of the pedestrians that are coming and going and leaving. And whether that's them paying someone for traffic control, whether that's them paying an additional officer for traffic control, whether that's shutting down a portion of the street for 20 minutes as it's draining out, or however long that takes. Um I just I feel strongly we should look into some of that for options as well.

It is definitely something we can look into. That could be a separate item. Yeah. Down the road. Any other questions? Any other discussion? Hey, we've got a motion to approve. Been seconded. All those in favor say I. I. I. Post. Same sign. Motion carried. Moving on to item five, improvement district 1358, a new water supply, sewage, street systems, and incidentals in the grant second edition. Mr. Wallace, city engineer.

Yes. Thanks you. Thank you again, uh, Mr. Vice President and commissioners. Uh, here before you tonight with, uh, uh, essentially the grant edition. Uh we're looking at uh these improvements were petitioned by the developer uh looking to install a uh culde-sac in uh Greenfield area type development. Um uh essentially the what's being proposed is um consistent with um city policies. Um and as such um we're here tonight uh looking to uh approve the engineers report and uh the task order for associated work uh and direction to prepare plans and specifications. Um in your packet uh essentially you can see um expected total cost of the project uh is around $1.8 8 million uh which would be 100% special assessed to the uh the local properties. Uh there are no regional assessments uh that would be associated with this work. Um this is one of the last uh few areas uh down in the wilds uh yet to be developed. Uh big reasoning for this is uh the developer uh looked at uh lack of uh available single family uh housing lots uh that are buildable. Uh there's there's definitely a shortage uh in the city at this time. Uh they're looking to uh move to create opportunity for uh residents uh to to purchase and and build single family homes. Um with that being said, uh again, looking for uh approval of the engineers report and task order and uh direction to prepare plans and specifications. Uh with that, I'm available for for any questions you may have.

Thank you, Jerry. Commissioners, any questions? This is an actual item. Um, what's the board's wishes? Move it approve. We have a motion to approve by Commissioner Zandell. Is there a second? I'll second. We have a second by Commissioner Jorgensson. Any discussion? Okay. All those in favor say I. I. Oppose. Same sign.

I. Let the record show it was 321 in favor of the motion to approve. Okay, moving on to item number six, first reading of ordinance 1278, a tobacco related ordinance. Katie Schmidt, city attorney. Thank you, commission, vice president, and commissioners. This is the first reading of the proposed changes in ordinance 1278 and they are focused on an update of the city's tobacco ordinance to align with changes made to state statute to include additional definitions and reclassifying offenses based upon the individual's age. I'm available for any questions that you may have. Okay, commissioners, any questions? I got a question.

Mr. Anderson has a question. Just want to be clear that this has nothing to do or is not similar to the discussions that Fargo is having with the flavored nictine thing or anything. Completely separate. Completely separate. Thank you. Okay. Any other questions on the first reading of the ordinance? Okay. This is actual item. Uh what's the commission's wishes? Move to approve first reading. We have a first. Is there a second? Second. We have a second by Commissioner Jorgensson. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. Post. Same sign.

First reading has been approved. Item number seven, which is the request to adopt the city commission's governance policy. Dustin Scott, city administrator. Good evening. Thank you, uh, Mr. Vice President and commissioners. Well, following the introduction of the policy on the May 4th uh commission meeting, uh staff has proposed a few minor revisions to sections 109 04, 10905.3 and 10907. Those revisions are illustrated in your packet tonight and uh upon approval uh we will be implementing this policy into our Lexi pole system with the applicable format and numbering. So I excited to get this policy in place. I think it's going to establish a framework for all of us to uh understand how city governance works in West Fargo. So with that, I will stand for any questions.

Any questions for Mr. Scott? Okay. What's the board's wishes? I'll make the motion to adopt city commission governance policy. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Anderson. Is there a second? Second. Second by Commissioner Zundell. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. Oppos. Same sign. We have a governance policy. Thank you. Uh item number eight is the city administrators report. Mr. Scott.

Yes. Thank you again, Mr. Vice President and commissioners. Uh we start with an update on our ERP search. Uh so as you know over the past several weeks, we have gone through extensive evaluation with uh three of the proposers. Those uh evaluations included on-site demos. Um, Meer Dardis was a part of that. They, uh, they were 4-hour sessions where, uh, each proposer was was here walking through the intricacies of their of their software packages, um, background checks, uh, review of their cost proposals, all of that good stuff. And as of today, uh, my understanding is they have identified a preferred proposer that they are going to start, uh, entering into contract negotiations as well as conducting additional vetting. uh they they want to uh reach out to a couple of the the cities that use this uh uh software and potentially get uh a an access into into their system so that we can uh actually play around with it and and get a feel for uh its capabilities before making our final decision. So um our finance director Willie will be putting together a recommendation package. It'll be brought forward to the uh June 1st commission meeting for your consideration. And uh again uh we're um hoping that uh through these contract negotiations, everything is is wrapped up and if we can get a contract approved June 1st, we would immediately then start with an implementation phase. So any questions on on the ERP search before I move on?

Any questions? Okay, good. uh our 2025 audit. I believe that was a question at the last meeting. I did want to just confirm that we are having our on-site visit. That's where uh I Bailey will be here for a week uh to go through files, work with staff to ascertain all the information they need to complete their their audit. Uh that will take place the first week of June. So, uh, note to commissioners and or staff that the Riverside room and or the West Fargo room may be, uh, reserved for that entire week. So, keep that in mind as you are looking to schedule meetings. Any questions on our 2025 audit? Okay. Right. And I'll just leave you with an update on our budget. As you know, the departmental budgets have been submitted. We are compiling all of that information and we are starting to reach out to commissioners to schedule an opportunity for you to come in and see where those uh budgets are coming in at, what their requests are, any new items that they might be asking for. So uh look to your calendars over the next couple weeks and then again as I have said before we plan to bring the first draft of our preliminary budget to the second meeting in June. So with that I would stand for any other questions. Any questions for our city administrator? Okay. Good. Thank you.

All correspondence has been distributed. Yes, sir. Okay. Any non-aggenda items? Oh, uh due to the uh Memorial Day holiday, we will be closed on Monday, May 25th. Yep. Okay. Any other non-aggenda items? Okay. Commissioner Jorgensson. Motion to adjurnn. Commissioner Anderson. Second. We are adjourned.