City Commission Minutes

Minutes of the Regular City Commission Meeting held on September 6, 2022 at City Hall at 4:00 PM.

Present:  President Lyn James, Vice-Chair Ryan Shear, Benjamin Schaaf, Sara Bullis, Myron Vail, Chief Headley, Bill Mason, Todd Hofland, Stacy McGee, Jon Brosz, Aaron Allen, Gary Parsons, Kady Walker, Bonnie Nordgren, Rylan Limesand, Jon Brosz, Debbie Patterson, Lori Sola, and Peggy Allen.

Absent: None

President James called the meeting order at 4:00 pm.  Motion by Shear, second by Schaaf to approve the agenda as presented.  RCV= all aye, MC.

Direct Deposit: $30,823.20; Check #13366 – 13398, 13402 – 13404; Voided Checks: None; Bills: Art Johnson $543.68, Postmaster $399.96, MDU $8,718.39, Badlands Patriot $1,427.85, Boss Office Products $327.93, Bowman Auto Parts $156.29, Bowman Park and Rec $3,640.92, Bowman Sales and Service $903.22, Bowman Slop Soil Conservation District $157.50, Brosz Engineering $23,160.00, Catherine Hedge $350.00, Cenex Fleetcard $6,456.55, CNHI Capitol $98.90, Consolidated Telecom $1,345.00, Core and Main $538.04, Dacotah Paper $139.38, Dakota Dust-Tex $107.50, Dakota Western Bank $261.67, Diamond Vogel $2,006.70, Double EE Service $9.50, Hawkins $110.00, Ink’d Apparel by Sarah $405.00, KPOK $20.00, Loretta Olind $400.00, Newby’s Ace Hardware $751.72, Northwest Tire $758.41, One Call Concepts $144.30, Propoint $137.50, Smart Computers $785.00, VISA $2,935.06, Western Dakota Energy Association $125.00, Westlie Truck Center $474.31, Woodley Construction $193.56, Bowman American Legion $3,000.00, Postmaster $300.00, and S & T Custom Plumbing $360.00.

Tax and Tourism Check #13399 – 13401

Tax and Tourism Bills:  Bowman County Development Corporation $1,000.00, Bowman Park and Rec $250.00, and Cloverleaf Productions $1,500.00.

HOFLAND – STREET/VECTOR/LANDFILL DEPTS.:

Dept. Head Report:  Fall clean up week for only wood starts Monday September 12 – 16.

MASON -WATER AND SEWER DEPT.:

Dept Head Report:  A resident brought a bill in that they incurred due to a plugged sewer line by a manhole.  The problem was found to be on the City property so Mason felt we should be paying for the residents S & T Plumbing bill in the amount of $360.00.  Motion by Schaaf, second by Bullis to approve paying the residents bill to S and T Plumbing in the amount of $360.00.  RCV= all aye, MC.

CHIEF HEADLEY – POLICE DEPT.:

Dept. Activity Report8/16/22 – 9/6/22:  Incident Reports – 8, (Notable Incidents: motor vehicle theft/criminal mischief, accident of unoccupied vehicles, driving while license suspended/resisting arrest, accident in a construction zone, nuisance property, and structure fire), Calls for Service Reports – 34, Traffic Stops – 21, Citations/Warnings – 30 (citations issued – 16, verbal warnings – 8, and written warnings – 6), Arrests – 2 (Driving while license suspended and resisting arrest, this is the subjects first arrest by BPD, and FTA bench warrant, this is the subjects 13^th arrest since 2018 by BPD.)

Nuisance Properties:  Headley presented a power point on 12 nuisance homes that were abandoned and not occupied.  Several have wildlife living in them, some have been in a fire, and some are structurally unsound.  Headley will be sending out letters to the property owners giving them a date that they must submit a plan of intent to the City within 30 days or further action will be taken.  This will be a work in progress and there will be other ones to come.

MCGEE – HR & UTILITY AUDITOR:

Zoning/Police Administrative Position:  Tyann Hauso has resigned and her last day is 9/14/22.  McGee asked if we should re-advertise or should we reconstruct the position.  It was decided to form a committee to come up with a plan.  The committee shall be:  Shear, James, Headley, McGee and Allen.  The committee shall come up with an idea to present to the City Commission and then  approach the County Commission regarding the zoning position.

ALLEN – GARBAGE DEPT:

Dept. Head Report:  Everything is going well.

P.  ALLEN – FINANCIAL AUDITOR:

Audit Engagement Letter:  Allen presented an Audit Engagement Letter with Nadine Julson, CPA in the amount of $13,500.00 for the 2020 and 2021 audit.  Motion by Schaaf, second by Shear to approve the audit engagement letter for the 2020 and 2021 audit.  RCV= all aye, MC.

Touch a Truck Event:  The street sweeper and a garbage truck will be at Yesterday’s Farmers for a fundraiser for Tot Lot.  Kids will be able to look at and touch the trucks.  Allen will stay with the garbage truck incase kids want to climb on it and in it, he will help the kids so no one gets hurt.  The street sweeper will be locked up because there are too many buttons that could get pushed by kids.

JAMES:

Meowser’s Cat Rescue:  The recommendation from the committee is to pay $3,000.00 annually as a line item in the PD budget for animal control that would cover rabies shots, spaying, neutering, and a blood test for feline leukemia.  If cats are coming from another town the city won’t fund those expenses.  Meowser’s would like to use the Fallon County Vet in Baker because they are the least expensive and the Commission is okay with them using that vet.  Any feral cats getting vet care has to go through Meowser’s Cat Rescue.

They may apply for a conditional use permit through the zoning board for their rescue if they are staying in the city limits which means the neighbors will be notified within 150 feet of their location and they can come and voice their opinions.  If they are wanting to purchase a property and want approval first, they can have the current owner sign off on the conditional use application and get a pre-approval.

Motion by Schaaf, second by Bullis to approve $3,000.00 (maximum) coming out of the police department budget for animal control considered as: basic vet care for spaying, neutering, rabies shots, vaccinations, and a blood test for feline leukemia for 2023 and a prorated budget of $1,000.00 for 2022, starting 9/1/22. The City will pay the vet directly for local pets only.  RCV= all aye, MC.

Gary Parsons:  People drop off cats with him and he tries to find homes for them and sometimes pays for vet care for the cats.  The Commission asked him to try to work with Meowser’s.

Alcohol: The committee showed a diagram that represents state law requirements for persons under the age of 21 in restaurants and bars that serve food in towns with less than 1,500 population.

The Commission stated local liquor license holders that sell food may come before the City Commission with their plan on how they can make their establishment meet the requirements set by NDCC to allow persons under the age of 21 to be on their premise.  If the liquor license holder is able to meet the requirements of the designated areas and percentage of food sold, the commission will allow children up to the age of 17 in the establishment, but they will still have to abide by curfew hours unless they are with their parents, working, or was at a school sponsored event.  Curfew hours are:  Sunday – Thursday at 10:30 pm and Friday-Saturday until midnight unless they are with their parents,at a school sponsored event or working.  As part of the requirements, the liquor license holder will have to give the Commission a letter from their CPA or a copy of their tax return showing how much food they sell vs alcohol.

If the licensed premises wants to have normal bar type events such as comedians, bands or adult oriented type things, they need to explain to the Commission what their intent is for persons under the age of 21.

Licensed premises can fill out a special event permit for events such as a midnight dart league, midnight bowling event, etc. for children to stay later than curfew.  Chief Headley or an auditor can sign off on the permit

Flag Project:  This project was presented by Cal Klewin from the Rhame Legion Post at the last meeting.  They are hoping on having it installed by Veteran’s Day.  The cost is $42,076.03 for the project.  At the last meeting they were requesting funds from the City for this project.   Motion by Vail, second by Shear to approve a one time payment of $3,000 to the Bowman American Legion Post for the flag pole project with funds coming out of the SUR Fund.  RCV= all aye, MC.

SHEAR:

Commission Room Technology:  Shear presented quotes for smart tv’s from Baker Furniture to be used in the City Commission chambers.  Motion by Schaaf, second by Bullis to purchase a smart tv and mount from Baker Furniture tv up to $2,500.00 for the City Hall commission room for GIS and other presentations.  RCV= all aye, MC.  Shear will contact a person that can give us more input from Brosz Engineering to make sure we get what we need.

BROSZ:

SW Ag Frontage Road:  Southwest Ag is asking to get the road in front of their business chip sealed.  They have been annexed into the city for several years.  According to Brosz, chip seal will break up in a year at the corner, so it’s not a good option.  There needs to be 4” of asphalt as indicated on the map he presented as marked in red, this is needed due to the trucks that will be turning on the corner, after the asphalt, the rest of that road can be chip seal.  Chip seal is marked in green on the map.  DOT will be replacing the approach (in pink on the map), the asphalt cost will be $21,600.00 and chip seal $10,641.81.  Motion by Shear, second by Schaaf to approve Phase 2a SW Ag frontage road for the chip seal added to phase 1 and 2 in the amount of $10,641.81.  Chip seal will come out of chip seal fund.  RCV= all aye, MC.  Motion by Shear, second by Vail to approve the commercial asphalt for SW Ag frontage road approach for a maximum amount of $21,600.00 to come out of the General Fund.  RCV= all aye, MC.  Brosz will submit a letter to Northern Improvement and get it back to the City.  Northern Improvement will send us a direct bill.  James will sign the quote when we get it.  (The map will be added to the minute book for reference.)

BONNIE NORDGREN AND DEB PATTERSON

Trees:  Patterson and Nordgren wanted to voice their opinion on the trees being put on Main Street.  They are not happy with this decision; they felt the money could have been spent in other areas for beautification.  The Commission explained that they came to the decision to support the downtown revitalization project because of the results from the community survey and Strategic Plan focus support groups.

They also think the garbage can by the Silver Dollar Bar needs to be moved because it is a little too crowded on the sidewalk.

CLOSE OF MEETING:

Next Meeting:  The meeting will be on 9/20/22 at 4:00 pm.  James will be attending another meeting and Shear will run the meeting.

Motion by Shear, second by Schaaf to approve the bills and the 8/16/22 meeting minutes.  RCV= all aye, MC.

President James adjourned the meeting at 6:24 pm.

BOWMAN CITY COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA

Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 4:00 pm

Bowman City Hall, 101 1st St. NE

*Agenda Policy*:  The City follows a strict agenda policy in order to insure transparency to the citizens of Bowman.  NO topics will be discussed that are not on the agenda unless said topic constitutes an emergency action.  This agenda has a rolling schedule so scheduled appointments may take place sooner than the scheduled time unless it is a public hearing.

 4:00  –  4:05 PM               Call Meeting to Order, Approval of Agenda and Pledge of Allegiance

Commissioners Review of Bills

4:05 – 4:30PM                  Dept. Head Reports/Engineering (McGee, A. Allen, Hofland, Mason, Headley, and Brosz Engineering)

4:30 – 4:45 PM                 Public Hearing on 2023 Final Budget and Adoption of the 2023 Final Budget

 4:45                                       Bill Fiegel – Liquor License           

 5:00 PM                              Garbage Trucks Bid Opening

ALLEN

Tree Invoice – Funding

Moonlight Madness – None Liquor License Permit

Raffle Permit #24-37 Catholic Daughters

Clean Water State Revolving Fund Projects

Sidewalk on First Street NE

Open Forum

Close of Meeting

• Approval of Bills, August 2022 Financials and 9/6/22 Meeting Minutes.
• Next Meeting Date: 10/4/22

Adjournment of Meeting