Minot residents will be asked their thoughts about their city this fall in the latest community survey to be conducted by the City of Minot.

The city has conducted community surveys in 2021 and 2023. The Minot City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 5, voted to contract with OnPointe Insights to complete the 2025 survey.

The goal is to have the survey available to Minot residents in mid- to late September, according to the city. Residents would have three or four weeks to complete the survey, with analytics available by late October.

OnPointe Insights recommends a sample size of 800-1,500 residents. The project will cost $19,960, which has been included in the city’s 2025 budget.

Council member Scott Samuelson opposed spending the money on another survey.

“I am not a big fan of surveys because it all depends on who you get to answer the questions,” he said. He questioned whether the city has paid attention to the results of the last survey, given the action taken on the 2026 preliminary budget.

“One of the biggest things was taxes – property taxes. We have a budget that increases property taxes over 23%. I don’t think that’s paying attention to the survey. I don’t think that’s paying attention to the residents,” he said.

Council member Rob Fuller suggested having the survey conducted in-house via a method such as social media. However, it was noted a social media survey would not be statistically valid.

Council member Mike Blessum said he is leery of basing policy decisions on surveys but added he does want to hear from the community.

The council voted 4-2, with Fuller and Samuelson dissenting, to proceed with the survey.

Council acts on buyouts

In other business, the council approved the purchase of one flood buyout property but rejected the purchase agreement on two others. The agreements came to the council for consideration because of a city policy requiring that involuntary acquisitions get council approval if they exceed initial purchase price offers by 15% and $15,000.

The council approved purchase of a house for $335,000 on West Central Avenue but denied purchase of a retail tenant building and vacant lots at 1310 Burdick Expressway E. for just over $1 million and a 12-unit apartment building/shops at 420 15th St. SE for $1.3 million.

Chris Plank, National Disaster Resilience Program administrator, said the purchase prices met the federal requirement as a necessary and reasonable cost. The rationale for settling on higher prices is to avoid the costs of an eminent domain proceeding and any resulting delay of the flood project phase, which can be as much as one or two years, Plank said.

The agreed upon price of the Central Avenue house was 21% above the city’s initial offer based on an independent appraisal. The buyout of the home passed 4-2, with dissents from Samuelson and Fuller.

The apartment property was 15% and retail tenant property 25% over the original independent appraisals. The council voted 2-4 on those buyouts, with Blessum, Fuller, Samuelson and Paul Pitner opposed to the purchases. The city intends for negotiations to resume on those properties.

Both the apartment and retail properties are owned by Duane Brekke of Minot, who said he will consider a lawsuit. He said relocation services to apartment tenants began before the council’s veto of the purchase, leaving him with no sale and the loss of thousands of dollars in rent.