Jill Schramm/MDN A vehicle travels across the open portion of the Third Street Bridge in downtown Minot Tuesday, Sept. 2. The Minot City Council approved the repair of a second pier at its meeting Tuesday.

The city of Minot’s entrance monuments are good enough as they are, the Minot City Council concluded Tuesday, Sept. 2, in rejecting a wayfinding proposal to make upgrades.

The council decided not to spend wayfinding signage money on monument signs, but it also determined the city will need to spend more money on the Third Street Bridge after additional piers were found to be failing.

As for the existing five entry monuments, the council voted unanimously against making upgrades.

“I believe those monuments are serving us well,” council member Mike Blessum said. “I don’t see it as advantageous right now for us to spend money on changes.”

The proposed monument revisions would have removed the words “welcome to” but left “Minot.” The city’s colorful wheel logo would have been added instead.

The council also considered two different options for additional changes.

One would have replaced stainless steel lettering with acrylic letters, leaving current lighting, at a cost of $14,000 per sign and $25,000 to Ackerman-Estvold for design documents and construction administration. The total cost was $95,000.

A second alternative would have replaced the lettering with LED backlit sign components, with removal of existing lighting. It had an estimated construction cost of $26,000 per sign, along with the $25,000 to Ackerman-Estvold. The total estimated cost was $155,000.

Council members also addressed options for wayfinding signage to identify the two downtown parking ramps, which currently have no signage.

The parking garage alternatives included unlit signage for $48,000 in total or backlit signage for $120,000. Either alternative included $18,000 to Ackerman-Esvold for design documents and construction administration.

Blessum said installing signs makes sense from a functional standpoint for downtown, but the alternatives put a lot of effort into something that should be as simple as contacting local contractors for proposals and price quotes.

“I don’t think we need to have an engineer or an architect design any signs for us,” council member Rob Fuller added, suggesting sign companies are qualified to do that.

City Engineer Lance Meyer said the question really is the type of sign the city wants to see because flat signs are different from signs that project from a building and require accounting for wind load.

“The level of complexity can increase depending on what council wants to see. But if the direction is going to be quotes, we want to keep it simple,” he said.

Blessum suggested a simpler, flat sign option, while council member Lisa Olson indicated a preference for a projecting sign that people can see farther down the street. Council member Paul Pitner asked that the city request sign companies to provide options.

The council unanimously approved seeking proposals from local companies.

According to information provided to the council, the city spent $232,000 in 2023 and $135,419 in 2024 on wayfinding signage, primarily the primary and secondary destination signage erected throughout the community to provide directions to popular destinations, such as campuses and visitor attractions. Wayfinding funds are coming from a share of the city sales tax designated for economic development.

Regarding the downtown bridge, the council approved the repair of an additional pier on the Third Street Bridge.

The council previously approved a project to repair one pier after a North Dakota Department of Transportation special inspection requested by the city found serious flaking and chipping of the concrete. After the project was bid, the city learned three other piers showed similar distresses in which concrete is chipping and exposing the rebar and, in some cases, affecting bridge bearings.

City staff obtained a $160,000 price to correct the issues on one pier that is near the first one that’s being repaired. The engineering consultant hopes to stretch its budget to accommodate the work if it is added to the project. Otherwise, there could be an additional $20,000 cost for engineering as well.

To do the work on the additional pier, the bridge will need to be closed for about two weeks. However, the repairs will help extend the time the city has to work toward replacement of the bridge, according to the city engineering department.

The other two piers showing distress are located on BNSF Railway property and will require permitting and design work before repairs can be made.

City to narrow manager candidates

The City of Minot is whittling down 53 applications for the position of city manager, which was vacated in August with the resignation of Harold Stewart. Stewart took a similar position in Pasco, Washington.

The city’s Human Resources Department is handling recruitment of candidates and reported that 14 of the 53 applicants meet the qualifications for the role. Eight have previous direct city government experience, according to the department’s memo to the council.

HR Director Kelly Beck, Mayor Mark Jantzer and Council President Mike Blessum will review the applications and select top candidates, whom the HR Department will screen and confirm their continued interests in the position.

The council then will set up interviews with the top candidates, with a public meet-and-greet expected to be scheduled.

– Jill Schramm