Bright Minds, an existing Alexander daycare, relocated from its previous location, which was licensed for 17 children, to a city-owned facility that has potential to accommodate up to 70 children, depending on licensure.

Bright Minds owner Nikki Holen said the soft opening on Monday brought over the 17 children plus a few more.

“After Christmas, I will be adding additional children,” she said. “I have a waiting list that has approximately 25 students currently. I get around one-two calls a week from parents looking for childcare.”

Holen said she will be adding staff as additional children are enrolled. The daycare presently has four full-time teachers and one part-time teacher.

Submitted Photo A daycare room is equipped for children to learn and play at Bright Minds, which opened in its new facility in Alexander Monday, Dec. 15.

“Currently, I serve families and teachers mostly in the Alexander area. However, I have been receiving more calls from other communities as well recently,” Holen said.

The City of Alexander, a McKenzie County community with a population estimated at 317 residents, received assistance from the county to construct a city building to accommodate a daycare center.

McKenzie County had pledged up to $4 million on a reimbursement basis. As of Nov. 21, the county had reimbursed the City of Alexander nearly $2.5 million through the Job Development Authority, according to the county auditor’s office. Support for the project is in keeping with the county commission’s prioritization of regional cooperation and assistance for community projects in its use of gross production tax dollars, County Auditor Erica Johnsrud said.

The total cost of the building construction is not yet known as final bills haven’t been determined, according to the city auditor’s office. City Auditor Brandi Gillespie said the city was responsible for covering the architectural fees and would pay any overage if costs exceed the county grant. The city money comes from city sales tax dollars in an infrastructure fund. Alexander resident Kathy Kimley has raised concerns about the city’s structuring of the building’s lease and has sought to bring those concerns to the Attorney General’s office and before other state officials in an attempt to gain clarity on the issues.

“According to all that I can find, the State of North Dakota does not allow taxpayer dollars to be paid directly to or in benefit of a privately owned business,” she said.

The two-year lease establishes rent at $40 per child, with the first six months of rent deferred and forgiven as long as the childcare maintains operations in the building. The city has responsibility for utilities, telephone, security cameras and other services used as well as real estate taxes. The city also supplied certain furnishings intended to remain with the building, such as a television screen, tables and chairs, cleaning equipment, bathroom stools and child-size toilet seats, copier and items to equip a kitchen. Other items would need to be supplied by the daycare.

Kimley questions whether the rent will ever cover the cost of the city’s expenses. If not, it would constitute a subsidy of a private business by taxpayers, she said.

Alexander’s city attorney, Aaron Weber, said the intent is to eventually establish the daycare at a rent level that more than covers the utilities and other expenses the city is paying.

“In order to make day care attractive in a small town like Alexander, the rent had to be flexible to allow a daycare operator an opportunity to succeed,” he said. “Getting daycare in western North Dakota has been a significant challenge to economic development. A number of daycares in our region are subsidized in one way or another by local government entities. This new daycare facility in Alexander is a significant new development in the community and hasn’t been done before.”

Because of that newness, the city’s 2026 budget is not specific regarding the new facility. Gillespie said projected utility expenses are included in a combined budget category for all city buildings, using an estimate based on utility costs at a city shop building. Rent revenue that should begin in about May was not included in the approved 2026 budget but will be added next year as a budget amendment once the daycare is operational and better information is available, she said.

Weber said the city entered the lease based on budget estimates, with the idea that it can better determine, over the two years, what the specifics of an agreement should be going forward.

Bright Minds has operated in Alexander since 2016 and was selected for the facility lease through an advertised Request for Proposals. It was the only applicant but met the city’s criteria.