Council proceeds with utility building remodel
Trending
Members of the Minot City Council were pleased Monday, Nov. 2, with a remodeling option for the city's water and sewer building, which is estimated to cost about half of an original plan to construct a new building.
Last March, the council rejected a low bid of about $3.5 million to demolish the existing building in southeast Minot and erect a new building. On Monday, the council accepted a remodeling option estimated to cost about $1.8 million The remodeling would renovate the entire building, adding a new roof, windows, siding, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning and an addition for the meter shop.
Presented with two remodeling options, the council chose one that minimizes the remodeling of the crew quarters to a refresh and fixture replacing, saving about $400,000.
Council member Mike Blessum called it a great option.
"We get everything that they're looking for," he said. "We need the bones of our buildings functioning and working the way they should and then we need to - when we can - make the spaces work. And I think we're doing both.."
Council member Scott Samuelson said the city needs to look at cost-saving options earlier on in the process of building improvements.
"For me, this is a little bit more than what I think it needs to be, but I'm pleased with it being about half," he said of the cost.
The council voted 7-0 to proceed to final design and bidding of the project.
In other business, the council approved a five-year contract with Axon Enterprises for bundled technology services in the police department. Services include Taser platforms, in-car and body-worn cameras, interview room systems, unmanned aerial vehicle systems and other tools.
Blessum called the contract "pricey" but noted the services are necessary.
"From a law enforcement perspective, this appears to be the cost of doing business," he said.
The contract starts at $433,759 in 2027 and increases to $490,758 in the following four years for a total five-year cost of nearly $2.4 million.
"These are all things that we currently have access to. These are all parts of our department that we currently use now," Deputy Chief Dale Plessas said. "We're consolidating them into one contract, and then, part of that consolidation, we're able to negotiate over the term about $300,000 worth of savings."
Access to automated license plate readers is incorporated into the package but it is optional for the department to use and can be kept turned off at the council's directive, he said.
Additionally, the council voted to purchase 26 foreclosed-on parcels for $5 per parcel from Ward County, contingent upon the county waiving property recording fees.
The parcels carry $714,297 in unpaid property taxes, including $600,610 in special assessments owed to the city. The debt includes penalties and interest accrued, in some cases, since 2013.
The special assessments on the properties, of which nearly all are vacant Stony Ridge condo lots, exceeds the current market value of the properties, which means the city won't recoup the specials in selling the parcels.
City Assessor Ryan Kamrowski estimated the market value of the condo lots as $13,000 each. He outlined the city's options of selling as is or dissolving the condo declaration on the properties before selling. In either scenario, the city would recover roughly $312,000 of the more than $600,000 in specials.
The council elected to move forward without dissolving the condo declaration at this time in hope of finding a developer willing to build condominiums.
The council also discussed a sewer-backup claim from a resident seeking damage reimbursement. The city's insurer, the North Dakota Insurance Reserve Fund, previously denied the claim.
Attorney Ashleigh Ensrud told the council her client continues to pursue the claim because of the extensive cleanup created by six inches of solid waste in the entire basement.
The council voted to deny the claim, directing the city attorney to schedule an executive session if necessary.
Since the sewer backup incident that generated the claim, the city has acquired an insurance rider to address similar situations that might occur in the future.