The Devils Lake City Commission met for a regular meeting on Monday, March 20 at 5:30 p.m. Minutes from the March 6 meeting were approved, and there were no awards, proclamations, or public notices.
City Administrator Spencer Halvorson opened a sealed bid for 230201, which is a water main project. The only bid was from Kemper Construction, which included their license and bond. The proposal was for $2,687,426.50. A motion was made, seconded, and approved unanimously to pass this proposal on to the City Engineer for review and recommendation at a future meeting.
Scott Cruse from the Devils Lake Airport was in attendance and reported that some actual costs came back much higher than anticipated when the terminal expansion, apron, and taxiway projects were bid and accepted. There is currently verbal commitment from the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission to match about $1.1 million to complete these projects, with official application and approval happening in April. The airport requests the matched $1.1 million from the City of Devils Lake. Administrator Halvorson stated that there is a meeting scheduled for Friday, March 24 for the city’s capital improvement planning review group, and recommended to take this information to said meeting. The purpose of Friday’s meeting is to evaluate current, planned, and desired city projects, revenue streams, and other financing account needs in order to update the city capital improvement plan. After Friday, the review group will bring a recommendation to the commission at a future meeting.
Fire Chief Bennett gave an update on the need to purchase new radios, batteries, and chargers. The City of Devils Lake met with the State Water Commission for a cost-share agreement for a water main project, the total cost of which is around $2.6 million. Final approval for $1.35 million coming from the SWC will happen in mid-April. The final plans for the street improvements on 14th Street and 14th Avenue around Ruger Park were submitted March 20, with a bid to the Department of Transportation scheduled on May 12.
There are several job openings with the City of Devils Lake, including entry-level positions in streets and sanitation, and a seasonal position in streets. See dvlnd.com for more information and to apply.
The Domestic Fowl Committee has a draft of an ordinance regarding the owning of chickens within city limits, some provisions need to be added but there will hopefully be a recommendation before the city commission in the next week or so. A quote from Vanguard was requested for the cost to have them come onsite to help update the parcel information that was lost due to the server failure in late January; as it stands, 308 commercial properties are missing all information regarding improvements made. Chief Knowski sought clarification on out-of-state travel for officers during investigations; if an active investigation takes an officer out of state, they are certainly allowed and expected to do so; when possible, law enforcement will give a heads up to the commission.
Administrator Halvorson noted that the city’s new website is up and running (and looks great), and that $1.7 million from the FAA is enroute. Halvorson noted that emerald ash borer was found in an ash tree in Moorhead, travelling all the way from northeast Asia. The city will work with the Shade Tree Committee to proactively do what they can to protect our trees from this; most of the canopy trees in Devils Lake are ash trees.
City Attorney Jack Yunker gave updates on ordinances being drafted, and suggested the commission consider moving to a Zoom platform for absent commission members. Attorney Yunker also noted that he would be visiting city ordinances related to nuisance properties around spring cleanup. There was no old business to bring up and no consent agenda. Next, a petition for annexation of 14th Street NE and 14th Avenue NE was heard; land around this area was acquired by the city at no cost in order to complete the road project planned for this summer. A motion to approve this petition of annexation was made, seconded, and passed unanimously, and as a result the first reading of this ordinance was had. Commissioners also unanimously voted to approve the renewal of a three-year contract with Johnson Controls for fire alarm, detection, and maintenance.
J & M Displays has been the fireworks vendor for Devils Lake’s 4th-of-July display, and this year’s agreement has a cost of $22,500 with a potential date of Tuesday, July 4 for the show. Commissioners discussed and unanimously approved to accept this agreement and keep the display set for July 4. Finally, the financial report was reviewed and bills were approved for payment with a unanimous roll call vote.
Meeting agendas and past meeting minutes can be found at dvlnd.com.
