The Devils Lake City Commission
The Devils Lake City Commission met first as the Jobs Development Authority at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 20 in City Hall. The agenda for that portion of the meeting was light. It featured the Call to Order, Pledge of Allegiance, approval of the minutes from two previous meetings; Sep. 15 and Oct. 6.
Finally, the Single Family Housing Incentive Project was discussed and an update on the progress of that project will be forthcoming at the next meeting of the Authority.
That concluded that portion of the meeting.
Then they reconvened as the City Commission approving the minutes from their Oct. 6 meeting.
There were no awards or proclamations scheduled for this meeting therefore the commission moved on to the first order of business to be addressed; the Renaissance Zone Project 27 – DL.
Mayor Jim Moe invited Lisa Hawley from the audience to the podium to discuss the application before the commission. In a nutshell, Hawley explained that it was their intention to purchase the building that formerly housed a business that made metal yard ornaments and signs, etc. It is located between Freije Chiropractic Center and Dollar General on the east side of College Drive. Their plan is to locate their businesses in the building and to renovate the space to accomodate another business or two, as well.
According to their Renaissance Zone Project application when approved, they would be eligible for a tax exemption on the property when it is purchased for a determined length of time. For the Hawleys it was approved and they will be granted a temporary tax exemption with the approval of their application.
That decision was followed by reports from the various portfolio holders, who updated the commission on what was happening with the various offices under their purview. A discussion about the insurance renewal agreement for the city’s employees followed.
The final items covered were the 3rd Quarter Economic and Utility Data, the September 2025 Financial Report and approval of payment of the list of bills submitted.
For more information about what was covered during this meeting, it is recorded and available to watch on YouTube through the City’s website. Questions or clarification requests should be directed to the commission.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Devils Lake City Commission will be Monday, Nov. 3, 2025.
The Ramsey County Commission
The Ramsey County Commission met October 21 in the Courthouse.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, the agenda approval and the approval of the previous meeting’s minutes Roger Gunderson presented two estimates for carpeting for the former Abstract Office and Judge Foughty’s Office. The low bid was accepted.
The Highway agenda was perused and discussed briefly with two unanimous votes of the commissioners to approve the work presented to repair Ramsey County roads, culverts and soft spots.
The Surplus Sale brought the County approximately $35,000.
KLJ presented a bill for over $10K work on 89th Ave. S. and another for the thin lift on the Woods Rutten Road. Both were approved via role call vote.
Sheriff Lang presented a bid for in-car cameras at a 40% off savings, good through January. Once approved all the department’s vehicles will have cameras. The total bill was an estimated $15,800 to order all they needed. That was approved.
At 5:45 they suspended the Commission meeting to open the appraisal hearing. The sale will take place on the 3rd Tuesday in November.
Then they closed that meeting and reopened the County’s.
Paul Christianson from Churchs Ferry stepped up to the podium and expressed his concerns about hunters operating within the boundaries of the limits of the former city of Churchs Ferry. He is worried that hunters are not following the rules, some hunting after dark, hunting in areas that are dangerous to walk in – like along the former dike and lagoon of the town, although the town itself is no longer a town, having been bought out, for the most part, by FEMA during the height of the Devils Lake flooding.
He asked the commission to name him a caretaker or some kind of manager for the land, or to sell it to him, so he can control the posting of No Hunting signs, etc.
The States Attorney explained that the county would not be able to outright sell the property to anyone until they knew who held the clear title to it and only then if they did own it (the county) then they would most likely have to put it out to open bidding for anyone interested. There is some confusion whether or not the property could even be sold to anyone – they would have to determine that before anything else was done. However after much discussion, the commission did appoint Christianson as manager of everything that was under the county’s control and set a bond of $250 to be paid out of city funds if anything remained.
The meeting ended with some agenda items being tabled because Commissioner Jeff Frith was not able to be at the meeting and he knew more about those items than anyone.
Following the discussion the Sheriff stepped up to the podium and asked the commission to make the deputies and federal game wardens aware of who is responsible, now, for the land around and in the former Churchs Ferry town location.
