News

Council discusses a number of items in November meeting

By Scott Wagar

11/15/2011

With Monday’s city council meeting, Matt Johnson of Wold Engineering announced that the street paving project is coming to a completion.

Johnson stated at the meeting that the concrete work was estimated to be completed by Nov. 11. The final inspection of the streets will be conducted by the street committee shortly after the concrete work is finished.

The topic of angling downtown parking so extended vehicles like crew cab trucks can park without obstructing the street was also discussed by the aldermen and Johnson. It was decided that the lines would be painted at a better angle of parking for these types of vehicles the next time lines are painted in the city.

The councilmen also held the final reading on the Sladek Development (west of the Forestry Park) to annex the land into the city, which was passed by the council.

In other city news, Diane Olson requested two Gateway loans from the city. The first loan was on behalf of Bernard and Brenda Jassmann to purchase the Jack and Jill grocery store in Bottineau. The request was for $60,000, at three percent interest, with a 10 year repayment schedule.

Councilman Grant Tegastad made the motion to approve the loan, which was seconded by Ron Martin. On the vote, Tegastad, Martin and Harley Getzlaff voted in favor of the loan, while Brad Gangl and Troy Marsden voted against the request, passing 5 to 3 in favor of Olson’s request. (Aldermen Ben Aufforth and Jeff Hall were not present for the vote.)

The second request by Olson was for a new roof for the Bottineau Tech Center. The request was for $36,000, at zero percent interest, with a 15 year loan payment. The council voted unanimously in favor of the loan.

Two issues were discussed regarding city property at the council meeting. The first issue was leasing city land to the Bottineau County Veterans Association on property just south of the Bottineau County Museum for the veterans’ new memorial building and park. The councilmen approved the request.

The second topic was the area of the City Armory which the National Guard utilizes in their training. Funding for National Guards units in the state might drop considerable in upcoming months, which means that funding for such items as motel rooms might not be feasible anymore for the guardsmen who train in Bottineau.

With possible future cuts in the National Guard’s funding, a representative from the National Guard came to Bottineau and toured the Armory to see if the Guard could make renovations to the Armory, which would grant living quarters for its guardsmen.

The representative recommended updating the shower room, have the Guard’s lower hallway re-tiled, along with some other minor items to make it a livable space for it soldiers who train in Bottineau.

By making these improvements, guardsmen who train in Bottineau could stay in the Armory instead of a motel, saving the National Guard money. The council voted 5 to 0 in favor of the improvements, which will be funded by the National Guard.

The final topic of discussion at the meeting was the open council seat in Ward I, which opened after former council member Andy Freeman moved out of Ward I. The councilmen made the decision that since no individuals in Ward I filed a petition for the seat, they would leave it open until the city election in June.