News

City Council holds October meeting

By Scott Wagar

10/15/2013

The Bottineau City Council meeting on Oct. 7 passed the 2014 budget and discussed city projects, the Kersten development, annexation and zoning requests and the second reading of the 2014 budget.

2014 BUDGET

The final reading of the 2014 city budget was the final item on the agenda, which was passed unanimously by the council. During the first reading of the 2014 budget the city council approved the first reading which went from 99.25 mills in 2013 to 75.08 mills for 2014, a decrease of just over 24.7 mills.

The reduction in mills took place due to increased development in the city with a number of construction projects in the community, which increased the mill value from $5,100 to $5,300, adding to the taxable base and reducing mills overall. Fewer projects for 2014 also caused the mills to decrease from 2013.

The Bottineau County Sheriff’s Department received additional funding in its 2014 budget between the city and county for an additional deputy for the county.

At the second and final reading of the 2014 budget no changes were made, the council rolled over the re-bid for upgrading the west lift station to the 2014 budget. The roll over will not increase the mills voted upon in the budget.

PROJECT COSTS

 Matt Johnson of Wold Engineering stated that the sewer line project from the south part of town to WalMart and across Highway 5 of the east side of town has started. Presently, 50 percent of the project is completed with a completion date before wintertime. It has been discovered that certain areas of the project needed rocks to secure the base, which will add to the cost of the task. Johnson is currently working with the company conducting the project on a fixed price of the additional cost.

There was a change order to extend the sewer line project 1,022 feet to Park and Eighth streets at an additional cost of $103,585 which was approved by the council.

NEW SCHOOL

Jason Kersten, superintendent of the Bottineau School District, explained to the council members the district’s future plans on its Master Facility Plan. Kersten stated that after public information meetings this past summer those in attendance wanted to see a new PK-5 school building constructed on the outer limits of the east side of town.

He explained that a vote will take place on Nov. 5 with two questions on the ballot, which Kersten pointed to on a brochure he handed out to the council. Question one states, “Shall Bottineau Public School District #1 of Bottineau, Rolette, Pierce & McHenry Counties, North Dakota, issue its general obligation bonds in the amount not to exceed $18,900,000 for the purpose of providing funds, together with any other funds available, to construct, remodel, improve and equip school buildings, including construction of a new elementary school in Bottineau, North Dakota.”

Question two states, “Shall the debt limit of Bottineau Public School District #1 of Bottineau, Rolette, Pierce & McHenry Counties, North Dakota, be increased five percent (5%) on the assessed value of the taxable property of the School District beyond the five percent (5%) limit of indebtedness affixed by the Constitution.”

Kersten added that the approximate tax impact is based on $100,000 of true and full value of residential and agricultural and or commercial property for the 2013 fiscal year. He said the annual tax impact is based off annual tax on 2.63 percent estimated interest rate, with the number of mills required being 51.32. Based on the numbers, Kersten added that residential cost would be $230.94 a year or $19.25 a month, while agricultural and commercial cost would be $256.60 a year or $21.39 a month.

The superintendent said the school district has also applied for a $10 million grant for the construction of the new building. Kersten stated that the application more than likely will not be looked at until the Nov. 5 vote and the outcome of the vote.  

Kersten also said in his presentation that he wasn’t there to encourage the councilmen to vote one way or the other on the construction of a new school, but did encourage everyone who has the right to vote in the school district to come out and vote.

ZONING AND ANNEXIATION

In a zoning request, Barry Bossart requested that 720 Railroad Avenue (the white and green house just south of the community area) be re-zoned from R-1 and R-2 to M so that he can construct a storage building. It was brought to the attention of the council members that an official protest for the re-zoning has been filed.

The council made the decision to hold a protest hearing on the property lots at 7 p.m. on Nov. 4 at the city armory.

KERSTEN DEVELOPMENT

Gene Kersten requested that four lots on Park Street that he owns be annexed and zoned from agriculture to residential for a new development he is attempting to create. He was informed that the city needed the area platted before they could make any decision.

Kersten was also told by some of the alderman they wanted the plat to extend to the entire development so that they do not have to continue on annexing and zoning a small number of lots each time, which was a difficult process.

Kersten stated that he was under the understanding in the last development meeting that he was at that the council was okay with annexing and zoning a certain number of lots at a time.

A discussion broke out between the Kersten and the council members, some who were against Kersten’s request and others who favored the requested.

There was also a comparable paradigm between Kersten’s development and the Preserve development on the west side of town, which stated that Kersten should have to follow the same development regulations as the owners of the Preserve development.

Those councilmen who favor Kersten stated that Kersten was a small developer with less funding than those of the Preserve development and that this issue should be taken into consideration.

Those against Kersten’s request stated that they had to keep to the same development regulations for all developers.

In the end, councilman Tim Sanderson made the motion to deny Kersten’s request and send it back to the planning commission to resolve the issue.

The motion was seconded by Greg Bernstein and on a vote Sanderson, Bernstein and Gary Mortensen voted yes, while Diane Lorenz and Fred Kainz voted no. The motioned passed on a 3 to 2 vote.

STORM SEWER

With that vote, Kersten then went to the topic of a storm sewer that the city wants to build in Kersten’s future development on Fourth Street. Kersten stated that he knew the storm sewer was his financial responsibility because it is on his property. However, he stated that since the storm sewer will assist a larger portion of Bottineau’s residents outside his development, the city should fund a portion of the storm sewer project.

Kersten added that if he had to finance the entire project he will not make the revenue back on the lots he would sell, and if that was the case he would not move forward in the new development because he would not be solely responsible in funding the entire storm sewer project.

The council stated that city’s development agreement states the developer is fully responsible for such costs. So, Kersten would be responsible for the cost of the storm sewer.